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Calls for change present a challenge to President Lula in the second round of the election on Sunday.
Calls for change present a challenge to President Lula in the second round of the election on Sunday.
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France is deploying some 70,000 police as fresh nationwide protests are set to begin. A deadly shooting near Paris has additionally fueled tensions. DW has more.
<p>Data released under freedom of information laws reveals hundreds of projects unfinished despite Tory promises on regional equality</p><p><strong>• </strong><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/oct/24/can-new-scheme-help-revive-grimsby-britain-struggling-town-centres">Can a £5.8bn scheme help revive Grimsby and other town centres?</a></p><p>Most levelling up projects are not finished, years after funds were allocated, highlighting how ambitious Conservative promises of quick progress on regional equality have faltered.</p><p>Data released under freedom of information laws and manually reviewed by the Guardian found 821 levelling up projects out of 1,347 were yet to be finalised as of May this year. Across the UK, 73 council areas that had a bid for a project accepted were yet to see a single one fully completed. The Guardian has identified 59 projects that were completed since the data was collected.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/oct/24/most-conservative-party-levelling-up-projects-unfinished-funding-allocation">Continue reading...</a>
<p>Closures within chain formerly under the WH Smith brand raise fears of high streets becoming ‘postal deserts’</p><p>Towns and even city centres face being left as “postal deserts” after it emerged that more than a third of post offices within the troubled TG Jones chain are closing.</p><p>So far this year 36 branches within the high street chain <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/mar/28/wh-smith-brand-to-disappear-as-76m-sale-of-stores-to-modella-agreed">formerly known as WH Smith</a> have closed and a further 34 are set to close by early 2027, according to Post Office records analysed by the Guardian.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2026/oct/24/more-than-third-of-post-offices-in-tg-jones-stores-to-shut-by-early-2027">Continue reading...</a>
<p>Established under the Franco dictatorship, the lunchtime ritual is in decline but all is not lost</p><p>A little before lunchtime each working day across Spain, evidence of one of the lingering, if less notorious, legacies of the Franco dictatorship is carefully traced in chalk, marker pen and printer ink.</p><p>Beckoning to hungry workers from blackboards, whiteboards and pieces of paper hastily taped to windows, the competitively priced <em><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/nov/11/no-more-two-hour-lunch-breaks-the-slow-death-of-spains-menu-del-dia">menú del día</a></em><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/nov/11/no-more-two-hour-lunch-breaks-the-slow-death-of-spains-menu-del-dia">,</a> or daily set-price lunch, has been part of everyday Spanish life for more than half a century. But while <a href="https://elpais.com/gastronomia/2025-02-12/ha-muerto-el-menu-del-dia.html">4m </a><em><a href="https://elpais.com/gastronomia/2025-02-12/ha-muerto-el-menu-del-dia.html">menús</a></em><a href="https://elpais.com/gastronomia/2025-02-12/ha-muerto-el-menu-del-dia.html"> are still served</a> each weekday, Spain is slowly losing its appetite for the familiar ritual.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/oct/24/spain-diners-food-restaurants-menu-del-dia">Continue reading...</a>