Junior doctors have staged 19 days of strikes so far this year, while consultants have walked out on four, resulting in tens of thousands of cancelled appointments in the National Health Service.

Scientists have said BA.2.86, an offshoot of the Omicron variant, is unlikely to cause a devastating wave of severe disease and death, given immune defences built up worldwide from vaccination and prior infection.

The strikes from Oct 2-4 would be the longest period of action so far.

Britain has been facing its worst wave of industrial unrest in years, including by railway workers, as pay offers fail to keep up with high inflation.

Annual food price inflation was close to a record-high of 18.4% in May, official UK data showed this week.

The National Health Service has been hit by waves of strikes in recent months as soaring inflation eats into wages and pandemic backlogs coupled with staff shortages increase workloads.

Teachers across Britain have taken strike action in demand of an above-inflation pay award, leaving classrooms empty and heaping pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to help resolve the dispute.

Junior doctors agreed in 2019 to an annual 2% pay rise as part of a four-year deal but say that is now inadequate in light of much higher inflation.

Central banks across the world are studying digital currencies, with the European Union due to publish a draft law in May setting out a legal framework for a potential digital euro.

While the result, and performance, was desperately disappointing, England top the group on four points and remain in the box seat to reach the last 16.

This was a bigger drop than any of the previous official estimates and the largest fall since 1709, according to historical data hosted by the Bank of England.

The warning follows the driest July for England since 1935, when temperatures rose above 40C for the first time, turning a renewed spotlight to the impacts of climate change.