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GARDENING fans are racing to snap up discounted outdoor lights, that will transform your garden into a serene haven.

With summer in the UK so far shaping up to be a scorcher, many Brits likely have plans to invite friends and family over for BBQs and garden parties in the coming months.

Facebook/Creative Gardening Discussion and Tips

One gardening fan shared how she transformed her garden with solar lights[/caption]

Shein

The lights can be purchased from Shein for £7.91[/caption]

And what better way to prepare for the arrival of guests that to give your garden a glow up.

Budget Garden Transformation

Posting in the Creative Gardening Discussion and Tips Facebook group, a public group with 505,000 members, one gardening fan revealed that she elevated her outdoor space with some ethereal moon lights.

“Yesterday I received this moon solar light for my mini garden”, she said, sharing a picture of the lights, which she had place delicately among her garden bedding.

Gardening fans flooded the comments section of the post, to share their love for the lights.

“Beautiful lighting”, one person beamed.

“Wonderful idea…so pretty”, another said.

“I love them. Great night feature.”

A third person said: “Gorgeous”.

Shein Moon Lights

Shein has currently slashed the price of its moon solar lights from £9 to £7.91, a saving of 12%.

The Chinese online retailer is selling the lights in either a small or medium size, with shoppers able to pick from a multi-coloured design, or warm yellow lighting.

The stunning lights are solar powered, meaning they don’t cost a penny to run.

Simply wait until dusk, and the lights will automatically turn on, transforming your home into a peaceful oasis.

The lights are also waterproof, so you don’t need to bother bringing them back inside if it rains, and are super easy to install, with no need to faff about plugging in wires.

More Garden Lights

Landing in stores on July 6, Lidl’s Livarno Home Solar Light Decorations are sure to fly off middle aisle shelves.

They come in a variety of styles, where buyers can choose from birds, butterflies, dragonflies, or jars hanging from the ornament.

The lights, intended to brighten up gardens, are described as “atmospheric decoration with soft colour-changing light”.

Rival Aldi has also launched Solar Light Bulbs, which are guaranteed to give your garden a glow up.

Not only will they give your fence an instant update, but they’ll also come in handy during the evenings.

Costing just £3.99 each, the bulb comes with a crocodile clip so it can be hung around the garden.

The bulbs come in two different shapes and have 20 firefly LED lights inside to add a whimsical touch.

Police arrested three suspects for stealing luxury bags worth over 1 million baht from a house in Bangkok and attempting to sell them. The victim filed a complaint at Phetchakasem Police Station after the theft occurred at a residence in Soi Phetchakasem 67, Bang Kae district, between 4.30am and 5am on July 4. Eleven luxury …

The story 3 thieves arrested for stealing luxury bags worth over 1 million baht as seen on Thaiger News.

ALL weekly social welfare rates must increase by €25 and be benchmarked to average earnings in the next Budget, an independent think-tank will tell an Oireachtas committee today.

The Dail welfare watchdog committee will also hear that the payment rate of jobseekers aged 18 and 24 must be increased to the full adult rate.

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Michelle Murphy, Research and Policy Analyst for the think-tank, said the rate “is currently inadequate to meet even the most basic of needs and must be increased to the full adult rate”.

Social Justice Ireland (SJI) is set to present its Budget priorities to the Joint Committee on Social Protection, Rural and Community Development this morning.

Speaking to the Irish Sun about their proposals, Ms Murphy said: “A social welfare payment must provide an adequate safety net to lift people out of poverty and allow for a household to provide for a basic but decent standard of living.

“Even after the provision of social welfare payments, in 2024 there were almost 630,000 people in Ireland living below the poverty line.  

“Income adequacy cannot be addressed by one-off measures as has been the case in recent Budgets.

“Those reliant on social transfers need certainty.

“This is even more critical in light of sharp increases to essentials such as rent, food and heating costs.

“Even with falling rates of inflation, prices will remain high placing real pressures on household budgets.

“Recent Budgets have focused on temporary measures. What is needed is certainty and permanence for those reliant on social transfers.

“A €25 increase is required to benchmark core social welfare rates to 27.5 per cent of average earnings and to address the impact of continued inflation on low income households, bringing core payments to €269 a week in 2026.”

The committee, chaired by Fine Gael Cork North-West TD John Paul O’Shea, will be told that Government “must use Budget 2026 to fulfil the Programme for Government commitment to deliver progressive budgets by benchmarking social welfare rates to average earnings and increasing all weekly social welfare rates by €25″.

The call to increase the jobseekers payment for those aged 18 to 24 to the adult rate will cost roughly €54 million.

The group also want to see the introduction of a cost of disability allowance at €20 a week – €80 a month.

Ms Murphy told us: “Social Justice Ireland welcomed the commitment to a cost of disability support payment in the Programme for Government. 

CASH CALL

“To address the high rates of poverty and deprivation experienced by this group, the introduction of a cost of disability allowance at €20 a week at a cost of €228m in Budget 2026 should be prioritised and built upon in subsequent Budgets.”

There is also a call for an increase in the Domiciliary Care Allowance to €385 per month, along with the pilot of a Universal Basic Services and a Universal Basic Income Scheme for Carers in line with the Programme for Government Commitment to a Carers Guarantee.

Explaining this, Ms Murphy told us: “Carers provide a huge service to the State. According to the latest census data there are over 299,000 unpaid carers in Ireland providing unpaid care each week, an increase of 53 per cent in six years.

FAMILY HELP

“To acknowledge and support the work of carers in Ireland, at the very minimum in Budget 2026 Government must: Increase the Domiciliary Care Allowance to €385 per month at a cost of €17m. Pilot a Universal Basic Services and a Universal Basic Income Scheme for Carers at a cost of €10m in line with the Programme for Government Commitment to a Carers Guarantee.”

Social Justice Ireland also want to see more done in the area of child benefit.

They are urging the Government to Increase the payment by €50 – at a cost of €777 million – and increase Child Support Payments for those under 12 by €6 a week and €15 for those aged 12 and over, at a cost of €130 million.

An Increase the fuel allowance by €10 per month and extending it to including Working Family Payment recipients is also a part of their proposal.

Also included in the SJI proposals are a number of priorities for rural development and the community and voluntary sector.

The big ticket items include a €100m allocation to Regional Development and Transition in Budget 2026, an additional €25m to Enterprise Ireland to develop and support indigenous enterprises and job creation across the regions, and an additional €25m for Failte Ireland to promote island, local and regional tourism initiatives.

They also want to see the Government invest €5m to establish a Farm Sustainability Passport pilot programme in Budget 2026.

Alongside this they also want to see an investment of €50m to the Rural Transport Programme and the creation of a €48m fund to provide grants for electric vehicles targeted at rural dwellers only.

TRANSPORT UPGRADES

Ms Murphy said: “Investment in the social and economic infrastructure of the regions is vital to deliver on Government’s commitment to balanced regional development.

“This requires addressing the existing challenges facing Rural Ireland; an older population, higher rates of part-time employment, lower median incomes, higher poverty rates, and distance from everyday services.

“Capacity building to meet future challenges is also essential and the Unit for Future Planning must prioritise regional development.”

Ms Murphy will state to the committee later today that “income adequacy cannot be addressed by one-off measures as has been the case in recent Budgets”.

She will add: “Those reliant on social transfers need certainty and permanence.

“Adequacy must be embedded into our social protection system if we are to address poverty and meet our national poverty targets as set out in the Roadmap for Social Inclusion.”

Tanaiste Simon Harris recently claimed that people on the dole should not get the same budget pay bounce as pensioners while Ireland is at full employment.

At the start of the month, the Fine Gael leader held talks with business leaders, trade unions and State agencies in Dublin to discuss the potential impact of Donald Trump’s tariffs on the Irish economy.

TARIFFS THREAT

On that day, he indicated that the Government may freeze the jobseekers allowance at its current level instead of including it in any social welfare increases in the upcoming budget.

Asked if the Government will separate the jobseekers allowance from other welfare hikes in the budget, the Tanaiste told the Irish Sun: “I do always think there is merit in not looking at social welfare payments with uniformity across the board.

“We’ve been talking a lot about college fees the last couple of days unexpectedly perhaps but roughly speaking the equivalent of €1.20 or €1.25 on every social welfare payment is roughly the equivalent of reducing the college fees by €1,000.

“I’m not convinced that you need to see as significant a rise in the dole as you do in the pension for example at a time when our country is in full employment and there’s lots of supports out there for people getting into work and there is other supports out there for people who can’t work for very many good reasons.

‘LONG WAY TO GO’

“That is my view but we will thrash all that out in the Budget and there’s a long way to go.”

Government leaders have also ruled out any cost of living bonuses for the upcoming Budget as they plan to dial back spending due to concerns about the economic impact of the Trump tariffs.

Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers previously admitted that they are reluctant to make any spending or taxation decisions in Budget 2026 that “create new risks”.

This year’s lack of cost of living package has led to a row between Fianna Fail and Fine Gael over college fees which were temporarily lowered by €1,000 in the last Budget but could rise back to €3,000 in the next Budget unless action is taken.

FANS declared “this is why we play darts indoors” as Luke Littler and Luke Humphries struggled at the Hyde Park Darts Championship.

The mega darts stars went up against each other in the final of the inaugural competition last night.

Littler and Humphries battled in front of a bumper crowd at one of London’s biggest parks.

It was the latter who came out on top, beating Littler 6-4 after KO’ing Fallon Sherrock in the semis.

But both men found things tough playing in outdoor conditions.

The evening’s warmth, combined with a decent breeze, saw Littler and Humphries both struggle to nail certain shots.

Indeed, towards the end of the game, world No1 Humphries managed to miss three shots at a D6 to clinch victory.

It gave Littler, who beat Nathan Aspinall in the semis, the opportunity to close the gap on his throw.

But the teen sensation only managed to score 22.

Both players appeared bemused as they also had to deal with the rays of the setting sun.

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And darts fans at home were equally baffled, admitting that the game will always be better suited to an indoor venue.

One said: “Look at how the darts are going on the board ffs. This is why we play darts indoors.”

Another declared: “This looks horrible.”

One noted: “Kinda ridiculous.”

Another added: “What’s next, indoor golf?”

Meanwhile, both players were involved in a bizarre celebrity doubles match later in the evening.

Humphries paired up with singer Olly Murs, but they were beaten in the semis by Aspinall and ex-footballer Dion Dublin.

As for Littler, he was teamed with presenter Roman Kemp against Sherrock and actor Joe Swash.

But like Humphries, he too failed to reach the doubles final, which was won by Sherrock and Swash.

Police Officer Accidentally Shoots Himself at Home, Dies After Hours  A police officer tragically lost his life after accidentally shooting himself at his home in Sitio Ukban, Buhisan, Cebu City.  Accidentally shooting oneself means a person unintentionally fires a gun and ends up hitting their own body. It’s not done on purpose and usually happens ... Read more

The post Police Officer Accidentally Shoots Himself at Home, Dies After Hours  appeared first on PhilNews.

The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) has officially announced the 3D Swertres results for today, Wednesday, July 09, 2025,

EZ2 LOTTO RESULT July 09, 2025 – The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) announces the EZ2 results today at

A RESIDENT was seen “jumping from a building” after a horror blaze ripped through a block of flats last night.

Ten fire engines and other emergency services scrambled to the scene in Lewisham, East London, just before midnight after a fire at a block of maisonettes.

Seventy firefighters were summoned and a number remained on Lewisham Road overnight, after the control centre received 14 calls in relation to the blaze.

The fire engulfed part of a five-room maisonette split across the ground and first floors.

One local claimed that she saw a resident jump from the second-floor apartment to the communal garden when the flames took hold, reports The Mirror.

She told the outlet: “I saw relatives asking police if their family members had been found.

“One person jumped from the second floor into the communal garden area when everything caught fire.”

Control Officers received the first of 14 emergency calls at 11:55pm, dispatching crews from Greenwich, Lewisham, Lee Green and surrounding stations.

The incident was thankfully declared under control at 2:02am – more than two hours after it began.

A spokesperson for London Fire Brigade said this morning: “Ten fire engines and around 70 firefighters are tackling a fire at a block of maisonettes on Lewisham Road, Lewisham.

“A small part of a five roomed maisonette is alight. Lewisham Road is currently closed between Penrose Way and Lewisham Hill.

“Control Officers took the first of 14 calls at 2355 and mobilised crews to the scene from Greenwich, Lewisham, Lee Green and surrounding fire stations. The cause of the fire is not yet known.”

The service added on X: “Please avoid the area while the incident is ongoing.”

MANILA, Philippines – Rep. Brian Poe has filed a resolution to investigate the growing social concerns associated with online gambling and its impact on the Filipino public. The resolution seeks to address the rise of illegal and unregulated online gambling operations and aims to strengthen policies that protect citizens from harmful digital gambling activities. Recently, the

4D LOTTO RESULT July 09, 2025 – The Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) announced the official 4D result today