One million eligible claimant families receiving tax credits, and no other means-tested benefits, will get the first 2023-24 Cost of Living Payment from Tuesday 2 May 2023, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has confirmed.

The £301 government payment will be paid automatically into most customers’ bank accounts between Tuesday 2 and Tuesday 9 May 2023 across the United Kingdom. Only eligible families who receive tax credits and no other means-tested benefits will receive the payment from HMRC.

As animal welfare organisations across the country face greater demand on services than ever before, Dogs Trust, the UK’s largest canine welfare charity, has taken a unique approach to staffing its contact centre.

The Dogs Trust team has identified a number of dogs with a talent for communication and, from Monday, these skilled pooches will be answering calls in the charity’s contact centre. With record numbers of calls and emails being received by Dogs Trust, it is hoped that these talented pooches can add to the support already provided by the dedicated team of human call handlers.

Birmingham residents fighting plans by developers to concrete over their playing fields have released a new video showcasing their concerns. Persimmon Homes has put forward renewed proposals to build a total of 87 homes on the land on Barrows Lane in Yardley, which is currently managed by Sport for Life International on behalf of Central England Co-operative Ltd.

The housebuilder put forward similar proposals to Birmingham City Council last year but withdrew them at the last minute in response to a campaign by Yardley residents that began when the Co-op put the fields up for sale in 2013.

Ramadan is a significant month for Muslims worldwide, including those in Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia. Expats, visitors, and locals join together to experience the special atmosphere one can experience during this holy month.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Tourism worked hard to raise pilgrim capacity in Makkah and Madinah to meet the growing demand for accommodation during the Ramadan holy month. Leading to the Ramadan season, the Kingdom’s Tourism Minister, His Excellency Ahmed Al-Khatib, on his Twitter page, said that the ministry is planning to operate an additional 9,000 hotel rooms in Madinah before Ramadan.

The Otr Elkalam show, one of the initiatives of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, witnessed the completion of the list of the semi-finalists in the international Quran and adhan competition. In the Quran track, Moroccan Abdullah Al-Daghri qualified, and in the Adhan track, Emirati contestant Hamid Al-Raisi qualified. The total number of semi-finalists is 16 contestants from 13 countries: Saudi Arabia, UAE, Morocco, Egypt, Lebanon, Iran, Yemen, Britain, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Niger, Germany, and Spain.

After being absent from his mosque since the beginning of Ramadan, Mohammed Hafez al-Rahman joined the worshipers of the largest mosque in the British capital, the East London Mosque, through the Otr Elkalam show, one of the initiatives of the Saudi General Entertainment Authority, which has allowed distinguished talents in recitation and adhan to participate in the largest Quran and adhan competition in the world.