Sainsbury’s has warned the outlook for the rest of the financial year will “remain challenging” after reporting a drop in like-for-like sales over the key Christmas trading period. The supermarket chain said sales at stores open at least a year fell 1.7% excluding fuel in the 14 weeks to 3 January. Total sales fell 0.4%. However, Sainsbury’s said the week before Christmas was a “record”, with 29.5 million customer transactions.

The beleaguered supermarket Tesco has said it will close 43 unprofitable stores across the UKof which will be local convenience shops. The firm is also shelving plans to open a further 49 new “very large” stores. Additionally, Tesco is closing its staff pension scheme, will make cuts of £250m, and reduce overheads by 30%.

Part of the tail of crashed AirAsia flight QZ8501 has been found in the Java Sea, Indonesian searchers say. The tail houses the “black boxes” – the voice and flight data recorders – which could give investigators clues as to the cause of the crash. It was found in a secondary search area, lending weight to theories that strong currents have moved the debris. The plane was lost en route from Surabaya, Indonesia, to Singapore on 28 December, with 162 people aboard. No survivors have been found. Investigators said they had found another body on Wednesday, bringing the total recovered to date to 40. Most of the people aboard the plane were Indonesian: 137 adult passengers, 17 children and one infant, along with two pilots and five crew.

The staff and the student at All inclusive took a tour round the Parliament on the Tuesday 9th December for the day to take a look round and got into the  House of Lords were all the members of Parliament  make decision so bills can be introduced into either the House of Lords or the House of Commons. Members of the Lords may also take on roles as Government Ministers.