The Know Daily - Wednesday 6 March 2024

_{Read in 5m 19s ∙ Listening to Lovejoy ∙}

Adejoké Bakare recently became the first black female chef in the UK to win a Michelin star for her restaurant Chishuru, which specialises in modern West African cuisine (it’s definitely one for the bucket list 👀). “We make our own rules, we answer to no one, we do our own thing,” said Bakare of being an independent restaurateur. “As a black female chef I’m not totally sure I could have done it any other way.”

With thanks to Wild Nutrition for keeping news that's conscious of your wellbeing free and available to all. Wild Nutrition is B Corp pioneering naturally-sourced, scientifically studied Food-Grown supplements.

💰 Birmingham budget cuts

Councillors in Birmingham yesterday approved what are thought to be the biggest budget cuts in local authority history.

Tell me more.
The Labour-run council - the largest local authority in Europe - met on Tuesday afternoon to debate and vote on £300m in cuts. Up to 600 council jobs are set to be axed, along with funding for social care, highways maintenance and the arts. Libraries will be closed, bin collections will be reduced to fortnightly and streetlights will be dimmed. 

Council tax will also increase by around 21% over the next two years, equivalent to a rise of around £280 on a typical Band A property, said The Independent.

That’s a lot.
Yep. Addressing the council chamber, leader John Cotton said he “unreservedly apologised” for the “unprecedented scale” of the cuts, adding: “I am under no illusion what this budget will mean for our communities”.

How did we get here?
In September, Birmingham city council issued a section 114 notice, which means it effectively declared itself bankrupt. This was largely attributed to a £700m liability for equal pay claims - but writing in The Conservation, James Brackley argues that the “disastrous implementation” of a new IT system has been overlooked as a key factor in the council being forced to declare effective bankruptcy.

And while leader John Cotton told the council chamber that he took responsibility for “Birmingham-specific problems”, he has also blamed a “national crisis in local government finance” caused by “a combination of austerity and underfunding”. 

So what’s the bigger picture?
Councils’ spending power has “plummeted” since austerity was imposed in 2010, said The Independent. The vote in Birmingham came a day after councillors in Nottingham approved “wide-ranging” budget cuts, with nearly 1 in 5 council leaders in England saying they were likely to declare effective bankruptcy in the next 15 months.

🏋️‍♀️ What’s the Hyrox hype?

Hyrox - the self-described “global fitness race for Every Body” - is a new workout trend that’s taking the world by storm.

First things first - what does Hyrox involve?
According to GQ, the premise of a Hyrox race is “simple”: “run a kilometre, complete a functional workout challenge, and run again”, for a total of eight times. These functional workout challenges involve everything from 1000m on a rowing machine to “sandbag lunges”, and participants can compete either in pairs, quartets or on their own. 

Exhausted just reading the description? Us too.

How did it come about? 
Hyrox was launched in Germany in 2017 by Christian Toetzke and Olympic hockey champion Moritz Fürste, with 650 people taking part in the first race. Since then, Hyrox has spread across Europe and the US, soaring in popularity late last year to now boast nearly 200,000 competitors around the world with events in 14 different countries. 

So why is it so popular? 
Despite the gruelling-sounding format, Hyrox describes itself as “the sport for everybody” no matter their fitness level, with one enthusiast describing the 8k running distance as “enough to push you a bit further than a park run”.

Nevertheless, it’s worth noting that race entry prices aren’t exactly cheap. According to The Times, entries to the London event in May cost an average of £104 - though that didn’t stop the event quickly selling out.

And, unsurprisingly, social media has given Hyrox a big boost, with #hyrox already racking up millions of views on TikTok.

@lucyyprocter

Hyrox World Champs U24 Women #hyrox #worldchamps #athlete #fit #race #fitness #gym #gymtok #gymgirl #strongwomen #hyroxworld

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🔄 Controversial commercial: The UK advertising watchdog has backtracked on its decision to ban a Calvin Klein poster featuring  British singer  FKA twigs, citing the “strength of public feeling”. 

💼 Budget Day: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will deliver the Budget at 12:30pm today - we’ll be breaking down what this means for you tomorrow, but you can watch it live here.

📖 Reading inspo: The 2024 Women’s Prize for Fiction longlist has been announced, with debut novelists making up half of the 16-strong list. Check it out here.

🇺🇸 Super Tuesday takeaways: A Biden-Trump rematch in November is looking certain after the pair “swept to victory” in their respective nomination contests - but Trump’s rival Nikki Haley scored a surprise victory in Vermont.

🔔 Calling all book lovers: A “secret” room St Paul’s Cathedral’s 300-year-old library will be opened up to two guests for a “once-in-a-lifetime” overnight stay.

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