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Banks Bourne, sole owner of Tanner Pharma in North Carolina, took sum from Tanner’s UK arm, records showAn American banker was paid a £73m dividend in 2021 after his firm won hundreds of millions in Covid contracts, figures show.Banks Bourne, the sole owner of the medical company Tanner Pharma, took the sum from Tanner’s UK division, Companies House records show. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Joint letter from organisations and experts says singling out British-Pakistani men draws attention away from other sources of sexual abusePoliticians who make “inaccurate or divisive claims” about child sexual abuse and grooming gangs undermine efforts to tackle the crime and almost certainly make children less safe, organisations and experts in the subject have warned in an unprecedented joint letter.The letter, signed by 50 researchers and more than a dozen organisations, including the NSPCC and Victim Support, urges Suella Braverman and Rishi Sunak to avoid narratives on abuse based on “misinformation, racism and division”. Continue reading...

PPB Counterparty Services to pay £490,000 for breaching social responsibility rulesThe bookmaker Paddy Power sent a promotional push notification to customers who had signed up to exclude themselves from gambling, inviting them to bet on a football match.The Gambling Commission, which regulates the industry, said PPB Counterparty Services, trading as Paddy Power and Betfair, would pay £490,000 for breaching social responsibility rules. Continue reading...

PM tells ITV show he reads veteran author’s racy books for ‘escapism’

Peter Lam Bui posted his video after a Vietnamese official visited the celebrity chef’s London steakhouseA Vietnam court has jailed a noodle seller who went viral for impersonating celebrity chef Salt Bae, after the restaurateur served a gold-leaf steak to a powerful official, his lawyer said.In 2021, Peter Lam Bui posted a parody video impersonating Salt Bae – Nusret Gökçe, a Turkish chef who parlayed his meme stardom into high-end eateries – by sprinkling herbs on noodle soup and calling himself “Green Onion Bae”. Continue reading...

Committee highlights serious problems with residence schemes affecting Brits already living in the EU before Brexit

Iain Livingstone says ‘institutional racism, sexism, misogyny and discrimination exist’ in forcePolice Scotland is institutionally racist and discriminatory, its chief constable, Iain Livingstone, has said in a public acknowledgement that has been welcomed by campaigners but prompted calls for action.“It is right for me, as chief constable, to clearly state that institutional racism, sexism, misogyny and discrimination exist,” Livingstone told a meeting of the Scottish Police Authority on Thursday morning. Continue reading...

Anne Boden is also a major shareholder and hopes move will shield online bank from possible concernsThe founder of Starling Bank, Anne Boden, is to step aside in a surprise move designed to shield the online bank from potential concerns over a conflict of interest, because she is a major shareholder in the lender.Boden, who launched the bank in 2014, said on Thursday that the roles and priorities of a shareholder and chief executive “ultimately differ” and that to ensure there was “no potential conflict”, she would give up her executive role next month but remain on the board as a non-executive director. Continue reading...

Rise of 20% to 606,000 will be seen as embarrassing for Brexiters Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman

Fulgence Kayishema, 62, charged with playing leading role in church killing of more than 2,000 peopleOne of the world’s most wanted genocide suspects, a Rwandan former police chief, Fulgence Kayishema, has been arrested in South Africa and charged with playing a leading role in the murder of more than 2,000 people in a church in April 1994.Kayishema has spent more than two decades as a fugitive and was living under a false name at the time of his arrest on Wednesday afternoon in Paarl, 35 miles (60km) north-east of Cape Town. He was detained by the South African police and members of a tracking team from the Rwandan war crimes tribunal based in Arusha, Tanzania. Continue reading...

Game in which users were able to buy and sell enslaved people, removed from Google Play store on Wednesday, elicits horrorBrazilians have reacted with horror to the news that a mobile phone game in which players were able to buy and sell enslaved people was until recently available to download on Google Play.Dubbed the ‘Slavery Simulator’ (Simulador de Escravidão), the disturbing game also allowed players to inflict different forms of torture on black characters. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Delay to key pledge of last Conservative manifesto likely to anger MPs who wanted action before next election

Member states vote to relocate the office to Denmark by the end of the year, in response to health impacts of Ukraine conflictMember states of the World Health Organization voted on Wednesday to move a Moscow-based office of the WHO to Copenhagen, and urged Russia to stop attacks on hospitals and healthcare facilities in Ukraine.At the 76th World Health Assembly in Geneva, 80 member states voted to request the WHO secretariat to relocate the European Office for the Prevention and Control of Noncommunicable Diseases to Denmark before the new year. Continue reading...

NSW Fire and Rescue say it will be a ‘substantial and very prolonged’ effort of firefighting to extinguish the blaze completely

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Australians who have chosen Elon Musk’s low-Earth orbit service say it offers higher speeds, better latency and unlimited data

Contentious circumstances in which controversial jewels were acquired explained by ‘honest, transparent’ exhibitionThe Koh-i-noor diamond is a “symbol of conquest” that was acquired by Britain after its child owner was “compelled” to hand it over, a prominent new display at the Tower of London acknowledges, after visitors called for more “honest, transparent” information about the history of the crown jewels.As part of an overhaul of the Jewel House, where the coronation regalia is kept, visitors will be told in detail for the first time about the complex history of the diamond, which passed through Moghul, Persian and Afghan hands before being acquired by Britain in circumstances which remain highly contentious. Continue reading...

The 16th-century mansion was given to the nation to allow its leader to unwind, and Johnson took full advantageWhen Chequers was gifted to the nation a century ago, the intent was to allow prime ministers two days a week of relaxation in the Chiltern hills, because “the better the health of our rulers, the more sanely will they rule”.Boris Johnson is alleged to have taken the invitation to kick back more seriously than most, treating Chequers as both a bolthole and a party pad. Continue reading...

Emma Frizzell, a senior constable with the Australian federal police, told an inquiry she realised over the past few weeks she was wrong about what was needed to charge a suspect

Great-grandmother’s death comes a week after she was Tasered by NSW police and as Greens call for independent investigation

Daughters of Rached Ghannouchi and Said Ferjani demand justice amid continuing crackdown on dissent by President Saied

Report by Syrian Network for Human Rights details laws giving Assad’s government powers to seize landAs many as 14 million Syrians face a near insurmountable barrier to returning to their homes after the government passed laws giving the state power to seize their land and property, according to a report by the Syrian Network for Human Rights.The report, shared with the Guardian, urged the UN high commissioner for refugees to highlight the laws as one of the main obstacles to refugees returning home. Continue reading...

Council of Europe finds ‘shocking’ levels of bullying in education system and threats to legal status and rightsThere is “troublingly persistent” levels of discrimination against Gypsy, Roma and Travellers (GRT) in the UK, an expert group from Europe’s leading human rights body has found.The Council of Europe committee said the GRT community suffer “shocking” amounts of bullying in the education system, prejudiced reporting in the media and threats to their legal status and rights, including as a result of recent legislative changes. Continue reading...

Officials confirmed at Senate estimates the AFP has contracts with PwC acting as its internal auditor, raising potential conflict of interest

Successful trials in Africa of NmCV-5 vaccine open the door to affordable treatment for disease that kills 250,000 people a yearAn effective, affordable meningitis vaccine has been successfully tested in Africa, raising hopes for the elimination of a disease that kills 250,000 people a year.The NmCV-5 vaccine, developed by the Serum Institute of India and global health organisation Path, will protect against the five main meningococcal strains found in Africa, including the emerging X strain, for which there is currently no licensed injection. Continue reading...

Researchers analysed cartographic data and aerial photos to identify three possible locations in former fishing village TanturaAn investigation into a massacre in a destroyed Palestinian village carried out by Israeli forces in the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation has identified three possible mass graves beneath a present-day beach resort.Palestinian survivors and historians have long claimed that men living in Tantura, a fishing village of approximately 1,500 people near Haifa, were executed after surrendering to the Alexandroni Brigade and their bodies dumped in a mass grave believed to be located under an area that is now a car park for Dor Beach. Estimates have ranged from 40 to 200 people. Continue reading...

Australia’s most decorated soldier will learn the outcome of his case against three newspapers over Afghanistan allegations, including the murder of civilians

National broadcaster confirms Q+A host made complaint to Sydney police before a 41-year-old man was charged with two counts of online harassment

Officers were called to Alexander Avenue in North Willoughby, behind a Harris Farm supermarket, after reports of a man threatening locals

Supermarket giant’s rival service Metro60 to be rebranded to MilkRun and take on folded startup’s customer base

PM says opposition leader’s contributions to referendum debate ‘simply unworthy of the alternative prime minister of this nation’

Murray Watt tells Senate estimates he is ‘seriously concerned’ about the apparent actions of some consultants hired by his department

When Jordan Neely, a homeless Michael Jackson impersonator, died at the hands of a fellow passenger this month, it shocked the world. But what does it reveal about the city?It is a death that has revealed deep divides in the US, and exposed a crisis in mental health and homeless care. On 1 May, a mentally ill homeless man named Jordan Neely began shouting on the New York subway. Fellow passenger Daniel Penny got him in a chokehold and, in front of other travellers, Neely was killed.After the death of Neely, a popular Michael Jackson impersonator, protesters took to the subway and the streets and a crowdfunder was set up to pay for his funeral. Other Americans hailed Penny as a hero and donated more than $2.7m to his defence fund. Continue reading...

Alleged fraudster disappeared in 2020, age 49, from her home in Dover Heights after a police raid

Australian Energy Regulator says power bills would have gone up twice as fast without government intervention

The cheeky big fruit from north Queensland that mysteriously went ‘missing’ back in 2014 turns 21

Paramedics assessed multiple people on Meeniyan-Promontory Road at Fish Creek but no one was injured

Musician’s family says items for sale are ‘clearly stolen’, but Boston auction house claims it bought them after Petty’s former home was foreclosed in 2015The family of the late musician Tom Petty has accused a Boston auction house of stealing his clothing in order to sell it at auction, urging fans and collectors to not buy the items while it pursues legal action.RR Auction house currently has more than 40 items of Petty’s clothing listed for auction, including jackets, bags, boots, hats and T-shirts. On its website, the auction house claims it acquired the clothes after Petty’s first wife, Jane Benyo Petty, lost their family home in Encino to foreclosure in 2015. Continue reading...

Commissioner says dismissal was a disproportionate response but it was appropriate that imaging technician be denied back pay and issued final warning

Source says ‘we removed equipment after building a custom studio at our expense … we did not tear down the studio’As Tucker Carlson prepares to take his show to Twitter, Fox News, the network which fired the primetime opinion host last month, has dismantled the studio it built in a barn at his home in Maine.“Fox came in last week and got all their shit out of there,” DailyMail.com quoted Patrick Feeney, who it said was managing work to rebuild the studio, as saying. Continue reading...

Nearly 1,000 students attempt group action against UCL, accusing it of breaking promisesLawyers representing almost 1,000 current and former students whose studies were affected by Covid and strike action told the high court in London their clients felt “cheated” by their educational experience and should be entitled to seek compensation through the courts.They are seeking to bring a claim against University College London (UCL), accusing it of breaking its “promises” after tuition was moved online and access to libraries and laboratories restricted during the pandemic, with no discount to their “eye-watering” tuition fees. Continue reading...

Stars such as Mick Jagger, Angela Bassett and Magic Johnson pay tribute to the singer who has died at 83An outpouring of tributes has emerged online following the death of legendary vocalist and performer Tina Turner.Turner died at 83 years old at her home in Switzerland following her battle with a long illness after she was diagnosed with intestinal cancer in 2016 and underwent a kidney transplant a year later. Continue reading...

Steve Rodhouse, who led Operation Midland, may have breached professional standards, says police watchdogOne of Britain’s most senior police officers should face a gross misconduct charge over his role in Operation Midland, the disastrous investigation into claims of a VIP paedophile ring, the police watchdog has concluded.The Independent Office for Police Conduct had previously cleared Steve Rodhouse of wrongdoing for overseeing the Metropolitan police’s operation, which saw the force raid homes of high-profile figures having fallen for the lies of the fantasist Carl Beech. Continue reading...

Ales Bialiatski has been in jail for 20 months following mass protests over regime of Alexander LukashenkoThe Nobel peace prize laureate Ales Bialiatski has been transferred to a notoriously brutal prison in Belarus and has not been heard from in a month, his wife has said.Natalia Pinchuk said that Bialiatski, who is serving a 10-year sentence, has been kept in an information blackout since his transfer to the N9 colony for repeat offenders in the city of Gorki, where inmates are beaten and subjected to hard labour. Continue reading...

Investigation of Teesworks project to be led by independent panel of his choosing, not National Audit OfficeMichael Gove has ordered an “independent review” into allegations of “corruption wrongdoing and illegality” surrounding a Teesside redevelopment project that is part of Rishi Sunak’s freeports plans.But there was anger as Gove declined to act on calls for the National Audit Office (NAO) to lead the investigation, instead announcing it will undertaken by an independent panel that he will appoint, while the watchdog will have some limited role. Continue reading...

Data prompts speculation NHS inability to cut waiting lists could make private healthcare ‘new normal’Record numbers of people are paying for private healthcare, spending up to £3,200 on having a cataract removed and £15,075 on a new hip, amid growing frustration at NHS waiting lists.Across the UK last year 272,000 people used their own funds to cover the cost of having an operation or diagnostic procedure at a private hospital. That was up from 262,000 the year before and a sharp rise on the 199,000 who did so in 2019, the year before the Covid pandemic struck. Continue reading...

Bermondsey MP had whip removed last year after complaint by reporter Henry Dyer about racist commentsLabour is to restore the party whip to Neil Coyle after the MP was suspended for drunken abuse and making racist comments to a journalist.Coyle was suspended in February last year after a complaint by Henry Dyer, a political reporter for the Insider website who now works for the Guardian, about the behaviour of the MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark in London. Continue reading...

Yevgeny Prigozhin says children of Russian elite ‘shook their arses’ in sun while sons of poor returned in coffinsThe head of the Wagner mercenary force has said that 20,000 of its fighters have been killed in the battle for the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, and warned that Russia could face another revolution if its leadership did not improve its handling of the war.Yevgeny Prigozhin said 20% of the 50,000 convicts Wagner had recruited, and a similar number of its regular troops, had been killed over several months in the fight for Bakhmut. Continue reading...

Washington has been clear with Kyiv it does not support use of US-made equipment outside Ukraine, White House spokesperson John Kirby says. This live blog is closed

Ibrahim Faraj, seven, was abducted and taken to Saudi Arabia in NovemberA woman whose seven-year-old son was kidnapped by his father and taken to Saudi Arabia has said she repeatedly warned authorities it would happen but “no one listened”.Ranem Elkhalidi has not seen or spoken to Ibrahim Faraj since November, when he was abducted by his father, Hamzah Faraj, in breach of a court order. Continue reading...