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Updated 2025-06-25 07:30
Tory MP lobbied for £10,000 donation from ‘Mongolian friend’ to be allowed
Daniel Kawczynski asked Electoral Commission to permit the funding after returning from a trip to MongoliaThe prime minister’s trade envoy to Mongolia lobbied the Electoral Commission to permit a £10,000 donation to his party association from a “Mongolian friend”, documents reveal.Daniel Kawczynski, the Conservative MP for Shrewsbury, contacted the independent electoral watchdog on 20 April, days after his return from a week-long trip to Mongolia in his role as trade envoy, accompanied by the UK ambassador. Continue reading...
Travelodge to be put up for sale by GoldenTree with £1.2bn price tag
US hedge fund seeks to profit from post-pandemic surge in demand for budget hotel chainTravelodge is to be put up for sale with a price tag of more than £1bn as the owner of the budget hotel chain seeks to cash in on a post-pandemic boom in demand.GoldenTree, the US hedge fund that took over Travelodge in 2012, has held meetings with investment banks to explore a potential sale of the chain of 595 hotels. Continue reading...
Fraud case delays in England and Wales double in eight years
The rise occurred despite the number of court trials dropping to a third of 2014 levels, according to analysisDelays to fraud cases in England and Wales have doubled in eight years, prompting fresh criticism that not enough is being done to deliver justice.The rise in delays came despite the number of fraud cases coming through the courts dropping to barely a third of 2014 levels, according to the analysis by the Criminal Bar Association (CBA). Continue reading...
‘Gambling controlled him’: inquest into man’s death to look at Betfair role
Annie Ashton is haunted by how easy it was for her husband, Luke, to gamble. Leicester inquest will examine if more could have been done to prevent his deathWhen Annie Ashton looks back on her final weeks with her husband, Luke, she wonders how often he gambled on his phone sitting beside her on the sofa, unnoticed.Luke took his own life on 22 April 2021 aged 40. It was only after his death that Annie looked at his phone and discovered he had been gambling in secret through the pandemic. Continue reading...
Paintings from Mark Gatiss and John Lithgow among exhibition of actors’ art
Stars’ paintings go in show in London next month, with proceeds going to struggling actorsBy night, Mark Gatiss is portraying Sir John Gielgud at the National Theatre. By day, he is portraying the great Shakespearean actor on canvas at home.Gatiss – who shot to fame in The League of Gentlemen, has had screen roles in Game of Thrones and Doctor Who, and acted in and co-wrote Sherlock – has long loved art. Having made a documentary for television on the 1950s painter, John Minton, five years ago, he was inspired to start art classes during Covid in 2021. “Drawing and painting are both relaxing and stimulating,” Gatiss told the Observer. “I don’t know of any other activity where I lose myself so completely.” Continue reading...
‘A voice from the past’: harp played by Jane Austen’s cousin sings again
Musician restores 250-year-old instrument of writer’s cousin, who is said to have inspired Mansfield Park character Mary CrawfordWhen the musician and restorer Mike Parker finally tracked down the harp, it was broken and stained, a shadow of its old self when it was played by a beloved relative of Jane Austen.But after careful restoration the instrument began to sing sweetly again and this weekend was played in the apt surroundings of Chawton, the Hampshire village where Austen lived and worked. Continue reading...
The world has moved on from Boris Johnson, says Grant Shapps
Minister slaps down claims that privileges committee was biased as Tory row over former PM’s exit intensifiesThe “world has moved on” from Boris Johnson, a senior cabinet minister has said, as he sought to quell the intensifying row among Tory MPs about the former prime minister’s decision to quit parliament.Despite Johnson resigning on Friday in a fit of rage over the results of an inquiry into Partygate, the energy secretary, Grant Shapps, slapped down claims the privileges committee conducting the inquiry was biased or that Johnson had been forced out by the “establishment”. Continue reading...
Home Office faces legal action over children missing from UK asylum hotels
Charity alleges placing unaccompanied children in hotels is ‘unlawful’ and a national scandalPlacing unaccompanied children in hotels run by the Home Office is “unlawful”, according to a legal action launched after hundreds of youngsters living in them have gone missing.Launched on Monday by the charity ECPAT UK, the legal action argues that the Home Office has “no authority” to place unaccompanied children in asylum hotels, from where scores have been kidnapped by gangs. Continue reading...
NHS to deploy street mental health teams to help England’s rough sleepers
Exclusive: £3.2m plan aims to curb rise in people sleeping rough as councils cut homelessness budgetsThe NHS will deploy street mental health teams in English locations from Devon to Doncaster in an attempt to curb a rise in rough sleeping in England.Fourteen outreach teams will aim to get more rough sleepers on to a path to counselling, medication or other treatments and will seek out people “who have often been through incredibly traumatic experiences to ensure they get the help they need”, said Prof Tim Kendall, NHS England’s clinical national director for mental health. Continue reading...
Harvey Weinstein tried to bully me, reveals Joseph Fiennes
The Handmaid’s Tale actor says the disgraced movie mogul threatened to end his Hollywood careerJoseph Fiennes, star of the television series The Handmaid’s Tale and of the 1998 hit movie, Shakespeare in Love, has explained why he turned down the chance to play major roles in a run of Hollywood blockbusters early in his career.It was, he said, a reaction to bullying pressure put on him by Harvey Weinstein, who wanted to take control of his life, and Fiennes does not regret the decision. Continue reading...
UK food giant calls for higher fat, sugar and salt taxes
Danone boss urges ministers to help people make healthy choicesOne of the country’s biggest food firms has said ministers should consider taxing products high in fat, sugar or salt to combat the obesity crisis.Danone UK & Ireland, which sells the Actimel yogurt drink brand, says government intervention is required to ensure consumers are offered healthier products. It says some food firms in the UK have not shown “enough appetite to change”. Continue reading...
‘Sold a dream’: migrant workers at children’s care chain left without pay for months
They came to fill gaps in a sector desperate for staff. Now an Observer investigation finds Indian nurses stuck in debt and despair, and wounded by broken promisesNurses hired from abroad to work for one of Britain’s biggest social care chains have been left in debt and are in some cases suicidal after being stranded without pay for months.They have also been paid lower wages than they were told they would receive and were in some cases given false promises about their accommodation and employment terms, an Observer investigation has found. Continue reading...
American citizen arrested in Moscow on drugs charges
Michael Travis Leake, described in Russian state media as a former paratrooper and musician, faces two months of pre-trial detentionAn American citizen who has lived in Russia for more than a decade has been arrested on suspicion of drug trafficking, according to local state media.The reports said Michael Travis Leake, 51, is accused of selling mephedrone, whose effects are similar to those of cocaine and MDMA, and that a court in Moscow has ordered for him to be held for two months in pre-trial detention. Continue reading...
Michaelia Cash accuses Labor of ‘weaponising’ Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation
Shadow attorney general says Katy Gallagher has questions to answer about her knowledge of the claim before it became public
Australian universities to offer ‘microcredentials’ in key areas to address skills crisis
The 28 short courses are designed to provide qualifications to up to 4000 students by 2026
Labor talks up possible aged care levy as minister says Australians willing to pay for more ‘choice’
Anika Wells says taskforce will include consideration of levies but government ‘still not advocating any particular proposal’
‘The modern day gay icon’: Jennifer Coolidge delivers camp and delight to fans at Sydney’s Vivid festival
The White Lotus star and showrunner Mike White sat down to discuss her career renaissance at 61 and why she’s in a constant state of ‘pure denial’
China has used Cuba as spy base for years, US official says
Chinese intelligence collection from Cuba predates the Biden era, with facilities upgraded in 2019, White House official saysChina has been spying from Cuba for some time and upgraded its intelligence collection facilities there in 2019, a Biden administration official said on Saturday, following a report about a new spying effort underway on the island.China had reached a secret deal with Cuba to establish an electronic eavesdropping facility on the island roughly 100 miles (160km) from Florida, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday but the US and Cuban governments cast strong doubt on the report. Continue reading...
Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 473 of the invasion
Volodymyr Zelenskiy confirms ‘counteroffensive and defensive actions’; president says his generals are in ‘positive mood’ but gives no more details
Thousands of Afghan refugees in UK set to be made homeless
Downing Street crisis meeting hears that about 8,000 who arrived under Operation Warm Welcome will be evicted this summer with nowhere to goThousands of Afghan refugees in the UK face homelessness this summer, the government was warned last week at a secret crisis meeting in Downing Street.Council officials told No 10 and Home Office civil servants that about 8,000 Afghan refugees, allowed into the country in 2021 under the slogan Operation Warm Welcome, are due to be evicted from hotels as early as August because of a government deadline, yet have nowhere to go. Continue reading...
This week’s corrections | For the record
Same-sex couples’ rights | Democrat/Democratic• An article overlooked Italy when it said Japan was the only G7 country that denies same-sex couples the right to marry. However, it is currently the case that Japan is the only country in the G7 that denies same-sex couples the right to marry or enter into a civil union (“G7 spotlight piles the pressure on Japan to accept same-sex marriage”, 2 April, p30).• An opinion piece used the terms “Democrat president” and “Democrat priorities”. However, as our style guide reminds us: “Democrat is a noun, Democratic an adjective … The distinction is important because the Republicans use ‘Democrat’ as an adjective, eg ‘Democrat party’, in a pejorative way” (“So what if Biden trips up? On the political stage, his footwork is the fanciest seen in decades”, 4 June, p41). Continue reading...
Zelenskiy appears to confirm Ukraine counteroffensive during Trudeau visit
Ukraine president cites counteroffensive ‘actions’ as Canada PM offers relief funding after dam breachVolodymyr Zelenskiy appears to have confirmed that Ukraine’s counteroffensive is under way, as Justin Trudeau visited Kyiv and accused Russia over flooding from the breached Kakhovka dam.“Counteroffensive and defensive actions are taking place in Ukraine: at which stage I will not talk in detail,” Zelenskiy said at a joint press conference in Kyiv on Saturday with the Canadian prime minister. Continue reading...
Crispin Odey leaves Odey Asset Management after misconduct allegations
The hedge fund says Odey will no longer be involved in the firm and it ‘cannot comment in detail’One of the City’s most prominent hedge fund managers is leaving the investment firm he founded after numerous claims of sexual harassment.Crispin Odey is leaving Odey Asset Management after allegations that he sexually assaulted or harassed 13 women. A legal firm representing the financier has said the allegations are “strenuously disputed”. Continue reading...
Guardsmen faint as UK temperatures hit 30C for first time this year
At least three troops collapse during military parade in London, as wildfire breaks out in Scottish HighlandsAt least three guardsmen fainted in the heat during a military parade as temperatures in the UK hit 30C (86F) for the first time this year, while in the Scottish Highlands people were told to stay inside as firefighters tackled a wildfire.More than 1,400 soldiers were reviewed by the Prince of Wales, who is honorary colonel of the Welsh guards. The event at Horse Guards Parade in central London on Saturday was a rehearsal for trooping the colour. Afterwards, Prince William tweeted that the troops had done “a really good job” in difficult conditions. Continue reading...
Driver wins parking fine case because details not provided in Welsh
Judge also issues judicial warning that all car park signage in Wales should be bilingualA motorist has won a civil case against a parking firm over an unpaid £160 fine after requesting details of the penalty in Welsh rather than solely in English.Elysteg Llwyd Thomas had been sent notice of the initial £60 fine in English after a stay at Lligwy beach in Anglesey, in August 2021. Continue reading...
Allegations of abuse at centre accused of ‘extreme religious practices’ raised in WA before Coalition’s $4m grant
Exclusive: State officials heard claims about Esther Foundation in 2018 before Scott Morrison announced funding in 2019, inquiry told
Home affairs asked Labor to extend support for asylum seekers as housing market worsens
Exclusive: Refugee advocates say nothing yet done to improve supports and they fear for people who end up with none
Boris Johnson ally becomes third Tory MP to resign within 24 hours – as it happened
Nigel Adams joins Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries in stepping down with immediate effect. This blog is now closed
‘Miracle, miracle’: lone children survive 40 days in Amazon jungle
The four Indigenous children were the only survivors of a plane crash that killed their motherA few tantalising clues kept the rescuers going. The remains of fruit with bitemarks made by small human teeth, a pair of scissors and nappies in the rainforest mud. All offered hope that four children, who had miraculously survived a plane crash that killed their mother, the pilot and the only other adult on board, also survived the dangers of the Amazon.The oldest was only 13 when the plane went down on 1 May in southern Colombia. The youngest would mark his first birthday lost under the dense green canopy of trees and vegetation, alive with jaguars, poisonous snakes and other threats. Continue reading...
Furious Tories turn against Boris Johnson after ‘bias’ outburst
MPs tell Rishi Sunak that the former PM must not be allowed to stand again, while Johnson ally Nigel Adams quits and triggers third byelectionRead more: what’s next for Boris Johnson after leaving the Commons?Rishi Sunak is under growing pressure to bar Boris Johnson from standing as a Conservative candidate at the next election, as senior Tories accused the former prime minister and his allies of a coordinated attempt to derail the government.Amid anger at Johnson within the party over his explosive departure, in which he said he was only leaving Westminster “for now” and accused a cross-party committee of “egregious bias”, there is now a concerted push among senior Tories to ensure Johnson has no route back to the Commons for the foreseeable future. Continue reading...
Primal Scream musician’s son says band’s ‘tough love’ isolated father before death
Keyboard player Martin Duffy was ‘not able to cope’ after being excluded from tour and rights deal, inquest toldThe teenage son of Martin Duffy, the late keyboard player with Primal Scream, has accused other members of the band of leaving his father out in the cold financially and professionally, and of contributing to his isolation before his early death last December.Duffy, who played on a string of hits in the 1990s, including Movin’ on Up and Loaded, joined the band as a full-time member in 1989, after a period playing with Felt. He contributed to every album, including the award-winning Screamadelica. Continue reading...
Chloe Mitchell: search goes on for missing County Antrim woman
Mitchell, 21, was last seen one week ago in the early hours of 3 June in Ballymena town centreA second man has been arrested by police investigating the disappearance of a County Antrim woman.Chloe Mitchell, 21, from Ballymena was last seen on CCTV in the early hours of 3 June in Ballymena town centre. Continue reading...
What’s next for Boris Johnson after leaving the Commons?
The former PM says he is only stepping down ‘for now’. But other opportunities seem likely to tempt himBoris Johnson quit with a furious resignation statement that left open the threat of a return. But now unencumbered by the duties of parliamentary life, what lies ahead for the former prime minister? Continue reading...
Boy, 16, charged with attempted murder after Devon school attack
Police announce two charges of attempted murder and one of GBH after violent assault at Blundell’s private schoolA 16-year-old boy has been charged with two counts of attempted murder and one count of GBH with intent over a violent assault on two teenage boys and an adult at Blundell’s school in Tiverton on Friday, Devon and Cornwall police said.The boy will appear at Exeter magistrates court on Monday. Continue reading...
Kyiv reports advances as UK says Russian lines breached in some areas – as it happened
UK Ministry of Defence says Ukraine has ‘likely made good progress’ in some areas but that progress is ‘slower’ in others. This blog is now closedThe latest intelligence update from the UK’s Ministry of Defence said over the past 48 hours “significant” Ukrainian operations have taken place in several sectors of eastern and southern Ukraine.Ukrainian forces have “likely made good progress” and “penetrated the first line of Russian defences”, the MoD added. However, in other areas “Ukrainian progress has been slower”. Continue reading...
Sunak faces test as another Johnson ally quits triggering third byelection
Nigel Adams, MP for Selby and Ainsty, announced on Saturday he would stand down with immediate effect
Pope advised not to give Sunday blessing from hospital balcony
Prayer will instead be said in his suite after chief surgeon says Francis should avoid strain on abdomenPope Francis’s recovery from surgery is going well but doctors have advised him not to deliver his Sunday blessing from a hospital balcony to avoid strain on his abdomen, his surgeon said.Briefing reporters at the Gemelli hospital on Saturday, chief surgeon Sergio Alfieri also said the 86-year-old had agreed with doctors to stay there for at least all of next week. Continue reading...
‘Putting lives at risk’: UK coastal towns revolt against smaller lifeboats
Seaside communities that provide crews and funds fear reduction in size of rescue vessels will ‘put lives at risk’Lifeboats have been in Aldeburgh for centuries, even before the Royal National Lifeboat Institution was founded 199 years ago. On the stony beach of the Suffolk town sit two venerable lifeboat huts, a legacy of a time when two rival crews would row into the North Sea in a race to save lives – and get first salvage rights.“They never spoke to each other. They drank in separate pubs and had separate lives,” says Derek Wyatt, the former Labour MP who, until recently, was chair of the Aldeburgh Lifeboat Guild, which fundraises for the RNLI. Continue reading...
Exhausted crews battle Canadian wildfires as experts issue climate warning
Global heating and human changes to the landscape have invited more destructive fires, making fire season worseWeeks of unprecedented wildfires in Canada have burned millions of hectares, displaced more than 100,000 residents and plunged the country into a nationwide crisis as exhausted crews battle hundreds of blazes. But experts caution that a changing climate and human actions on the landscape will probably make fire seasons worse in the coming years.Hundreds of firefighters from across the world have flown to Canada to aid a nation stretched thin with a spring fire season that has shattered records on both sides of the country, with warmer and drier months still to come. Continue reading...
UK firms without flexible working ‘will struggle to hire in next five years’
Entrepreneur hoping to be Tory mayoral candidate makes prediction as 4 Day Week Campaign prepares mini-manifestoCompanies that do not adopt flexible working will struggle to hire in the next five years, according to an entrepreneur who is hoping to be a Tory mayoral candidate.Natalie Campbell, co-chief executive of Belu Water, is due to speak at a cross-party event hosted by the 4 Day Week Campaign on Tuesday when it will publish its mini-manifesto. Continue reading...
Labour has clear lead in more than 100 battleground seats, poll finds
Party has 10% swing from the Conservatives in the 144 key constituencies that will decide the next election – but an overall majority is still not certainLabour has established a clear lead over the Tories in more than 100 battleground seats that will decide the next election, according to a new analysis seen by the Observer.In a rare insight into marginal constituencies at next year’s election, Keir Starmer’s party has now secured a 10% swing from the Conservatives in a set of 144 seats in which the vote will be won and lost. Labour now holds a seven-point lead over the Tories in the seats, which include marginals in England, Wales and Scotland. Continue reading...
Man held on suspicion of murder after two people found dead in East Sussex
Bodies of man, 33, and a 30-year-old woman discovered at a house in Newhaven on Friday eveningA man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after the bodies of two people were found at a house in East Sussex.Officers attended a property in Lewes Road, Newhaven, shortly after 7pm on Friday and found a 33-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman, who were pronounced dead at the scene. Continue reading...
No sex on the beach, please: Dutch town tells nude sunbathers to put a lid on lust
The local authority in Veere has put up warning signs after a wave of complaints about frisky visitors to the nature reserveA town in the south of the Netherlands has started a campaign to dissuade nudist beach visitors from sex on the beach and in the dunes.On Thursday, Veere municipality put up amended beachside boards warning frisky guests that the dunes are legally off limits, public sex is banned and there is “increased monitoring” to combat “sexual meeting place activities in the dunes, nature reserve and beach”. Continue reading...
Lib Dems rule out tactical voting pact with Labour in byelections
Leader Ed Davey says party will fight for both seats after resignations of Boris Johnson and Nadine DorriesSir Ed Davey, the leader of the Liberal Democrats, has ruled out a formal pact with Labour to encourage tactical voting in order to beat the Conservatives in the byelections triggered by Boris Johnson and Nadine Dorries’ shock resignations.Dorries, one of Johnson’s fiercest cheerleaders, quit parliament on Friday after being told she would not be elevated to the House of Lords in Johnson’s resignation honours list. Johnson followed suit hours later, ditching his outer-London seat with a bitter resignation statement accusing Rishi Sunak of leading a government that is “not properly Conservative” and attacking the Partygate investigation. Continue reading...
Nine people killed in attack by al-Shabaab in Somali capital Mogadishu
Islamist militants claim responsibility for blast at popular restaurant on Friday night that injured 20 peopleNine people were killed in an attack claimed by al-Shabaab Islamist militants at an upmarket restaurant in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Friday night, police have said.Those killed at the popular Pearl restaurant were six civilians and three soldiers, police said in a statement. Continue reading...
Boris Johnson a ‘coward’ for quitting to avoid byelection, says Angela Rayner
Deputy Labour leader says former PM has ‘no respect’ for Tory voters and ‘knows he is in the wrong’
Boris Johnson’s resignation statement – what he really meant
As ever with the former PM there was plenty of barely hidden subtext as he took aim at perceived enemies
Italian special forces storm Turkish cargo ship after attempted hijack
Stowaways allegedly tried to take sailors hostage after being discovered on Galatea Seaways bound for FranceItalian special forces have stormed a cargo ship sailing from Turkey to France after about 15 people armed with knives attempted to hijack the vessel.The asylum seekers, 13 men and two women, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, had allegedly sneaked undetected on to the roll-on, roll-off cargo ship, named Galatea Seaways, in the hope of reaching Europe.AFP and Ansa contributed to this report Continue reading...
Greggs opens fourth shop in Cornwall but has no pasties on the menu
Newcastle-based baker makes second attempt to win over Saltash after franchise store failedSaying that feelings run high about Greggs in Cornwall is an understatement. A local critic memorably described the company as the “devil’s spawn” when it dared to set up shop in Truro.But the Newcastle-based baker has not been cowed and its fourth shop in the county opens in Saltash on Saturday. It is Greggs’ second attempt to win over the town, after a franchise store that opened in 2018 closed within a year. Continue reading...
Government ‘fanning culture war’ over free speech, says UK’s first LGBTQ+ history professor
Issue blown out of proportion, says Matt Cook, after appointment of ‘free speech tsar’ for higher educationOxford University’s new professor of LGBTQ+ history has accused the government of “fanning a culture war” over freedom of speech, insisting it is alive and well in higher education.Matt Cook, who was this week named as the first Jonathan Cooper chair of the history of sexualities, a newly created post at Mansfield College, was speaking only days after the appointment of the government’s first “free speech tsar” for higher education. Continue reading...
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