Highly skilled officers in England and Wales to be replaced by less qualified staff under MoJ proposalsPlans to disband specialist teams that deliver treatment courses for sex offenders have prompted fears public safety will be jeopardised.Under the Ministry of Justice proposals, which are being fiercely resisted internally, behaviour programmes for a wide variety of offenders would be delivered by staff who are not fully qualified probation officers. Continue reading...
Health groups raise alarm after Sir Mark Rowley says he will order officers not to attend 999 calls about mental health incidentsThousands of people in a mental health crisis will be “left without support” under worrying and inappropriate police plans to “walk away” from emergency incidents, health chiefs have said.In a letter seen by the Guardian, the Metropolitan police comissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, said that from September he would order the force’s police officers not to attend thousands of 999 calls about mental health incidents. Continue reading...
by Martin Belam, Helen Livingstone, Guardian staff an on (#6BYVC)
At least one person hospitalised after daytime missile attack on Kyiv; Ukraine claims to have shot down 37 missiles and 29 drones overnight Continue reading...
Ex-presenter says handful of people ‘have grudge’ after Dr Ranj Singh describes raising alarm about working environment on showFormer This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield has hit back at critics, claiming there was “no toxicity” on the ITV show and appearing to blame his departure on a “handful of people with a grudge”.The presenter’s comments left ITV on Friday and was dropped by his talent agency as he admitted to an affair with a younger male colleague – which he described as “unwise, but not illegal” – while married. Continue reading...
Accused appeared at Dungannon magistrates court via video link charged with Omagh shootingSeven men have been remanded in custody after appearing before a district judge in Northern Ireland charged with the attempted murder of PSNI Det Ch Insp John Caldwell in Omagh in February.Caldwell was shot several times outside a sports complex in Omagh, County Tyrone, in February. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#6BYZD)
Residents at Kettering home left lying in faeces, dehydrated and with infected wounds as ministers rushed to free up NHS capacityThe depth of suffering in care homes in England as Covid hit has been laid bare in a court case exposing “degrading” treatment with residents being “catastrophically let down”.Care levels at the Temple Court care home in Kettering collapsed so badly in April 2020, when ministers rushed to free up NHS capacity by discharging thousands of people, that residents were left lying in their own faeces, dehydrated, malnourished and suffering necrotic, infected wounds, the Care Quality Commission found. Fifteen of its residents died with Covid in the first weeks of the pandemic. Continue reading...
‘Landmark’ resolution in Geneva seeks to boost neglected service in all healthcare sectors, from prosthetics to physical therapyRehabilitation needs are “largely unmet globally” and in many countries less than 50% of people receive the services they require, according to a “landmark” resolution adopted by the World Health Assembly in Geneva on Friday.At the 76th World Health Assembly, World Health Organization (WHO) member states made a non-binding commitment to expand rehabilitation services to all levels of healthcare and to strengthen their financing mechanisms. Demand for the services is expected to grow as the burden of non-communicable diseases rises globally, says the document. Continue reading...
Boat reportedly carrying more than 20 people was overturned in ‘whirlwind’ on Lake Maggiore on SundayItalian firefighters say they have recovered four bodies from a northern Italian lake after a tourist boat capsized and sank in a sudden, violent storm.The boat was reportedly carrying more than 20 people, including a group of foreign tourists celebrating a birthday, plus two crew members, when a whirlwind overturned the vessel on Sunday. Continue reading...
Pedro Sánchez says Spanish people need to ‘clarify’ what they want after ruling socialists suffer losses in regional and municipal electionsSpain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has called a snap general election in response to the triumph of the rightwing opposition in Sunday’s regional and municipal elections.The conservative People’s party (PP) – which used the polls as a de facto referendum on Sánchez’s coalition government with the far-left, anti-austerity Podemos party – scored an emphatic win, securing absolute majorities in the Madrid region and the city council, aking regions including Aragón, Valencia and the Balearic islands from the prime minister’s Spanish Socialist Workers party (PSOE). Continue reading...
A Colorado student defied officials with a Mexican flag, the vice-president visited West Point and a service animal lent a pawA Colorado high school student defied a federal judge’s ruling and wore a Mexican flag sash to her high school graduation after fending off repeated resistance from the school.The event was just one of a clutch of unusual graduations and commencements across the country in the last week, with some firsts – and one furry companion. Continue reading...
by Amy Hawkins Senior China correspondent on (#6BYY4)
Lawyers acting for pro-democracy activist argued that proceedings could be biased due to judge selectionHong Kong’s high court has rejected an attempt by lawyers acting for the jailed pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai to have his national security trial dismissed.The court ruled on Monday that the argument the trial may appear to be biased had “no merits”, and gave the proceedings, which are scheduled to start in September, the green light. Continue reading...
Catholic church’s claim he could not have been an altar boy because he was baptised Anglican proved to be incorrect but delayed case for a year, in a legal move being heavily criticised
TUC says its study suggests one in 10 women have employers who do not have to enter them into a pensionWomen are more than twice as likely as men to miss out on being automatically put into a workplace pension, according to a report.The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said its study suggested that more than one in 10 women were in jobs where their employers did not have to enter them into a workplace pension, compared with fewer than one in 20 men. Continue reading...
Seven admit rioting, while another six face additional charges carrying a maximum sentence of life in prisonA Hong Kong court has began the trial of 13 people over the storming and ransacking of the city’s legislature in 2019, which was an unprecedented challenge to the Beijing-backed government.It was the most violent episode in the initial phase of the huge pro-democracy protests that shook Hong Kong that year, with millions marching and staging sit-ins for weeks. Continue reading...
Oxford University research reveals 17,000 out-of-area placements in England can be attributed to the corporate takeover of careThe corporate takeover of children’s care has led to more children moving between short-term, unstable placements far away from their families, according to research.The Oxford University study – which drew on more than 600,000 care records – revealed 17,000 out-of-area placements in England can be attributed to the outsourcing of care to for-profit providers between 2011 and 2022. Continue reading...
Relatives of Dorset teenager say some organisations have only made minor tweaks after coroner’s findingsRelatives of Gaia Pope have expressed anger and heartache at the lack of progress on key reforms in policing and healthcare they believe are needed a year after the Dorset teenager’s inquest exposed dozens of failings in her care.One described the impact of her death and the legal process that followed as “a wound that will never heal or even stop bleeding” while another said they still felt badly traumatised and let down by the legal system. Continue reading...
Exclusive: First minister of Wales says bonds that tie UK together have come under ‘sustained assault’ from 40 years of neoliberalismThe UK could break apart unless it is rebuilt as a “solidarity union” where every citizen’s rights to public services and financial security are protected, the first minister of Wales, has warned.Mark Drakeford said the social and political bonds that tie the different parts of the UK together have come under “sustained assault” from 40 years of neoliberalism, a trend launched by Margaret Thatcher in 1979 and then reinforced after Brexit by Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Continue reading...
Tokyo says any missile entering its territory will be destroyed as Pyongyang completes preparations to launch first military spy satelliteJapan’s military has said it will destroy any North Korean missile that violates its territory and is making preparations to do so, after Kim Jong-un’s regime told Tokyo it plans to launch a satellite between 31 May and 11 June.Japan’s chief cabinet secretary, Hirokazu Matsuno, said any launch by North Korea, even if termed a satellite launch, affected the safety of Japanese citizens. “The government recognises that there is a possibility that the satellite may pass through our country’s territory.” Continue reading...
Experts point to crackdown on national security and legal system that encourages guilty pleasChinese courts prosecuted 8.3 million people in the five years to 2022, a 12% increase on the previous period. There was also a nearly 20% increase in the number of protests against court rulings.The figures released by the supreme people’s procuratorate (SPP) in March give a glimpse of how China’s notoriously opaque justice system has operated in recent years, amid a tightening domestic security environment. Continue reading...
Item inscribed with ‘Eva’ in German and the initials ‘AH’ to go under the hammer at Belfast auction in JuneA silver-plated pencil purported to have belonged to Adolf Hitler is going under the hammer in Belfast next month and is estimated to sell for between £50,000 and £80,000.It is believed to have been a gift to the former Nazi dictator from his long-term partner Eva Braun for his 52nd birthday on 20 April 1941. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Deputy political editor on (#6BYT7)
Party’s research shows police did not even find a suspect in 30,079 incidents in England and WalesSlightly more than 30,000 muggings in England and Wales did not even result in a suspect being identified by police last year, research released by the Liberal Democrats has shown.Just 8% of all offences of robbery of personal property reported to the police last year saw someone being charged, the data from the House of Commons library research showed. Continue reading...
People’s party strengthens hold on Madrid and could take regions of Valencia and Aragón, according to pollSpain’s opposition conservative People’s party (PP) is heading for an emphatic win in Sunday’s key regional and municipal elections, winning an absolute majority in the city of Madrid and in the surrounding area.It is poised to wrest the regions of Valencia, Aragón and the Balearic islands from the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE). Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Deputy political editor on (#6BYSY)
‘Equal pay generation’ of female workers abandoned by Tories, says Anneliese Dodds, who commissioned researchThe so-called equal pay generation of female workers born near the passing of the 1970 Equal Pay Act are unlikely to see the gap close during their working lives, a Labour analysis has shown.Research carried out for Anneliese Dodds, the shadow secretary of state for women and equalities, calculated that such is the slow rate of change with equal pay for women in their 50s, the gender pay gap will not close before 2050 at the current trajectory. Continue reading...
Re-elected president could take Nato country further towards Russia, or may instead be more open to alternativesWestern capitals remained silent through Turkey’s presidential campaign – privately hoping Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s erratic 20-year rule would come to a surprise close – but now he has been handed a decisive mandate to serve a third term, the west is caught between fear and hope.It fears he will exploit the result to take this Nato founder member further from the liberal secular west, but hopes against hope that, not being eligible to run again and thus freed from the need to pander to a nationalist electorate for the rest of his political life, he may at least be open to persuasion and base his foreign policy on something other than self-preservation. Continue reading...
Doctor also says he was ‘managed out’ of the show after raising concerns over how people were being treatedA TV doctor who previously worked on ITV’s This Morning has said the culture on the show became “toxic” and that he was “managed out” after he tried to raise his concerns.Dr Ranj Singh, who made regular appearances offering medical advice, said that, over 10 years on the show, he grew “increasingly worried about how things were behind-the-scenes and how people, including myself, were being treated”. Continue reading...
Australian musician told Hay festival we should not ‘eradicate the best of these people in order to punish the worst of them’Nick Cave has said that boycotting songs because of the actions of the artist “is not a very good way to go about things”.The Australian singer-songwriter told the Hay festival: “Making art – especially making music – it prevents you from becoming the worst aspects of your character, and that’s why I very much think we need to be very, very careful about the music we don’t think people should listen to any more because of what the artist who has made that music may have been like,” the Australian singer-songwriter said. Continue reading...
The live-action remake brought in nearly $100m over the Memorial Day weekend, knocking Fast X out of the top spotThe Little Mermaid live-action remake of Disney’s 1989 animated classic made a splash at the box office on Memorial Day weekend, bringing in almost $100m in North America, according to studio estimates released on Sunday.The film starring Halle Bailey, winning praise from critics as the titular mermaid Ariel, and Melissa McCarthy as her sea witch nemesis, Ursula, ranks as the fifth biggest Memorial Day weekend opening on record. Continue reading...
Two men in their 20s were pulled from the sea near Torbay as boy who died in Carlisle named as Lewis Michael Kirkpatrick, 15At least three people have drowned over the bank holiday weekend as the UK experienced the hottest day of the year so far on Sunday.Two men in their 20s died after being pulled from the sea off the coast of Torbay, Devon and Cornwall police said. Officers were called to assist the coastguard at about 9am on Saturday after reports of concern for two people off Oddicombe beach. Continue reading...
Pink Floyd co-founder rejects accusations before his Sunday night concert in former Nazi siteSeveral Jewish groups, politicians and an alliance of civil society groups gathered for a memorial ceremony and a protest rally against a concert by Roger Waters in Frankfurt on Sunday evening.They accuse the Pink Floyd co-founder of antisemitism – an allegation he denies. Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#6BYQV)
Exclusive: move will come into force on 31 August and will only be waived if a threat to life is fearedThe Metropolitan police will no longer attend emergency calls related to mental health incidents, the force’s commissioner has said.In a letter seen by the Guardian, Sir Mark Rowley says he will order his officers not to attend thousands of calls they get every year to deal with mental health incidents. Continue reading...