Entrepreneur prompted government investigation in May after raising stake in UK telecoms company to 18%The billionaire Patrick Drahi will not be forced to cut his stake in BT after the UK government ruled the investment did not pose any national security implications.The entrepreneur, who moved to France as a teenager and holds Israeli, French and Portuguese citizenships, is BT’s biggest shareholder and has previously pursued debt-fuelled deals to buy assets in France, the US, Portugal and Israel. Continue reading...
by Adam Morton Climate and environment editor on (#62STD)
Save Our Songlines accuses environment minister of ‘false conclusions’ and ‘faulty reasoning’ about support for development and says it risks ‘another Juukan Gorge’
Kehinde Andrews calls for ‘national memorial’ to mark history of atrocities that has legacy of poorer economic and health outcomesOne of the UK’s leading experts on race has described the government as “the most racist” in his lifetime, and called for a public holiday to remember the horrors of the slave trade.Speaking on Slavery Remembrance Day, Prof Kehinde Andrews said one day was “not even close to enough” to acknowledge the UK’s links to the historical transatlantic slave trade. Continue reading...
Protests follow appearance of ‘tortured’ writer on state television, while human rights group warn forced confessions on the rise as hijab laws hardenedThere were protests and condemnation last week after an Iranian woman who was arrested for defying newly hardened hijab laws appeared on state television to give what observers claimed was a forced confession as a result of torture.Sepideh Rashno, 28, was arrested in July soon after footage of her being harassed on a bus over “improper clothing”, was circulated online. Continue reading...
Anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia reported by schools, suggesting education still not back to normal after the pandemicPupils who sat GCSEs this year were so nervous about their exams that they suffered from anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia, according to headteachers.The heads also said they had never seen a year group face so much uncertainty over grades and progression to sixth-form. Continue reading...
BMA reports six in 10 are going without food, clothing and heating, raising fears some will drop out and worsen NHS staffing crisisMedical students are having to stop spending on essentials such as food, clothing and heating because of “astronomical” debts, a “broken” student finance system and a spiralling cost of living crisis, a survey has suggested.Six in 10 UK medical students report cutting or ceasing spending on necessities, according to a British Medical Association (BMA) poll. Many are questioning their decision to go into medicine and some are considering quitting before they qualify. Continue reading...
The last public holiday of summer comes during a weekend of sport events and festivals such as Reading and LeedsAn amber traffic warning has been issued for this weekend, when an estimated 15m bank holiday leisure trips are scheduled.The AA published the alert, which is only the second such warning to be issued by the motoring association, because it expects 45% of UK drivers to embark on at least one noncommuting journey between Friday and Monday. Continue reading...
by Helen Davidson and Chi Hui Lin in Taipei on (#62SPT)
Police forces in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Vietnam have launched major operations to rescue their citizens and shut down trafficking syndicatesHundreds of Taiwanese are among unknown numbers of victims being held captive and forced to work in telecom scam networks by human trafficking operations in south-east Asia, authorities have said.Police forces in Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Vietnam have launched major operations to rescue their citizens and shut down the trafficking syndicates. Continue reading...
by Charlotte Graham-McLay in Wellington on (#62SP5)
PM Jacinda Ardern said caucus voted to expel Sharma over ‘repeated and calculated’ breaches of its rulesJacinda Ardern and her Labour colleagues have expelled MP Gaurav Sharma from caucus, the first time in more than a decade that the party has taken such action.The expulsion of Sharma, who was elected as the member for Hamilton West in 2020, came after nearly two weeks of the MP making public allegations of bullying and misconduct against his own party. Continue reading...
Minister fires head of National Meteorological Service after storms it predicted would hit Budapest missed the capitalThe Hungarian government fired the head of the national weather service and her deputy, two days after a fireworks display to celebrate a national holiday was delayed for fear of storms.Technology minister Lazlo Palkovics, under whose remit the National Meteorological Service (NMS) falls, relieved president Kornelia Radics and her deputy Gyula Horvath from their duties on Monday, but did not provide a reason. The ministry did not immediately return AFP’s call for further details. Continue reading...
TBI recommends English schools focus on aspects such as critical thinking and creativity to ready pupils for jobs in digital worldGCSEs and A-levels should be scrapped in favour of a system that better prepares school-leavers for the workplace, a report has suggested.The study conducted by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) has recommended that the education system in England be radically changed so that students can thrive in a work environment that is becoming increasingly shaped by automation and artificial intelligence. Continue reading...
Deputy PM Richard Marles says whatever the legal advice from the solicitor general, former prime minister should pay the price for ‘flouting’ Westminster cabinet system
Pedro I declared independence from Portugal in 1822, and relic is now at the centre of politically charged election year celebrationsNearly two centuries after it was cut from his corpse and preserved in formaldehyde, the heart of Emperor Pedro I, who declared Brazil’s independence from Portugal, has returned for politically charged commemorations of the South American country’s 200th birthday.Dom Pedro, a beloved figure in both Brazilian and Portuguese history, has been divided between the two countries in death – his heart enshrined in a church in Porto, Portugal, and the rest of his remains in an independence monument in São Paulo, Brazil. Continue reading...
Tributes were paid to council worker Ashley Dale, 28, who police believe was killed in a mistaken identity attackTributes have been paid to a 28-year-old woman who was shot dead in her home in Liverpool in the early hours of Sunday, seven years after her brother was also fatally shot.Ashley Dale was shot in the back garden of her home in what is believed by police to have been a mistaken identity attack. Her younger brother, Lewis Dunne, was killed in 2015 at age 16 after a gang mistook him for a rival gang member. Their deaths are not believed to be connected. Continue reading...
Pause in crossings recorded between Friday and Sunday as almost 5,000 made journey to Dover in AugustBabies and young children are among some of the people who have crossed the Channel in small boats to the UK in the last 24 hours after a three-day hiatus in arrivals.
Met hurriedly apologised and withdrew images that it initially said showed missing woman in a shopThe Metropolitan police issued pictures of the wrong black woman in an early appeal for information about the missing student nurse Owami Davies, it has emerged.As the force’s handling of the case faces increased scrutiny, it has come to light that Scotland Yard issued CCTV images on 3 August that it said showed Davies in a shop in Croydon, but in fact showed another woman. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#62SAA)
Daniel Finkelstein may fall foul of legal anomaly despite using drug in state where it was allowed, says lawyerA Conservative peer may have damaged his chances of being allowed back into the US after legally smoking cannabis in Colorado, a leading immigration lawyer has said.Daniel Finkelstein wrote in the Times on Monday of how he smoked marijuana for the first time at a friend’s house in the state, where buying limited quantities of the drug for recreational use has been allowed for almost a decade. Continue reading...
Editor of state-owned RT network Margarita Simonyan appears to contradict Kremlin position in post about Darya Dugina killingThe influential head of Russia’s RT news network has hinted at Russia’s role in the poisoning of the former spy Sergei Skripal, in a remarkable post that contradicts the Kremlin’s official position on the incident.In a post on her Telegram channel on Monday, Margarita Simonyan appeared to acknowledge Russia’s part in the Skripal poisoning when she wrote that Russian “professionals who want to admire spires” should travel to Estonia to go after the alleged killer of Darya Dugina, the daughter of an ultra-nationalist Russian ideologue who was killed in a car bomb on Saturday night. Continue reading...
Light of India balti house in Ellesmere Port enjoying moment in the spotlight as Hollywood actor sings its praises on InstagramWedged modestly between a glazing shop and a credit union in the Cheshire town of Ellesmere Port, the Light of India balti house does not seem to be the sort of place a Hollywood A-lister would gravitate towards.But the restaurant and takeaway is enjoying a moment in the spotlight after the actor Ryan Reynolds, the star of the Deadpool films, extolled its virtues to his 44 million followers on Instagram, declaring it to serve the “best Indian food in Europe”. Continue reading...
Presenter had earlier announced exit from BBC after nearly 20 years and will take on three-hour slot from SeptemberVanessa Feltz has announced she is joining TalkTV after leaving the BBC after nearly 20 years on its radio stations.Feltz, 60 will replace Jeremy Kyle as presenter of the fledgling network’s three-hour drivetime show from 5 September. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#62RWN)
Figure also includes Home Office’s £500,000 ‘strategic communications’ deal, with hearings due to start next yearBills for the Covid-19 public inquiry have already hit £85m despite hearings not starting until next year, after the government hired top legal and public relations firms.Departments making key decisions during the pandemic have hired leading law firms on multimillion-pound contracts alongside specialist firms tasked with sifting through millions of sensitive documents and emails for disclosure. Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#62S7F)
Relatives of Oladeji Omishore say Met’s actions contributed to 41-year-old’s death in London in JuneThe Metropolitan police were wrong to Taser a man on Chelsea Bridge and their “excessive and unnecessary force” contributed to his death, his family have said.The family of Oladeji Omishore, 41, used a Guardian interview to tell of the “nightmare” and grief they were suffering and vowed to spend the years necessary to battle for justice. Continue reading...
Airline’s winter short-haul schedule is cut by 8% as airport continues to struggle with staffing problemsBritish Airways has announced another round of cancellations, axing 10,000 flights to and from Heathrow until the end of March next year as it adapts to the persistent staff shortages that have hit aviation.The carrier’s decision to shrink its short-haul timetable by 8% comes after the London airport extended the summer’s 100,000 daily cap on passenger numbers by another six weeks until the end of October and asked airlines to sell fewer flights. Continue reading...
Tory leadership candidate says he is focused on race for No 10; energy bosses call for end to battle so new PM can tackle bills crisisBoris Johnson is in the final fortnight of his premiership and, according to Downing Street, later today he will be meeting the chief executive, Ilan Gur, and the chair, Matt Clifford, of the new UK Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria). This is the body set up to fund high-risk scientific research. It is an odd choice for a legacy visit because Aria was only established because of pressure from Dominic Cummings, who was Johnson’s chief adviser in No 10 until he left to become one of the most vocal, and effective, campaigners for Johnson’s removal from office.Mel Stride, the Conservative MP who chairs the Commons Treasury committee and a Rishi Sunak supporter in the leadership contest, told LBC this morning that Liz Truss would be “flying blind” if she held an emergency budget in September without updated forecasts from the OBR. (See 9.27am.) He said:Liz is coming forward with an emergency budget shortly after September 5th. And there’ll be a number of very significant tax measures within that, plus some spending measures as well as yet undetermined. And at the moment the Liz camp are saying that there will not be any OBR forecasts produced at that time. And that’s like flying blind. It means that you do all these dramatic things on tax etc but you don’t actually know what the independent forecaster believes the impact will be on the public finances. And I think that’s quite a serious situation were that to come about. Continue reading...
Auditing firm worker says he faced ‘heavy pressure’ to attend after-work drinking event in 2019The auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) is being sued by a UK employee who lost half of his skull after taking part in a “pub golf” work event that involved excessive drinking.The employee, 28-year-old Michael Brockie, filed a personal injury claim against PwC for alleged negligence, having suffered a brain injury and been put into an induced coma in early 2019. Continue reading...
Raila Odinga submits file to supreme court in move that could heighten the country’s political disputeKenya’s longtime opposition leader, Raila Odinga, has filed a case with the country’s supreme court to challenge the results of the 9 August presidential election in which his opponent, William Ruto, was declared the winner with 50.49% of the vote.Ruto, who has served as deputy president since 2013, was named president-elect amid protests from four of the seven electoral commissioners, who renounced the results, calling them “opaque”. They claimed that the chair of the electoral commission, Wafula Chebukati, had hijacked the process leading up to the announcement and declared the results unilaterally. Continue reading...
FSB claims Ukraine’s special services carried out car bomb attack on daughter of ultra-nationalistRussia has accused Ukraine’s intelligence services of carrying out the murder of Darya Dugina, the daughter of an ultra-nationalist Russian ideologue, raising fears of a violent retaliation.Dugina was killed on Saturday evening when a bomb blew up the Toyota Land Cruiser she was driving, Russian investigators said. Continue reading...
by Josh Halliday North of England correspondent on (#62S1Y)
Prosecutor says former footballer must ‘pay price’ for alleged assault of ex-girlfriend and coercive behaviourRyan Giggs hid an aggressive and volatile side to his personality for years but “the truth has caught up with him” and he must “pay the price”, a jury has been told.The former Manchester United and Wales footballer kept part of his profile “hidden beneath the surface” until the night of his arrest, jurors were told. Continue reading...
Those working on cases in England and Wales say they have been left worse off by changes to the systemCriminal barristers in England and Wales have voted overwhelmingly to strike indefinitely from 5 September, the same date a new Conservative leader and prime minister will be announced. Continue reading...
Meloni accused of exploiting woman for electoral purposes after posting footage of attack by asylum seeker in Italian cityGiorgia Meloni, the far-right politician leading the race to become Italy’s next prime minister, has been accused of shameful electioneering by her rivals after posting a video of a Ukrainian woman being raped by an asylum seeker from Guinea in an Italian city.The 55-year-old woman was assaulted on a pavement in the city of Piacenza early on Sunday, local officials said. The incident was videoed by someone in a flat overlooking the street and the assailant was arrested. Continue reading...
An addendum illustrating Gru’s family values and the arrest of antagonist Wild Knuckles has been mockedCensors have altered the ending of the recent animated film, Minions: The Rise of Gru, for its domestic release in China, as spotted by viewers across the country.This is yet another example of China editing a popular Hollywood film. According to posts and screenshots from the movie shared on Weibo, a platform similar to Twitter, censors tacked on an addendum which shows that Wild Knuckles, a main character in the heist film, was caught by police and served 20 years in jail. Continue reading...
Employees at Bank Leumi near Tel Aviv fled as bovid hurtled through buildingEmployees of an Israeli bank were sent fleeing down corridors on Monday as a bull charged through the building.The incident at a Bank Leumi branch in an industrial zone in Lod, south-east of Tel Aviv, started in the car park. Continue reading...
Car carrying three people in 20s crashed into stationary Tesla and ended up on track by Park Royal tube stopA woman died and three people were injured after a Range Rover crashed and ended up on a railway track in west London.The Piccadilly line was partly suspended on Monday morning after the incident on the A40 westbound near Park Royal tube station. Continue reading...
Gusts expected to move north, while extreme heat in parts of Europe forecast to ease this weekStrong winds are expected to continue to lash Australia this week and, while the peak speeds are not anticipated to be exceptional, the vastness of the area affected will be unusual.As low pressure moves to the south-east, high pressure is likely to develop across Western Australia before heading eastwards. Continue reading...
Businessman accused of fraud by false representation after allegedly failing to declare existence of a trust in SingaporeThe former Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone has pleaded not guilty to a charge of fraud brought after an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs.Ecclestone is accused of fraud by false representation after allegedly failing to declare the existence of a trust in Singapore worth $650m (£549m). Continue reading...
by Shah Meer Baloch in Islamabad and agencies on (#62RHQ)
Khan is reportedly accused of making threats to the country’s judiciary and police forcePakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan has been charged under anti-terrorism legislation after he gave a fiery speech to supporters at the weekend in which he vowed to sue police officers and a female judge and alleged a close aide had been tortured after his arrest.Khan will have to “face the law for threatening and hurling abuses”, tweeted the interior minister, Rana Sanaullah. Continue reading...
Industrial action will begin on 5 September with barristers asking for a 25% pay rise for legal aid workCriminal barristers in England and Wales have voted in favour of an all-out strike next month in a clash with the government over jobs and pay.Members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA), who have been stopping work on alternate weeks since June, voted for an uninterrupted strike that would start on 5 September, a spokesperson confirmed. Continue reading...
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