Higher education leaders say ministers think departments are full of ‘Marxists’, as top universities fail accreditation processLeaders in higher education said this week they believed the government was trying to push universities out of teacher training for political reasons because ministers thought their education departments were “hotbeds of leftwing intellectualism” and full of “Marxists”.Under changes announced last summer, all initial teacher training providers in England must be re-accredited by the Department for Education to continue educating teachers from 2024. However, two-thirds of providers, including some top universities, were told this month that they had failed the first round of the new accreditation process. The DfE said last week that just 80 providers, out of 216 who are understood to have applied, had made the cut. Continue reading...
Councils say they have received a ‘huge number of applications’ to celebrate 70 years on throneMore than 16,000 street parties are expected to be held over the Queen’s platinum jubilee bank holiday weekend.Councils across England have received a “huge number of applications” from residents to celebrate the monarch’s 70-year milestone, according to the Local Government Association (LGA). Continue reading...
Royalties company PRS for Music has announced a major funding cut for its charitable arm. Artists such as Black Country, New Road explain why it could damage the UK music sceneOne of the UK’s biggest funders of new and emerging music, responsible for fostering the careers of artists including Sam Fender, Little Simz and 2021 Mercury prize winner Arlo Parks, has this week seen its budget slashed by 60%.The PRS Foundation, which funds hundreds of aspiring artists and music organisations across the country – including a number of artists from groups underrepresented in the music industry – announced on Wednesday that its income would be cut from £2.75m to £1m from 2024 onwards, citing financial necessity. The decision was taken by its parent company and primary funder PRS for Music, which collects royalties for musicians when their music is streamed or played in public. Continue reading...
by Jessica Elgot , Peter Walker and Heather Stewart on (#5ZQYH)
Unions criticise Gray report for ‘outrageous’ failure to censure cabinet secretary and top officialsOne of the firmest predictions before the publication of Sue Gray’s report was that Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, would “do the honourable thing” and resign. As it turned out, he did not.Instead, Case and the entire No 10 top team appear to have avoided any sanction or even reprimand at all, and it is fair to say not everyone is happy – particularly more junior officials, dozens of whom were fined. Continue reading...
Fusako Shigenobu, who served 20 years for French embassy siege, believed to have masterminded deadly Tel Aviv attackThe founder of one of the most feared terrorist organisations of the 1970s has walked free from a Japanese prison after completing a 20-year sentence for the siege of the French embassy in the Netherlands.Once described as “the empress of terror”, Fusako Shigenobu founded the Japanese Red Army, a radical leftist group that carried out armed attacks worldwide in support of the Palestinian cause. Continue reading...
by Peter Beaumont and Isobel Koshiw in Kyiv, and agen on (#5ZQXV)
US president says Putin trying to eliminate people’s identity, as governor of Luhansk says retreat in Sievierodonetsk may be needed to avoid becoming surrounded.
Video shows incident in which driver says he had to kick his way out because the doors and windows wouldn’t openCanadian authorities are investigating an incident in which a Tesla caught fire in Vancouver, reportedly forcing the driver to smash his way out of the vehicle.Transport Canada, the Canadian auto safety agency, said in a statement on Friday that it had learned of the incident in Vancouver on 23 May and that it had “notified Tesla … and is currently making arrangements for a joint inspection of the vehicle in an effort to determine the cause of the fire”. Continue reading...
Moscow planning ‘full-scale victory in Ukraine by autumn’ and besieged Sievierodonetsk almost completely surrounded by Russian forcesRussia is planning a “full-scale victory in Ukraine by autumn” and may again try to take the capital city of Kyiv, according to independent news source Meduza. Officials close to the Kremlin have said confidence has spread to the leadership of United Russia, the country’s ruling party, that a full-scale victory in Ukraine is possible before the end of the year.The besieged Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk appears to be almost completely surrounded by attacking Russian forces. “The Russians are pounding residential neighbourhoods relentlessly,” the governor of Ukraine’s eastern region of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, wrote in a Telegram post on Friday. The Kremlin continued to make incremental gains in its offensive in the Donbas region, backed by withering shell fire.The Luhansk governor has said Ukrainian forces may be forced to retreat from the zone to avoid being captured. “The Russians will not be able to capture Luhansk region in the coming days as analysts have predicted,” Haidai posted on Telegram, adding: “However it is possible that in order not to be surrounded we will have to retreat.”The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said the situation in Donbas is “very difficult”. In a short video address, he said Russian forces are concentrated in the coastal region of Ukraine and using “maximum artillery” reserves.The Austrian chancellor, Karl Nehammer, has stated that Vladimir Putin is “prepared to discuss a prisoner swap with Ukraine”, after holding talks with the Russian president. Nehammer also said Putin had “given signals that he is quite willing to allow exports via the seaports”, adding: “The real willingness will only become apparent when it ... is actually implemented.”Russia expects to receive 1tn rubles ($14bn) in additional oil and gas revenues this year, the country’s finance minister announced, noting that the additional income will be spent on Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.The US president, Joe Biden, accused Putin of attempting to “wipe out” Ukrainian culture and identity during a speech. Biden also said that Putin inadvertently “Nato-ized all of Europe” after Sweden and Finland sought out membership in the alliance following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The US is expected to send long-range rocket systems to Ukraine that could be announced as early as next week, reports CNN. The rocket systems, multiple launch rocket system or MLRS, have been a top request of Ukraine officials who say it is necessary to ward off Russia’s advancements.More than 100 Russian national guardsmen have been fired for refusing to fight in Ukraine, court documents show. The cases of the 115 national guardsmen, a force also known as Rosgvardia, appear to be the clearest indication yet of dissent among some parts of Russia’s security forces over the invasion ofNew UN figures have revealed that 4,031 civilians have died since Russia first invaded Ukraine in February, including 261 children. Continue reading...
Closing arguments ask jurors to consider what their verdict in defamation case will mean for domestic abuse victimsThe Johnny Depp-Amber Heard defamation trial headed toward its conclusion on Friday as the dueling parties offered closing arguments after a seven-week trial that has gripped public attention and become something of a litmus test for the state of gender relations.Seven of 11 impaneled jurors selected for the trial when it started in April spent a couple of hours beginning to deliberate a verdict after the conclusion of those closing arguments, but they won’t return a verdict for a few days at least. They were sent home Friday afternoon until Tuesday in advance of Monday’s Memorial Day holiday. Continue reading...
Five local schools were placed under lockdown after several 911 calls about a man walking with a rifle in Canadian cityInvestigators have recovered a pellet gun from the scene where Toronto police shot and killed a man suspected of carrying a rifle, an incident that prompted five nearby schools to be placed under precautionary lockdowns.Police went to the Scarborough neighbourhood on Thursday after receiving several 911 calls about a man walking with a rifle and located him shortly after, Ontario province’s special investigations unit (SIU) said in a statement on Friday. The man, 27, was pronounced dead about 20 minutes later. Continue reading...
Researchers estimate the city, which features the Mayan Puuc style of architecture, to have been occupied from AD600 to 900Archaeologists have uncovered the ruins of an ancient Mayan city filled with palaces, pyramids and plazas on a construction site of what will become an industrial park near Mérida, on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula.The site, called Xiol, has features of the Mayan Puuc style of architecture, archaeologists said, which is common in the southern Yucatán peninsula but rare near Mérida. Continue reading...
Laurence Knight, 33, who has now been suspended to appear at Brighton magistrates court on 23 JuneA serving Metropolitan police officer has been charged with rape after an alleged incident on Brighton beach last year. Laurence Knight, 33, was arrested on 28 July 2021 after a woman reported being raped 11 days earlier.Sussex police said the officer has been summoned to appear at Brighton magistrates court on 23 June. The force added that Knight was not on duty at the time of the alleged offence. Continue reading...
Nadine Dorries launches explanation of government’s online safety bill in form of a 41-second clipIt was, perhaps, more straight out of The Thick of It than Compton, but Nadine Dorries seemed undeterred.In a move that has elicited a somewhat mixed reaction, the culture secretary launched an explanation of the government’s online safety bill in the form of a 41-second rap on TikTok. Continue reading...
Report by 30 internationally recognised scholars finds ‘reasonable grounds to conclude’ Moscow in breach of Geneva ConventionRussia is guilty of inciting genocide and having the intent to commit genocide in Ukraine, legally obliging other countries to stop it, according to a new report by more than 30 internationally recognised legal scholars and experts.The report, compiled by two thinktanks, the New Lines Institute in Washington and the Raoul Wallenberg Centre for Human Rights in Montreal, found that there were “reasonable grounds to conclude” that Russia is already in breach of two articles of the 1948 Genocide Convention, by publicly inciting genocide, and by the forcible transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia, which the report notes is itself a genocidal act under article II of the convention. Continue reading...
The singer is only the third-ever artist to occupy the whole Top 3 of the singles chart, and has outsold the rest of the Top 40 combined in the vinyl-album chartHarry Styles has dominated the UK charts with the release of Harry’s House, the fastest-selling album of 2022 so far.Harry’s House reached No 1 with 113,000 copies sold – a number derived from streams and physical sales – and with Styles outselling the rest of the Top 40 combined in the vinyl chart. His previous album Fine Line returns to the chart at No 8, and his self-titled debut is at No 29. Continue reading...
by Aubrey Allegretti Political correspondent on (#5ZQB9)
Senior Conservatives fear that, whether the PM stays or goes, the opinion poll deficit is not now recoverableIt’s supposed to be make-up-your-mind time for Conservative MPs. But having waited six months for Sue Gray’s report into law-breaking parties across Westminster, many are still grappling with whether to clear Boris Johnson’s path to the next general election – or oust the man who won them an 80-seat majority.What is already clear is that boastful proclamations from Johnson’s supporters this week claiming the prime minister’s position was safe have proved premature. Continue reading...
Britain lagging behind in race to build vital large-scale and local battery factoriesBritain is locked in a battle to hold on to production of Jaguar Land Rover’s future range of electric vehicles as concerns grow that the UK is falling behind in the race to build vital large-scale battery factories.The company, which is owned by the Indian conglomerate Tata, said it continued to “explore all options” for battery supply amid reports it could build electric cars in eastern Europe. Continue reading...
This live blog is now closed. Boris Johnson changes ministerial code to axe need to resign for rule breachesThe Conservative MP Paul Holmes, who represents Eastleigh, has announced that he is resigning as a parliamentary private secretary in response to the revelations in the Sue Gray report.Holmes, who was elected in 2019, was PPS to Priti Patel, the home secretary. A PPS – an unpaid ministerial “bag carrier” – is not a member of the government, but is considered part of the “payroll vote” and obliged to support the government in all divisions. Being a PPS is normally a stepping stone towards becoming a minister.Revelations from the Sue Gray report that staff and cleaners were not treated properly is both disappointing and unacceptable. It is right that the prime minister apologised to staff. It clearly showed a culture in No 10 that was distasteful, and I am glad that there have been several reforms that Sue Gray has welcomed.It is clear to me that a deep mistrust in both the government and the Conservative party has been created by these events, something that pains me personally as someone who always tries to represent Eastleigh and its people with integrity. Whether that is taking up your issues in parliament or helping people with their problems closer to home, since 2019 we have completed over 12,000 pieces of constituency casework. It is distressing to me that this work on your behalf has been tarnished by the toxic culture that seemed to have permeated No 10.I’m not going to pretend that this is going to fix everything for everybody immediately. There are still going to be pressures. But it’s a very, very substantial commitment by the government to getting us through what will be, I’m afraid, still a bumpy time with the increase in energy prices around the world. Continue reading...
Brian Wilson tells tribunal he tossed overmantel from Seighford Hall on to a pile of firewood, before giving it to an antiques dealerThe caretaker of a stately home in Staffordshire gave away a rare Tudor carved panel worth up to £5m because he thought it was rotten, an employment tribunal has heard.Brian Wilson took the 450-year-old overmantel from the Grade II-listed Seighford Hall and tossed it on a pile of firewood, before giving it to an antiques dealer who later tried to sell it. Continue reading...
Cameron Bailey used his car ‘as a ‘weapon’, sending victims ‘flying like skittles in a bowling alley’, court toldWarning: video contains distressing imagesA serving British soldier who left two teenagers needing hospital treatment and suffering lasting psychological trauma when he deliberately ploughed into them in his sports car following a drunken row has been jailed for eight years.Cameron Bailey, who has since been dismissed from the army, drank about six pitchers of spirits mixed with energy drinks and cocktails, as well as beers, before getting into a row with a group of young people in Salisbury, Wiltshire. Continue reading...
London magistrates sentence Michael Strubel to more than six years for failing to pay compensationA fraudster who conned people out of more than £70m in a “Ponzi-style scheme” claiming he was supplying services to the London 2012 Olympic village and large hotels has been given more than six years in jail for failing to hand back more than £1.4m of illicit profits.City of London magistrates court committed Michael Strubel to prison for six years and seven months for failing to pay his confiscation order. Continue reading...
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#5ZQ1S)
Owners take their canine companions to ‘bag’ a peak as staycationers seek out ever more challenging beauty spotsBetty, a six-year-old kerry blue terrier, celebrated reaching the summit of her 282nd and final Munro – Am Basteir on Skye – with a hard-boiled egg. Her owner, Shona Marshall, toasted her dog’s entry into the rarefied class of canine completers – only 15 are registered with the Munro Society – with a mini bottle of fizz, carried up the 934-metre mountainside for the occasion.“It really does strengthen the bond between you,” says Marshall of their 367-day challenge, completed on Good Friday, to raise funds for Kerry Blue Terrier Rescue. “They are trusting you to tell them it’s OK to cross this river or climb down this bit of rock. It’s humbling.” Continue reading...
ITV’s hit reality show has been criticised for its lack of diversity and contestants using racial slursContestants on ITV’s hit reality show Love Island will be given training on how to avoid micro-aggressions as well as the use of appropriate language around race, after generating controversy and complaints.The show has been criticised for its lack of diversity, for contestants using racial slurs and disregarding black female contestants as romantic choices, as well as emotional abuse towards female participants. Continue reading...
Terrier’s family contacted Guinness World Records after learning younger dog had received honorA toy fox terrier has been named the world’s oldest living dog at 22 years old.Pebbles, born on 28 March 2000, was awarded the Guinness World Record this month. The 4lb canine takes hold of the title after news of TobyKeith, the former record holder, emerged. Continue reading...
When rumours went viral, Billy Gannon had ‘an existential crisis’, joining a list of those denying being the enigmatic artistTo be clear, Billy Gannon is not Banksy. Or at least – that’s what he says.“The problem I have is that when I say to people, ‘I am not Banksy,’ I can see this look in their eyes, and they say, ‘That’s what Banksy would say,’” says the 58-year-old from Pembroke Dock, west Wales. “Every time I deny I am Banksy … a significant number of people in the town [decide] that I am, or could possibly be, Banksy.” Continue reading...
Move follows series of high-profile corporate collapses including Carillion and BHSEY is planning to spin off its audit business, working towards the biggest shake-up of one of the UK’s big four accounting and consultancy firms in decades after a series of high-profile corporate collapses including Carillion and BHS.Senior partners at the firm – formerly known as Ernst & Young – are drafting plans for a voluntary split of the firm’s advisory and audit divisions, which was first reported by Michael West Media. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#5ZPWP)
Calls for ‘ethical consideration’ of short-term lets as 3,000 second homes registered in south-west in pandemicTourists heading to holiday homes in the south-west of England are being urged to check before they travel if their rental will worsen the area’s affordable housing crisis.The call for “ethical consideration” of the potential negative impact of short-term lets comes as figures showed 3,000 new holiday and second homes were registered in the south-west during the pandemic while homes listed for normal letting halved and rents jumped. Continue reading...
Analysis: high temperatures affect southern Europe, while in US state mercury rapidly drops more than 30CExtremely hot and mostly sunny conditions have been experienced across southern Europe this week. Parts of Spain have had record-breaking temperatures for the month of May, with the southern city of Jaén in Andalucia recording 40.3C (104.5F) on Friday 20 May, according to the Spanish weather agency Aemet. Meanwhile, in the nearby town of Andújar, temperatures exceeded 42C two days in a row.Intense heat also affected northern Africa, with Sidi Slimane city in Morocco recording its hottest day in recorded history, reaching a scorching 45.7C. Although one particular weather event cannot be directly attributed to the climate crisis, scientists believe the severity and duration of heatwaves are expected to increase in the future in response to a warmer global climate. Continue reading...
MoD says none of soldiers detained will take part in Queen’s platinum jubilee paradesSix Irish Guards and a Coldstream Guardsman veteran have been arrested on suspicion of drugs and money-laundering offences, the Ministry of Defence has said.A statement from the MoD press office said: “As part of a planned operation, the Royal Military police arrested six Irish Guards soldiers and a Coldstream Guardsman veteran from across the UK on suspicion of conspiracy to supply drugs and money lending and laundering offences. Continue reading...
Feline’s handler, Ian Fenn, who has autism, brings discrimination case after London supermarket incidentChloe the assistance cat could make legal history with her handler, Ian Fenn, after Sainsbury’s refused to allow her into one of its shops.Fenn, who has autism and has trained the black cat to be a support for him, is taking legal action against the supermarket. Continue reading...
by Elias Visontay and (earlier) Mostafa Rachwani on (#5ZPDV)
NSW paramedics take industrial action; election vote count ‘progressing well’; interest rate rises on horizon; Penny Wong speaks at Fiji press conference; Anthony Albanese signs Fair Work Commission submission on increasing minimum wage; decision on Biloela family due; at least 39 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed
As thousands flee the latest fighting in DRC to join 1.5m already in Uganda, the UN’s food aid agency is stretched as never beforeThe rain will determine what time Uwimana Nsengiyuava gets on the truck to Nyakabande transit centre, where Uganda is hosting 20,000 refugees who, like her, have fled fresh fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).Since March, up to 500 refugees a day have been silently streaming into the east African country via Kisoro, a picturesque district in south-west Uganda dotted with endless hills, streams and a lake. Continue reading...
by Helen Davidson and Chi Hui Lin in Taipei on (#5ZPPR)
Parliament debates law that bans people from changing their names more than three times after stunt leads to unforeseen consequencesTaiwanese parliamentarians have debated changing legal limits on name changes, after some of the hundreds of people who legally altered their name to “Salmon” in return for free sushi reportedly became stuck with it.In March 2021 restaurant chain Sushiro ran a promotion offering free all-you-can-eat sushi for a whole table to anyone with the Chinese characters for salmon, “gui yu”, in their name. In what was later dubbed “Salmon chaos”, 331 people took part, paying a nominal administration fee to legally call themselves names including “Salmon Dream” and “Dancing Salmon”. Continue reading...
by Martin Chulov Middle East correspondent on (#5ZPNJ)
President Erdoğan presses on with move by leveraging his Nato veto over Nordic states’ accessionTurkey’s plan to expand a buffer zone inside northern Syria and use it to relocate large numbers of refugees has gained momentum after officials endorsed a military push that analysts from both countries say will force demographic shifts inside Syria.Though a timeline has not been decided, military and political leaders have confirmed that an extensive operation is being prepared to move Kurdish populations away from Turkey’s southern border and assert Turkish control as deep as 18 miles into northern Syria. Continue reading...
Analysis: Western leaders are divided on arming Ukraine, oil embargoes and whether Kyiv will have to accept territory lossAn increasingly bitter diplomatic row over Germany’s unwillingness to supply heavy weaponry to Ukraine threatened to spill into a wider dispute between allies over whether they are prepared to accept a peace settlement that leaves Vladimir Putin capable of claiming victory.One western official said western leaders are divided between those who think they can work with Vladimir Putin’s Russia once the war is over, and those who think they cannot. Continue reading...
ABF officials made it clear publication of the interception could only proceed on the authority of the home affairs minister, Guardian Australia understands
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