Treasury says low-deposit mortgages have virtually disappeared since 2008 financial crisisThe chancellor is expected to unveil a mortgage guarantee scheme that aims to help first-time buyers get their foot on the property ladder in next week’s budget.Rishi Sunak is attempting to incentivise lenders to provide mortgages to first-time buyers, along with current homeowners, with deposits as low as 5% on properties worth up to £600,000. The government will offer lenders the guarantee they need to provide mortgages covering the remaining 95%, with details set to be unveiled on Wednesday. Continue reading...
Family-only service given honour in recognition of veteran who died at 100 after raising £38m for NHSA second world war-era plane will fly over Captain Sir Tom Moore’s funeral service in honour of the war veteran, who raised almost £39m for NHS charities during the first coronavirus lockdown.
Every year, thousands of British children are conceived with the help of donor sperm. But few ever meet their siblings...Caroline Pearson, a podcast producer from London, was a few days into her maternity leave when she discovered that her unborn daughter had two sisters. She had visited a website a friend had told her about, which allows recipients of donated sperm (such as her) to search for families who have used the same donor. If they’ve registered with this website, they could be anywhere in the world, since the US sperm bank chosen by Pearson and her husband, Francis, ships internationally, and the website, Donor Sibling Registry (DSR), is also US-based with an international reach. Pearson couldn’t resist, and typed in the donor’s reference number.“Suddenly, I was overwhelmingly curious,” Pearson says. She didn’t expect to find anything – let alone two families living within a half-hour radius. The first profile was a single mother to a two-year-old girl, living nearby in London. It seemed an extraordinary coincidence. Caroline was “totally giddy”; her partner Francis, a photographer, was cautious. “I tried to rein things in,” he says. “Caroline was pregnant and we were already dealing with becoming parents, and the donor process. But all this other stuff, it was so unknown. I’m practical and you think: yes, that could be amazing – but what if they’re awful people?” Continue reading...
I imagine a thriving mouse community going about its business behind the plaster, with an occasional member stopping to say, ‘I think I hear someone typing out there’The oldest one is complaining about a mouse that he says lives in his bedroom.“It scrabbles about under the floorboards,” he says. “It sounds big.” Continue reading...
by Phillip Inman and Richard Partington on (#5EQG5)
Expect measures to help economic recovery but watch out for capital gains tax and other tax risesRishi Sunak’s budget on 3 March is set to unveil a range of measures to help support the recovery of the UK economy, but tax rises are in the offing too. Here is what we can expect. Continue reading...
Simon Birmingham rejects suggestion unnamed minister at centre of allegations should stand asideAs pressure builds on Scott Morrison to investigate allegations of a historical rape levelled against one of his cabinet ministers, a woman who had known the victim for 30 years has come out to say she “absolutely, 100% believes” her friend.New South Wales police have confirmed the alleged victim reported the incident to them in February 2020, and the allegations have also been forwarded to the Australian federal police. Continue reading...
Notorious gangster Arnel Joseph shot dead at police checkpoint after more than 400 inmates escape in country’s biggest breakout for 10 yearsMore than 400 inmates have escaped and 25 people have died in a prison breakout in Haiti, authorities say, making it the country’s largest and deadliest one in a decade. A prison director and a powerful gang leader were among those killed.The breakout at Croix-des-Bouquets prison on the outskirts of the capital Port-au-Prince on Thursday was believed to be an attempt to free gang leader Arnel Joseph, who had been Haiti’s most wanted fugitive until his 2019 arrest on charges including rape, kidnapping and murder. Continue reading...
Corporation tax and capital gains tax expected to rise as chancellor begins huge task of repaying Covid debtRishi Sunak will use the volatility in global financial markets to ram home a budget message next week that immediate action is needed to repair the damage to the public finances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.Despite the deep downturn caused by the third nationwide lockdown in England, the chancellor – who has been closely monitoring market moves – will announce the first steps towards reducing the biggest peacetime deficit in Britain’s history. Continue reading...
Police set up crime scene after large chunk of flesh, including a bellybutton, found at MollymookSix days after Sydney businesswoman Melissa Caddick’s decaying foot washed up on a New South Wales south coast beach, more human remains have drifted ashore.Police were called to Mollymook at 6.30pm on Friday after remains were discovered by members of the public. Continue reading...
Analysis: The US has sanctioned 76 people linked to Khashoggi’s murder, but not Mohammed bin Salman, future king of a strategic Middle East allyFriday was the day that Joe Biden’s vaunted drive to put human rights back at the centre of US foreign policy slammed, as such drives usually do, into the brick wall of great power realpolitik.As it had promised, the new administration obeyed the law laid down by Congress and ignored by its predecessor. It published an unclassified summary of the intelligence assessment that the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, “approved” the murder and dismemberment of the Saudi reformer and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Continue reading...
by Martin Chulov Middle East correspondent on (#5EQD0)
Analysis: decision not to penalise Saudi heir over Jamal Khashoggi shows kingdom still has influenceAfter two years of blanket cover from Donald Trump, a new US president has officially blamed Mohammed bin Salman for the most savage political slaying of modern times and brought the Saudi heir’s unchecked run with Washington to a humiliating halt.Joe Biden’s confirmation that Prince Mohammed approved the butchering of Jamal Khashoggi bluntly ends the era of bromance between his predecessor and the kingdom’s de facto leader, and signals a very different relationship with a new administration. Continue reading...
Scott Morrison says he admired Flint’s ‘efforts to stand against the bullying and nastiness of particular groups and individuals’Scott Morrison has acknowledged being a member of parliament “does sometimes attract unacceptable behaviour” as he paid tribute to Nicolle Flint, the South Australian Liberal MP who has announced she will not contest the next election.Flint holds South Australia’s most marginal seat of Boothby. The MP has been outspoken about sexist abuse she has suffered in public life, and her foreshadowed departure coincides with a debate about duty of care sparked by the rape allegations levelled by the former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins. Continue reading...
Campaigners say relationship with Riyadh needs a rethink after US concludes crown prince approved murder of journalistBritain faced fresh calls to end unrestricted arms sales to Saudi Arabia after the US published a CIA assessment which concluded that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.Charities, civil rights groups and others said the disclosure threw the UK’s traditionally close relationship with Riyadh into stark relief in the aftermath of the release of the short but unambiguous report. Continue reading...
Hundreds of calves crammed onboard a ship were checked by Spanish government veterinarians after months at sea, suspected of contracting the bovine disease bluetongue.
by Stephanie Kirchgaessner in Washington on (#5EQ1W)
Biden administration to target ‘counter-dissident’ activity and Saudi official but not Mohammed bin Salman personallyUS intelligence agencies have concluded in a newly declassified intelligence report that Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, approved the 2018 murder of the Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi – but Washington stopped short of targeting the future Saudi king with financial or other sanctions.The four-page report released on Friday confirmed the long-suspected view that the 35-year-old future king had a personal hand in the violent murder of one of his most prominent critics, a columnist and former Saudi insider who was living in exile in the US and used his platform to decry the prince’s crackdown on dissent. Continue reading...
by Paul Callister and Robert McLachlan on (#5EQ49)
The targets envisioned by the Paris Agreement leave no room for fossil fuelled commercial aviation by 2050Aviation is an important part of the global economy; until Covid-19, it was responsible for 2.8% of global CO2 emissions. In New Zealand, aviation is responsible for an even higher percentage of CO2 emissions, the figure having doubled since 1990 to 13% in 2018. The country’s geographic isolation, transport system, international tourist industry, and globally dispersed families have all contributed to the jump in growth and will make reducing emissions a challenge.But New Zealand has signed up to net zero emissions by 2050 and enacted the Zero Carbon Act, which aims to implement policies that will limit the global average temperature increase to 1.5C, in line with the Paris Agreement. Continue reading...
England's deputy chief medical officer has told people not to break the country's lockdown rules ahead of official relaxations, particularly those who have received their Covid vaccinations. With worrying signs cases might be rising slightly, Van-Tam said the country was not yet 'in the right place' and pressed people not to 'wreck this now'
Majority of member states back proposal to bring in country-by-country tax reportingThe EU has moved to force multinational companies to publish a breakdown of the tax they pay in each of the bloc’s member states and in tax havens such as Seychelles, piling pressure on the UK government to follow suit.Country-by-country reporting is designed to shine a light on how some of the world’s biggest companies – such as Apple, Facebook and Google – avoid paying an estimated $500bn (£358bn) a year in taxes by shifting their profits from higher-tax countries such as the UK, France and Germany to zero-tax or low-tax jurisdictions including Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta. Continue reading...
Pokémon Legends Arceus and Pokémon Shining Diamond and Brilliant Pearl announced on the eve of the Nintendo series’ 25th anniversaryTomorrow marks 25 years since the first Pokémon titles debuted on Nintendo’s Game Boy in Japan – and developer Game Freak has announced two new games to mark the occasion, both inspired by 2006’s Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.The first releases are Pokémon Shining Diamond and Brilliant Pearl, remakes of the Nintendo DS originals for Nintendo Switch, out later this year. Pokémon Legends Arceus, an adventure set in the region of Sinnoh’s past, and resembling a blend of Pokémon Stadium and Breath of the Wild, will be released in 2022, also on Nintendo Switch. It is a significant diversion from the usual turn-based fights and tightly controlled exploration of a Pokémon game, with free movement and wild creatures roaming an open world. Continue reading...
Mark Machin steps down from position after traveling for first dose of vaccine while most Canadians wait to receive their first jabThe head of Canada’s largest pension fund has resigned after disregarding public health advice and travelling to Dubai for a dose of the coronavirus vaccine.The Canada Pension Plan Investment Board announced on Friday that CEO Mark Machin had stepped down from his position, after the Wall Street Journal first reported Machin’s trip late on Thursday. Continue reading...
Pregnant Afghan woman gave testimony to prosecutor from her hospital bedA pregnant Afghan woman who was severely injured when she set herself on fire in a refugee camp on Lesbos has been formally charged with arson and destruction of public property after giving testimony to a prosecutor from her hospital bed.The 26-year-old, who is due to give birth next week, was told she would face trial for her actions and be unable to leave Greece. She has not been publicly identified. Continue reading...
The Books of Jacob, praised by the Nobel prize judges and winner of Poland’s prestigious Nike award, will be published in the UK in NovemberThe magnum opus of Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk – a novel that has taken seven years to translate and has brought its author death threats in her native Poland – is to be published in English.The Books of Jacob, which will be released in the UK in November, is the Polish author’s first novel to appear in English since she won the 2018 Nobel prize for literature for what judges called “a narrative imagination that with encyclopaedic passion represents the crossing of boundaries as a form of life”. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Sylvie Bermann, who has written book in attempt to understand Brexit, says question of Britain’s identity was keyWhen Sylvie Bermann arrived in London in August 2014 as France’s new ambassador, it was, she says, a city of “dynamism and optimism”.“Extraordinary place. French cabinet ministers came, one after the other, looking for Britain’s recipe for success.” Continue reading...
Subterranean protest against high-speed rail line lasted 31 days in tunnel near London stationThe anti-HS2 tunnel protest close to Euston station in central London has finally ended after the ninth climate activist emerged from underground.The subterranean environmental protest has lasted for 31 days, one of the longest in UK protest history, although not quite breaking the record of the 40-day tunnel protest in Essex in 2000. Continue reading...
by Bethan McKernan, Middle East correspondent on (#5EPN1)
Al-Hawl camp, where Shamima Begum surfaced, is focal point of humanitarian crisis starring unsympathetic protagonistsWhen 20-year-old Shamima Begum, heavily pregnant and alone, managed to escape the US-led coalition bombing of Islamic State’s last stronghold two years ago, she left behind a scene resembling hell and entered limbo instead.Begum was among an astonishing 64,000 women and children who poured out of Baghuz, a tiny oasis town on the Euphrates river, deep in the Syrian desert. Many of their husbands and fathers died defending the last sliver of the so-called caliphate. Continue reading...
London and Dublin have been at odds for a century over last will of art collector Sir Hugh LaneA new chapter has been agreed between Britain and Ireland in an acrimonious century-old dispute over the ownership of 39 priceless masterpieces by artists including Manet, Monet, Degas and Renoir.In 1915 the Irish art collector Sir Hugh Lane was among more than 1,000 people who died when the Lusitania, an ocean liner, was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the southern coast of Ireland. Continue reading...
by Jamie Grierson Home affairs correspondent on (#5EPJY)
Analysis: decision not to allow Begum back into UK seems to give complete discretion to home secretaryIn ruling that Shamima Begum should not be allowed to return to the UK, the supreme court justices say a home secretary’s assessment should be “respected”.The home secretary, they say, is privy to intelligence materials from the security services, which in the case of Begum would have informed their decision to strip her of her British citizenship, a privilege that bolsters their authority. Continue reading...
Surge in armed militancy in north of country has led to widespread breakdown of securityPolice have said 317 schoolgirls have been abducted in north-west Nigeria, the third mass kidnap of students in three months in an escalating wave of rural attacks blamed on groups of armed bandits.The schoolgirls were abducted at about 1am from the town of Jangebe, Zamfara state, from the Jangebe Government Girls’ Secondary School, police said on Friday. Continue reading...
Duke of Sussex says he is happier with series than news stories about Meghan or his familyThe Duke of Sussex has defended the Netflix series The Crown, and revealed the Queen sent one-year-old Archie a waffle-maker for Christmas, in an interview with James Corden for The Late Late Show.Appearing on the US TV show, Prince Harry also spoke about his life in Los Angeles, California, and his and Meghan’s hopes to change the world “in some small way” as he criticised the “toxic” British press. Continue reading...
Group says soldiers killed hundreds of unarmed civilians in northern Ethiopian cityHundreds of unarmed civilians were massacred in less than 48 hours by Eritrean troops during the war in the restive northern Ethiopian province of Tigray last year, Amnesty International has said.The soldiers systematically killed hundreds of civilians in the northern city of Axum, opening fire in the streets and conducting house-to-house raids in a massacre that may amount to a crime against humanity, it said in a report. Continue reading...
While brands big and small are exploring disability-friendly clothing, it remains a niche market that struggles to reach consumersFrom constrictive corsetry to blistering 6in heels, the oft-quoted line: “You have to suffer for fashion,” has afflicted humanity for centuries (however much it seems alien to our current wardrobe of Zoom-friendly sweatpants). But what happens when even a simple garment is disabling? Or when suffering for fashion is not a stylistic choice, but an everyday reality that can affect someone’s quality of life?For many disabled people, off-the-peg clothes are inaccessible and cause discomfort, from fiddly buttons to seams that chafe in a wheelchair. “Clothing plays an important part in living well,” says Monika Dugar, the designer of Reset, an adaptivewear brand that launched at a virtual event during London fashion week. “Due to restricted mobility, clothing choices can impact whether people with disabilities can operate functionally.” Continue reading...
From Planet Earth to Springwatch and beyond, programmes about animals in the natural world can soothe the nervous system and raise the spiritsFew of us would anticipate feeling an emotional connection with a swarm of ants. But in episode three of A Perfect Planet, when a colony of fire ants build a raft using their bodies to survive flooding in the Amazon, only the concrete-hearted would fail to be moved by their resilience. As the raft sailed across the water, I sobbed.Emotion is often close to the surface when watching wildlife programmes; something I do a lot. It goes hand-in-hand with my need to smell forest mulch, stare at lichen and stalk woodpeckers most days to feel alive. From being a child whose personality was rooted in The Really Wild Show and a magnifying glass, to a grown woman who will watch anything from Winterwatch to Netflix’s 72 Dangerous Animals to get a fix, these shows have always been a sanctuary: a source of wonderment and comfort. But this passion is far from singular. Continue reading...
Former first minister to give evidence as feud intensifies with former allies including Nicola SturgeonAlex Salmond is due to give evidence at Holyrood on his allegations of a Scottish government conspiracy against him, with MSPs expected to issue a last-ditch order seeking the release of evidence.The former first minister is expected to testify on oath from 12.30pm after weeks of wrangling over his appearance, and legal battles over the publication of his allegations against his former protege Nicola Sturgeon and the Scottish National party. Continue reading...
Launch of Protect Duty will build on ‘Martyn’s law’ which calls on local authorities to have plans against attacksThe government has launched a consultation to develop plans to make it a legal requirement for public places to improve security measures following a campaign by the mother of a Manchester Arena attack victim.The 18-week long consultation into the new Protect Duty, which begins on Friday, will work with counter-terror police and seek contributions over which type of venue should be bound by the law, and what measures of compliance will be required. Continue reading...
The letter, forwarded to police, includes a statement from the alleged victim who claims she was raped in 1988 when aged 16Three police agencies have been notified of a letter sent to the prime minister, Scott Morrison, making an allegation of rape against a federal cabinet minister relating to his time before entering parliament.The ABC’s Four Corners first reported the letter on Friday night. It included an attachment reportedly from a now-deceased woman alleging she was raped in 1988. The letter urged Morrison to establish an independent investigation into the alleged sexual assault. Continue reading...
Can’t get to a gig? No problem. Here’s a collection of classics that evoke the sweaty euphoria of the real thingStepping into a venue full of sweaty strangers is still a frustratingly distant prospect, so as live music IRL continues to be benched, our only option is to dig into the giddy world of concert albums. Where better to start than with Daft Punk’s relentlessly pumping Parisian electronica party, complete with unbridled whoops of glee and synth singalongs from a rightly jazzed home-town crowd. It’s now tinged with an added wistfulness following this week’s announcement that the pair have split up after 28 years. Continue reading...
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