by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent on (#6QKGT)
Charlotte Proudman receiving starkly different' treatment to male counterparts for criticism of judge's ruling, hearing toldA leading female barrister who is facing disciplinary proceedings for saying a judge had shown a boys' club attitude" has applied for the case against her to be thrown out, claiming she is being held to a higher standard than her male counterparts.Charlotte Proudman has been charged by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) in relation to a 14-part thread she posted on X about Jonathan Cohen - a member of the Garrick Club, which recently ended its ban on female members after 193 years - over remarks he made in a family case ruling two years ago. Continue reading...
by Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent on (#6QKGV)
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said exile of key figure Edmundo Gonzalez changes absolutely nothing'The Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has insisted the campaign to end Nicolas Maduro's authoritarian rule is stronger than ever", but the banishing of one of its key figures to Spain has thrown many supporters off balance.Edmundo Gonzalez, who the US and other countries have recognised as the winner of Venezuela's 28 July presidential election, flew into exile on Sunday after several weeks holed up in the Dutch ambassador's residence in Caracas. An arrest warrant, seemingly designed to force the retired diplomat to flee, had been issued a week earlier. Continue reading...
Antony Blinken to meet David Lammy in precursor to Joe Biden's talks with Keir Starmer in WashingtonMoscow's use of a shadow fleet transporting western-sanctioned oil, Ukraine's call to fire to fire UK-supplied missiles into Russia and the value of publishing a new version of the US ceasefire plan for Gaza, will top US-UK talks in London being attended by Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state.His meeting this week with the British foreign secretary, David Lammy, will make him the most senior US official to visit the UK since Labour's general election victory in July. It is also a precursor to talks in Washington between Joe Biden and Keir Starmer at the end of the week. Continue reading...
Government yet to reveal plans for 154 private finance initiatives due to expire during current parliamentHospitals and schools that depend on private finance initiative contracts are in danger of serious disruption" unless they can find a way to cope when they expire in the next year, a report has warned.There are 154 PFI-funded projects that will expire during this parliament, covering hospitals, schools and transport, and the government has failed to give details about how the transition to new arrangements will take place, according to the report from the Association of Infrastructure Investors in Public Private Partnerships (AIIP), chaired by the Labour peer and former frontbencher John Hutton. Continue reading...
Case is into whether the mainly female roles are equal to predominantly male warehouse staff, who are paid moreMore than 60,000 Asda shop workers have begun a key stage in their fight for equal pay in a long-running case that could lead to more than 1.2bn in compensation.The employment tribunal started a hearing on Monday, expected to last about three months, into whether mainly female shop workers' roles are of equal value to predominantly male warehouse workers who are currently paid up to 3.74 an hour more. Continue reading...
Opening day of inquiry hears how the NHS was already buckling at the start of the coronavirus outbreakBoris Johnson and Matt Hancock have been criticised by bereaved families at the Covid inquiry for trying to mislead the public by brazenly" claiming things went reasonably well" in the NHS.On the opening day of 10 weeks of evidence about the impact of the pandemic on the health service, Pete Weatherby KC, representing the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, said claims that the NHS had coped were false". Continue reading...
Protesters who lost savings in financial crisis demonstrated outside court as Riad Salameh pleaded not guiltyThe former head of Lebanon's central bank, Riad Salameh, appeared in court on Monday for the first time since he was arrested last week on charges of embezzling up to $42m (32m) of public funds.Monday's hearing is the latest in the long saga of Salameh, once vaunted as a financial wizard who earned Lebanon its reputation as the Switzerland of the Middle East" during his 30-year long tenure. He has since fallen into disrepute and is suspected of engineering a country-wide Ponzi scheme that caused Lebanon's 2019 financial meltdown and its five-year-long economic crisis. Continue reading...
Shakiel Thibou charged with murder of Cher Maximen at event's family dayA man has appeared in court charged with stabbing a mother to death at Notting Hill carnival.Shakiel Thibou, 20, was originally charged with the attempted murder of Cher Maximen while she lay in a coma in hospital. That was changed to a charge of murder when she died on 31 August from the unsurvivable" injuries she had suffered. Continue reading...
Long-running legal battle began in 2016 after bloc's competition chief said iPhone maker had benefited from unfair tax breaks in IrelandThe EU's top court will rule whether the European Commission was right to demand that 13bn in illegal" tax breaks for Apple should be repaid, in a judgment likely to have far-reaching effects on sweetheart deals for large multinationals.A ruling due on Tuesday from the European court of justice (ECJ) may bring an end to a bitter legal saga that began in 2016 when the EU competition chief, Margrethe Vestager, concluded the iPhone maker had benefited from billions worth of unfair tax breaks from the Irish government. Continue reading...
Steve Dymond, 63, was distraught after being heckled and accused of cheating during 2019 filming, says landladyA man who is believed to have killed himself after appearing on The Jeremy Kyle Show was broken" and wasn't a well man", his landlady has told the inquest into his death.Steve Dymond, 63, from Portsmouth, Hampshire, is thought to have ended his life seven days after filming for the ITV show in May 2019.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...
Songwriter wrote No 1 hits for Whitney Houston and Barry Manilow, as well as iconic ballads such as Up Where We Belong and Tears in HeavenWill Jennings, the Oscar-winning US lyricist behind hit songs such as My Heart Will Go On, Tears in Heaven and Up Where We Belong, has died aged 80. His agent said Jennings died at home in Tyler, Texas, and did not give a cause of death.Born Wilbur Jennings in 1944, he was raised in Tyler and initially went into academia, teaching at the University of Wisconsin. But in 1971 he headed to Nashville and became a lyricist in the city's country music scene, earning his first country No 1 in 1975 with Feelins' by Conway Twitty and Loretta Lynn. Continue reading...
by Rebecca Ratcliffe South-east Asia correspondent on (#6QJV6)
Apollo Quiboloy, who is also wanted in US on child trafficking charges, hands himself over to police after ultimatumAn influential pastor wanted in the US on child trafficking charges has been arrested in the Philippines, after a 16-day manhunt across a vast compound that included a network of underground tunnels and dozens of buildings.Apollo Quiboloy, the founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ (KOJC) church, who claims to be the appointed son of God", and was a spiritual adviser of the former president Rodrigo Duterte, is facing various charges, including in the US where he is wanted over alleged trafficking of women and girls as young as 12. According to the FBI wanted list, victims were allegedly recruited to work as personal assistants, or pastorals", and were required to have sex with Quiboloy in what was called night duty". Continue reading...
As the Disney blockbuster ends its three-year run at Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, actor Samantha Barks pays tribute to its devoted audienceSometimes it has been a flurry and at others a blizzard. For three years theatregoers dressed in shades of Elsa blue have descended on Covent Garden for Disney's blockbuster stage musical Frozen. On Sunday, it finally came to an end as the guards opened up the gates of London's Theatre Royal Drury Lane for two final performances, at 1pm and 5.30pm.There are going to be tears," actor Samantha Barks admitted before the shows. Barks plays Elsa, the princess with icy powers, and is one of many in the cast and crew who have been with the production since 2021. When I got this job I was in my 20s," she said. Then we had the pandemic [which delayed the opening], I got married, I had a baby ... Personally, this time has been so special." Although incredibly sad" that Frozen was finishing, Barks added: I don't feel I'll ever really say goodbye to this character because it's such a part of me now ... I'm so proud of us all - it's a huge achievement." Continue reading...
Follow today's news liveUnion call for 12-day nationwide standard for reproductive leaveThe Health Services Union is pushing for 12 days of reproductive leave to be made standard nationwide.Making 12 days' reproductive leave part of the minimum entitlements for all workers will have incredible benefits across the entire economy.Women will be able to stay in the workforce longer, build more superannuation and help us close the gender pay gap. Continue reading...
An area of low pressure in the Gulf of Mexico is moving landward, and is expected to bring intense rainfallFrancine could soon be the next to be ticked off the list of Atlantic hurricane storm names this week. On Friday, a broad area of low pressure emerged in the Gulf of Mexico, designated as Invest 91L. An invest" - a shorthand for investigative area" - refers to a region of atmospheric disturbance, characterised by low pressure and thunderstorms, and is closely monitored for its potential to evolve into a tropical cyclone.Invest 91L is anticipated to encounter more favourable environmental conditions as it progresses northward over the coming days, meandering along the eastern coasts of Mexico and Texas. The National Hurricane Center has now labelled this as a potential tropical cyclone, and it is expected to reach hurricane status before reaching the Gulf coast of the US. It advises that hurricane and storm surge watches will probably be issued on Monday for coastal parts of Texas and Louisiana, with the impacts expected to be felt from Tuesday night. Continue reading...
Six months after coming to power, president and PM locked in stand-off with parliamentWithin a week of being inaugurated in April as Senegal's youngest president, Bassirou Diomaye Faye named his political mentor, Ousmane Sonko, as prime minister and announced his 25 cabinet appointments.Faye had swept to power on a leftist, anti-establishment and pan-African agenda promising radical reform, and said in his victory speech that his administration would focus on national reconciliation, easing the cost of living crisis and fighting corruption. Continue reading...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#6QJYV)
Legislation will be put before MPs on Monday that extends right to all councils to set routes and timetablesLocal transport authorities across England will be able to run and control bus services under a Labour overhaul designed to save vital routes", parliament will hear on Monday.The transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said the bus revolution" would empower local communities as the government prepares formally to announce measures to make services more reliable. Continue reading...
by Neha Gohil Community affairs correspondent on (#6QJYW)
Exclusive: Home Office rejects application from family who were separated from son in chaotic 2021 evacuationThe Home Office has rejected a visa application from a family trapped in Afghanistan, whose son was evacuated to the UK during the fall of Kabul.Ahmad (not his real name) was brought to the UK at the age of 10 with his uncle and aunt during Operation Pitting in 2021, when about 15,000 British nationals and eligible Afghans were evacuated from Afghanistan during a Taliban offensive. Continue reading...
by Eleni Courea Political correspondent on (#6QJYX)
Move will help leader consolidate power over party before challenges of government dent his popularityKeir Starmer's allies are planning to use their moment of maximum power" to speedily appoint a new Labour general secretary in the next fortnight, the Guardian has learned.Insiders said party figures were planning to install a Starmer ally in the top party job in time for the appointment to be ratified by conference in late September. Continue reading...
by Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro, Jon Henley in Pari on (#6QJYA)
Edmundo Gonzalez pledges to push for freedom and democracy for Venezuela after going into exile in Spain amid fears for his safetyThe US secretary of state has said Edmundo Gonzalez remains the best hope for democracy" in Venezuela after the former presidential candidate went into exile in Spain.Antony Blinken said on X on Sunday that Gonzalez's departure from Venezuela is the direct result of the anti-democratic measures that [President] Nicolas Maduro has unleashed on the Venezuelan people". Continue reading...
by Tom Phillips in Rio de Janeiro and Jon Henley in P on (#6QJB2)
Opponent of Nicolas Maduro - widely seen as legitimate election winner - seeks asylum in Spain after being accused of a series of crimesThe Venezuelan opposition leader and former presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, has gone into exile in Spain, dealing a bitter blow to opponents of the country's authoritarian president, Nicolas Maduro.The Spanish government said on Sunday that a Spanish air force plane carrying Gonzalez and his wife had landed at the Torrejon de Ardoz military base outside Madrid Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Senior political correspondent on (#6QJTB)
Conservative MPs' ratings trail behind Starmer's as second round of voting for contest to come on TuesdayVoters believe James Cleverly and Tom Tugendhat are the Conservative leadership candidates most likely to make a good prime minister, although both are still trailing behind Keir Starmer, polling has shown as another crunch week in the campaign begins.A series of party sources have predicted that Cleverly, the shadow home secretary, could pick up support among MPs in Tuesday's second round of voting, when the five remaining candidates will be whittled down to four. Continue reading...
Findings by Transparency International UK point to more than coincidence or incompetence', says chief executiveA landmark study has uncovered corruption red flags" in government Covid contracts worth more than 15bn - representing nearly one in every three pounds awarded by the Conservative administration during the pandemic.The analysis, billed as the most in-depth look yet at public procurement during the crisis, warns that systemic bias, opaque accounting and uncontrolled pricing resulted in vast waste of public funds on testing and personal protective equipment (PPE).At least 28 contracts, worth 4.1bn, went to those with known political connections to the Conservative party. This amounts to almost a tenth of the money spent on the pandemic response.Fifty-one contracts, worth 4bn, went through the VIP lane", a vehicle through which certain suppliers were given priority, of which 24, worth 1.7bn, were referred by politicians from the Conservative party or their offices.1bn was spent on personal protective equipment from 25 VIP-lane suppliers that was later deemed unfit for use. The VIP lane was found to unlawful by a high court judge in a 2022 ruling.Eight contracts, worth 500m, went to suppliers that were no more than 100 days old.The UK government awarded more than 30.7bn in high- value contracts without competition - equivalent to almost two-thirds of all Covid contracts by value.The Department of Health and Social Care wrote off 14.9bn in public money over a two-year period - equivalent to the government's total spend on personal protective equipment. Continue reading...
Assistant commissioner says force hasn't got everything right' in past year in its handling of large demonstrations over Gaza and the environmentArrests at large protests, including those organised by pro-Palestine and environmental groups, will probably be made more quickly in the future, the Metropolitan police's assistant commissioner has said. Matt Twist also suggested that the force had not got everything right" in handling demonstrations over the past year.The capital has seen a number of large-scale protests since October last year, some of which have drawn hundreds of thousands of people to central London. Among them were demonstrations held by Just Stop Oil, Extinction Rebellion, and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), which is calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. Continue reading...
by Angelique Chrisafis at the Stade de France on (#6QJRR)
Stade de France transformed into huge electronica dance party with world's elite para athletes doing farewell congaWith an explosion of fireworks, laser beams, breakdance and a thumping set by the giants of French electronica, France bid goodbye to the Paralympic Games on Sunday night with the biggest party it had ever thrown.The feelgood summer of athletic achievement in Paris had turned crowds hoarse from so much cheering and for ever changed the nation's attitude to sport and disability, and now Parisians were desperately sad to say goodbye to it all. Continue reading...
by Peter Walker Senior political correspondent on (#6QJRS)
Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime will involve campaigners, young people and victims' families in England and WalesKeir Starmer will host the actor and campaigner Idris Elba along with police, officials and charities on Monday to launch a project intended to tackle knife crime among young people.Officially titled the Coalition to Tackle Knife Crime, the organisation will involve campaign groups, young people and community leaders, and the families of people affected by knife crime. Continue reading...
Police believe suspect in Barbara Nomakhosi's death died later same evening in collision on M65The family of a carer who died with multiple injuries have paid tribute to her thoughtful" nature, saying she was always checking up" on loved ones.Barbara Nomakhosi, 35, was discovered when officers were called to an address in Bury, Greater Manchester, at about 10.30pm on Friday. Continue reading...
Official says dead given mass burial after after collision in Agaie area of north-central Niger stateA fuel tanker has collided head on with another truck in Nigeria, causing an explosion that killed at least 48 people, the country's emergency response agency has said.
Big exhibition will reflect life and loves of artist, from his first professional print in 1904 to 1960s masterpiecesThe British Museum is putting on a big exhibition of the print works of Pablo Picasso, one of the finest graphic artists of the 20th century, it will announce on Monday.About 100 prints will reflect the life and loves of the artist with an extraordinary vision, best known for masterpieces include Guernica, one of the most powerful anti-war paintings. Continue reading...
About 1,000 of those affected work in London and 4,500 at the bank's new Milton Keynes headquartersSantander has joined the ranks of employers herding reluctant British workers back to the coalface, telling office staff they must turn up in person for at least three days a week on average.While the bank's back-office staff will still be able to work from home more regularly than before the pandemic, the minimum requirement now tips the balance in favour of the traditional workplace rather than home. Continue reading...
Fresh chance for eligible' fans to buy reunion tour tickets after many people's transactions failed last SaturdayA select number of Oasis fans who missed out on tickets for the band's reunion concerts in a disastrous sales launch last week have been invited to try their luck again in a second ballot.The band said they would send invitations out to eligible fans we have been able to identify", including some of those who were signed in to the Ticketmaster website last Saturday but were unable to complete their transactions. Continue reading...
Deputy director of Gaza Civil Emergency Service and four family members killed in Jabalia, say Gaza health officials; three Israeli civilians killed in shooting near Jordan border crossing, says IDFHere is more on the earlier incident (see 9.08am post) in which three Israelis were killed.Reuters reports that Israeli authorities said a gunman crossing from Jordan killed the three civilians at the Allenby Bridge border in the occupied West Bank on Sunday before being shot dead by security forces.A terrorist approached the area of the Allenby Bridge from Jordan in a truck, exited the truck, and opened fire at the Israeli security forces operating at the bridge.The terrorist was eliminated by the security forces, three Israeli civilians were pronounced dead as a result of the attack. Continue reading...
Australia's only female prime minister marks 30th anniversary of ALP's affirmative action rule by advocating for its adoption across federal parliament
by Peter Walker Senior political correspondent on (#6QJHN)
Report into state of health service in England expresses fears that 50 years of progress is beginning to reverse'Decades of progress in tackling heart disease and strokes risks unravelling in part because of NHS failures under the last government, a report into the state of the health service in Englandwill argue.The statistics on cardiovascular disease from the report by the eminent surgeon and Labour peer Ara Darzi, were released by the health department before its launch on Thursday. Continue reading...
Following proposed reduction in deliveries, households would go online to find out when post is dueRoyal Mail is considering launching a bin collection"-type website for households to track which day they will receive mail, if the company is given the green light by the regulator to water down services.The company is pushing to cut its services to save costs, and has proposed a reduction in second-class letter deliveries to alternate weekdays. Continue reading...
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