Four other people also injured in West Midlands incident as officers work with fire service to establish causeTwo men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after two women died and four people were injured in a house fire in Wolverhampton.Emergency services were called to a house in the Dunstall Hill area at 2am on Saturday. Continue reading...
His mother's office said the 18-year-old high school senior had to decline the honor due to prior commitmentsDonald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, won't be serving as a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention after all, his mother's office said on Friday.While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments," Melania Trump's office said. Continue reading...
Polls indicate a surge for the right across the continent in next month's ballots but the centrists are still likely to hold sway in parliamentFar-right gains in next month's European elections will be hard, if not impossible, to parlay into more power in parliament, experts say, but they could boost nationalist parties in EU capitals - with potentially greater consequences.Polling suggests far-right and hardline conservative parties could finish first in nine EU states, including Austria, France and the Netherlands, in the polls between 6 and 9 June, and second or third in another nine, including Germany, Spain, Portugal and Sweden. Continue reading...
Rev Sue Parfitt, 82, and Judith Bruce, 85, took hammer and chisel to document's glass case at British LibraryTwo women in their 80s have been charged with criminal damage after the glass around Magna Carta at the British Library was attacked.The Rev Sue Parfitt, 82, from Bristol, and Judith Bruce, 85, from Swansea, were arrested on Friday morning and have been charged with criminal damage, the Metropolitan police said. Continue reading...
Jalal Debella, 22, due to appear in court after arrest in Colindale area of capital over fatal stabbing in Edgware on ThursdayA man has been charged with the murder of a 66-year-old woman in north London, police have said.The woman died after being stabbed in Burnt Oak Broadway, near the junction of Limesdale Gardens, in Edgware on Thursday. Continue reading...
Data shows 112,000 households in temporary housing in England on 31 December 2023, a 12.1% rise on the previous yearMichael Gove has admitted regret" over the increased number of children in temporary accommodation, as the latest government figures have laid bare the scale of England's housing crisis.Figures published by the government at the end of April show nearly 112,000 households were in temporary accommodation on 31 December 2023, a 12.1% increase from the previous year. Of those, 63% included dependent children, hitting record levels in 2023. Continue reading...
Ann Pizzorusso says she has tracked down the background landscape of the world's most famous paintingThe landscape behind Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa has sparked endless debate, with some art historians suggesting the view was imaginary and idealised, and others claiming various links to specific Italian locations.Now a geologist and Renaissance art historian believes she has finally solved the mystery in one of the world's most famous paintings. Ann Pizzorusso has combined her two fields of expertise to suggest that Leonardo painted several recognisable features of Lecco, on the shores of Lake Como in northern Italy's Lombardy region. Continue reading...
by Emiliano Mellino, Shanti Das and Vicky Gayle on (#6MQMT)
Observer and Bureau of Investigative Journalism find that workers whose sponsoring company had been sanctioned were also being punishedThousands of migrant care workers have been threatened with deportation, despite doing nothing wrong, after the Home Office took enforcement action against their employers.In one case, a brother and sister from India who paid a recruitment agency 18,000 to secure care jobs in the UK, only to find they had been scammed, were told they must find another company to sponsor them in 60 days or leave the country. Continue reading...
High-profile parties including London's biggest viewing event called off amid ongoing offensive in GazaEurovision is one of the biggest nights of the year for many LGBTQ+ venues across the UK, offering an opportunity for a joyful party celebrating music and high camp.Celebrations will be mixed this year, however, after a number of high-profile events were cancelled in protest at Israel's participation. Continue reading...
Club secretaries at some institutions are understood to be consulting lawyers after vote at GarrickDiscussions are under way over whether to admit women at several of London's remaining gentlemen's clubs after this week's vote by Garrick club members to allow women to join after 193 years.The Travellers Club, the Savile Club, the Beefsteak Club, Boodle's, Buck's, Brooks's, the East India Club and White's are among a handful of the remaining London clubs that still do not admit female members. Continue reading...
A huge increase in fees means many vulnerable people have to leave the Derwentwater site they call homeRetired and vulnerable holiday homeowners claim they are being priced out of a breathtaking" waterside campsite in the Lake District after the Camping and Caravanning Club raised one of the main charges by more than 60%.The row at the static caravan park on the edge of Derwentwater, sometimes called Queen of the Lakes" because it is cradled by fells, is over the siting" fee owners pay when ageing vans are replaced. Continue reading...
by Eleni Courea Political correspondent on (#6MQJX)
Exclusive: Even seats with majorities of over 15,000 are deemed at risk and needing extra support from party HQThe Conservative party is quietly pouring extra resources into dozens of Tory-held seats deemed at risk at the next general election, including one with a 17,000 majority.As many as 200 constituencies held by Conservative MPs have been marked as vulnerable and worthy of extra support from party HQ, including Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. The seaside town has been held since 2005 by the Conservative MP John Penrose, who was re-elected in 2019 with a majority of 17,121. Continue reading...
Readers tell us insurance premiums soared and vehicles were written off after the cost of claims soaredWant to know why your car insurance premium has doubled in the past two years? Could the apparently bizarre and wasteful way that car insurers pay claims have something to do withit?Guardian Money recently asked readers to describe their experience after they had been involved in minor prangs, and the responses - and the figures quoted - are astonishing. Continue reading...
Gina Jacobs, from the Wirral, is calling for the government to apologise to parents of stillborn babiesUntil the 1980s and 1990s, bereaved parents of stillborn children were kept in the dark by doctors and midwives over the fate of their lost infants. Gina Jacobs was one of those parents. In 1969 her son Robert was stillborn and he was taken from her before she was able to see his face.Fifty-three years passed before Jacobs tracked down Robert's burial site, revealing not just his fate but also the lies told about his disposal. She has since helped families locate the burial site of more than 60 stillborn children and, with the support of parliamentarians, is calling for a formal government apology for what she and others argue was in effect official policy for disposing of stillborn children. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Man freed last year after 17 years in jail says he is struggling to survive on benefits while he pursues compensationAndrew Malkinson, who spent 17 years in jail for a crime he did not commit, has described having to use a food bank and struggling to survive on universal credit while he waits for compensation.Writing in the Guardian, Malkinson said that while the public might think he had been paid millions by the state after he was exonerated last summer, he was still living in penury as he navigated the compensation system. Continue reading...
Group will protest against government's treatment of freelance workers at festivals across FranceThe Cannes film festival is facing strike action as it opens next week and could see protests by projectionists, floor managers and press agents who are demanding changes to the French government's treatment of seasonal film festival staff.The festival on France's Cote d'Azur has faced major strike action only once before, during the student protests and workers' strikes that began in May 1968. Continue reading...
Trade bodies welcome proposal from cross-party culture committee that would prop up grassroots gig venues without passing cost to consumersA group of MPs are calling for a ticket levy on concerts at UK arenas and stadiums to raise funds for grassroots venues that are struggling with rising costs and the risk of closure.A VAT break for smaller venues has also been recommended in an inquiry report signed by MPs in the culture, media and sport committee, which emphasises the importance of these venues to the wider music ecosystem. Continue reading...
Death toll may rise as search continues for victims under mud and rubble and as more rain approachesAt least 50 people, mainly women and children, have been killed in flash flooding in the northern Afghanistan province of Baghlan.The number was confirmed by Hedayatullah Hamdard, the head of the provincial natural disaster management department, who said it could increase in the coming days. Continue reading...
Move comes after counter-protesters' attack on pro-Palestinian student demonstrators and violent police raid on encampmentMore than 800 faculty and staff at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have called for the chancellor's resignation following attacks by counter-protesters on pro-Palestinian student demonstrators and a violent police raid of the Gaza solidarity encampment on campus last week.More than a hundred professors and other teaching staff gathered on Thursday to deliver a letter in support of their students engaged in pro-Palestinian activism, demanding Gene Block immediately step down as chancellor and an academic senate vote of no confidence in him. The letter also called for authorities to drop all charges against students, staff and faculty who were involved in the encampment. Continue reading...
Dina Boluarte, caught up in Rolexgate scandal', denies accepting watches in exchange for favours amid police raids on key alliesPolice in Peru have detained the brother and the lawyer of the country's embattled president, Dina Boluarte, as part of a widening corruption inquiry, weeks after a similar raid on the Peruvian leader's home.Boluarte's brother Nicanor and her lawyer Mateo Castaneda were placed under preliminary detention on Friday, accused of influence trafficking and belonging to a criminal organisation. Six other people were also detained. Continue reading...
by Patrick Butler Social policy editor on (#6MQ4C)
Select committee says scale of problem, carers' testimony and cost to taxpayer warrants second inquiry into benefits systemA cross-party group of MPs has called on the government's public spending watchdog to investigate the growing scandal that has plunged tens of thousands of unpaid carers into debt and left some with criminal convictions after unwittingly breaching benefit rules.The Commons work and pensions select committee said it was concerned with how the government was clawing back huge sums from carers, and in some cases prosecuting them for fraud, five years after it promised to tackle carer's allowance overpayments. Continue reading...
Leader calls Tory scheme for processing asylum seekers a gimmick' and a waste of money'Labour will not allow any deportation flights to take off for Rwanda from the moment it wins an election, Keir Starmer has said.After a speech in which he announced his plans to tackle illegal immigration, Starmer committed to scrapping the Rwanda scheme absolutely, flights and all". Continue reading...
Storm could trigger displays of aurora through Saturday night in parts of Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England and WalesA strong solar storm headed towards Earth could allow parts of the UK the chance to see the Northern lights this weekend.The Met Office said space weather experts had issued a rare severe geomagnetic storm (G4) warning for this weekend, the first in nearly 20 years. Continue reading...
by Julian Borger in Washington and Lorenzo Tondo in J on (#6MQ5C)
Assembly votes 143 to nine, with 25 abstentions, signalling Israel's growing isolation on the world stageThe UN general assembly has voted overwhelmingly to back the Palestinian bid for full UN membership, in a move that signalled Israel's growing isolation on the world stage amid global alarm over the war in Gaza and the extent of the humanitarian crisis in the strip.The assembly voted by 143 to nine, with 25 abstentions, for a resolution called on the UN security council to bestow full membership to the state of Palestine, while enhancing its current mission with a range of new rights and privileges, in addition to what it is allowed in its current observer status. Continue reading...
Ten Historically Black Colleges and Universities in line for grants for technology, operations, audience engagement and reportingTen student newsrooms at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) will receive nearly $200,000 to help improve campus newsroom technology, business operations, audience engagement and reporting. The grants, given by the Center for Journalism & Democracy at Howard University via its Newsroom Innovation Challenge, were announced on Friday.HBCU student newsrooms brim with talent, but often lack the resources needed to give students access to the cutting-edge technology and operational support that so many of their peers at predominately white institutions have," Nikole Hannah-Jones, the center's founder, said in a statement. The money will also allow the newsrooms to pay stipends for student journalists, many of whom are unable to volunteer at their campus news organizations because they need to work jobs that pay. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Reversal comes after backlash from students and writers including Booker winner Bernardine EvaristoGoldsmiths, University of London, will keep its Black British literature course open after a backlash from students and writers including the Booker prize-winner Bernardine Evaristo.The decision is a reversal of April's announcement that the master's degree in Black British literature, alongside other courses, would be axed as part of a cost-cutting programme affecting 132 academic jobs across 11 departments. Continue reading...
by Gloria Oladipo (now); Tom Ambrose and Jane Clinton on (#6MPS7)
143 countries supported it, 9 voted against, and 25 abstainedOn a visit to Washington, German defence minister Boris Pistorius expressed understanding" for the US threat to limit arms supplies to Israel in the event of a full-blown Rafah offensive but stopped short of setting any new red lines on German weapons.However, he told ZDF public television that Germany must put pressure on Israel not to go too far" and to slow down" in its military response to the 7 October attacks. Continue reading...
Lee Byer was released from prison five days before senseless' attack on Thomas O'Halloran in August 2022A man has been detained in hospital indefinitely for the senseless" killing of an elderly mobility scooter rider five days after his release from prison.Lee Byer stabbed 87-year-old Thomas O'Halloran in the neck and chest in Greenford, west London, in August 2022. Continue reading...
Socialist frontrunner says region ready to unite, rather than focus on divisive politics that has plunged country into crisisCatalan's election offers voters a chance to leave behind a lost decade" of unstable and divisive rule by pro-independence parties and instead choose a government that will focus on unity and improving neglected" public services in the wealthy north-eastern Spanish region, according to the socialist frontrunner.Salvador Illa, a former central government health minister who leads the Catalan branch of Spain's ruling socialist party, said the region was ready for change almost seven years after the failed, unilateral bid to secede plunged the country into political crisis. Continue reading...
Piran Ditta Khan, 75, was last of seven men convicted for involvement in Bradford robbery during which police officer was killedAfter 15 years as a fugitive, Piran Ditta Khan was handed a life sentence on Friday for leading an armed robbery that ended with the police officer Sharon Beshenivsky being shot dead.Khan fled the country after the 2005 robbery and lived in Pakistan until the UK government extradited him last year. Continue reading...
This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereRussian forces have advanced one kilometre (0.62 mile) into Ukraine's northeast Kharkiv region near Vovchansk, a high-ranking Ukrainian military source said on Friday.According to Reuters, the source said the Russian military was aiming to advance as much as 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) into the region in an effort to establish a buffer zone. Ukrainian forces were fighting to hold back Moscow's advance.At approximately 5 am, there was an attempt by the enemy to break through our defensive line under the cover of armoured vehicles.As of now, these attacks have been repulsed; battles of varying intensity continue. Continue reading...
Government sources had indicated deportation of asylum seekers would begin in July, but order shows they could happen on 24 JuneRishi Sunak's first deportation flight to Rwanda, the cornerstone of the government's immigration policy, could happen as early as 24 June, court papers seen by the Guardian show.Although government sources had indicated that the first flights carrying asylum seekers would take off in July, a court order released on Friday has disclosed that the government now says flights could take off in late June. Continue reading...
This live blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereThe Post Office Horizon IT inquiry is about to get under way again. Sir Wyn Williams is in the chair, and the witness is Rod Ismay, former head of product and branch accounting at Post Office limited. You can watch it here.James Cleverly has posted to social media in response to Labour leader Keir Starmer talking up his plans for immigration policy. In his message, Starmer said:People have a right to expect security at our borders. When I was the country's chief prosecutor, we smashed terrorist gangs abroad. If I'm privileged enough to become prime minister, we will smash the people-smuggling gangs.Labour's big ideas: Scrap Rwanda eg. have no deterrent. Amnesty for small boat arrivals because they would scrap Rwanda and have nowhere to send them. Re-brand Small Boats Command, which was set up by this Conservative government and is led by a British army officer. Continue reading...
Company says latest delay at central London site bought for estimated 378m is due to water leaking into basementIkea has pushed back the opening of its Oxford Street store to spring 2025 - about 18 months later than initially planned - after problems with water leaking into the basement.The site, previously occupied by Topshop, had been scheduled to open this autumn and that date had already been put back by a full year. Continue reading...
Celebrity chef says businesses are battling to stay afloat' due to rising rent and food costs but industry still vibrant'Gordon Ramsay's restaurant empire tripled losses to 3.4m last year as it spent millions of pounds on opening five new restaurants and the chef said businesses in the industry were battling to stay afloat".Sales at the celebrity chef's dining establishments, which range from his Michelin-starred flagship Restaurant Gordon Ramsay to Street Burger, rose by 21% to 95.6m in the year to 27 August. The group took on 290 more staff after a tough time during the pandemic lockdowns. Continue reading...
Mayor of Alicudi appealed for homes for 600 feral goats which will be removed from tiny volcanic islandWhen the mayor of a remote Italian island grappling with an overpopulation of feral goats offered to give the animals away, he anticipated a smattering of interest from farmers on neighbouring isles who were perhaps keen to boost their production of ricotta cheese.But as news of his adopt a goat" initiative spread beyond Alicudi, he received a flurry of offers from around the world - not just from Europe, but also the US, and even from an animal-lover in Nigeria. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Wopke Hoekstra says EU must press ahead with cutting greenhouse gases and use policy to bring about economic benefitsEurope's climate chief has warned against politicians trying to use the climate crisis as a wedge issue in the forthcoming EU parliament elections, calling instead for climate policy that will bring wider economic benefits.Wopke Hoekstra, the EU commissioner for climate action, said Europe had no choice but to press ahead with strong measures to cut greenhouse gases, whoever was in power, but added that more attention was needed to help businesses thrive in a low-carbon world. Continue reading...
Agency chief says compound has suffered a number of attacks with the lives of UN staff at a serious risk'The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has temporarily closed its East Jerusalem headquarters after Israeli extremists" set fire to the perimeter following weeks of repeated attacks.This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the Unrwa headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem," the head of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini, tweeted, lamenting that it was the second attack on the compound in a matter of days. Continue reading...
Relationship between former president and adult film actor is central to the case. Plus, faculty-led Gaza encampment at the New SchoolGood morning,The hush-money trial against Donald Trump resumes today at the end of a dramatic week that included testimony from the adult film actor Stormy Daniels.Remind me of the details? Trump is charged with 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with the payments, and has pleaded not guilty.Is the trial impacting Trump's electoral prospects? It doesn't look like it. Trump is polling at an average 41.3% compared with Joe Biden's 40.6%.The other criminal cases. The hush-money case is the first of four criminal cases to reach a jury against Trump. The other three have hit serious delays, which could perhaps prevent them from starting before November's presidential election.What's happening in Rafah? Israel has intensified its bombardment of the city - where 1.4 million people are sheltering - leading to more than 100,000 people fleeing, UN officials say.What does the international community think about an Israeli invasion of Rafah? The UN urged a ceasefire to stop the unbearable suffering of Palestinians in Gaza and of the hostages and their families". The UK said a Rafah offensive would break international law. Qatar called for urgent international action to prevent the city from being invaded and a crime of genocide being committed". Continue reading...
Keir Johnston, 38, admits strangling Grace Johnston outside Scottish home on Isle of ColonsayA man who became famous after a dress bought for his wedding broke the internet" has pleaded guilty to endangering his wife's life after admitting to strangling her.Keir Johnston, 38, pleaded guilty to the attack at the high court in Glasgow on Thursday and was remanded in custody until a sentence is passed next month. Continue reading...
More rain is expected to lash NSW as BoM issues severe weather and flash flood warningsAnother wet and stormy weekend is ahead for New South Wales with widespread rain and thunderstorms expected to batter much of the state.The heaviest downpours of up to 200mm are forecast to hit the South Coast and Illawarra, prompting widespread flash flood warnings. Continue reading...
Shadow health secretary says party will not accept just any MP after Natalie Elphicke's move to Labour UK politics live - latest updatesLabour's Wes Streeting has said he has spoken to more Tories considering a defection to the opposition, but insisted the party would not accept just any MP after the former Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke crossed the floor.The shadow health secretary said Elphicke, who is due to appear alongside the Labour leader, Keir Starmer, in her Dover constituency on Friday, had switched sides with a purpose" and not out of personal ambition", defending the move amid a backlash from some Labour MPs. Continue reading...
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