Dominique Pelicot has been excused from court because of poor health and proceedings could be delayed if he remains ill for a long periodThe trial of a French man accused of recruiting strangers to rape his heavily sedated wife has been adjourned until Monday after the suspect was excused from attending in light of his deteriorating health, the court has said.Should Dominique Pelicot, 71, be unavailable to attend proceedings for a lengthy period of time, then the trial will be postponed to a later date, the presiding judge, Roger Arata, said on Thursday. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#6QP68)
Irish building materials firm was identified by Grenfell inquiry as behaving with persistent dishonesty'A second professional golfer, Leona Maguire, is under pressure to end her sponsorship deal with the Irish company Kingspan after the public inquiry into the Grenfell Tower disaster found it behaved with persistent dishonesty" in selling combustible foam insulation.Grenfell United (GU), the bereaved and survivors group, is calling on the 29-year-old to drop the firm and stop wearing its logo on her golf shirts after the Ryder Cup player Shane Lowry announced he was doing so earlier this week. Continue reading...
Expanding access to Oxbridge and other leading institutions would boost social mobility, say authors of new bookStrictly limiting the numbers of private school pupils attending Oxford, Cambridge and other leading universities is a radical" move needed to boost UK social mobility and improve access to elite professions, according to the authors of a new book.Aaron Reeves and Sam Friedman, professors of sociology at the London School of Economics, argue that pupils from prestigious private schools such as Eton and Winchester have maintained a disproportionate grip on Oxbridge and Russell Group university places, despite recent improvements in admission policies. Continue reading...
Two women posted YouTube video in 2021 falsely claiming French president's wife was previously a man, prompting her to file libel complaintA court has ordered two women to pay 8,000 in damages to France's first lady, Brigitte Macron, after making false claims she was transgender, sparking online rumour-mongering by conspiracy theorists and the far right.The women had posted a YouTube video in December 2021 alleging the French president's wife had once been a man named Jean-Michel, an untruth that went viral just weeks before the 2022 presidential election and prompted Brigitte Macron to file a libel complaint. Continue reading...
by Ben Quinn, Vikram Dodd and Sam Jones on (#6QP4Z)
David Knowles, who helped make Ukraine: The Latest podcast, died on holiday after suspected cardiac arrestUK counter-terrorism police are providing support to the investigation into the death of a Daily Telegraph journalist in Gibraltar.David Knowles died while on holiday on Sunday after what his employers said was believed to be a cardiac arrest. Continue reading...
by Amy Sedghi (now) and Ben Quinn (earlier) on (#6QNSN)
Although Zelenskiy posted on social media that Russia was to blame, the ICRC statement did not apportion blame to any partyAntony Blinken and David Lammy's joint trip to Kyiv, to be followed by Keir Starmer's trip to Washington DC to see Joe Biden on Friday, has inevitably lifted expectations that Ukraine will shortly be given permission to fire Anglo-French Storm Shadow and US Atacms missiles, which have a range of 190 miles plus, into Russia.There are no shortage of risks. Allowing Ukraine to fire western-made weapons deep into Russia could have a dramatic political impact on the course of a war mired in a grim, attritional slog that appears to be favouring Moscow, whose forces are bearing down on the strategic town of Pokrovsk. Continue reading...
Bill is laid before parliament after years of campaigning by mother of Manchester Arena bombing victimPubs and clubs that can hold 200 people could be fined 10,000 if the owners fail to comply with a new law that is meant to protect against terror attacks.Martyn's law, otherwise known as the terrorism (protection of premises) bill, will require all venues with a capacity of more than 199 people to take steps to ensure they have a plan in place in case of an attack on their premises. Continue reading...
David Lammy says aid workers must be able to do their jobs and reiterates calls for a ceasefireSyrian media is reporting that in addition to killing two people in a drone strike on a vehicle inside Syria, Israeli forces have also shelled the Syrian town of Al-Rafid in the south-east of the country, close to territory controlled by Israel.The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza has said that Israeli attacks have killed at least 34 people and injured 96 over the past 24 hours in the territory. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Michelin, Dunlop, Goodyear and Bridgestone products have found way to Russia via intermediariesMore than $30m (23m) worth of aircraft tyres made by western manufacturers including the French firm Michelin and Britain's Dunlop were imported into Russia last year via intermediaries despite attempts to ban the trade, according to a Ukrainian government agency.Russian aviation is critically dependent on foreign-made tyres and, according to the available customs records, the vast majority imported into the country in 2023 were produced by companies headquartered in France, Britain, the US and Japan. Continue reading...
Category 2 hurricane left trail of flooding and wind damage, including 6-8in of rain in New OrleansFrancine's center moved inland on Thursday after making landfall as a category 2 hurricane and had weakened to a tropical storm leaving a trail of flooding and wind damage in its wake.Francine will now progressively deteriorate as it tracks across west-central Mississippi into the mid-south on Thursday and Friday. The storm is forecast to spin down and become a tropical depression by late Thursday and a post-tropical cyclone by Thursday night or early Friday. Continue reading...
Parents of babies murdered by former hospital nurse say critics using families' losses to build their own reputationsThe parents of babies murdered by the former nurse Lucy Letby have said conspiracy theorists should be ashamed", in a statement read by a lawyer to a public inquiry.Letby, 34, was sentenced to 15 whole-life orders after she was convicted across two trials of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others. Continue reading...
Vadim Kobzev, Alexei Liptser and Igor Sergunin accused of passing messages between jailed opposition leader and alliesThree lawyers who represented the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny have gone on trial for extremism".Navalny died in February in unclear circumstances in an Arctic prison colony where he was serving a 19-year sentence for leading an extremist" organisation. Continue reading...
Kelly Ortberg in last-minute plea to assembly staff due to vote on 25% pay offer, with business in difficult period'Boeing's new chief executive, Kelly Ortberg, has pleaded with workers to not go on strike, before a crucial union vote on Thursday, warning the action would put the company's recovery in jeopardy".About 33,000 aircraft assembly workers, most of them in the Seattle area, are due to vote on a pay offer that includes rises worth 25% over four years. Continue reading...
City's police department thanks rock singer after he is pictured talking to and embracing a woman on the Seigenthaler pedestrian bridgeJon Bon Jovi has been praised by Nashville's police department after the rock star helped to talk a distressed woman off the edge of a bridge.The incident took place on the city's Seigenthaler pedestrian bridge on Tuesday evening, which spans the Cumberland River. In surveillance footage, the woman is seen to have climbed over the bridge's railing and is stood on a ledge on the other side. Bon Jovi is pictured calmly engaging in conversation with the woman, before he and a companion help the woman back over the railing. Later, Bon Jovi gives her a warm embrace and walks with her back across the bridge. Continue reading...
Facilities to receive greater protection in attempt to reduce potential impact of adverse incidents or attacksDatacentres in the UK are to be designated as critical national infrastructure in an effort to protect them from cyber-attacks and IT blackouts, the government has said.The buildings store much of the data generated in the UK, including photos taken on smartphones, financial information and NHS records. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: Labour's new plans aim to shut the door on unscrupulous landlords. But what will change for the millions of people renting? Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning.In 2019, Theresa May's Conservative party pledged to end no-fault evictions (that is, where landlords oust tenants without giving a reason), and introduced the first iteration of the renters' reform bill. But pressure from lobbyists, interest groups and Tory backbenchers who were themselves landlords led to countless delays and the eventual watering down of the proposals. Charities and advocacy groups expressed concern about the sloth-like progress of the bill, but that did little to hurry the previous government.US election 2024 | Donald Trump's campaign was in damage control mode on Wednesday amid widespread dismay among supporters over a presidential debate performance that saw Kamala Harris, his Democratic opponent, repeatedly goad him into going wildly off-message and missing apparent opportunities to tackle her on policy. The debate was viewed by an estimated 67.1 million people, a 31% increase from the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden.NHS | Long delays for hospital, GP and mental health services are leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths and have ruptured the social contract between the NHS and the people", an inquiry has concluded. The findings of the study by Lord Ara Darzi, commissioned by Labour when it came to power, will be cited by Keir Starmer, who will warn that the NHS has to reform or die".Northern Ireland | The government is to establish an independent public inquiry into the February 1989 loyalist murder of the Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane, the Northern Ireland secretary, Hilary Benn, has announced. Finucane was 39 when he was shot dead in his family home in north Belfast by the Ulster Defence Association in an attack found by a series of investigations to have involved collusion with the state.Business | The British steel industry has suffered a blow after confirmation that 2,500 jobs will go at the Port Talbot steelworks despite a 500m taxpayer-backed deal for the south Wales plant.UK news | Oliver Campbell, a man with severe learning difficulties who was jailed for life for the murder of a shopkeeper three decades ago after confessing in police interviews, has had his convictions quashed by the court of appeal. Continue reading...
University's outgoing chancellor says it is a mistake to try to turn election for his successor into a left-right issue'Chris Patten has described Peter Mandelson's claim that it is time for a non-Tory chancellor of the University of Oxford as a sort of stupid argument" and a real mistake", as Patten retires from the prestigious role.A host of candidates including Labour's Lord Mandelson and the former Conservative cabinet ministers William Hague and Dominic Grieve have announced they are standing for election to succeed Lord Patten, a former Conservative party MP and chair. Continue reading...
The Earth Commission says hope lies in sustainable lifestyles, a radical transformation of global politics and fair distribution of resourcesAll of humanity could share a prosperous, equitable future but the space for development is rapidly shrinking under pressure from a wealthy minority of ultra-consumers, a groundbreaking study has shown.Growing environmental degradation and climate instability have pushed the Earth beyond a series of safe planetary boundaries, say the authors from the Earth Commission, but it still remains possible to carve out a safe and just space" that would enable everyone to thrive. Continue reading...
Speculation Rachel Reeves to raise tax in budget thought one reason for some homeowners cashing outGrowing speculation about a capital gains tax (CGT) raid in October's budget appears to have prompted a surge in the number of larger homes being put up for sale, the UK's biggest property website says.Rightmove said in the week ending 9 September there had been a flurry of activity at the top end" of the market. The number of larger homes - defined as four-bedroom detached houses and all five-bedroom and larger properties - being listed for sale in Great Britain was 15% more than in the same period last year. And in the east and south-west of England, which include some of the UK's most popular coastal and countryside hotspots, the percentage was over 20%. Continue reading...
Ex-leader was jailed in 2009 for corruption and human rights abuses but granted a humanitarian pardon last yearAlberto Fujimori, Peru's former strongman leader throughout the 1990s and the country's most divisive leader, has died aged 86, just 10 months after he was granted a pardon and freed from jail.The ex-president died at the home of his daughter and political heiress Keiko Fujimori in the Peruvian capital Lima on Wednesday evening. Continue reading...
Ex-children's laureate Malorie Blackman says no student should feel English is irrelevant because they do not see themselves reflected in the literatureThe English literature curriculum ought to include more inclusive and diverse" contemporary stories that are relevant and relatable" to young people's lives, Malorie Blackman has said.The author of the Noughts and Crosses novels said in the foreword to a Lit in Colour campaign report that it could encourage more children to read for pleasure. She also said that no child should feel that studying English at school is irrelevant because they never see themselves" reflected in the literature. Continue reading...
Budget cuts to local services fell disproportionately on care for obese patients, leading to postcode lottery'The NHS is restricting access to obesity services across England, leading to patients in nearly half the country being unable to book appointments with specialist teams for support and treatments such as weight-loss jabs.An investigation by the British Medical Journal found budget cuts to local services fell disproportionately on obesity care, with patients living with the condition often deemed less worthy of care than others. Continue reading...
Catherine Todd tells inquiry of losing son in hospital hours after his birth during pandemic after she contracted CovidA bereaved mother was forced to wear full PPE as her baby son died in her arms hours after his birth, the UK Covid-19 inquiry has heard. Catherine Todd's son Ziggy was born during the pandemic on 21 July 2021 at the Ulster hospital in Northern Ireland.Chaired by Heather Hallett, the inquiry is now investigating the impact of the pandemic on healthcare systems across the UK. Continue reading...
Detailed analysis warns Keir Starmer it will take longer than five years to get waiting times back on trackLong delays for hospital, GP and mental health services are leading to thousands of unnecessary deaths and have ruptured the social contract between the NHS and the people", an inquiry has concluded.The findings of the study by Lord Ara Darzi, commissioned by Labour when it came to power, will be cited by the prime minister, Keir Starmer, who will on Thursday warn that the NHS has to reform or die". Continue reading...
Dr Michael Hall writes to inquiry saying he does not believe nurse received fair trialA medical expert has criticised the opening remarks of the judge chairing the public inquiry into the deaths and collapses of babies at the Countess of Chester Hospital for which the nurse Lucy Letby was convicted of murder and attempted murder.Dr Michael Hall, a retired consultant neonatologist and visiting professor in neonatal medicine who advised Letby's legal defence team, has written to the inquiry maintaining his opinion that she did not receive a fair trial and that important elements" of the medical evidence presented by the prosecution were flawed or misleading". Continue reading...
Emily Thornberry becomes head of foreign select committee, while Karen Bradley is sole Conservative given leading roleEmily Thornberry will chair the foreign affairs select committee, but none of Labour's 2024 intake succeeded in their attempts to lead parliament's various select committees, it has emerged, after the Speaker of the House, Lindsay Hoyle, declared the results of the elections for select committee chairs.Thornberry, the member of parliament for Islington South and Finsbury, was surprisingly left out of Keir Starmer's cabinet despite years serving in his shadow cabinet. The 64-year-old will head the highly influential foreign affairs select committee instead, while Labour MPs will also fill almost every other committee chair position. Continue reading...
But US president has still not called for an independent inquiry into the death of protester Ayenur Ezgi EygiJoe Biden has described the Israel Defense Force's fatal shooting of the Turkish American protester Ayenur Ezgi Eygi as totally unacceptable" in his first extensive comments on her death.In a statement on Wednesday, Biden said that Israel had acknowledged responsibility" for Eygi's death, but he stopped short of backing the demands put out by Eygi's family and other human rights advocates for an independent inquiry into the fatal shooting of the American activist at a protest in the West Bank town of Beita last week. Continue reading...
Reports suggest star, who was arrested in June and charged with driving while intoxicated, has brokered plea dealJustin Timberlake is expected to appear personally in court in the Hamptons on Friday in his drunk-driving case, amid reports that the pop star will admit to a traffic violation.Timberlake's expected appearance in local court in Sag Harbor - the seaside playground area for the rich and famous out on New York's scenic South Fork peninsula on Long Island - stems from his 18 June arrest after he allegedly drove through a stop sign and swerved out of his lane. The singer was charged with the misdemeanor offense of driving while intoxicated (DWI). Continue reading...
by Luke Harding in Kyiv and Dan Sabbagh on (#6QNBW)
Decision understood to have already been made in private as secretary of state says in Kyiv that US will continue to adapt policyThe US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, gave his strongest hint yet that the White House is about to lift its restrictions on Ukraine using long-range weapons supplied by the west on key military targets inside Russia, with a decision understood to have already been made in private.Speaking in Kyiv alongside the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, Blinken said the US had from day one" been willing to adapt its policy as the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine changed. We will continue to do this," he emphasised. Continue reading...
by Kiran Stacey Political correspondent on (#6QND5)
Renters' rights bill goes further than expected to ensure tenants pay no more than advertised priceLandlords in England and Wales will be banned from renting out their properties for more than the advertised price under reforms set out by the government on Wednesday, as ministers seek to stop expensive bidding wars.The renters' rights bill, a key plank of the government's housing reforms, will ban property owners from accepting more rent than they have asked for, in the UK's first ban on competitive bidding in the housing market. Continue reading...
Further downgrade prompted concerns about debts as firm struggles to attract workers back after the pandemicThe owner of Canary Wharf has had its credit rating cut deeper into junk" territory over concerns about its debts as it struggles to attract workers back to the east London office hub after the pandemic.The credit rating agency Fitch has further downgraded Canary Wharf Group, the landlord of the development, in a reflection of risks over an upcoming bond refinancing. Continue reading...
by Tom Ambrose (now); Lili Bayer and Martin Belam (ea on (#6QMYF)
US secretary of state and British foreign secretary in Ukraine as Kyiv pushes to use long-range weapons deep inside RussiaRussia's deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, has said Moscow will destroy any new deliveries of long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine by the United States, Reuters reported citing the state TASS news agency.The State Department spokesperson, Matthew Miller, said the U.S. and UK stand united with Ukraine as they defend their sovereignty and freedom." Continue reading...
Former Making the Band singer also alleges she witnessed the music mogul punch, strangle and drag his ex CassieA day after a judge ruled Sean Diddy" Combs liable for $100m in a default judgment for a sexual assault case, Dawn Richard, a singer in the former girl group Danity Kane, has sued the rapper and music mogul for sexual assault and inhumane treatment.Richard, who was formerly signed to Combs's Bad Boy Records label, also alleges that she witnessed Combs physically and sexually abuse his ex-girlfriend Cassandra Cassie" Ventura on multiple occasions. Continue reading...
Scottish government accused of undermining efforts to combat child poverty and cost of living crisisOpposition parties in Scotland have urged John Swinney to reverse unpopular cuts to free school meals and flat-rate rail fares after he suffered two defeats at Holyrood.In a major test of the first minister's minority government, opposition MSPs united behind Conservative motions that condemned decisions to scrap plans to provide free school meals for all primary school pupils and reintroduce peak rail fares. Continue reading...
World news | The Guardian