Online shoppers at the upmarket London grocer complain about being billed twice and being on hold for nearly 90 minutesCustomers of luxury grocer Fortnum & Mason have been complaining about difficulties placing orders and getting a response from customer services during a busy Christmas period for the retailer.Some shoppers at the store, which holds a royal warrant and is famed for its Christmas hampers, have taken to social media and review websites to complain about being charged multiple times after repeating transactions thinking they have not gone through. Continue reading...
Officers restrained Mario Gonzalez in a prone position as he struggled to breathe and blamed his death on drug useA California city has agreed to pay $11m to the family of a man who was killed by police in 2021 when officers restrained him in a prone position for five minutes as he struggled to breathe.The city of Alameda, just outside of San Francisco, announced on Thursday that it had settled the wrongful death lawsuit filed by the estate of Mario Gonzalez, a 26-year-old who was killed in a similar manner to George Floyd in a case that led to protests and national outrage. The city said it was paying $11m to Gonzalez's seven-year-old son and $350,000 to Gonzalez's mother. Continue reading...
Friend of comedian known for appearances on talkshows says he is thought to have crashed his ebike at an intersection in BrooklynThe comedian Kenny DeForest has died after a bike accident in New York, his friend and fellow comedian Ryan Beck confirmed.DeForest, 37, best known for his appearances on talkshows such as Late Night with Seth Meyers and the Late Show with James Corden, was riding an e-bike on 8 December when he crashed. Continue reading...
TV documentary-maker says he might try cosmetic tattooing to replace browsLouis Theroux has announced that he has shaved off his eyebrows due to facial hair loss.The documentary-maker, who has alopecia, said on social media he was considering microblading - a semi-permanent form of cosmetic tattooing - in an attempt to create the illusion of having full eyebrows. Continue reading...
by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent on (#6H5YC)
The Duke of Sussex's determination to have his day in court over phone hacking has once again lifted the lid on media standardsPrince Harry's victory against the Daily Mirror has placed phone hacking and media standards back under the spotlight, 11 years after the conclusion of the Leveson inquiry.While millions of pounds have been paid out to victims of phone hacking in the intervening years, they were largely via out-of-court settlements, which kept a lid on the reputational damage to the perpetrators. Continue reading...
French president accuses Hungarian PM of being dishonest to the public about his reasons for vetoing aidViktor Orban must not be allowed to take the EU hostage", Emmanuel Macron has said, after the Hungarian prime minister blocked a 50bn EU aid package for Ukraine in the early hours of Friday.As leaders of the European Union start working on the details of plan B to raise the money through cash and loans, the French president said Orban was being dishonest to the public about his reasons for vetoing the financial package and would ultimately come around. Continue reading...
Trump's postmaster general appointee is implementing a 10-year austerity plan that will slash jobs and close sorting centersMore than 500,000 workers at the United States Postal Service (USPS) will be handling billions of deliveries through the holidays. For hundreds of them, this may be their last Christmas at their current mail sorting facility and workers are warning the impact on consumers will be severe.Donald Trump's appointee as postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, is currently implementing a 10-year Delivering for America" austerity plan that will slash jobs and close sorting centers. Continue reading...
Lead counsel's quizzing of leading politicians, officials and scientists has brought him to national attentionIt is not the traditional stuff of nightmares.But you could forgive Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak if their dreams this Christmas are haunted by a mellifluously voiced man in a double-breasted suit asking polite questions that are nonetheless extremely hard to answer. Continue reading...
Kyiv hopeful all necessary legal procedures' will be completed at EU summit in JanuaryUkraine has expressed confidence it will receive a 50bn aid package from the EU, despite Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, vetoing the funding at a crucial summit in Brussels.In a statement, the foreign ministry in Kyiv shrugged off Orban's blocking tactics. It said it expected all necessary legal procedures" to be completed at an EU summit in January, with the aid delivered as soon as possible". Continue reading...
Retailer began selling bars of 24-karat gold online in September, with each release selling out within a few hours'Known for selling goods in bulk, Costco's latest such offering - gold bars - has proved a hit, with $100m worth sold in the most recent quarter, Business Insider reported.With demand for the precious metal rising globally amid the economic uncertainty of the past few years, Costco in September began selling 1oz (28g) bars of 24-karat gold exclusively online, with Costco members eligible to buy two apiece. The retailer has more than 72m paid memberships. Continue reading...
MPs and charities say asylum seekers paying appalling price' in week of suspected suicide onboardMore than 60 charities have demanded the immediate closure of the Bibby Stockholm barge used to accommodate asylum seekers after a man died following a suspected suicide there on Tuesday.The call comes in a letter published in the Guardian signed by 65 charities and three Labour MPs. The charities include Refugee Action, Refugee Council, Care4Calais and Refugees at Home. The MPs are Nadia Whittome, Kim Johnson and Olivia Blake. Continue reading...
Anneliese Dodds calls for more action to break up human trafficking gangs that are facilitating boat crossingsRishi Sunak will hold a trilateral meeting with Italian premier Giorgia Meloni and Albania's Edi Rama during a visit to Rome on Saturday, PA reports.A Downing Street spokeswoman said the talks will be focused on our joint efforts to tackle illegal immigration and organised crime", as well as other shared challenges such as the war in Ukraine and the conflict in Gaza".The focus will be on our existing partnerships and work with both Italy and with Albania, and the work that's already ongoing with them on illegal migration, and the returns deal, for example, with Albania that we already have.The prime minister's thoughts are obviously with all those who are affected.There is an ongoing French-led investigation, as you would have seen. Continue reading...
Ukrainian president Zelenskiy had hailed opening of accession talks, calling EU decision a victory for all of Europe'A joint UK-Ukrainian industry conference was held in Kyiv this week, with the largest British weapons manufacturers participating, the Ukrainian defence minister said on Friday, Reuters reports.I called on British defence companies to use Ukrainian factors, the possibility of testing weaponry in combat and getting quick feedback from the military for transparent and effective cooperation with Ukrainian manufacturers," Rustem Umerov, the minister, said on Facebook. Continue reading...
Barton House tenants express frustration at being stuck in hotel over holiday period as safety checks continueResidents of Barton House, the Bristol tower block urgently evacuated a month ago amid safety concerns, are worried that they will not be allowed back home for the Christmas and new year holidays.Most of the 400 tenants are staying at a city centre hotel while others have moved in with relatives or friends and a few have refused to leave. Continue reading...
Specialist underwater divers searching River Wensum seen pulling object in black bag from waterA body has been found in the search for Gaynor Lord, the 55-year-old woman who went missing after leaving work in Norwich last Friday afternoon, Norfolk police have said.Although the body has not been formally identified, Lord's family have been informed, police said. They continue to be supported by specially trained officers." Continue reading...
by Kalyeena Makortoff Banking correspondent on (#6H5PP)
Independent review, launched after Nigel Farage's complaints, finds bank may have breached procedural rulesAn independent review has found no evidence that NatWest Group's private bank Coutts has been closing customer accounts due to their political views, but found it may have breached rules by failing to give due notice or explain why they were being shut.A report compiled by external lawyers, hired by NatWest after a dispute with the former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, said their team found no evidence of discrimination in any of the exit cases, including no evidence of a customer's account being escalated for exit, or ultimately being exited, due to their political views or party-political affiliations, or any other protected characteristic". Continue reading...
Moody's move comes as it warns of materially' increased risks that regulators will block dividend flowThames Water's parent company has been hit by a second downgrade to its credit rating in six months, with Moody's warning of materially" increased risks that regulators will block the flow of dividends.The watchdog Ofwat is considering whether to investigate Thames for a potential breach of its licence when it paid a 37.5m dividend in October, as revealed by the Guardian last week. The cash was paid from the core operating company that serves 16 million customers across London and the Thames Valley to a holding company. Continue reading...
Activists see the killing as a setback in the efforts to eliminate the practice, despite it being illegal in the east African countryEfforts to eradicate female genital mutilation in Kenya have suffered a setback after a police officer was killed in a confrontation with a gang of youths.Activists and local leaders condemned the murder, calling it a backward step in the fight to eradicate the practice in the country. Police in Elgeyo Marakwet county, in the Rift Valley region, had taken a group of girls who had been forced to undergo the illegal procedure to hospital when a mob of young men stormed a police station and stoned Cpl Mushote Boma to death. Continue reading...
John Evetts convicted after admitting to carrying out unauthorised work at Grade II listed propertyFor more than 40 years he has helped return some of Britain's most extraordinary buildings to their former glory and is celebrated for his sensitivity and attention to detail.But a key adviser to the restoration charity the Landmark Trust has been convicted of breaching planning laws by carrying out unauthorised work on his own property, an 18th-century farmhouse in the Cotswolds. Continue reading...
Some networks and figures are taking more skeptical approach to Republican bid to impeach Biden despite no evidenceAmid the Republican clamor to impeach Joe Biden this week, some in the rightwing media have been more skeptical about the process moving ahead despite no evidence of wrongdoing by the president.Several figures at Fox News, a usually reliable mouthpiece for most Republican party initiatives in Washington DC, have shown signs of impeachment fatigue", appearing to question the motivation of the vote to authorize an impeachment inquiry that Biden himself has condemned as a baseless political stunt that even Republicans in Congress admit is not supported by facts". Continue reading...
In northern Ontario, a dozen First Nations have been left struggling. A court's attempt at compensation see them getting up to C$126bnOnly 25 miles of road lie between the northern Ontario town of Terrace Bay and Pays Plat First Nation. But when Raymond Goodchild was growing up, that distance spanned entire worlds.Terrace Bay in the 1960s was often smothered by a thick smoke billowing from pulp mills. As in much of postwar Canada, industry thrived and jobs were plentiful. Roads and sidewalks were paved, and homes glowed at night with electric lighting. Continue reading...
by Faye Hulton and Tom Tobler (Metdesk) on (#6H5KF)
Transport hit in Chinese capital as cold spell expected to continue across north of country through weekendHeavy snowfall affected China last weekend in regions north of the Yangtze River, with Beijing experiencing its first snow of the season. As a consequence of the snow and ice, more than 180 bus routes were suspended across the city on Monday, with several trains and flights being delayed or cancelled. Henan province, south of Beijing, had big falls over the weekend, with many areas recording depths of 10cm and even, in some places, up to 15cm. Shanxi province, to the south-west of Beijing, also saw some wintry conditions, with icy roads leading to a pile-up of more than 40 cars on Sunday night, with one person dead and six injured.A second, more intense cold spell developed across northern China on Thursday and will become more widespread through the weekend. Further snowfall is expected, with temperatures plummeting widely, bringing the possibility of record low temperatures in some northern areas. For example, Shanghai saw 23C on Thursday, but may see a max of just 3C on Saturday. South Korea and parts of Japan will see similarly dramatic shifts from mild weather to temperatures well below zero. Continue reading...
Extra payment would be levied at 1.33 a month on bills paid between April next year and March 2025The energy watchdog has set out plans that would result in households paying an extra 16 on top of their energy bills to help suppliers recover almost 3bn in bad debts from customers struggling to pay bills.Ofgem said the one-off extra charge, which would be levied at 1.33 a month on bills paid between April next year and March 2025, was to protect the market and consumers" after figures showed energy debt had hit a record 3bn. Continue reading...
French authorities say at least 66 people were onboard when vessel was spotted about five miles off coastOne person has died after a boat carrying dozens of refugees ran into difficulties while attempting to cross the Channel, French authorities have said.At least 66 people had been onboard the craft when it was spotted about five miles (8km) off the coast of Grand-Fort-Philippe at about 12.30am local time on Friday, Premar Manche, a French agency that monitors the Channel, said. Continue reading...
Situation facing finance minister described as one of most challenging fiscal backdrops' since devolutionScottish ministers are facing a 1.5bn black hole before next week's draft budget, as a combination of surging inflation and expensive public sector pay deals put extreme pressure on government spending.The independent Fraser of Allander Institute describes the situation facing the finance minister, Shona Robison, as one of the most challenging fiscal backdrops in the history of Scottish devolution" in its annual budget report. Continue reading...
The rear-end collision happened in the Chinese capital, which has been hit by snow storms in recent daysAn evening rush-hour accident on the Beijing metro left 102 people with fractures after a rear-end collision on an above-ground section of tracks, state media said.The Chinese capital - where such incidents are rare - has been hit by snowstorms in recent days, affecting operating conditions and resulting in transport delays across the city. Continue reading...
by Nino Bucci Justice and courts reporter on (#6H5H5)
Transcript of a five-hour conversation Higgins and David Sharaz had with Wilkinson and The Project producer Angus Llewellyn in 2021 released during defamation trial
by Adam Fulton (now and earlier); Gloria Oladipo, Har on (#6H4J2)
This blog is now closed. See all our Israel-Gaza war coverage hereA pro-Palestinian group temporarily hacked into the Israeli army website on Wednesday.The group, calling themselves Anonymous Jo, left a message on the homepage of the website warning of further attacks against Israeli forces. Continue reading...
Joint commission composed of foreign ministers of both countries will address the problem, with a report expected within three monthsThe leaders of Guyana and Venezuela promised in a tense meeting that neither side would use threats or force against the other, but failed to reach agreement on how to address a bitter dispute over a vast border region rich with oil and minerals that has concerned many in the region.Instead, a joint commission composed of the foreign ministers of both countries and other officials will address the problem, with a report expected within three months. Continue reading...
World news | The Guardian