by Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent on (#6JMGH)
Robert Macfarlane, Feargal Sharkey and Matt Haig are among artists to react with fury to message about funding risksArtists, writers and musicians have reacted with fury to an Arts Council England (ACE) warning that political statements" could break funding agreements.In a series of updates recently made to its policies, ACE advised the organisations it funds to be wary of overtly political or activist" statements made in a personal capacity by people linked to them. Continue reading...
by Josh Halliday North of England correspondent on (#6JMA2)
Armed gang spent night drinking at safe house' and visited brothel before shooting of police officer, jury hearsAn armed robbery gang partied with champagne, vodka and sex workers on the eve of the raid in which PC Sharon Beshenivsky was murdered, a court has been told.Jurors heard that the men spent the night drinking at a safe house" in Leeds and visited a brothel before the fatal shooting. Continue reading...
Sentence on hold after lawyer says former president will contest guilty verdict at France's highest courtThe former French president Nicolas Sarkozy has been given a six-month jail term on appeal, after being found guilty of illegal campaign financing for the vast, showman-style political rallies of his 2012 re-election attempt.The Paris court of appeal confirmed a lower court's guilty verdict for Sarkozy, who was convicted of hiding illegal overspending in the presidential election he lost to the Socialist candidate Francois Hollande. Continue reading...
One officer trapped in wreckage near Oval tube station rescued by firefighters and taken to hospitalNine people, including six police officers, have been taken to hospital after a collision between a doubledecker bus and a police van in south London.Emergency services responded to the incident on Kennington Park Road, near Oval tube station, at about 11.30am. Continue reading...
The homeland security secretary is the first cabinet official since 1876 to be impeached but the case against is so flimsy a trial is not a givenIn 1876, the last US cabinet official to be impeached, William Belknap, resigned before the House could vote on the matter. Ulysses S Grant's secretary of war was tried in the Senate anyway, on charges of corruption, but escaped conviction.Nearly 150 years later, in the House on Tuesday and at the second time of asking, Republicans corralled just enough votes to ensure Joe Biden's secretary of homeland security, Alejandro Mayorkas, suffered Belknap's fate. But Mayorkas has not resigned - and nor is he likely to be convicted and removed. Continue reading...
by Martin Belam (now) and Rachel Hall (earlier) on (#6JM4H)
Former Tory home secretary tells House of Lords he hopes the bill will be struck down as unconstitutional'By the way I notice in the comments - see I promised that I do read them - some criticism of the reporting of the inflation figures saying that food prices fell when the headline inflation rate is 4%.While it is true that inflation falling from 11% to 4% doesn't mean that prices are going down, it means they are going up more slowly, my understanding is that the food price component of the inflation figures did show prices going down, albeit from a high base.However, food and non-alcoholic drink prices fell at a monthly rate of 0.4% in January, the first monthly decline since May 2021, driven by price cuts in January for bread and cereals, cream crackers, sponge cake and chocolate biscuits.Against a backdrop of a tough Christmas for UK retailers because of weak consumer spending, furniture prices also fell at the fastest monthly rate in four years amid steep reductions for kitchens, leather settees, dining tables and chairs.The ONS said that although food inflation fell on the month in January, prices had increased by 25% over the past two years - more than double the rate seen over the entire preceding decade. Continue reading...
by Tom Ambrose (now) and Lili Bayer (earlier) on (#6JM4G)
Hit on Tsezar Kunikov, in waters off the occupied peninsula, hailed by Ukrainian militaryThe Netherlands is joining a military coalition with allies including Britain that will supply Ukraine with advanced drone technology and bolster its offensive capabilities in the war against Russia, the Dutch defence minister said.The pledge from the Netherlands comes in addition to F-16 fighter jets, artillery, ammunition and air defence systems provided by the Dutch to Kyiv, Reuters reports. Continue reading...
by Amy Sedghi (now); Lili Bayer (earlier) on (#6JM2V)
WHO says that fewer than half of its requested aid-delivery missions in Gaza have been approved by IsraelMilitants from the Islamic State (IS) group attacked military barracks in central Syria this week, killing nine soldiers, an opposition war monitor said. The Syrian army and officials have not confirmed the attack, reports news agency The Associated Press (AP).
Joint letters from prime ministers implore the bloc to act over deteriorating' situation in GazaThe prime ministers of Ireland and Spain have implored EU leaders to take action over the deteriorating" situation in Gaza, demanding an immediate assessment of whether Israel is complying with human rights obligations written into a trade deal with the bloc.The letter was sent amid mounting international calls for Israel to drop plans for a military assault on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than 1 million Palestinians from the north and centre of the territory have fled seeking safety. At least 74 Palestinians were this week killed in an Israel rescue mission in the city in which two hostages were freed. Continue reading...
by Jonathan Yerushalmy and Johana Bhuiyan on (#6JMAV)
Exclusive: work by researchers from western universities and counterparts at Sharif University considered potentially very dangerous' by expertsAcademics in the UK, Australia and the US collaborated on research related to drone technology with an Iranian university that is under international financial sanctions and known for its close ties to the military, the Guardian can reveal.The collaborative research was described by one security expert as having direct military applications, while another called it potentially very dangerous". Iranian-made drones have been responsible for a number of deadly attacks in the Ukraine and Middle East conflicts, and their development is known to be a top priority for the government in Tehran. Continue reading...
Authorities consider inspection of all buildings lining the River Seine route after property warningsParis authorities are debating whether to order an inspection of the balconies and balustrades of all buildings lining the River Seine amid warnings they could collapse under the weight of spectators watching the Olympics opening ceremony this summer.It's clearly a scenario that could happen," Olivier Princivalle of the property professionals' association FNAIM told Agence France-Presse, adding that the topic had been raised at a regular preparatory meeting with police and city hall officials. Continue reading...
Pair are first police officials to be sentenced over 2022 disaster in which nearly 160 people diedA South Korean court has sentenced two former senior police officers for destroying evidence linked to Seoul's deadly 2022 Halloween crush.Tens of thousands of people, mostly in their 20s and 30s, had been out on 29 October 2022 to enjoy the first post-pandemic holiday celebrations in the popular Itaewon nightlife district. The night turned deadly when crowds poured into a narrow, sloping alleyway between bars and clubs, leading to nearly 160 people being crushed to death. Continue reading...
Opera singer was also an entrepreneur who founded Continental Baths in New York, which championed DJs such as Larry Levan and Frankie KnucklesSteve Ostrow, whose gay bathhouse Continental Baths in New York City had a huge influence on club culture, has died aged 91.The Sydney Morning Herald announced that he died at a retirement home in the city, where he had moved in the 1980s from his native US. Continue reading...
Billionaire Issa brothers borrowed $7m from EG Group in 2022 to repay debt taken on to buy jetsThe billionaire brothers who own the Asda supermarket chain borrowed millions of pounds from their petrol forecourt company to repay the debt taken on to buy two private jets, it has emerged.Corporate filings revealed that Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who bought Asda in 2020, used their EG Group, which runs thousands of petrol stations in the UK and overseas, to lend $7m (5.6m) to two private jet companies they owned in 2022. Continue reading...
Venue says Paul Currie will not be invited back after allegations he verbally abused man who objected to Palestinian flagThe Soho theatre has banned a comedian after Jewish audience members were subjected to verbal abuse" after a performance last weekend.The central London comedy venue investigated allegations that Paul Currie verbally abused a spectator. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: The party has disowned candidate Azhar Ali following his remarks about Israel and Gaza, with accusations of hypocrisy over antisemitism levelled at Starmer's door Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. This week ought to be an excellent one for Keir Starmer, and a terrible one for Rishi Sunak: ONS figures just out which show no fall in inflation, the chance that another batch of ONS data on Thursday will show the UK in recession, and then the results of two byelections on Friday morning likely to shift two previously safe Tory seats into the Labour column.But it isn't working out like that. The reason: the buildup to a third byelection later this month, to replace the late Labour MP Sir Tony Lloyd in Rochdale. Labour's candidate, Azhar Ali, was widely expected to stroll to victory. But the Mail on Sunday got hold of a recording of Ali saying that Israel deliberately allowed the 7 October massacre to happen so that it could attack Gaza. Labour stuck by their man for 36 painful hours. Then more comments at the same meeting in October were reported by the Daily Mail, revealing that Ali had blamed people in the media from certain Jewish quarters" for the suspension of the MP Andy McDonald for using the phrase between the river and the sea". At last, Labour disowned him.Israel-Gaza war | Israel is in breach of international law as the occupying power if it fails to provide food and water to the people of Gaza, the UK foreign secretary, Lord Cameron, has said. Cameron also said that it was impossible for people in the Rafah area to leave, suggesting the UK would not endorse a full-scale attack there.Retail | The Body Shop has collapsed into administration in the UK, less than three months after it was taken over by a private equity company, in a move that puts hundreds of jobs at risk at the cosmetics chain.US news | After weeks of setbacks and delays, the US Senate gave final approval to a $95m wartime aid package for Ukraine, Israel and other American allies early Tuesday morning, sending the bill to the Republican-controlled House where its fate is uncertain. Read an explainer on the bill.BBC | Tributes have been paid to the DJ Steve Wright, for decades the voice of the BBC on afternoon radio, who has died at the age of 69. Sara Cox told BBC Radio 2 listeners Wright was an extraordinary broadcaster, a really, really kind person" and a huge, huge part of the Radio 2 family". Read Mark Lawson's tribute.UK news | One of London's last remaining gentlemen's clubs, the Garrick, has taken the highly unusual step of expelling a member, amid rising tensions over the club's unwillingness to change its men-only membership rules. Colin Bough was expelled after sending a series of angry emails expressing his conviction that women should be admitted immediately. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell Health policy editor on (#6JM2Y)
Scam involves more than 700 healthcare workers who used proxies to pass test in Nigeria enabling them to work in the UKHundreds of frontline NHS staff are treating patients despite being under investigation for their part in an alleged industrial-scale" qualifications fraud.More than 700 nurses are caught up in a potential scandal, which a former head of the Royal College of Nursing said could put NHS patients at risk. Continue reading...
On average about 30 bodies are retrieved from its waters in London each year. Only a few ever make the headlinesHistoric placenames along the River Thames in London once summed up its macabre past. There was Dead Man's Dock at Deptford, Dead Man's Steps at Wapping, and Dead Man's Hole, which still exists, at Tower Bridge. They evoked stories of people who were executed, murdered or killed themselves.News that during the search for the chemical attack suspect Abdul Ezedi the river had surrendered two bodies unrelated to the case, serves to highlight its gruesome present.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 counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...
Matt Le Tissier and John Hartson recommended product but did not reveal they were being paidFormer footballers Matt Le Tissier and John Hartson broke UK advertising rules by posting promotional tweets about a cannabidiol (CBD) product without telling consumers they were being paid by its retailer, the industry watchdog has said.The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigated complaints about a number of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, promoting Supreme CBD, a company set up by former boxer Anthony Fowler. Continue reading...
by Tobi Thomas Health and inequalities correspondent on (#6JM2E)
Researchers say policy created more psychological duress to ethnic group than Covid lockdown effects on UK populationThe UK's hostile environment policies had a worse effect on the mental health of black Caribbean people than the coronavirus lockdown had on the wider population, researchers have found.The study, by academics at University College London and funded by the Wellcome collection, used longitudinal data from 58,087 people, with over 2,000 of these participants being from a black Caribbean background. Continue reading...
Eli Ndatuje of Royal Canadian Mounted Police was charged with accessing police records and passing information to the Rwandan governmentA member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has been arrested and charged with accessing police records and passing information to the Rwandan government.The federal police force said on Tuesday that its integrated national security enforcement team (Inset) had arrested Constable Eli Ndatuje, who was stationed in Alberta. Continue reading...
Safa Aeli was charged with taking part in protests that erupted following death of 22-year-old after her arrest for allegedly flouting strict dress rules for womenThe uncle of Mahsa Amini, the young Iranian-Kurdish woman whose death in custody sparked months of protests, has been sentenced to more than five years in jail for his criticism of the government in 2022, rights groups have said.Safa Aeli, 30, was sentenced to five years and four months in prison by the revolutionary court in the family's home town of Saqez in north-western Iran, the Norway-based Hengaw group and US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) said. Continue reading...
British Retail Consortium says criminals being given a free pass', with thefts more than doubling to 16.7m incidents last yearUK shop workers are facing 1,300 incidents of violence and abuse a day and a battle to control brazen" acts of shoplifting, as pressure mounts on ministers to intervene to protect retail employees.Retailers saw the number of incidents of racial abuse, sexual harassment, physical assaults and threats with weapons rise 50% last year, while thefts more than doubled to 16.7m incidents, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the trade body which represents most major retailers. Continue reading...
Proposed bill that could see prison sentences of up to 15 years for breaching rules moves forward in state legislatureTennessee state legislators moved on Tuesday to advance a bill that would ban people from taking minors for an abortion without parental permission - an act that the bill has dubbed abortion trafficking".If someone illegally recruits, harbors, or transports a pregnant unemancipated minor" for an abortion, they could face three to 15 years in prison under the proposed bill, which has now advanced out of a state house subcommittee after a hearing. Continue reading...
Foreign secretary wants an increase in European defence output and to give profits from seized Russian assets in Europe to KyivDavid Cameron will discuss strengthening Ukraine's defences and finances against further Russian aggression with European partners in light of the continuing threat of the US Congress refusing to provide further financial support.The foreign secretary is due to visit Bulgaria and Poland before meeting a host of European foreign ministers at a security conference in Munich on Friday. Continue reading...
People who are fever-free for one day could reportedly return to regular routines, in change that White House has not signed off onThe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is reportedly planning to eliminate its recommendation that people testing positive for Covid-19 should isolate for five days - the first time its guidelines on Covid-19 have changed since December 2021.People with mild symptoms would be able to return to school or work if they are fever-free for at least 24 hours, the Washington Post reported, citing three people familiar with internal discussions on the policy change. Continue reading...
Hundreds of rescue workers searching for nine missing men in east of the countryHundreds of Turkish rescue workers were searching through a cyanide-laced field for nine mine workers who were swallowed by a landslide that rolled over their open pit on Tuesday.Images from the scene showed the landslide sweeping across a valley and crashing into a road where some of the workers were travelling by vehicle. Continue reading...
Plaintiff alleges she faced harassment and battery by the hip-hop mogul and that her career was stalled by his assaultive behavior'Russell Simmons, the 1990s rap and hip-hop music business impresario, is facing a claim of sexual harassment and battery brought by a former executive at Def Jam Recordings, the pioneering label Simmons founded with producer Rick Rubin.The Jane Doe" plaintiff, described as a former senior music executive and video producer at the label, filed suit in New York federal court on Tuesday, saying her career was stalled by Simmons's alleged harassment of her in the 1990s.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...
by Kiran Stacey, Eleni Courea and Aletha Adu on (#6JKNW)
Withdrawal of backing for Graham Jones, candidate for Hyndburn, follows Starmer's action against Azhar Ali in RochdaleLabour has suspended a second parliamentary candidate over their remarks about Israel, as Keir Starmer struggles to contain the fallout from the leak of a private meeting of party activists in Lancashire last year.Party sources said on Tuesday that Labour had suspended Graham Jones, the candidate for Hyndburn, less than 24 hours after the party withdrew its support from Azhar Ali, its candidate for the Rochdale byelection later this month. Continue reading...
by Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia correspondent on (#6JKG5)
Government will be formed by Nawaz Sharif's party but it may not survive long given the popularity of the jailed Imran Khan's PTIIt was mid-afternoon on Pakistan's election day, sources say, when military intelligence began to realise that things on the ground were not going as planned.Mobile services, including the internet, had been suspended across the country on the pretext of security issues. Those aware of the decision-making said the real reason was to keep voter turnout low, making the results much easier for Pakistan's powerful military to manage" and, most importantly, keep supporters of the former prime minister Imran Khan away from the ballot box. Continue reading...
by Hannah Ellis-Petersen South Asia correpsondent on (#6JKNY)
Rival parties will make Shehbaz Sharif prime minister, despite Khan's party getting most votes at electionA coalition including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PLM-N) and the Pakistan People's party (PPP) have agreed to form the next government of Pakistan, ensuring that the party of former prime minister Imran Khan will not take power despite getting the most votes in the election.At a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday night, it was confirmed that the rival parties had agreed, with two smaller coalition partners, to form a joint government to take Pakistan out of difficulty" and that PLM-N's president, Shehbaz Sharif, would be their sole nominee for prime minister. Continue reading...
More than 98% of shareholders in Europe's biggest travel operator vote to delist in favour of GermanyTui, Europe's biggest travel company, is abandoning the London Stock Exchange in favour of listing its shares solely in Germany.A vote on Tuesday resulted in 98.35% of shareholders backing a company proposal to drop its UK listing, in what will be seen as the latest blow to London's standing in international finance. Continue reading...
World news | The Guardian