Exclusive: Despite confidence it would win landmark case, government considered ministerial intervention to free man who raped 10-year-old boy in order to stop mass releaseThe government considered releasing the man who sparked the landmark ruling on indefinite detention - even though he raped a 10-year-old boy - in a bid to stave off the high court challenge that led to the release of 92 others.According to documents published by the high court, on 26 May an assistant secretary in the home affairs department wrote to the offices of both ministers responsible in an email titled NZYQ v Minister ... indefinite detention / Al Kateb challenge ... proposal to reconsider exercising ministerial intervention powers under the Act in light of litigation risk". Continue reading...
Mayors warn government the scheme has allowed some venues to significantly overstate the machines' benefit to the communityA group of councils is demanding the Victorian government overhaul a tax minimisation scheme for poker machine venues, arguing it has allowed them to significantly overstate their benefit to the community.The collection of mayors warn some venues have not paid a share of gambling profits to charities as promised, while using sponsorships of local sporting teams to advertise their venues and attract local residents to gambling hubs. Continue reading...
As a 2003 recording appearing to reveal his famously well-concealed identity comes to light, a lawsuit threatens to make it fully publicA lost interview with the street artist Banksy, which contains the only known instance of him revealing his first name, has been unearthed.The 2003 recording features an interview with a BBC reporter who asks if Banksy's real name is Robert Banks", to which the artist replies It's Robbie". Continue reading...
Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Henderson and Hugo Morris were last seen on Sunday morning in silver Ford FiestaPolice searching for four missing teenagers who disappeared on a camping trip in north Wales have found the car they were travelling in.Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Henderson and Hugo Morris are thought to have been travelling in the Harlech and Porthmadog areas of Gwynedd, North Wales police said. Continue reading...
by Mark Brown North of England correspondent on (#6GHSZ)
I'll be sad to see them go but we've had wonderful times together,' says musician ahead of London auctionMark Knopfler has said he wants to let his guitars have new adventures with new owners as he announced the sale of a collection of the instruments spanning his five-decade career.Knopfler, who made Dire Straits one of the the biggest bands in the world, is to sell 120 of his guitars and amps at Christie's in London in January, with 25% of the proceeds going to charity. Continue reading...
Jeremy Hunt should increase taxes on rich to help fund public services for all, says Patriotic Millionaires UKA group of British multimillionaires have projected a message on to the Treasury building and the Bank of England in advance of Jeremy Hunt's autumn statement on Wednesday, saying: Tax our wealth".Patriotic Millionaires UK, a collection of British-based members of the super-rich, said that instead of considering tax cuts the chancellor should increase taxes on the richest in society to help fund public services for all. Continue reading...
Some of the 41 men stuck for over a week seen standing in confined space as rescuers prepare to resume drillingThe first images have emerged of 41 men trapped for more than a week in a highway tunnel in the Indian Himalayas, showing them standing in the confined space and communicating with rescue workers.The men have been stuck in the 3-mile (4.5km) tunnel in Uttarakhand state since it caved in on 12 November and are safe, authorities said, with access to light, oxygen, food, water and medicines. Continue reading...
Melissa Kerr from Norfolk died on day of buttock enlargement surgery at private hospital in Istanbul in 2019UK officials are to meet with counterparts in Turkey after the death of a British woman during so-called Brazilian butt lift surgery at a private hospital in the country's capital Istanbul.Melissa Kerr, 31, from Gorleston in Norfolk, travelled to the private Medicana Haznedar hospital for the buttock enlargement surgery in 2019. Continue reading...
More than 70,000 customers were affected by breach of consumer protection rules, says OfcomShell Energy has been fined 1.4m for failing to alert more than 70,000 phone and broadband customers to the end of their contracts or tell them what they could save by signing up to a new deal.The communications regulator, Ofcom, found that Shell's UK consumer gas, electricity and broadband business broke consumer protection rules designed to ensure that customers get a fair deal. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: Amid growing optimism that a deal to release the hostages is back on, a former Israeli peace negotiator talks about what each side gets out of it Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. Before Israel's ground invasion of Gaza began three weeks ago, there was talk of a deal to secure the release of some of the 240 hostages taken by Hamas in exchange for a pause in the bombardment of the territory. But the talks failed, and thousands of Palestinians and an unknown number of the hostages have been killed in the weeks since. Now there is growing optimism that a deal is back on.Yesterday, Joe Biden said that an agreement was almost done; this morning, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said that officials were close to reaching a truce agreement". Al Jazeera quotes another Hamas official who says details will emerge in the coming hours". If that happens, it would be the biggest change in the dynamic between Israel and Hamas since 7 October - and some believe that it could even be a vital first step towards a more permanent end to the violence. But the US has also cautioned that until a deal is absolutely final, there is still a chance that it will collapse.Environment | The world is on track for a hellish" 3C of global heating, the UN has warned before the crucial Cop28 climate summit in the United Arab Emirates next week. To get on track for the internationally agreed target of 1.5C, 22bn tonnes of CO must be cut from the currently projected total in 2030, the report said - 42% of global emissions.Economy | Rishi Sunak has hinted at business tax cuts to boost economic growth as he promised to reduce the tax burden carefully and sustainably" and over time". Sunak stressed the focus was very much the supply side" of the economy in a signal that business tax cuts are more likely than personal ones.OpenAI | Turmoil has engulfed the company behind ChatGPT after nearly all of OpenAI's 700 staff threatened to quit unless ousted chief executive Sam Altman is reinstated. A letter to the company's board said that the signatories could join Altman and OpenAI's former president Greg Brockman at Microsoft, which announced it had hired the two on Monday.Covid inquiry | Rishi Sunak would almost certainly have known scientists were worried about his eat out to help out" scheme during the pandemic, Sir Patrick Vallance has said, directly contradicting the prime minister's evidence to the Covid inquiry. An entry from Vallance's diary from October 2020 also claimed that Dominic Cummings said that Sunak thinks just let people die and that's okay".Nature | Church surveillance cameras in the Netherlands have caught the first documented evidence of any mammal mating without intromission. In plain English, they have recorded bats having sex without penetration. Continue reading...
Media mogul was accompanied by Fox News' Benjamin Hall, who was injured while covering the war, and Jerome Starkey from UK tabloid the SunThe Fox Corp chief executive, Lachlan Murdoch, has met with Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the Ukrainian capital in what Kyiv said was a very important signal" of support at a time when global media attention has shifted from the war with Russia.The media mogul, who last week took over as News Corp chairman from his father, Rupert, was accompanied by two reporters from his stable: Benjamin Hall from Fox News and Jerome Starkey from the UK tabloid Sun. Continue reading...
Judge ML Villar says totality of video and testimony' is sufficient evidence as rapper pleads not guilty to two felony countsA Los Angeles judge ruled Monday that there is enough evidence for A$AP Rocky to stand trial on charges that he fired a gun at a former friend and collaborator on the streets near a Hollywood hotel in 2021.Superior court judge ML Villar made the ruling at at a preliminary hearing, after hearing roughly a day and a half of testimony from two witnesses. Rocky, who gave no visible reaction to the decision, has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm. Continue reading...
A report by female doctors campaigning against misogyny found 174 incidents of sexism, sexual harassment and sexual assaultThere is a culture of impunity around sexual violence by healthcare staff in the NHS, with known perpetrators going unchallenged, campaigners have warned.A report by Surviving in Scrubs, a group of female doctors campaigning against misogyny in healthcare, said staff known to be perpetrators of sexual violence, who are most often senior male doctors, are tolerated or regarded as untouchable. Continue reading...
Business committee tells government it must get more investment into sector to avert declineThe UK faces the prospect of a battery gigafactory gap" that will undermine the electric car industry unless the government offers the growing sector more help, MPs on parliament's business committee have said.They said the UK had a limited window in the next three years to attract further investment into this sector" or else face the prospect of a gradual decline in the car industry and the eventual loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. Continue reading...
Ministers want to spread holidays more equally to help children from disadvantaged backgroundsThe era of school summer holidays that seem to drift on for ever may be drawing to a close for the children of Wales.Welsh ministers are proposing to change the school calendar so that breaks are spread out more equally, which it believes will help children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Continue reading...
Freed detainee Michael Spavor says he unknowingly passed intelligence to Michael Kovrig, who then told Canadian officialsA simmering diplomatic feud prompted by China's detention of two Canadian citizens has been reopened after one of the men claimed he was arrested for unknowingly passing on intelligence to Canada and its allies.The Globe and Mail reported Michael Spavor is seeking a multi-million dollar settlement from Canada's federal government, alleging he unwittingly" provided intelligence on North Korea to fellow Canadian Michael Kovrig, who then shared that information with Canada and Five Eyes allies. Continue reading...
Andrew Bailey warns more work to be done to bring inflation back to 2% target and further rate rises may still be necessaryUK interest rates will need to stay high for some time despite the sharp fall in the annual inflation rate, the governor of the Bank of England has warned.Andrew Bailey used a speech in London on food prices to say there was more work to do to bring inflation back to its 2% target - and there remained a risk that borrowing costs might need to increase in the coming months. Continue reading...
Since last general election, 24 MPs have faced at least a one-day suspension, says former chair of Commons standards committeeThe head of parliament's complaints watchdog has said she does not know" if the Palace of Westminster is a safe workplace for women.Thea Walton joined the Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme in March with a vow to build trust in the watchdog. Continue reading...
Thomas Hand said he will not believe in any deal between Israel and Hamas until he sees his daughterThe father of a nine-year-old girl abducted by Hamas has again pleaded for her return amid growing hopes of a deal between Israel and Hamas that would see a significant number of hostages released.That'd be very great for everyone concerned on both sides," said Thomas Hand, 63. It gives me hope, but until I see her, until I'm holding her I won't believe anything. Until I see it, I won't believe it." Continue reading...
Government paper says Britain must act robustly if interests challenged by the Chinese development modelChina's growing role in international development marks a systemic global shift that will require robust challenge by Britain if its interests are threatened, a UK government white paper on aid has warned.With David Cameron starting as foreign secretary and under scrutiny for his previous business links with China, the document does not hold back in challenging the Chinese development model or its growing influence. Continue reading...
Sauli Niinisto calls for close cooperation on border security during visit to PolandIsrael's foreign minister, Eli Cohen, has congratulated Javier Milei and invited the new Argentinian far-right libertarian president to visit Israel to open an embassy in Jerusalem.Milei has previously said he would move the location of Argentina's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. I don't care if I'll be criticized by world leaders. I truly believe that's the right thing to do," he said in a recent interview with the Times of Israel.It's obvious that Argentina needs a change. It was unacceptable that one of the most prosperous countries in the world should keep falling year after year into the same thing.I wish the new government every success and I want them to know that they can count on Madrid, where we've worked to defend freedom from day one and where we've looked after so many Argentinians who have fled, terrified, from Peronism ... Continue reading...
Voters concerned that Biden, who turns 81 on Monday, is too old for second term while Trump, 77, makes headway among key groupsAs he turned 81 on Monday, Joe Biden was presented with unwelcome gifts: more polling showing him struggling against Donald Trump, his likely opponent next year who is just three and a half years younger but whom many fewer Americans think is too old to be president.In its US Election Watch Report for November, the Morning Consult polling organisation said Trump is gaining ground among key voter segments including Black, Hispanic and young Americans. Throughout 2023, Trump has made up ground with Joe Biden in our head-to-head tracking by improving his margins" among such groups, also including independents, it said. Continue reading...
Specially built courtroom in Calabria heard evidence of ruthless tactics of Ndrangheta crime syndicateAn Italian court has convicted and sentenced more than 200 people of crimes including criminal association, extortion and bribery in what has been described as Italy's largest mafia trial in three decades.The verdicts mark the end of a three-year maxi trial" held in a high-security courtroom in the southern Calabria region built specifically to hold up to 350 defendants, accommodate 400 lawyers and hear from the 900 witnesses providing testimony against an extensive network of members belonging to the notorious Ndrangheta. Continue reading...
Youssef Mikhaiel has been granted leave to remain till April 2026 due to his exceptional circumstances'An Egyptian student who has a rare genetic disorder that cannot be treated in his home country says he now has hope for the future" after the Home Office reversed its decision to deport him.Youssef Mikhaiel, 28, who lives in Glasgow, was due to be deported in June, but the removal was postponed after a ruling at the court of session in Edinburgh. He has been granted to leave to remain until April 2026 with officials saying they would exercise discretion in view of his exceptional circumstances". Continue reading...
A much-admired MP who launched his own party in the summer is hoping for electoral success Europe live - latest updatesUsually in European elections the insurgent candidates come from the outer reaches of the political spectrum: the far left or, more often of late, the far right. This one comes solidly from the centre. He could hardly be less fringe if he tried.Days after Pieter Omtzigt, a Dutch Christian Democrat MP for 18 years, announced in August he was founding a new party to do politics differently", it was topping the polls. Two days from the vote, it is vying for the lead in the parliamentary election. Continue reading...
Colombian singer to pay 7.3m fine instead of risking prison sentence in deal that ends Barcelona trialThe Colombian pop star Shakira has reached a settlement with prosecutors to avoid a trial in Barcelona over charges she failed to pay 14.5m (12.7m) in Spanish income tax between 2012 and 2014.As part of the deal, she accepted the charges and a fine of 50% of the amount owed, more than 7.3m. Continue reading...
Prisoners in 1,485 cells in 21 prisons have to request access to facilities by ringing a bell and some use bucketsAlmost 7,000 prison cells in 50 jails in England and Wales do not have toilets, with many prisoners given buckets in case they cannotbe unlocked in time.At HMP Isle of Wight, almost half of the 1,000-plus prisoners do not have in-cell sanitation and inspectors have derided the disrespectful" practice of giving out plastic buckets to inmates, who had no means of washing their hands afterwards. Continue reading...
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