Campaigners and MPs demand regulation of the sector as struggling consumers increasingly use the deals to buy everyday essentialsMinisters are being urged to intervene over a surge in unregulated buy now, pay later" credit after the amount UK consumers spend online using such deals rose up to 1.7bn a month.Debt advisers warn that many people are routinely resorting to deferred payments to buy household essentials. Any consumer who then misses payments risks seeing their case turned over to debt collectors. Continue reading...
Yellow wind warnings issued while Saturday also becomes hottest day of the year, reaching 20.9C in SuffolkStorm Kathleen has brought disruption to the UK and Ireland with dozens of UK flights cancelled and about 34,000 left without power as Saturday provisionally become the hottest day of the year.The highest temperature of 20.9C was reached in Santon Downham, Suffolk, on Saturday afternoon. Continue reading...
After bonkers gig' at Huddersfield town hall paired doom metal bands with pipe organist, churches are keen to get in on the actIt was a bonkers gig", pairing heavy metal with a pipe organ - a musical curiosity that the bands thought would surely seldom be repeated, if ever.But Pantheist and Ar, the doom metals bands who performed the concert at Huddersfield town hall last year, have been inundated with requests to repeat the performance - with churches leading the way. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#6KWR5)
Women with symptoms are being penalised, National Education Union's annual conference toldThe UK's biggest teaching union is to lobby for menopause training to be made mandatory for all school leaders, saying women with symptoms are being penalised for sickness absence and disciplined on competency grounds.Older staff were at greatest risk of capability procedures", delegates at the National Education Union's (NEU) annual conference in Bournemouth were told, while others were being forced out of their jobs, affecting not only their income but their pensions. Continue reading...
Police release image of person they want to speak to over incident in Stoke Newington on 18 NovemberPolice are searching for a woman who allegedly struck a woman in the face and grabbed her hijab in north London in what they describe as a racially and religiously motivated assault.Police have released an image of a woman they would like to speak to in connection with the incident, which happened on 18 November. Continue reading...
Greater Manchester police, who have launched murder inquiry, say victim was likely to be older than 40Human remains found wrapped in plastic at a nature reserve in Greater Manchester are those of a man older than 40 and who had been dead for only a matter of days, police said.A human torso was found on the Kersel Wetlands, former home of the Manchester racecourse, on Thursday evening, Greater Manchester police said. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#6KWPT)
National Education Union chief Daniel Kebede says Labour pledges are a long way from the scale of change' neededA new Labour government could find itself facing a wave of industrial action by teachers in England and Wales if it fails to meet demands over pay and education funding, the leader of the UK's biggest education union has warned.Daniel Kebede, the general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), fired a warning shot over Keir Starmer's bows, declaring that Labour's current proposals on schools and education were a long way" off the scale of change needed. Continue reading...
by Neha Gohil Community affairs correspondent on (#6KWHV)
Campaigners and supporters gather in Brixton to remember those who have died without redress'Campaigners and supporters have gathered for a vigil to to mark the sixth anniversary of the Windrush scandal being exposed and to remember those who have died without redress".More than 50 people gathered at Windrush Square in Brixton for the event, which was organised bygroups supporting victims of the scandal including the Windrush National Organisation (WNO), the Black Cultural Archives and Churches Together in England. Continue reading...
HMS Trent seized 200kg of cocaine and other drugs in two operations that intercepted speedboatsThe Royal Navy has seized nearly 17m worth of drugs after it intercepted smuggling speedboats in the Caribbean Sea.HMS Trent seized 200kg of cocaine and other drugs with an estimated street value of 16.7m across two operations. Continue reading...
Head of NHS Providers says proposed reduction of second-class deliveries to two days a week would be extremely unhelpful'NHS leaders have warned that Royal Mail's plans to cut second-class deliveries to two days a week could risk patient safety.The changes are part of wider measures announced by Royal Mail's parent company, International Distributions Services (IDS), including cuts of up to 9,000 routes, which could take more than two years to implement, saving 300m a year. IDS has assured the Royal Mail workforce that there will be no compulsory redundancies and they will request only 100 voluntary redundancies. Continue reading...
Attorneys for Christopher Dorsey asked federal judge in court filings Friday to allow musician to remain on supervised releaseAttorneys for New Orleans-born rapper BG maintain he did have official permission to perform alongside prominent fellow musicians despite what authorities claimed when they recently arrested him on allegations of violating the terms of his supervised release from federal prison.Lawyers for Christopher Dorsey - BG's legal name - made those contentions in court filings Friday that asked a federal judge to allow the artist to remain on supervised release rather than face re-imprisonment. Continue reading...
Case was closed in 2018 without finding assailant but it is hoped Once Upon a Bridge' will prompt fresh clues to culprit's identityWhen a jogger on London's Putney Bridge was caught by CCTV as he callously pushed a stranger into the path of a double decker bus seven years ago, the act of random violence stunned the world. Shocking still images from the footage appeared on the front pages of international newspapers and, in the following months, leagues of amateur online detectives scrutinised the running style of the anonymous offender, from his clenched fists to his straight back, for clues to the identity of the Putney Pusher".Only the driver of the number 430 bus, Olivier Salbris, came forward publicly. As he drove over the Thames that day in early May he had averted disaster by swiftly swerving away from the 33-year-old female pedestrian and so he was widely saluted, appearing on morning television show sofas. But the true cause of the strange incident remains a mystery. Continue reading...
Employees in England, Scotland and Wales can now request flexible working from first day in new jobEmployees will have the legal right from Saturday to request flexible working from their first day in a new job.Previously, it applied only when someone had worked for their employer for 26 weeks or more. Continue reading...
Disparity, along with lower increases for car cover in rest of Europe raises questions about motor insurance in BritainUK insurers have revealed the amount they paid out for motor claims went up by about 18% last year, even as British drivers faced premium increases of more than a third - far above the rises in the rest of Europe.The Association of British Insurers (ABI) put the average increase for car cover in the UK at 34%, but many drivers have seen rises far exceed that, even doubling in the case of electric vehicles (EVs). Continue reading...
I kept praying and praying', says rescued woman as search for four people missing from hiking trail set to resume following Wednesday's quakeRescuers in Taiwan planned to bring in heavy equipment on Saturday to try to recover two bodies buried on a hiking trail, while more than 600 people remained stranded in various locations, three days after the island's strongest earthquake in 25 years.
Ecuadorian police forcibly enter the embassy in Quito to detain former vice-president Jorge GlasMexico has suspended diplomatic ties with Ecuador after police forcibly broke into the country's embassy in Quito to detain former Ecuadorian vice-president Jorge Glas, deepening a diplomatic rift between the two countries.Glas, convicted twice for corruption, had been holed up in the embassy in Quito since seeking political asylum in December, arguing he was being persecuted by the attorney general's office. Continue reading...
New tax year means threshold for benefit charge linked to higher earnings rises to 60,000Several hundred thousand families are to be better off, some by as much as 3,000, during the 2024-25 tax year after the government finally admitted that a child benefit measure brought in 11 years ago had not worked fairly.A change to child benefit is just one of a raft of changes coming in on 6 April, the start of the new tax year, including a cut in national insurance for employees to 8% from 10%.The main rate of national insurance contributions (NICs) paid by employees falls from 10% to 8%. This follows a cut from 12% to 10% that took effect in January this year. The Treasury said the average worker earning 35,400 would save more than 900 a year due to both cuts.The main self-employed NICs rate falls from 9% to 6% and class 2 self-employed NICs are abolished. For many people, however, the ongoing fiscal drag" from frozen personal tax thresholds will eat into a lot of these gains. By 2028-29 there are expected to be about 2.7 million more people paying the higher-rate tax of 40% than would have been the case if all tax allowances and thresholds had been linked to inflation, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility.People can now sign up to several Isas of the same type every year, provided the overall maximum Isa allowance is not breached. Millions of savers and investors have Isas. The two main types are the cash Isa and the stocks and shares Isa, and the maximum you can save in Isas is 20,000 per tax year.In terms of investments not in an Isa or pension, the dividend tax allowance has been cut from 1,000 to 500. That is down from 5,000 when it was introduced in 2016, said Sarah Coles, the head of personal finance at the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown. Investors face capital gains tax misery, too," she said. This is paid on profits on investments outside Isas or pensions. The annual allowance has been cut from 6,000 to 3,000, pushing it to its lowest level since the 1980s," she said. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#6KWHT)
Union poll on school buildings also highlights sewage and wastewater leaks, overheating, severe cold, pests and mouldA survey by the UK's biggest education union on the state of school buildings in England and Wales has found two in five teachers reporting signs of vermin or pests and more than a quarter complaining of sewage or wastewater leaks.Of the 8,000 members of the National Education Union who responded to the online poll, two-thirds (68%) said they worked in buildings that leaked, with one in 10 describing the problem as severe". Continue reading...
by Bethan McKernan and Quique Kierszenbaum in Sderot on (#6KWHY)
Families are being offered grants to go home but many have stayed away and others are already thinking of leaving againDowntown Sderot, an impoverished Israeli town just a kilometre away from the north-eastern corner of the Gaza Strip, is still quiet six months after 7 October. There is no longer any trace of the police station where Hamas militants took hostages and engaged the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in a two-day battle before the Israelis decided to blow up the building. The site has been levelled and is now home to flags and a memorial.Seventy people were killed and about 90% of the town's 28,000 residents were evacuated, most of them put up in hotels up and down the country. A huge new mural saluting the town adorns a wall of a block of flats. Continue reading...
Most services on six major lines suspended on Saturday, as strikes coincide with union's overtime banRail passengers across Great Britain have been told to check before they travel as a second day of strikes by train drivers will result in most services being suspended on six major lines.Industrial action by the drivers' union Aslef will mean staff working for Chiltern Railways, Great Western Railway, Heathrow Express, LNER, Northern and TransPennine Express (TPE) staging a 24-hour strike on Saturday. Continue reading...
by Australian Associated Press and Rafqa Touma on (#6KWF7)
Former Australian foreign minister named as secretary general Antonio Guterres' special envoy to country gripped by civil warThe former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop has been appointed the United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres' special envoy on Myanmar, the world body has said.Bishop, the Australian National University's chancellor, will take up the UN role that has been vacant since June last year, when Singaporean diplomat Noeleen Heyzer stepped down. Continue reading...
Pouria Zeraati said he is back on the airwaves with Iran International, a dissident broadcaster based in the UKAn Iranian journalist who was stabbed outside his London home last week has returned to work, saying the show must go on".Pouria Zeraati was knifed in the leg by a group of three unknown assailants as he approached his car in Wimbledon on 29 March. Continue reading...
Although one Bay Area reporter found the side-eye inappropriate, New York earthquake Twitter proved delightful for AngelenosFor many people in Los Angeles, earthquakes are just another trend that New Yorkers have discovered years after the real cool kids did.As Angelenos awoke to the news that the east coast had endured a 4.8-magnitude earthquake centered in New Jersey, First time?" memes filled Los Angeles social media channels. Continue reading...
John Alfred Tinniswood, who was born in 1912 in Liverpool, acquired the title after Japan's Gisaburo Sonobe, 112, died in MarchAn 111-year-old man from England is now the world's oldest living man and says the only diet he follows is eating fish and chips every Friday.John Alfred Tinniswood, who was born in 1912 - the same year the Titanic sank - insist the secret to his long life is pure luck". He obtained the title of world's oldest man after 112-year-old Gisaburo Sonobe, from Japan, was confirmed to have died on 31 March. Continue reading...
Complaint accuses 26-year-old Christian King' Combs of assault aboard yacht chartered by music mogul father in December 2022The music mogul Sean Diddy" Combs and his 26-year-old son Christian King" Combs are both named in a lawsuit that accuses the younger man of sexual assault onboard a yacht in December 2022.The suit, filed in Los Angeles superior court on Thursday and first reported by Rolling Stone, accuses the younger Combs of assault, battery, sexual assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The elder Combs, who is facing several lawsuits alleging sexual abuse and was recently subject to federal raids in a sex-trafficking investigation, is accused of aiding and abetting. Continue reading...
Evans says he was first to alert authorities after receiving messages in what is suspected to be part of wider attempt to target MPsA Conservative MP has revealed that he was targeted in the Westminster sexting scandal and was the MP that first alerted the authorities.Luke Evans said he was messaged in what is suspected to be part of a wider attempt to target MPs. Continue reading...
Relatives of Kelly Faiers say police failed to properly inform them that a body had been foundThe family of a woman found dead at a sex offender's home have criticised the police's bodged" investigation after his body is believed to have been found this week in a caravan close to where he vanished six months ago.Relatives of Kelly Faiers said they were upset at how the news about the possible discovery of Richard Scatchard's body was broken, claiming they did not have time to alert others close to Faiers before the police went public. Continue reading...
Company's interim CEO says economic pressures have greatly hindered the company's ability to operate'The discount chain 99 Cents Only announced on Friday that it will close all 371 of its stores in the US as part of an orderly wind-down" of the business.In a statement, the company's interim CEO, Mike Simoncic, said 99 Cents Only had been under economic pressures that had greatly hindered the company's ability to operate". Continue reading...
New York hush-money trial still on course for 15 April start but ruling in classified documents case has prosecutors concernedDonald Trump faced mounting trouble this week in his legal universe, with judges overseeing two of Trump's legal cases refusing to accept his attempts to delay and toss the prosecution - and the former president doubling down on efforts to discredit his opponents.The judge overseeing Trump's criminal trial in New York expanded a gag order on Monday, which had originally banned Donald Trump from making public statements about court staff, trial witnesses or the families of any counsel or staff member on the case. The narrower gag order did not prohibit Trump from making statements about family members of the judge, and after Judge Juan Merchan issued it, the former president took to social media to attack the judge's daughter. Continue reading...
Greater Manchester police say they are working to identify victim after body part found in Kersal WetlandsPolice have launched a murder investigation after human remains were found at a nature reserve in Greater Manchester.A body part believed to be a torso was found by passersby in Kersal Wetlands in the Salford area on Thursday evening. Greater Manchester police (GMP) confirmed on Friday afternoon the body was in a state that meant it was not possible for the victim to have survived". Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#6KW5P)
Boys and young men need guidance - not punishment - to avoid manosphere', teacher tells NEUTeachers should promote positive masculinity in schools in England and Wales in order to support boys who might otherwise feel demonised and end up turning to the manosphere" for hope, a union conference has been told.Charlotte Keogh, a secondary school English teacher from Worcestershire, said boys and young men needed support and guidance as they grappled with ideas about masculinity, rather than being punished and silenced. Continue reading...
Company appeals for cut in rent as part of rescue deal as report shows total debts at ethical beauty retailerThe Body Shop's UK arm owed more than 276m to creditors including landlords, suppliers, tax authorities and its international divisions when the ethical beauty retailer collapse in February, it has emerged as it appealed to landlords to cut rent as part of a rescue deal.Avon, the cosmetics group owned by The Body Shop's former parent company Natura, is the biggest trade creditor - owed just over 13m for products it manufactured, according to a report by the administrators FRP who were appointed to the UK arm of the ethical beauty retailer in February. Continue reading...
by Sarah Haque (now) and Lili Bayer (earlier) on (#6KVTP)
Ukraine led attack on to military airfield near town of Morozovsk in Rostov region in RussiaThe Kremlin has called French President Emmanuel Macron's assertions that Russia plans to disrupt the Olympics absolutely unfounded."Macron said on Thursday that he had no doubt" that Russia would target the Paris Olympics this summer. Continue reading...
Healthcare assistant observing Cariss Stone at psychiatric unit said she had loads' of patients to watchA healthcare assistant tasked with carrying out five-minute observations" on a vulnerable teenager in a psychiatric intensive care unit has told a jury at the young woman's inquest she had loads" of patients to watch and had not received training on how to monitor them.The teenager, Cariss Stone, who had been diagnosed as having emotionally unstable personality disorder and was considered at risk of self-harm, was found unresponsive in the bathroom of her room at the unit in Taunton, Somerset, and died two days later. A postmortem concluded the cause of death was hypoxic brain injury, cardiac arrest and asphyxia. Continue reading...
European Commission defends appointing adviser Markus Pieper after selection process is questionedUrsula von der Leyen's bid for a second term as president of the European Commission has been dented after accusations of favouritism in the selection of a fellow party member to a lucrative new job.Some of the highest-ranking people in Brussels, including the EU's chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, and the French commissioner Thierry Breton, have written to her to complain that the appointment of the German MEP Markus Pieper as a special adviser has triggered questions about the transparency and impartiality of the nomination process". Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#6KVY9)
Prof Julia Waters gives emotional speech at NEU conference and shares video of her late sister addressing pupilsThe sister of Ruth Perry, the headteacher who killed herself after an Ofsted inspection, has appealed to any teachers or school leaders considering suicide to think again, describing it as a terrible, wrong-headed option".In an emotional address to delegates attending the annual conference of the National Education Union in Bournemouth on Friday, Prof Julia Waters appealed directly to teachers and headteachers who may be struggling, urging them to seek help.In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org. Continue reading...
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