Volodymyr Saldo, a Kremlin puppet in the Russian-occupied territories, listed as firm’s owner, despite being under sanctionsA UK company has been set up in the name of one of Vladimir Putin’s top officials in Russian-occupied eastern Ukraine despite him being under sanctions.Volodymyr Saldo, a notorious puppet of the Kremlin in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, is listed as the owner of a UK company registered in November, five months after his name was added to the sanctions list. Continue reading...
Mexican-American rapper who released popular debut album last year was found ‘with injuries consistent with a homicide’ in California prisonMoneySign Suede, a fast-rising Mexican-American star who amassed tens of millions of streams for his propulsive rap music, has been killed aged 22 following an attack in a California prison.Officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said the rapper, real name Jaime Brugada Valdez, died on Tuesday evening “with injuries consistent with a homicide”. He was being held at a prison in Soledad, where since January he had been serving a 32-month sentence on gun charges. Continue reading...
David Davis among cross-party MPs with privacy concerns over prospective Palantir dealA former cabinet minister has warned that there could be a “battle royale” over a £480m NHS data software contract sought by the controversial US tech firm Palantir, whose chair has accused the UK health service of “making people sick”.David Davis, the Conservative former Brexit secretary who previously led the campaign against ID cards, said he was one of those with serious privacy concerns about Palantir’s bid. He is among at least a dozen MPs and peers across the political spectrum who are pressing the government for more reassurances about how patient data will be treated as the new data operating system is built. Continue reading...
Okoli Ahinze, accused of stealing a phone, said to be victim of university’s ‘SMS punishment’ carried out among studentsMore than 15 students at one of Nigeria’s top universities have been arrested over the death of a man who was attacked by a mob on campus.Okoli Ahinze, a final-year civil engineering student at Obafemi Awolowo University, was found dead on 11 April. Continue reading...
Yoon Suk Yeol impresses US president with rendition of 70s hit before being presented with guitar signed by Don McLeanFrom discussing nuclear war to belting out a beloved hit: South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol’s White House visit ended on a high note when he sang Don McLean’s American Pie to great applause.Yoon is on a six-day state visit to Washington, where he discussed with Joe Biden “the end” of any North Korean regime that used nuclear weapons against the allies. Continue reading...
Exclusive: former minister was seeking damages over book she alleged made defamatory statements about her response to Brittany Higgins’ allegations of rape
Investigation finds rogue sellers charging up to seven times more for products than on other websitesEtsy bills itself as a marketplace for “unique and creative” goods but scrutiny of its product listings has revealed sellers peddling fake “handmade” products that could be bought for a fraction of the price from big retailers including Amazon, Asda and the discount chain B&M.The investigation by the consumer group Which? found rogue sellers charging up to seven times more than on other websites for the items, falsely claiming they were made by hand. Continue reading...
Southall residents to give blood samples after former gasworks redevelopment leads to reports of breathing problemsScientists are to investigate the possible health impact of a luxury redevelopment project in Southall which residents say is causing them breathing problems and mental confusion.Residents say the redevelopment of a former gasworks has led to a “petrol-like” odour in the area and has caused multiple health problems. Continue reading...
Political rivals have denounced the national guard plans as creating a personal ‘militia’ for extremist ministerAfter a dramatic day of wildcat strikes that shut down much of the country last month, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, finally announced that his government’s controversial plans to overhaul the judiciary would be suspended until the Knesset’s summer session.The Israeli leader struggled for hours to reach a compromise with the recalcitrant far-right elements of his coalition pushing for the judicial changes. But that evening, the extremist anti-Arab Jewish Power party, led by the national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, said it had agreed to back the pause in exchange for a promise to create the minister’s long sought-after “national guard”. Continue reading...
Authorities can swoop over anything they deem relevant to national security in toughening of law already used against expatriates or Chinese contactsChina has drastically broadened its anti-espionage laws in amendments that legal experts warn could further heighten risk to foreign individuals and organisations operating in the country.The amendments were passed by Beijing’s rubber-stamp parliament on Wednesday afternoon. The long-foreshadowed changes broaden the law’s scope to encompass anything deemed by authorities to cover national security, and expand the search and seizure powers of authorities, as well as the implementation of entry and exit bans on individuals. Continue reading...
No response yet from Rapid Support Forces to regional proposal that includes extending the truce for another 72 hoursSudan’s army expressed willingness to extend the three-day ceasefire that is due to expire on Thursday night, amid sporadic fighting around the capital, Khartoum.The army said late on Wednesday its leader, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, had given initial approval to a plan to extend the truce for another 72 hours and send an army envoy to the South Sudan capital of Juba for talks. Continue reading...
by Julian Borger in Washington and Justin McCurry in on (#6B6HY)
Yoon Suk-yeol meets Joe Biden in Washington amid concerns in South over North’s nuclear buildupThe US and South Korea have reaffirmed their alliance, agreeing that nuclear-armed submarines would resume port visits and threatening a “swift, overwhelming and decisive response” to any North Korean nuclear attack, including retaliation in kind by the US.The South Korean president, Yoon Suk Yeol, said that response would include US nuclear weapons, making explicit an element of the alliance that normally remains unspoken. Continue reading...
by Presented by Hannah Moore with Libby Brooks; produ on (#6B6Q5)
Just a few months ago the SNP, with Nicola Sturgeon at the helm, looked almost untouchable. Now a fraud investigation into the party has caused that image to dramatically unravelIt should have been Hamza Yousaf’s political honeymoon as first minister. The new leader of the Scottish National party has barely been leading Scotland for a month yet any plans to focus on policy agenda have been thrown into chaos as he firefights questions over a police investigation that has led to the party’s former chief executive Peter Murrell and its ex-treasurer Colin Beattie to be arrested.As part of the fraud investigation into more than £600,000 donated to the party to help them run an independence campaign, an incident tent was set up in the home Nicola Sturgeon shares with her husband, Murrell, and a motor home seized from outside her mother in law’s house. Continue reading...
Gatehouse project opens with viewing platform, and new exhibits explore lives of people who built medieval fortressOver the centuries Caernarfon Castle, built by Edward I of England from 1283 as he battled the Welsh princes, has come to be been seen as a symbol of imperial military might and economic power.But a £5m conservation and development project completed on Thursday seeks to give a fresh perspective, focusing not on Edward but on the ordinary people who built and helped run the north Wales fortress – and suggesting that the belligerent king’s empire-building ambition has, ultimately, been defeated. Continue reading...
NGOs say Andrew Mitchell is right to focus on long-term partnerships but cuts to aid budget must be reversedAndrew Mitchell, the development minister, will try to rescue Britain’s soft power reputation by vowing to put poverty alleviation, climate change and long-term partnerships for development at the centre of a new British offer.In a speech to Chatham House on Thursday he will also rebrand UKAid as UK International Development, a rephrasing designed to show that the UK does not want relationships built on narrow aid handouts but instead on long-term mutually beneficial development partnerships. Continue reading...
News outlet obtains camera of Kenji Nagai, who was reporting on Saffron Revolution when he was shotThe family of a Japanese journalist killed while reporting on Myanmar’s 2007 Saffron Revolution have released his last pictures, sharing footage from a recently obtained video camera missing since his fatal shooting 15 years ago.The final pictures from 50-year-old Kenji Nagai during an anti-government protest were obtained by Myanmar-focused news outlet the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), which returned the camera on Wednesday to Nagai’s family in Bangkok. Continue reading...
Controversial asylum law will now go to Lords despite criticism from leading ConservativesThe government’s flagship asylum bill passed its third reading in the Commons on Wednesday night and will now go to the Lords despite criticism from several leading Conservatives including Theresa May.The illegal migration bill, which is supposed to change the law so that those who arrive in the UK by irregular means can be removed to a third country such as Rwanda, was passed by 289 votes to 230. The bill is expected to face greater opposition in the Lords where it could be amended or delayed. Continue reading...
Adult Human Female, which asserts that women are defined solely by biological sex, stopped after activists block entrancesThe screening of a controversial film asserting that women are defined solely by their biological sex has been cancelled by Edinburgh University after trans rights activists occupied entrances to the venue.The screening of the documentary Adult Human Female was organised with the university’s support after a previous event in December was prevented from taking place when protesters confronted audience members and occupied a screening room minutes before it was due to be shown. Continue reading...
Seven men and three women detained on suspicion of murder after incident at an address in BrentfordSeven men and three women have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man died in west London.Police were called at 5.15am on Wednesday to reports of intruders at an address in Brentwick Gardens, Brentford. Continue reading...
Streaming firm reveals spend of close to $1.5bn a year on content such as new Keira Knightley seriesNetflix has spent $6bn (£4.8m) making TV shows and films in the UK since 2020, $2bn more than originally planned, as the streaming giant doubled down on must-watch content amid a global slowdown in new subscribers.In a rare public announcement on content-spend levels, Netflix has said that it had spent on average almost $1.5bn annually from 2020 through to 2023. Continue reading...
Bogdan Bitik was working as a fixer for Corrado Zunino, Italian correspondent for La Repubblica, who was woundedA Ukrainian journalist working with reporters for La Repubblica has been shot dead by Russian snipers in southern Ukraine, while his Italian colleague was injured, the Italian newspaper said on Wednesday.“Today, our correspondent Corrado Zunino and his fixer Bogdan Bitik were victims of an ambush near the bridge in Kherson by Russian snipers on the outskirts of Kherson, in southern Ukraine,” La Repubblica said. Continue reading...
Royal College of Midwives members vote for ‘improved’ two-year deal by 57% to 43%Midwives have voted to accept the latest NHS pay offer, their union has announced.In a turnout of 48% of eligible members of the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) working in the NHS in England, 57% voted to accept the deal – with 43% rejecting it. Continue reading...
by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent on (#6B69P)
High court judge rules Nina Cresswell’s account of Billy Hay’s attack is true on the balance of probabilitiesA woman who wrote about being sexually assaulted, naming her attacker, has defeated a libel action he brought against her after a judge ruled that her account was true on the balance of probabilities.Nina Cresswell was sued by Billy Hay over a blog and social media posts she wrote in 2020, as the #MeToo movement exploded, saying that he violently assaulted her 10 years earlier. She said Hay, a well-known tattooist, attacked her when she was aged 20 as she walked home from a nightclub in Sunderland where they had met earlier that evening. Continue reading...
by Kiran StaceyPolitical correspondent on (#6B68Q)
Muslims are marginalised by being made to feel they have to frequently renounce terrorist acts, according to faith reviewSenior politicians must stop stigmatising Muslims by making them feel responsible for Islamist terrorism, according to a report which aims to reset the government’s entire approach to dealing with religious groups.Muslims are being marginalised in a number of areas of British life, according to the report by the government’s faith adviser Colin Bloom, including by being made to feel they frequently have to renounce terrorist acts. Bloom also urged ministers to develop Sharia-compliant student loans to help more Muslims into university, and to conduct an outreach programme to increase their representation in the armed forces.Giving every public servant, including doctors, teachers and police officers, mandatory religious trainingRegulating unregulated faith schoolsIntroducing Sharia-compliant student loansConducting a review of radicalisation in prisonsLaunching a campaign to recruit more Muslim soldiersCracking down on religiously motivated white supremacistsInvestigating Sikh extremismUsing the online safety bill to crack down on material that promotes religious hatredFunding a new programme to help people who are leaving coercive religious environmentsReforming and properly resourcing the government’s forced marriage unit Continue reading...
Protesters say decision-makers would be remembered for having paved over paradise in ‘Joni Mitchell moment’Controversial plans to build almost 200 homes on the site of Bristol’s beloved zoo gardens have been approved by councillors, who concluded that the development would help ease the city’s housing crisis.Protesters argued that this was Bristol’s “Joni Mitchell moment” and that the politicians who had backed the “monstrosity” would be remembered as having “paved paradise” and be a laughing stock. Continue reading...
by Jessica Murray Midlands correspondent on (#6B676)
Temporary pools will be placed at schools in areas where a large proportion of children are unable to swimOlympic swimmers including Adam Peaty, Ellie Simmonds and Matt Richards have launched a new pop-up pool programme at UK schools aimed at boosting low swimming attainment rates.Fully functioning temporary pools will be placed at schools in areas where a large proportion of children are unable to swim, starting in the Black Country in the West Midlands, one of the worst-affected areas in the country. Continue reading...
Court papers allege that Morgan, when he was NoW editor, and others knew about and concealed hacking of texts and phone callsPrince Harry has claimed Piers Morgan “knew about, encouraged and concealed” illegal targeting of Diana, Princess of Wales when he was editor of the News of the World.Harry alleges that his mother’s private text messages and phone calls were obtained by journalists working for Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid newspapers before she died, with the information used as the basis for multiple stories in the Sun and the News of the World.“Di’s cranky phone calls to married Oliver; She called 3 times in 9 minutes and hung up as she heard Oliver’s voice”, about Diana’s alleged relationship with the art dealer Oliver Hoare.“Di’s roam alone”, about Diana flying to the US on holiday and leaving behind princes William and Harry with other members of the royal family.“Di and Fergie bury the hatchet”, about a private meeting between Diana and the Duchess of York.“It’s Diana or me; Di: Will’s my dear friend – not my lover; Carling sneaked into palace when boys went out”, about Diana’s alleged relationship with the England rugby player Will Carling.“Di’s VJ Day fury over Tiggy”, about a supposed dispute between Diana and the royal nanny Tiggy Legge-Bourke. Continue reading...
PM says ‘trying to unpick our history is not the right way forward’ in response to Labour’s Bell Ribeiro-AddyRishi Sunak has refused to apologise for the UK’s role in the slave trade or to commit to paying reparations.The prime minister was challenged in the Commons by the Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who said former prime ministers and heads of state had “only ever expressed sorrow or deep regret”, since the late MP Bernie Grant first asked the government for an apology 23 years ago. Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#6B62C)
London police commissioner accused of bungling job and not being ‘very honest’ at committee sessionA senior Conservative attacked the honesty and competence of the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, in furious scenes at a Commons committee, with the police chief denouncing the “pillorying” of his force.Lee Anderson MP, the deputy chair of the Tory party, accused Rowley of not being “very honest” and claimed he was bungling his job. Continue reading...
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