First of new vessels expected to be seaworthy by the end of 2030s, with Australia receiving theirs in early 2040sThe UK’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet could double in size as plans were revealed for the new “Aukus” vessels to be based on a British design.In a bid to counter the growing threat from China, the UK’s prime minister, Rishi Sunak, vowed alongside his US and Australian counterparts to stand “shoulder to shoulder” to protect peace in the Indo-Pacific given its implications for security across the world. Continue reading...
Reworking of policy marks Britain’s changed view of its position in light of tilt to authoritarianism and volatilityBritain’s refresh of its defence and foreign policy may mark the moment when the UK sobers up about its place in a world that it now describes as “defined by danger, disorder and division”, and increasingly tilting to authoritarianism.Gone is the optimistic Global Britain bombast of the Boris Johnson era, set out in the original integrated review only two years ago. That version championed the UK as “a beacon of democratic sovereignty” and one of the most influential countries in the world, and hailed its ability to draw on its post-Brexit status to “do things differently, economically and politically”.“What has changed is that our collective security now is intrinsically linked to the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine.”“The transition into a multipolar, fragmented and contested world has happened more quickly and definitively than anticipated. We are now in a period of heightened risk and volatility that is likely to last beyond the 2030s.”“A growing convergence of authoritarian states are challenging the basic conditions for an open, stable and peaceful international order, working together to undermine the international system or remake it in their image.” Continue reading...
Police find body of man who was unaccounted for after blast in Morriston that left three injuredA man has died and three people have been taken to hospital after a suspected gas explosion in south Wales.A search of the scene uncovered the body of a man who had been unaccounted for after the blast in Swansea on Monday, South Wales police said. Two properties were extensively damaged and other neighbouring properties were also damaged. Continue reading...
by Josh Halliday North of England correspondent on (#69RM3)
William Loyd-Hughes is alleged to have posted images promoting the loyalist paramilitary group last yearA police officer has been charged with a terrorism offence after posting on social media in support of the Ulster Defence Association.William Loyd-Hughes, 26, is alleged to have posted images promoting the loyalist paramilitary group last year while employed by West Yorkshire police. Continue reading...
Eighteen people implicated in death of Sanda Dia after brutal initiation that included standing in an icy wellEighteen former members of an elite university fraternity in Belgium are back on trial over the death of a black student following a brutal initiation ritual.Prosecutors have asked for sentences ranging from 18 to 50 months in jail for the 18 people implicated in the death of Sanda Dia, a 20-year old engineering student, who died in December 2018 after being forced to drink excessive alcohol, eat large amounts of fish sauce, and stand in an icy well for hours. Continue reading...
Campaign coordinated by Labour MP, Zarah Sultana, calls for every child to have access to a daily hot mealThe chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, has been urged to use his spring budget to extend free school meals for all primary pupils to tackle “the child poverty endemic”.The Scottish government has committed to providing free school meals for all primary schoolchildren, while in Wales the rollout of universal primary free school meals began in September. Continue reading...
Humza Yousef, Kate Forbes and Ash Regan vying to succeed Nicola Sturgeon who quit last monthTens of thousands of Scottish National party members will cast their votes from Monday to select their party leader and Scotland’s next first minister, after a snap election forced by Nicola Sturgeon’s shock resignation.Polling began at noon on Monday with Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s health secretary, vying to become the country’s first minority ethnic first minister, against Kate Forbes, the finance secretary, and Ash Regan, a former community safety minister and the outlier candidate. Continue reading...
Ireland wins just two awards, for best special effects and best live-action short, after being nominated for 14Ireland had hoped for Oscar glory but instead ended up the butt of jokes about drinking, fighting and incomprehensible accents as it claimed just a couple of the coveted golden statuettes.Just two awards out of 14 nominations was disappointment enough but Hollywood added insult to injury with national tropes that elicited eye rolls in Ireland. Continue reading...
by Amy Hawkins Senior China correspondent on (#69RAC)
President expected to visit Iran and to meet Vladimir Putin soon as he aims to build ties abroadIn Xi Jinping’s closing speech at China’s annual parliamentary meeting on Monday, his message was clear: China is back. Speaking to nearly 3,000 delegates in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi, newly anointed as president for a precedent-busting third term, said: “After a century of struggle, our national humiliation has been erased … the Chinese nation’s great revival is on an irreversible path.”The speech comes as Xi is trying to position himself as a global statesman, leading a China that is ready to dominate the world stage. After three years of isolation caused by the zero-Covid policy, Chinese diplomats and Xi himself are jetting across borders to participate in international summits once again. Continue reading...
Christine Flack says she thinks her daughter would still be alive if police had not charged her with assaultThe mother of Caroline Flack has rejected an apology from the Metropolitan police over the way her daughter’s case was handled.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had recommended the former Love Island presenter receive a caution after an incident with her boyfriend, Lewis Burton. However, this was overturned after an appeal from the Met, who instead charged her with assault by beating. Continue reading...
Fiction and essays tackled subjects including militarism and nuclear disarmament, innocence and traumaKenzaburo Oe, a giant of Japanese writing and winner of the Nobel prize in literature, has died aged 88.Spanning fiction and essays, Oe’s work tackled a wide range of subjects from militarism and nuclear disarmament to innocence and trauma, and he became an outspoken champion for the voiceless in the face of what he regarded as his country’s failures. Regarded by some in Japan as distinctly western, Oe’s style was often likened to William Faulkner; in his own words, his writing would “start from my personal matters and then link it up with society, the state and the world”. Continue reading...
Sources close to presenter said to be confident impartiality row will be resolved to his satisfaction in next 24 hoursGary Lineker is reportedly close to returning to Match of the Day, with talks between the BBC and the presenter said to be “moving in the right direction” after a weekend of scheduling disruption, though not all issues are yet fully resolved, the BBC has reported.The corporation is expected to announce a review of its social media guidelines in the wake of the controversial suspension of the presenter, with some reports indicating Lineker may agree to be more careful about what he tweets. Continue reading...
by Paula Erizanu in Chișinău with agencies on (#69QK2)
Police chief says seven people detained for their involvement in causing ‘mass disorder’ during a protest in Chisinau on SundayPolice in Moldova have said they foiled a plot by groups of Russia-backed actors who were trained to cause mass unrest during a protest against the country’s new pro-western government.The head of Moldova’s police, Viorel Cernauteanu, said in a news conference that an undercover agent had infiltrated groups of “diversionists,” some Russian citizens, who allegedly were promised $10,000 to organise “mass disorder” during the protest in the capital, Chisinau, on Sunday. Seven people were detained, he said. Continue reading...
PM says British Museum collection is funded by taxpayer and protected by lawRishi Sunak has vowed to protect the Parthenon marbles from being sent back to Greece, saying they remain a “huge asset” to the UK.The prime minister stuck by commitments made by his predecessors Liz Truss and Boris Johnson to safeguard the treasures at the British Museum in London. Continue reading...
Former staff voice concern after scheme’s assets plunge in value by £10bn in a yearBarclays could save itself more than £200m a year after deciding to take a break from paying into its staff pension scheme, despite the fund’s assets plummeting by £10bn in 12 months.Barclays last month declared profits of £7bn for 2022, but its “contribution holiday” means the cost of the payments it would normally make towards former employee’s retirement benefits will now have to be met by the pension scheme – prompting anger among some ex-staff. Continue reading...
US and European fund to rebrand network of studios it is building around world under name of 110-year-old studioThe owner of Twickenham Studios, home to films from The Italian Job to Bohemian Rhapsody, is to export its famous brand internationally after selling a stake in the historic London-based studio.Sunny Vohra, the businessman and self-confessed movie lover, stepped in to save the ailing studio in 2012 as industry luminaries including Steven Spielberg, David Cronenberg and Stephen Daldry threw their support behind a campaign to stop the closure of one of the UK’s oldest studios. Continue reading...
‘Tell me, how does this end?’ asked US general David Petraeus during first push to Baghdad in 2003The French statesman Georges Clemenceau once said: “War is a series of catastrophes that results in a victory.” In the case of the invasion of Iraq, however, the war that began 20 years ago started in victory and has ended in a series of catastrophes.The main US military pullout from Iraq was ultimately completed by 2011, finally answering the question posed by Gen David Petraeus during that first push to Baghdad in 2003: “Tell me, how does this end?” Yet the long shadow of the invasion still looms over the international order, staining the reputation of those who instigated it and the political process itself, and dealing a heavy blow to the self-confidence that the west felt in the years after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Continue reading...
by Denis Campbell and Aubrey Allegretti on (#69QZD)
Many more appointments and procedures postponed than for recent walkouts by nurses and ambulance staffHospitals have cancelled tens of thousands of outpatient appointments and operations this week as they prepare for a junior doctors’ strike that will severely disrupt NHS care.NHS trusts in England have postponed many more procedures than for any of the recent walkouts by nurses and ambulance staff. Continue reading...
New York court greenlights $2.7bn suit against news channel by election company Smartmatic over 2020 presidential election liesAs Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation battles to contain the Dominion lawsuit scandal that has engulfed its top executives and stars, another crisis is building in the wings that has the potential to cause further turbulence for the media empire.Smartmatic USA Corporation’s lawsuit against Fox News has attracted only a fraction of the attention garnered by the legal action of Dominion Voting Systems. Yet both firms are suing Fox for defamation related to its coverage of Donald Trump’s stolen-election lie, and both pose a serious threat to Fox’s finances and reputation. Continue reading...
Inspector under investigation for misconduct after Matthew Caseby, 23, died while abscondingThe Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) is investigating the response of West Midlands police into the death of a 23-year-old man who ran away from a mental health hospital and was killed by a train.The IOPC also said it had served a police inspector with a notice that they were under investigation for misconduct. Continue reading...
Final hearing into death of First Nations woman told failure by three officers to perform adequate cell inspections amounted to ‘human rights breaches’
Programme highlights fact that much of 19th-century wealth was built on the back of transatlantic practiceThe government of Catalonia has said the wealthy Spanish region must confront “the past racism” of its slave-trading history, after a documentary revealed how Catalan industrialists and seafarers profited from the transatlantic slave trade when the British abolished the practice in 1807.It has long been acknowledged that many Catalan fortunes – including that of Antonio Gaudí’s patron Eusebi Güell – were made on the back of slave labour in the tobacco, sugar and cotton plantations of Cuba and, to a lesser extent, Puerto Rico. Continue reading...
Clean car upgrade scheme among measures to be cut but PM Chris Hipkins denies government is abandoning climate ambitionsNew Zealand’s government is dumping a range of high-profile reforms and emissions reduction measures as part of its promise to refocus on “bread and butter issues”, using the savings to introduce a billion-dollar boost to welfare payments to relieve cost of living pressures.Chris Hipkins, the prime minister, announced on Monday that the government would roll out increases for retirees, students, unemployed people, and parents, ranging from $19 to $46.20 a week. The government estimates that 1.4 million New Zealanders will benefit. Continue reading...
by Kiran Stacey Political correspondent on (#69QXN)
SNP request for trade exemption set to be rejected in latest clash after gender recognition rowHolyrood and Westminster are heading for another showdown as the UK government prepares to block a second policy move by the Scottish government this year.Alister Jack, the Scotland secretary, intends to deny a request from the SNP government for a trade exemption for its flagship recycling scheme, in a move that experts say could fatally undermine the plans. Continue reading...
Study shows French suppliers have more major export orders than Russia, while UK’s share has dwindledFrance is challenging Russia’s position as the world’s second biggest arms exporter behind the US, while Britain’s share of the global market has dwindled, an analysis has found.A steep increase in sales and future orders of arms to countries in Asia, Oceania and the Middle East over the last five years suggests French suppliers could surpass their Russian rivals within a decade. Continue reading...
Exclusive: letter from 11 bosses follows deaths of two Pret a Manger customers who suffered allergic reactionsThe bosses of 11 of the UK’s leading food businesses have written an open letter calling for clearer rules on food labelling after the deaths of two Pret a Manger customers who suffered allergic reactions.Pret is among the businesses that have signed the letter, organised by the foundation set up by the family of 15-year-old Londoner Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died after eating a baguette containing sesame seeds. Continue reading...
The PM’s determination to stay faithful to the ‘Indo-Pacific tilt’ is vague, while Russia is still the greatest threatThe refresh of the integrated review of defence and foreign policy comes only two years after the original, and if Labour were to win the election it may only last a similar amount of time. Nor would it have happened if it hadn’t been for Conservative chaos, as reopening the review was the brainchild of the short-lived Liz Truss.To be fair, the war in Ukraine has upended previous assumptions, but this is not really the path taken by Rishi Sunak. A large part of what is announced focuses on China and the emerging Australia, UK and US “Aukus” partnership to provide Canberra with nuclear powered submarines to give naval technological parity with Beijing. Continue reading...
UK PM warns China plans to ‘reshape the world order’ but stops short of reclassifying it as a threat to national securityRishi Sunak has warned that China’s plans to “reshape the world order” represent an era-defining challenge for Britain, but risked sparking a row with hawks in his own party by dismissing calls for Beijing to be categorised as a threat.As he flew to a summit designed to shift the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region, the prime minister signalled a major refreshing of the UK’s national security strategy and uplift in defence spending. Continue reading...
by Aubrey Allegretti Political correspondent on (#69QR9)
PM says he is keen to invite US president to ‘celebrate’ peace in Northern Ireland but visit not yet confirmedRishi Sunak has revealed he will personally invite US president Joe Biden to visit Northern Ireland next month to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement.In the biggest hint yet that the much-anticipated trip will go ahead, the prime minister told reporters on the plane to a summit in California that he hoped Biden would be able to make it. Continue reading...
by Aubrey Allegretti in San Diego and Jessica Elgot on (#69Q8Y)
PM to press ahead with planned increase from 19% to 25% despite some Tory MPs’ hostilityRishi Sunak has insisted the UK will be able to lure foreign companies despite a planned rise in corporation tax, suggesting he will face down critical Conservative MPs ahead of this week’s budget.Despite some Tory MPs’ hostility at the planned rise to corporation tax from 19% to 25%, Sunak stressed Britain would still have the lowest level of corporation tax in the G7, and added it would remain “a fantastic place to invest to grow a business”. Continue reading...
The unique service, commissioned by a French king and used only once by the British monarch in 1967, could fetch up to £442,000A unique set of porcelain dessert dishes and plates commissioned by France’s King Louis-Philippe I, and believed to have been used only once, for a visit by Queen Elizabeth II, is to be auctioned in Paris.The 98 pieces, embossed in gold and each painted with a picture of a different animal, were found in a dining room cupboard in the Chateau de Sassy in Normandy. They are expecteed to fetch nearly half a million pounds. Continue reading...
A quarter are regularly going without food and other essentials, a new Russell Group Students’ Unions study revealsOne in five students at Russell Group universities are considering dropping out because of the cost of living crisis, and a quarter are regularly going without food and other essentials, the Observer can reveal.In the largest study of its kind, new research by the Russell Group Students’ Unions – which represents 24 of Britain’s most elite higher education institutions, including Oxbridge, UCL and Edinburgh – for the first time lays bare the devastating impact soaring prices are having on all but the richest students. Continue reading...
UK defence ministry calls Bakhmut a ‘killing zone’; Russian shelling kills three Ukrainian civilians in Kherson, Ukrainian officials say; Russia lists World Wildlife Fund as a foreign agent Continue reading...
Treasury says move will save four million households £45 a year on their energy billsPrepayment meter customers will no longer be charged more to receive their energy under reforms to be announced in the budget.The chancellor is to end the “prepayment premium” from July, saving more than four million households £45 a year on their energy bills, according to the Treasury. Continue reading...
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