Grenfell fire fridge maker accused of safety test failings in council lawsuit

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Kensington and Chelsea sues Hotpoint maker Beko Europe as part of wider action against firms it blames over blaze

The company that made the fridge-freezer blamed for starting the Grenfell Tower fire has been accused in a lawsuit lodged by the local council of failing to run adequate safety tests on that model of appliance.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) has brought a lawsuit against the Hotpoint maker, Beko Europe, previously Whirlpool, as part of wider legal action against companies it believes were culpable for the fire eight years ago that killed more than 70 people.

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Shabana Mahmood warned of risk to pregnant women in halting Sentencing Council guidelines

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Exclusive: Stopping pre-sentencing reports could put more pregnant people behind bars, groups tell justice minister

Shabana Mahmood risks putting more pregnant women behind bars through her bill to prevent new guidelines which highlighted the need for pre-sentencing reports based on “different personal characteristics” including age, sex and ethnicity, charities have warned.

The justice secretary introduced the bill as emergency legislation after the Sentencing Council’s guidelines provoked claims of a “two-tier” justice system, with Mahmood saying she “would not stand for differential treatment before the law like this”. The council suspended the guidance hours before it was due to take effect in response to the backlash.

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Pro-gas group with link to Liberal party referred to ACCC over alleged misleading claims

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Integrity organisation claims Australians for Natural Gas overstates role of gas in economy and failed to disclose directors’ links to industry on website

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been asked to investigate allegedly misleading claims made by Australians for Natural Gas, a pro-gas group with directors who include a gas industry executive and a Liberal candidate running in the federal election.

Lawyers acting for Climate Integrity, a not-for-profit focused on corporate accountability, have filed a complaint with the ACCC. They argue the website and advertising materials of Australians for Natural Gas have failed to disclose its directors’ links to the gas industry and Liberal party, and overinflated the role of gas in the economy and energy transition.

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Russia sends help to Iran after deadly port explosion

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Investigation launched into cause of blast at Shahid Rajaee port as death toll rises to 28

Vladimir Putin was one of the first world leaders to offer help to Iran in the aftermath of a massive explosion at a container depot in a key port near the strait of Hormuz, dispatching several emergency planes to the area.

Fires still blazed nearly 24 hours after the explosion at the giant Shahid Rajaee port in southern Iran, the nation’s most strategically important port and chief artery for its world trade. The death toll had risen to at least 28 and the numbers injured had risen to more than 1,000.

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Trump-Zelenskyy meeting is ‘first sliver of hope I’ve had in a while’: Former national security adviser Jake Sullivan – ABC News

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  1. Trump-Zelenskyy meeting is 'first sliver of hope I've had in a while': Former national security adviser Jake Sullivan  ABC News
  2. Trump floats tougher Russia sanctions, meets Zelenskyy for first time since Oval Office blowup  CNBC
  3. Trump Administration Highlights: President Meets With Zelensky, Says Putin Might Not Be Serious About Peace  The New York Times
  4. From Zelensky to Melania, inside Trump’s appearance at the Pope’s funeral  The Washington Post
  5. 'God's diplomats' at work as White House says exchange was 'productive'  National Catholic Reporter
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Zelensky Says Ukraine Still Fighting in Russia’s Kursk – The Moscow Times

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  1. Zelensky Says Ukraine Still Fighting in Russia’s Kursk  The Moscow Times
  2. Russia claims it has regained full control of Kursk from Ukraine  BBC
  3. Zelenskyy refutes Russian claims of full control over Kursk, says fighting also continues in Russia's Belgorod  Euromaidan Press
  4. Russia Claims to Have Retaken Final Village in Its Kursk Region  The New York Times
  5. Next week could be critical in deciding future US involvement in Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations, Rubio says  The Kyiv Independent
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Taking over the family business? Expect less Hallmark, more stress

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Joining Mom and Dad can work as long as you know what you’re bringing – and what you’re giving up

It happens all the time. And not just in Hallmark movies.

The son or the daughter pooh-poohs their family business and moves away from the heartland to pursue their fortune in New York or Chicago. Then – penniless and more than a little hungover – they return to their home town, hat in hand.

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‘A trickle to a tidal wave’: behind the Trump protest movement that launched on Reddit

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From humble beginnings, the 50501 community is one of many coming together to resist the president and his policies

It started with a Reddit post.

“50 PROTESTS – 50 STATES – 1 DAY,” the user who goes by Evolved Fungi wrote, kicking off a movement that has since drawn hundreds of thousands to the streets in protests against Donald Trump across the country.

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Tensions soar as India weighs how to hit Pakistan – The Economist

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  1. Tensions soar as India weighs how to hit Pakistan  The Economist
  2. India Seems to Be Building Its Case for Striking Pakistan  The New York Times
  3. India and Pakistan trade gunfire across Kashmir border after deadly attack  The Guardian
  4. Pahalgam attack: Will India suspending Indus Waters Treaty affect Pakistan?  BBC
  5. India and Pakistan Are at a Dangerous Moment on Kashmir  Bloomberg.com
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Black ex-prison officer says he has flashbacks after extreme racist abuse at Kent jail

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Exclusive: Uzo Mbonu describes being targeted and ‘completely isolated’ by colleagues at HMP Swaleside

A black former prison officer has said he suffers flashbacks and nightmares after colleagues in a high-security jail subjected him to extreme racist abuse and managers failed to support him.

Nigerian-born Uzo Mbonu said he felt he was picked on and ostracised by other officers at HMP Swaleside in Kent because he did not have a British accent, did not understand the jokes his colleagues made, and challenged things he felt were going wrong.

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France is ‘no place’ for racism and hate, says Macron after murder of Muslim in mosque – France 24

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  1. France is 'no place' for racism and hate, says Macron after murder of Muslim in mosque  France 24
  2. Italian police arrest French suspect in ‘anti-Muslim’ mosque murder  Al Jazeera
  3. Hundreds gather in Paris to honour victim of fatal mosque attack  Euronews.com
  4. France: Police step up manhunt after fatal mosque stabbing  DW
  5. French police hunt killer of Muslim worshipper inside mosque  Le Monde.fr
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Israel faces legal pressure at UN’s top court over Unrwa ban

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Hearings over bar on cooperation with Palestinian aid agency are test of Israel’s defiance of international law

Israel will come under sustained legal pressure this week at the UN’s top court when lawyers from more than 40 states will claim the country’s ban on all cooperation with the UN’s Palestinian rights agency Unrwa is a breach of the UN charter.

The five days of hearings at the international court of justice (ICJ) in The Hague have been given a fresh urgency by Israel’s decision on 2 March to block all aid into Gaza, but the hearing will focus on whether Israel – as a signatory to the UN charter – acted unlawfully in overriding the immunities afforded to a UN body. Israel ended all contact and cooperation with Unrwa operations in Gaza, West Bank and East Jerusalem in November, claiming the agency had been infiltrated by Hamas, an allegation that has been contested.

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