Mother of British teenager found guilty of lying about rape is among those who have publicly rejected the verdict
Pressure is mounting on the Cypriot authorities to reassess the case of a British teenager found guilty of lying about being gang-raped as anger rises over the verdict.
Calls for a tourism boycott of the country were backed by the woman’s mother, who said Ayia Napa, the holiday resort in which her 19-year-old daughter said the attack took place, was unsafe.
Continue reading...New rules introduced by International Maritime Organisation expected to reduce certain forms of air pollution
Sulphur will be cut drastically from global shipping transport fuels in 2020, in a move that should reduce some forms of air pollution, and may help towards tackling the climate emergency – but which could also lead to a rise in the price of flights.
From 1 January 2020, ships will only be allowed to use fuel oil with a very low sulphur content, under rules brought in by the International Maritime Organisation. This cut in sulphur content has been more than a decade in the planning, and almost all shipping around the world is expected to comply, or face penalties.
Continue reading...Move is hailed by Sir David Attenborough as ‘the most prestigious environment prize in history’
Prince William has announced what was described as “the most prestigious environment prize in history” to encourage new solutions to tackling the climate crisis.
The “Earthshot prize” will be awarded to five people every year over the next decade, the Prince said on Tuesday, and aims to provide at least 50 answers to some of the greatest problems facing the planet by 2030.
Continue reading...PM talks up Britain’s future as he attempts to reach out to those who did not vote Tory
Boris Johnson has pledged to represent remainers and work with them as “friends and equals”, in a New Year’s Day message in which he sounded upbeat about the UK’s fortunes in the 2020s.
The prime minister, who is seeing in the new year on the private Caribbean island of Mustique, said he was “acutely aware” that millions of people did not vote for him despite the Tories’ landslide election victory.
Continue reading...Bust of a Woman was reportedly ripped while gallery was open to public on Saturday
A man has been charged with criminal damage after a £20m Picasso was allegedly attacked while on display at Tate Modern.
The 75-year-old oil painting was reportedly ripped on Saturday while the London gallery was open to the public.
Continue reading...Archives show British PM was warned France may have made secret deal with Bosnian Serbs
Days before the Srebrenica massacre in July 1995, John Major was warned France had possibly brokered a secret deal with the Bosnian Serbs to halt airstrikes in return for the release of western military hostages.
This claim, detailed in a secret Foreign Office note to the prime minister, is among documents available to read at the National Archives in Kew fromTuesday that expose the depth of Anglo-French distrust during the Balkans conflict.
Continue reading...Released papers expose ‘associate membership’ plan and Yeltsin’s drinking habits
Russia could have become an “associate member” of Nato 25 years ago if a Ministry of Defence proposal had gained support, according to confidential Downing Street files which also expose Boris Yeltsin’s drinking habits.
The suggestion, aimed at reversing a century of east-west antagonism, is revealed in documents released on Tuesday by the National Archives at Kew.
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
The pick-up in UK mortgage approvals in November is a “significant surprise”, says Howard Archer of the EY Item Club.
He suspects that some home owners may have been keen to move before the general election, as a hung parliament could have created more economic uncertainty in 2020.
Those gains in Hong Kong and China today have lifted Asian stock markets to their highest levels in 18 months today.
Global stock markets have gained another $700bn this week in thin trading on santa rally. All equities now worth $87.1tn, just $200bn shy of a fresh life-time high and equal to 100% of global GDP so stocks have entered bubble territory. pic.twitter.com/JgXmKPDWCN
Continue reading...Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen
In her Guardian article Rebecca Long-Bailey says she will be supporting Angela Rayner for deputy Labour leader. Rayner, the shadow education secretary, has been tipped as a Labour leadership candidate herself but, as the Guardian reported two weeks ago, after the election her allies said she was focusing on the deputy leadership vacancy, leading to speculation that she and Long-Bailey would run on a joint ticket.
But last night’s Sky’s Sam Coates said that Long-Bailey’s comment was premature, because Rayner is not yet ready to announce that she is running for the deputy leadership.
NEW: Flatmate Fury?
Tonight Rebecca Long Bailey announced she's backing flatmate Angela Rayner as deputy
- Rayner hasn't announced candidacy
- Rayner isn't endorsing RLB this side of the new year - perhaps never. She will make announcements after Wed
Aren't they talking?
I understand Angela Rayner is going to have more discussions with colleagues this week and make an announcement either way (about endorsing RLB back) soon in the new year.
(Whispers) Could Angela Rayner still be considering a tilt at the top job #flatmatefrenemies
I’m describing Clive Lewis as a Labour leadership candidate because he has confirmed that he wants to run, as has Emily Thornberry. Sir Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey also seem all but certain to run. Other people who are seriously considering running, or who at least have not ruled it out, are: Lisa Nandy, Jess Phillips, Yvette Cooper, Ian Lavery, David Lammy and Dan Jarvis.
But it is worth pointing out that, to be a candidate on the ballot paper, it is not enough for an MP just to declare that they are standing. They also need the support of 10% of Labour MPs (ie, 21 MPs). It used to be 15%, but the threshold was lowered after Jeremy Corbyn’s election as leader. Under the new rules, candidates also need the support of 5% of constituency Labour parties (CLPs) to be included on the ballot (that’s 33 of them), or 5% of the union/affiliates vote. Luke Akehurst has a more detailed guide to the new rules here, in an article for Politics.co.uk.
Continue reading...Foreign Office says case of 19-year-old who said she was gang-raped is ‘deeply distressing’
The UK government is to raise concerns with the authorities in Cyprus over the fairness of a trial in which a British teenager was found guilty of lying about being gang-raped.
A judge ruled on Monday that the 19-year-old wilfully indulged in public mischief in claiming she was raped by a group of Israeli males aged between 15 and 22 while she was on holiday in Ayia Napa in July.
Continue reading...Kent youth asylum seeker charity has seen a 50% rise in demand for its services since December 2018
Bridget Chapman, who swims regularly in the Channel, wasn’t surprised when desperate asylum seekers began travelling to the UK on small dinghy boats last year. On a clear day she can see France’s coastline from where she lives in Folkestone, Kent. “If you’re stuck in Calais and you can see the British coast quite clearly, it must be really tempting to think: I’ll just get a boat,” she said.
It has been a year since the then home secretary, Sajid Javid, declared the increasing number of migrants attempting to cross the Channel a “major incident”, but boat arrivals are still a regular occurrence. On Boxing Day this year, more than 60 migrants were picked up while attempting to cross in small boats.
Continue reading...Incident occurred close to north London market on Sunday morning, says Met
Detectives are searching for a driver whom they said intentionally struck and injured two police officers with a car.
The Metropolitan police said the incident occurred close to Camden market in north London on Sunday morning.
Continue reading...Olubunmi Diya not satisfied deaths of husband and two children were simple accident
A woman whose husband and two children drowned in a pool while on holiday in the Costa del Sol is not satisfied their deaths were a simple accident and could seek further investigations, her lawyer has said.
Olubunmi Diya lost her daughter Comfort Diya, nine, her son Praise-Emmanuel Diya, 16, and her husband, Gabriel Diya, 52, in the incident on Christmas Eve at the Club La Costa World in Fuengirola.
Continue reading...Plan to drop dedicated fund while defence spending rises dismissed as false economy
The European commission has been accused of seeking to cut EU funding for the continent’s poorest people by 50% to secure post-Brexit cost savings and extra funds for defence projects.
Jacques Vandenschrik, the president of the European Food Banks Federation, said the EU executive’s proposed spending plans for the next seven years posed a risk not only to the most vulnerable but to the stability of wider society.
Continue reading...British-Australian Kylie Moore-Gilbert wants to be removed from solitary confinement
Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is to go on hunger strike in solidarity with another dual national being held in Iran.
Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a British-Australian academic, started an open-ended hunger strike six days ago in protest at being sentenced to 10 years on espionage charges. She wants at minimum to be moved from solitary confinement.
Continue reading...Sarah Sands, editor of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, admits it ‘felt awkward’
Putting a presenter on a flight to Sweden to meet climate activist Greta Thunberg “felt awkward”, the editor of BBC Radio 4’s Today programme has admitted.
The 16-year-old campaigner, who was a guest editor on a special edition of the show, avoids air travel because of its environmental impact.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson is under renewed pressure to deal with the prisons crisis after it emerged that the chaotic conditions are behind a £30m-a-year bill for legal claims.
Figures obtained by the Observer reveal that the prison and probation service in England and Wales has paid out more than £85m over three years for issues such as attacks on staff and prisoners, lost and damaged property, accidental personal injury and delays to inmates being released.
Continue reading...Resort owner says Olubunmi Diya’s claims ‘at odds’ with the police report into drownings
The operator of the Costa del Sol hotel where a British pastor and two of his children drowned has dismissed suggestions that there may have been a problem with the swimming pool in which they died.
Gabriel Diya, 52, Comfort Diya, nine, and Praise-Emmanuel Diya, 16, died on Christmas Eve at the Club La Costa World holiday resort in Fuengirola, Spain.
Continue reading...Man, 21, held on suspicion of commission, preparation or instigation of terrorist acts
A 21-year-old man has been arrested by counter-terrorism police.
The suspect was being held by the Metropolitan police after his arrest at a residential address in east London on Saturday morning. The property was being searched by officers.
Continue reading...Olubunmi Diya insists the two children and her husband, who died with them, could swim
The mother of two British children who drowned alongside their father while holidaying in Spain has dismissed claims they could not swim and suggested there may have been a problem with the swimming pool in which they died.
Gabriel Diya, a 52-year-old Christian pastor, his nine-year-old daughter, Comfort and his 16-year-old son, Praise-Emmanuel, died on Christmas Eve at the Club La Costa World holiday resort in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol.
Continue reading...