Duke of Sussex asks to be introduced by first name only at travel industry event
The Duke of Sussex asked to be introduced as simply Harry as he described Scotland’s tourism industry as being at the “forefront” of making the sector more sustainable.
The prince was speaking at the Travalyst event at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Saudi Arabia bans religious tourists from entering country as WHO says virus now spreading faster outside China than in it. Follow latest news
Fiji has extended its travel ban due to coronavirus fears. Travellers who have been in Italy, Iran and the South Korean cities of Daegu and Cheongdo will not be permitted to enter Fiji. Visitors who had been in mainland China in the last 14 days have also been forbidden entry into the Pacific nation.
There are no suspected or confirmed cases of coronavirus in Fiji, but Pacific nations are fearful of how their health systems will cope were the virus to reach their shores.
Ian Thorpe, the Australian Olympic swimming legend, says athletes must consider their own health before attending the Tokyo Games this year.
Thorpe, whose five Olympic golds make him the most successful Australian Olympian all time, spoke out as concerns mounted about whether the Games in July and August will go ahead because of the coronavirus outbreak.
I think the decision should come down to each individual athlete. But whether or not they want to compete, that they should take their health into consideration first.
Related: Athletes must consider their own health before travelling to Olympics, says Ian Thorpe
Continue reading...Calls for sachets to be included in UK and European legislation banning other single-use items
The government must act urgently to stamp out the “curse” of single-use plastic sachets, billions of which are helping to fuel the global plastics crisis, campaigners are warning.
A coalition of more than 50 business leaders, politicians and campaigners is demanding that the plastic sachets – used for everything from ketchup to shampoo – be included in European and UK legislation outlawing other “throwaway” items such as plastic straws and cotton buds.
Continue reading...Current diagnostic method for Barrett’s oesophagus relies on invasive and costly endoscopy
An electronic device that “sniffs” breath may offer a new way to identify people with a condition that can lead to cancer of the oesophagus, researchers have revealed.
Recent figures suggest there are about 9,000 new cases of oesophageal cancer, or cancer of the food pipe, every year in the UK.
Continue reading...Tax hike would harm first-time Conservative voters in poorer areas, Rishi Sunak is told
More than a dozen new Tory MPs from “red wall” constituencies have warned the chancellor against “clobbering” blue-collar communities by putting up fuel duty at the budget.
The 14 MPs, including Dehenna Davison in Bishop Auckland, Lee Anderson in Ashfield and Peter Gibson in Darlington, expressed their concerns about reports that the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, was considering scrapping the fuel duty freeze.
Continue reading...Labour leadership hustings saw frontrunner criticised for party’s ‘tone-deaf’ approach
The contenders to become Labour leader have clashed over Brexit and compulsory re-selection for MPs in an occasionally testy hustings event, with the race to succeed Jeremy Corbyn intensifying as party members start to cast their ballots.
At Tuesday night’s event in Manchester organised by the Guardian, frontrunner Sir Keir Starmer came under sustained fire from Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy over what the latter called Labour’s “tone deaf” approach to Brexit, which they said helped contribute to December’s crushing election loss.
Continue reading...Welsh singer made statement on Instagram saying she was held captive for several days
Aimee Duffy, the Welsh pop singer known as Duffy who retreated from the public eye following her hugely successful debut album Rockferry, has said she was drugged, held captive and raped by an unidentified person.
In a statement on her official Instagram account she said: “The truth is, and please trust me I am OK and safe now, I was raped and drugged and held captive over some days. Of course I survived. The recovery took time. There’s no light way to say it. But I can tell you in the last decade, the thousands and thousands of days I committed to wanting to feel the sunshine in my heart again, the sun does now shine.”
Continue reading...Swedish climate activist visits Yousafzai’s college while in UK for Bristol youth protest
The teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg has met Malala Yousafzai at the University of Oxford where the Nobel peace prize winner is a student.
Yousafzai, 22, posted a photo on Instagram of herself and Thunberg sitting on a bench with their arms around each other on Tuesday, with the caption: “Thank you, @gretathunberg” and a heart emoji.
Continue reading...EU negotiator signals future relationship negotiations are on course for acrimonious start
Negotiations over Britain’s future relationship with the EU appear on course for an acrimonious start after Michel Barnier poured scorn on Boris Johnson’s spokesman and suggested the new Northern Ireland secretary did not understand the withdrawal agreement.
Barnier said he expected the talks, starting on Monday, to be “very difficult” but pronounced Brussels as “ready” following the official sign-off by EU ministers of their instructions for their chief negotiator.
Continue reading...When Dr Nazia Hussein spent six months researching class and gender identity in Bangladesh for her PhD at Warwick University in 2009, she had no idea that, a decade later, the Home Office would use this to refuse her application for permanent residency.
Hussein, a Bangladeshi expert on gender, race and religion, now a lecturer at the University of Bristol, was “absolutely shocked” when her application for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) was rejected last year on the grounds that she had spent too many days out of the country during the 10-year application period. This was despite the fact she had submitted clear evidence that her PhD research constituted essential fieldwork and an unavoidable and legitimate absence.
Continue reading...A poster project aims to re-humanise those affected by the refugee crisis by sharing conversations between migrants and volunteers
All photographs courtesy of Conversations from Calais
Continue reading...Police inquiry finds credible evidence of Andy Coles deceiving 19-year-old activist into sexual relationship
An internal police investigation has uncovered credible evidence that an undercover officer deceived a 19-year-old woman into a long-term sexual relationship.
Andy Coles has denied that he had an intimate relationship with the woman while he infiltrated political groups in the 90s, dismissing her claims as “lurid”.
Continue reading...Member states agree EU should have right to apply sanctions if divergence causes ‘disruptions’
The EU will demand the right to punish Britain if the government fails to shadow the Brussels rulebook in the future, member states have agreed, as Boris Johnson was warned that the bloc would not be hurried into a deal on the future relationship.
A final draft of the EU’s negotiating position agreed by ambassadors on Monday, ready for ministerial sign off on Tuesday, establishes the bloc’s developing environmental, social and workers’ standards as the baseline for a trade deal.
Continue reading...Charlotte Nokes died aged 38 in her cell at the Sodexo-run Peterborough prison in 2016
An artist who died in a private prison told members of her family the indeterminate term she was serving was “like a death sentence”, a jury has heard.
Charlotte Nokes was suffering from physical and mental health problems when she died aged 38 in her cell in Peterborough prison, run by the outsourcing corporation Sodexo, on 23 July 2016, an inquest into her death was told.
Continue reading...Lawyers for US government deliver opening arguments as extradition case begins
Secret sources who had supplied information to the US government “disappeared” after they were put at risk of death or torture by WikiLeaks’s release of classified documents, the first day of Julian Assange’s extradition hearing has been told.
James Lewis QC opened the US case for the extradition of the WikiLeaks founder from the UK at Woolwich crown court. Lewis referred to a range of sources in states including Iraq, Afghanistan and China.
Continue reading...Spokesman says objective is to end transition period by 1 January with or without trade deal
Britain’s main goal in trade talks with the EU will be to “restore economic and political independence from 1 January”, No 10 has said, as the government prepares to publish its negotiating aims on Thursday.
Boris Johnson’s official spokesman said the “primary objective” was ending the transition period by the end of the year, regardless of whether a deal had been struck.
Continue reading...John Shipton says his son’s Belmarsh room was targeted on eve of extradition hearing
Julian Assange’s father has claimed his son was “harassed” by a prison cell search the day before his extradition hearing was planned to begin.
John Shipton visited the WikiLeaks founder at Belmarsh prison in south-east London for two hours on Sunday.
Continue reading...75mph winds expected to bring more torrential downpours to one of wettest Februarys ever
A storm is expected to bring further bands of torrential rain to flood-hit communities as it sweeps across Britain.
Forecasters have issued a yellow weather warning as the 75mph storm brings a fresh deluge of rain, up to 50mm (2in) in some places.
Continue reading...Shohreh Bayat warned after images circulated appearing to show her without a headscarf at Shanghai tournament
A chess referee from Iran has fled to the UK after being warned that she could be arrested for being in breach of Iran’s strict dress codes during an international tournament in China.
Shohreh Bayat, 32, has sought asylum in Britain after a photograph of her at the women’s world chess championships in Shanghai last month was circulated on social media. It appeared to show her without a headscarf, although she has insisted the scarf was in place but loose over her hair.
Continue reading...Informed security source says Sunday Times report quoting unnamed officials is untrue
MI5 has rejected claims that its officials are withholding information from Priti Patel because they do not trust her.
An informed security source said the report about Patel’s relationship with the agency in the Sunday Times was “simply untrue” and that she was getting the same information from the agency as any other home secretary.
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