Category Archives: UK news

Transport chaos across England and Wales after major power cuts

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Failure on National Grid network affects train services and road users

Large parts of England and Wales have been left without electricity following a major power cut, electricity network operators have said, with a serious impact reported on rail and road services, including city traffic lights.

Passengers were shut out of some of the country’s busiest train stations during the Friday evening rush hour, while hundreds of thousands of homes were left without electricity after what the National Grid described as a problem with two generators.

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Lack of intelligence in passport checks | Letter

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Professor Peter Dawson shares his personal experience of being stopped at airports and the justification given

I was intrigued to read about Professor David Baker’s problems at airports and his failure to get an explanation from the Home Office (Border farce: 100 stops in seven years for scientist, 7 August).

For three or more years I was routinely rejected at the electronic entry gates at Heathrow airport and would always have to present myself and passport to an officer who would very carefully check some database. None of them would engage with me or even tell me if it was a passport chip problem that I could get fixed until, finally, one did.

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UK government agrees £300m rescue package for British Steel

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New funds thought to be enough to secure a sale to widening list of interested private bidders

The government has moved to rescue British Steel with a financial support package worth as much as £300m that ministers believe will be enough to secure backing from a private bidder.

It is understood that the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) has agreed to substantially increase support to bidders for British Steel, which employs more than 4,000 people, after months of wrangling following the company’s collapse into administration.

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Nora Quoirin family say missing girl ‘does not go anywhere alone’

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Malaysia police continue hunt for vulnerable 15-year-old, saying ‘no proof’ of abduction

The family of missing Nora Quoirin have said she “is not independent and does not go anywhere alone”, as the search to find the vulnerable 15-year-old continued.

Nora, who has learning and developmental disabilities, disappeared six days ago from an eco-resort in Malaysia where she was on holiday with her parents.

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No 10 cancels staff leave, hinting at likelihood of snap election

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Boris Johnson’s chief of staff tells advisers not to book holidays before 31 October

Boris Johnson’s chief of staff cancelled all leave for government advisers until 31 October in a missive on Thursday night, raising further speculation the government is planning for a forced snap election in the aftermath of the UK leaving the EU with no deal.

Special advisers were emailed by Johnson’s senior adviser Edward Lister on Thursday night, saying there was “some confusion about taking holiday”. They were told none should be booked until 31 October, with compensation considered “on a case by case basis” for those who had already booked leave, though the email said advisers were free to spend their weekends “as you wish”.

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Jeffrey Epstein: large tranche of files released in Ghislaine Maxwell lawsuit

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Files made public in case of British socialite may contain extra details of allegations against Epstein and his political connections

A large tranche of documents released on Friday from a lawsuit against Ghislaine Maxwell – who allegedly procured girls for financier Jeffrey Epstein – contains both lurid claims and denials of world leaders’ involvement in his alleged sex trafficking.

Virginia Giuffre, who is among Epstein’s many accusers, sued Maxwell in 2015, alleging the British socialite and daughter of the former media tycoon Robert Maxwell defamed her by claiming she was a liar in her accusations against Maxwell and Epstein.

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‘Nora darling, mummy’s here’: Police search for missing girl using mother’s voice recording – video

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A recording of Nora Quoirin's mother is being used by police searching for the missing British teenager in a Malaysian jungle. The family believe Nora, who has learning and developmental disabilities, was abducted after she disappeared from an eco-resort in southern Negeri Sembilan state on Sunday

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Pair face jail over leaked Emiliano Sala mortuary images

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Sherry Bray and Christopher Ashford admit accessing CCTV of postmortem examination

Two people are facing prison sentences after they admitted accessing footage of the footballer Emiliano Sala’s postmortem examination.

The Argentinian’s body was recovered from a plane wreck on 6 February, two weeks after it crashed into the Channel.

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Cornwall quivers from magnitude-2.2 earthquake

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Tremor rocks area near Falmouth, described as ‘a loud bang from beneath’ that shook windows

An earthquake has shaken Cornwall, with some describing the seismic event as like a “sonic boom” or a “loud bang from beneath”.

The British Geological Survey said a tremor with a magnitude of 2.2 rocked an area about three miles (5km) south-west of Falmouth at around 6pm on Thursday.

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Belfast bonfire goes ahead after clashes between youths and police

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Three officers injured as officers are forced to retreat from pyre to mark 1971 mass internment

Youths in north Belfast have attacked riot police in a standoff over an unauthorised republican bonfire.

The officers withdrew in their Land Rovers from the New Lodge area on Thursday afternoon after coming under a hail of bottles, bricks, fireworks and other projectiles that injured three officers.

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Corbyn: Johnson plotting abuse of power to force no-deal Brexit

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Labour leader calls on top civil servant to spell out election rules

Jeremy Corbyn has called on the UK’s most senior civil servant to intervene to stop Boris Johnson forcing a no-deal Brexit in the middle of an election campaign, amid rising signs the country is heading for the polls again this autumn.

The Labour leader wrote to Sir Mark Sedwill, the cabinet secretary, accusing the prime minister of plotting an “unprecedented, unconstitutional and anti-democratic abuse of power”, after it emerged No 10 would be prepared to delay an election until immediately after 31 October if Johnson loses a no confidence vote among MPs.

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Shukri Abdi death: police face inquiry over Bury drowning case

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Watchdog received complaint that police did not properly investigate girl’s death

An independent investigation has been launched into how police responded to the death of a 12-year-old girl in a river in Greater Manchester.

Shukri Yahya Abdi drowned in the Irwell in Bury on 27 June. Greater Manchester police said there were no suspicious circumstances and warned people of the dangers of swimming in rivers, lakes and reservoirs in hot weather.

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Family of British girl Nora Quorin missing in Malaysia remain hopeful

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Police not ruling out foul play after Nora Quorin, 15, disappeared from cottage

The family of a British girl missing in Malaysia have said they remain hopeful, as police leading the investigation refused to rule out a “criminal element” in her disappearance.

Nora Quoirin, 15, from London, vanished from the Dusun forest eco-resort, in southern Negeri Sembilan state, on Sunday.

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New rebel bid to halt no-deal Brexit amid fury at PM’s enforcer Dominic Cummings

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Alarm is mounting about Dominic Cummings and his willingness to defy parliament

Rebel MPs are working on a plan to thwart Boris Johnson pursuing a no-deal Brexit on 31 October that involves forcing parliament to sit through the autumn recess, amid growing outrage about the power and influence of his controversial aide, Dominic Cummings.

The cross-party group of MPs is looking at legislative options with mounting urgency because of the hardline tactics of Cummings, who one Conservative insider described as running a “reign of terror” in No 10 aimed at achieving Brexit on 31 October at any cost.

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Bahraini dissident feared being thrown off London embassy roof

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Embassy denies staff used violence to halt rooftop protest against executions in Bahrain

A Bahraini dissident has said he was beaten and threatened with being thrown from the roof of the country’s embassy in London last month by staff trying to halt his rooftop protest against the execution of two men in the Gulf nation.

Moosa Mohammed said he feared for his life in the struggle atop the five-storey Belgravia building. He said it began when an embassy staffer pushed him, then hit him with a metre-long plank of wood while he was perched precariously on the edge.

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Passenger anger as tens of thousands hit by BA systems failure

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More than 500 flights cancelled or delayed by IT glitch affecting London airports

British Airways was facing passenger anger on Wednesday as more than 500 flights were cancelled or delayed as a result of a systems failure.

In the latest in a series of operational problems to hit the airline, and the travel plans of tens of thousands with holiday and business plans, London’s Heathrow, Gatwick and City were the airports most affected by the computer failure. BA refused to reveal the number of flights affected but according to Flightstats.com, which tracks arrivals and departures, by 5.30pm the airline had cancelled 140 flights and a further 370 had been delayed.

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Royal Navy ship shadows Russian vessel through Channel

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HMS Forth deployed to accompany the Vasily Bykov navy patrol ship through UK waters

A Royal Navy patrol ship has been deployed to shadow a Russian ship through the Channel.

Portsmouth-based HMS Forth had just returned to UK waters from her first foreign port visit when it was scrambled to monitor the Russian patrol ship Vasily Bykov.

A Navy spokesman said: “Forth had departed Gibraltar on 31 July, before heading north at speed and conducting heavy weather trials before a quick logistics stop in Devonport.

“She then sailed and positioned herself ready to meet the Vasily Bykov as the vessel sailed from the North Sea having taken part in Russia’s Navy Days celebration in St Petersburg.”

HMS Forth’s executive officer Lt Samuel Fields said: “It has been a particularly busy time for HMS Forth as we generate for deployed operations and continue to test our ship’s capabilities.

“I am proud of the ship’s company for rising to this additional challenge.”

The Vasily Bykov was previously shadowed by HMS Forth through the UK’s area of interest last month.

Frigate HMS Westminster was also deployed during the weekend to shadow the Chinese warship Xian up the Channel.

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British jetski fugitive who fled across Torres Strait sentenced

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Convicted drugs supplier David James Jackson left Queensland armed with crossbow

A British fugitive who made it across the Torres Strait on a jetski trying to flee a drugs supply charge in Australia has been sentenced for the audacious escape attempt.

Armed with a crossbow and supplies for the 90-mile journey, David James Jackson, 57, took off from the tip of Queensland and made it to Papua New Guinean waters.

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