Category Archives: UK news

Theresa May commits to net zero UK carbon emissions by 2050

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UK to put down legislation but Greenpeace warns of impact on developing nations

Theresa May has sought to cement some legacy in the weeks before she steps down as prime minister by enshrining in law a commitment to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050, making Britain the first major economy to do so.

The commitment, to be made in an amendment to the Climate Change Act laid in parliament on Wednesday, would make the UK the first member of the G7 group of industrialised nations to legislate for net zero emissions, Downing Street said.

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Whirlpool ordered by UK to recall 500,000 tumble dryers

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‘Unprecedented’ government move comes four years after firm issued safety warning

The government is to order an “unprecedented” recall of up to 500,000 Whirlpool tumble dryers – four years after fire safety concerns were first raised.

The move is a dramatic escalation in a long-running controversy involving the company’s “fire-risk” tumble dryers, and its handling of an issue that may have left dangerous machines in UK homes.

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British Base jumper dies in Dolomites accident

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Jean Andre Quemener, 32, from Jersey, is killed in jump from 2,239-metre Sass Pordoi

A British Base jumper has died in an accident in the Italian Dolomites.

Jean Andre Quemener, 32, was reportedly unable to activate his wing suit after jumping from the 2,239-metre Sass Pordoi in Canazei, a mountain resort popular with Base jumpers in the Val di Fassa area.

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Energy industry’s carbon emissions rise at fastest rate in nearly a decade

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BP report reveals that swings in global temperatures are increasing the use of fossil fuels

Carbon emissions from the global energy industry rose by the fastest rate in almost a decade in 2018 after surprise swings in global temperatures stoked extra demand for fossil fuels.

BP’s annual global energy report revealed for the first time that fluctuating temperatures are increasing the world’s use of fossil fuels in spite of efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

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Radiohead release hours of hacked MiniDiscs to benefit Extinction Rebellion

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Thom Yorke describes hours of recordings from OK Computer sessions as ‘not v interesting’, while climate activists thank the band for ‘unprecedented support’

Radiohead have released a vast collection of unreleased tracks made during the sessions for 1997 album OK Computer, after a MiniDisc archive owned by frontman Thom Yorke was hacked last week by an unnamed person, who reportedly held the recordings to ransom for $150,000.

The band have now made the 18 MiniDisc recordings, most of them around an hour in length, available on Bandcamp for £18. Proceeds will go to climate activists Extinction Rebellion.

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Boris Johnson accused of cowardice as he dodges public scrutiny

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Tory leadership frontrunner avoids interviews and refuses to commit to TV hustings

Boris Johnson has been accused of “not having the guts to face the people” in the Conservative leadership race, coming under fire for dodging interviews and refusing to confirm his participation in a BBC debate with other candidates.

Johnson, the clear frontrunner with MPs and the Tory membership, was implicitly criticised by several of his rivals who said the race must put all the candidates under proper scrutiny.

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Jeremy Corbyn lambasted by Labour MPs in ‘worst meeting as leader’

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MPs criticise Labour’s handling of Brexit and complaints of harassment and antisemitism

Labour MPs tore into Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit strategy at a party meeting on Monday night, with several MPs loyal to the leadership saying they felt ashamed to vote for the party at the European elections and urging a change of direction.

MPs inside the private gathering said there were surprise interventions from colleagues who had never before spoken out against Corbyn, including Lloyd Russell-Moyle and Marie Rimmer.

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Devon police investigating possible link between suspected suicide and stabbing

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Man found dead in car six miles from scene in Kingsteignton where 73-year-old was killed

Police investigating the “random” stabbing of a 73-year-old man on the doorstep of his home in Devon are trying to establish whether the suspected suicide of a driver six miles away is linked.

The stabbing victim died after he was found with multiple wounds in a cul-de-sac in Kingsteignton, a small town near Newton Abbot, on Sunday evening. On Monday morning, Devon and Cornwall police were told that another man had been found dead in a car at a coastal beauty spot a few minutes’ drive away.

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Gove reboots Tory leadership bid with attack on Johnson

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Environment secretary insists he is ‘in it to win it’ and vows to focus on overlooked families

Michael Gove has tried to claw his way back into the race to be Britain’s next prime minister with a pledge to govern for “overlooked families and undervalued communities” – and a series of personal attacks on frontrunner Boris Johnson.

The environment secretary’s campaign was blown off course at the weekend after revelations about cocaine use. But on the day the Tory leadership contest launched in earnest, Gove insisted he was still “in it to win it”.

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Flight delayed after passenger mistakes exit for toilet door

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Woman triggers evacuation slide, causing eight-hour delay at Manchester airport

A flight from Manchester was delayed for almost eight hours when a confused passenger opened an emergency exit after mistaking it for the toilet door.

The Pakistan International Airways (PIA) flight to Islamabad was nearly ready to depart when the woman grasped for the wrong door, launching the emergency evacuation slide.

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Egypt tries to stop sale of Tutankhamun statue in London

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Officials fear bust of pharaoh might have been looted from Karnak temple in Luxor

Egyptian authorities are trying to stop the auction of a statue of Tutankhamun’s head at Christie’s auction house in London next month after concerns were raised that the bust might have been stolen from the Karnak temple in Luxor.

The statue, a brown quartzite head of the young pharaoh, which portrays him as the ancient god Amun, is expected to raise more than £4m at auction on 4 July.

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Political violence against women tracked for first time as attacks soar

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Analysts to compile database to track spike in cases, with female politicians and campaigners increasingly targeted

Violence targeted against female politicians and activists will be tracked for the first time by a global database, amid indications of a recent rise in attacks.

Researchers reviewed thousands of events dating back to 1997, where political violence was targeted at women – ranging from wartime sexual violence to attacks on female civilians and crackdowns on female-led protests.

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Female nurse who played crucial role in IVF ignored on plaque

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Despite a senior colleague’s protests, Jean Purdy’s name was not included on memorial

The name of a female nurse and embryologist who played a crucial role in developing the world’s first test-tube baby was excluded from a plaque honouring the pioneers of IVF despite objections from her colleagues, newly released letters reveal.

Jean Purdy was one of three scientists whose groundbreaking work led to the birth of the first IVF baby, Louise Brown, in 1978. Yet her central role was largely forgotten in the rush to praise her colleagues, Prof Sir Robert Edwards and the surgeon Patrick Steptoe.

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Michael Gove’s No 10 hopes falter after cocaine admission

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Environment secretary is facing calls to withdraw from Tory leadership campaign

Michael Gove’s campaign to be Conservative leader is hanging in the balance with calls for him to quit the race, as he was forced to insist that he never misled officials about his use of class A drugs.

The environment secretary gave an interview admitting he was “fortunate” to have avoided jail for possession of cocaine, after a new book revealed he had taken the drug on several occasions while a journalist around 20 years ago.

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Barking fire: residents claim safety fears about flats were downplayed

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Occupants emailed Bellway Homes with concerns about fire risk a month before blaze

Residents at a six-storey block of flats in Barking, east London, that was engulfed in flames on Sunday have claimed their concerns about potential fire safety breaches were downplayed by its builders only last month.

About 100 firefighters and 15 fire engines were dispatched to deal with the blaze on De Pass Gardens that tore through wooden balconies forcing it and neighbouring flats to be evacuated.

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Boris Johnson threatens to hold back Brexit ‘divorce’ payment to force a deal

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Pledge comes as James Brokenshire backs former foreign secretary, while Ruth Davidson endorses Sajid Javid

Boris Johnson has vowed to withhold Britain’s £39bn Brexit “divorce” payment until the EU agrees better terms for the UK to leave.

Withholding the cash, scrapping the Northern Ireland backstop, guaranteeing the rights of all EU citizens in Britain while stepping up preparations for a No Deal “disruption” in the wake of no deal are among measures the government would carry out if he was elected leader of the Conservative party, he said.

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Cold, alone and scared: teenage refugee tells of Channel crossing

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A teenager from Afghanistan who survived the ‘dark, cold and dangerous’ journey talks about her ordeal – and hopes for the future

Most people were still asleep on Christmas Day when Ameena landed in England. She remembers stumbling onto the Kent beach in total darkness, retching with sea sickness.

“When I arrived I was vomiting everywhere,” the teenager told the Observer during the first media interview with an unaccompanied child refugee who has entered the UK by boat.

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Military drone crashes raise fears for civilians

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Safety warning as MoD pushes to fly the aircraft in Britain

Two military drones are crashing every month on average, according to research that raises questions about the safety of the technology, both in conflict zones and civilian environments.

Accidents Will Happen, a report published by the campaign group Drone Wars UK, reveals that there have been more than 250 crashes involving the large unmanned aircraft in the past decade. A Reaper drone has a maximum speed of 480kph, a range of 1,800km and is armed with up to four missiles and two 230kg bombs.

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‘Prejudiced’ Home Office refusing visas to African researchers

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Academics invited to the UK are refused entry on arbitrary and ‘insulting’ grounds

The Home Office is being accused of institutional racism and damaging British research projects through increasingly arbitrary and “insulting” visa refusals for academics.

In April, a team of six Ebola researchers from Sierra Leone were unable to attend vital training in the UK, funded by the Wellcome Trust as part of a £1.5m flagship pandemic preparedness programme. At the LSE Africa summit, also in April, 24 out of 25 researchers were missing from a single workshop. Shortly afterwards, the Save the Children centenary events were marred by multiple visa refusals of key guests.

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Glasgow firefighters tackle blaze at former university campus

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Large fire breaks out at derelict building being turned into luxury housing development

A large fire has broken out at a derelict university building in Glasgow which is being turned into a luxury housing development.

Firefighters are on scene at the Jordanhill campus in the west of the city as smoke billowed from the former Strathclyde University building.

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