Lord Falconer says protest group ‘may have done other things’ to warrant expected proscription by home secretary
The spray-painting of aircraft at an RAF base by a pro-Palestinian group would not provide the sole legal justification for banning it, according to a former justice secretary.
The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, is expected to move to proscribe Palestine Action in the coming days after an incident on Friday at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.
Continue reading...An exhibition explores the authors’ love of theatre, highlighting the dramatic impact of his works
As a sliding doors moment, it leads to arguably one of the greatest “what if?” questions in literary history. Passionate about the theatre, Charles Dickens, then just 20, wrote to the famous Covent Garden theatre actor-manager George Bartley seeking an audition, saying he believed he “had a strong perception of character and oddity, and a natural power of reproducing in my own person what I observed in others”.
Bartley responded saying they were producing “the Hunchback” and arranging an appointment. Dickens planned to take his sister, Fanny, to accompany him singing on the piano.
Continue reading...£400m to be set aside for on-street charging points instead of motorways after RCF was mired in delays
Labour ministers have scrapped a promise by the previous government for a £950m fund for installing electric car chargers near motorways, instead setting aside a smaller sum mainly for on-street charging points.
The rapid charging fund (RCF) was first announced in 2020 by Rishi Sunak, then Conservative chancellor, with the aim of supporting upgrades to the grid so that more electric vehicles could be rapidly charged at the same time.
Continue reading...‘There isn’t a budget for this,’ health secretary says after MPs vote to legalise procedure in England and Wales
Wes Streeting has voiced doubts over whether the NHS can afford to establish an assisted dying service, after MPs passed a bill to legalise the procedure last week.
The health secretary was previously a supporter of assisted dying but switched sides last year, expressing concerns about the ethics of offering such a service before significant improvements could be made to the NHS.
Continue reading...Labour makes funding centrepiece of its industrial strategy in bid to counter Reform’s surge in so-called red wall
The government will present a £275m investment in technical training and apprenticeships as the centrepiece of its long-awaited industrial strategy, in a direct challenge to Nigel Farage’s growing influence in England’s manufacturing heartlands.
The package, announced by the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, on Sunday, includes funding for new technical excellence colleges, short courses in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital manufacturing, and major capital upgrades to training providers across England.
Continue reading...UK prime minister criticises band’s inclusion in festival lineup after Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh allegedly displayed flag supporting Hezbollah
Kneecap’s Glastonbury festival performance next Saturday is not “appropriate”, Keir Starmer has said.
Kneecap member Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh appeared in court on Wednesday after allegedly displaying a flag in support of the proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah and saying “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” at a gig in November last year.
Continue reading...People report waiting hours in hot carriages after fault near Loughborough Junction brings some services to halt
Scores of UK passengers were forced to evacuate trains and walk along the tracks on Saturday after some services were halted due to a fault on the hottest day of the year so far.
Videos posted on social media showed people walking on the tracks beside Thameslink trains near Loughborough Junction station in south London.
Continue reading...Man allegedly surveilled RAF Akrotiri and was planning imminent terrorist attack, according to reports
A British man has been arrested on suspicion of espionage and terrorism offences in Cyprus.
He allegedly surveilled the RAF Akrotiri base on the island and is suspected of having links with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, local media reported.
Continue reading...Prosecutors weigh possibility that the Chinese student, who treated his victims as ‘sex toys’, could face further action
Serial rapist Zhenhao Zou is facing a second trial with police and prosecutors preparing to charge the Chinese student with a second round of offences.
Zou, 28, is already serving a minimum 24 years for attacking 10 young women in London and China.
Continue reading...Vessel to be transported to port where investigators will try to find cause of fatal sinking during storm
Salvage teams in Sicily say they have lifted Mike Lynch’s superyacht “fully and finally out of the water” for the first time since it sank last year during a storm, killing seven people including the tech tycoon and his teenage daughter.
The rusting hulk of the Bayesian, which ran into trouble off the coast of the Italian island in August last year, has been slowly raised from the seabed over the last three days. Covered with algae and mud, it was visible clear of the sea in the holding area of a yellow floating crane barge, a witness told the Associated Press.
Continue reading...Budget retailer had a pre-tax loss of more than £51m last year and is struggling to lure back customers amid stiff competition from rivals
“It’s not actually that cheap any more. It’s kind of lost its appeal because everything is not a pound.”
Samantha, a shopper outside Poundland’s Luton retail park outlet who is heading off to B&M to find some better deals, sums up the feelings of many of her fellow bargain hunters and a central problem facing the new owner of the budget retailer.
Continue reading...Campaigner, who has terminal cancer, hopes bill will make it past any potential obstacles in the Lords
The assisted dying bill, if it becomes law, will remove the burden of seeing a loved one die in pain, the campaigner Esther Rantzen has said, insisting its backers have got right the balance between helping those who ask for it and protecting vulnerable people.
The terminally ill adults (end of life) bill cleared the Commons with a majority of 23 votes on Friday, but must yet be debated by the Lords before returning to the Commons for consideration of any amendments they may make.
Continue reading...Singer trains underwater like Frank Sinatra once did and scientists say it may be useful in maintaining vocal prowess
Frank Sinatra did it his way, taking to the pool to boost his vocal prowess, and it seems Rod Stewart is singing from the same songsheet. Now scientists say the approach might not be somethin’ stupid.
Stewart, 80, is still entertaining fans with his raspy vocals and energetic stage performances and earlier this month he revealed that as well as running and playing some football, swimming also played a key part in his campaign to stay forever young.
Continue reading...Home secretary plans to proscribe group that broke into Brize Norton, effectively branding it a terrorist organisation
The pro-Palestine group that broke into RAF Brize Norton sparking a major security review is expected to be banned by the government next week in a move which will anger campaigners.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, is planning to proscribe Palestine Action, effectively branding it a terrorist organisation.
Continue reading...A driver who got stuck on the Spanish Steps in Rome is the latest in a series of similar vehicular misadventures
The 1969 caper The Italian Job spawned a Hollywood remake, helped drive the cool-factor of the Mini and launched decades of dad jokes about bloody doors being blown off. It may also have inspired one driver who got stuck trying to travel down the Spanish Steps in Rome this week.
The film ended with Michael Caine teetering on the edge of a cliff in a coach, claiming to have a “great idea”. In Rome, the 80-year-old’s navigational error on his way to work ended with emergency services having to bring in a crane to winch his vehicle off the Italian capital’s landmark.
Continue reading...Proposal would cover uranium enrichment and ballistic missile programmes and aim to end terrorist funding
Europe is to make Iran a comprehensive offer to end its war with Israel that would include an Iranian move to zero uranium enrichment, restrictions on its ballistic missile programme and an end to Tehran’s funding of terrorist groups, Emmanuel Macron has said.
The proposals are surprisingly broad, spanning a range of complex issues beyond Iran’s disputed nuclear programme, and are likely to complicate any solution unless an interim agreement can be agreed.
Continue reading...Organisers seek an extra £40,000 for a memorial to Mary Clarke, the first suffragette to die for women’s rights
The campaign to commemorate the first suffragette to die for women’s rights is facing a funding crisis.
Mary Clarke, who was the sister of Emmeline Pankhurst, helped found the Women’s Social and Political Union and was imprisoned three times.
Continue reading...Terminally ill people with less than six months to live will have right to choose procedure after approval from doctors and panel
Terminally ill people in England and Wales are to be given the right to an assisted death in a historic societal shift that will transform end-of-life care.
After months of argument, MPs narrowly voted in favour of a private member’s bill introduced by Labour’s Kim Leadbeater, which could become law within four years.
Continue reading...Foreign secretary says government will provide charter flights from Tel Aviv when airspace reopens
British nationals who want to leave Israel will be offered charter flights from Tel Aviv as soon as airspace reopens, the government has said.
With the conflict with Iran continuing, Whitehall officials have been working to organise escape routes for the thousands of British and dual nationals in Israel.
Continue reading...Residents of Bille and Ogale in Niger delta are suing Shell and subsidiary, but company denies liability
Residents of two Nigerian communities who are taking legal action against Shell over oil pollution are set to take their cases to trial at the high court in 2027.
Members of the Bille and Ogale communities in the Niger delta, which have a combined population of about 50,000, are suing Shell and a Nigerian-based subsidiary of the company, the Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, which is now the Renaissance Africa Energy Company.
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