Philip Foster lives in Spain and was sentenced in his absence after defrauding more than 6,000 people
A former TV soap actor has been sentenced to eight and a half years in prison after masterminding a £13.6m fraud that targeted aspiring models.
Former Brookside actor Philip Foster, 49, ran an operation involving a network of sham modelling agencies for more than eight years.
Continue reading...As he attempts to repair relations, the prime minister is being forced closer to a choice between the US and Europe
As Keir Starmer surveys the wreckage of the US-Ukrainian relationship caused by the Oval Office bar-room fight, the UK prime minister is clearly intent on trying to repair the diplomatic damage, but it may be that the mood of mutual antagonism not just in the US, but in Europe, is too great.
It is not as if Starmer, to use Trump’s blunt phraseology, has many cards left to play. He had already played them, and his hand was not strong enough to prevent the US-Ukraine breakdown.
Continue reading...Two other teenagers were also injured in incident at what police believe was a flat party
Five teenagers have been arrested after a 17-year-old boy was stabbed at what police believe was a flat party.
Two other people, a 17-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl, were also injured in the incident.
Continue reading...Police launch a murder investigation after officers were called to an incident in Holloway on Thursday night
Three teenage girls have been arrested over the death of a 75-year-old man in north London.
Police launched a murder investigation after officers were called to an incident on Seven Sisters Road at 11.35pm on Thursday.
Continue reading...Union leader describes chain’s record on overseas-trained teachers as ‘Harris Federation’s Windrush’
The National Education Union has claimed a “resounding improvement” in workload and conditions for teachers from Jamaica and other countries at a leading academy chain, as part of a deal ending threats of strike action.
The Harris Federation of schools confirmed it will improve conditions for qualified teachers from Jamaica and others trained overseas, as part of a deal that eases the route for overseas-trained teachers to gain similar qualifications in England.
Continue reading...Despite wet weather hitting yields, supermarkets are reporting a doubling in rhubarb sales compared to last year
It takes a while for the eyes to adjust to the darkness inside the shed. Slowly, the shapes of hundreds of pale stalks emerge from the gloom like an alien species, visible only by the glow cast by a handful of candles.
This candlelit ritual is the harvest of Yorkshire forced rhubarb, being carried out by growers Robert and Paula Tomlinson.
Continue reading...Criminal justice specialists call for new approach to identify emerging type of murderer with no prior convictions
The rise of “0 to 100” killers who go from watching torture, mutilation and beheading videos in their bedrooms to committing murder suggests there could be a link between extreme violence online and in real life, experts have said.
Criminal justice experts advocated a new approach, inspired by counter-terrorism, to identify an emerging type of murderer with no prior convictions, after cases such as Nicholas Prosper, who killed his mother and siblings and planned a primary school massacre.
Continue reading...Just as in the Oval Office this week, history shows the royals can be deployed to serve British interests – whether they like it or not
As Donald Trump waved his personal invitation from King Charles III to pay a second historic state visit in the Oval Office, there was no disguising his delight before the TV cameras.
Keir Starmer had retrieved the letter from his jacket pocket and handed it to the US president with the dramatic flourish of Neville Chamberlain’s “I have in my hand a piece of paper” moment.
Continue reading...Research shows strong support for keeping tax-free accounts in their current form with £20,000 annual limit
A campaign to “save” cash Isas gathered pace this week, with research published showing strong support for the savings accounts.
However, data was also issued that investment firms said showed UK savers were “paying the price” for playing it safe because putting money into the stock market can generate much higher returns.
Continue reading...President’s warmth towards PM was apparent – but will No 10’s strategy prove successful longer-term?
“We’re feeling good, we’re very well prepared,” one senior UK official declared on the eve of Keir Starmer’s highly anticipated first meeting with Donald Trump at the White House. The prime minister had just landed in Washington DC and been driven straight to a glitzy reception at the UK ambassador’s opulent Edwin Lutyens-designed residence.
Under the sparkling crystal chandeliers and among the grand marble columns, his euphoric host, Peter Mandelson, introduced Starmer to guests including the new FBI director, Kush Patel. The Republican senator Lindsey Graham and the New York-based editor Tina Brown were also present.
Continue reading...Doctors have said there was a high risk of sudden death for Laila Soueif, mother of Alaas Abdel el-Fattah
Laila Soueif, lying in a hospital bed after refusing all food for 152 days in a bid to free her jailed son, agreed on Wednesday night to be put on a glucose drip, though it is only likely to delay her full collapse by days.
She told the Guardian she had taken the step as part of a deal she had reached with her children that they would be allowed one chance to intervene before she collapses.
Continue reading...Nineteen-year-old attacked by animal believed to have been XL bully, which has been put down, police say
A 19-year-old woman who died after she was attacked by a dog in Bristol has been named as Morgan Dorsett, police say.
The teenager, from Shropshire, was attacked by a dog, believed to have been an XL bully, inside a flat in Cobhorn Drive in the Hartcliffe area of the city at 7.19pm on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Exclusive: International development minister warns it will be ‘impossible’ to retain funding in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine
Anneliese Dodds, the international development minister, has quit her post over Keir Starmer’s decision to slash the international aid budget by almost half to pay for an increase in defence spending, warning it could enable Russia and China to further their global influence.
The senior Labour MP, who attended cabinet, predicted that the UK pulling back from development would bolster Moscow, which has already been aggressively increasing its presence worldwide, as well as encourage Beijing’s attempts to rewrite global rules.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Hundreds of thousands of world’s poorest children could die if aid programme slashed, experts warn
Hundreds of thousands of children in the world’s poorest countries will die if the UK cuts back funding for a hugely effective vaccination programme as part of its significant reduction in overseas aid, the Guardian has been told.
According to data collated by the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi), to which the UK has previously been one of the main contributors, even a small cut in UK funding would be expected to result in millions fewer vaccinations, leading to huge numbers of preventable deaths.
Continue reading...Prime minister will host more than a dozen countries over weekend as Europe tries to secure deal to end war
Keir Starmer will hold talks with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni in Downing Street on Sunday before a major London defence summit aimed at securing “lasting and enforced” peace in Ukraine.
Fresh from his trip to see Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday, Starmer has headed back to London to host the defence summit, where more than a dozen world leaders will gather to discuss Ukraine.
Continue reading...As Volodymyr Zelenskyy heads to Washington to meet Donald Trump, a number of questions remain unanswered
As Volodymyr Zelenskyy heads to Washington to meet Donald Trump, questions remain over the future of Ukraine and the country’s war with Russia. Here are five things we don’t know about a possible deal to end the conflict.
Continue reading...US president was questioned about defence deal during meeting with UK prime minister Keir Starmer
Australian politicians have played down a slip from Donald Trump, who initially failed to understand a question about Aukus posed by a British reporter.
The US president was questioned about the Australia-UK-US defence deal during a meeting with the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, in the Oval Office.
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Continue reading...Scathing committee report lambasts DfT and HS2 for failing to work together effectively
HS2 has become “a casebook example of how not to run a major project”, according to the latest scathing report on the high-speed rail line from MPs on the public accounts committee (PAC).
The PAC lambasted the Department for Transport (DfT) and HS2 Ltd for failing to work together effectively, and told them not to waste the opportunity to get a grip on costs during the project’s latest “reset”.
Continue reading...President claims presence of US workers in Ukraine would deter Russian aggression after talks with Keir Starmer
Donald Trump has insisted that Vladimir Putin would “keep his word” on a peace deal for Ukraine, arguing that US workers extracting critical minerals in the country would act as a security backstop to deter Russia from invading again.
During highly anticipated talks at the White House with the prime minister, Keir Starmer, the US president said that Putin could be trusted not to breach any agreement, which could aim to return as much of the land as possible to Ukraine that was seized by Russia during the brutal three-year conflict.
Continue reading...Pamela Marking, suffering severe stomach issues, diagnosed in hospital with nosebleed and sent home by PA
A coroner has issued a warning about the role of physician associates in NHS hospitals after a woman with severe abdominal problems was wrongly diagnosed as having a nosebleed and died four days later.
The family of Pamela Marking, 77, were under the mistaken impression she had been seen by a doctor when she was examined in an emergency department, rather than a physician associate (PA) with far less training.
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