Michael Whitbread, 75, is on trial in Lanciano for murder of fellow Briton Michele Faiers, 66, in October 2023
A British man living in Italy has admitted stabbing his partner to death, claiming he did it after she accused him of cheating on her.
Michael Whitbread, 75, told a court he could not remember how many times he stabbed fellow Briton Michele Faiers, 66, in October 2023.
Continue reading...PM stressed shared ‘unbreakable commitment to Nato and Ukraine’ with Poland in meeting with Donald Tusk
Keir Starmer has urged world leaders to “double down” in their efforts to support Ukraine during a visit to Poland, days before Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency risks jeopardising international solidarity on the issue.
Speaking alongside the Polish prime minister, Donald Tusk, after the pair discussed a proposed defence-focused treaty, Starmer dodged questions on the possible impact of Trump, but insisted the only way forward was “peace on Ukraine’s terms”.
Continue reading...Senior officers say fraction of child abuse cases relate to gangs and funding could be diverted from current cases
Senior police officers fear that government pressure to reinvestigate closed historic cases of gang grooming could make it harder to catch those targeting children today.
The government on Thursday announced more reviews of past cases and also that victims, whose cases did not end in prosecutions, will be given a new right of appeal to have their investigations reopened.
Continue reading...Rare spherical egg could fetch in region of £200, with proceeds of sale going to charity
A farm worker in Devon has discovered what she believes to be a “one-in-a-billion” spherical egg.
Alison Greene, who has worked as an egg handler on Fenton Farm near the Somerset border for three years and handled more than 42m eggs, said she had never found a perfectly round one before.
Continue reading...Nearly every share on index rose after fall in value of pound helped multinationals listed in London
The UK’s blue-chip stock index has hit a record high, as hopes of interest rate cuts this year drove down government borrowing costs.
Almost every share on the FTSE 100 rose on Friday, the fall in the value of the pound bolstering multinationals listed in London and propelling the index above 8,500 points for the first time.
Continue reading...UK defence chiefs see no need to recruit extra sailors as maritime force will become hybrid with uncrewed systems
The Royal Navy of the future will be dominated by robots, drones and uncrewed vessels, leading chiefs to conclude there is no need to try to recruit extra sailors as part of the forthcoming defence review.
Adm Sir Ben Key, the first sea lord, believes the navy has to focus on recruitment and retention rather than seeking more personnel numbers because crew sizes are inevitably falling as military technology evolves.
Continue reading...FCA also aims to change law to try to prevent a repeat of mass compensation schemes for consumers such as PPI
Mortgage rules could be loosened by the City regulator as it comes under government pressure to increase economic growth and home ownership across the UK.
The move to “simplify responsible lending” for property purchases is part of a range of proposals put forward by the Financial Conduct Authority in an attempt to prove that the watchdog is not standing in the way of the Labour cabinet’s “growth mission”.
Continue reading...Criminals stealing hundreds of pounds by snooping locker codes and using them to access accounts with same pin
Police have urged the public to use different pin codes at the gym after a prolific thief stole hundreds of pounds from a man he snooped on while entering a locker code that he also used for his bank card.
Last September Declan Murphy, 35, secretly watched the victim as he typed in a locker code at a luxury central London gym. After stealing the victim’s phone and bank card from the locker, Murphy then successfully guessed that the four-digit code on the card would be the same as the locker code.
Continue reading...The feuds and rivalries within the US president-elect’s Maga ecosystem – including some British sympathisers
The task of deconstructing the internal manoeuvrings of the leadership of the Soviet Union was once regarded as little short of a science such was the paucity of information. Today, the court of Donald Trump is perhaps no less enigmatic – but for quite different reasons. Trumpologists trying to keep up with the machinations of the Make America Great Again (Maga) movement and its sympathisers in Britain are faced with a torrent of information via social media posts and podcast rants. Sworn enemies today can easily be the closest of conspirators tomorrow. Steve Bannon has let it be known that he intends to bring down fellow Trump acolyte Elon Musk in time for inauguration day (with days to go). It is no easy task to make sense of it all but here is what we know of the current feuds and rivalries in the Maga ecosystem:
Continue reading...Jake Fahri served 14 years in jail for the murder of the London schoolboy
A rapper who served 14 years in jail for the murder of a London schoolboy has been recalled to prison for breaching his licence conditions after media reports exposing the lyrics to his music.
Jake Fahri, then 19, was given a life sentence in 2009 with a minimum term of 14 years for killing Jimmy Mizen by throwing an oven dish at him. The glass dish shattered and severed blood vessels in the 16-year-old’s neck in a south London bakery.
Continue reading...Lisa Nandy defends Yvette Cooper’s decision to order urgent review following pressure driven by Elon Musk
A ban on UK employers using non-disclosure agreements to hush up cases of sexual misconduct and harassment is being considered as part of the government’s overhaul of employment rights.
After a slew of high-profile cases and years of campaigning by activists, it is understood that ministers are prepared to back a change in the law to prohibit the misuse of gagging clauses.
Continue reading...Ministers prepared to back change in law to prohibit misuse of gagging clauses by employers, it is understood
A ban on UK employers using non-disclosure agreements to hush up cases of sexual misconduct and harassment is being considered as part of the government’s overhaul of employment rights.
After a slew of high-profile cases and years of campaigning by activists, it is understood that ministers are prepared to back a change in the law to prohibit the misuse of gagging clauses.
Continue reading...Inaccurate notices branded with broadcaster’s logo sent to iPhone users but tech firm works on improvements
Apple is suspending an artificial intelligence feature that made inaccurate summaries of news headlines.
The tech company received a complaint from the BBC after the AI-generated service issued a news alert branded with the corporation’s logo falsely telling some iPhone users that Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing the UnitedHealthcare chief executive, Brian Thompson, had shot himself.
Continue reading...Actor helped shape British postwar theatre through her performances at the Royal Court, National Theatre and in the West End
• Michael Billington: Plowright was a dynamic force
• Joan Plowright: a life in pictures
The actor Joan Plowright, who was celebrated for her long career in theatre and film, has died at the age of 95, her family have announced.
Plowright won acclaim for performances during the early years of the English Stage Company at the Royal Court and the National Theatre when it was based at the Old Vic and led by her second husband, Laurence Olivier.
Continue reading...British content creators, who may lose a big chunk of their audiences, say they see the app as a gateway to Americans
If TikTok disappears from the US, it won’t just be its 170 million American users who will lose out.
British TikTokers and business owners have told the Guardian they will also lose a sizeable chunk of their audiences after a ban. The video app has become a key gateway to Americans for the UK’s online video creators, who make a living from accruing views and making sponsored content deals. With the ban scheduled to go into effect on Sunday, a US-sized hole will appear in the global userbase.
Continue reading...Scientists say frog’s journey shows difficulty of spotting insects or fungi spread by global plant trade
A tiny tree frog hitchhiking in a bunch of roses to Sheffield from Colombia has inspired a study into invasive species reaching the UK’s shores.
Dr Silviu Petrovan, a researcher in the University of Cambridge’s zoology department and a senior author of a paper published today in the journal BioScience, had his interest piqued when he was asked to identify a live frog found in roses in a florist’s shop in Sheffield.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Majority polled by YouGov viewed billionaire negatively – except among Reform UK and AfD voters
Most people in the UK and Germany consider Elon Musk’s efforts to influence their national politics unacceptable and believe the US tech magnate does not know much about either country or the issues they face, a poll has shown.
The survey, by YouGov, follows a spate of hostile statements by the billionaire owner of Tesla, SpaceX and the social media platform X attacking the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and their respective governments.
Continue reading...Joint project between Guardian and city’s Science and Industry Museum will open in early 2027
The role transatlantic enslavement played in shaping Manchester is at the heart of a new exhibition developed in partnership by the Guardian and the city’s Science and Industry Museum.
The exhibition is the first time the museum, which tells the story of Manchester’s transformation into the world’s first industrial city, has put the links between enslaved African people, cotton and the city at the centre of a display.
Continue reading...PM visits Kyiv to agree partnership and says Putin shows no signs of wanting to stop ‘unrelenting aggression’
Keir Starmer has announced a “historic” 100-year partnership with Ukraine, saying the UK would support the country “beyond this terrible war” and into a future where it is “free and thriving again”.
Speaking during his first trip to Kyiv as prime minister, Starmer said the unprecedented agreement reflected the “huge affection between our two nations”. He added that “right now Putin shows no signs of wanting to stop” his “unrelenting aggression”.
Continue reading...Yvette Cooper’s unveiling of a rapid review of evidence, after week of arguments against new inquiry, has already been called inadequate
When is a U-turn not officially a U-turn? When it is less a change of direction than one of speed and extent. And on those terms, the announcement of a review into grooming gangs is Keir Starmer’s second such policy shuffle this week alone.
On Tuesday, the Treasury minister, Tulip Siddiq, departed over her links to much-disputed claims of family corruption centred on her aunt, the former president of Bangladesh. Downing Street had insisted for days that the facts must first be established.
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