Marley, whose ‘incredible gift of empathy’ is said to help exploited women, beats thousands of cats to prize
A cat that offers comfort to trafficked women has been named cat of the year at a national ceremony.
Marley, a black and white cat who lives at a safe house for women who have been enslaved, exploited and trafficked, won the award because of his “gift of empathy”.
Continue reading...European Centre for International Political Economy outlines a plan to bring the two sides closer
The UK must stop being “naive” about negotiations to reset relations with the EU and show more flexibility in its approach to Brussels, a trade policy thinktank has said.
As EU leaders question how much has changed in the UK despite the new government, the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) has outlined a plan to bring the two sides closer after a series of reports that the EU doubted Keir Starmer’s commitment to a reset.
Continue reading...Jagtar Singh Johal is being arbitrarily detained and targeted for his human rights activism, say campaigners
Delhi’s high court has denied bail to the British activist Jagtar Singh Johal, who has been imprisoned in India for nearly seven years, in seven cases brought against him by the country’s National Investigations Agency.
The ruling has shocked family and supporters who claim it should jolt the British government into recognising that Johal is not receiving justice at the hands of the Indian legal system.
Continue reading...Trafalgar Square piece by Mexican artist Teresa Margolles is made of masks depicting faces of transgender and non-binary people
A towering cuboid made of more than 300 masks depicting the faces of transgender and non-binary people, this year’s fourth plinth artwork, has been described as a piece designed to “unite the trans community around the world”.
The Mexican artist Teresa Margolles was flanked by members of her country’s trans community as Mil Veces un Instante (A Thousand Times in an Instant) was unwrapped in Trafalgar Square on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Annual rate in August unchanged, and hovering above Bank of England’s 2% target
The UK’s annual inflation rate rose by 2.2% in August, matching the increase in July, as lower petrol prices at the pump were offset by higher air fares.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the government’s preferred measure of the cost of living remained steady, matching forecasts by City economists and hovering just above the Bank of England’s 2% target.
Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: The party talked up its plans for the climate during this summer’s election – and now seems to be backing that up with real action
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Good morning.
During their election campaign, Labour made it clear that the climate crisis would be a key focus should they make it into government. It looks as if they are making good on that promise. A number of senior cabinet ministers have come out this week, banging the drum for the government’s climate policies and reminding the public and the media that the climate crisis and its effects are at the top of their agenda.
Labour | Keir Starmer has declared more free tickets and gifts than other major party leaders in recent times, with his total now topping £100,000 after recent support for his lifestyle from Labour donor Waheed Alli.
Middle East | Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel after pagers used by its members exploded across Lebanon simultaneously, killing at least nine people and wounding almost 3,000. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The apparent sabotage attack followed months of targeted assassinations by Israel against senior Hezbollah leaders.
Music | Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with sex trafficking and racketeering, according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday. Combs had been arrested late Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
NHS | A fifth of GPs are using artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT to help with tasks such as writing letters for their patients after appointments, according to a survey.
Aid | UK aid spending will fall to its lowest level since 2007 unless the government takes urgent remedial action in the autumn budget, a group of more than 100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the aid and humanitarian sector jointly warned on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Oxfam says ‘commonsense solution’ would reduce emissions and raise urgently needed climate finance
Fair taxes on superyachts and private jets in the UK could have brought in £2bn last year to provide vital funds for communities suffering the worst effects of climate breakdown, campaigners say.
Private jet use in the UK is soaring. It was home to the second highest number of private flights in Europe last year, behind only France, according to figures from the European Business Aviation Association.
Continue reading...Conservation group calls on government to ban insect-killing neonicotinoid pesticides outright
A national “butterfly emergency” has been declared by Butterfly Conservation after the lowest Big Butterfly Count since records began.
An average of just seven butterflies per 15-minute count were recorded by participants in this summer’s butterfly count, the lowest in the survey’s 14-year history.
Continue reading...ActionAid says ‘parasitic behaviour’ is fuelling the climate crisis and represents ‘corporate capture’ of public finance
More than $650bn (£494bn) a year in public subsidies goes to fossil fuel companies, intensive agriculture and other harmful industries in the developing world, new data has shown.
The subsidies entrench high greenhouse gas emissions and are fuelling the destruction of the natural world, according to a report from the charity ActionAid.
Continue reading...Humanitarian sector says UK will lack credibility at world summits owing to ‘devastating’ impact of budget cuts
UK aid spending will fall to its lowest level since 2007 unless the government takes urgent remedial action in the autumn budget, a group of more than 100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the aid and humanitarian sector jointly warn on Wednesday.
The budget dedicated to providing aid overseas will be just 0.36% of gross national income (GNI) in 2024 largely owing to huge sums in the budget being diverted to hosting asylum-seekers in the UK, the aid organisations say.
Continue reading...Policy devised under Conservatives will be reviewed after warnings of chaos for producers and suppliers
Government plans to force food manufacturers to put “not for EU” labels on all meat and dairy products sold across Britain next month have been indefinitely postponed after warnings that the scheme could cause “chaos” for producers and suppliers.
The government will instead review the policy, which was devised under the Conservative administration. Legislation to implement the changes has yet to be brought in.
Continue reading...Guardian Media Group announces it is in negotiations with Tortoise Media over world’s oldest Sunday newspaper
The Guardian’s parent company has announced that it is in formal negotiations with Tortoise Media over the potential sale of the Observer, the world’s oldest Sunday newspaper.
Guardian Media Group (GMG) told staff it was in negotiations with the Observer after being approached with an offer that was significant enough to look at in more detail.
Continue reading...Angela Eagle, border security minister, says prime minister has to answer why he has accepted £76,000 worth of gifts since 2019 election
The number of migrants who have crossed the English Channel since Labour won the general election has passed 10,000, according to provisional figures from the Home Office. As PA Media reports, some 65 migrants were detected crossing the Channel on Monday, taking the cumulative number of arrivals since July 4 to 10,024. PA says:
The cumulative total for the year so far now stands at 23,598.
This is 1% lower than the equivalent figure at this point last year, which was 23,940, and 21% lower than the total at this stage in 2022, which was 29,783.
The home secretary announced the package of up to £75m, which redirects funds originally allocated to the previous government’s Illegal Migration Act. It will unlock sophisticated new technology and extra capabilities for the NCA to bolster UK border security and disrupt the criminal people smuggling gangs. The investment is designed to build on a pattern of successful upstream disruptions announced at an operational summit, attended by the prime minister, at the NCA headquarters last week.
They became climate dinosaurs, crashing offshore wind, blocking onshore wind, moving the goalposts on electric vehicle targets, doubling down on oil and gas, leaving British wildlife in crisis.
Our biodiversity declining at an unprecedented rate, our precious national parks in decline, our rivers, lakes and seas awash with toxic sewage, blind to the opportunities of the energy transition – a fossil fuel government in a renewable age.
Continue reading...Oscar-winning actor will perform the lead role in Anne Carson’s adaptation of Sophocles’ play in London and Brighton next year
Oscar winner Brie Larson is to appear on stage in Brighton and London, making her West End debut, in Elektra.
Larson will play the anguished lead character in the revenge tragedy, adapted by poet Anne Carson and directed by Daniel Fish. It is the first major London staging of Sophocles’ play since Kristin Scott Thomas took the role in Frank McGuinness’s adaptation at the Old Vic in 2014.
Continue reading...Alternative relationships site says it has resolved concerns about data security that tech firm claims to have uncovered
Users of Feeld, a dating app aimed at alternative relationships, could have had sensitive data including messages, private photos and details of their sexuality accessed or even edited, it has emerged, after cybersecurity experts exposed a string of security “vulnerabilities”.
Feeld, registered in the UK, reported soaring revenues and profits this month, thanks to millions of downloads from non-monogamous, queer and kinky users across the world.
Continue reading...Shares in FTSE 100-listed company rise after it reports improved full-year profit forecast
The chief executive of Kingfisher, which owns the B&Q and Screwfix chains, has said demand for kitchens and bathrooms in the UK has plateaued but overall sales are showing signs of recovery, as the retail group reported sliding half-year revenues.
Thierry Garnier said demand for big-ticket categories had remained weak, in line with the wider market, while sales of seasonal products – from garden furniture to barbecues – had improved since early July.
Continue reading...Former soldier, 26, also charged with false imprisonment after killings in Bushey, Hertfordshire in July
A former soldier has appeared in court charged with the crossbow murder of three women at their home in Hertfordshire in July, police have said.
Kyle Clifford, 26, has been charged with three counts of murder after the deaths of Carol Hunt and her two daughters, Louise and Hannah Hunt, in Bushey on 9 July, Hertfordshire police said.
Continue reading...Britain promises to send £4m to back Italian crackdown on irregular migration
Keir Starmer has shown “great interest” in the Italy-Albania migration deal, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has said, as the UK vowed to send £4m to support her controversial crackdown on irregular migration.
Speaking at a press conference in Rome, the prime minister agreed with Meloni, stressing the importance of the relationship betwen the UK and Italy.
Continue reading...Mayor to be given power to overrule Westminster council, which blocked previous plan amid concerns over rerouting buses
Traffic will be banned from London’s Oxford Street under plans announced by the mayor, Sadiq Khan, using new powers from Labour to push through long-thwarted pedestrianisation of the capital’s famous shopping strip.
Khan said urgent action was needed so that the mile-long street could “once again become the leading retail destination in the world.”
Continue reading...ICO says online gambling company passed customers’ information to advertising technology companies
The online gambling company Sky Betting & Gaming has been reprimanded by the data regulator for unlawfully sharing customers’ information with advertising companies that could then target those users with personalised marketing.
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said it had investigated Bonne Terre Ltd, trading as Sky Betting & Gaming, after a complaint by the campaign group Clean Up Gambling.
Continue reading...