Aid group workers also taken as UN says it is trying to secure access to its personnel and clarify the situation around the detentions
Yemen’s Houthis have detained 11 Yemeni employees of UN agencies under unclear circumstances, authorities say, as the militia group faces increasing financial pressure and airstrikes from a US-led coalition.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said 11 UN staffers had been taken.
Continue reading...Business secretary is due to meet Czech tycoon to discuss a takeover the Guardian has raised questions about
The business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, is being pressed to question the Royal Mail bidder Daniel Křetínský on his business links, after the Guardian raised questions about a series of controversial global property deals connected to the Czech billionaire’s longtime business partners.
Badenoch is scheduled to meet the tycoon next week to discuss his £3.57bn bid for the 500-year-old institution, which will be subjected to a review under the National Security and Investment Act.
Continue reading...PM, who left to attend an ITV interview, says ‘the last thing I wanted was for the commemorations to be overshadowed by politics’
I think it would be fair to say that children’s minister David Johnston is not having a vintage media round today.
First he was ambushed by Rishi Sunak issuing his D-day absence apology while the minister was literally out defending Sunak by repeatedly pointing out that he had been in France earlier in the day and in Portsmouth the day before [See 8.18 BST].
Continue reading...Exclusive: Vaz to run in Leicester East, infuriating Labour party candidates who have campaigned for his eviction for years
The disgraced former MP Keith Vaz has been belatedly kicked out of Labour after announcing he is standing in his old seat, Leicester East, for a new local party.
The former minister, who is running against an official Labour party candidate, was still a member of the party on Thursday when it emerged that he was standing in the constituency for the One Leicester party.
Continue reading...Nine-month-old Harlow Collinge died after ‘forceful shaking’ by Karen Foster, court told
A Lancashire childminder has pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of a baby boy in her care.
Karen Foster, 62, was due to stand trial at Preston crown court for the murder of nine-month-old Harlow Collinge in March 2022. But before a jury being sworn in on Friday, she pleaded guilty to his manslaughter.
Continue reading...Union warns of risks to shoppers and staff after Zuber Issa sells 22.5% supermarket stake to private equity co-owners TDR Capital
The billionaire brothers who part-own Asda have gone their separate ways, with Zuber Issa selling his shares in the supermarket to the private equity firm TDR Capital amid a rift between the siblings.
Zuber owned 22.5% of the Leeds-based grocery chain after a £6.8bn takeover alongside his older brother Mohsin and TDR three years ago. The sale of his stake had been expected for months, but was thought to have been complicated by lock-in agreements.
Continue reading...Amid heavy criticism, the PM denies he had planned to skip commemorations entirely
Rishi Sunak has apologised for missing a key part of the D-day commemorations in northern France to film a TV interview, as he faces a wave of condemnation over what may be his biggest misstep yet in a faltering election campaign.
The prime minister was heavily criticised for leaving the 80th anniversary events for an ITV interview that is not scheduled for broadcast until next week, with opposition parties calling it crass and a dereliction of duty.
Continue reading...Dame Victoria Sharp says judge was wrong to pause trial after prosecutors said they did not plan to call Georgia Barton as a witness
Joey Barton faces a new criminal trial over an allegation he assaulted his wife, judges at the high court have ruled after proceedings against him were previously paused.
The former footballer was accused of assaulting Georgia Barton in a drunken row – which he denied – and was due to face trial at a magistrates court in 2022.
Continue reading...Local police scour Greek island of Symi two days after TV doctor and columnist went missing
The search for the TV doctor and columnist Michael Mosley has resumed on the Greek island of Symi, two days after he went missing.
Local police have confirmed that officers with sniffer dogs are scouring the island after they paused the search-and-rescue operation for the 67-year-old Briton on Thursday night.
Continue reading...Duke of Sussex allowed to challenge high court decision that upheld Ravec’s finding on protection
The Duke of Sussex has been granted permission to appeal against the dismissal of his high court challenge over a change to his level of personal security when he visits the UK.
Prince Harry took legal action against the Home Office over the decision of the Executive Committee for the Protection of Royalty and Public Figures (Ravec) that he should receive a different degree of taxpayer-funded protection when in the country.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak failed during TV debate to make clear how he had calculated Labour’s spending policies, says OSR
The UK’s statistics watchdog has warned the Conservatives over Rishi Sunak’s claim that Labour would raise taxes by £2,000, saying it failed to make clear how the figures were calculated.
In a rap over the knuckles for the prime minster, who made the claim during a leadership debate on ITV on Tuesday evening, the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) said the case demonstrated how all party campaigners needed to offer the public a transparent view of tax and spending policies.
Continue reading...Labour policy likely to irritate Israel, whose prime minister reacted angrily when Ireland, Spain and Norway officially recognised Palestine in May
Keir Starmer is planning to use the Labour manifesto to make his strongest commitment yet on Palestinian statehood in a move to shore up the party’s core support on the left, sources have told the Guardian.
People with knowledge of the document say the Labour leader is expected to include a pledge to recognise Palestine before the end of any peace process, and to make sure such a move does not get vetoed by a neighbouring country.
Continue reading...Democracy campaigners welcome move by Lord Sumption and Lord Collins, who cited political situation in statement
Two of the last remaining British judges to sit on Hong Kong’s top court have resigned, with one citing the political situation in the former colony.
Lawrence Collins and Jonathan Sumption, former UK supreme court justices, announced their resignations on Thursday. “I have resigned from the court of final appeal because of the political situation in Hong Kong, but I continue to have the fullest confidence in the court and the total independence of its members,” Lord Collins said.
Continue reading...Emergency ban on prescribing the drugs was put in place before dissolution of parliament last week
The UK government has until Friday to respond to a letter from campaigners who are mounting a legal challenge against the ban on puberty blockers for young people that came into force this week.
The non-profit legal organisation The Good Law Project and the transgender advocacy group TransActual have instructed senior lawyers to challenge a ban on the drugs, which campaigners say could lead to the criminalisation of healthcare providers.
Continue reading...Philip Jansen announced sweeping job cuts during same financial year covered by pay and bonus package
BT’s former chief executive Philip Jansen has been awarded his largest pay and bonus package, a £3.7m reward for the same year in which he announced plans to cut 55,000 jobs at the telecoms company by 2030.
The pay deal for Jansen, who was nicknamed Food Bank Phil after the company set up a “community pantry” for call centre staff struggling to make ends meet, was revealed in BT’s latest annual report.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Hester allegedly used term ‘token Muslim’, imitated people of Chinese descent and said a person was attractive for a black woman
The Conservative party is facing questions over its decision to keep more than £15m given by its biggest ever donor, Frank Hester, after former employees made a series of fresh allegations.
Hester is alleged to have referred to a staff member as the “token Muslim”, imitated people of Chinese descent and remarked that one individual was attractive for a black woman, according to former employees who spoke to the Guardian.
Continue reading...Agent says columnist and presenter has been missing since he went for a coastal hike on Greek island of Symi
A search is under way for the TV doctor and newspaper columnist Michael Mosley, who went missing after going on a coastal walk on the Greek island of Symi.
The 67-year-old, known for his appearances on The One Show and This Morning, was last seen when he set off hiking along St Nicholas beach at 1.30pm local time (1130 BST) on Wednesday. His wife, Dr Clare Bailey, alerted authorities after he failed to return by 7.30pm, but they were unable to locate him overnight.
Continue reading...French officials insist on checking paperwork of 400 troops landing in Normandy for 80th anniversary commemoration
Eyebrows were raised at the Ministry of Defence when French immigration and customs insisted on checking the paperwork of 400 British paratroopers immediately after they dropped into fields near Saneville, Normandy on Wednesday.
Some felt the French were trying to make a point in response to the UK’s decision to leave the EU and, while immigration checks for British troops on exercise abroad are routine, doing so at a public commemoration is deemed exceptional.
Continue reading...The KX100 design caused controversy when it replaced the classic red phone box – but now a handful may be given listed status
Campaigners are trying to secure listed status for the “boringly ugly” telephone boxes that BT controversially used to replace thousands of red phone boxes in the 1980s.
The Twentieth Century Society, which champions outstanding examples of modern design, has applied for listed status for one KX100 box each in England, Scotland and Wales before they are removed next year.
In England, the 100,000th box to be installed in the country, located at Dunsop Bridge in Lancashire, which sits at the geographic centre of Great Britain and its 401 associated islands.
In Scotland, a contender for the country’s most remote and scenic payphone near Maaruig, on the Isle of Harris. It is believed to be the only example still bearing the full original yellow British Telecom livery.
In Wales, an experimental model at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth, which is uniquely powered by a solar panel atop the kiosk and an adjacent 18ft-high wind turbine.
Continue reading...Exclusive: ONS official’s remarks, not intended as comment on overall state of the economy, were later used by Sunak
The UK’s statistics watchdog has closed an investigation into remarks made by an official about the economy “going gangbusters” that were cited by Rishi Sunak.
It was looking into the comments made by chief economist of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) last month amid concerns that politicians could misuse economic data in the run-up to the election.
Continue reading...