Suspect, 24, found by police one day after arrest of 32-year-old in connection with death of Claudiu-Carol Kondor
A second man has been arrested on suspicion of the murder of a parcel delivery driver who was killed in Leeds on Tuesday.
The 24-year-old suspect, who had been on the run for two days, was arrested alongside a woman suspected of assisting an offender. A 32-year-old man who was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of murder remains in custody.
Continue reading...Tech tycoon, 59, was among six people missing since early hours of Monday morning when Bayesian yacht capsized
The British tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch has been confirmed dead by search and rescue authorities after his yacht sank off the coast of Sicily during a violent storm, according to officials.
Lynch, 59, the founder of Autonomy Corporation, was among six people missing after the British-flagged 56-metre sailing boat Bayesian capsized at about 5am local time on Monday off the coast of Palermo when the area was hit by a tornado.
Continue reading...Analysis of grades shows disparities also conceal enormous variations in performance within each region
As the tide of exam results affected by Covid recedes, it reveals stark social and regional inequalities in GCSE performances across England that are barely changed or worse than before the pandemic struck.
Those receiving their GCSE results this week were in their first year of secondary school when the pandemic began in early 2020, with that year and the next hugely disrupted as a result.
Continue reading...French service sector drives growth but experts warn strong figures mask disappointing performance elsewhere
The Paris Olympics have provided a boost to the eurozone economy after a sharp rise in spending as athletes and spectators descended on the French capital for the summer sporting event.
Figures from a closely watched survey of businesses showed monthly French private sector output rose to its highest level in 17 months in August.
Continue reading...Emma Ramsay, 19, was on holiday with friends in San Antonio and police are treating her death as an accident
A Scots law student has died while on holiday in Ibiza after reportedly falling from a sixth-floor hotel balcony.
Emma Ramsay, 19, is reported to have died in the early hours of Tuesday morning after a fall at a beachfront hotel in the resort of San Antonio, in the north-west of the Spanish island.
Continue reading...Company tells clients it also expects to receive a large fine following property developer’s collapse
The auditor PwC China has reportedly told clients that it expects to receive a six-month ban from Chinese authorities, and potentially a large fine, as a punishment for its role in auditing the collapsed property developer Evergrande.
PwC expects to be banned from conducting regulated activities in China, such as signing off on financial results, for six months starting in September, the Financial Times reported.
Continue reading...Woodland Trust’s competition comes as charity campaigns for more robust legal protection for precious trees
An oak tree shaped like an elephant and the oak with the widest girth in the UK have been shortlisted for the annual Tree of the Year competition.
The Woodland Trust runs the annual competition to raise awareness of the UK’s ancient and at-risk trees.
Marton oak, Cheshire
Sessile oak (quercus petraea) / Approximate age: 1,200 years / Girth: 14.02 metres.
Bowthorpe oak, Lincolnshire
English oak (quercus robur) / Estimated age: 1000 years / Girth: 13.38 metres.
Charity says rise ‘hugely concerning’ and calls for change in law in England and Northern Ireland in line with rest of UK
Concerns raised to the NSPCC helpline about children being physically punished have more than tripled in a year, the charity has said.
Helpline staff heard about children being hit, slapped and shaken, with 45% of the concerns raised requiring a referral to social services, the police or other agencies.
The NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000.
Continue reading...Damning report shows victims can wait up to four years for trials, and half of investigators are not fully qualified
Specialist investigators who are supposed to hunt down rapists are being diverted to police football matches and festivals, with victims waiting up to four years for their alleged attackers to come to trial, a report from the official police inspectorate has found.
In some cases big delays mean victims are dropping out of supporting prosecutions, risking attackers getting away with it.
Continue reading...Rat-infested London jail from which terror suspect escaped is unsafe and overcrowded, say independent monitors
Wandsworth prison is crumbling, overcrowded and vermin-infested, with inmates living in half the cell space available when it was first opened in 1851, according to a report published on Thursday.
The south London prison’s independent monitoring board identified a litany of failings in its annual report, concluding that “the prison is not safe” and “conditions remained inhumane”.
Continue reading...Countries in south most at risk, with rise likely to outstrip fall in cold-related deaths if global heating hits 3C or 4C
Heat deaths in Europe could triple by the end of the century, with the numbers rising disproportionately in southern European countries such as Italy, Greece and Spain, a study has found.
Cold kills more people than heat in Europe, and some have argued that climate change will benefit society by reducing those deaths. But the study, published in the Lancet Public Health, found that the death toll would respond slowly to warming weather and may even rise through people growing older and more vulnerable to dangerous temperatures.
Continue reading...Officers called to house in Accrington on Tuesday after 53-year-old dog owner found dead
Police have launched an investigation after a man was killed by his own XL bully dog in Lancashire.
Officers were called to reports of a canine attacking someone inside a house in Accrington shortly before 9.30pm on Tuesday, Lancashire police said.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Agency says foreign gangs not safe from prosecution in UK and plans new recording label to track extent of the crime
The National Crime Agency has warned international cybercriminals that it could seek to extradite them as part of a crackdown to tackle an alarming rise in the numbers of young people being targeted for sextortion.
The agency said the gangs, often based in west Africa, were “not safe from prosecution in our country” and that it would seek justice for all victims of the crime.
Continue reading...Identities not disclosed but UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch and his daughter were among those onboard
Divers scouring the wreck of the luxury yacht that sank off the coast of Sicily on Monday have found the bodies of five of the six missing passengers.
The UK tech entrepreneur Mike Lynch, his teenage daughter Hannah Lynch, the Morgan Stanley International chair, Jonathan Bloomer, his wife, Judy, and the Clifford Chance lawyer Chris Morvillo and his wife, Neda, have been missing since the vessel went down on Monday morning.
Continue reading...Web developer in Lahore charged with cyberterrorism, after riots thought to have been fuelled by false reports online
Police in Pakistan have charged a man with cyberterrorism for his alleged role in spreading misinformation thought to have led to widespread rioting in the UK, a senior investigator has said.
The suspect was identified as Farhan Asif, 32, a freelance web developer, said Imran Kishwar, the deputy inspector general of investigations in Lahore.
Continue reading...Amnesty International UK says Labour is ‘reheating’ the previous government’s rhetoric as Yvette Cooper vows to increase removals
Clean water campaigner Feargal Sharkey has written an opinion piece for the Guardian about the ways in which privatised water firms have polluted English rivers and beaches with sewage, causing significant damage to public health.
You can read it in full here:
Continue reading...Mobico also reports 24% increase in half-year profits to £71.2m as group tries to reduce £1.2bn debt
The owner of National Express has revealed it has begun the sale of its North American school bus business in an effort to reduce its £1.2bn debt, sending its shares sharply higher.
The share price of Mobico, which changed its name from National Express Group in June 2023, jumped by more than 20% after markets opened on Wednesday, before settling at 14% up at 66p by mid-morning.
Continue reading...Influencer’s property among four searched as part of investigation into alleged trafficking and sex with a minor
Masked armed police raided the Bucharest home of the misogynist social media influencer Andrew Tate on Wednesday amid fresh claims about trafficking and underage sex.
Police said officers conducted four searches as part of an investigation into alleged crimes including human trafficking and sex with a minor.
Continue reading...Police appeal for witnesses after man found at roadside after delivering package for Amazon-contracted firm
Police have launched a murder inquiry after a delivery driver was killed during an apparent theft of his van while he was dropping off parcels in Leeds.
The man, who has not been named, was found unconscious with serious injuries in Heights Drive, Wortley, just before 7pm on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Man arrested in early hours of Wednesday at scene of blaze in which woman and three children died
A man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman and three children died after a house fire in Bradford.
Police were called in the early hours of Wednesday by the fire service, who had attended the blaze in a property in Westbury Road.
Continue reading...