British company says concerns not addressed during approach by Australian firm
Anglo American has survived an almost £39bn takeover plot by the Australian mining rival BHP after last-ditch talks over restructuring the 107-year-old company collapsed.
The five-week pursuit came to an end after Anglo rejected BHP’s 11th-hour appeal to extend the takeover talks for a second time, after three failed takeover proposals from the Melbourne-based miner.
Continue reading...Singer calls for 88 million followers to ‘show your solidarity with Gaza’ following Israeli attack on Rafah
Pop singer Dua Lipa has condemned the military operations in Gaza, describing them as “Israeli genocide” in an Instagram post to her 88 million followers.
Reposting a graphic from the group Artists4Ceasefire, along with the hashtag #AllEyesOnRafah that has trended in the days following Israel’s bombing of the Palestinian city, she wrote: “Burning children alive can never be justified. The whole world is mobilising to stop the Israeli genocide. Please show your solidarity with Gaza.”
Continue reading...Wes Streeting says another Conservative term could result in waiting list swelling to 10m cases
Labour has promised to clear the NHS waiting list backlog in England within five years, with Wes Streeting warning that the health service risks becoming “a poor service for poor people” while the wealthy shift to using private care.
In an interview with the Guardian, the shadow health secretary said that in another Conservative term the total waiting list in England could grow to 10m cases, with healthcare becoming as degraded as NHS dental services.
Continue reading...Conservatives’ policy would be funded by scrapping ‘rip-off degrees’ with high drop-out rates and low job progression
Rishi Sunak has promised to create 100,000 high-skilled apprenticeships a year by scrapping “rip-off degrees” if he wins the general election.
In the latest of a flurry of announcements as the Conservatives try to narrow Labour’s 20-point poll lead, the party pledged to replace “low-quality” university degrees with apprenticeships.
Continue reading...Dorset police make arrest after fatal stabbing of Amie Gray, 34, on Friday evening
A 20-year-old man from south London has been arrested on suspicion of murder after a woman was fatally stabbed on a beach in Bournemouth, police have said.
Two women from Poole in Dorset were stabbed on Durley Chine beach at about 11.45pm last Friday. A 34-year-old woman died at the scene while a 38-year-old woman sustained serious injuries and remains in hospital.
Continue reading...Those struggling to pay debts include students from overseas who have seen the value of their currency crash
Hundreds of students at the University of Sussex have been warned they may be unable to graduate or re-register for the next academic year if they fail to pay outstanding debts.
Those affected include students from Nigeria and Iran who have been struggling to pay their fees after the value of their currencies crashed. Other international students, as well as UK students, are also among those in debt.
Continue reading...British soldiers stationed in Kenya have been accused of rights violations and offences including murder
Kenya has launched public hearings into allegations of human rights violations and abuses of power by British troops based in the former colony.
The British Army Training Unit Kenya (Batuk) is an economic lifeline for many in the central town of Nanyuki, where it maintains a permanent base, but soldiers stationed there have also been accused of committing offences including murder.
Continue reading...Three activists with links to Hackney constituency widely talked about as possible replacements to stand for election
Labour could select one of three “credible” candidates to run in Diane Abbott’s seat as it seemed intent on not allowing Abbott to stand for the party despite an investigation into her conduct being completed six months ago.
Abbott, Britain’s first black female MP, was suspended from the party in April last year over a letter in the Observer that seemed to play down suggestions of racism against Jewish people, meaning she was still an independent when parliament was prorogued for the general election on 4 July.
Continue reading...Daniel Mihai Popescu given more than 17 years for stabbing Andreea Pintili as she left home in Aberfan
A man who stabbed his pregnant ex-girlfriend weeks before she was due to give birth to their baby has been jailed for 17 years and four months for attempted murder.
Daniel Mihai Popescu, 29, grabbed Andreea Pintili as she left home in Aberfan, south Wales, and told her: “I have a knife and I am going to kill you.”
Continue reading...Exclusive: Johnston Busingye formally appointed days after UK agreed Rwanda asylum deal with Paul Kagame in 2022
Rwanda’s top diplomat in the UK oversaw the use of the international justice system to target opponents of the country’s rulers around the world, the Guardian can reveal.
New details of the Rwandan government’s suppression of opposition beyond its borders add to concerns about the regime at the heart of Rishi Sunak’s asylum policy.
Continue reading...Biggest drop since November 2021 as ‘unseasonable’ weather pushes retailers to continue promotions
Shop price inflation has eased to the lowest level since November 2021 after retailers cut the price of big purchases such as furniture and TVs as households keep a tight rein on spending amid cost of living pressures and poor weather.
Prices rose at an annual rate of 0.6% in May, down from 0.8% in April – the slowest pace since November 2021 – according to the latest monitor from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) trade body and the market research firm NielsenIQ.
Continue reading...Prime minister campaigns in Buckinghamshire as his military service plan is criticised and MP defects to Reform
Rishi Sunak struggled to keep control of his fractured party on a chaotic fifth day of the Tory election campaign, as one MP defected to Reform and a minister criticised the prime minister’s pledge to bring back national service.
Sunak was in Buckinghamshire as he sought to get back on the front foot after a bruising start to the snap election, with Tory insiders increasingly worried about his strategy and performance.
Continue reading...Labour will strike balance between workers’ needs and business interests, shadow chancellor to tell bosses
Rachel Reeves will pledge on Tuesday to lead the most “pro-growth” Treasury in UK history if Labour wins the general election.
Addressing business leaders, the shadow chancellor is poised to claim her party would “return to the centre ground of politics” by striking a balance between workers’ needs and business interests.
Continue reading...Labour leader says damage done to economy by Liz Truss and other Tories means he can’t fulfil some 2020 pledges
Keir Starmer has insisted that he is a socialist and a progressive, but said the country does not have the money to allow him to fulfil some of the pledges he made during the 2020 Labour leadership race.
Starmer, who has been under increasing pressure to spell out whether he will raise tuition fees if Labour wins the election, made a personal speech in Lancing, West Sussex, on Monday, reflecting on how his working class upbringing has informed his politics.
Continue reading...Announcement raises questions about aircraft’s participation in national D-day event in Portsmouth
The RAF has grounded a fleet of Spitfire planes after the death of a pilot over the weekend, raising the prospect of the legendary aircraft being absent from the 80th anniversary of the D-day landings next month.
Sqn Ldr Mark Long – a Typhoon pilot based at RAF Coningsby – was killed in a crash while flying a Spitfire belonging to the Battle of Britain Memorial Fleet as part of a memorial event.
Continue reading...Prime minister dismisses speculation after Tory peer Zac Goldsmith became latest to hint at planned relocation
Starmer is now running through his six first step promises.
Starmer says he is fed up with hearing Rishi Sunak says the UK has “turned the corner”.
Continue reading...Appeal allowed Sudharsan Ithayachandran to return to UK to be with his family, but he died in Sri Lanka while awaiting visa
The family of a man who died abroad after being wrongly deported by the UK Home Office have blamed the department for causing delays that stopped him being reunited with his children.
Sudharsan Ithayachandran, 41, was deported from the UK to Sri Lanka on 24 December 2019 – his wedding anniversary – after admitting to working illegally at Tesco and using false documents.
Continue reading...Neville Lawrence writes of continuing fight for justice 31 years after murder of his son in south-east London
The father of Stephen Lawrence has said he has forgiven the racist killers of his son, but has yet to forgive the Metropolitan police for the failings that left them free.
In a comment piece for the Guardian, Neville Lawrence said his “grief has no ending” and told of his enduring pain to “identify the human cost” of the police’s failings.
Continue reading...Experts say government’s relaxation of rules on staff ratios for two-year-olds is putting children at undue risk
Toddlers have been “sold out” to balance the books of the government’s childcare bill, according to nursery providers, who say young children have been put at risk by changes in supervision rules.
The deaths of two babies in nurseries made headlines last week but frontline workers say they are also concerned for the safety of older toddlers after the government relaxed rules on staff ratios.
Continue reading...Carers asked to repay sums as high as £20k say officials did not share eligibility information between departments
Carers put through the wringer of carer’s allowance overpayments raise the same question time and again: they weren’t aware they had infringed benefit rules but welfare officials were. Why were they not told, rather than overpayments being allowed to run on for months, landing them with debts of thousands of pounds?
For thousands of carers who unwittingly breached carer’s allowance earnings rules and are repaying sums as high as £20,000, this may have happened because officials failed to check earnings alerts. Had they done so, the problem may have been nipped in the bud, and the debt and misery of overpayments largely avoided.
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