Actor brings seven-decade career to close, saying he wants to go out on a high note after his last role in The Great Escaper
Michael Caine has confirmed his retirement at the age of 90, drawing to a close a glittering career in which he won two Oscars.
After his comments last month that he was “sort of retired”, Caine made it official, telling the BBC’s Today programme: “I keep saying I’m going to retire. Well I am now.
Continue reading...Head of Honywood school says building of temporary structure is a near miracle after crisis it faced
“Three and a half weeks ago, there was nothing here,” said James Saunders, the headteacher of Honywood school, looking with pride – and disbelief – at the scene unfolding in front of him. “It was a field!”
Before us is a brand new school, built in the space of six weeks – a temporary home for the 800 pupils at Honywood in Coggeshall, Essex, one of the schools most severely affected by the recent concrete crisis that threw the start of the new term across England into chaos.
Continue reading...London-based Noam Sagi and Sharone Lifschitz hope against hope for safety of their parents, missing after kibbutz massacre
As Noam Sagi watched footage of journalists reporting from the Nir Oz kibbutz near the border with Gaza last Saturday, his heart sank when he saw his 75-year-old mother’s burnt-out car in the background.
His family had not heard from Ada since she called in distress earlier that morning to say Hamas gunmen had stormed the kibbutz and she was sheltering in a safe room.
Continue reading...Ignoring tricky questions could drive young people on to the internet, where disinformation proliferates
As difficult as it might be, carers should not avoid discussing the Hamas-Israel conflict with children, experts have said. Doing so, they warn, could drive young people on to the internet where disturbing disinformation and images are easily found.
“Don’t avoid difficult questions,” said Emma Citron, a consultant clinical psychologist with extensive experience of working with children. “If those questions are in the heads of our young people, it’s our job to give them a balanced and reassuring – but also an honest – account.”
Continue reading...Attitude magazine celebrates TikTok star who collaborated with beer maker who left her high and dry after conservatives boycotted
After gaining Attitude magazine’s first-ever woman of the year award, US trans activist Dylan Mulvaney said receiving such recognition from the UK-based LGBTQ+ publication “means so much more” after a substantial transphobic backlash undermined her Bud Light advertisement.
“No matter how hard I try or what I wear, or what I say, or what surgeries I get, I will never reach an acceptable version of womanhood by those hateful people’s standards,” Mulvaney said in social media videos that showed her accepting the award this week. “But as long as I have the queer community that sees me for my truth – I’m gonna be OK.”
Continue reading...Cameron says she was threatened with being ‘bricked’ in the street after joining Conservatives on Thursday
Lisa Cameron, the SNP MP who defected to the Conservative party on Thursday, said she and her family have been forced to go into hiding in Scotland after she was threatened with being “bricked” in the street.
Cameron, her husband and their two daughters have moved to a secret location in the Scottish countryside after the MP was emailed threats of violence, including “I hope someone throws a brick at you in the street”, “I hope you burn” and “Think your mental health is bad now – wail til you see what abuse and nastiness yer [sic] going to have to put up with”.
Continue reading...Former England cricket captain was hurt while filming the motoring show at its test track last December
The BBC has reached “an agreement” with Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff after he was involved in a crash while filming Top Gear, the corporation has said.
The former England cricket captain, 45, appeared with facial injuries in public for the first time in September, nine months after he was taken to hospital after he was hurt while filming the BBC motoring show at its test track at Dunsfold Aerodrome last December.
Continue reading...South-east counter-terrorism policing unit investigating speech made by a woman at protest last Sunday
A woman has been arrested under terrorism laws on suspicion of supporting Hamas at a protest in Brighton on Sunday.
The 22-year-old was held on Thursday over allegations that she supported a proscribed terrorist organisation, the south-east counter-terrorism policing unit said. She was released on bail on Friday.
Continue reading...Paul-Henri Nargeolet was onboard the ill-fated submersible that was likely crushed by the ocean earlier this year, killing all five crew
The company that owns the salvage rights to the Titanic shipwreck has cancelled plans to retrieve more artefacts from the site because the leader of the upcoming expedition died in the Titan submersible implosion, according to documents filed in a US district court this week.
The decision could affect a looming court battle between the company and the US government, which has been trying to stop the 2024 mission. US attorneys have said the firm’s original plans to enter the ship’s hull would violate a federal law that treats the wreck as a gravesite.
Continue reading...British-organised repatriation flights cancelled but other countries’ flights are able to land in UK
British citizens trying to escape the war zone in Israel are having their repatriation flights repeatedly cancelled by the British government, while emergency flights arranged by US and Australian authorities are landing in the UK.
The government has failed in its attempts to organise repatriation flights for British nationals to return home from Israel because of problems obtaining insurance, an aviation source told the PA news agency.
Continue reading...Deal on table would give consultants another 6% rise on top of the 6% Rishi Sunak described as final
Government officials and doctors’ leaders are holding secret talks with the aim of ending strikes by hospital consultants before the start of the NHS’s winter crisis.
In a remarkable move, the deal under discussion would give consultants in England a hefty further pay rise for this year in return for calling off their stoppages. That is despite Rishi Sunak’s previous insistence that he would not revisit the 6% award he described as final.
Continue reading...Findings raise concerns among experts who say climate funding works best when invested directly in local communities
More than £2bn of UK foreign aid aimed at helping poorer countries cope with the escalating climate crisis has been channelled through private consultancies since 2010, according to an analysis.
The investigation by Carbon Brief found that more than 10% of UK foreign aid spent on climate-related projects had gone through consultants like KPMG, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Adam Smith International.
Continue reading...Museum’s re-creation of Wolverhampton institution marks 75 years of national health service and Windrush generation
From the exact shade of the orange juice to the colour of the lino, every last detail of a new 1960s replica of a Wolverhampton infant centre has been researched thoroughly by staff at the Black Country Living Museum (BCLM).
The Lea Road Infant Welfare Centre, open to the public from Monday, will commemorate 75 years of the NHS and the 75th anniversary of the Empire Windrush arriving in the UK, through stories and characters from the period.
Continue reading...British PM says aim is to support efforts to ensure regional stability and prevent further escalation
Britain will send surveillance aircraft, two Royal Navy support ships and about 100 Royal Marines to the eastern Mediterranean from Friday to support Israel and help prevent any sudden escalation of fighting in the Middle East.
Patrol flights of Poseidon P-8 aircraft and other planes will begin on Friday, Downing St announced, tasked partly with monitoring any efforts to transfer of weapons from countries such as Iran or Russia to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Continue reading...Government accused of letting down victims as full prisons mean convicted criminals will spend longer on bail
Victims of crime in England and Wales are being let down by a government that has failed to provide adequate resources to the criminal justice system, women’s groups have said, after it emerged that sentencing hearings of convicted criminals currently on bail – including rapists and burglars – were to be delayed because prisons are full.
It has been reported that the senior presiding judge for England and Wales, Lord Justice Edis, issued the guidance on a private call with senior crown court judges. A government source told the Guardian it applied to those who had been on bail throughout the court process and had, therefore, already been assessed as lower risk.
Continue reading...Ministers announce £3m extra funding for charity that helps protect Jewish community sites
Two Jewish schools in north-west London are set to close temporarily because of safety fears after the crisis in Israel and Gaza, as ministers announced £3m for a charity that helps protect Jewish community sites.
The extra support for the Community Security Trust (CST) was announced after a roundtable discussion at Downing Street involving ministers, police and the charity, which recorded a quadrupling of antisemitic incidents in the UK since Hamas’s attack on Israel.
Continue reading...Animals and plants feature heavily in coinage that allows ‘everyone to celebrate British nature’
A new collection of coins bearing the face of the king has been unveiled by the Royal Mint, breaking tradition with designs inspired by plants and animals found across the four nations.
The eight designs, overseen by King Charles, depict the flora and fauna found in different parts of the UK and reflect his interest in conservation and nature.
Continue reading...Unconfirmed reports say flight from Nairobi, which was diverted from Heathrow to Stansted, was intercepted by RAF fighters
Armed police have surrounded a Kenyan Airways flight at London Stansted airport after a security alert.
The Boeing 787 from Nairobi was due to arrive at Heathrow this afternoon but was diverted to Stansted in Essex 45 minutes before its expected arrival.
Continue reading...Bans on pro-Hamas celebrations and pro-Palestinian protests announced in several countries amid tensions
Officials across Europe are scrambling to curtail any spillover of tensions from the Israel-Hamas war, with Germany pledging a “zero tolerance” approach to antisemitism and France banning pro-Palestinian protests amid concerns for public order.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, told parliament on Thursday that while thousands of people had rallied in support of Israel, the country had also seen “disgraceful images on our streets in which the most brutal acts of terror have been celebrated in broad daylight”.
Continue reading...Yousaf renews calls for UK government to urge ceasefire as he describes his family’s fears for trapped relatives
His mother-in-law in besieged Gaza is running out of drinking water. His brother-in-law, a doctor, is dealing with the horror of trying to identify body parts in a hospital nearby. And his four-year-old daughter, at home in Scotland, can only understand that “granny is afraid of the thunder”.
Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s first minister, has described in brutal detail the impact on trapped family members of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza in response to the shock attacks by Hamas at the weekend.
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