Suspects aged 21 and 22 arrested under Terrorism Act after leak of names of 10,000 PSNI officers and staff
Two men have been arrested under the Terrorism Act by police officers investigating the PSNI data breach.
The suspects, aged 21 and 22, were arrested on Saturday in the Portadown area of County Armagh, the Police Service of Northern Ireland said on X, formerly known as Twitter. They will be questioned at the Musgrave serious crime suite in Belfast.
Continue reading...Senior civil servant says ‘many alerts’ crossed education secretary’s desk, but UK government was more concerned with saving money
A senior civil service whistleblower has told the Observer that Tory ministers and their political advisers were “dangerously complacent” about crumbling school buildings constructed with aerated concrete, and that they were more concerned with saving money than improving safety.
The source, who worked in the private office of Nadhim Zahawi, the then education secretary, saw regular alerts crossing his desk. He said ministers and special advisers were “trying to get away with spending as little as they could” and hoping to “make do” rather than treating the problem with the urgency it required.
Continue reading...Prime minister drops further in opinion polls after populist policies on migrants backfire
Rishi Sunak’s approval ratings have failed to improve over the summer political break – despite several weeks of Tory policy blitzes intended to win back voters.
The latest Opinium survey for the Observer shows the Conservative have failed to shift the dial in Sunak’s favour, with the prime minister dropping two points in the past two weeks to a net score of -25% (24% approve, 49% disapprove).
Continue reading...Temperatures could reach 30C for first time since early July, according to Met Office
The great British summer could finally be upon us next week with temperatures possibly reaching 30C for the first time since early July, forecasters have suggested.
The Met Office meteorologist Jonathan Vautrey said 29C was “certainly possible and we may also climb towards 30C” by midweek in the first week of meteorological autumn as many schools open after the summer break.
Continue reading...Labour accuses Braverman of focusing on her ‘political obsessions’ as she says officers should focus on crime and avoid ‘contentious issues’
The home secretary has commissioned a review into police activism and impartiality as she tells officers to focus on crime rather than being involved in “political matters”.
Suella Braverman said public confidence had been damaged as a result of police engaging in “contentious issues” such as officers taking a knee and policing gender-critical views on social media.
Continue reading...Paintings from a climb that retraced an 1800s route on western Europe’s highest mountain reveals the extent of the peak’s melting ice
A British landscape artist who recreated a climb made 150 years ago to document the impact of the climate crisis on western Europe’s highest mountain says what he found was so grim it reminded him of the “dark paintings” of Francisco de Goya.
James Hart Dyke ascended Mont Blanc’s ancien passage north face, the route taken in 1786 by the first climbers to reach the summit. It was also the same one taken in August 1873 by French painter Gabriel Loppé, whose climb inspired Hart Dyke’s own.
Continue reading...Analysis of official data has revealed the system for drawing constituencies is ‘warping’ democracy by omitting eligible voters
British democracy is being “warped” by an unfair system for drawing constituency boundaries that ignores millions of “missing voters” and hugely benefits the Tories, according to a new study of official data.
Analysis by the political commentator and pollster Peter Kellner shows that if constituencies were determined according to the size of their populations rather than the number of registered voters – as happens in most other advanced democracies – then the number of extra Labour seats created would cut the Tories’ Commons majority by 22.
Continue reading...At the village with the most unsolved burglaries in the UK, shopkeepers are turning to vigilante-style tactics
Within the genteel New Forest village of Lyndhurst, it was considered a crime of almost outrageous audacity.
On a busy Saturday afternoon in February, two vividly painted Moorcroft pottery charger plates were stolen in plain sight from the middle of the venerable antique store.
Continue reading...Researchers discover a technique that can kill melanoma cells with few toxic side effects, but warn there is still no cure
Skin cancer rates are rocketing. Thanks to over-enthusiastic sunbathing in previous decades, melanoma cases have tripled in numbers in the UK since the early 1990s – and scientists predict worse is to come.
The type of cancer once relatively rare in Britain is now its fifth most common. Broadcaster Chris Evans recently revealed he had been diagnosed with the disease.
Continue reading...Labour demands urgent audit of government’s handling of longstanding concerns about Raac
England’s growing buildings crisis could expand beyond schools to other public buildings such as hospitals and courts, experts have said.
More than 100 schools were forced to partially or fully close this week after a dramatic escalation of the government’s approach towards crumbling concrete.
Continue reading...Egyptian businessman and self-made billionaire dies almost 26 years to the day after his son was killed in Paris car crash
Mohamed Al Fayed, the Egyptian-born businessman who owned the department store Harrods, has died aged 94.
His death comes almost 26 years to the day after the car crash in Paris that killed his eldest son, Dodi, and Diana, Princess of Wales, on 31 August 1997.
Continue reading...Antoinette Sandbach ‘struggling with difficult history’ after initially threatening to sue University of Cambridge over academic’s research
A former Conservative MP has apologised “for the acts of my ancestors” after an academic named her as a descendant of a merchant with links to the slave trade.
On Thursday, Antoinette Sandbach had threatened to sue the University of Cambridge over an online TED Talk given by Malik Al Nasir. On Friday she said she had raised the matter with the university over concerns for her personal safety, but that she did not object to being linked to a history “that is absolutely there”.
Continue reading...Labour calls for audit of handling of longstanding safety fears as government pledges to fund repairs expected to cost at least £100m
Headteachers are racing to find temporary classrooms for thousands of children amid a growing building safety crisis that has left ministers under pressure to explain why they were slow to shut buildings in more than 100 schools.
With the new academic year due to start next week, Labour demanded an urgent audit of the government’s handling of longstanding safety fears about aerated concrete found in the roofs, floors and walls of hundreds of schools, hospitals and other public buildings.
Continue reading...Fans in costumes gathered at the London station to watch a train for ‘Hogsmeade’ on platform 9¾ appear on the departure board
Thousands of Harry Potter fans braved the rail strikes on Friday to gather at King’s Cross station in London for “back to Hogwarts day”.
Many wearing wizard robes and carrying wands, fans of the franchise travelled to the station to hear the magical loudspeaker call for the Hogwarts Express at 11am, inviting witches and wizards to board the train to Hogsmeade on platform 9¾.
Continue reading...From Essex to Cumbria, many are dismayed by timing of the government’s action on aerated concrete in buildings
On Thursday, the emails that have left headteachers reeling started to arrive. A ruling from ministers in the Department for Education said their schools, built using potentially dangerous concrete, would need to close or partially close.
Within hours, parents and children had been informed. Many were left angry and confused by the timing of the announcement, just before the start of a new school year. Schools across England were left with days to improvise temporary classrooms from marquees or empty office buildings, or arrange to share space with unaffected schools. The majority of schools will open as usual but for tens of thousands of pupils the new academic year will start like no other.
Continue reading...Police investigating poster put up in bus shelter in County Derry, which follows data breach last month
Police in Northern Ireland have said a poster featuring the personal details of three serving officers was placed on a bus shelter in County Derry.
An investigation has been launched into the incident in Dungiven on Thursday. It follows a data breach last month in which the details of about 10,000 officers and staff were mistakenly released online.
Continue reading...Animatronic cats that purr and dogs that wag their tails have helped staff at Oak Manor care home in Bedfordshire to avoid medicating some residents with dementia
“You’re bloody lovely ain’t you,” said Frances Barrett, as the robotic cat she was stroking flicked its ears and whiskers one lunchtime this week at the Oak Manor care home in Bedfordshire.
The resident was one of several who live with dementia playing with the home’s small menagerie of animatronic animals that were originally designed to entertain American girls aged four to eight but have found a fast growing market in British care homes.
Continue reading...Schools minister Nick Gibb said the collapse happened at a school previously thought to have been at no risk from aerated concrete
We want to speak to school leaders and staff at affected schools or colleges in England. Does your building contain aerated concrete? What are you planning to do?
What communications have you received? How will this affect you?
Continue reading...People say summer stink has been ‘horrendous’, with blame put on a Wessex Water sewage works
The Dorset village of Wyke Regis has a lot going for it: sunsets across Lyme Bay, views of Chesil Beach’s spectacular pebbly sweep, proximity to great swimming and sailing spots.
But local people are not having a great time of it at the moment because of what has been called the “Wyke whiff”, an unpleasant smell that forces them to keep windows shut tight and ruins the simple pleasure of sitting out in the sunshine.
Continue reading...Company breached rules that state existing policyholders should not be charged more than new ones
Direct Line will pay about £30m to customers who were charged more than they should have been to renew car and home insurance policies.
The UK’s second biggest car insurer said it discovered the overcharging problem after the incorrect implementation of the new pricing practice regulation that came into force in January last year. Under the rules, existing customers should not be charged more than if they were a new customer.
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