Category Archives: UK news

Broadcaster John Stapleton dies aged 79

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Tributes paid to ‘consummate pro’ and ‘rock solid’ presenter of Newsnight, Watchdog and GMTV’s News Hour

Tributes have been made across the world of television to the “rock solid broadcaster and ultimate gentleman” John Stapleton, who has died at the age of 79 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 2024.

Stapleton’s agent, Jackie Gill, said on Sunday: “John had Parkinson’s disease, which was complicated by pneumonia. His son Nick and daughter-in-law Lise have been constantly at his side and John died peacefully in hospital this morning.”

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British couple released after detention in Afghanistan say they feared being executed

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Barbie Reynolds, 76, and husband Peter, 80, said it was never explained to them why they were imprisoned

A British couple who were reunited with their family in the UK after being released from almost eight months in detention in Afghanistan have said they feared being executed by the Taliban.

Peter Reynolds, 80, and his wife, Barbie, 76, who arrived at Heathrow on Saturday, said it was never explained to them why they were imprisoned in Afghanistan after their arrest in February.

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Tulip Siddiq fears plans to use ‘fake’ documents to secure conviction in corruption trial

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Exclusive: Ex-minister being tried in absentia in Bangladesh claims ID card and passport tendered as evidence not hers

The former City minister Tulip Siddiq has said she fears prosecutors could be planning to use “fake” documents to secure her conviction in her trial in Bangladesh on corruption charges.

The Labour MP, who is being tried in absentia, spoke out after images of a Bangladeshi national identity card and a passport said to be in her name were published in newspapers in the UK and in Bangladesh.

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Owner of Georgian broadcaster called country’s ‘propaganda megaphone’ is based in London

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Exclusive: Imedi TV owner denies criticism by EU disinformation monitor and says it is editorially independent

On Pont Street in Belgravia in central London, on the first floor of a handsome Edwardian townhouse, sitting above the royal green awning of the Jeroboams wine shop, is an office. There are no obvious signs for it beyond a little note next to the intercom. When buzzed this week, no one appeared at the door.

This is the registered office of Hunnewell Partners, which describes itself as an “entrepreneurial private equity and litigation funding practice”.

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‘She never got help’: mother says daughter who died on motorway was failed by care system

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Tamzin Hall, 17, was struck by a vehicle after leaving a police car on the M5 motorway in Somerset after being arrested at a children’s home

The mother of a girl who was struck by a vehicle and killed after she left a police car on a motorway says the untimely death of her daughter came after years of frustration and disappointment with authorities over the teenager’s care.

Tamzin Hall, 17, had been arrested and was being taken into custody when she left the police vehicle in which she was travelling on the M5 northbound between Taunton and Bridgwater in Somerset on 11 November 2024.

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UK set to recognise Palestinian state on Sunday

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Keir Starmer expected to confirm move after concluding the situation has worsened significantly in recent weeks

The UK is expected to recognise a Palestinian state on Sunday after Israel failed to meet the conditions set out by Keir Starmer in July.

The prime minister is to make the announcement after concluding the humanitarian situation has deteriorated significantly in the past few weeks. The move comes despite pressure from the US and the families of hostages held by Hamas.

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More than 1,000 people arrive in UK in small boats in one day

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Home Office figures for Friday end a spell of more than a week with no new arrivals in Dover due to poor weather

More than 1,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Friday, according to Home Office figures, ending a spell of more than a week with no new arrivals.

Thirteen boats carrying 1,072 individuals made the crossing on Friday, which averages more than 80 people a boat. It is the third time this year the figure for a single day has surpassed 1,000 and brings the total number this year to a record 32,103.

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Lucy Powell: Labour should raise gambling taxes to axe two-child benefit cap

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Deputy leadership candidate says party needs to be ‘clear that our objective is to lift children out of poverty’

Labour should consider raising taxes on gambling firms to cover the cost of lifting the two-child benefit cap, the party’s deputy leadership candidate Lucy Powell has suggested.

The Manchester Central MP, who is battling with the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, to succeed Angela Rayner as Labour’s deputy leader, also acknowledged the public was “exasperated” because of “some mistakes” Labour had made in office.

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UK and St George’s flags should never be used to ‘intimidate and terrify’, says senior Lib Dem

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‘How dare the nationalists steal our flags?’ asks Tim Farron at party conference in Bournemouth

People who use the union jack or St George’s cross as a form of aggressive nationalism do not love their country, a senior Liberal Democrat has said, as he hit back at a wave of hard-right activism based around the flags.

In a strongly worded speech to a rally opening the party’s annual conference in Bournemouth, Tim Farron, a former leader who now speaks for the party on the environment and rural affairs, said national flags should never be “used to intimidate”.

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British couple detained by Taliban in Afghanistan return to UK

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Barbie Reynolds, 76, and husband Peter, 80, were released after being held without charge for nearly eight months

A British couple who were detained without charge for nearly eight months by the Taliban in Afghanistan have arrived in the UK.

Barbie Reynolds, 76, and her husband Peter, 80, were released on Friday, having been arrested as they travelled to their home in Bamyan province, central Afghanistan, in February.

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Anti-immigration protesters and counter-protesters clash in Glasgow

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Event comes a week after the largest far-right event in decades took place in London

Anti-immigration protesters have clashed with anti-racist counter-protesters in tense scenes in Glasgow this afternoon, a week after the largest far-right event in decades took place in London.

The statue of Scottish statesman Donald Dewar, father of the Holyrood parliament, was surrounded by union flags bearing the words: “Stop the boats” and “Unite the kingdom”.

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JD Twitch, esteemed Scottish DJ in duo Optimo, dies aged 57

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The producer and DJ, real name Keith McIvor, had been diagnosed with an untreatable brain tumour earlier this year

JD Twitch, the Scottish DJ and producer celebrated as one half of the duo Optimo, has died aged 57.

The artist, whose real name was Keith McIvor, had been diagnosed with an untreatable brain tumour, which he announced in July. He died on Friday in Glasgow’s Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice, his DJ partner Jonnie Wilkes (AKA JG Wilkes) announced.

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Heathrow flights delayed and cancelled as cyber-attack hits European airports

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Attack raises questions over security as Brussels and Berlin airports’ check-in and boarding systems also affected

Flights have been delayed and cancelled at three leading European airports – including London’s largest, Heathrow – after the company behind the software used for check-in and boarding said it was hit by a cyber-attack.

Airports in Brussels and Berlin are also experiencing delays and disruption as a result of the problem affecting Collins Aerospace, which works for several airlines at airports across the world.

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Rachel Reeves due to appear at gambling lobbyist’s event amid tax review

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Chancellor’s invitation criticised as ‘strange timing’ with Treasury looking at whether to raise duties on £12bn sector

The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has been urged to cancel plans to be the guest of honour at an event hosted by the chief lobbyist of the gambling industry while the Treasury is in the midst of a review of taxes on the £12bn sector.

Reeves is slated to appear at a “private reception” for business leaders, organised by the corporate communications company Brunswick, at the forthcoming Labour party conference in Liverpool.

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Labour rules against dozens of motions about Palestine being debated at party conference

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Calls for sanctions on Israel and ban on trade that aids international law violations among snubbed motions

Labour has ruled out motions about Palestine being debated at its party conference later this month, triggering accusations that it is trying to stifle debate.

The conference arrangement committee, made up of Labour elected reps and officials, has ruled about 30 motions about Palestine from local parties out of order.

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UN votes to allow Palestinian president to address annual gathering via video link

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Trump had refused to grant visas for Palestinian delegation due to attend conference and UN general assembly

The United Nations general assembly has voted to allow the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to address next week’s annual gathering of world leaders next week in New York via video link after Donald Trump said he would not give him a US visa.

The resolution received 145 votes in favour and five votes against, while six countries abstained.

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Scottish minister Jamie Hepburn quits after Douglas Ross assault accusation

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Former Scottish Tory leader alleges Hepburn grabbed him amid row over SNP’s apparent failure to tackle gull attacks

A Scottish minister has resigned after a row over aggressive gulls spilled over into an angry altercation with the former Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross.

Jamie Hepburn, the Scottish government’s minister for parliamentary business, tendered his resignation after Ross accused him of assault outside the parliament chamber on Wednesday.

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Judge quashes Home Office’s decision on US extradition of vulnerable man

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Portugal has also made extradition request for Diogo Santos Coelho, who is facing cybercrime charges

A high court judge has quashed a Home Office decision that paved the way for a vulnerable autistic man to be extradited to the US on cybercrime charges carrying a possible 52-year sentence.

The UK government has accepted that Diogo Santos Coelho, 25, a Portuguese national, was groomed and exploited online by adults from the age of 14, leading to him setting up the website RaidForums, to which the alleged crimes relate.

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Probation Service failing to assess thousands who pose risk to women, watchdog says

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Exclusive: Chief inspector of probation says it is inevitable there will be more murders and rapes without an improvement

The Probation Service in England and Wales is failing to monitor and assess tens of thousands of offenders who pose a serious risk to women and girls, a watchdog has told the Guardian.

Martin Jones, the HM chief inspector of probation, launching a six-month inquiry into failings in public protection, said it was inevitable there would be more murders, rapes and serious sexual offences without an improvement.

Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html

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Sikh groups offer £10k reward for information after alleged rape in West Midlands

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Police seek two men over ‘racially motivated’ attack on woman in her 20s in Oldbury, near Birmingham

A £10,000 reward has been offered by the Sikh community for information leading to the conviction of two men being sought over the alleged “racially motivated” rape of a woman in her 20s.

The perpetrators allegedly told the woman “you don’t belong in this country, get out”, as they attacked her on the morning of Tuesday 9 September.

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