Category Archives: UK news

I routinely gave Netanyahu gifts, Hollywood producer tells Israeli court

Posted on by

Arnon Milchan begins testimony via video link in Israeli prime minister’s corruption trial

An Israeli producer of blockbuster Hollywood films has taken the stand in Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial, describing how he routinely delivered tens of thousands of dollars worth of champagne, cigars and other gifts requested by the Israeli prime minister.

Arnon Milchan, who appeared by video-conference from the UK city of Brighton, near where he is based, is a key witness whose testimony is essential for prosecutors who are trying to prove that Netanyahu committed fraud and breach of trust in one of three cases brought against him.

Continue reading...

‘We’re kicking ourselves that we didn’t do a five-year mortgage fix in 2021’

Posted on by

Anguished families talk about how the Bank of England’s 13th consecutive interest hike is affecting them – and their fears for the future

Liam, 36, a senior IT manager and married father-of-one from Newcastle upon Tyne, is one of millions of homeowners whose mortgage payments will rise even higher after the Bank of England on Thursday put up the base interest rate to 5% – a 15-year high.

Together with his husband, Liam bought his four-bedroom house in 2019 for £269k, and the couple’s three-year mortgage deal, refixed at 1.64% in 2020 just before the first lockdown, expired in March.

Continue reading...

Julian Sands: body found in California mountains where actor disappeared

Posted on by

Human remains discovered near Mount Baldy and transported to coroner’s office for identification

Hikers have found human remains in a southern California mountain area where the British actor Julian Sands disappeared five months ago, authorities said.

The body was discovered at about 10am on Saturday in wilderness near Mount Baldy in the San Gabriel mountains and was transported to the coroner’s office for identification next week, the San Bernardino county sheriff’s department said in a statement.

Continue reading...

Solar powers ahead with hopes of a renewables record for solstice month

Posted on by

As the industry gathers in London this week, there are signs of a new dawn after the damage done by Tory subsidy cuts

Britain’s solar industry delivered record levels of renewable electricity to the power grid earlier this year, but as daylight hours stretch longer around the summer solstice, it could be on track to reach another record.

Solar power generation in June is on track to come within a hair’s breadth of the record set during an unusually sunny May in 2020 at about 20 gigawatt hours, according to Alastair Buckley, the professor of organic electronics at the University of Sheffield.

Continue reading...

‘I’ve had enough’: pop star Rina Sawayama criticises comments by labelmate Matty Healy

Posted on by

On stage at Glastonbury, Sawayama criticised the 1975 frontman over podcast appearance in which he joined in with mockery of rapper Ice Spice and referred to racially charged pornography

Pop singer Rina Sawayama has spoken out against her labelmate, the 1975’s lead singer Matty Healy, for widely criticised comments he made on an American podcast in February.

Introducing the song STFU!, she said: “I wrote this next song because I was sick and tired of microaggressions. So, tonight, this song goes out to a white man who watches [pornography series] Ghetto Gaggers and mocks Asian people on a podcast. He also owns my masters. I’ve had enough.”

Continue reading...

Union fury at reports Sunak might overrule some public sector pay rises

Posted on by

Recommendations from independent pay review bodies could be rejected by PM if he deems them unaffordable

Unions have expressed outrage over reports the prime minister plans to block public sector wage increases owing to fears about pushing up UK inflation, which remains worse than in other leading economies.

Recommendations from the independent pay review bodies could be overruled by Rishi Sunak if they are considered unaffordable, the Times reported, because of concerns they could set off a “wage-price spiral”.

Continue reading...

‘A tour de force’: tributes pour in for Margaret McDonagh, linchpin of Tony Blair’s New Labour

Posted on by

Party’s first female general secretary, who has died aged 61, was essential part of team behind party’s 1997 landslide victory

Margaret McDonagh, Labour’s first female general secretary, has been hailed as a “tour de force” and an essential part of the team that secured the 1997 landslide election victory for the party, after it was announced that she had died at the age of 61.

Baroness McDonagh, who was elevated to the House of Lords in 2004, was, in effect, Peter Mandelson’s deputy during the 1997 election and went on to oversee a second dominant campaign in 2001. She became the party’s general secretary in 1998. She had been diagnosed with brain cancer in 2021.

Continue reading...

Wagner mutiny: how the world reacted

Posted on by

Ukraine said Yevgeny Prigozhin’s uprising reflected Russia’s ‘full-scale weakness’ as western allies watched closely

As Vladimir Putin responded with ire and defiance to Yevgeny Prigozhin’s uprising, later halted by the Wagner chief to avoid “Russian bloodshed”, world leaders closely watched the biggest challenge yet to the Russian president’s decades-spanning rule.

Ukraine

Continue reading...

New windfarm could be used to power North Sea oilfield

Posted on by

Electricity generated on Shetland could be used to fuel the proposed Rosebank field, instead of homes

Electricity from a new onshore windfarm could be used to power the biggest undeveloped oilfield in the North Sea, campaigners are warning, ahead of an imminent decision over whether to approve the project.

The huge Rosebank oilfield is three times bigger than the controversial Cambo field that was put on hold more than a year ago. It has the potential to produce 500m barrels of oil and its final approval is expected to reach the energy secretary, Grant Shapps, in the next few weeks. It is expected to be approved after Rishi Sunak hinted last month that it would be “economically illiterate” not to invest in UK oil and gas because Britain will remain reliant on fossil fuels for “the next few decades”.

Continue reading...

March on UK Home Office over plan to deport jailed Just Stop Oil activist

Posted on by

German national Marcus Decker in prison for climbing Dartford bridge faces automatic deportation, say campaigners

Hundreds of protesters were expected to march to the Home Office on Saturday demanding deportation proceedings be called off for an environmental activist imprisoned for scaling the Dartford Crossing.

Marcus Decker is serving one of the longest sentences ever passed for a non-violent protest in British history after a Just Stop Oil demonstration in October. He is a German citizen with leave to remain in the UK, but faces automatic deportation after serving the two years and seven months sentence.

Continue reading...

Thunderstorm warning for UK as weekend temperatures rise

Posted on by

Chance of floods as yellow warning issued for parts of northern England and Scotland on Sunday

A yellow weather warning has been issued for thunderstorms for parts of northern England and Scotland on Sunday.

The Met Office said the storms could cause localised flooding and in some places hail up to 3cm in diameter along with strong, gusty winds.

Continue reading...

SNP leader says general election win would be mandate for independence push

Posted on by

Humza Yousaf’s proposal in event of a victory in Scotland falls short of strategy backed by Nicola Sturgeon

Humza Yousaf has said a win in Scotland for the Scottish National party in the next general election would be a mandate to apply further pressure on Westminster for Scottish independence.

The proposal, made by the SNP leader as he addressed party members gathered in Dundee, falls short of the de facto referendum strategy favoured by his predecessor, Nicola Sturgeon.

Continue reading...

Disruptive behaviour leaves excluded pupils’ units in England ‘full to bursting’

Posted on by

Referral unit providers warn of overwhelming demand from unprecedented poor behaviour after pandemic lull

Referral units for children who have been excluded from mainstream schools are warning that they are full to bursting because of unprecedented levels of disruptive behaviour across the country.

Providers that take children excluded from mainstream schools say that after a lull during the pandemic, the situation has deteriorated, and they have seen permanent exclusions rising across the country in the past year. The situation had appeared to be improving with the latest government data on permanent exclusions in England showing that they fell in the spring term last year to 2,200 from 2,800 in 2019.

Continue reading...

From Brexit to Beyoncé: why UK inflation is still so painfully high

Posted on by

The cost of living is falling in Europe and the US but is still rising in Britain. We look at the major culprits

The Bank of England has struggled to understand why inflation remains high in the UK. It has fallen in France, Germany, the US and especially Spain, where inflation dropped to 2.9% in May compared with the UK figure of 8.7%. Here we look at the many reasons for the current crisis.

Continue reading...

Investigation reveals UK’s freshest and least fresh online groceries

Posted on by

Shoppers for consumer group Which? ordered 1,800 items to test the average shelf life at six retailers

From out-of-date frankfurters to bashed brie, online food shopping can be a lottery, especially when it comes to the groceries’ shelf life, according to an investigation by the consumer group Which?.

Groceries delivered by Sainsbury’s were found to have the shortest average time left before their use-by dates, according to the items received by a team of 12 mystery shoppers located around the UK.

Continue reading...

James Cleverly rejects claim he will stand down at next election

Posted on by

Foreign secretary describes newspaper report of frustration with Tory party rows with as ‘nonsense’

The foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has described suggestions that he was considering standing down from parliament at the next general election as “nonsense”.

Cleverly declared he was “standing at the next election” after newspaper reports claimed he was considering whether to stand.

Continue reading...

South East Water blames working from home for hosepipe ban

Posted on by

Utility’s head says demand for drinking water has risen 20% since pandemic, outpacing supply

A water company has blamed more people working from home post-pandemic for a new hosepipe ban.

South East Water, which supplies more than 2m homes and businesses, will impose the first hosepipe ban of the summer on Monday, affecting households across Kent and Sussex.

Continue reading...

Man guilty of murdering police custody sergeant in south London

Posted on by

Jury finds Louis De Zoysa shot Matt Ratana in Croydon with revolver he probably hid under armpit

A man has been found guilty of murdering a police custody sergeant with a gun he had smuggled into a cell.

A jury at Northampton crown court convicted Louis De Zoysa, 25, of murdering Sgt Matt Ratana, 54, with a gunshot to the chest at a custody block in Croydon, south London, in September 2020.

Continue reading...

French publisher arrested on suspicion of terror offences ‘to face no further action’

Posted on by

The man was taken into custody in London after failing to provide the pin to his phone when asked to by officers

No further action will be taken against a French publisher who was arrested after being stopped at St Pancras station on suspicion of terror offences, the Metropolitan police have said.

The 28-year-old man, who was previously named by his employer as Ernest Moret, was stopped by border officers as he arrived at the north London station at about 7.30pm on 17 April.

Continue reading...

‘Highly unusual’: lost 17th-century portrait of black and white women as equals saved for UK

Posted on by

Exclusive: Unknown artwork was barred from leaving the UK after surfacing at an auction in 2021

A painting has been saved for the UK in recognition of its “outstanding significance” for the study of race and gender in 17th-century Britain, it will be announced on Friday.

The anonymous artist’s portrait of two women – one black and one white, depicted as companions and equals with similar dress, hair and jewellery – has been bought by Compton Verney, an award-winning gallery in Warwickshire.

Continue reading...