Category Archives: UK news

Zelenskiy vows to investigate and prosecute all Russian ‘crimes’ in Ukraine – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. Read the latest live developments in the Russia-Ukraine war here.

Russian chief negotiator Vladimir Medinsky has said Russia’s position on Crimea and Donbas remains unchanged and that peace talks had not progressed enough for a leaders’ meeting.

Medinsky’s comments appear to be a rebuttal of earlier reports suggesting Moscow had “verbally” agreed to key Ukrainian proposals.

A Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia told media on Saturday that Russia had “given an official answer to all positions, which is that they accept the (Ukrainian) position, except for the issue of Crimea (which was annexed by Russia in 2014).”

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‘They were all shot’: Russia accused of war crimes as Bucha reveals horror of invasion

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Ukrainian forces liberating the town near Kyiv find streets littered with corpses of civilians and burned-out Russian tanks

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The retreat of Russian forces around Kyiv has left horrifying evidence of atrocities against civilians littered across the region’s suburbs and towns, turned into hellish war zones by Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

As Ukrainian armoured columns rolled into Bucha, a town north-west of the capital, they found streets blocked by burned-out Russian tanks and military vehicles, and strewn with the bodies of civilians whom locals said had been killed by the invading forces without provocation.

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Swine fever risk if UK waives checks on imports from EU, say vets

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Ministers are considering another postponement to border controls amid fears of supply chain problems and higher prices

Government plans to waive border checks on goods from the EU – including food and livestock – will put the country at risk of importing devastating infectious diseases such as African swine fever and compound serious damage to UK trade caused by Brexit.

The double warning has been issued by the British Veterinary Association (BVA) as ministers consider yet another postponement of post-Brexit inspections because of fears that checks will slow supply chains, add to bureaucracy and increase prices in shops at a time when UK consumers are already facing a cost of living crisis.

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Prince Andrew, the banker … and a mystery £750,000 ‘wedding gift’

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Entrepreneur Selman Turk is being sued by a Turkish millionairess, in a case involving a payment to the Duke of York

When the Turkish entrepreneur Selman Turk launched a new digital bank three years ago, he was entering a crowded market of online start-ups hoping to grab business from the traditional banks.

It seemed there was little to distinguish the new London-based venture, Heyman A, from a host of other contenders. It had a rudimentary website, meagre funding compared to some of its digital rivals and no banking licence. “We are building a good bank for good people,” said its website. A footnote added that it was “in the application process” to become a bank in the UK.

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‘I returned a changed man’: Prince Andrew deletes Falklands war post

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Duke of York wrote about his experience in the conflict in a post on his ex-wife’s Instagram account that was quickly deleted

The Duke of York said he returned from the Falklands war “a changed man” in a piece posted to his ex-wife’s Instagram account.

Andrew, who reached a multimillion-pound out-of-court settlement in a civil sexual assault case a few weeks ago, wrote more than 700 words about his experience in the Falklands.

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Rescuers search for light aircraft with two onboard missing in Channel

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P-28 plane took off from airfield in Warwickshire and was bound for Le Touquet in northern France

Rescue teams have carried out a search in the Channel after a plane flying from the UK with two people onboard went missing.

The French coastguard told Sky News the aircraft is the “subject of a worrying disappearance” and a search for the plane was carried out “all afternoon”.

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Ukraine claims Russia has ‘verbally’ accepted peace proposals, except on Crimea – as it happened

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Deputy defence minister says territory is ‘liberated from the invader’ as disturbing images in Bucha show bodies had been bound and hooded

At least 158 children have been killed and more than 254 injured in Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion, the country’s office of the prosecutor general has said.

The office said two of the fatalities were among 13 people killed when Russian forces fired at civilian cars on a highway in Chernihiv around 18 March.

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Strikes in UK at highest in five years as pay is hit by inflation

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Country’s biggest trade unions are taking on scores of employers to challenge low wage and salary offers

Unionised workers are increasingly prepared to challenge inadequate pay offers and take strike action to ensure wages keep up with the sharply rising cost of living, amid signs that workplace militancy is growing in parts of the economy.

Some of the UK’s biggest unions are battling scores of firms at the same time, with the number of industrial disputes well above pre-pandemic levels. GMB members entered into dispute with 42 employers between October 2021 and March 2022 – seven times the number of disputes in the same period in 2019-20. Unite members are currently involved in 30 disputes in England – almost four times the reported number involving the union three years ago.

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Prince Andrew aide ‘said disputed £750k payment was for daughter’s wedding’

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Report follows Turkish millionaire’s claim in high court that her financial adviser said cash was for help with passport application

One of the Duke of York’s senior aides told bankers that a now disputed cash payment to the prince was for his daughter Princess Beatrice’s wedding, it has been reported.

In 2019, Andrew received £750,000 from Nebahat Isbilen, a Turkish millionaire and wife of a former leading politician, who has claimed in the high court that she was told by her financial adviser Selman Turk to pay the sum to the prince in return for assistance with a passport application. It was later claimed in court documents that this was a false representation.

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UK temperatures to plummet to as low as minus 6C over weekend

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Gardeners warned of frost damage to blooms on Saturday night ahead of a week of unsettled weather

The UK is braced for more wintry weather across the weekend with frost creeping in overnight and temperatures set to plummet as low as minus 6C in some areas.

Forecasters said the “peaks and troughs” of spring will hit most of the country over the next week, with sunny spells and windy intervals expected in most regions.

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Boris Johnson is an asset in the local elections – but on rival parties’ leaflets

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The prime minister fails to feature on a number of Tory flyers for the 5 May polls, but his opponents are putting him front and centre

After his ratings plunged in the wake of “partygate” and as his government faces demands to act over the cost of living, it may be a surprise to discover that Boris Johnson’s face can be found on leaflets for the forthcoming local elections. Unfortunately for the prime minister, it is not his own party’s literature that features his image.

The Observer has seen Conservative leaflets circulated in London, the Midlands and the north of England in recent weeks. None of them shows Johnson, once regarded as the Tory politician able to reach voters that no one else in his party could.

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Cressida Dick to leave Met police with £166,000 payoff

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Met commissioner to step down on 10 April, with search for replacement expected to take months

Cressida Dick will leave her role as commissioner of the Metropolitan police with a payoff of £166,000, the Guardian understands.

Dick announced her resignation in February after clashing with the London mayor, Sadiq Khan. She officially ceases to be commissioner on 24 April.

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UK prevents use of private jet linked to Russian oligarchs

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After recent seizures of aircraft and yacht, Grant Shapps grounds plane at Luton airport pending investigation

The transport minister, Grant Shapps, has said he has prevented the use of another private jet that has links to Russian oligarchs.

Shapps tweeted on Saturday: “We won’t stand by and watch those who’ve made millions through [Russian president Vladimir] Putin’s patronage live their lives in peace as innocent blood is shed.”

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‘Pop quiz’ Ofsted tests are downgrading schools unfairly, say heads

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New inspection system requires pupils to face questions without prior notice

Schools are being downgraded by Ofsted if children questioned by inspectors cannot recall the names of rivers in geography or struggle to explain key concepts in history, according to headteachers.

Under a new inspection framework, schools risk being marked down if pupils fail to adequately recall or articulate what they have been taught, sometimes years before, when given an impromptu “pop quiz” by inspectors. At one flagship secondary school, an outstanding rating was lowered to good when 11- and 12-year-olds were unable to explain clearly “the principle of the rule of law”.

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How the Islamic State trial could change the future of US terrorism cases

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As a Virginia jury hears horrific allegations, experts say the trial of El Shafee Elsheikh sets an important precedent

As the trial against the accused Islamic State fighter El Shafee Elsheikh began this week on American soil, jurors in a northern Virginia courtroom were quickly exposed to accounts of unimaginable brutality.

Elsheikh, prosecutors alleged, carried out terrorist acts that involved the grisly deaths of four Americans – the journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff, as well as the aid workers Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.

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Argentina criticises UK refusal to talk about future of Falklands

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Argentine foreign minister calls for improvement in bilateral relations with Britain 40 years after conflict

British-Argentine relations will be stifled so long as the UK refuses to engage in discussions about the future sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, or if both sides continue to act as if the war happened only yesterday, the Argentine foreign minister has said.

Writing in the Guardian on the 40th anniversary of the Argentine invasion of the islands in April 1982, Santiago Cafiero called for an improvement in bilateral relations.

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Prince Andrew facing calls to explain £1m payments linked to high court fraud case

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Duke of York is named in ruling on dispute between a Turkish woman and businessman

Prince Andrew is facing calls to explain why he received £1m in payments linked to a financier who is now facing allegations of fraud in the high court.

The Duke of York, who is already embroiled in controversy after settling a US sexual assault case for up to £12m, is named alongside his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, in a ruling on a dispute between a Turkish woman and businessman.

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China accused of launching cyber-attacks on Ukraine before Russian invasion

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UK government confirmed that the National Cyber Security Centre is investigating the allegations

China launched cyber-attacks on Ukrainian military and nuclear targets shortly before the Russian invasion, according to a report.

The UK government confirmed that the National Cyber Security Centre is investigating the allegations, which claim that more than 600 websites, including Ukraine’s defence ministry, were subjected to thousands of hacking attempts coordinated by the Chinese government.

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Nadine Dorries hands top charity role to candidate rejected by MPs

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Orlando Fraser to chair Charity Commission despite select committee calling him ‘slapdash and unimaginative choice’

The culture secretary, Nadine Dorries, has pressed ahead with the appointment of former Tory parliamentary candidate Orlando Fraser to chair the Charity Commission, despite his rejection by an MPs’ scrutiny committee.

The news that Dorries had ignored the cross-party group of MPs to appoint Fraser was slipped out in a brief statement by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) early on Friday evening.

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Government dropping employment bill would ‘betray’ workers, says TUC

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Unions have been pressing for promised bill to be brought forward after sacking of hundreds of P&O staff

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has reacted with fury to a report that an expected employment bill has been postponed despite anger over the sacking of hundreds of P&O workers.

TUC said dropping the bill from next month’s Queen’s speech would “betray” workers.

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