Footage appears to show masked figure saying they wanted to ‘assassinate the Queen’
Police are investigating a video linked to a man who was arrested at Windsor Castle while in possession of a crossbow.
The video, obtained by the Sun, appears to show a masked figure in a dark hoodie holding a crossbow and addressing the camera with a distorted voice, saying they wanted to “assassinate the Queen” in a “revenge” mission.
Continue reading...Shoddy investigation into serial killer also result of underfunding, says producer of BBC drama about murders
Three victims of the serial killer Stephen Port might still be alive today were it not for a shoddy police investigation that was the result of “ineptitude, poor systems and underfunding”, the producer of a new drama about the crimes has said.
Jeff Pope is senior producer of Four Lives, a dramatisation for BBC One of the murders of four young gay men: Anthony Walgate, 23; Gabriel Kovari, 22; Daniel Whitworth, 21; and Jack Taylor, 21.
Continue reading...Sources suggest No 10 leaning away from stricter curbs in England, as doctors’ union says lack of response is ‘ludicrous’
Boris Johnson is expected to examine crucial hospital data on Monday before making any new announcement on Covid measures, but has no plans to recall his cabinet, with ministers still deeply sceptical of further legal curbs.
Sources said the prime minister would “take stock” after being encouraged by improving data on Friday, a sign that No 10 is leaning away from stricter curbs in England, but Downing Street sources said he would act quickly if there were new causes for concern.
Continue reading...Parliamentary committee accuses ambassador of interference over tweet in support of recognising interim government
Libya’s political crisis has taken on an increasingly international dimension after the UK was accused of defending corruption and interfering in internal processes by calling for the interim government to remain in power pending the rescheduling of delayed elections.
The country’s first presidential elections, scheduled for 24 December, were indefinitely postponed at the last minute, largely because fierce disagreements over who should be allowed to stand had not been resolved.
Continue reading...Groups from the continent are going elsewhere, tour operators say, deterred more by passport and visa rules than the pandemic
Post-Brexit changes to Britain’s immigration rules have triggered an unprecedented collapse in bookings for school trips from the continent, organisers say, with countries such as Ireland and the Netherlands now more popular than the UK.
While the pandemic has depressed European school travel in general, the number of short-stay educational visits planned in 2022 to alternative EU destinations where English is widely spoken is significantly higher than inquiries for UK visits.
Continue reading...In the outermost parts of our islands, a new industry in satellites, rockets and launch ports is poised for take-off
In the next 12 months, Britain is expected to make a remarkable aerospace breakthrough. For the first time, a satellite will be fired into orbit from a launch pad in the United Kingdom.
It will be a historic moment – though exactly where this grand adventure will begin is not yet clear. A series of fledgling operations, backed by the UK Space Agency, are now competing to be the first to launch a satellite from British soil.
Continue reading...Observer investigation finds officers without the usual certification used risky restraint techniques at Brook House
Suicidal asylum seekers were subject to force by guards who the Home Office allowed to remain on duty despite being “effectively uncertified” in the safe use of restraint techniques, according to internal documents charting conditions inside one of the UK’s most controversial immigration centres.
Experts say the department endangered lives last year by deploying custody staff whose training in the safe use of force had expired, as it detained hundreds of people who had crossed the Channel in a fast-track scheme to remove them.
Continue reading...New coronavirus restrictions are being introduced in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as the country’s leaders try to combat rising Covid cases
China has reported 206 new Covid cases on Christmas Day, a significant jump from 140 a day earlier, its health authority said on Sunday and Reuters reports.
Of the new infections, 158 were locally transmitted, according to a statement by the National Health Commission, compared with 87 cases the previous day.
Scientists are cautiously optimistic that the variant may be a sign the virus is losing its power, despite the high infection figures
Once again, Britain is experiencing a festive season hit by waves of Covid-19 infections. Last year, Christmas and New Year were spoiled by the appearance of the Alpha variant. This time, it is Omicron that has sent case numbers soaring. Christmas cancellations have swept through Britain’s restaurants, pubs and clubs and left the country on the brink of another bleak New Year as the NHS warns once more that it is facing the threat of being overwhelmed by spiralling numbers of seriously ill patients.
The scenario has raised fears that this now represents the shape of Christmases to come. Social restrictions and lockdown threats could become our normal festive fare.
Continue reading...An Opinium poll also found that 42% of people who voted Leave in 2016 had a negative view of how it had turned out
More than six out of 10 voters believe Brexit has either gone badly or worse than they expected – a year after the UK left the EU, according to an anniversary poll for the Observer.
The Opinium survey – coming a week after the minister in charge of Brexit, Lord Frost, resigned from Boris Johnson’s government – also found that 42% of people who voted Leave in 2016 had a negative view of how Brexit had turned out so far.
Continue reading...New South Wales has recorded its highest ever Covid daily caseload, with 6,288 new infections announced today – by far the highest number of cases in any Australian state since the pandemic began.
Record Covid cases were reported across Australia on Christmas Day as overwhelmed testing clinics were forced to close and tens of thousands of people spent the holiday in isolation.
I would sincerely appeal that they do not again consider closing churches and places of worship.
I think this country has shown that people can make good judgements themselves.
We’re at that point of saying we understand the risk. We know what we should do. Most people are sensible and cautious. We don’t need stronger impositions to teach us what to do.
Continue reading...Agents step in after incident involving two small boats in early hours of morning
UK authorities have rescued 67 people who were attempting to cross the Channel on Christmas Day.
Border Force agents took a group of people to Dover in Kent in the early hours of Saturday, after an incident involving two small boats.
Continue reading...Police say suspect was carrying an offensive weapon and royal family have been informed
An armed man was arrested after attempting to break into Windsor Castle where the Queen was celebrating Christmas with her family.
Police said the intruder was carrying an offensive weapon but did not break into any buildings on Saturday morning.
Continue reading...Sara Trost, from Southend, Essex, fatally wounded as she waited to show property in Coral Springs
A British woman who worked as an estate agent in Florida has been shot dead while preparing to show a property, allegedly by an evicted tenant.
Sara Trost, 40, from Southend, Essex, was shot on Thursday while sitting in her Jeep outside a house in Coral Springs, 40 miles north of Miami, at about 12.33pm.
Continue reading...Archbishop of Canterbury says pandemic has shown our capacity for compassion and generosity
Everyone in society, from Cabinet ministers to rough sleepers, has faced “uncertainty, uncontrollability and unpredictability” during the Covid pandemic, the archbishop of Canterbury has said in his Christmas sermon.
Justin Welby, who led the Christmas Day service at Canterbury Cathedral, added that the past 22 months has also shown people’s capacity for compassion and generosity.
Continue reading...Daily hospitalisations in England up by more than 40% in a week at same time as more staff on sick leave
NHS leaders have voiced alarm at a major rise in the number of hospitalisations due to Covid-19 after 1,171 people with the disease across the UK were admitted in a 24-hour period that set another record number of daily cases.
The latest government figures showed 122,186 cases of coronavirus had been recorded as of 9am on Friday. Another 137 people died within 28 days of testing positive.
Continue reading...Merseyside police took 54-year-old into custody after £70,000 theft from Alder Hey
A man has been arrested on suspicion of burglary after 100 iPads worth £70,000 were stolen from a children’s hospital.
Police were called after a report that the devices were taken from an outdoor container at Alder Hey children’s hospital in West Derby, Liverpool, on 19 November.
Continue reading...From a change of routine to an unexpected rest, those self-isolating look on the bright side
When Isaac, 16, tested positive for coronavirus a few days ago, he decided to self-isolate alone in his room. He wanted to make sure he did everything he could not to pass the virus on to his family and ensure they were able to have some normality over Christmas.
After his mum, Debs, posted what he was doing on Twitter, she was flooded with loving messages to pass on to him. She plans to print them all and put them up on the wall opposite his room for him to see on Christmas Day.
Continue reading...Nasa’s flagship mission counts down to launch at 1220 GMT on Christmas Day from Kourou, French Guiana
Final checks and fuelling are under way for the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope, a flagship mission for Nasa that aims to observe worlds beyond the solar system and the first stars and galaxies that lit up the cosmos.
If all goes to plan, the $10bn (£7.4bn) observatory will become the largest and most powerful telescope ever sent into space when it blasts off at 12.20pm UK time on Christmas Day onboard an Ariane 5 rocket from the European Space Agency’s spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana.
Continue reading...Photograph of TV address released by palace shows Queen sitting next to a portrait of her and Prince Philip
The Queen’s Christmas Day message is expected to be a particularly personal one this year, her first since the death of the Duke of Edinburgh.
A photograph released by Buckingham Palace ahead of her televised address shows the Queen sitting behind a desk in the White Drawing Room at Windsor Castle, accompanied by a single, framed picture of the couple taken in 2007 at Broadlands country house, Hampshire, to mark their diamond wedding anniversary.
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