Category Archives: UK news

Britain sends small number of troops to monitor Gaza ceasefire

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Defence secretary says UK will play ‘anchor role’ in US-led civil military coordination centre

British troops have been sent to Israel to help monitor the ceasefire in Gaza after a request from the US.

The defence secretary, John Healey, announced the deployment of a small number of planning officers, including a senior commander, at an event on Monday night. He said the UK would play an “anchor role”. Ten days ago the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, said the UK had “no plans” to send soldiers to Gaza.

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Grandchildren of Ruth Ellis, last woman to be hanged in UK, ask for pardon

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David Lammy urged to consider 1955 case in light of evidence Ellis was abused by partner before she killed him

The grandchildren of the last woman to be hanged in the UK are asking ministers to posthumously pardon her in light of evidence that she was emotionally and physically abused by her partner before she killed him.

Ruth Ellis was executed in 1955 after killing David Blakely her partner, who she had met while working in the nightclub she managed two years earlier. At the time, she was portrayed as a “cold-blooded killer” but evidence has since emerged that Blakely, a racing-car driver, physically and emotionally abused her.

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Intelligence on ‘extreme’ Maccabi fans with history of violence led to Villa Park ban

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Exclusive: West Midlands police were told supporters randomly attacked Muslims in Amsterdam last year

Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were banned from watching their game against Aston Villa after police intelligence concluded the biggest risk of violence came from extremist fans of the Israeli club.

The ban ignited an intense controversy and was criticised by the prime minister, as well as others claiming it was a surrender to antisemitism.

Scores of extreme Maccabi fans with a past history of violence and shouting “racist taunts” were expected to travel to the Birmingham game.

Dutch police told their British counterparts that the Maccabi fans had instigated trouble in Amsterdam at a game last year.

They had randomly picked Muslims in Amsterdam to attack. That led to reprisal violence with some Dutch Jews attacked.

A huge Dutch police effort, involving 5,000 officers across three days, was needed to quell the trouble.

A community impact assessment by West Midlands police recorded that some Jewish people wanted the Maccabi fans banned because of the trouble that might ensue if they attended.

Any trouble started by Maccabi fans attending the Birmingham game could lead to reprisals from local people and further trouble.

The process did not consider whether the ban on fans of the Israeli club could be criticised as antisemitic itself or surrendering to antisemitism.

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MPs lodge parliamentary motion to strip Prince Andrew of dukedom

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Ministers face growing pressure to act amid fresh allegations over prince’s relationship with Jeffrey Epstein

MPs have moved to lodge a parliamentary motion to strip Prince Andrew of his dukedom, in a rarely permitted move in the Commons.

The government is facing mounting pressure over the prince’s residence in the 30-room Royal Lodge in Windsor, where it was revealed that he has not paid rent for more than two decades.

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Lucy Powell urged ministers to rethink legal action against Labour donor’s firm

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Exclusive: Intervention by deputy leadership contender could have saved company based in her Manchester constituency millions

Lucy Powell urged ministers to reconsider costly legal proceedings against a property development firm in her constituency founded by a Labour donor, in a move that could have saved his company millions, the Guardian can disclose.

Powell, who is the favourite to be elected Labour’s deputy leader this week, wrote to Angela Rayner on behalf of Urban Splash, a property developer in Manchester founded by party donor Tom Bloxham.

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UK grooming gang inquiry faces further disruption as candidate for leader withdraws

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Former Lambeth children’s services director Annie Hudson pulls out following intense media coverage

A national grooming gang inquiry ordered by Keir Starmer is facing further disruption after one of two candidates who had been shortlisted to lead it withdrew from the process.

Annie Hudson, a former director of children’s services for Lambeth, told survivors on Tuesday that she no longer wanted to be considered after intense media coverage.

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Prince Andrew tried to hire ‘internet trolls’ to hassle Virginia Giuffre, book claims

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Andrew hid behind Balmoral’s ‘guarded gates’ to escape court papers, accuser says in memoir Nobody’s Girl

Prince Andrew’s team tried to hire “internet trolls to hassle” his accuser, Virginia Giuffre, while he hid behind the “well-guarded gates” of Balmoral Castle to avoid being served court papers, according to allegations in her posthumous memoir.

Giuffre wrote of the 2022 confidential settlement of her sexual abuse civil claim against the royal, widely rumoured to be $12m (£9m), that her lawyers “were going to ask for the moon” and her team had agreed it “had to be more than mere money”.

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Nearly half of UK garden space is paved over, RHS study finds

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Homeowners urged to use more robust planting and permeable materials to help mitigate flood risk

Nearly half of the UK’s garden space is paved over, a new study has found.

The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) has conducted the largest ever audit of the UK’s gardens, and found that they are an untapped – and until now, mostly unmeasured – potential resource for nature.

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US man accused of faking own death after rape conviction gets at least five years in prison

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Nicholas Rossi, who fled US, receives first of two sentences after being convicted of raping two women in Utah in 2008

A judge has sentenced a Rhode Island man who appeared to fake his death and flee the United States to avoid arrest of at least five years in prison for rape.

The sentence handed down Monday for Nicholas Rossi, 38, was the first of two he faces after being convicted separately in August and September of raping two women in northern Utah in 2008. He is scheduled to be sentenced in November for the second conviction.

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UK peace force for Ukraine would cost ‘well over £100m’, says defence secretary

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John Healey says he has already brought forward millions in spending for swift deployment if ceasefire agreed

The cost of Britain’s contribution to a post-ceasefire stabilisation force for Ukraine would be “well over £100m”, the defence secretary, John Healey, has said after a speech in the City of London.

Healey said he had already brought forward millions in spending so that a “multinational force Ukraine” led by the UK and France could be ready to deploy quickly if peace talks produce a ceasefire.

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B&M ousts finance chief as it warns again on profits after £7m accounts error

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Discount retailer looks for successor for Mike Schmidt, who is stepping down as chief financial officer

The discount retailer B&M has ousted its finance chief after reporting a £7m accounts blunder that will cut its annual earnings – its second profit warning within two weeks.

The company told investors it looking for a successor to Mike Schmidt, who is stepping down as chief financial officer, after the accounting error.

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Will affordable housing be the casualty as London tackles its building emergency?

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Collapse in construction activity causing alarm but mayor and Whitehall face pushback over ‘extreme solutions’

Sadiq Khan has known for a while that he has a problem with housebuilding in London. But last week a consultancy published figures about the scale of the problem, which prompted full-scale alarm in City Hall and Whitehall.

The analysis from Molior showed that new housebuilding in the capital had collapsed. Only 40,000 homes are under construction – two-thirds the normal rate – and in the first three months of the year builders started work on just 3,248 private sector units.

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Dead fish found on River Thet where large stretch of white foam appeared

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Environment Agency says pollutant in Norfolk river is ‘an unknown substance’ and is investigating

Dead fish have been found on a river in Norfolk where a large stretch of white foam appeared, the Environment Agency has confirmed.

Images shared by the agency on Saturday showed the foam covering an area of the River Thet.

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Reform council leader says she has launched hunt for ‘cowards’ behind leaked video

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Linden Kemkaran told fellow Kent councillors those who disagreed with decisions would have to ‘suck it up’

The leader of Reform UK’s flagship local authority has told her fellow councillors that she launched a hunt for the “cowards” who leaked a recorded meeting in which she said those who disagreed with decisions would have to “fucking suck it up”.

Bitter divisions among Reform members of Kent county council, one of 10 controlled outright by Nigel Farage’s party, were laid bare at the weekend by the Guardian in a leaked video of a chaotic internal meeting.

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Gaza war has caused huge shifts in Middle East – and that may just be the beginning

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Trump’s 20-point plan is forcing regional rivals to set aside differences and collaborate after years of competition

If the war in Gaza had dramatic consequences across the Middle East, overturning long-held assumptions, resetting the geopolitical map and provoking massive shifts in public opinion, any durable peace is likely to have equally momentous effects.

Some counsel caution.

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Smart jab can shrink head and neck cancer tumours within six weeks, trial finds

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Triple-action therapy drug amivantamab could be given as an injection to help treat recurrent or metastatic cancers

Doctors have hailed “incredibly encouraging” trial results that show a triple-action smart jab can shrink tumours in head and neck cancer patients within six weeks.

Head and neck cancer is the world’s sixth most common form of the disease. If it spreads or comes back after standard treatment, patients may be offered immunotherapy and platinum chemotherapy. But if this fails, there is often little else doctors can do.

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Suspected scam investment firms ‘exploiting Trustpilot review system’

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Fake reviews, forged certificates and stolen corporate identities being used to lure victims, KwikChex finds

Suspected scam investment companies are exploiting Trustpilot’s review system by giving themselves five-star ratings to persuade would-be investors that they are legitimate businesses, a report has warned.

An investigation by the verification firm KwikChex found operators using fake reviews, forged certificates and stolen corporate identities to lure victims.

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Government aims to create 400,000 jobs through UK national green energy plan

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Scheme will offer training for plumbers, welders and carpenters as well as promoting trade union recognition

Plumbers, electricians and welders will be in huge demand as part of a national plan to train people for an extra 400,000 green jobs in the next five years, Ed Miliband has said.

The energy secretary revealed a new scheme to double those working in green industries by 2030, with a particular focus on training those coming from fossil fuel jobs, school leavers, the unemployed, veterans and ex-offenders.

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Aston Villa reportedly told stewards they could miss Maccabi Tel Aviv match

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Club cited possible safety ‘concerns’ after West Midlands police decided to ban Maccabi fans from fixture

Aston Villa told matchday stewards they would not have to work during the club’s Europa League fixture against the Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv, citing possible “concerns” over safety, it has been reported.

West Midlands police decided to ban Maccabi fans from the forthcoming match, after saying the force would not be able to police the fixture safely owing to “violent clashes and hate crime offences” at a previous match in Amsterdam in 2024.

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Tory MP reports ‘AI-generated deepfake’ video announcing his defection to Reform UK

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Mid Norfolk MP George Freeman calls spread of AI-generated misinformation a ‘dangerous development’

A Conservative MP has reported an “AI-generated deepfake” video of him announcing that he has joined Reform UK to the police, according to reports.

George Freeman, the MP for Mid Norfolk, denounced the video and, in a Facebook post, called the deliberate spread of misinformation through AI-generated content a “concerning and dangerous development”.

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