Standoff between DUP and Sinn Féin blocking ratification of Arlene Foster’s designated successor
A dispute between Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist party (DUP) over an Irish-language act is threatening to derail the Northern Ireland assembly and executive.
Arlene Foster formally resigned as first minister at 1pm on Monday but a standoff between the two biggest parties at Stormont is blocking her designated successor, Paul Givan, 39, from taking the post.
Continue reading...Facebook messages from the Italian student killed in Cairo in 2016 show his concerns about studying in the country
The Facebook messages written by the Cambridge student Giulio Regeni in the weeks leading up to his murder give the lie to any notion he was a spy or political agitator.
Even before he left England, Regeni was concerned about the risks he might face doing his thesis on trade unions in Egypt, a sensitive subject in the country.
Continue reading...Round-the-clock tracking condemned as ‘Trojan horse’ giving government vast surveillance powers that violate human rights
More than 40 human rights organisations have condemned the Home Office’s introduction of 24-hour GPS monitoring of people on immigration bail in an expansion of surveillance powers that has involved no consultation process.
The new policy marks a shift from using radio frequency monitors (which alert authorities if the wearer leaves an assigned area) to round-the-clock GPS trackers (which can track a person’s every move), while also giving the Home Office new powers to collect, store and access this data indefinitely via a private contractor.
Continue reading...Withdrawal from long-term partnership catastrophic, says Brac, affecting women and girls’ education and those in extreme poverty
The UK government’s funding cuts to the world’s largest international non-governmental organisation are a “gut punch” after a successful 10-year £450m partnership, according to a director.
Asif Saleh, executive director of Brac Bangladesh, said the cuts will leave hundreds of thousands of girls without an education, millions of women and girls without access to family planning and hundreds of thousands of people in extreme poverty without support.
Continue reading...GCHQ cybersecurity boss sounds alarm over extortion by hackers who are mostly based in former Soviet states
Ransomware represents the biggest threat to online security for most people and businesses in the UK, the head of GCHQ’s cybersecurity arm is to warn.
Lindy Cameron, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre, will say in a speech that the phenomenon, where hackers encrypt data and demand payment for it to be restored, is escalating and becoming increasingly professionalised.
Continue reading...Speaking at G7, president addresses autocracy and democracy, climate crisis and Donald Trump’s legacy
Joe Biden agreed on Sunday with Vladimir Putin’s latest assessment that US-Russia relations are at their lowest point in years but insisted that while the two countries may have fundamental disagreements, “we are not looking for conflict”.
The US president also addressed the issues of autocracy versus democracy, the climate crisis, future pandemics and problems caused by his predecessor Donald Trump, while holding a press conference to mark the end of the G7 summit in the English county of Cornwall.
Continue reading...Research backs four-week delay on lifting restrictions to allow more people to get jabs
Ministers have been told that a four-week delay to easing all Covid restrictions would probably prevent thousands of hospitalisations, as Boris Johnson prepares to tell the English public they will have to wait up to another month for “freedom day”.
The government roadmap out of lockdown earmarks 21 June for the last remaining coronavirus restrictions to be lifted in England, but the prime minister is expected to announce on Monday that the timetable will be pushed back by two to four weeks amid a rapid rise in cases of the Delta variant first detected in India.
Continue reading...Some summit spouses must have trust issues – why else would they turn up?
It could be said that anyone who voluntarily attends their partner’s office party is either a masochist or has trust issues. So, why, then, do the spouses of world leaders feel obliged to turn up to global summits?
Ordinarily, it appears that their only duty is to make small talk with their fellow spare parts while their other halves chew over the big issues of the day. At the G7 meeting in Cornwall this weekend, the Wags and Habs were also required to admire Boris Johnson’s latest child when he was rolled out before their beachfront BBQ.
Continue reading...Analysis: an unseemly spat over Brexit derailed the UK prime minister’s chance to impress on the global stage
Delivering his closing press conference in the Carbis Bay hotel on Sunday, pale golden sand and azure sea visible behind him, Boris Johnson sought to play down the unseemly diplomatic spat that had marred his moment on the world stage.
“Actually, what happened at this summit was that there was a colossal amount of work on subjects that had absolutely nothing to do with Brexit,” he insisted.
Continue reading...US president gives insight into his discussions with monarch in short visit after G7 summit in Cornwall
Joe Biden revealed the Queen had asked him about his Russian and Chinese counterparts, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping, during their 45-minute talk over tea at Windsor Castle, in the aftermath of the G7 summit on Sunday.
It was an exceptionally rare, if limited, insight into political discussions involving the British monarch: the contents of her regular weekly audiences with the British prime minister of the day are kept confidential.
Continue reading...Boaters fear that the Canal and River Trust’s plans to trial ‘water safety zones’ will lead to a big reduction in mooring spaces
The sun shone, the water sparkled and the trumpets blared as a flotilla of boat dwellers staged a protest in east London on Sunday about proposals they say will drive them out of their homes.
Dozens of boats, bearing banners with slogans such as “Boats are homes” and “Stop the boat cull”, contributed to a carnival atmosphere as they made their way along the River Lea in Hackney.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson sought to play down reports of a rift with the EU over Northern Ireland at the end of the G7 summit, although he insisted it was the job of the government to protect the UK’s territorial integrity. Speaking at an end-of-summit press conference, the prime minister was careful not to escalate a row that had intensified following a report that France’s Emmanuel Macron had suggested that Northern Ireland was not wholly part of the UK
Continue reading...At least five hospitality venues close as two police officers and Extinction Rebellion camp report cases of virus
Concerns are growing that St Ives may face a spike in Covid cases as the G7 summit winds up with hospitality venues, police officers and a protest camp all reporting cases of the virus.
At least five venues in St Ives, the town closest to the main venue summit, Carbis Bay, have closed or are limiting their operations because of cases.
Continue reading...Former students at Eltham college receive letter from school’s lawyers accusing them of obstructing investigation
Former pupils at a private school in south-east London who compiled a dossier of sexual harassment and misconduct allegations were shocked to receive a letter from the school’s lawyers accusing them of obstructing investigations into the incidents.
The students, who went to Eltham College in Bromley, said they expected to receive a compassionate response after they collected testimonies from pupils past and present alleging sexism, sexual harassment, abuse and assault, and forwarded them to the school, inspired by the Everyone’s Invited anti-rape movement.
Continue reading...Despite Covid restrictions, pubs are getting ready for supporters to see their team take on England
Ed Thomas has never shown the European Championships in his bar, but this time he’s hung up the bunting and will watch his team play their first Euro 2020 opening match with muted glee.
But who to support in today’s England v Croatia game, a “rematch” of the 2018 World Cup semi-final? For Thomas is half-Croatian and half-English.
Continue reading...With famous users leading a rebrand, pleasure accessories lose their stigma in a £90bn health and wellness boom
Lily Allen has one. Cara Delevingne has one. Dakota Johnson has developed her own range. Is the celebrity sex toy 2021’s answer to the celebrity perfume?
For some, getting busy has been the last thing on the menu during the pandemic. Study after study, from India to Italy, has revealed that lockdown libido loss is real and that stress has killed the buzz in the bedroom. Sexual wellness, on the other hand, has reached a dizzying peak. Not only has the conversation around sexual pleasure changed for generation Z, but the industry attached to it – from apps to toys, herbal supplements to specialist oils – is also booming.
Continue reading...European leaders made their feelings about the Northern Ireland protocol known to a PM desperate to score a PR victory
The setting is a small English village on the Cornish coast, but the message that Boris Johnson wants projected from the beachside summit in Carbis Bay is one of big British influence across the globe.
The three-day G7 meeting of world leaders, which ends on Sunday, was identified months ago by the prime minister as the moment to launch his vision of a confident post-Brexit “global Britain”.
Continue reading...A film about the disputed Salvator Mundi blames the National Gallery for its role in giving credibility to the claim that it was the artist’s lost work
The National Gallery is facing controversy over its role in the tangled story of how the world’s most expensive painting emerged from obscurity before being sold for a staggering £320m, only to vanish again from the public eye.
The gallery exhibited the Salvator Mundi in its Leonardo da Vinci exhibition a decade ago when it was an unknown work with doubts about its attribution, restoration and ownership.
Continue reading...While ban on evictions protected some people, domestic abuse and loss of temporary accommodation were common triggers for homelessness
At least 130,000 households in England were made homeless during the first year of the pandemic, despite the government’s ban on evictions, according to data sourced by the Observer. With the ban now over, fears are rising that a surge of evictions may be imminent. But the Observer’s figures show that even while the ban was in place, households were being forced from their homes.
“The ban didn’t stop tens of thousands from facing homelessness,” said Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter. “During the pandemic, the most common triggers for homelessness were no longer being able to stay with friends or family, losing a private tenancy, and domestic abuse.”
Continue reading...Midfielder, 29, required urgent CPR on the pitch during match against Finland but is now stable
Danish international footballer Christian Eriksen was given chest compressions by medics during the Euro 2020 clash against Finland in Copenhagen on Saturday.
Eriksen, 29, collapsed face first into the pitch while running to collect a throw-in with no other player near him. His teammates and Finnish players nearby quickly signalled to English referee Anthony Taylor that Eriksen, a former Tottenham Hotspur favourite, needed urgent medical attention.
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