Policing protests taking place around the G7 summit will be challenging, officers have said. Devon and Cornwall police said around 40 groups had contacted the force stating their intention to protest at the event
Continue reading...Category Archives: UK news
Senators reach agreement on $1tn infrastructure package – as it happened
- New deal comes after negotiations between Biden and GOP stall
- Christopher Wray called the Capitol attack an act of domestic terrorism
- US president and first lady meet PM and wife in Cornwall
- G7 leaders to call for fresh Covid investigation, leaked memo suggests
Andrew Brown Jr, a Black man who was shot by North Carolina deputies in April, died of a gunshot to the head, a state autopsy confirmed.
An independent autopsy commissioned by Brown’s family had found the same. But a North Carolina prosecutor said Brown’s death at the hands of officers “while tragic, was justified”. The prosecutor also would not release body-camera video of the confrontation.
Continue reading...Thousands gather in Belfast to protest against Northern Ireland protocol
Police issue warnings as loyalists march along Shankill Road on eve of G7 summit
Warnings have been issued by police after thousands of people gathered in west Belfast to protest over the Northern Ireland protocol.
Loyalists gathered in Woodvale on Thursday evening to stage a demonstration and a parade then took place along the Shankill Road.
Continue reading...G7: taste of laid-back Cornwall on the menu for leaders
Boris Johnson’s guests are set to enjoy buttered rum, an indoor rainforest and a beach barbecue with local sea shanties
Sea shanties, buttered rum and toasted marshmallows on the beach: away from the tense negotiations at this weekend’s G7 summit, Boris Johnson is hoping to give the assembled leaders a taste of Cornwall at its laid-back best.
Emmanuel Macron hosted the 2019 G7 summit in Biarritz, but Johnson’s team believe the dramatic Cornish scenery can match the glitzy riviera resort – although not necessarily the balmy sunshine of the south of France.
Continue reading...UK and US gird for a titanic struggle – if they can avoid falling out first
Analysis: Mundane conflicts over sausage exports have no place in high-flown plans for new Atlantic charter
Whatever precise pressure US diplomats put on Boris Johnson’s Brexit negotiator, Lord Frost, ahead of Joe Biden’s rather chaotic first photocall with Johnson at the G7 summit at Carbis bay, both sides were keen at their bilateral meeting to put the ugly genie back in the bottle.
The US side claimed there was nothing it had been saying to the British in private about the sanctity of the Good Friday agreement that it had not said in public, adding there had been no presidential directive to the US embassy to heighten the issue via a demarche to Frost, a florid piece of diplomatic jargon of French origin normally reserved for something akin to Russian diplomats caught spying.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson plays down Brexit issues after G7 talks with Biden
PM calls US president a ‘breath of fresh air’ and strikes optimistic tone about Northern Ireland tensions
Boris Johnson sought to play down any differences with Washington over the way Brexit could affect Northern Ireland after talks with Joe Biden at the G7 summit, as he called the US president “a breath of fresh air”.
Speaking to TV reporters after bilateral talks with Biden at the summit venue in Cornwall, where according to Downing Street the pair discussed Covid and the climate emergency, as well as Northern Ireland, Johnson called the discussions “very good”.
Continue reading...Why Joe Biden is so invested in defending Good Friday agreement
Analysis: Northern Ireland is a rare issue of bipartisan consensus and a pillar of US foreign policy
Joe Biden’s commitment to defending the Good Friday agreement is baked into his political history and identity. But it is also a pillar of US foreign policy, a rare issue of bipartisan consensus in an otherwise hyper-polarised political scene, one of the few stances Biden can take on the world stage without drawing fire from Republicans.
Biden’s emotional attachment to Ireland has been a constant throughout his adult life and has become part of his political identity too. He routinely refers to his mother’s family history and his ties to County Mayo. He quotes Irish poets, and uses the example of British rule in Ireland as a bridge to empathise with persecuted minorities.
Continue reading...Brexit rains on Boris Johnson’s G7 parade
Analysis: Northern Ireland row dashes Johnson’s hopes of greeting world leaders as PM of a newly emboldened and nimble UK
When Boris Johnson selected Cornwall as the venue for this weekend’s G7 summit, he must have imagined greeting the world’s leaders against the backdrop of a blazing blue sky on the English riviera, while getting to grips with the great global challenges of climate breakdown and Covid.
Instead, his first face-to-face meeting with Joe Biden on Thursday had to be moved from the picturesque St Michael’s Mount to the conference hotel in Carbis Bay, because of the Cornish mizzle – and Brexit was frustratingly high on the agenda.
Continue reading...G7 security preparations in Cornwall – in pictures
Ahead of the G7 summit starting on Friday, 5,000 mutual aid officers have arrived in the area from police forces across the UK. They will join 1,500 officers and staff from Devon and Cornwall police being deployed at the event.
More than 100 police dogs will be working at the summit, though no police horses are due to be there
Boris Johnson must respect rule of law and implement Brexit deal, says EU
Bloc leaders say UK must fully implement post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland
Boris Johnson must respect the “rule of law” by fully implementing the post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland, EU leaders have said ahead of the G7 summit in Cornwall.
Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, said the behaviour of the prime minister was of increasing concern to EU member states. “It’s paramount to implement what we have decided – this is a question of rule of law,” he said.
Continue reading...Solar eclipse 2021: spectacle to be visible across UK and Ireland
Skygazers – with appropriate eye protection – will be able to see much of sun being obscured from 10.08am
Views of a partial solar eclipse will be “somewhat fleeting” across certain parts of the UK due to cloudy skies, forecasters have said.
But those in central and south-east England will have clear spells to witness the spectacle, according to the Met Office. On Thursday morning, skygazers will be able to see nearly a third of the sun being blocked out by the moon in what is known as an annular eclipse.
Continue reading...G7 leaders in the UK: what are their agendas?
Joe Biden wants alternative to Chinese belt and road offer while Japanese PM’s interests are more domestic
Leaders of the world’s seven leading industrialised nations will meet in Cornwall this weekend to agree a communique on how to redraw the world post-Covid, but also to pursue their own agendas and try to forge new personal relations after nearly 18 months apart.
1. Joe Biden has restored order, calm and direction to US international alliances, but now has to show what he will do with that goodwill.
Continue reading...From Russia to Brexit: the key issues at the G7 summit
The top items on the leaders’ agenda for this week’s gathering at Cornwall, and some possible outcomes
World leaders are gathering for the G7 summit in Cornwall this week. Here we look at the key themes that will dominate their meeting and what might constitute a successful outcome from discussions:
Continue reading...EU-UK talks on Northern Ireland appear close to collapse on eve of G7
‘Patience wearing very thin,’ says EU negotiator, while Joe Biden expected to raise ‘deep concerns’ about issue at summit
Talks between the EU and the UK over Northern Ireland appear on the brink of collapse as London indicated it was still considering unilateral action to keep unhindered supplies flowing from Great Britain into the region.
The European commission vice-president, Maroš Šefčovič, said patience was “wearing very, very thin” and described the relationship with the UK as “at a crossroads”.
Continue reading...Covid contract case throws light on government’s relationship with truth
Rather than apologise after defeat, the government issued a statement at odds even with its own case
Cronyism will be the main accusation made against the government after the high court ruling that the Cabinet Office acted unlawfully, with “apparent bias,” when it awarded a contract last March to a company run by long-term associates of Michael Gove and Dominic Cummings.
But the Good Law Project’s victory, and the Cabinet Office tumult during the pandemic that it exposed, has raised another fundamental question about integrity: the government’s relationship with the truth.
Continue reading...From rule of six to 6,500 police: Cornwall hosts first Covid-era G7
Alongside coronavirus measures, huge security operation under way as thousands plan to join protests
Everybody from the most junior official to the president of the United States will have to follow the rules. Take daily Covid tests, wear masks at appropriate times and respect everything from one-way systems around venues to limits on how many people can gather around a table for a meal or drink.
Welcome to G7 UK 2021, the first world summit in the times of Covid.
Continue reading...Covid distancing may have weakened children’s immune system, experts say
End of social distancing and mask-wearing could leave children vulnerable to common bugs
Scientists are concerned that measures to combat Covid-19 have weakened the immune systems of young children who have not been able to build up resistance to common bugs, leaving them vulnerable when mask-wearing and social distancing eventually end.
Contact with viral pathogens happens on a fairly regular basis and although it does not always lead to sickness, the exposure helps shore the immune system against the threat should the bugs be encountered again.
Continue reading...Harry and Meghan reject claim Queen not consulted on Lilibet name
BBC correspondent says palace source claims Sussexes did not ask for permission to use name for daughter
Buckingham Palace has become embroiled in a row over whether the Queen was consulted over the naming of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s daughter.
Harry and Meghan’s decision to name their second child Lilibet, a childhood nickname of the Queen, was seen as an attempt by the couple to try to mend their rift with the royal family.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson urged to axe deadline for EU citizens to apply to stay in UK
More than 40 government-funded charities write to PM to call for lifting of ‘arbitrary’ 30 June cut-off date
More than 40 government-funded charities have written to Boris Johnson urging him to lift the 30 June deadline for EU citizens to apply to retain their rights to remain in the UK following Brexit.
The charities are all funded by the Home Office to provide support to vulnerable EU citizens including children and elderly people in care, victims of domestic abuse and trafficking, Roma communities and homeless people.
Continue reading...Half of adults in UK watched porn during pandemic, says Ofcom
Research shows PornHub has bigger audience than BBC News – and people increasingly live lives online
Half the adult population of the UK watched online pornography during the pandemic, according to a projection by Ofcom which lays bare the activities of the 26 million individuals who view adult material.
By far the most popular pornography site was PornHub, which was visited by 50% of all males and 16% of all females in the UK in September 2020 – giving the site a far larger audience than mainstream television channels such as Sky One, ITV4 and BBC News.
Continue reading...