The Guardian’s former deputy editor recalls his time reporting from Belfast during the Troubles
Paul Johnson has a vivid memory of one of his most dispiriting moments as the Guardian’s Ireland correspondent.
It was April 1986 and he was covering a Democratic Unionist party (DUP) conference. A warmup speaker for the party leader, Ian Paisley, electrified the audience with a suggestion.
Continue reading...Locals in the port of Granville think the row between France and the UK over fishing makes no sense
If you look out to sea from the Christian Dior museum on the cliffs above Granville, you see the grey outline of what appears to be another part of the Norman coast.
It is. But it isn’t.
Continue reading...Steve Aiken’s move throws unionism in Northern Ireland into further flux after Arlene Foster was forced to quit
Political unionism in Northern Ireland has been thrown into further flux after the leader of the Ulster Unionist party announced his resignation.
Steve Aiken’s move comes 10 days after the Democratic Unionist party leader Arlene Foster was forced to quit after an internal heave against her.
Continue reading...First minister says there is ‘no democratic justification’ for No 10 denying second vote
Nicola Sturgeon has pledged to press ahead with plans for a second independence referendum after the Scottish National party won its fourth consecutive Holyrood election, triggering a constitutional battle with Boris Johnson.
In a letter issued before the final results were declared, Johnson attempted to blunt Sturgeon’s attack by urging the first minister and her opposite numbers in Wales and Northern Ireland to join a UK-wide Covid recovery summit involving all four governments.
Continue reading...German chancellor says US should export more of its supplies; outgoing chief of UK taskforce says population should be protected before winter
Italy plans to lift quarantine restrictions for travellers arriving from European countries, including Britain and Israel, as early as mid-May to revive the tourism industry, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said on Saturday.
After meeting Health Minister Roberto Speranza to discuss the easing of restrictions for countries where vaccination levels are high, Di Maio said, quarantine requirements may also be scrapped for those arriving from the United States from June.
Tourism is an important key to Italy’s restart, and we need to plan the summer well so that health, economy and work are not put in danger.
With Minister Roberto Speranza we had a first confrontation on reopening measures to foreign tourists who want to visit our country this summer.
The German chancellor Angela Merkel said Europeans could forward to travelling this summer if coronavirus cases continue declining on the continent.
While the European Union is developing a vaccine certificate, valid throughout the 27-nation bloc, summer holidays should be possible again for people who haven’t had their shots against the virus, the chancellor said.
Merkel said that Germany also appears to have broken its most recent outbreak.
“Step by step, more will be possible in Germany, too, wherever the incidence drops, and that will hopefully be the case for all of Europe,” she said.
Continue reading...All the latest news and results as counts continue in England and Scotland after Thursday’s elections
Scotland’s first list results are out, with Central Scotland declaring the following:
First list declaration out - for Central Scotland, it's Leonard (Lab) Kerr (Con), Lennon (Lab), Simpson (Con), Griffin (Lab), Gallacher (Con), Mackay (Green). So three Labour, three Tory, and one Green.
Asked whether it was realistic to have a referendum in the first half of parliament, Nicola Sturgeon said that while getting through the pandemic has to come first, it looks as though it is “beyond any doubt that there will be a pro-independence majority in Scottish parliament”.
She told BBC News: “By any normal standard of democracy that majority should have the commitments it made to the people honoured.
Continue reading...Suspension of GWR and LNER services preventing many from reaching events such as funerals, holidays and family meetings
Rail passengers are facing significant disruption after cracks were found on high-speed trains, with services on Great Western Railway and London North Eastern Railway services suspended.
People who wrote to the Guardian via a callout shared how they had been affected by the train chaos, from struggling to travel to the funeral of a loved one to cancelling long-awaited birthday picnics with friends.
Continue reading...Gene-screening, as is used to detect some breast cancer risks, could save thousands of lives
Scientists have begun work to create a prostate cancer screening service for the UK. In a few years, middle-aged men could be tested to reveal their genetic susceptibility to the condition, with those deemed to be under significant threat of developing it being offered treatment or surgery.
The service would tackle a disease that has become the nation’s most commonly diagnosed cancer and would parallel Britain’s breast cancer screening programme. Every year, more than 47,500 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer: 129 a day on average. More than 11,500 deaths from the disease occur each year, with one in eight men being diagnosed with prostate cancer at some time in their lives.
Continue reading...Head of a Bear is to be sold in London in July by Christie’s auction house
A drawing of a bear by Leonardo da Vinci is expected to fetch up to £12m at auction.
The picture, titled Head of a Bear, is being sold in London by Christie’s. It will go on display in New York and Hong Kong before being auctioned and is expected to fetch between £8m and £12m, according to the auction house.
Continue reading...A roundup of the coverage on struggles for human rights and freedoms, from Colombia to China
Continue reading...Save the Children’s analysis finds Britain will spend 80% less on nutrition abroad this year, as hunger levels rise around the world
Britain is set to spend 80% less on helping feed children in poorer nations than before the pandemic, according to a charity’s analysis.
Save the Children said the British government will spend less than £26m this year on vital nutrition services in developing countries, a drop of more than three-quarters from 2019. The estimate of aid cuts to nutrition comes after UN agencies called for urgent action to avert famine in 20 countries including Yemen, South Sudan and northern Nigeria.
Continue reading...A cat was carried away from a polling station in Kirkwall, Orkney as people voted in crucial Scottish elections.
The SNP won five of the first six seats to be declared, although there was an increase in support in some areas for opposition pro-union parties, indicating the final outcome of the election could be very close
Senior coroner says there needs to be an investigation into what may have been the ‘unnatural’ death of Belly Mujinga
An inquest will held into the death of Belly Mujinga, the railway worker who died with Covid-19 after an alleged incident where she was coughed on and spat at by a customer.
Mujinga, 47, died last April, two weeks after the alleged incident on the concourse at London’s Victoria station where she worked as a sales clerk for Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR).
Continue reading...Leader says party considering moving HQ out of London to show it represents the whole country after May election defeats
The Conservatives inflicted a historic byelection defeat on Labour and regained the Tees Valley mayoralty by a landslide as Keir Starmer conceded his party had lost the trust of working people across England.
The Labour leader, who called the local election results “bitterly disappointing”, is considering moving his party’s headquarters out of London to reflect Labour’s determination to show that it represents the whole country, party sources told the Guardian.
Continue reading...Turkey, Maldives and Nepal are expected to be added to a red list while Israel will be among the green list countries, the UK transport secretary, Grant Shapps, announced.
Popular travel destinations France and Spain were not included in the green list announced on Friday, but Shapps assured there would be a review every three weeks.
Continue reading...Destinations on green list include Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, Brunei and Israel
Portugal and Israel are among a dozen countries which have been placed on England’s first ever “green list”, allowing people to go abroad from 17 May and return home without the need to quarantine.
Announcing the first easing of tight restrictions on foreign travel in months, the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, said people would soon be able to book foreign holidays and make trips to see friends or relatives living overseas. He also announced plans to make digital vaccine passports available.
Continue reading...Joe Biden did not appear downhearted by a disappointing jobs report: he said it would not be a sprint, but 'a marathon' after April's report severely missed economists' expectations.
The president noted his $1.9tn coronavirus relief package, which he signed into law in March, was meant to aid the US economy over the course of a year and insisted the country is 'moving in the right direction' as businesses begin to reopen
Continue reading...Their families have been fishing here for decades but despite promises of frictionless trade, the market for their fish is disappearing
Steph Noel, who has been fishing the waters off Jersey for almost four decades, could not see the point of chugging out to sea in his 8.5-metre boat, Belle Bird, this weekend.
“There’s no value in it for me,” he said. “It’ll cost me in bait and diesel but even if I have a good day there’s no market there for what I bring back.”
Continue reading...Exclusive: BBC faces questions as further allegations made about Clarke – and co-star John Barrowman is accused of exposing himself
The Noel Clarke sexual harassment controversy threatens to embroil the BBC after several sources came forward to allege they were sexually harassed or inappropriately touched by the actor on a flagship show, Doctor Who.
Another Doctor Who actor, John Barrowman, has also been accused of repeatedly exposing himself to co-workers on two BBC productions, prompting questions about whether the corporation allowed a lax culture on its sets during the mid-2000s.
Continue reading...James Gibbons, 34, died soon after he was attacked near his home in Laindon, police say
A 16-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of James Gibbons, who was stabbed to death in Laindon, Essex.
Police said that the 34-year-old father of four died soon after he was attacked in the street where he lived, at about 9.30pm on Sunday.
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