City angered by apparent theft of bike chained to post near stencil of hula-hooping girl
A bicycle with a missing wheel accompanying a Banksy mural in Nottingham has vanished, prompting sadness and frustration in the city.
The artwork depicts a girl appearing to hula hoop with a tyre from the bike, which was chained to a nearby pole outside a beauty salon.
Continue reading...Proposals include plans to limit self-isolation and to allow household mixing at Christmas
A programme of mass, instant coronavirus testing is to be rolled out to areas of England with the highest infection rates after lockdown is lifted next month, the prime minister has announced, as the government faces an unprecedented internal rebellion over Covid measures.
Among the plans, which will rely on the ability to massively expand rapid testing systems across the country, is a scheme to stop people who have come into close contact with someone who has coronavirus from having to isolate for 14 days, if tests show they have not contracted it.
Continue reading...The wife of Hugh Lindsay, who was killed while skiing with Prince Charles, had asked show not to feature the disaster
The widow of a British army major who died in an avalanche while skiing with Prince Charles has criticised the producers of The Crown as “unkind” for dramatising the disaster against her wishes.
Major Hugh Lindsay, a former Queen’s equerry, was skiing off-piste at the Swiss resort of Klosters in 1988 with a group including senior royals when disaster struck, with his friend the Prince of Wales and others reported to have dug snow with their hands in a vain attempt to save his life.
Continue reading...Six people had been injured on Saturday night in Queen Street, in the city centre
Four teenagers were in custody on Sunday while police were granted special dispersal powers after a suspected stabbing attack in Cardiff city centre in which six people were injured.
Three people who suffered stab wounds remained at the University hospital of Wales, while another who suffered serious head injuries was at Llandough hospital in Penarth. Two people who suffered other injuries were discharged.
Continue reading...Letter to PM says move would send a terrible signal as UK prepares to host G7 and COP26
MPs from seven parties have urged the government not to cut the overseas aid budget, saying it had made the difference between life and death for countless people.
The intervention by MPs, including the Tory “father of the house”, Peter Bottomley, comes after it emerged that the Treasury was considering cutting more than £4bn from the aid budget and breaching a commitment to spend 0.7% of GDP on overseas assistance each year.
Continue reading...There are no grounds for breaking legal commitments or for turning our backs on countries and people at a time of great need, write Sam Hickey, Uma Kambhampati and others
News that the UK government is set to renege on its commitment to spending 0.7% of gross national income on foreign aid could not come at a worse time for the world’s poorest countries and people and for international cooperation more broadly (UK aid budget facing billions in cuts, 17 November). The World Bank estimates that the Covid-19 pandemic will push an extra 88-115 million people into extreme poverty this year alone, rolling back years of progress that UK aid has helped contribute to. While there is room for debate about the best way to set aid budgets, there are no grounds for breaking legal commitments or for turning our backs on countries and people at a time of great need.
Taken together with the parallel proposals to boost spending on national defence and to restrict employment within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office to British nationals – which will greatly limit the talent pool from which to recruit and undermine FCDO’s ability to operate effectively in different contexts – this latest move suggests Britain is rapidly becoming a parochial rather than progressive presence in the world. The UK, with its reputation as a global leader on foreign aid and for scientific excellence in vaccine development and beyond, remains well placed to play a leading role in both responding to the pandemic and helping to build a more equal, safer and sustainable global order.
Continue reading...Ironic take on corporate attire reboots yuppie look in age of The Crown and new Gossip Girl
In the ultimate moment of fashion revival, the 80s yuppie look is back – but with a difference. The “yindies” (young ironic nostalgic dresser), is bringing back the suited, Wall Street look but with a touch of knowing self-reference and elements of preppy style too.
The first cast photograph of the new Gossip Girl reboot, the current season of The Crown, which features Diana Spencer’s 1980s Sloane Ranger chic and the navy suit jacket of Donald Trump impersonator Sarah Cooper, have all riffed on the classic powersuit silhouette.
Continue reading...The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, declined to apologise for PPE contracts given to companies with links to MPs and ministers during the first wave of coronavirus.
Appearing on BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show, Sunak was questioned on the government's purchase of 50 million face masks from Ayanda Capital that were later deemed unusable for NHS workers.
'It was right to try to do everything we can, and I'm not going to apologise for us reacting in that way,' Sunak said.
Continue reading...Former teacher Ken Morgan’s passport was confiscated as he travelled back from funeral in Jamaica in 1994
A former English teacher who was blocked for 25 years from returning to his home in Britain after his passport was wrongly confiscated has been ruled ineligible for British citizenship due to the length of his absence from the UK.
Ken Morgan, 70, described the decision as a “ridiculous catch-22”, and said the sole reason he was absent for such a protracted period was because he was barred by British officials from travelling to the UK. He has requested a review.
Continue reading...SNP hopes to emulate Spain’s lucrative paradores in a drive to boost jobs, tourism and heritage preservation
Just outside Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, on the side of a steep cliff overlooking the North Sea, sits Dunnottar castle. Once a medieval fortress, the picturesque ruins are open to the public for days out but have not boasted overnight visitors since the likes of Mary Queen of Scots and her son James VI in the 16th century. Now, under new proposals to be debated at the Scottish National party conference next weekend, Dunnottar could become one of a number of Scottish castles to be transformed into high-end but affordable hotels.
The plan is based on the model of Spain’s paradores, government-run historically significant buildings such as churches, castles and stately homes, often in areas underserved by tourism. They have existed in Spain since 1928 and include iconic sites such as Parador de Santiago de Compostela, which began life in 1499 as a hospital for pilgrims travelling to Santiago and is considered to be the oldest hotel in the world. Today, Spain has nearly 100 paradores, including fortresses, convents, monasteries and even a former prison and asylum. In 2019, they generated a turnover of €261m (£230m) for the country’s economy.
Continue reading...As our climate changes, unseasonal sightings of migrant birds are on the rise, including one spotted this month
At first, I assumed it was a starling. But as the bird rose into the cloudy November sky, I realised it was actually a juvenile swallow, fully two months after I would expect to see one here in Somerset.
Swallows are the classic spring and summer visitor to our shores; the proverbial sign that winter is over and spring has finally arrived. Having returned here from their homes in Africa in late March or early April, they settle down to raise two or sometimes three broods of young before heading back south in early October.
Continue reading...One woman is killed by a man every three days in the UK – a figure unchanged in a decade. A new census analyses this epidemic of male violence
In 2013, Sasha Marsden, a 16-year-old student, went to a Blackpool hotel for what she thought was an interview for a part-time cleaning job. The man she met, David Minto, 23, had lured her there on false pretences. He then sexually assaulted her and stabbed her 58 times. Sasha could only be identified by DNA taken from her toothbrush. Minto was sentenced to 35 years in prison, but for Sasha’s family, their grief has no time limit.
Gemma Aitchison, Sasha’s sister, set up YES Matters UK in response to the killing. “I wanted to know why this happened to Sasha and what I could do about it,” she explains. Part of what her organisation does is to talk to young people about consent, body image, pornography and media influence. “What I know now is that as long as women are treated as objects and not people, we will continue to be disposable.”
Continue reading...HM Coastguard scrambles rescue helicopter and lifeboats after receiving distress beacon from fishing vessel
One man has been pulled from the water and two are still missing after a fishing boat sank off the coast of East Sussex. HM Coastguard scrambled a search and rescue helicopter after receiving an EPIRB distress beacon from fishing vessel Joanna C at 6am on Saturday.
The rescue helicopter based at Lydd, Kent, was deployed along with two RNLI lifeboats based in Newhaven and Eastbourne to try to find the missing boat. The beacon’s signal put the vessel three nautical miles off the coast of Seaford, near Newhaven.
Continue reading...7,000 demonstrate against health and education cuts amid Covid and hurricane crises
Hundreds of protesters broke into Guatemala’s Congress and burned part of the building on Saturday amid growing demonstrations against president Alejandro Giammattei and the legislature for approving a budget that cut educational and health spending.
The protest came as about 7,000 people were demonstrating in front of the National Palace in Guatemala City against the budget, which protesters say was negotiated and passed by legislators in secret while the Central American country was distracted by the fallout of back-to-back hurricanes and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Continue reading...Legal action targets appointments of Dido Harding, Kate Bingham and Mike Coupe
Boris Johnson and his health secretary, Matt Hancock, acted “unlawfully” when appointing three key figures – including the head of NHS Test and Trace, Dido Harding – to posts in the fight against Covid-19, according to a legal challenge submitted by campaigners to the high court.
The Observer has seen details of documents from those pursuing the case – and initial responses from government lawyers – relating to the call for a judicial review into the appointment of Baroness Harding, who is a Tory peer, and into those of Kate Bingham to the post of head of the UK’s vaccine taskforce and Mike Coupe to the role of director of testing at NHS Test and Trace.
Continue reading...PM set to announce end to lockdown before trying to broker national agreement on family gatherings
Boris Johnson will meet his cabinet remotely on Sunday to decide how people will be able to gather with loved ones at Christmas, before the announcement of a new Covid winter plan.
The prime minister, who is self-isolating, will then confirm by video to parliament on Monday that national restrictions will end on 2 December and be replaced by the three-tier regional system, with even tighter controls in some areas.
Continue reading...Observer/Opinium poll also finds switch in support for political leadership
Most of the public would rather have a locked-down Christmas than have a new lockdown imposed in January, a new poll suggests.
With the government considering the extent to which restrictions should be lifted to limit the impact on Christmas family gatherings, the latest Opinium poll for the Observer found that the public opted for a locked-down Christmas over new January restrictions by a margin of 54% to 33%.
Continue reading...Conservative government says agreement paves the way for new bespoke deal with Canada
The UK and Canada have agreed to continue trading under the same terms as the current EU agreement after the Brexit transition period ends.
The Conservative government said the agreement paved the way for negotiations to begin next year on a new comprehensive deal with Canada, which has long been trumpeted as one of the benefits of the UK leaving the EU.
Continue reading...Calls come after Guardian finds UK sourced PPE from factories in China where North Koreans work in modern slavery
MPs and experts in the procurement of personal protective equipment have said human rights must not be “trampled” in the rush to secure PPE for frontline workers via global supply chains.
The calls come after a Guardian investigation found evidence that the British government had sourced PPE from factories in China where hundreds of North Korean women have been secretly working in conditions of modern slavery.
Continue reading...Former prime ministers say widely expected move to cut budget is ‘strategic mistake’
Former prime ministers David Cameron and Tony Blair have warned against plans to cut the overseas aid budget, calling the idea a “strategic mistake”.
The chancellor, Rishi Sunak, is widely expected to pare back the UK’s commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on overseas aid to 0.5% in next week’s spending review.
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