Issues of bigotry, belonging, race and redemption and are unpicked in this majestic biopic of police officer Leroy Logan
Steve McQueen’s five-movie series for the BBC, Small Axe, only gets more thrilling and captivating with the appearance of this new episode at the New York film festival. He is setting new gold standard for drama – and cinema – on screens of any size.
Related: Lovers Rock review – Steve McQueen throws the best party ever
Continue reading...Labour leader blasts government for its lack of leadership and U-turns, as he outlines his own five-point plan to fight the virus
Boris Johnson has “lost control” of the fight against Covid-19 and has no clear strategy for defeating the virus, the Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer says today in his most savage attack yet on the government’s handling of the pandemic.
Accusing the prime minister of “serial incompetence”, Starmer says the British people have been let down and left angry and confused by policies that change almost every week, and as the death toll and rate of infections rise at alarming rates.
Continue reading...Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s three children quiz veteran broadcaster on his passion for nature
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s children have shared their passion for animals with Sir David Attenborough in an adorable video.
Prince George, seven, Princess Charlotte, five, and Prince Louis, two, quizzed the 94-year-old broadcaster in a video recorded at Kensington Palace in August. Princess Charlotte revealed that she likes spiders, and Attenborough told Prince Louis that his favourite animals were monkeys.
Continue reading...UK and EU leaders instruct chief negotiators to work harder to close gaps on deal
Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen have approved a further month of Brexit negotiations after agreeing that enough progress has been made to justify a last push to reach a deal on trade and security.
The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, will travel to London this week for talks with his British counterpart, David Frost, and the two sides will then hold follow-up talks in Brussels the week after.
Continue reading...Attention has turned to the White House ceremony where Donald Trump named his supreme court nominee as a potential super spreader event
China’s president, Xi Jinping, has joined world leaders in sending a message of sympathy to Donald and Melania Trump following their coronavirus diagnosis.
“My wife, Peng Liyuan, and I express our sympathies to you and your wife and wish you a fast recovery,” Chinese state media cited the message as saying.
North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has sent a message of sympathy to Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, expressing his hope that they will recover from coronavirus, state media reported.
“He sincerely hoped that they would recover as soon as possible. He hoped they will surely overcome it,” the Korean Central News Agency reported. “He sent warm greetings to them.”
Continue reading...A new bill could close loophole allowing under-18s to marry in England and Wales, as charities warn Covid has exacerbated hidden child marriage
When Payzee Mahmod was married at 16 to a man nearly twice her age she didn’t understand the words spoken during the Islamic ceremony – and nobody thought to translate them for her.
The teenager, who loved fashion and pop music, was preparing to start college. “I had just finished school and the idea of not wearing a uniform was exciting to me,” she remembers. “Instead I found myself trussed up in a wedding dress, with elaborate jewellery, feeling like a sale item at an auction.”
Continue reading...Legal Lifelines app intended to provide alternative evidence to police bodycam footage
A black criminal lawyer has designed a free app to allow anyone at risk of being stopped and searched by police to film incidents to ensure they have an “independent witness” to any interactions.
Michael Herford a criminal lawyer with Legal Lifelines, said the app could help provide a different perspective on an incident from police bodycam footage, or evidence when a police bodycam was not turned on or its footage was lost.
Continue reading...The director’s new Small Axe series kicks off with the landmark 1971 trial of the Mangrove Nine. It’s his aim to fill these gaps in British history, he says, and to open the industry to other black film-makers
Photographer Misan Harriman is gently cajoling actor Shaun Parkes as the sun burns through the morning cloud above St Michael’s church in Ladbroke Grove, west London. “Look at me as if you’re searching for redemption,” he says, as Parkes looks down the lens. “But it’s redemption for something you haven’t even done.” Parkes, who rose to prominence as a raver in Human Traffic but now has flecks of grey in his beard, doesn’t ask for more clarity; he simply flashes a look at the camera and then slowly changes pose.
Today Parkes and Harriman, who recently shot Vogue’s “Activism Now” September issue, along with portraits of Black Lives Matter protesters, are revisiting the west London area that is the setting of Steve McQueen’s new film, Mangrove. It’s a glorious September morning and, despite the Covid-19 restrictions, the cafes are busy and the flower shops open. It’s hard to imagine that 50 years earlier, a few streets away, there was a pitched battle between the police and protesters that would help change the way Britain thought about race. Parkes plays Frank Crichlow, the real-life figure at the heart of McQueen’s film, which centres on Notting Hill’s Mangrove restaurant and nine West Indians who fought police harassment and then a court case. The look of redemption that Harriman is searching for is something Crichlow and the Mangrove Nine earned the hard way.
Continue reading...Low-pressure area following Storm Alex could bring up to 120mm to parts of Wales and south-west England
Heavy rain is forecast for large parts of the UK after gusts of 71mph hit the south-west of the country.
The Met Office said persistent downpours could bring flooding and disruption to some areas over the weekend. It has issued weather warnings covering large areas of the country.
Continue reading...British newspaper front pages as the US president, Donald Trump, goes into hospital with coronavirus
Some of the UK papers play the big story of the moment with a fairly straight bat but others draw attention to the irony of Donald Trump testing positive for coronavirus, having repeatedly played down the pandemic.
The i puts one of the president’s innumerable tweets at the centre of its front page. The headline is “Covid-19 in the White House” and the tweet from February says: “The Coronavirus is very much under control in the USA”.
Continue reading...Buoyed by support for idea from Angela Merkel, PM hopes to overcome French opposition
Boris Johnson will demand that the increasingly isolated French president, Emmanuel Macron, caves in to UK demands on fishing as the price for a trade and security deal at a key meeting with the European commission president on Saturday.
The prime minister will speak to Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday afternoon in a video-conference call to “take stock of negotiations and discuss next steps”.
Continue reading...Benjamin Thomas pleaded guilty to 40 offences over 30 years, mainly against teenage boys
A former pastor and BBC television presenter has been jailed for 10 years and four months after he admitted abusing boys and men over almost three decades.
Ben Thomas, 44, carried out many of his attacks while his victims were sleeping at Christian camps and conferences, Mold crown court in north Wales heard.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson has wished Donald and Melania Trump a 'strong recovery', hours after the US president revealed he and his wife had tested positive for coronavirus
Bars and restaurants in Paris face closure from Monday; Turkey condemned for underreporting cases; Scottish National Party lawmaker suspended after travelling by train despite positive test. Follow the latest updates
In the UK, strictly Come Dancing contestant HRVY has tested positive for coronavirus, just over two weeks before the launch of the new series.
The singer and YouTube star, whose real name is Harvey Leigh Cantwell, announced the news on social media, telling fans he does not have any symptoms and is now isolating for 10 days.
Related: Strictly Come Dancing contestant HRVY tests positive for Covid-19
The death toll in India, which has the second-highest number of cases worldwide, is nearing the grim milestone of 100,000. There are currently 98,678 deaths confirmed on the Johns Hopkins University tracker.
India’s deaths are the third-highest worldwide, after Brazil with 143,952 and the US with 207,651.
Continue reading...Health body gives green light to second test that gives results in up to 30 minutes; Spanish capital is Europe’s worst hotspot
France reported 12,148 new Covid-19 infections over the past 24 hours, the French health ministry said.
Friday’s figure is lower than Thursday’s 13,970 and well below highs of over 16,000 seen last week.
The Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, and his wife, Jill, have tested negative for coronavirus, their doctor said in a statement on Friday.
“Vice-president Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden underwent PCR testing for Covid-19 today and Covid-19 was not detected,” Dr Kevin O’Connor said in a statement.
Continue reading...A full investigation will take place following the fatal incident in Yorkshire
A driver has died during a British land speed record attempt.
A full investigation is to take place into the circumstances of the incident at Elvington airfield to the east of York on Thursday afternoon.
Continue reading...Government recommends no social mixing between people from different households in these areas; NHS Test and Trace going backwards
Council leaders and MPs from Merseyside have issued a joint statement describing today’s new restrictions as “a step in the right direction”.
But they are also saying the government should publish the scientific evidence showing why the government thinks these measures will be enough.
The measures announced today are a step toward restricting the spread but we need to understand if they are enough to arrest the rise cases across our region.
We're asking for Government to share their scientific evidence and provide us with more substantial financial support. pic.twitter.com/8gV1uJs87n
Graham Morgan, the leader of Knowsley council, says the new restrictions announced for Merseyside this morning may not be enough.
I'm still concerned that these new COVID-19 restrictions won't be enough to stop the spread of the virus here. We're at a critical point & need swift, effective solutions to protect our residents. Our conversations with Government will continue. https://t.co/Z5DZ8azYDl
Continue reading...Africa approaching 1.5m cases across its 54 countries; Italy could extend government powers to January; record cases high in Ukraine
Sweden has registered its highest daily Covid caseload since June, with 752 new infections recorded on Thursday, though no new related deaths have been recorded.
The Scandinavian country has shunned lockdowns, leaving most schools, restaurants and businesses open throughout the pandemic. Thursday’s rise was the highest since 30 June, when the health agency recorded just over 800 new cases.
The mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, has said infections in Russia’s capital are rising by about 2,000 a day, and ordered employers to transfer at least 30% of staff to remote work.
Writing on his blog, Sobyanin said the rate of Covid-19 hospitalisations was also rising by around 5,000 per week.
Continue reading...UK put on formal notice over internal market bill, which ministers admit breaks international law
The EU has launched legal action against the UK after Boris Johnson failed to respond to Brussels’ demand that he drop legislation that would overwrite the withdrawal agreement and break international law.
Ursula von der Leyen, the European commission president, announced that the UK had been put on formal notice over the internal market bill tabled by the prime minister last month.
Continue reading...Matthew Rycroft tells MPs civil service is considering all ways to improve migration system
The top civil servant at the Home Office has said “all options are on the table” for the migration system, in response to reports officials were asked to consider proposals to hold refugees in offshore detention centres, including remote islands in the south Atlantic.
Matthew Rycroft, the department’s permanent secretary, said the Cabinet Office would lead an inquiry into the leak of documents that revealed officials were asked to consider “possible options for negotiating an offshore asylum processing facility similar to the Australian model in Papua New Guinea and Nauru”.
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