Category Archives: Leeds

Leeds 2023: city to kick off year-long festival with ‘epic’ opening ceremony

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Organisers plough on with plans after Brexit meant Leeds missed chance to be European capital of culture

When Leeds was denied its chance to become European capital of culture in 2023 due to Brexit, it should have been the killing blow to what it had been hoped would be a massive year-long cultural celebration.

But, refusing to be beaten, cultural leaders ploughed ahead regardless, and now almost a decade of planning and ideating will culminate on Saturday in the launch of Leeds 2023, the city-wide cultural festival.

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Woman groomed and abused in care gets apology after 30 years

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Leeds city council letter accepting responsibility believed to be the first of its kind

Carrie* is no stranger to a legal challenge. In 2018, alongside other women, she won a landmark case against the Home Office when she challenged a requirement that prostitution offences, including those acquired below the age of 18, be disclosed under criminal record checks.

While Carrie, now 49, was giving a detailed statement to her lawyer dealing with this case, she described her time in care. Her childhood was dominated by neglect, sexual abuse and exploitation. It became clear to her lawyers that there was a second case – against the body responsible for the child protection services that failed her so badly: Leeds city council.

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Sebastian Kalinowski: couple jailed for murdering teenage son

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Agnieszka Kalinowska and Andrzej Latoszewski sentenced to 39 years for torturing boy to death

A woman and her partner have each been sentenced to 39 years in prison for the “horrific” murder of 15-year-old Sebastian Kalinowski.

Agnieszka Kalinowska, 36, and Andrzej Latoszewski, 38, were convicted at Leeds crown court in July of murdering Kalinowska’s son at their home in Huddersfield in a prolonged campaign of physical abuse amounting to torture.

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Leeds festival: boy, 16, dies in suspected drug incident

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Police say teenager may have taken ‘particular type’ of ecstasy or MDMA tablet, grey or black and oblong-shaped

A 16-year-old boy has died after falling ill at Leeds festival, according to police who have launched an investigation into whether he had taken an ecstasy tablet.

The teenager fell ill on Saturday at the music event at the city’s Bramham Park and was taken to hospital, but died on Sunday. West Yorkshire police said they were looking into whether he had taken a particular type of MDMA.

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Saudi snitching app appears to have been used against jailed Leeds student

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‘Terrifying tool’ under scrutiny as Salma al-Shehab’s tweets suggest widely available phone app was used to report her

The Saudi woman who was sentenced to 34 years in prison for a tweet appears to have been denounced to Saudi authorities through a crime-reporting app that users in the kingdom can download to Apple and Android phones.

A review of Leeds PhD student Salma al-Shehab’s tweets and interactions shows she was messaged by a person using a Saudi account on 15 November, 2020 after she posted a mildly critical tweet in response to a Saudi government post about a new public transportation contract.

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Saudi woman given 34-year prison sentence for using Twitter

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Salma al-Shehab, a Leeds University student, was charged with following and retweeting dissidents and activists

A Saudi student at Leeds University who had returned home to the kingdom for a holiday has been sentenced to 34 years in prison for having a Twitter account and for following and retweeting dissidents and activists.

The sentencing by Saudi’s special terrorist court was handed down weeks after the US president Joe Biden’s visit to Saudi Arabia, which human rights activists had warned could embolden the kingdom to escalate its crackdown on dissidents and other pro-democracy activists.

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‘If there is anywhere that can put on a party’: UK cities bid to host Eurovision

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Sheffield, Glasgow and others tell why they should play host after decision not to hold event in Ukraine

In 1956 Sheffield became, it is believed, the first UK city to officially twin with one behind the iron curtain, partnering with a similar steel and mining-rich place then called Stalino, but later Donetsk.

It is the reason that there is a Shefield Square on the banks of the River Kalmius. In Sheffield there’s a long, busy road called Donetsk Way. And it those links that are one reason the Yorkshire city is now bidding to host next year’s Eurovision song contest, which is coming to the UK but, everyone agrees, should really be in Ukraine.

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North of England rail services to receive £11.5bn investment

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From 2025, commuters can expect two extra trains every hour between Manchester and York and journey times up to 40% shorter

Train services in the north of England are to be given triple the intended investment after the government announced the first part of its £96bn integrated rail plan.

The multibillion pound plan – announced last November – pledged to deliver faster train journeys more quickly than the original plans for the HS2 eastern leg and Northern Powerhouse Rail.

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Liz Truss criticised for saying her Leeds school ‘let down’ children

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Local MP and councillor angered by comments about Roundhay school, rated ‘satisfactory’ when foreign secretary attended

Tory leadership candidate Liz Truss has been criticised for comments about the quality of education at her Leeds school, which she claims caused children to be “let down”.

Speaking at the launch of her economic plan, the foreign secretary is expected to describe seeing “children who failed and were let down by low expectations” during her time at Roundhay school in the 1990s.

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Boat owners on UK’s longest canal stuck amid record water shortage

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A lack of recent rainfall forces part of the Leeds-Liverpool canal to shut while 5 million face a hosepipe ban

Boat owners on the UK’s longest canal will not be able to move their boats next week, due to a water shortage, while 5 million people have been warned they may be soon facing a hosepipe ban.

Stretches of the Leeds-Liverpool canal will be closed during periods next week after a lack of rainfall has led to low levels in some Yorkshire and Lancashire reservoirs, leaving canal locks unable to be filled.

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Death of woman with epilepsy may be re-examined after Diane Stewart case

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Exclusive: mother of Emily Whelan hopes tests that helped prove Stewart was murdered may shed light on daughter’s death

The mother of a woman with epilepsy who died in 2016 hopes the high-profile murder of Diane Stewart could hold the key to establishing her daughter’s cause of death.

Emily Whelan, 25, was found unresponsive in her bedroom in Leeds on 7 November 2016 and pronounced dead the next day at Leeds general infirmary.

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David Oluwale: blue plaque for victim of police racism stolen hours after unveiling

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Theft from Leeds Bridge of memorial to British-Nigerian man who drowned in river in 1969 treated as hate crime

Detectives have launched a hate crime investigation after a blue plaque commemorating David Oluwale, a British-Nigerian man who died in 1969 after being harassed by police, was stolen within hours after being unveiled on Leeds Bridge.

An event to mark the installation of the plaque, attended by the leader of Leeds city council, was held between 5pm and 7pm on Monday and by 10pm it had been taken. The theft followed racist graffiti being daubed on the office of Leeds Civic Trust – which installs blue plaques in the city – on Sunday night.

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‘I’m one of them’: the FGM survivor providing a lifeline in Leeds

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Stigma can stop women seeking help but Hawa Bah, who was cut at eight, reaches those suffering in silence to get them the care they need


One night 14 years ago, Hawa Bah crept out of her house in Guinea and slipped into the darkness. She says she had lost count but it may have been her 14th or 15th escape attempt from an abusive marriage she was forced into with a man 37 years her senior.

Bah made her way through a maze of streets to the meeting point where a car was waiting with two strangers inside. When they took her to the airport, Bah felt her heart beating through her chest. She had not realised until then that she would be leaving her country. Aged 17, she had no belongings and no idea where she was going.

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UK academic sues university after losing role in critical race theory row

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Aysha Khanom claims discrimination after Leeds Beckett accused her of using ‘racist language’ in tweets

An academic is suing Leeds Beckett University after she was dropped from her advisory role over tweets calling a mixed-race man a “house negro”, alleging the decision was discriminatory because of her belief in critical race theory and Black radicalism.

The university ended its association with the academic adviser Aysha Khanom after accusing her of “racist language” in relation to tweets using the terms “house negro” and “coconut” – the former in a question.

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Family who fear daughter was killed sue Leeds NHS trust after body decomposes

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Exclusive: pathologist unable to rule out third-party involvement in Emily Whelan’s death because of condition of corpse

The family of a woman who they suspect was killed is suing a health trust that allegedly stored her corpse incorrectly, allowing it to decompose to the point that experts were unable to rule out third-party involvement in her death, the Guardian can reveal.

Emily Whelan, 25, was found unresponsive in her bedroom in Leeds on 7 November 2016 and was rushed by ambulance to Leeds General Infirmary (LGI). Her family was told that Emily, who had epilepsy, had experienced a seizure, but she had never had any significant issues with the condition she had managed since childhood.

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Coronavirus UK: Sage expert warns of 100 deaths a day within four weeks

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‘We need to make sure that transmission comes down now,’ says Prof Graham Medley

The UK’s daily coronavirus death toll will rise from 34 to 100 a day in three to four weeks’ time, an expert on the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) has warned.

Infectious disease modelling expert Prof Graham Medley said there is little that can be done now to prevent daily deaths climbing to 100 – but “we need to make sure transmission comes down now” to prevent the figure increasing further.

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Covid-19: UK test and trace ‘barely functional’ as 11 million face lockdown

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With local lockdowns set to spread, report shows 90% of tests failing to hit turnaround target

The coronavirus test and trace system was condemned as “barely functional” today as its tsar admitted that demand was up to four times capacity, while 90% of tests were failing to hit the 24-hour turnaround target.

The Guardian has seen documents showing tracers taking up to two weeks to contact friends, relatives and workmates of people diagnosed with Covid-19 – the entire length of the self-isolation period.

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Preston faces fresh coronavirus lockdown, health official says

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Strict rules could be reimposed in days after cases double in a week in Lancashire city

Preston is facing a fresh lockdown within days after local coronavirus infections surged, a public health official has said.

Cases of the disease in the Lancashire city have doubled in a week, and Preston could follow in the footsteps of nearby east Lancashire, Greater Manchester and parts of West Yorkshire by reintroducing stringent lockdown rules.

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Test and trace failing to contact thousands in England’s worst-hit areas

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Exclusive: proportion of close contacts being reached is below 80% in high infection areas

The government’s flagship test-and-trace system is failing to contact thousands of people in areas with the highest infection rates in England, raising further questions about the £10bn programme described by Boris Johnson as “world-beating”.

Local leaders and directors of public health are demanding more control over the tracing operation amid concerns that their ability to contain the virus is being put at risk.

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Talk like an Egyptian: mummy’s voice heard 3,000 years after death

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Researchers in UK recreate Nesyamun’s sound using 3D version of his vocal tract

The “voice” of an ancient Egyptian priest has been heard for the first time since he died and was mummified 3,000 years ago, researchers have said.

Nesyamun lived under the pharaoh Rameses XI, who reigned around the beginning of the 11th century BC.

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