Online appeal and detective work by local historian help to return keepsake to couple’s sone after it had been stolen
When Andrew Bedford discovered an old wedding album dumped outside his city centre cafe in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, he considered chucking it into a nearby wheelie bin.
But when he opened the album, the vintage photographs of the happy couple on their wedding day in 1957 seemed too precious to throw away.
Continue reading...Calls for planned fuel duty rise to be scrapped as analysis finds average fuel bill could hit £1,965, up from £1,294
Millions of British van drivers face a combined £2.5bn cost to cover the rising price of diesel this year, according to figures, fuelling calls for the government to scrap its planned fuel duty rise.
The owners of diesel vans and pickups can expect to collectively spend almost £8.5bn at the pump this year, according to analysis for the Guardian, after diesel prices climbed to record highs due to a global fuel shortage caused by disruption to refineries in the Middle East and Russia.
Continue reading...Council car parks have switched away from ticket machines to cut costs, leading to extra fees for users
Drivers are unwittingly paying up to 40% more to park as more councils switch to app-only payments and force customers to pick up the tab.
Many councils across England have removed pay and display machines and replaced them with app payments, including a number in London. Most local authorities encourage drivers to pay by app to beat queues, while apps are often the only way to pay when ticket machines are out of order. However, many car park signs fail to mention that app payments may incur an additional service fee.
Continue reading...India’s opposition parties and supporters of the ‘cockroach’ youth movement have been demonstrating against a controversial revision of election voter lists
Authorities in India’s capital closed six metro stations and warned of traffic disruptions on Monday, as opposition parties planned to march to the supreme court in protest against a controversial revision of voter lists that has sparked days of unrest in Delhi.
Opposition parties and supporters of the “cockroach” youth movement have taken to the streets almost daily this month to demand the resignation of chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over the revision that critics say benefits prime minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP).
Continue reading...Penny Wong welcomes Iraqi government’s decision to allow engineer to leave Baghdad but Pether’s team criticise timing of media statement
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Advisers to Australian Robert Pether have expressed concern about the timing of a statement from the foreign minister announcing his depature from Iraq, saying it was issued at a sensitive period while the engineer was still transiting through Turkey.
Penny Wong’s office issued a statement on Monday announcing that Pether had been allowed to leave Iraq after five years trapped in the country, including a four-year stint in jail that his family feared would kill him.
Continue reading...Mark Rowley says inclusivity is crucial for the force and he refuses to be ‘blown off course’ by critics
Mark Rowley has said the Metropolitan police must recruit more black and Asian officers in order to gain the trust of minority ethnic communities in London, and vowed not to be “blown off course by the culture wars”.
The right has criticised drives for diversity, claiming they lead to lower standards. Rowley, who is commissioner of the Met and Britain’s top police officer, said that as a leader of a major organisation he was prepared to take a stand against the “toxicity” surrounding the diversity debate and criticised other leaders for “running away from the subject”.
Continue reading...Post-recess statement will focus on damage caused by Brexit and the need to cooperate on immigration and trade
Andy Burnham will put Brexit back on the Commons agenda as MPs return from recess, warning that failing to pursue a better deal with the EU would be a “major dereliction of duty”.
The prime minister will use a statement to the Commons on the first day back after the party conference break to urge MPs to face up to the damage caused by Brexit, and embrace closer ties with the EU to increase economic growth and tackle illegal immigration.
Continue reading...Suspension of provincial government escalates standoff with Khan’s PTI party a week after his supporters began marching to demand his release
Pakistan has declared a state of emergency in a province led by Imran Khan’s PTI party and suspended its government, a move a party spokesperson described as “more of a coup disguised as emergency”.
President Asif Ali Zardari declared the emergency in the north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday, after the federal government said authorities there had failed to tackle Islamist militancy in the province bordering Afghanistan.
Continue reading...Father of toddler killed in Erie mass shooting says reported gunman never seemed distressed or out of the ordinary
The man who killed eight people, before turning the gun on himself, in a mass shooting in a home in Erie, Pennsylvania, on Friday was a grandfather who had not shown signs that he was capable of such violence, according to people who knew the shooter.
A man whose toddler was among those killed said on Sunday that the man never seemed distressed or out of the ordinary, the Associated Press reports.
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