title
stringlengths 52
119
| published_date
timestamp[s] | authors
stringclasses 1
value | description
stringlengths 70
166
| section
stringlengths 2
31
⌀ | content
stringlengths 95
22.2k
| link
stringlengths 34
73
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Laura Kuenssberg: Love it or hate it, the NHS is here to stay - BBC News | 2023-07-02T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | That it's almost impossible to discuss alternatives to the NHS is a tribute to its longevity, says Laura Kuenssberg. | UK Politics | The British have a love-hate relationship with the NHS.
According to researchers at the King's Fund, the public gave the NHS its worst rating since records began 40 years ago. Just 29% said they were satisfied with the NHS in 2022.
And yet we still love it. A whopping 90% of the public agrees the service should be free and available to everyone.
But with more than seven million people on waiting lists, almost everyone knows someone who isn't getting the care they need.
As the NHS approaches its 75th anniversary, politicians are falling over themselves to praise the service.
But when the cameras aren't rolling, the message you hear can be a very different one. Just like us, politicians have a love-hate relationship with the NHS.
"The whole system is paralysed and not improving - all the progress is going backwards." That's not the kind of thing you're likely to hear a minister say in public but it is the candid verdict of a former health minister talking privately.
They say the NHS chief executive has become the "rationer-in-chief" tasked with "spreading the jam more and more thinly" as the demand for care races ahead of what's available.
Another Conservative former minister tells me the "National Health Service is an oxymoron", a contradiction, because "the leadership is incredibly patchy and outcomes are mixed".
For Labour, a source says there is increasing "anxiety and jeopardy" about the future of the service and "it really is a case of change or die".
You'd be hard pressed to find a politician who would admit that services are being rationed but in off-the-record conversations that word comes up again and again.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Are you in a parallel universe on economy and NHS? - PM asked
One of the former ministers says "people have to understand that there is rationing according to wait" - saying that is the "trade-off" with the traditional model.
A former government adviser says "people know there is rationing - the service is pretty good when you get it - but you might not".
You won't find health rationing on any political leaflet or Facebook ad.
But the public's attachment to the concept of the NHS remains extremely strong. Before and after the pandemic voters are in no mood for a discussion about changing its core principles - despite all the problems.
The former government health adviser tells me that any serious conversation about fundamental change is nigh on impossible.
"Any sophisticated Tory politician knows they'd sign their own death warrant" if they raised the prospect of a wholesale change, they say.
Remember Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's proposal to fine patients if they missed a GP appointment? It was ditched almost as soon as it was suggested.
Another former official describes the public's strong emotional connection to the idea of the institution itself, saying: "It's like your family. I'll moan and moan and moan about it, but if someone else from outside has a go at them, I'll have them on toast. It's like criticising your football team - they can naff off!"
Plenty of politicians talk about reforms to the service - whether that is working with the private sector or this week's workforce plan. But whether it is required or not, it is almost unthinkable now that any mainstream politician would argue for a sweeping change to the whole system.
Of course, that has an impact on what governments choose to do to try and improve the service, which might not be the most effective long-term focus.
One former official suggests: "Politicians want solutions with easy metrics like cutting waiting lists.
"If you do cut them in the short term, that just means more operations, it doesn't address stopping people being ill in the first place."
A former minister says rather than go for bold reforms after the pandemic "we have gone straight back to the voodoo land of heroic pointless commitments that will never get met because as a country we are so ill".
Another suggests ministers are actually scared of telling the public hard truths about increasing cost pressures in the health service. "The public has unrealistic expectations of what we can deliver - the government is frightened of that," they say.
And as we've talked about many times here and on the show, unless and until governments confront the aching gaps in care for the elderly and vulnerable, the rest of the health service has to absorb the costly consequences of social care system that to a large extent just doesn't work.
One of the former ministers I've spoken to is intensely frustrated that it is so hard to have a full conversation about the NHS, saying that "it's a political problem, not a resources problem. Our politicians just aren't finding the space" to talk about really bold changes.
One former adviser agrees, saying "everyone of all stripes is scared to take it on".
Yet the fact politicians find it almost impossible to talk about alternatives is also a tribute to the longevity of the NHS and the public's belief in it.
The former adviser suggests that while people have to wait and outcomes vary "as a system it is extraordinarily fair and that has to be worth something".
Love it and hate it. It is most certainly here to stay. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66068224 |
Ukraine finds British WW2 Hurricane planes outside Kyiv - BBC News | 2023-07-02T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | London sent the Hawker Hurricanes to the Soviet Union to help them fight against Nazi Germany. | Europe | Ukraine found the remains of British World War Two Hurricane aircraft in a forest outside Kyiv
The rusting remains of eight British Hurricane fighter planes dating back to World War Two have been found buried in a forest in Ukraine.
The aircraft were sent to the Soviet Union by Britain after Nazi Germany invaded the country in 1941.
They were part of a package of allied military support for the USSR, paid for by the United States under the so-called Lend-Lease scheme.
Similar legislation is being used by the US government today to send military aid to Ukraine as it seeks to expel Russian forces from its country.
Aviation experts say this is the first time the remains of so many Hurricanes have been found in Ukraine.
"It is very rare to find this aircraft in Ukraine," says Oleks Shtan, a former airline pilot who is leading the excavation. "It's very important for our aviation history because no Lend-Lease aircraft have been found here before."
The UK sent some 3,000 Hurricanes to the Soviet Union during the war against Nazi Germany
The Hawker Hurricane was the workhorse of the Battle of Britain - the air campaign of 1940 when the Royal Air Force (RAF) defeated German attempts to invade the UK. Although its role has often been overshadowed by the newer and more adaptable Spitfire plane, the Hurricane actually shot down more than half of all enemy aircraft during the battle.
"The Hurricane was a strong, easy to fly machine," Mr Shtan says. "It was stable as a gun platform and suitable for inexperienced pilots. A reliable aircraft."
In total, about 3,000 Hurricanes were sent to the USSR between 1941 and 1944 to support the Soviet war effort. Most were either destroyed in combat or dismantled later for parts.
But some Hurricanes were deliberately broken up and buried after the war so the Soviets did not have to pay back the United States. Under the Lend-Lease legislation, the USSR was required to pay for any donated military equipment that remained intact after hostilities ended.
This was the fate of the eight Hurricanes found buried in woodland south of Kyiv - now the capital of independent Ukraine, but until 1991 part of the USSR.
Ukraine is now painstakingly cleaning and repairing the planes, so they can be put on display
They had been stripped of their instruments, radios, machine guns and any useful scrap metal. They were then dragged by tractors from a nearby airfield, broken up and dropped without ceremony into a shallow ravine. It is thought they were then covered with earth by bulldozers.
The remains were discovered recently after an unexploded bomb dating from the war was found nearby. The rest of the ravine was checked using metal detectors and the Hurricanes were found.
The National Aviation Museum of Ukraine is now in the process of painstakingly excavating the site by hand. Staff there aim to identify as much of the aircraft as possible so they can be reassembled and put on display.
Valerii Romanenko, head of research at the museum, says the Hurricanes played an important part in Ukraine's history.
"The Hurricanes are a symbol of British assistance during the years of the Second World War, just as we are very appreciative of British assistance nowadays," he says. "The UK is one of the largest suppliers of military equipment to our country now."
The Hurricanes are a symbol of British assistance... just as we are very appreciative of British assistance now
"In 1941 Britain was the first who supplied fighter aircraft to the Soviet Union in mass scale. Now the UK is the first country which gives Storm Shadow cruise missiles to our armed forces."
It is thought there are just 14 restored Hurricanes able to fly in the world today.
After the German invasion, the USSR lost many warplanes and was in desperate need of fighter aircraft. Initially several RAF Hurricane squadrons were sent to the Arctic to help.
But soon the British pilots left and the aircraft were taken over by Soviet airmen. Records show that many disliked the Hurricane, considering it under-powered, under-armed and under-protected.
By the end of the war it was considered obsolete and was used mainly for air defence work. The eight Hurricanes found south of Kyiv were used to defend major transport hubs - especially railway stations and junctions. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-65955365 |
Prince Harry, Piers Morgan and hacking: What did the bosses know? - BBC News | 2023-07-02T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Did knowledge of phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers journalists go right to the top? | UK | The privacy trial brought by Prince Harry (left) and others did not hear from former Mirror boss Piers Morgan (right)
The seven-week trial into allegations of phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers journalists has come to an end. Is the evidence against the tabloid stacking up?
At times during the hacking court case it seemed as though we had travelled back in time, to the days before social media, when people got their news from pages of ink, printed on actual paper.
Back to the 1990s and 2000s, when stories about Prince Harry - barely out of school and falling for his first girlfriends - could fill newspapers day after day.
The tabloids were also fascinated by soap stars. Two Coronation Street actors were claimants in this trial. Michael Turner played mechanic Kevin, and Nikki Sanderson, hairdresser Candice.
The fourth claimant was Fiona Wightman, dragged into the red-tops by her marriage to Paul Whitehouse, whose TV comedy sketches on The Fast Show had catapulted him to fame in the 90s.
Actors Michael Turner, known by his stage name Michael Le Vell (left), and Nikki Sanderson (right) were also claimants
What became clear during the trial was Mirror journalists didn't just make up their stories as many critics of the tabloids might believe. They pursued accurate reporting of celebrity secrets as vigorously as another journalist might investigate a corrupt politician.
But their most precious commodity was sensitive personal information, some of it obtained illicitly from phone hacking. This is no longer disputed by the newspapers, because this trial was not the first.
In 2015, the publisher of the Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People (now known as Reach PLC) admitted journalists used phone hacking and other unlawful methods during a previous landmark case, brought by another Coronation Street actor, Shobna Gulati and others.
The High Court judge, Mr Justice Mann, ruled that for seven years, from 1999, there had been "widespread, institutionalised and long-standing" phone hacking at the newspapers and editors knew - in particular, the editor of the Sunday Mirror, Tina Weaver. The publisher apologised.
Tina Weaver, who led the Sunday Mirror for 11 years, gave evidence at the Leveson Inquiry into press ethics in 2012
In the latest trial, which concluded on Friday, the claimants were trying to expand the legal action to more potential victims, and prove the scandal reached the top of Mirror Group - to its board and its lawyers. If Mr Justice Fancourt finds they knew - and did nothing - the company could be hit with massive bills for compensation.
During this trial, the claimants attempted to make a new case against Piers Morgan, the television presenter who was Mirror editor between 1995 and 2004, who had emerged largely unscathed from the 2015 trial.
They brought together a series of incidents, which they said suggested he knew quite a lot about phone hacking and blagging - the reckless obtaining of personal information such as addresses, phone bills or bank statements - in the hope of creating an unbreakable thread of evidence.
There was the lunch where Mr Morgan urged a phone company executive to tell his customers they should change the PIN numbers on their mobiles, because journalists could listen to their voicemail messages.
There was the former intern who told the court he overheard a journalist reassuring Mr Morgan that a story about the singer Kylie Minogue was accurate because it had come from her voicemails.
A former Guardian journalist who said in a statement that Mr Morgan had explained to him most people didn't change the default access code for their voicemails, so they were easy to guess.
And the agent for TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson, who couldn't work out why Mr Morgan seemed to know so much about her client.
But neither side called Mr Morgan to the witness box to defend himself. In civil trials, witnesses only tend to be called if they can help one side or the other. The Mirror Group argued Mr Morgan's appearance would have been an "unnecessary distraction" from the issues the judge has to decide.
Remember, a key question was what executives knew. Piers Morgan was not on the board of Mirror Group Newspapers, the company said, and only attended two meetings over nine years.
But towards the end of the hearings, the judge put Mr Morgan at the top of a list of 29 journalists who hadn't come to court and perhaps "could and should" have given evidence.
After all, Mr Justice Fancourt pointed out, the former editor had been happy to talk about phone hacking outside court.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: "I've never hacked a phone, I wouldn't even know how" - Piers Morgan (interview filmed in March 2023)
Mr Morgan recently told the BBC: "I never hacked a phone. I wouldn't even know how. I never told anybody to hack a phone."
He also insisted he didn't know phone hacking was going on, but also that he couldn't be sure stories hadn't been published which used unlawful methods.
But will the judge "draw an inference" that Mr Morgan not giving evidence suggests he was involved? He could decide he doesn't have to make any ruling at all about the former editor.
So what else did we learn? The trial lifted the lid on a network of private investigators, or PIs, who specialised in feeding personal information to the tabloids.
For the first time, a handful appeared in court. Ageing veterans of the information trade, sometimes scoffing at the questions they faced, sometimes confused by them.
Between 1996 and 2011 the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror and People spent at least £9m in payments to PIs. We heard that reporters on the Mirror papers regularly subcontracted the process of obtaining information to these PIs.
A reporter might get one to find an address and phone number from credit reference agencies, or from the Electoral Roll, potentially breaching data protection laws.
It was claimed journalists might use these details to hack a celebrity's phone themselves, or pass them onto another specialist investigator, who would in turn know the right "blagger" able to get more information.
There were people who would pose as bank customers to get financial records, or NHS staff to obtain someone's medical status. Some were experts at digging through credit records, others at digging through rubbish. Literally, the contents of celebrity bins.
The information would then be passed back up the chain, and presented to the reporter. The claimants argued this would allow the journalist to say it had been provided by "sources", and to deny knowing it had potentially been obtained unlawfully.
Quotes lifted from phone hacking would be written up as the words of anonymous "insiders" to disguise their source, the court heard.
Mirror Group's barrister, Andrew Green KC, accepted there were some investigators who broke the law - "rotters" as he called them several times. But most of the time they were using legitimate databases, he said.
The Duke of Sussex gave evidence in the hacking trial in June
The three alleged victims of "unlawful information gathering" were chosen as test cases. Prince Harry picked himself as the fourth by simply refusing to settle with the Mirror.
Their time in the witness box was mainly spent defending their cases against Mr Green. He tried to get them to accept that the stories the newspapers published about them must have come from publicly available sources, from friends, "insiders", other newspapers or even interviews they had willingly given.
He argued the four cases had been "wildly overstated" and, in the case of Prince Harry, it was "entirely speculative". Unlike the 2015 case, Mr Green added, there was very little evidence phones were hacked or that information was unlawfully obtained.
Prince Harry's approach in the witness box was to suppress his anger and suggest it was for the journalists to explain how they got their stories about him.
Prince Harry's lawyer says newspaper coverage of his client and ex-girlfriend Chelsy Davy meant "they were never alone"
At the time, he didn't read all 33 articles in his case but said "every single article has caused me distress" - saying they tainted his relationship with friends he suspected might be leaking information.
The stories about him were so accurate he was "incredibly suspicious" they had been sourced illegitimately, especially by phone hacking. He was unable to say which voicemails had been accessed. It was all a very long time ago.
The emotional damage done by tabloid reporting became clear when Fiona Wightman entered the witness box.
In 2000, her split from comedian Paul Whitehouse and her cancer diagnosis were both of interest to the Mirror newspapers, which, it is alleged, tried to use a "blagger" to check her medical condition.
Sometimes in tears, she told the court: "I've had to discuss some of the most personal things I have had to go through. The most difficult times in my life."
Being involved in the case meant, she said, that "ironically it can now be reported. At the time I chose not to discuss any of it."
Don't expect a quick decision about these cases. It may be months before Mr Justice Fancourt gives a judgement and more than 100 potential claimants are waiting on his words.
It is now more than a decade since well-known people began to take on the newspapers they say have tormented their lives. Hundreds of victims have received damages in legal settlements and only MGN has been prepared to let the battle extend to a public trial.
But the case of Sussex v MGN is not going to be the last trial. Next year, actor Hugh Grant will take on the publisher of the Sun newspaper. Prince Harry may join him. Round two for the Duke.
And an even more aggressive legal battle is on the horizon.
Associated Newspapers, whose top selling title is the Daily Mail, is gearing up to fight off new allegations made by Elton John, Doreen Lawrence - mother of murdered Stephen - and, of course, Prince Harry. They include the use of phone-tapping and bugs.
The publisher has denied any involvement in what have become known as "the dark arts". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66055386 |
Stephen Lawrence murder: Friend 'could have identified sixth suspect' - BBC News | 2023-07-02T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Duwayne Brooks, who witnessed the murder, says he could have picked a sixth suspect from a line-up. | UK | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Duwayne Brooks "certain" he could have identified sixth murder suspect
Stephen Lawrence's friend has said he could have identified a sixth suspect in his friend's murder if he had been given the opportunity.
In an interview with the BBC, Duwayne Brooks said he would have picked out Matthew White, who died in 2021, in a line-up.
On Monday, White was named as the sixth suspect in the racist killing 30 years ago, following a BBC investigation.
Stephen, 18, was killed in Eltham, south-east London in April 1993.
Mr Brooks was waiting for a bus with Stephen at the time.
The failure of the first police investigation prompted a landmark public inquiry which concluded the Met was institutionally racist.
Asked whether pictures of White broadcast by the BBC investigation were of the same person he had described to police, Mr Brooks said: "100%. Not only did I describe him as best I could, you had other witnesses at the bus stop who also described him."
"I am 100% certain that if that person was put before me, and the other witnesses, in the initial stages of the investigations on an ID parade, we all would have picked him out."
In 1993, Mr Brooks and eyewitness described an attacker who bore a plain resemblance to Matthew White, but police did not treat White as a suspect for years.
The BBC investigation included statements and artists' impressions from the time.
Mr Brooks said it would now be "impossible" to remember what the attacker looked like from memory, but "there is no doubt in my mind, from what I described, from those drawings, what you can see from the other witnesses, that that is the person who was there. At the scene, on the night."
An artist's impression of the "fair-haired attacker", Matthew White and a police e-fit
He said the way his evidence was dealt with in 1993 involved "corruption" and "decisions made back then were a deliberate act of sabotage".
When approached for comment the Met said it would not be issuing a new statement.
Mr Brooks originally spoke to the Sunday Mirror, before being interviewed by the BBC.
The Met Police has consistently said there were six white men involved, as Mr Brooks said on the night.
Five prime suspects became widely known after the murder, but the public inquiry said there were "five or six" attackers.
David Norris and Gary Dobson were given life sentences for the murder in 2012. The other three - Luke Knight and brothers Neil and Jamie Acourt - have not been convicted of the crime.
White was arrested twice, in 2000 and 2013, and files were sent to the Crown Prosecution Service in 2005 and 2014. But on both occasions prosecutors said there was no realistic prospect of conviction.
In May and June 1993 Mr Brooks and eyewitnesses to the murder attended identity parades which included the prime suspects in the case, but Matthew White was not part of the parades.
In the same BBC interview, Mr Brooks said the criminal justice system doesn't work for victims "at this moment in time". He added that an apology from the Met would be a "tick-boxing exercise".
"The way I have been treated is a disgrace. My experience should never have happened."
Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Stephen Lawrence's mother, has also criticised the police handling of information about a sixth suspect in her son's murder, saying there should be "serious sanctions" against the police officers who failed to investigate White.
In response to the naming of Matthew White as a suspect, the Met Police confirmed he was seen again in 2020, but there was insufficient witness or forensic evidence to progress further.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward said: "Unfortunately, too many mistakes were made in the initial investigation and the impact of them continues to be seen.
"On the 30th anniversary of Stephen's murder, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley apologised for our failings and I repeat that apology today." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66078894 |
Protests: Police powers to stop new tactics come into effect - BBC News | 2023-07-02T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Transport network disruption and tunnelling targeted under measures for police in England and Wales. | UK | New measures aimed at curbing protest methods often used by environmental groups have come into effect.
Police in England and Wales now have powers to move protesters who disrupt transport, while offenders could face three years in jail for tunnelling.
The Home Office says the Public Order Act 2023 will target "a selfish minority" but critics argue they threaten the right to protest.
Groups such as Just Stop Oil have continued with high-profile protests.
Under the new laws, those found guilty of tunnelling or "being present in a tunnel to cause serious disruption" could be jailed for up to three years.
Taking equipment to a tunnel carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison, as will obstructing major transport works.
The digging of makeshift tunnels has been used for many years as a form of protest, against projects such as the building of the HS2 rail project, as well as by groups such as Extinction Rebellion and Just Stop Oil.
The British Transport Police and the Ministry of Defence Police will now have powers to move static protests, a common tactic of campaign groups.
Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the heightened measures will target "selfish protesters" who cause "mayhem" on the streets.
In recent months, the government has also introduced new powers to tackle tactics used by protest groups, including slow-walking and "locking on".
Despite the enhanced measures, environmental groups have continued to take action, including briefly halting Saturday's annual Pride parade in central London in a protest against one of the event's sponsors.
A Just Stop Oil spokesperson told the BBC the "draconian" measures were targeting young people who "just want a liveable future".
Extinction Rebellion urged the government to stop curtailing the right to protest and instead "stop issuing new licences for oil, coal and gas". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66079436 |
France shooting: Policeman charged over teen's traffic stop death - BBC News | 2023-07-02T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | France sees a third night of mass unrest, triggered by Tuesday's police shooting of a teenager. | Europe | Violence has erupted across France since the killing of a 17-year-old during a traffic stop on Tuesday
A French policeman has been charged with homicide and is now in custody over the killing of a teenager during a traffic stop near Paris on Tuesday.
The 17-year-old, named as Nahel M, was shot at point-blank range as he drove off and crashed soon afterwards.
Anger at his killing has sparked violence across the country. A march led by the boy's mother was marred by clashes on Thursday afternoon.
In a third night of unrest, 667 people were arrested, French officials say.
In Paris, shops were ransacked and cars set on fire overnight despite a heavy police presence.
Across France, 40,000 police officers were deployed, with 249 of them injured in Wednesday night's clashes, according to the interior ministry.
Earlier, bus and tram services in Paris and the wider region stopped operating at 21:00 local time (19:00 GMT) on Thursday. Night-time curfews were in place in some suburbs.
In the town of Nanterre, where the teenager was killed, a huge fire engulfed the ground floor of a building where a bank is located.
Video and pictures on social media also appear to show piles of rubbish ablaze in several places.
Officers were injured on Thursday afternoon as well, during violence in Nanterre that followed a largely peaceful march calling for justice. It was attended by more than 6,000 people.
Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said she understood the outpouring of emotion following the 17-year-old's death, but condemned the riots.
"Nothing justifies the violence that's occurred," she said.
The teenager's death has sparked a wider conversation about the power of the police and the relationship between the authorities and people from France's suburbs, who feel segregated from the country's prosperous city centres.
"We have a law and judicial system that protects police officers and it creates a culture of impunity in France," Nahel's lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, told the BBC World Service's Newshour programme.
But Nahel's mother said she did not blame the police in general, or the system, for the killing - just the officer who fired the lethal shot that killed her son.
The officer accused of killing him said he had fired because he felt his life was in danger. His lawyer told French radio station RTL that his client discharged his firearm "in full compliance of the law".
Speaking to the BBC on Friday morning, Thierry Clair, deputy secretary general of Unsad-Police trade union, said an investigation would "determine whether this is a case of a legal or illegal use of a weapon".
He said that by law, police officers may use their weapons in certain circumstances.
"The key thing is the principle of proportionality with the nature of the threat," Mr Clair said. "For instance, one of the cases refers to stopping a vehicle whose occupants refuse to comply and present a risk for someone else if they attempt to escape.
"And the incident we're talking about - in which a weapon was used - might fall into that category."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: 'They've taken my baby' - Mother of teen shot by police | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66061138 |
Baltimore shooting: Police hunt for suspects after dozens shot at block party - BBC News | 2023-07-02T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Gunfire erupted at a large block party in the city, leaving two dead and 28 others injured. | US & Canada | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Police are searching for multiple suspects after a shooting in the US city of Baltimore left two people dead and 28 others injured.
Fifteen children were among those wounded when gunfire erupted at a block party in the Brooklyn Homes area of the city on Sunday.
It is not clear whether the attack was targeted, police said, and officers are hunting for at least two suspects.
At a news conference on Monday police announced a reward of $28,000 (£22,000) for information on the suspects.
Authorities said multiple weapons and bullet casings were recovered from the scene of the crime.
Police have yet to name a suspect, but said a young man who has been seen in footage circulating on social media appearing to pull a semi-automatic weapon from a backpack is one of the suspects.
"Anyone who had a weapon at the scene will be one of our suspects until we eliminate that they are not," said Baltimore Police Department acting commissioner Richard Worley.
The shooting began at about 00:35 local time (04:35 GMT) in a courtyard between a pair of rowhouses in the south of the city. Investigators spent hours on Sunday combing a large crime scene for evidence.
Police said 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzalez died at the scene, while 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi was pronounced dead at hospital.
The victims were mostly teenagers, ranging in age from 13 to 19. The others were aged 20, 22, 23, 31 and 32, according to police.
As of Monday afternoon, seven victims remained in hospital, including four who are in critical condition.
Hospital officials said they worked under stressful circumstances with the assailants still at large to treat 19 patients, many of whom were minors and critically injured.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said his office was dedicating every resource possible to finding those responsible.
"We will not stop until we find you - and we will find you," he said. "This was a reckless, cowardly act that happened here."
"I hope that with every single breath that you take that you think about the lives that you took and you think about the lives that you impacted here tonight," he said.
Mr Worley told reporters on Sunday that the block party - an annual community gathering known as "Brooklyn Day" - was "unpermitted", because police were not warned about it ahead of time.
He added that officials would examine what actions officers took once they found out about the gathering.
Witnesses said hundreds of people were at the party when the shooting unfolded
Witnesses at the scene said hundreds of people were at the party when the chaotic scene unfolded.
Danny Gonzalez, 57, who is not related to the woman who died in the shooting, told the Washington Post that he heard gunshots from his home and saw young people running away.
"It was at least 40 or 50 rounds," he said, adding that he and his neighbours were no strangers to gunfire in the Maryland port city. "It's just another killing weekend. This is Baltimore, Murderland."
There have been 140 homicides this year in Baltimore, according to the Baltimore Sun newspaper. In 2022, the city reported more than 300 killings for the eighth year in a row.
Local authorities said the shooting would result in long-lasting trauma for the community, while Mayor Scott called for stricter gun laws across the US.
"This is our longest standing public health challenge, and we need to focus on gun violence regardless of where it happens," he said on Monday.
The US has seen more than 330 mass shootings this year, according to the non-profit Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are injured or killed. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66079407 |
Kettering: Saju Chelavalel jailed for murdering wife and children - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Saju Chelavalel is jailed for at least 40 years for killing Anju Asok and their two children. | Northampton | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Police bodycam captured the Tasering and arrest of triple murderer Saju Chelavelel
A father who strangled his wife and two children has been jailed for at least 40 years.
Nurse Anju Asok, 35, Jeeva Saju, six, and Janvi Saju, four, were found fatally injured in the family home in Kettering on 15 December 2022.
A judge told Saju Chelavalel he had "squeezed the life out" of his wife while the children screamed for mummy.
Det Insp Simon Barnes said: "There is no amount of time behind bars that will ever be enough for what he did."
The judge, Mr Justice Pepperall, jailed him for life at Northampton Crown Court, and ordered that he must serve a minimum of 40 years.
The bodies of Anju Asok, her son Jeeva Saju and daughter Janvi Saju were discovered after police forced entry into their home in Kettering
Originally from Kerala in India, Chelavalel said he believed his wife was having an affair and claimed he lost control while drunk, killing her at around 22:00 GMT on 14 December at their ground-floor flat.
The court heard Chelavalel had more than four hours "to reflect on whether to kill his children" before using a dressing gown cord to strangle them in the early hours of the following morning.
Ms Asok died at the scene and the children died later in hospital.
Post-mortem examinations found all three victims died from asphyxiation, Northamptonshire Police said.
"While you were squeezing the life out of your wife, your young children were screaming for their mummy," said the judge.
"I cannot be sure if they were eyewitnesses, but it is clear that they heard what was going on and knew that she was being hurt by you."
Saju Chelavalel, 52, admitted to the triple murder of his wife and children
Prosecutor James Newton-Price KC said there was no evidence to support the claim Ms Asok had been unfaithful.
However, an examination of Chelavalel's phone showed that he had been searching dating websites for other women while she was at work.
The court was played an audio recording found on his phone of banging noises followed by the sound of a woman screaming or gasping and a child crying or calling out.
Mr Newton-Price said it was the prosecution's belief that it was a recording of Ms Asok being strangled.
He said the it also captured the sound of a blender being used to make a "toxic" mixture of chocolate and pills intended to send the children - pupils at Kettering Park Infant Academy - to sleep.
The court heard that police officers attended the flat after receiving a call from a neighbour who was concerned for the family's welfare.
Ms Asok had failed to turn up for work as an orthopaedic nurse at Kettering General Hospital and the children were not at school.
Body-worn camera footage showed that, after breaking into the flat, officers found Chelavalel holding a knife to his throat. He asked the police to shoot him and said that he wanted to die, before he was Tasered.
The body of Ms Asok was found on the floor of an adjoining bedroom. The couple's children were described in a police statement as "laying perfectly side-by-side on the double bed".
Offering mitigation, defence barrister George Carter-Stephenson KC said the circumstances of the case were tragic in the extreme for relatives of the victims.
He said: "They are also tragic for this particular defendant. Whatever sentence the court imposes on him today he has to live with the knowledge of what he did on that particular night."
In addition to his jail term, Chelavalel was prohibited from contacting any of his victims' family members.
Det Insp Simon Barnes from Northamptonshire Police said: "Anju was a mother like many all over the world. She wanted to provide the best possible life she could for her children - Jeeva and Janvi.
"He [Chelavalel] has never fully accounted for what he did, or why, and will now spend the rest of his life with not much else to think about, but that.
"There is no amount of time behind bars that will ever be enough for what he did. His primary role as a husband and a father, was to protect his family from harm. They should have been at their safest, at home, with him, but he destroyed that.
"They leave behind them a devastated family in India, who are struggling to come to terms with what has happened."
Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Got a story? Email [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 0800 169 1830
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-66087447 |
Wrexham nurse sacked after death of secret lover patient in car park - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The patient died after being found unresponsive and partially clothed in a car park. | Wales | The pair had met at a car park in Wrexham
A nurse has been sacked after a patient she had a secret relationship with died following a late night meeting in Wrexham.
Penelope Williams didn't call an ambulance after the man, known as Patient A, collapsed in January 2022.
He was found unresponsive with his trousers down and died of heart failure and chronic kidney disease.
Mrs Williams has now been struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council for bringing the profession into disrepute.
The hearing was told the patient was found in the back of his own car after the pair had met in a car park.
The panel heard Mrs Williams, who worked as a general nurse on a renal unit, had met Patient A about a year before.
He had multiple health conditions, the hearing was told, and received treatment in the unit where Mrs Williams worked.
On the night, Mrs Williams had gone to the home of a colleague, before meeting with Patient A.
Just before midnight, her co-worker took a call from her.
She was "crying and distressed and asking for help", the panel heard.
After telling them someone had died, Mrs Williams was advised to call an ambulance, but did not.
When the colleague arrived at the car park, they called 999 on finding Patient A partially clothed and unresponsive.
He was pronounced dead shortly after.
Mrs Williams initially told police and a paramedic she had gone to the car park after Patient A messaged her saying he was unwell.
The next day, she admitted to police they had been in a sexual relationship.
But in February, she denied this to health board officials.
She said they had sat in the back of his car for 30-45 minutes "just talking" before Patient A "started groaning and suddenly died".
At a May disciplinary hearing, Mrs Williams admitted both the relationship and not calling an ambulance and was sacked.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council panel found failing to mention the relationship "put her own interests ahead of the wellbeing of Patient A".
It said while Mrs Williams was remorseful, she had limited insight about the damage her relationship could cause to nursing's reputation or its effect on public safety.
They found this amounted to serious misconduct and her fitness to practise was impaired.
Striking her from the nursing register, the panel concluded there were no mitigating features.
"Mrs Williams' actions were significant departures from the standards expected of a registered nurse, and are fundamentally incompatible with her remaining on the register," it said.
"The panel was of the view that the findings in this particular case demonstrate that Mrs Williams' actions were so serious that to allow her to continue practising would undermine public confidence in the profession and in the NMC as a regulatory body."
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the incident happened in the car park at Spire Wrexham. This was based on information incorrectly provided to the Nursing and Midwifery Council fitness to practise hearing. The article has been updated to reflect that the incident did not happen in the Spire Wrexham car park. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-66091127 |
Festival drug testing: Legal action threatened over safety tests - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Parklife boss Sacha Lord writes to the home secretary urging her to allow safety tests to go ahead. | Newsbeat | Larger festivals like Glastonbury say they've used private companies to test drugs
A festival boss has formally threatened legal action against the government over drug checking at festivals.
Parklife founder Sacha Lord has written to Home Secretary Suella Braverman urging her to allow on-site testing in "pop-up labs" to go ahead.
He says festivals had been doing this for at least 10 years until last month, when the government told him a licence would be needed for the first time.
The government says a licence has always been required to test drugs.
Drug-checking is where illegal substances are tested and notifications put out if any are found to be dangerous.
Supporters say these warnings save lives and also give medical teams a better idea of how to treat anyone who becomes seriously ill after taking drugs.
UK festivals have most recently employed "back-of-house testing", which uses samples of confiscated or surrendered drugs.
Larger festivals like Glastonbury, Reading and Leeds have told BBC Newsbeat they've used private companies to do this.
Independent festivals have tended to use charity The Loop, whose professional volunteers have been able to test at events without a licence due to agreements with local police and councils.
Sacha Lord, who's an adviser to Manchester's Labour Mayor Andy Burnham, says he's worried about the safety of festival-goers this year
Mr Lord's letter says the Home Office was "well aware" of these arrangements and former ministers have publicly said the department wouldn't intervene to stop them.
He argues that the department made a "flawed decision" when it insisted on licences being obtained this year.
The letter says festival organisers had a legitimate expectation they would be able to test as normal this year and weren't properly consulted beforehand.
It says notification of the licence requirement - two days before Parklife in Manchester began - came too late for it to be possible to obtain one in time.
The letter, co-signed by trade body the Night Time Industries Association, demands the government allow testing without a licence to go ahead as before, or take steps so organisations have enough time to comply with the licence requirement.
They've given the government a deadline of 7 July to provide a meaningful response, and say they'll begin legal action if this isn't met.
Those behind the letter say they'll apply for a judicial review and ask a judge to examine the Home Office's decision.
The Home Office told Newsbeat: "Our position hasn't changed for 50 years.
"Festivals aiming to test drugs off their site this summer must work with the police and a Home Office licensed drug testing provider.
"We continue to keep an open dialogue with any potential applicants."
Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-66083285 |
Nick Kyrgios withdraws from Wimbledon 2023 with wrist injury - BBC Sport | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | null | Last year's men's singles runner-up Nick Kyrgios withdraws from Wimbledon 2023 with a wrist injury. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with comprehensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website, BBC Sport mobile app and Red Button.
Nick Kyrgios has withdrawn from Wimbledon 2023 with a wrist injury.
The Australian, 28, lost to Novak Djokovic in last year's men's singles final and has only played one tournament this year because of a knee injury that required surgery.
Kyrgios announced on Sunday evening that he had torn a ligament in his wrist during his comeback.
"I'm really sad to say that I have to withdraw from Wimbledon this year," he posted on Instagram.
"I tried my hardest to be ready after my surgery and to be able to step on the Wimbledon courts again.
"During my comeback, I experienced some pain in my wrist during the week of Mallorca.
"As a precaution I had it scanned and it came back showing a torn ligament in my wrist.
"I tried everything to be able to play and I am disappointed to say that I just didn't have enough time to manage it before Wimbledon."I'll be back and, as always, I appreciate the support from all my fans."
Kyrgios was seeded 30th in SW19 and was set to face Belgian David Goffin in the opening round.
Wimbledon responded to Kyrgios' withdrawal by wishing him a "swift recovery" on social media.
"Sorry to hear your news Nick Kyrgios. Wishing you a swift recovery and hope to see you back on our courts next year," Wimbledon tweeted.
• None Who's playing who? Details of the Wimbledon draw
• None Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone
The start of an injury-hit season saw Kyrgios pull out of the Australian Open in January, a decision made on the eve of the tournament that left him "devastated".
Surgery on a cyst growing in his meniscus quickly followed and he was not able to return to competitive action until June.
Kyrgios suffered a first-round loss to China's Wu Yibing at the Stuttgart Open, struggling with his movement during a straight-set defeat, then pulled out of the Halle Open the following week.
He had been practising at the All England Club this week, saying his body felt "OK" after sets against fellow Australian Jordan Thompson and American Maxime Cressy.
Kyrgios, known for his fiery temperament as well as his exciting tennis, reached his maiden major final at Wimbledon last year. He took the opening set before losing in four sets to Novak Djokovic.
Britain's Joe Salisbury and American Rajeev Ram, three-time major men's doubles champions, were due to face Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinaki in their opening doubles match. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/66083104 |
Virgin Media customers worry emails gone for good - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Some have lost access to their inboxes, and the firm cannot say when it will be fixed. | Technology | Some Virgin Media email users have been unable to access their inboxes for over two weeks, with no date for when the issue will be fixed.
Virgin Media said all users can now send and receive emails again but some still cannot access messages from before the disruption.
One user, a retired IT professional, told the BBC he wasn't "100% sure these emails are ever going to be recovered".
Phil Westlake, who used to design IT systems for several large UK companies, has lost access to his historic emails and said that in his experience disaster recovery plans in large organisations would stipulate that the situation should be resolved in a few hours.
"I'm struggling, and I guess anybody with any IT background, would struggle to understand why that's so difficult to to get it back," he said.
It has previously said that all emails were "safe and secure".
The firm operates several email services including @virginmedia.com, @ntlworld.com, @blueyonder.co.uk and @virgin.net.
The BBC has asked the company how many people have been affected.
In an email to customers sent on 23 June, Axel Wehrle, director of customer service for Virgin Media wrote: "Unfortunately a part of the hardware that manages our mailbox platform experienced a failure, which overloaded the servers and caused service disruption for some email users."
One Cambridgeshire customer, who did not wish to be named, told the BBC the extended problems were "frustrating" and "upsetting". Her emails contained messages of condolence following her husband's death. She also needs access to the email as executor of his will.
Another user, Ian, who is based in Merseyside, said the problems had disrupted charity auctions he was organising.
"[My inbox] has all the details of the donors, donations, and everything else to do with the campaign... and I simply must not have lost any information/contacts/emails etc. or it will be catastrophic.
"My entire life is on that email account as I have had it for approximately 25 years," he said.
A Virgin Media spokesperson told the BBC: "Following a recent issue with our email service, all Virgin Media email users are able to send and receive emails as normal.
"Unfortunately a small proportion of impacted users are currently unable to view historic emails in their inboxes.
"We know that this will be frustrating for those who have important emails and documents saved in their inboxes, and we apologise unreservedly for the inconvenience this is causing.
"Fixing this issue is taking longer than we anticipated but our teams are working flat out to fully restore all historic emails as soon as possible."
The company has reported the email issue to the Information Commissioner's Office, but stressed that the incident was not a data breach and no users' data or personal information had been accessed or compromised in any way. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66088076 |
Jenin: Israeli military launches major operation in West Bank city - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Nine Palestinians are killed as troops carry out an air and ground assault in the West Bank city. | Middle East | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Explosions and gunfire as BBC reports from Jenin
There have been intense exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and armed Palestinian militants in Jenin refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military began what appears to be one of its most extensive operations in the territory in years with drone strikes early on Monday.
Nine Palestinians have been killed and 100 injured, health officials say.
Israel said it was putting a stop to Jenin being "a refuge for terrorism". Palestinians accused it of a war crime.
The Palestinian Red Crescent says its crews have evacuated 3,000 people - including patients and the elderly - from the camp to hospitals.
It says dozens of people had been detained by Israeli forces in their homes since early Monday, without being provided or allowed any food or drink.
The Israeli military said there was no specific timeline for ending the operation, but that it could be "a matter of hours or a few days".
Jenin has become a stronghold of a new generation of Palestinian militants who have become deeply frustrated by the Palestinian Authority's aging leadership and the restrictions of the Israeli occupation.
The city has seen repeated Israeli military raids in the past year as local Palestinians have carried out deadly attacks on Israelis. Other Palestinian attackers have hidden there.
In 2002, during the second Palestinian intifada, Israeli forces launched a full-scale incursion in Jenin. At least 52 Palestinian militants and civilians and 23 Israeli soldiers were killed during 10 days of intense fighting.
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers were still operating inside Jenin on Monday night, more than 20 hours after the operation began.
As well as the hum of drones overhead, regular bursts of gunfire and the loud thuds of explosions came throughout the day from the densely populated refugee camp, which is home to some 18,000 people and is now declared a closed Israeli military zone.
Acrid smoke from burning tyres lit during protests also hung in the air above the city centre. A few young Palestinians were out on the streets, standing close to shuttered shops and staring nervously in the direction of the camp.
The Israeli military has cut off telephone communications and the electricity supply to the camp, making it difficult to get an accurate picture of what is happening. Palestinian medics have also been struggling to reach the dozens of injured there.
At the Palestinian hospital by the main entrance to the camp the mood was grim.
One man told the BBC: "I met my brother's friend. I went up to him and had barely said a few words when he dropped on the ground. I went to run away, then I got hit by two bullets."
Another man said there was a "massacre" in the camp.
"There are children and civilians and they're not letting them out," he added. "Our electricity is cut, they have dug up all our roads. The camp will be destroyed."
Jovana Arsenijevic of the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières told the BBC she was at a hospital that had seen more than 90 patients wounded by gunfire or shrapnel from explosive devices.
The Israeli military said it was acting on precise intelligence and did not to seek to harm civilians, but many have been caught in the crossfire.
The military allowed about 500 Palestinian families to leave the camp on Monday night. Some raised their hands or waved makeshift white flags in a gesture of surrender.
People told the BBC that some men and teenaged boys had been stopped by soldiers, and kept behind.
Hundreds of Israeli forces are on the ground in Jenin, said to be seizing weapons and explosives
The first drone strike overnight targeted an apartment that the military said was being used as a hideout for Palestinians who had attacked Israelis and as a "joint operational command centre" for the Jenin Brigades - a unit made up of different Palestinian militant groups including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Drones were used for further air strikes and a brigade-size force of troops was deployed in what a military spokesman described as a "counter-terrorism operation" focused on seizing weapons and breaking "the safe haven mindset of the camp, which has become a hornet's nest".
In the past year and a half, Palestinians behind some 50 attacks targeting Israelis have come from Jenin, according to the military.
As armed Palestinians began fighting back from inside the camp, the Jenin Brigades said: "We will fight the occupation [Israeli] forces until the last breath and bullet, and we work together and unified from all factions and military formations."
The Palestinian health ministry said nine Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces, including three in the overnight drone strike. They all appeared to be young men or in their late teens - some confirmed as belonging to armed groups.
The ministry warned that the death toll might rise because 20 of the injured were in a critical condition.
Another Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire during a related protest near the West Bank city of Ramallah, it added.
The Israeli military said the Palestinians killed in Jenin were affiliated to militant groups.
Troops had also apprehended some 50 militants during the operation, and seized weapons and ammunition, it added.
On Monday evening, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised its forces for entering what he called the "nest of terrorists" and asserted that they were doing so "with minimal injury to civilians".
"We will continue this action as long as necessary in order to restore quiet and security," he added.
There was a furious response to the operation from the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, Mohammed Shtayyeh.
"What's going on is an attempt to erase the refugee camp completely and displace the residents," he said.
Neighbouring Jordan said the operation was "a clear violation of international humanitarian law", but the US expressed its support for what it called "Israel's security and right to defend its people against Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist groups".
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said the plan was not to expand the military operation outside Jenin, but already Palestinian protests have reached the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip. And the longer this action goes on in Jenin, the greater the risk of another dangerous, wider escalation.
The Jenin Brigade group has said its militants will fight back with their "last breath and bullet"
There has been a surge of violence in the West Bank in recent months.
On 20 June, seven Palestinians were killed during an Israeli raid in Jenin which saw the military's first use of an attack helicopter in the West Bank in years.
The next day, two Hamas gunmen shot dead four Israelis near the settlement of Eli, 40km (25 miles) to the south.
A Palestinian man was later shot dead during a rampage by hundreds of settlers in the nearby town of Turmusaya.
That week also saw three Palestinian militants from Jenin killed in a rare Israeli drone strike.
Since the start of the year, more than 140 Palestinians - both militants and civilians - have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, while another 36 have been killed in the Gaza Strip.
Twenty-four Israelis, two foreigners and a Palestinian worker have been killed in attacks or apparent attacks by Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank. All were civilians except one off-duty serving soldier and a member of the Israeli security forces.
Additional reporting by Rushdi Abu Alouf in Gaza City and Robert Greenall in London | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-66083295 |
Bank bosses told to explain low savings rates - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Bosses at Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest and Barclays will meet the industry watchdog on Thursday. | Business | Bank bosses have been summoned by the UK's financial watchdog over concerns interest rates on savings are too low.
Higher interest rates have led banks to put up mortgage costs sharply, but savings rates are not rising as fast.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says it is an "issue which needs solving", at a time when many households are struggling with the soaring cost of living.
The heads of Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest and Barclays banks will meet the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on Thursday.
The City watchdog will press the banks on their savings rates and on how they communicate with customers, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the meeting.
HSBC said it had increased its savings rates "more than a dozen times since the beginning of last year, with every savings product seeing rates increased on multiple occasions during that time".
Barclays declined to comment on the meeting, but said it "regularly" reviewed its savings rates.
Lloyds and NatWest have also been contacted by the BBC for comment.
In a tweet, the chancellor said: "@TheFCA has my full backing to ensure banks are passing on better rates as they should be."
The Bank of England has been steadily increasing UK interest rates since December 2021 as it tries to bring down soaring price rises.
Its base rate - which has a direct effect on mortgage and savings rates - is now 5%, up from close to zero 18 months ago.
The Bank is trying to make it more expensive for people to borrow money, and more worthwhile for them to save - the idea being that they will spend less and price increases will cool.
But while average mortgage rates have soared above 6% in recent weeks, returns on savings and current accounts have risen by a much smaller amount.
On Tuesday, the average rate for a two-year mortgage deal hit 6.47%, while the average easy access savings rate was 2.45%, a gap of 4.02 percentage points.
Iona Bain, a financial writer and broadcaster, told the BBC that if savings rates did not keep pace with inflation, then people's savings were effectively "being destroyed".
She added that banks had been offering poor savings rates since at least 2008, in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Part of the problem was that the biggest High Street lenders effectively had a "monopoly", she said, even though challenger banks were slowly encouraging people to shop around.
"Current account switching has gone up but it is still very low," Ms Bain said. "But until the public vote with their feet nothing is going to change."
Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, Harriett Baldwin, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, said the committee had been putting pressure on the banks all year over the issue.
"We're quite sure these rates are measly and that the banks are not treating our constituents fairly," she said.
"We're particularly concerned about some of our older constituents who have savings, who are unable to use internet banking and find it difficult to switch," she added.
Banks' profits generally rise in line with interest rates, but lenders argue that savers have access to a host of competitive deals.
UK Finance, the trade body for the banking sector, has previously said saving and mortgage rates "aren't directly linked and therefore move at different times and by different amounts".
However, the chancellor has said banks are "taking too long" to pass on increases in interest rates to savers and has raised it with chief executives, who faced questions from MPs in February.
The FCA has said it will produce a report by the end of the month on how well the cash savings market is supporting savers.
Are you a bank saver? How do the rates of interest affect you? Email: [email protected].
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at [email protected]. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66091880 |
Ofcom to investigate episode of Jacob Rees-Mogg's GB News show - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | One instalment of Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg's nightly programme attracted 40 complaints to the regulator. | Entertainment & Arts | Sir Jacob hosts State of the Nation every Monday to Thursday evening on GB News
Media watchdog Ofcom has launched an investigation into a recent episode of Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg's GB News show.
The 9 May episode of State of the Nation featured the MP covering a breaking news story about a civil trial verdict involving Donald Trump.
Ofcom said: "We are investigating whether this programme broke our rules, which prevent politicians from acting as newsreaders, unless exceptionally, it is editorially justified."
Serving politicians are, however, allowed to host current affairs shows, as long as a range of views are reflected.
Sir Jacob, a former cabinet minister, hosts the hour-long evening show from Mondays to Thursdays.
The episode in question saw him discuss a US civil jury's ruling that Mr Trump sexually abused writer E Jean Carroll in Manhattan in the 1990s.
GB News have been contacted for a comment.
Meanwhile, the regulator will also investigate an episode of a Talk TV show presented by former Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond.
An Ofcom spokesperson said: "We are investigating whether this programme broke our rules requiring news and current affairs to be presented with due impartiality."
The episode from 2 April received two complaints in relation to a discussion about the Scottish National Party (SNP).
A TalkTV spokesperson told the BBC: "TalkTV will engage with the Ofcom process and looks forward to defending its output."
Philip Davies and Esther McVey are husband and wife, GB News co-hosts and sitting MPs
Ofcom is also still investigating an episode of Saturday Morning with Esther and Philip on GB News, hosted by husband-and-wife Conservative MPs Esther McVey and Philip Davies.
The rules around politicians presenting programmes were introduced in 2005.
They say politicians are not normally allowed to be newsreaders, interviewers or reporters in news programmes, but can front current affairs shows.
The watchdog recently launched a consultation into its rules.
"Given the rise in the number of current affairs programmes presented by sitting politicians and recent public interest in this issue, we are conducting new research to gauge current audience attitudes towards these programmes," it said last month.
The findings will be published later this year. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66086560 |
Nathan Law: Hong Kong activist in UK fears for safety over bounty - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Nathan Law says his life has become more dangerous as Hong Kong police offer a bounty for his arrest. | Asia | A pro-democracy campaigner who fled Hong Kong has told the BBC his life has become more dangerous because of a bounty offered for his arrest.
Nathan Law, who lives in the UK, is among eight exiled activists wanted by the territory's police.
Authorities are offering rewards of HK$1 million (£100,581; $127,637) for information leading to their capture.
Mr Law said he needed to be "more careful" about divulging his whereabouts as a result of the bounty.
The eight activists targeted are accused of colluding with foreign forces - a crime that can carry a sentence of life in prison. The offence comes under Hong Kong's draconian security law, which was imposed three years ago after widespread pro-democracy protests took place in 2019.
The UK's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the UK would "not tolerate any attempts by China to intimidate and silence individuals in the UK and overseas."
"We call on Beijing to remove the National Security Law and for the Hong Kong authorities to end their targeting of those who stand up for freedom and democracy," he said in a statement.
Under the national security law, hundreds of pro-democracy campaigners have been arrested and convicted in Hong Kong.
Beijing has said the law is needed to bring stability to the city, but critics say it is designed to squash dissent.
The eight named in this announcement are all based in the UK, the US and Australia - countries which do not have extradition treaties with China.
"They have committed very serious offences that endanger national security," Steven Li, chief superintendent of the national security department, said.
He added that while Hong Kong police could not arrest them while they remained abroad, they would not stop chasing them.
Mr Law, one of the most prominent figures in the pro-democracy movement, said that while he felt his situation was "relatively safe" in the UK, he would have to be more vigilant as a result of the bounty's announcement.
"There could possibly be someone in the UK - or anywhere else - to provide informations of me to (the Hong Kong authorities). For example, my whereabouts, where they could possibly extradite me when I'm transiting in certain countries," Mr Law said.
"All these things may put my life in to dangerous situations if I'm not careful enough of who I meet or where I go. It makes me have to live in a more careful life."
Writing on Twitter, Mr Law urged others not to cooperate with the authorities on the matter and said: "We should not limit ourselves, self-censor, be intimidated, or live in fear."
This sentiment was echoed by one of the other exiled activists - Anna Kwok, executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council - who said the bounty was aimed at intimidating her and her fellow activists.
"We are united in our fight for freedom and democracy in our home, Hong Kong," she said in a statement.
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her government was "deeply disappointed" by the announcement and said Australia "remains deeply concerned by the continuing erosion of Hong Kong's rights, freedoms and autonomy."
The other six activists named in the announcement are Ted Hui, Dennis Kwok, Mung Siu-tat, Elmer Yuen, Finn Law and Kevin Yam.
You may also be interested in:
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66092827 |
Lord Kerslake: Former Civil Service head dies aged 68 - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | He was Cabinet Secretary between 2012 and 2014 during David Cameron's coalition government. | UK Politics | Lord Kerslake, a former head of the Civil Service, has died at the age of 68.
Lord Kerslake, who had been diagnosed with cancer, died on Saturday, his sister and daughter announced on Twitter.
He led the Civil Service between January 2012 and September 2014, during David Cameron's coalition government.
He had recently been working with the Labour Party on its preparations for the next general election.
Bath-born Lord Kerslake started his career in local government with the Greater London Council, and was knighted in the 2005 New Year honours list for services to local government.
As Bob Kerslake, he served as chief executive of Sheffield City Council between 1997 and 2008, before heading to the Homes and Communities Agency.
He was permanent secretary at the Department for Communities and Local Government from 2010 to 2015 - he retained this role when he became the head of the Civil Service.
He left the Civil Service in 2015, he became chair of King's College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, and chair of the board of governors at Sheffield Hallam University.
He was also president of the Local Government Association from 2015 to 2021, and chaired the independent investigation into the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, which reported in 2018.
He was introduced as a crossbench life peer in the House of Lords in 2015.
Following the news of his death, senior Labour figures paid tribute, including party leader Sir Keir Starmer, who described Lord Kerslake as a "talented public servant, utmost professional, and a good man... rightly respected across Westminster for his experience and wisdom".
Shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy described him as "an endless source of advice and encouragement," adding that his knowledge of both central and local government was "unparalleled".
The chairman of the FDA union, David Penman, said he was "an engaging and committed leader of the Civil Service".
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Lord Kerslake's "kindness and commitment to improving our city and country will always be remembered".
As well as his political commitments, Lord Kerslake was the chair of the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. The theatre group said they were "deeply saddened" by his death.
"Lord Kerslake guided the organisation with generosity, passion and kindness," the statement from the Crucible Theatre added, "we are so grateful for his huge contribution to our theatres and our city". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66080174 |
Léon Gautier: Last French D-Day fighter dies aged 100 - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Léon Gautier is being remembered as a "defender of freedom" for his role opposing Nazi Germany. | Europe | Léon Gautier took part in the D-Day landings during World War Two
The last surviving member of a French commando unit that took part in the Normandy landings during World War Two has died at the age of 100.
Léon Gautier served with the Fusiliers Marins Commando - the only unit of Free French troops to go ashore during D-Day on 6 June 1944.
Mr Gautier later called war a "misery" that "ends with widows and orphans".
French President Emmanuel Macron described Mr Gautier and his comrades as "heroes of the Liberation".
"We will not forget him," Mr Macron wrote on Twitter.
Regional Mayor Romain Bail described Mr Gautier as "a local hero whom everybody knew" and who was "an ardent defender of freedom".
Mr Gautier was born in Rennes, in France's north-western Brittany region, and enlisted in the French navy as a teenager soon after World War Two began, as he was too young to enter the army.
He escaped to Britain in 1940 before Adolf Hitler's forces swept through much of western Europe, including France.
In London, Mr Gautier joined the Free France movement, which maintained a government-in-exile and military that coordinated with the Allies against Nazi Germany.
He fought in Congo, Syria and Lebanon, before joining a unit of marine riflemen known as the Kieffer commandos, which trained in the Scottish Highlands.
During the Battle for Normandy, more than half of his unit of 177 Free French were killed.
The D-Day landings by the Allied forces of the US, UK and Canada began an attack that lasted for 11 months. It eventually led to the defeat of Nazi Germany and the liberation of occupied Europe.
Mr Gautier posed with current members of France's Commando Marine at a D-Day memorial event last month
Later in life, Mr Gautier settled in the Normandy port town of Ouistreham, and became a campaigner for peace.
"Not all that long ago... I would think perhaps I killed a young lad," he said in an interview with Reuters news agency in 2019, when he was 96 years old.
"Perhaps I orphaned children, perhaps I widowed a woman or made a mother cry... I didn't want to do that. I'm not a bad man." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66091649 |
France shooting: Calmer night despite protests over Nahel M's killing, minister says - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A total of 719 people were arrested as disturbances gripped Marseille and other cities with Paris quieter. | Europe | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
France has seen a quieter night of protests over the death of a teenager shot by police at point-blank range, the interior minister says.
There were fewer arrests compared to previous nights - 719 - with the worst clashes in the southern city Marseille.
In the Paris suburb L'Haÿ-les-Roses, attackers rammed a car into the house of the mayor, injuring his wife as she tried to flee with their two children.
French cities have seen unrest since the police shooting of a teenager.
Nahel M, 17, was shot during a traffic stop on Tuesday. Large crowds turned out for his funeral on Saturday.
In a tweet, Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin praised law enforcement for their "resolute action" which had led to a "calmer night".
Around 45,000 police were deployed across the country for a second night on Saturday.
More than 1,300 arrests were made on Friday night and more than 900 on Thursday.
Officials hope that a turning-point may have been reached - that rioters are losing energy thanks to the security crackdown and the massive unpopularity of their exactions.
However, until more nights of quiet confirm the trend, no-one is assuming anything.
In Marseille, heavy clashes took place between police and rioters throughout Saturday evening.
In footage circulating online, police can be seen using tear gas against people in the city.
The video shows the clashes taking place on La Canebière, the main avenue in the heart of Marseille.
French media report that fighting took place between a large group of rioters and officers.
There was a heavy police presence along the iconic Champs-Élysée in Paris
In Paris, large numbers of police were seen along the iconic Champs-Élysées avenue.
There had been calls on social media for protesters to gather there but the police presence seems to have kept most of them away.
The capital's police said they made 194 arrests. The Paris region stopped all buses and trams after 21:00 for a second night running.
L'Haÿ-les-Roses Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun said his wife and one of his children had been injured when fleeing an attacker who had rammed his house with a car and then set the car on fire.
He called it "a murder attempt of unspeakable cowardice".
In the northern city of Lille, police special forces were seen on the streets. Images from the city overnight showed firefighters extinguishing blazes in cars that had been set alight by rioters.
Twenty-one people were arrested in the city of Lyon. Clashes were also reported in Nice and Strasbourg.
Nahel's funeral service was held at the mosque in Nanterre earlier on Saturday.
Supporters of the family told the news media to keep away. All filming - even on phones - was banned: "No Snapchat, no Insta," mourners were told.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Nahel was shot after refusing to stop for a traffic check and died after emergency services attended the scene. A video, shared online in the hours following Nahel's death, showed two police officers trying to stop the vehicle and one pointing his weapon at the driver.
The officer who fired the fatal shot has since been charged with voluntary homicide and apologised to the family. His lawyer said he was devastated.
Nahel's death has reignited debate around the state of French policing, including a controversial 2017 firearms law which allows officers to shoot when a driver ignores an order to stop.
More widely, it has led to questions of racism in the force. The UN's human rights office said the unrest was a chance for France "to address deep issues of racism in law enforcement".
President Emmanuel Macron condemned the violence on Friday "with the greatest firmness" and said Nahel's death had been used to justify acts of violence - calling it an "unacceptable exploitation of the adolescent's death". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66078723 |
Spectre of violence still hangs over France - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | President Macron is fervently hoping the protesters give up and go home soon. For so many reasons. | Europe | There has been a tight police presence around the Champs Elysée
"Could you just go home?"
It was a weary-sounding question, directed by a middle-aged French woman at a gang of youths pushing past her, as a mass of defence shield-wielding riot-police chased after them.
It was the early hours of Sunday morning on the Champs Elysées - the tourist shoppers' paradise in central Paris. The air was acrid with tear gas. Night number five of the street riots that have engulfed France since the killing of Nahel, a French Algerian teen, by a policeman on a Parisian housing estate.
My colleagues and I were filming the chaos all around when it struck me just how many people in France have posed the same question as the irritated lady.
The acts of violence across France dropped considerably overnight, the rioters shamed perhaps by Nahel's grandma, who took to French TV to appeal to the youngsters to calm down.
I spoke to another family member who asked to remain anonymous because tensions are still running so high. Visibly agitated, she told me they ache for the rioters to stay home.
Nahel's relatives never called for acts of hate or theft or destruction in his name, she insists. In fact, they all worry the violence could distract from what they do want: justice. For them, that means the police officer who killed Nahel, sentenced and imprisoned.
Emmanuel Macron is fervently hoping the protesters - and tag-along vandals - stay home. For so many reasons.
His second term as French president has been peppered by civil unrest - over pension reform and now, Nahel's death. It's not exactly improving his popularity ratings.
Teacher Abdul - who lives on the same estate as Nahel, told me Mr Macron was fully to blame. His economic reforms are a disaster. France is crumbling - he told me - along with its education system.
Abdul was convinced disgruntled, unemployed young men from disadvantaged neighbourhoods were at least partly responsible for the street violence. They're behind the scenes, pushing these teenagers, he said.
Abdul's neighbours bring out their mobile phones each morning to photograph the smouldering remains of the latest riot-devastation. They also told us they wished the youngsters would stop. Student Celia said she worries the violence could end in a backlash against their whole community.
On Sunday night, the mums in Aulney, a working-class area near Paris, took to the streets themselves, waving banners calling for an end to the violence. President Macron appealed to the "mamans et papas" (the mums and dads) of the rioters last week to keep them at home and off social media, which, he said, allow "inflammatory material" to circulate.
The crisis is also weakening Macron politically, under fire from the political left and right over what best to do next. The left accuses him of neglecting the poor and the marginalised. The right demands he crack down harder on the violence, imposing a nationwide state of emergency.
But the optics would be tricky for the French president. He'd worry a crackdown like that could ignite an even greater rage on the streets - and further tarnish France's international standing.
Mr Macron was forced by this crisis to leave last week's summit of EU leaders where they discussed Europe's biggest emergency: Russia's invasion of Ukraine. And this weekend, the president had to cancel a much discussed state visit to important EU ally Germany - the first by a French president in 23 years.
While in the world of sport, questions are being asked as to whether France can be trusted to safely host international events like the world's biggest cycling championship, the Tour de France. It concludes in three weeks on the Champs Elysées - a favourite spot for rioters, as we learned at the start of this article. The Rugby World Cup is due to begin in France in September. France is also set to host next year's summer Olympics. It escaped no-one's attention here that an Olympic swimming complex was targeted by rioters on one of the first nights of turmoil following Nahel's death.
Talk to the protesters themselves and many say staying home on their housing estates is far from straightforward. They feel unsafe, they say, because of regular confrontations with police. The UN has accused France's security forces of systemic racism.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Nahel's family say violence won’t bring justice for the boy they lost
Activists like Assa Traore - whose brother died seven years ago following his arrest, told us being a young black or Arab man on a housing estate in France means being regularly exposed to police brutality and racial profiling. Until France recognises the problem is endemic, she says, there will be a lot more Nahels.
But the secretary general of one of France's powerful police unions, Unité SGP, flatly denies the allegations of systemic racism.
Jean-Christophe Couvy says France is "not the US. We don't have ghettos", he told me. "Our forces represent France's multicultural society with officers from all backgrounds. You'll find maybe 1% of racists - like in the rest of society - but no more."
Mr Couvy didn't want to discuss the specifics of Nahel's case as it's an open investigation.
So I asked him how he would go about improving police relations with the estates.
Jean-Christophe Couvy denies there is systemic racism in the police force
"The best way forward is to return to a system of community policing in France, where we know each other by our first names."
Right now in France, he told me, policing has become a box-ticking exercise of showing how many people each officer detains for questioning - to demonstrate he or she is working hard.
"The problem with that is it becomes like two opposing gangs on the streets: police vs the inhabitants of the estates."
Back in January, French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne launched a new action plan against racism but it's been criticised for its silence on racial profiling by French police. Last summer, the Council of Europe's European Commission against Racism and Intolerance released its sixth report on France, highlighting "little progress" on curtailing the use of ethnic profiling by law enforcement officers.
Not all the rioters on France's streets were triggered by Nahel's death, but those who were say loud protests are the only way that people like them get their voices heard in France. That's why, they say, they shouldn't sit quietly at home.
France may be calming down. The large majority of the country fervently hopes so.
But the spectre of potential renewed violence hangs over France. On the streets and across social media here, French men and women predict, if relations between the authorities and housing estates such as Nahel's remain unchanged, France's streets could easily ignite again - as they've done many times in the past.
Have you been affected by the unrest in France? You can contact us by emailing [email protected].
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at [email protected]. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66083281 |
The Ashes 2023: MCC suspends three members over Australia Long Room confrontations - BBC Sport | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | null | The Marylebone Cricket Club suspends three members over altercations with Australia players at Lord's on day five of the second Test. | null | Last updated on .From the section Cricket
The Marylebone Cricket Club has suspended three members over altercations with Australia players at Lord's on day five of the second Test.
Television footage appeared to show clashes between Usman Khawaja and David Warner and spectators in the Long Room as Australia walked off for lunch.
The incident came after England's Jonny Bairstow was controversially stumped by Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
The MCC said it had apologised "unreservedly" before confirming it had suspended three members identified from the incident.
"They will not be permitted back to Lord's whilst the investigation takes place," the MCC added in a statement.
"We maintain that the behaviour of a small number of members was completely unacceptable and whilst there was no suggestion by [Australia captain] Pat Cummins in the post-match press conference that there was any physical altercation, it remains wholly unacceptable to behave in such a way, which goes against the values of the club.
"MCC condemns the behaviour witnessed and once again we re-iterate our apology to Cricket Australia."
Khawaja said the behaviour of the members was "really disappointing", while Cummins added he thought some could lose their memberships as a result.
"Lord's is one of my favourite places to come," said Khawaja. "There's always respect shown at Lord's, particularly in the members' pavilion in the Long Room, but there wasn't today.
"Some of the stuff that was coming out of the members' mouths is really disappointing and I wasn't just going to stand by and cop it. So I just talked to a few of them.
"A few of them were throwing out some pretty big allegations and I just called them up on it and they kept going, and I was like, well, this is your membership here.
"It's pretty disrespectful, to be honest. I just expect a lot better from the members."
• None Superb Stokes century not enough to deny Australia
• None I wouldn't want to win in that manner - Stokes
• None TMS podcast: Super Stokes goes down in vain
Australia asked the MCC to investigate, initially saying players had been "physically contacted" as well as verbally abused.
Based at Lord's, which it owns, the MCC acts as custodian and arbiter of the laws and spirit of cricket.
"We have unreservedly apologised to the Australian team," the MCC said in a statement.
Tempers flared after Carey threw down the stumps to dismiss Bairstow, who left his crease after seemingly believing the ball was dead at the end of the 52nd over in England's second innings.
Australia's players were booed and players from both sides exchanged words as they walked off the field at lunch before Khawaja and Warner appeared to be confronted by members.
"MCC came and apologised for the behaviour of some of the members," said Cummins.
"I think some of them might lose their memberships over the way they behaved. Other than that one time, they were fantastic all week. Normally fantastic, really welcoming.
"They were just quite aggressive and abusive towards some of our players, which I know the MCC weren't too happy with." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/66082409 |
Wimbledon: Stars call on championships to end Barclays sponsorship - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Emma Thompson and Richard Curtis say the bank is "financing and profiting from climate chaos". | Business | Emma Thompson is among the signatories of the letter to the AELTC
Film stars and celebrities are calling on Wimbledon to end its new sponsorship deal with Barclays over the bank's support for fossil fuel projects.
Actress Emma Thompson and film director Richard Curtis are two of the campaigners who said Barclays was "profiting from climate chaos".
Wimbledon said Barclays was committed to creating access to sport for all.
Barclays said it was one of the first banks to set an ambition to become net zero by 2050.
The All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) announced Barclays as an official banking partner of the Championships in November last year.
As the 2023 Championships get under way on Monday, Thompson and Curtis are among those to sign an open letter to the AELTC.
The letter is from Make My Money Matter, a campaign group co-founded by Curtis that seeks to transform the financial system to put "people and planet on a par with profit".
It also has the backing of retail guru Mary Portas, entrepreneur and Dragons' Den star Deborah Meaden, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas and musician Brian Eno, among others.
Four Weddings and a Funeral screenwriter Curtis said: "With the great respect and love for Wimbledon - and all the magic from Billie Jean King to Andy Murray - the decision of the AELTC to partner with Barclays is a very bad line call."
Writer and director Richard Curtis co-founded campaign group Make My Money Matter
Addressed to the chief executive of the AELTC Sally Bolton, it states: "Barclays is Europe's largest fossil fuel funder, providing over $190 billion to the industry since the Paris Climate Agreement was struck in 2016.
"Put simply, Barclays is financing and profiting from climate chaos, and accepting a sponsorship deal from them is an endorsement of these actions," the letter said.
The campaign group claims the AELTC's decision to team up with Barclays is "not only bad for the environment, but also inconsistent with Wimbledon's cultural legacy and environmental policies".
"As outlined in your 2023 climate strategy, your intent is to: 'Sustain… The Championships in a way that ensures we have… positive impact on our environment. We will be honest, transparent and act with integrity in what we can and cannot do.'
"We do not believe sponsorship from Europe's largest funder of fossil fuels is consistent with this approach," the letter states.
In a statement the All England Club said it welcomed Barclays as "the latest addition to our family of official partners".
"Barclays' commitment to creating access to sport for all is something that we are passionate about... our ambition to have a positive impact on the environment is central to our day-to-day operations and is a core part of putting on a successful Championships.
"We know this is one of the defining challenges of our times and we are fully committed to playing our part. From using 100% renewable electricity and offering low carbon options on our menus, to sending zero waste to landfill and promoting a culture of reuse, we're working hard to achieve a positive environmental impact across all of our operations."
Barclays said it believed it could "make the greatest difference as a bank by working with customers and clients as they transition to a low-carbon business model, focusing on facilitating the finance needed to change business practices and scale new green technologies". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66084764 |
Ezra Miller: The Flash actor 'grateful' after harassment order ends - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The Flash star posts a statement calling it an "egregious misuse of the protective order system". | Entertainment & Arts | Ezra Miller plays the title role in recent DC Comics superhero film The Flash
Actor Ezra Miller has said they are "encouraged" and "grateful" after a temporary harassment order brought by the mother of a 12-year-old ended.
The Flash star was given the harassment prevention order last year after the woman reportedly made accusations about inappropriate behaviour.
Although Miller had "made mistakes" at times, these were "false allegations", the actor's lawyer said.
Miller said it was an "egregious misuse of the protective order system".
Last year, the Daily Beast claimed the order was put in place after Miller shouted at the child's adult family members and neighbours, and other behaviour also made the youngster uncomfortable, including paying them undue attention.
In a statement after a court hearing in Massachusetts on Friday, Miller's lawyer Marissa Elkins said the actor was "never alone with the child and never interacted with the child outside of two brief encounters which occurred in the presence of several other adults".
It was one of a string of allegations and legal issues the actor has faced over the past 18 months. Miller, who uses they/them pronouns, began treatment for "complex mental health issues" last August.
Elkins said: "Ezra does not deny that in the midst of their struggle that they have made mistakes and behaved at times in ways they wish they could take back.
"That, however, does not make every allegation, rumour, or false accusation true. There are real world consequences when claims like these are heedlessly amplified, without any regard for the facts or the truth.
"These false allegations, fanned by unscrupulous media, have threatened Ezra's recovery, and done terrible damage to their reputation and career."
In a statement on Instagram, Miller wrote: "I'm encouraged by today's outcome and very grateful at this moment to everyone who has stood beside me and sought to ensure that this egregious misuse of the protective order system was halted."
Miller said they had been "unjustly and directly targeted", and criticised the child's mother.
"On a personal note, I want everyone to know that I am continuing to do my best to preserve my own wellness and what I can to reverse the collateral damage this ordeal has brought upon me and those close to me."
Miller had the starring role in DC Comics superhero film The Flash, which was released last month. Its North American box office takings of less than $100m (£79m) in three weeks are widely regarded as a disappointment. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66085441 |
Stephen Lawrence murder: Friend 'could have identified sixth suspect' - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Duwayne Brooks, who witnessed the murder, says he could have picked a sixth suspect from a line-up. | UK | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Duwayne Brooks "certain" he could have identified sixth murder suspect
Stephen Lawrence's friend has said he could have identified a sixth suspect in his friend's murder if he had been given the opportunity.
In an interview with the BBC, Duwayne Brooks said he would have picked out Matthew White, who died in 2021, in a line-up.
On Monday, White was named as the sixth suspect in the racist killing 30 years ago, following a BBC investigation.
Stephen, 18, was killed in Eltham, south-east London in April 1993.
Mr Brooks was waiting for a bus with Stephen at the time.
The failure of the first police investigation prompted a landmark public inquiry which concluded the Met was institutionally racist.
Asked whether pictures of White broadcast by the BBC investigation were of the same person he had described to police, Mr Brooks said: "100%. Not only did I describe him as best I could, you had other witnesses at the bus stop who also described him."
"I am 100% certain that if that person was put before me, and the other witnesses, in the initial stages of the investigations on an ID parade, we all would have picked him out."
In 1993, Mr Brooks and eyewitness described an attacker who bore a plain resemblance to Matthew White, but police did not treat White as a suspect for years.
The BBC investigation included statements and artists' impressions from the time.
Mr Brooks said it would now be "impossible" to remember what the attacker looked like from memory, but "there is no doubt in my mind, from what I described, from those drawings, what you can see from the other witnesses, that that is the person who was there. At the scene, on the night."
An artist's impression of the "fair-haired attacker", Matthew White and a police e-fit
He said the way his evidence was dealt with in 1993 involved "corruption" and "decisions made back then were a deliberate act of sabotage".
When approached for comment the Met said it would not be issuing a new statement.
Mr Brooks originally spoke to the Sunday Mirror, before being interviewed by the BBC.
The Met Police has consistently said there were six white men involved, as Mr Brooks said on the night.
Five prime suspects became widely known after the murder, but the public inquiry said there were "five or six" attackers.
David Norris and Gary Dobson were given life sentences for the murder in 2012. The other three - Luke Knight and brothers Neil and Jamie Acourt - have not been convicted of the crime.
White was arrested twice, in 2000 and 2013, and files were sent to the Crown Prosecution Service in 2005 and 2014. But on both occasions prosecutors said there was no realistic prospect of conviction.
In May and June 1993 Mr Brooks and eyewitnesses to the murder attended identity parades which included the prime suspects in the case, but Matthew White was not part of the parades.
In the same BBC interview, Mr Brooks said the criminal justice system doesn't work for victims "at this moment in time". He added that an apology from the Met would be a "tick-boxing exercise".
"The way I have been treated is a disgrace. My experience should never have happened."
Baroness Doreen Lawrence, Stephen Lawrence's mother, has also criticised the police handling of information about a sixth suspect in her son's murder, saying there should be "serious sanctions" against the police officers who failed to investigate White.
In response to the naming of Matthew White as a suspect, the Met Police confirmed he was seen again in 2020, but there was insufficient witness or forensic evidence to progress further.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Matt Ward said: "Unfortunately, too many mistakes were made in the initial investigation and the impact of them continues to be seen.
"On the 30th anniversary of Stephen's murder, Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley apologised for our failings and I repeat that apology today." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66078894 |
Baltimore shooting: Police hunt for suspects after dozens shot at block party - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Gunfire erupted at a large block party in the city, leaving two dead and 28 others injured. | US & Canada | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Police are searching for multiple suspects after a shooting in the US city of Baltimore left two people dead and 28 others injured.
Fifteen children were among those wounded when gunfire erupted at a block party in the Brooklyn Homes area of the city on Sunday.
It is not clear whether the attack was targeted, police said, and officers are hunting for at least two suspects.
At a news conference on Monday police announced a reward of $28,000 (£22,000) for information on the suspects.
Authorities said multiple weapons and bullet casings were recovered from the scene of the crime.
Police have yet to name a suspect, but said a young man who has been seen in footage circulating on social media appearing to pull a semi-automatic weapon from a backpack is one of the suspects.
"Anyone who had a weapon at the scene will be one of our suspects until we eliminate that they are not," said Baltimore Police Department acting commissioner Richard Worley.
The shooting began at about 00:35 local time (04:35 GMT) in a courtyard between a pair of rowhouses in the south of the city. Investigators spent hours on Sunday combing a large crime scene for evidence.
Police said 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzalez died at the scene, while 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi was pronounced dead at hospital.
The victims were mostly teenagers, ranging in age from 13 to 19. The others were aged 20, 22, 23, 31 and 32, according to police.
As of Monday afternoon, seven victims remained in hospital, including four who are in critical condition.
Hospital officials said they worked under stressful circumstances with the assailants still at large to treat 19 patients, many of whom were minors and critically injured.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott said his office was dedicating every resource possible to finding those responsible.
"We will not stop until we find you - and we will find you," he said. "This was a reckless, cowardly act that happened here."
"I hope that with every single breath that you take that you think about the lives that you took and you think about the lives that you impacted here tonight," he said.
Mr Worley told reporters on Sunday that the block party - an annual community gathering known as "Brooklyn Day" - was "unpermitted", because police were not warned about it ahead of time.
He added that officials would examine what actions officers took once they found out about the gathering.
Witnesses said hundreds of people were at the party when the shooting unfolded
Witnesses at the scene said hundreds of people were at the party when the chaotic scene unfolded.
Danny Gonzalez, 57, who is not related to the woman who died in the shooting, told the Washington Post that he heard gunshots from his home and saw young people running away.
"It was at least 40 or 50 rounds," he said, adding that he and his neighbours were no strangers to gunfire in the Maryland port city. "It's just another killing weekend. This is Baltimore, Murderland."
There have been 140 homicides this year in Baltimore, according to the Baltimore Sun newspaper. In 2022, the city reported more than 300 killings for the eighth year in a row.
Local authorities said the shooting would result in long-lasting trauma for the community, while Mayor Scott called for stricter gun laws across the US.
"This is our longest standing public health challenge, and we need to focus on gun violence regardless of where it happens," he said on Monday.
The US has seen more than 330 mass shootings this year, according to the non-profit Gun Violence Archive, which defines a mass shooting as an incident in which four or more people are injured or killed. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66079407 |
Joe Biden to meet King Charles and Rishi Sunak in UK visit - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | US President Joe Biden will meet King Charles at Windsor Castle on 10 July. | UK | The US president will meet King Charles III in London for the first time since he was crowned King. Here Mr Biden is seen with the then Prince of Wales at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow.
US President Joe Biden is to travel to the UK to meet King Charles and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak later this month.
It is the first time the US president will have met the King since the Coronation in May.
Mr Biden's overseas diplomatic trip - in which he will also travel to Lithuania and Finland - will take place from 9 to 13 July.
Buckingham Palace confirmed King Charles was due to meet the president at Windsor Castle on Monday, 10 July.
Mr Biden did not attend the King's coronation in May - but his wife, First Lady Jill Biden, and his granddaughter went instead.
The Bidens were at Queen Elizabeth's funeral at Westminster Abbey in September. On the eve of the funeral they attended a reception hosted by the King for world leaders.
His visit follows Mr Sunak's two-day trip to Washington in June, where both leaders discussed Ukraine, a post-Brexit economy and the pros and cons of Artificial Intelligence.
This month's meeting would "further strengthen the close relationship between our nations", the White House said.
Downing Street put out a similar statement, saying that Mr Biden's upcoming visit "reflects the strong relationship" between the UK and US.
"The prime minister looks forward to welcoming President Biden in the UK later this month," a No 10 spokesperson said.
"This reflects the strong relationship between the UK and US, building on a series of bilateral visits and meetings earlier this year.
"We'll set out further detail in due course."
Earlier this year, Mr Biden stopped in Belfast to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, and briefly met Mr Sunak.
After the UK, the US president will travel to Vilnius in Lithuania for the Nato summit, which takes place on 11 and 12 July.
On his final day, he will visit Helsinki, Finland for a US-Nordic Leaders Summit, where the focus of the talks is expected to be the Russia-Ukraine war. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66081123 |
Testing begins in Orkney for breast cancer gene variant - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Islanders on Westray were told of a genetic variant linked to an increased risk of breast cancer. | NE Scotland, Orkney & Shetland | Prof Zosia Miedzybrodzka first began to suspect the Orkney link 25 years ago
Genetic testing has begun on the Orkney island of Westray for a gene variant linked to a higher risk of breast cancer.
A landmark study found one in 100 people with Orcadian grandparents had a specific mutation of the BRCA1 gene.
Researchers found most of them could trace their ancestry to Westray, which has a population of just 600 people.
All adults on Westray who have grandparents from the island are being offered the test for the gene variant.
There are many other BRCA gene variants which can leave women at a higher risk of ovarian and breast cancer.
But the Orkney variant BRCA1 V1736A is believed to be the first time a geographic ancestral link has been made in the UK.
Gina Rendall, operations manager at the Westray development Trust, is one of the first taking part in the testing scheme.
She said: "It is hugely important that testing is rolled out, we're just a pinpoint in the whole thing.
"Knowledge is power in this case, it's giving you information for making a proper healthcare plan for the rest of your life.
"There are a lot of anxious folk out there, if we can be preventative on this, it is going to save money and save lives."
Gina Rendall will be one of the first to take part in the scheme
The Westray Development Trust is providing £15,000 towards the testing programme.
Ms Rendall added: "When the link to the variant was discovered the news had a deep impact on our small community.
"I'm really proud to be from Westray and of the Trust's pledge to support the pilot."
Earlier this year a team of geneticists visited Westray to tell the community about the gene and the plans to offer testing and support.
Identifying the variant was the result of 25 years of research by Zosia Miedzybrodzka, professor of genetics at Aberdeen University and director of the NHS North of Scotland Genetic Service.
Researchers believes the Orkney link arose from a single founder hundreds of years ago on the isle of Westray
Prof Miedzybrodzka said: "We highlighted that this gene alteration started some 400 years ago in Westray.
"It will not have come without a price. Some people will have found that scary, daunting, maybe a bit upsetting.
"What we are offering is for people to have a test and take control of their destiny by being able to take preventative healthcare measures."
Prof Miedzybrodzka says she wants testing to be successful so it can be rolled out to others in Orkney and the rest of Scotland.
BRCA genes are present in every person, both men and women, but when a fault occurs in one of them it can result in DNA damage and lead to cells becoming cancerous.
People with a genetic variant have a 50% chance of passing it on to their children.
Awareness of the faulty gene was raised a decade ago when Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie had a double mastectomy after discovering the BRCA1 variant.
The operation was said to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer from 87% to 5%.
However, the NHS advises that risk-reducing surgery is not the only option.
It also advises awareness of changes to breasts, annual breast screenings and MRI scans can help detect breast cancer, while lifestyle changes like healthy eating and exercise can "sometimes reduce risk".
There is currently no reliable screening test for ovarian cancer, it adds. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-66068544 |
Tory MPs issue plan for Rishi Sunak to slash migration - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The New Conservatives group say the PM risks "eroding public trust" unless the numbers are cut by 400,000. | UK Politics | Rishi Sunak has been under pressure to reduce migration to the UK
A group of Tory MPs is calling on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to drastically cut migration, warning the failure to do so "risks eroding public trust".
The New Conservatives have issued a 12-point plan to cut net migration by about 400,000 before the next election.
The group of MPs recommend closing visa schemes for care workers, increasing salary thresholds, and capping refugee numbers.
But critics say the proposals would have consequences for the UK economy.
Mr Sunak's official spokesman said the government believes it is "striking the right balance between keeping migration as low as possible while providing staff for key areas".
The UK's overall population grew by more than 600,000 people last year, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.
The ONS said the rise was largely driven by more people from outside the EU arriving on student and work visas, and refugees fleeing conflict and persecution in Ukraine and Hong Kong.
The sharp increase represents a huge political challenge for Mr Sunak and the Conservatives, who have repeatedly promised to reduce net migration since taking power in 2010.
The party's 2019 manifesto committed to getting the number down, without setting a specific target, while former Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron once pledged to bring net migration below 100,000.
In a report launched on Monday, the New Conservatives say the British public "did not vote for mass migration and the social and economic harms it brings".
"Without swift action to get migration under control, the Conservative Party will further erode the trust of hundreds of thousands of voters who lent the party their vote in 2019," the report says.
The report was written by Tory MP Tom Hunt and backed by a group of like-minded Conservatives, including the party's deputy chairman, Lee Anderson, Miriam Cates and James Daly.
At the report's launch, Mr Hunt, Ms Cates and Mr Daly insisted they were loyal to the prime minister, but felt his government could go further on cutting immigration.
One of the report's main recommendations is closing temporary schemes that grant eligibility for worker visas to care workers.
The report says this policy will reduce visas granted by 117,000, leading to a reduction in long-term inward migration to the UK of 82,000.
Part of this proposed policy involves only allowing in skilled workers who earn £38,000 a year or more.
A report by the Skills for Care charity said the number of vacancies in social care was at its highest rate on record, with 165,000 unfilled posts in 2021-22.
Sam Monaghan, chief executive at Methodist Homes, said not being able to recruit carers from overseas would put more pressure on the sector.
"Cutting off a key supply of care workers at a time when 500,000 people nationwide are waiting for care is not the answer," Mr Monaghan said.
Mr Sunak's official spokesman said the government was not planning to remove care workers from the shortage occupation list.
The government was "using the flexibility we have through our migration system to ensure we have sufficient staff in key areas" and "looking to boost the numbers of domestic care staff that are available", Downing Street said.
Ms Cates told the BBC the UK needed to cut off the supply of cheap foreign Labour and encourage from British people to fill jobs in the care sector.
She said scrapping temporary visa schemes for care workers would force "employers to look at recruiting local young people".
"We are never ever going to make that possible unless we close the immigration route first," the Tory MP said.
But fellow Tory MP Tim Loughton said while the principle of reducing met migration was right, there was a shortage of care workers in the UK.
"It's not as simple as just putting the salary thresholds up as well," he said. "There's quite a lot of skilled but lower paid people that we need coming into this country."
Some of the report's other proposals include:
Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said "trying to predict the impact of individual policy changes on migration is very hard".
"Even the most fastidious attempts to model the impacts of policy on numbers - and this isn't one of them - will usually be wrong," she said.
She said immigration policy was a "political choice" and there was "no reason the UK couldn't choose to be more restrictive".
But she said the report does not "engage with any of the trade-offs that more restrictive measures involve".
"For example, one of the reasons demand for care workers has been so high is limited public funding in the care system," Ms Sumption said.
"International students have been a growing source of revenue for universities, so proposals that would reduce student numbers cannot be considered in isolation from the funding of higher education."
She said some of the proposals in the report were "a bit outlandish".
"Net migration is expected to decline anyway over the coming years even without policy changes," she added. "However, if they want more significant restrictions it requires an honest conversation about the wider consequences and how to mitigate them." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66084962 |
Kevin Spacey trial: Assaults made me feel sick, says accuser in cross-examination - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The Oscar-winning actor faces 12 sexual offence charges against four men, which he denies. | UK | Turning to why the accuser decided to come forward when the allegations against Spacey first emerged years ago, Patrick Gibbs KC queries whether the news of the claims had any influence.
“Others had come forward,” the complainant told jurors. “I felt it was time to tell the truth. It was the right time, it had been long enough.
“I was thinking about it before. Strength in numbers.”
Gibbs asked if it had occurred to the witness he might be able to sue the Hollywood actor.
“No idea,” the complainant says. “Whatever it would be, it wouldn't be enough.”
Gibbs asks: “In 2022 you saw a bandwagon and decided to hop on board?" | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-66084984 |
Aslef overtime ban sparks reduction in train services - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Fifteen train companies based in England will be hit from Monday to Saturday this week. | Business | Rail passengers are being warned of disruption for the next six days, due to an overtime ban by train drivers in the Aslef union.
Fifteen train companies based in England will be hit from Monday until Saturday, in the latest move in the long-running pay dispute.
Many will reduce their service levels, and passengers are being advised to check before they travel.
Aslef said the latest pay offer was like a return to "Victorian times".
Strikes by other rail workers in the RMT union are set to take place later this month, on 20, 22 and 29 July.
Most train companies rely on drivers working overtime to run their full schedules.
Among the disruption expected this week:
The long-running pay dispute by train drivers centres around union members accepting a deal worth 4% two years in a row, bringing drivers' average pay to £65,000. This offer has already been rejected by Aslef.
It would have been contingent on changes to working practices, which the employers and government - who dictate what is under discussion in talks - say are needed to cut costs and modernise how the railway runs.
"They wanted to go back to Victorian times, in relation to how we roster, how we recruit, how we do things," Aslef general secretary Mr Whelan told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "The word 'reform' is 'want productivity for nothing'."
The union argues members, who have not had a pay rise in four years, should not have to sacrifice working conditions in return for a below-inflation wage increase.
Last month, Aslef members at 10 operators backed further strike action, meaning it could last for another six months if there is no settlement.
Mr Whelan said the situation was a "Westminster ideological problem" and claimed the union did not have issues in Scotland, Wales, with freight, the London Underground, Crossrail or Eurostar.
"We did 14 pay deals in the last 12 months. The only place we can't get a pay deal is with the Westminster government," he added.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) said Aslef had rejected a "fair and affordable offer" without putting it to its members. "We ask Aslef to recognise the very real financial challenge the industry is facing and work with us to deliver a better, more reliable railway with a strong long-term future," it added.
Aslef does not have any further strikes planned at present but said more dates could "quite possibly" be added soon.
Meanwhile, workers such as train guards in the RMT union are expected to walk out later this month in their dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions.
The strike action has now lasted over a year. With no resolution in sight, the train companies are preparing to move ahead with plans to close hundreds of ticket offices.
The RDG said only 12% of tickets were now sold at station kiosks.
Its spokesperson said under proposed changes staff would be moved on to concourses to help and advise more customers. They added that employees and the public would be consulted about any changes.
But RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said last week his union would not "meekly sit by and allow thousands of jobs to be sacrificed or see disabled and vulnerable passengers left unable to use the railways as a result".
The union suggested it could take further industrial action over the issue. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66059122 |
Jess Phillips is not racist, Labour's Bridget Phillipson says after online row - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A senior headteacher accused Ms Phillips of racism and bullying following a Twitter row. | UK Politics | Labour MP Jess Phillips is not racist, shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson has said, following a social media row involving Ms Phillips and a prominent headteacher.
Katharine Birbalsingh - from the Michaela Community School - has accused Ms Phillips of racism and bullying.
On Sunday, Ms Phillipson said Ms Birbalsingh should raise any concerns through a formal parliamentary process.
Ms Birbalsingh had already written to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
The Twitter row began after Ms Birbalsingh posted a picture in May of the late popstar Tina Turner alongside Ms Turner's abusive ex-husband, Ike Turner, with the caption: "Good times."
In response, Ms Phillips, who is shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, wrote: "Domestic abuse is never OK and we will defeat those who prop up the status quo."
Shortly afterwards Ms Birbalsingh deleted the tweet, then posted: "To the lunatics accusing me of celebrating wife beating - I tweeted a gif with a number of photos of Tina.
"For some reason it rested on one photo which I didn't notice when I tweeted... nor did I know that was Ike."
She added that "the explanation is not that I like wife beating".
Later that same day - 24 May - Ms Phillips wrote on Twitter: "Seems that far from holding any kind of line that headteacher woman seems not to be able to take criticism of her actions. I'd be keen to hear of domestic abuse policies she has in her school or teaching plans, perhaps I'll write."
On Saturday, Ms Birbalsingh posted an open letter to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on her Twitter account, writing that Ms Phillips' behaviour was "a clear example of 'unconscious bias'".
In the four-page letter, she wrote that Ms Phillips "hates me, despite not knowing me, because she subscribes to the idea that black and Asian individuals in public life owe a duty to voice opinions that match with a left wing view of the world, or they are worthy of her contempt".
Ms Birbalsingh said that she was not suggesting Ms Phillips "hates all people of colour".
She added that Ms Phillips called into question her school's safeguarding policies "in a deliberate attempt to challenge my competence as a headteacher".
She said that after Ms Phillips' tweets, people contacted her institution saying it was "unsafe for female teachers and pupils". She said the Teaching Regulation Agency had been contacted with a demand that she be struck off.
Asked on Sky News' Sophy Ridge on Sunday show whether she thought Ms Phillips was racist, Ms Phillipson said: "No, I don't. But I think it's important that, if people have concerns, if they're unhappy about the conduct of a member of parliament, that can be investigated as part of that process."
Ms Phillips did not refer to Ms Birbalsingh's ethnicity in any of her posts.
Ms Birbalsingh - dubbed Britain's strictest head teacher - attracted controversy during her time as the chair of the Social Mobility Commission between November 2021 and January 2023.
She came under fire last April for saying girls are less likely to choose physics A-level because it involves "hard maths" - later admitting her remarks had been "clunky".
She resigned as the government's top social mobility adviser in January saying that she was doing "more harm than good" in the role.
More recently, Ms Birbalsingh - who describes herself as a "floating voter" - spoke at the National Conservatism conference.
The BBC has contacted Ms Phillips for comment. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66081242 |
Sue Gray broke civil service rules over Labour job, government says - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The ex-official was cleared to work for Labour by Parliament's advisory appointments body last week. | UK Politics | Former official Sue Gray broke civil service rules after failing to declare contact with Labour over a job offer, the Cabinet Office has said.
Ms Gray, who led a probe into lockdown parties in Downing Street, was cleared to work for Labour by Parliament's appointments adviser last week.
It said she could start as Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff in September.
Labour said all rules were followed and branded the finding a "political stunt".
The party said the Cabinet Office had "spent weeks wasting time on this Mickey Mouse nonsense"."We're looking forward to Sue Gray joining us this September as we continue to show the country that only Labour can build a better Britain," a Labour spokesperson said.
Labour said Ms Gray only had one phone call with Sir Keir before she resigned in March, and the conversation did not relate to any government business.
Civil servants - who develop and implement government policies - are expected to be politically impartial.
In a statement, Cabinet Office minister Jeremy Quin said the government's inquiry found the code "was prima facie broken as a result of the undeclared contact between Ms Gray and the leader of the opposition".
Mr Quin said Ms Gray was given the opportunity to make representations but chose not to do so.
However, the Cabinet Office cannot impose any retrospective punishments, as Ms Gray is no longer working for the government.
"The rules and guidance that govern the conduct of civil servants are clear and transparent," Mr Quin said. "It is deeply unfortunate that events have transpired in this way."
Ms Gray was thrust into the public spotlight last year when she led an investigation into gatherings in government offices during the Covid-19 pandemic, while Boris Johnson was prime minister.
Her report found staff attended events on multiple occasions while the rest of the UK was in lockdown, and partly blamed the leadership in Downing Street.
Mr Johnson faced calls to resign following the report, which contributed to the Tory disquiet that led to his downfall as prime minister.
Some Tories had expressed anger that Ms Gray was offered a job as the Labour leader's chief of staff, arguing it undermined the impartiality of her inquiry into lockdown-breaking parties.
Last week, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) said Ms Gray had to wait until September to start her new role with Labour.
Ms Gray told Acoba she received a call from Sir Keir in October last year, when he raised the idea of her working for Labour in a senior capacity.
The committee said it was "quite normal for individuals to discuss the possibility of new roles before leaving office" but "any potential conflict must be declared".
The committee said there was no evidence her contact with Labour had impacted her actions in her civil service role or her ability to remain impartial.
However, it said there remained "a potential risk to the perceived impartiality of the civil service that would be exacerbated" if she took up the job immediately on leaving office.
As well as a six-month break, the committee also recommended Ms Gray should not be personally involved in lobbying the government on behalf of the opposition for two years from the date she left the civil service.
With a general election expected next year, Ms Gray will play a key role in helping Labour prepare for government, if it wins power. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66086668 |
Weather satellite captures lightning spectacle across Earth - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A new high-speed weather camera above Europe and Africa records the daily frenzy of lightning storms. | Science & Environment | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: a speeded up video of lightning across the Sahel, Europe and Central Africa
Spectacular movies of lightning spreading across the Earth have just been released by the European weather agency Eumetsat.
They were made by a new instrument that was placed 36,000km above equatorial Africa in December.
The imager, once fully commissioned, will become a key tool for forecasters as they track the emergence of violent storms.
Lightning often precedes heavy rain, hail and even big gusts of wind.
Phil Evans, the director-general of Eumetsat, described the movies as "fantastic".
"The Americans have had an instrument like this over their part of the world for a few years now, but this is the first one for Europe and Africa," he told BBC News.
"Our imager is more sophisticated in terms of resolution and performance, so there's a lot of excitement about how its imagery can be used."
Artwork: Meteosat-12 is part of a multi-billion-euro upgrade to Europe's weather observing system
Eumetsat is the intergovernmental organisation charged with managing Europe's meteorological assets in orbit.
It's currently testing the recently launched Meteosat-12 platform, a next-generation weather-observing spacecraft that scientists expect to initiate a step change in so-called "nowcasting" - the forewarning of challenging atmospheric conditions on very short time horizons, in the order of just hours.
Monitoring lightning behaviour will be central to this capability.
Meteosat-12's lightning detector has four telescopic cameras focused on Europe, Africa, the Middle East and parts of South America.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: On 12 June, the imager tracked a lightning swarm across the UK
Their detectors continuously look for the light pulses produced by cloud-to-ground, cloud-to-cloud and intra-cloud lightning flashes.
They can do this day or night, and will catch even a single lightning bolt.
"The minimum duration of a lightning [detection] is 0.6 milliseconds; that means 1,000 times faster than the blink of an eye," said Guia Pastorini from Leonardo, the Italian aerospace company that designed and built the instrument.
There is an impressive movie of lightning over the UK on 12 June.
"The location of the thunderstorms was captured really clearly from the satellite, and made even more fascinating by the development of a 'Mesoscale Convective System' or MCS," said BBC Weather forecaster Simon King.
"This is a thunderstorm which under certain circumstances grows larger and spawns more thunderstorms. The satellite picks up this area of cloud initially in south-east England but we then see the flashes of lightning develop on its forward edge as it grows and moves north-west."
Lightning is often a tracer for extreme weather
In Europe, forecasters already have very effective ground systems to detect lightning. The ATDNet (Arrival Time Difference Network) senses a discharge from its radio frequency emission. Radar is also used.
"But those lightning networks tend to detect mainly the cloud-to-ground lightning strikes, rather than the cloud-to-cloud, or intra-cloud lightning," explained Simon Keogh, the head of space applications and nowcasting R&D at the UK Met Office.
"Those cloud-to-ground strikes make up only about 10% of the lightning activity in the atmosphere. So, the other 90% is lightning activity within the cloud, which is what the optical satellite is detecting. I see these systems as being totally complementary."
Meteosat-12's view of Earth: Africa in particular should benefit from the new technology
And in Africa, where most lightning on Earth occurs, there are fewer radio frequency systems. The Meteosat information will, therefore, be particularly useful to forecasters.
The same applies to ocean monitoring. The imager is watching what's happening out over the Atlantic, which should improve the safe routing of long haul airliners.
Climate researchers are sure to be interested in the new imager's data. It'll help them develop much better statistics on the frequency of lightning over time.
Atmospheric chemists, too, will be fascinated. The energy in lightning turns the "unreactive" nitrogen in the air into the "reactive" forms, which rain out as nitrates to fertilise soils.
Another potential benefit would be in helping to improve the models used to forecast where forest fires might start as a result of lightning strikes.
Testing of the spacecraft will continue through this year. The national forecasting agencies, such as the UK Met Office, Meteo France and DWD (the German Meteorological Service), should be using Meteosat-12 information on a routine basis early in 2024. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66081621 |
Sussex PCSO investigated over refusal to attend assault - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | null | A member of the public asked the PCSO to go to a supermarket where a fight had broken out. | null | A Police Community Support Officer has been filmed refusing to respond to an alleged assault in a supermarket.
Sussex Police has apologised and said it was reviewing the incident.
The force added: "A police officer attended the incident as an emergency. The PCSO also then attended the scene." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-66088898 |
The Ashes 2023: Bairstow dismissal just not cricket, says Rishi Sunak - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The PM's spokesman said Australia had broken the spirit of the game with the controversial stumping. | UK Politics | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Rishi Sunak has accused Australia of breaking the spirit of cricket over the controversial dismissal of England's Jonny Bairstow on Sunday.
Batsman Bairstow was stumped in the second Ashes Test after walking away from his position in the apparent belief the over had ended.
The contentious wicket has overshadowed Australia's 43-run win against the hosts at Lord's.
Australia captain Pat Cummins said it was a fair dismissal within the rules.
But his England counterpart Ben Stokes said although he agreed Bairstow was out, he would not have wanted to win a game "in that manner".
The incident led to the Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which owns Lord's, suspending three members over confrontations with Australia players.
Believing the ball to be dead and the over to have concluded, Bairstow left his ground as wicketkeeper Alex Carey threw at the stumps and was given out.
England coach Brendon McCullum said Bairstow believed the umpires had declared the over finished, which would mean the ball was dead.
The dismissal was referred to the off-field third umpire, however, who decided it was still in play and Bairstow was indeed out.
Asked on Monday whether Mr Sunak believed Australia's actions were not in keeping with the spirit of cricket, his spokesman said: "Yes".
"The prime minister agrees with Ben Stokes. He said he simply wouldn't want to win a game in the manner Australia did," the spokesman added.
Despite Mr Sunak's verbal shot at Australia's cricketers, the Bairstow controversy is unlikely to spark a diplomatic incident between the UK and Australia.
When Mr Sunak met Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Downing Street this May, the pair said they looked forward to a summer of strong sporting rivalry between two nations.
Responding to Mr Sunak's intervention, the Australian high commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, told the BBC that every cricket follower will have formed a view about what happened Lord's.
"And those views will invariably be strongly held and firmly put," he said. "The Ashes has always had such moments."
However his predecessor Alexander Downer took a more robust line, telling the Sun newspaper the incident had made England look like "bad losers".
"They lost and so they're now screaming blue murder about it and it wasn't fair. Boo hoo," he added.
Australia head coach Andrew McDonald defended his team's actions, saying he didn't see "too many issues with it".
"There is no doubt that when a player is leaving their crease that you take that opportunity," he added.
Cricket's laws say the ball is dead "when it is clear to the bowler's end umpire that the fielding side and both batters at the wicket have ceased to regard it as in play".
Rishi Sunak is a keen cricket fan and attended the fourth day of the Lord's test on Saturday
Stokes said: "When is it justified that the umpires have called over? Is the on-field umpires making movement... is that enough to call over? I'm not sure.
"I am not disputing the fact it is out because it is out," he added. "Would I want to win a game in that manner? The answer for me is no."
The dismissal, which left England needing 178 runs with four wickets left, created a hostile atmosphere, with Australia's team being booed by the traditionally subdued Lord's crowd.
It also led to angry exchanges in the Long Room, an area outside the team dressing rooms, between Australia players Usman Khawaja and David Warner and spectators.
The MCC said it had suspended three of its members after the "completely unacceptable" scenes and apologised to the Australia team.
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66089658 |
Ukraine war: The lethal minefields holding up Kyiv's counter-offensive - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Russia has mined vast swathes of Ukrainian territory its holds, inflicting casualties as Kyiv advances. | Europe | Ukrainian sapper teams come across dozens of Russian mines every day
A Ukrainian soldier drags himself through the long grass, one leg trailing limply behind him. Seconds later, a flash of bright orange and a cloud of white smoke mark the spot, just a few metres away, where yet another land mine has been triggered.
As a second badly wounded soldier pulls himself up on to the relative safety of a nearby armoured personnel carrier - arms flailing like a swimmer trying to cling onto a lifeboat - a thick smudge of dark red blood marks his agonising progress.
All this was captured, live, last week, by a Ukrainian army drone hovering overhead on the frontlines south of the Donbas city of Bakhmut. From above, the cratered minefield looked like it was covered in a haphazard rash of dark brown crop circles.
"Mines are terrifying. They scare me more than anything else," said Artyom, a 36-year-old soldier from Ukraine's 108th Territorial Defence Brigade. Two days earlier, two of his colleagues had stood on "petals" - small, green, anti-personnel mines - that had recently been scattered across a field by Russian rockets.
"Our guys were experienced. But it's hard to have eyes everywhere. Both have leg amputations. One leg each. We have [mine] injuries after every fight," said Artyom, a trained sapper, explaining that the rockets enable Russian forces to plant new mines in places that have already been liberated and cleared by Ukrainian forces.
As Ukraine's long-anticipated counterattack has not yet achieved the sort of speed and momentum that some had hoped for - including President Volodymyr Zelensky who admitted it was "slower than desired". A range of soldiers we've spoken to on different sections of the frontline have blamed Russian minefields for at least part of that delay.
"Of course, it slows down the movement of troops," said the commander of a nine-man sapper squad with the call sign Dill. He'd just finished a de-mining mission on the nearby frontlines to the east of the tiny, ruined village of Predtechyne, outside Bakhmut. He laid out an array of deactivated Russian mines on the ground beneath a tree, taking care to make sure he could not be spotted by Russian drones overhead.
"The enemy has no mercy for their own soldiers. They're used as cannon fodder. But we're trying to move forwards with the minimum of casualties," said the Lieutenant Serhii Tyshenko from the 3rd Assault Brigade, speaking from the shelter of a nearby bunker.
Some three hours' drive further south, across a succession of lop-sided pontoon bridges, Ukrainian sappers crouched by the side of a cratered road, carefully deactivating a powerful anti-personnel Claymore mine that had been hidden near an electricity pole, poised to send shrapnel into infantry or vehicles.
Specialised Ukrainian sapper teams are trained to deal with mines when troops come across them
"I hate this job," said Artyom, a red-bearded former garage mechanic, moments after he'd finished making the mine safe. There was a whistle, then a boom as a Russian artillery shell hit the fields nearby.
Over the lip of a nearby hill, Ukrainian infantry were slowly advancing southwards beyond the newly captured village of Rivnopil. Artyom's anger was not just a response to the dangers of minefields, but to the "sly" mentality that he felt must lie behind the act of laying mines and boobytraps, rather than fighting your enemy "man to man".
Later, in their temporary base in a cottage several kilometres away, the soldiers expressed frustration about a lack of mine-clearing equipment, and a shortage of sappers - four of whom had been injured in recent weeks.
But then Artyom showed us a large antenna and brought out a laptop to begin playing recordings of what he said were recent radio intercepts of Russian soldiers. The expletive-ridden messages appeared to indicate a degree of chaos and low morale.
"Our kamikaze drone hit [our own] car. We have one dead, another injured. Get the [expletive] out of there."
"The [soldiers] are running away. Some of them are stealing cars… 50 people have fled. They [expletive] ran away…"
The radio intercept suggested that Russian soldiers were deserting their positions after a Ukrainian artillery bombardment.
"This happens from time to time. In groups of 10 or 20 - [Russian] people disappear and leave without permission. The Russians realise we can eavesdrop on their communications but sometimes they forget," said Artyom.
He described himself as a "realist" regarding Ukraine's counter-offensive, believing that too many people "in the media and in society are in a hurry", and expecting sudden progress.
"I believe the worst option is always possible. The worst is slow [progress]," he said.
The Ukrainians say they are making slow progress
Two Ukrainian fighter jets flew low overhead with a deafening roar, followed by a succession of booms from the frontlines further south. Soon afterwards, we could hear artillery and what sounded like a longer-range HIMARS rocket system pounding Russian positions.
Ukraine's counter-offensive may be slow, and relatively cautious at this stage. But one officer, speaking on background, suggested that this patient approach would soon pay off in dramatic fashion, as long-range strikes destroyed Russia's ability to rearm frontline units, and low Russian morale provided opportunities for strategic breakthroughs by Ukrainian forces.
"You will see this soon," he said.
As for the vast stretches of minefields still lying in front of Ukraine's counter-attack - Dill, the sapper squad commander near Bakhmut, was quietly confident.
"We are learning to improvise and to invent ways to make quick, safe paths through the minefields. But we are fighting a very vicious enemy," he said. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66080652 |
Colin Pitchfork: Parole Board asked to reconsider killer's release - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Lord Chancellor Alex Chalk says it is "absolutely vital" dangerous offenders are kept behind bars. | Leicester | Colin Pitchfork was jailed for life for raping and strangling two 15-year-old girls, Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth
The Lord Chancellor has asked the Parole Board to reconsider its decision to allow child killer Colin Pitchfork to be released from prison.
Pitchfork was jailed for life for raping and strangling two teenage girls in Leicestershire in 1983 and 1986.
Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk said it was "absolutely vital" dangerous offenders were kept behind bars.
He said there was an arguable case the board's decision was irrational.
Pitchfork became the first murderer to be convicted using DNA evidence.
He was jailed for a minimum of 30 years in 1988 for the murder of Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth.
This was later reduced to 28 years for good behaviour.
Dawn Ashworth and Lynda Mann were raped and murdered by Pitchfork
The 63-year-old was released from prison in 2021 but was arrested and sent back to prison two months later.
He was granted parole in June following a hearing held in private in April.
In a statement on Monday, Mr Chalk said: "My thoughts remain with the families of Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, whose lives were changed forever by the heinous crimes of Colin Pitchfork.
"My number one priority is public protection and after careful assessment I have asked the Parole Board to reconsider their decision to release him.
"It is absolutely vital that every lawful step is taken to keep dangerous offenders behind bars."
The Lord Chancellor is a senior member of the cabinet and heads the Ministry of Justice.
His intervention comes after the Conservative MP for South Leicestershire Alberto Costa called for the parole decision to be challenged.
Mr Costa said: "I am very grateful to the justice secretary for listening to me and my constituents by challenging the Parole Board's deeply disappointing decision.
"Like many, I was aghast at the recent decision.
"The Parole Board now has a further opportunity to get this decision right and to ensure that Colin Pitchfork stays in prison where he belongs".
After the decision was made public last month, a Parole Board spokesperson said: "Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority, however our sole focus in law is risk, not punishment, and must be based on evidence.
"This case is eligible for reconsideration if any party thinks the decision is irrational or unfair."
Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, or on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected]. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leicestershire-66090922 |
Million pound appeal for 20-month-old Hallie who has leukaemia - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Hallie, from Coventry, needs treatment which her family say cannot be provided by the NHS. | Coventry & Warwickshire | Hallie is described as "so gentle and kind-natured" by her aunt
An appeal for a million pounds has been launched to pay for leukaemia treatment for a 20-month-old girl.
Hallie, from Coventry, was diagnosed at Birmingham Children's Hospital when she was eight months old.
But when her last stem cell transplant failed to work, her family said they were told their best option might be to pay for treatment in the United States.
"It seems a very big mountain to climb," Hallie's aunt, Hannah Dugdale, said.
Hallie was first diagnosed in the summer of 2022 while on a family holiday in Spain and was flown home for treatment.
She has a rare form of leukaemia known as JMML and has undergone chemotherapy, blood transfusions and two stem cell transplants.
Ms Dugdale said they discovered on Thursday the latest transplant had not worked and a consultant at the Birmingham hospital suggested their only remaining option was CAR T-cell therapy.
Hallie first started showing symptoms while on holiday in Spain, aged eight months.
CAR-T works by removing a type of immune system cell, called a T cell, from the patient's blood.
Those cells are then genetically modified in the lab to make them more effective at targeting cancer cells, multiplied, and infused back into the patient drop by drop.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) described them as "personalised immunotherapy treatments" which are "usually given as a one-off treatment".
A trial is due to start at Great Ormond Street Hospital in the coming months, but Hallie's aunt said they would prefer not to wait that long and were hoping to take her to the US instead.
It will require a third transplant, which the family said the NHS would not fund.
Ms Dugdale said she and her sister had talked about having children for a long time and said Hallie was "the sweetest little girl, she's is so gentle and kind-natured".
Her niece "deserves to be given every chance at a long and happy life", she added.
She said her sister, Kim, was "devastated as any mother would be" but also overwhelmed by the support she received and the appeal had already passed £180,000.
Ms Dugdale said she hoped they would be able to start the treatment before they raised the full amount through the Go Fund Me page.
Birmingham Children's Hospital said: "Sadly, a third transplant isn't a current treatment option for Hallie, who has a rare form of leukaemia."
It also said its teams were continuing to explore options for her, including the possibility of experimental CAR-T therapy, as part of a clinical trial.
NHS England have been contacted for a response.
Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-66088141 |
Wimbledon 2023 results: Novak Djokovic overcomes rain delay to beat Pedro Cachin - BBC Sport | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | null | Novak Djokovic dries the court with a towel and urges the crowd to "blow" amid rain delay as he begins his Wimbledon title defence with a win. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. More coverage details
Novak Djokovic dried the court with his towel and urged the crowd to "blow" in a farcical rain delay as his Wimbledon title defence began with a win.
But after the first set there was no play for 80 minutes, despite the closed roof, with Djokovic dabbing the grass before ground staff used leaf blowers.
"Every time I come out I normally have racquets, not towels - it was fun to do something different," Djokovic said.
"It was a little bit [of] a strange feeling but hopefully you guys liked it.
"It was definitely frustrating for all the crowd waiting for us to come out on court. We both wanted to play but the conditions were not great and still slippery.
"Once the roof was open it was a different story and after five or 10 minutes we were able to play."
Djokovic, aiming to secure his eighth Wimbledon title and match Roger Federer's record for a male player, will now play Australia's Jordan Thompson, ranked 70th in the world, following his five-set win over American Brandon Nakashima, 55th in the world.
Amusing scenes as Djokovic tries to dry the court
Djokovic, who has not lost on Centre Court since being beaten by Andy Murray in the 2013 final, was a break up in the first set, but complained the surface was getting slippery with drops of rain falling.
He wrapped up the set just before a shower at 14:20 BST, with the roof then fully closed 15 minutes later.
But in that time enough water had got on to the court before the covers came on to cause a lengthy delay.
With the covers off and the roof still closed, the players inspected the surface at 14:55, but were not happy with it and the crowd were told by the umpire that "the court is taking longer than expected to dry".
There followed some amusing scenes when Djokovic appeared with a towel, urged the 15,000-strong crowd to "blow" at the same time to dry the court, with him then wiping the grass himself.
After that, three members of ground staff, each armed with a leaf blower, also tried to dry the surface, while the fans began to get restless with a half-hearted slow hand clap and then a Mexican wave.
With the leaf blowers and the towel not doing enough, the roof was reopened at 15:40 in an attempt to dry the grass naturally with the rain having stopped.
It did the job and play resumed just before 15:50 with Djokovic able to take control with two breaks in the second set against his opponent, who battled hard but was outclassed.
If he keeps winning, Djokovic will not have to play a top-30 ranked opponent until the fourth round at the earliest.
Russia's seventh seed Andrey Rublev is a potential opponent for Djokovic in the quarter-finals and he began his campaign with a 6-3 7-5 6-4 success over Australia's Max Purcell.
Rublev, unable to play at Wimbledon in 2022 because of the ban handed out to Russian and Belarusian players after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, was only in trouble in the second set at 5-2 down before he won five games in a row in a 6-3 7-5 6-4 victory.
"I feel really happy to be back, because I haven't played much Wimbledon - I was injured or it was the pandemic or then they ban us," said Rublev.
"It feels really special to play at one of the best tournaments and to get a win was a nice moment."
Asked if he felt Wimbledon made a mistake by forcing the ban on Russian players last year, Rublev, who wrote 'No War Please' on a camera lens after advancing to the final at the Dubai Championships in February 2022, replied: "We were talking and I think we could find the solution.
"If we really want to help or do what is better for tennis and for the people, obviously there were better options. Not just to ban, because in the end, [there] was no difference.
"But it is what it is. Now we are here, and I'm really happy to be back and to compete."
Norwegian fourth seed Casper Ruud, who lost to Djokovic in last month's French Open final, was tested by Laurent Lokoli of France before eventually going through in four sets on Court One.
Ruud will play Great Britain's Liam Broady in the second round.
Elsewhere, there were successes for 14th seed Lorenzo Musetti and 17th seed Hubert Hurkacz against Juan Pablo Varillas of Peru and Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain respectively.
But there was a first-round exit for Canadian 11th seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who lost in four sets to American Michael Mmoh.
The first three sets all went to tie-breaks before Mmoh, ranked 119th in the world and whose only previous singles appearance at Wimbledon was a first-round loss in 2018, closed out a 7-6 6-7 7-6 6-4 victory.
Number eight seed Jannik Sinner from Italy completed his victory over Juan Manuel Cerundolo on Centre Court at 21:20 BST, but ninth seed Taylor Fritz was one of the players forced off by bad light - the American is 3-2 up on serve in the final set against Germany's Yannick Hanfmann.
• None Follow live coverage of the first day of Wimbledon
• None Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone
• None In an emotional interview he opens up about what motivated him despite his very humble origins
• None Sue Barker travels the globe to find out | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/66082643 |
NHS England chief Amanda Pritchard says strike disruption will get worse - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Amanda Pritchard told the BBC that July's strikes could be the worst yet for patients. | UK | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. "Patients paying the price" for strikes, NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard says
The head of NHS England has warned that July's planned strikes in the health service could be the worst yet for patients.
Amanda Pritchard said industrial action across the NHS had already caused "significant" disruption - and that patients were paying the price.
This month's consultant strike will bring a "different level of challenge" than previous strikes, she said.
Junior doctors and consultants will strike for a combined seven days.
Ms Pritchard told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that the work of consultants - who are striking for the first time in a decade - cannot be covered "in the same way" as junior doctors.
"The hard truth is that it is patients that are paying the price for the fact that all sides have not yet managed to reach a resolution," she said.
Last month, junior doctors in England voted for five days of strikes in mid-July - their longest strike yet.
They will walk out between Thursday 13 July and Tuesday 18 July after rejecting a government pay offer.
A few days after that strike ends, on 20 and 21 July, hospital consultants in England will strike over pay.
Negotiators for consultants and junior doctors have been asking for a 35% pay increase to make up for what they say are 15 years of below-inflation rises - a figure Health Secretary Steve Barclay called unaffordable.
Instead, junior doctors have been offered a 5% rise this year, which was rejected, while there has been no offer so far for consultants.
Consultants are also calling for reforms to the doctors' pay review body to ensure the issue is "fixed for the future". Mr Barclay told Laura Kuenssberg he is "ready to have discussions" on other issues, such as how consultants' pay progresses over time.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay said he was prepared to negotiate with consultants
"There's things we're open to discussing, but we need to get the balance right," he said.
The health service has been plagued by strike action throughout this year, with doctors, nurses, ambulance workers, porters and others walking out in disputes, mainly over pay.
A breakthrough came in May, when unions representing all NHS staff except doctors and dentists backed a deal to receive a 5% pay rise.
However, junior doctors and hospital consultants have still not reached an agreement with the government.
Health is a devolved issue, meaning this only relates to the NHS in England.
Ms Pritchard acknowledged that it would be several years before the situation in the health sector returned to anything like good enough, and stressed that the service was doing all it could to bring waiting lists down.
NHS England says more than 600,000 appointments have been cancelled in previous strikes. The ongoing failure of the government and some of the medical unions to find agreement is only going to crank the pressure up still further.
Ms Pritchard called for the industrial action to be brought to an end as soon as possible, saying it cannot become "business as usual in the NHS".
She also discussed NHS England's new 15-year workforce plan, which she introduced alongside Prime Minister Rishi Sunak earlier this week.
The NHS currently has one out of every 10 posts unfilled, creating major pressure on staff and leading to long waiting times for patients.
The new plan is focused on training and retaining more staff. Ms Pritchard said the plan is not an "overnight" fix , but that it is part of efforts to "treat people as quickly as possible, without delay".
Also on the show was former Conservative health minister Lord Bethell who described the current approach to treatment in the NHS as "rationing".
"If someone has a need for an operation and you simply don't have the resources to give them what they need then you are going beyond the important protocols of allocating scarce resources in the best way possible and you are being defined by the amount of resources that you have available," he said.
"I think that there is a difference between reasonable allocation of resources and making tough decision which is part of every day life, and having to cope with a system as overwhelmed with illness." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66079976 |
Watch: Mexican mayor weds caiman in harvest ritual - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | null | The ceremony is part of an age-old ritual in which the reptile represents mother earth. | null | A mayor of a small Mexican town has wed a caiman bride in an age-old ritual for prosperity. He could be seen kissing the reptile, whose snout had been tied shut.
The seven-year-old caiman, nicknamed 'little princess', is thought to represent a deity linked with mother earth. Her marriage to the local leader symbolises the joining of humans with the divine.
The tradition likely dates back centuries to Oaxaca state's Chontal and Huave indigenous communities. "It is the union of two cultures. The union of the Huaves and the Chontales," Mayor Victor Hugo Sosa told reporters. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66082749 |
Victoria Amelina: Ukrainian writer dies after Kramatorsk strike - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Victoria Amelina, an award-winning writer, was in a pizza restaurant that was hit by a Russian missile. | Europe | Victoria Amelina was one of Ukraine's most celebrated young writers
The award-winning Ukrainian writer Victoria Amelina has died from her injuries after a Russian missile hit a pizza restaurant in the eastern city of Kramatorsk on Tuesday.
The war crimes researcher becomes the 13th person to have died in the attack.
The writers' association PEN Ukraine said doctors "did everything they could to save her life, but unfortunately the wound was fatal".
Kramatorsk is under Ukrainian control but is close to Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
Amelina, 37, was dining with a delegation of Colombian journalists and writers in the city's popular Ria Lounge when the missile hit. Around 60 others were injured in the attack.
She was rushed to hospital in Dnipro, but succumbed to her injuries on Friday, PEN Ukraine said.
"It is with great pain that we inform you that the heart of the writer Victoria Amelina stopped beating on 1 July," the group said in a statement.
"In the last days of Victoria's life, her family and friends were by her side."
Amelina was one of Ukraine's most celebrated young writers who started documenting war crimes after Russia's full-scale invasion last year. She also started working with children near the frontline.
Last year she unearthed the diary of children's writer Volodymyr Vakulenko, who was abducted and killed by Russian troops in the city of Izyum soon after the invasion.
Her first non-fiction book in English, War and Justice Diary: Looking at Women Looking at War, is due to be published.
In an earlier statement confirming that Amelina had been injured in the attack, PEN Ukraine and war crimes watchdog Truth Hounds said that members of both groups had travelled to the frontlines with Amelina.
"Now, Victoria has become a victim of a war crime herself," they said.
A post pinned to her Twitter profile shows Amelina taking a photo of a bombed building in Ukraine.
"It's me in this picture," the post reads.
"I'm a Ukrainian writer. I have portraits of great Ukrainian poets on my bag. I look like I should be taking pictures of books, art, and my little son. But I document Russia's war crimes and listen to the sound of shelling, not poems. Why?" | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66083275 |
King Charles greets crowds as Scotland's royal week begins - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | King Charles was cheered by well-wishers in Bo'ness before being presented with the keys to Edinburgh. | Edinburgh, Fife & East Scotland | King Charles III meets members of the public during his visit to Kinneil House, marking the first Holyrood Week since his coronation
King Charles III was greeted by crowds as he arrived in Scotland for a special week of events.
He met two Fair Queens in Bo'ness, Falkirk, before travelling to Edinburgh where he was presented with the keys to the city.
Earlier a practice procession was held in the capital's Old Town ahead of a special ceremony of thanksgiving.
King Charles will be presented with the Scottish crown jewels during the event at St Giles' Cathedral on Wednesday.
The celebrations mark the first Holyrood Week since his coronation in May.
An early morning practice procession has been held in Edinburgh's Old Town
Among those who met the King on Monday was Bo'ness Fair Queen, Lexi Scotland, who was wearing her ceremonial robes and a crown.
She was joined by May Garrow, 99, who won the title in 1936.
Afterwards Ms Garrow said: "I've never actually shook hands with him before. I'll not wash that hand anymore."
The King then met with Sustainable Thinking Scotland, which operates from Kinneil House on the outskirts of the town.
The organisation grows sustainable food which in turn is given for food parcels.
King Charles III attended a tour of the Royal Yacht Britannia, to mark 25 years since her arrival in Edinburgh
Later the King took part in the Ceremony of the Keys on the Palace of Holyroodhouse forecourt before he joined former Royal Yacht Britannia sailors in reviving an old navy tradition.
The King drank a tot of rum as he returned to the vessel the Royal Family called home at its dock in Leith.
King Charles and Queen Camilla are also expected to visit the Great Tapestry of Scotland, seeing a newly stitched panel dedicated to the couple.
Before the service at St Giles' on Wednesday, there will be both a royal procession and a people's procession along the Royal Mile.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
The people's procession will consist of about 100 people representing different aspects of Scottish life.
The Stone of Destiny will be present at the ceremony in St Giles' Cathedral, where the King will be presented with the Honours of Scotland.
Afterwards there will be a gun salute at Edinburgh Castle and a flypast by the Red Arrows.
Each year the monarch traditionally spends a week based at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, known as Holyrood Week or Royal Week in Scotland.
King Charles III received the Keys to the City of Edinburgh from Lord Provost Councillor Robert Aldridge during the Ceremony of the Keys on the forecourt of the Palace of Holyroodhouse
Edinburgh City Council has said those wishing to view the processions should plan ahead.
Lord lieutenant Robert Aldridge said: "The eyes of the world will be upon us once again as we mark the coronation of His Majesty King Charles III and Her Majesty Queen Camilla."
He warned residents to expect disruption across the city, particularly in the Old Town.
"We're working with our partners to manage this as best we can and to keep residents, businesses and visitors updated on the events," he added.
"For those who wish to enjoy the royal and people's processions, I urge you to please plan ahead and keep an eye on our website and social media channels for the latest advice and guidance."
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-66085947 |
Man and two-year-old child hit by train in Glasgow - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The pair are being treated for their injuries in hospital following the incident in Glasgow on Sunday. | Glasgow & West Scotland | A man and a two-year-old child are in hospital after being hit by a train in Glasgow.
British Transport Police said they were alerted to the casualties on the tracks at Garrowhill Station shortly before 19:30 on Sunday.
Officers said the man was in a serious condition, and the child's injuries are not believed to be life-threatening.
Detectives believe there were a number of people on the platform who may have witnessed what happened.
They said any witnesses who had not yet spoken to the police should get in touch with British Transport Police.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-66087518 |
Hottest June kills UK fish and threatens insects - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The Met Office will confirm on Monday if the record-breaking temperatures are linked to climate change. | Science & Environment | Temperature reached 32.2C in June and the heat was long-lasting
The UK's hottest June on record caused unprecedented deaths of fish in rivers and disturbed insects and plants, environment groups have warned.
Nature is being "pounded by extreme weather without a chance to recover", the Wildlife Trusts said.
The Met Office will say later on Monday if the high temperatures were linked to climate change.
People also used more water with demand increasing by 25% at peak times in some areas, said Water UK.
The Met Office said last week that provisional figures for June indicate that both the overall average and the average maximum temperatures were the highest on record.
"The reports of the number of fish death incidents in rivers for this time of year has been unprecedented. I would normally expect rivers to be affected later in the summer when it's hotter and drier," Mark Owen, from the Angling Trust, told BBC News.
In one case, sea trout were found dead on the River Wear in north-east England, he said.
The deaths are partly caused by less oxygen in the water as river levels decrease. Fish also die when dried-up pollutants from cars and lorries on roads wash into rivers during flash storms.
The Environment Agency said it received more reports of dead fish than the same time last year.
Mass fish deaths can be caused by a range of factors including low water levels, pollution, and disease.
Many flowering plants, including orchids, wilted in the high temperatures, meaning insects like bees and butterflies that feed on nectar and pollen will have less to eat, Ali Morse from the Wildlife Trusts told BBC News.
Species with short lifespans are particularly badly affected. Many butterflies are adults for only a short time, and if they cannot access food in that period, it stunts the population.
These impacts are more surprising considering the wet and cold spring and are earlier than last year, Ms Morse added.
"Every month seems to be the hottest, the driest, the wettest, or whichever record-breaking event it is. If we have a one-off pollution event or a wildfire, then there is normally time for nature to bounce back, but now it seems to be continually pounded by extreme weather," she added.
More frequent and more intense periods of warm weather are putting pressure on the UK's environment and water supplies.
As temperatures rise, people also use more water in their homes. Last July and August water companies supplied 1.2 billion litres more water than the same months in 2021, according to Water UK.
People in Devon, Cornwall and parts of the south-east of England are under hosepipe bans.
Water experts say that rivers and reservoirs, which provide much of the UK's drinking water, are in a healthier position than the same time last year.
But the dry weather is likely to have an impact on water supplies and if warm weather continues, those supplies could be depleted quickly.
Water UK is urging homes and businesses to "continue to save water to help safeguard against potential future drought conditions".
People can play their part in helping nature withstand the impacts of extreme heat with small, simple actions, Ms Morse explains.
A bowl of water in a garden or yard can provide water for thirsty hedgehogs, bees and butterflies.
And longer grass is more resilient in hotter weather and gives species a much-needed habitat to live in, so she suggests letting even small areas of lawn grow taller. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66042272 |
France shooting: Who was Nahel M, shot by French police in Nanterre? - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | He was learning to be an electrician and played rugby league but died at a police check near Paris. | Europe | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: 'They've taken my baby' - Mother of teen shot by police
The killing of Nahel M, 17, has sparked riots in cities across France as well as the town of Nanterre to the west of Paris where he grew up.
An only child brought up by his mother, he had been working as a takeaway delivery driver and played rugby league.
His education was described as chaotic. He was enrolled at a college in Suresnes not far from where he lived, to train to be an electrician.
Those who knew Nahel, who was of Algerian descent, said he was well-loved in Nanterre where he lived with his mother Mounia and had apparently never known his father.
His record of attendance of college was poor. Nahel had been in trouble before and was known to police, but family lawyers stressed he had no criminal record.
He had given his mother a big kiss before she went to work, with the words "I love you, Mum".
Shortly after nine in the morning on Tuesday he was fatally shot in the chest, point-blank, at the wheel of a Mercedes car for driving off during a police traffic check. At 17 he was too young for a licence.
"What am I going to do now?" asked his mother. "I devoted everything to him," she said. "I've only got one, I haven't got 10 [children]. He was my life, my best friend."
His grandmother spoke of him as a "kind, good boy".
"A refusal to stop doesn't give you a licence to kill," said Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure. "All the children of the Republic have a right to justice."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Nahel had spent the past three years playing for the Pirates of Nanterre rugby club. He had been part of an integration programme for teenagers struggling in school, run by an association called Ovale Citoyen.
The programme was aimed at getting people from deprived areas into apprenticeships and Nahel was learning to be an electrician.
Ovale Citoyen president Jeff Puech was one of the adults locally who knew him best. He had seen him only a few days ago and spoke of a "kid who used rugby to get by".
"He was someone who had the will to fit in socially and professionally, not some kid who dealt in drugs or got fun out of juvenile crime," Mr Puech told Le Parisien.
He praised the teenager's "exemplary attitude", a far cry from what he condemned as a character assassination of him painted on social media.
He had got to know Nahel when he lived with his mother in the Vieux-Pont suburb of Nanterre before they moved to the Pablo Picasso estate.
Shortly after his death an ambulance man, Marouane, launched a tirade against a police officer, explaining later that he knew the boy as if he was his little brother. He had seen him grown up as a kind, helpful child. "He never raised a hand to anyone and he was never violent," he told reporters.
His mother believes the police officer who shot him "saw an Arab face, a little kid, and wanted to take his life". She told France 5 TV she blamed only the one person who fired the shot, not the police: "I have friends who are officers - they're with me wholeheartedly."
"May Allah grant him mercy," read a banner unfurled over the Paris ring road outside Parc des Princes stadium.
Flowers were left at the site where Nahel died
"Police violence happens every day, especially if you're Arab or black," said one young man in another French city calling for justice for Nahel.
But the family's lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, said this was not about racism, but about justice.
"We have a law and judicial system that protects police officers and it creates a culture of impunity in France," he told the BBC.
Nahel had been the subject of as many as five police checks since 2021 - what is known as a refus d'obtempérer - refusing to comply with an order to stop.
When he was stopped by police, he was driving a Mercedes with Polish number plates, with two passengers and no licence.
As recently as last weekend, he had reportedly been placed in detention for refusing to comply and was due to appear before a juvenile court in September.
His name was on a police file called a Taj, used by authorities for a variety of investigations.
Last September a judge imposed a "disciplinary measure". Most of the trouble he got into involved cars: driving without a licence or insurance and using false number plates.
But Nahel had never been convicted, said family lawyer Jennifer Cambla, and had no criminal record. Being known to police was not the same as a criminal record, because he had never been tried for anything listed on his police file, she told French TV.
"I think in this kind of suburb it's pretty rare that a young person hasn't been stopped by police or hasn't been in custody," Ms Cambla said.
The riots that his death has provoked are a reminder for many in France of the events of 2005, when two teenagers, Zyed Benna and Bouna Traoré, were electrocuted as they fled police after a game of football and ran into an electricity substation in the Paris suburb of Clichy-sous-Bois.
"It could have been me, it could have been my little brother," a Clichy teenager called Mohammed told French website Mediapart. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66052104 |
Buck Moon: July supermoon appears brighter than usual in the sky - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | July's full Moon, known as a Buck Moon, is closer than normal in its orbit around the Earth. | World | The moon illuminated the sky as it rose over the Russian Foreign Ministry building in Moscow, Russia
The Moon has left people gazing up at the sky after appearing brighter and larger than usual on Monday evening.
July's supermoon is appearing full for up to three days, according to Nasa.
Known as a Buck Moon, it is closer than normal in its orbit around the Earth.
This is because the Moon's orbit is not a perfect circle due to the Earth's gravitational pull; instead it is elliptical, like an elongated circle or oval.
Because of this, there are times in the Moon's 27.32-day orbit when it is closer to the Earth and other times when it is further away.
A supermoon happens when the Moon is at the closest point to Earth in its orbit and also in its full Moon phase.
The full Moon in July was given the Native American name of Buck Moon because the antlers of male deer are in full growth mode in July, according to the Royal Observatory. Bucks shed and regrow their antlers.
The Moon reached peak illumination at 12:39 BST (07:39 Eastern Time) on Monday, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.
The Almanac, which has published astronomical data for centuries, said the Buck Moon would orbit closer to the Earth than full Moons we have already had this year.
August's full Moon will be the only supermoon closer to the Earth this year, the publication said.
Here are some pictures of the Buck Moon from around the world on Sunday and Monday:
The moon was seen clearly in Srinagar, Indian-administered Kashmir on Monday
The supermoon provided a captivating backdrop while a tractor ploughed a field near the city of Ashkelon, in southern Israel, on Monday
The Buck Moon lit up the blue sky as it rose over St Mary's Lighthouse in Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear on Sunday
The full moon rose above the Ancient Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, in Sounion, Greece on Sunday
The moon rose behind the Canton Tower in Guangzhou, China on Monday
The dark sky in Stockingford, Warwickshire, was illuminated by the orange tones of the Buck Moon on Sunday
A full moon sets behind the Blue Mosque and the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque, in Istanbul, Turkey on Monday
New York City's iconic Statue of Liberty shared the skyline with the Buck Moon on Sunday
Spectators watching a sports game do not appear to notice the full moon behind them in Kutaisi, Georgia on Sunday
The supermoon was spotted next to a street lamp light in L'Aquila, Italy on Sunday
A bird flies past the Buck Moon as it rises in the sky over a lighthouse at the port of Malaga, Spain
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-66091619 |
Confusion at Twitter continues over Elon Musk's tweet limits - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Elon Musk provoked a Twitter backlash after introducing limits to the number of tweets users can read. | Technology | Confusion at Twitter appears to be continuing after owner Elon Musk introduced limits to the amount of posts users can read in a day.
The billionaire announced the "temporary measure" to address extreme levels of data scraping on the site.
Initial limits were quickly increased by Mr Musk at the weekend.
While many users reported no longer seeing limits on Sunday, some said a "rate limit exceeded" notification had returned on Monday.
Mr Musk - who took over Twitter in October 2022 had said previously that he was not happy about artificial intelligence (AI) firms using Twitter's data to train their large language models.
Changes to the platform at the weekend saw it impose an initial 600-tweet limit for unverified Twitter users who are not paying for a subscription to the platform, but Mr Musk said this had increased to 1,000 on Saturday evening.
He has not yet provided an update on whether the limits will remain in place.
Responding to a user flagging issues with site features, Mr Musk said in a tweet on Saturday morning Twitter had imposed the measures as a result of "EXTREME levels of data scraping".
The process is a key method of gathering content and information from web platforms, and involves extracting data from sites, often at great scale, to make it accessible and readable in local formats, such as in a spreadsheet.
"Almost every company doing AI, from start-ups to some of the biggest corporations on Earth, was scraping vast amounts of data," Mr Musk added in his tweet.
"It is rather galling to have to bring large numbers of servers online on an emergency basis just to facilitate some AI startup's outrageous valuation."
Similar concerns over the mass use of platform data to train AI models in part sparked Reddit's decision to make companies pay to access its data.
Data scientist and ex-Twitter employee, Dr Rumman Chowdhury, told the BBC it was unclear if AI organisations had been scraping data from Twitter, but suggested financial issues could be behind the changes.
"Frankly, I think I'm in a majority of people who believe that it's due to his lack of payment of his bills... and he's attempting to reduce his costs," she said.
An Australian project management firm has filed a lawsuit against Twitter in a US court seeking cumulative payments of about A$1m (£534,000) over alleged non-payment of bills for work done in four countries, court filings show.
In May, a former public relations firm filed a suit in a New York court saying Twitter had not paid its bills, while early this year US-based advisory firm Innisfree M&A Inc sued it, seeking about $1.9m (£1.4m) for what it said were unpaid bills after it advised Twitter on its acquisition by Mr Musk.
Since Mr Musk bought Twitter he has focused on reducing costs by laying off half the workforce and introducing the subscription service, which offers the sought-after "verified" badge for a monthly fee.
For a platform that requires engagement, limiting posts seems to go in the opposite direction. It is a "very extreme and unprecedented tactic" which is "already failing", said Dr Chowdhury.
Twitter saw advertisers flee amid worries about Mr Musk's approach to content moderation rules, affecting its revenue.
When Mr Musk spoke to the BBC in April, he said the company was now "roughly breaking even", claiming most of its advertisers were returning.
The limit on tweets saw some journalists, who use Twitter to find information for live reporting and verification of stories, confronted with the curbs.
Bel Trew, chief international correspondent for The Independent, tweeted that limits to how many tweets she could read on the platform had left her at a "complete loss" while reporting on Sunday.
And a reporter in the US city of Baltimore was left unable to view tweets from the local police department's Twitter account in the wake of a shooting that left two people killed and a further 28 injured.
This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post by Justin Fenton This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
Those receiving "rate limit exceeded" notifications found these applied across all accounts - including to accounts which tweet real-time information about emergencies, weather hazards and natural disasters.
This Twitter post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on Twitter The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Skip twitter post 2 by Ben Goggin This article contains content provided by Twitter. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Twitter’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
The BBC reached out to Twitter for clarification and received an automated message of a poo emoji. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-66087172 |
Sussex PCSO filmed refusing to attend assault at shop - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Sussex Police apologise for the "clumsy language" used by a Police Community Support Officer. | Sussex | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. WATCH: A Sussex Police PCSO is heard on dashcam footage refusing to respond to an alleged assault
A Sussex Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) was shown refusing to respond to an alleged assault in a supermarket, in a video posted on TikTok.
The video shows a man telling the officer about a fight in the Co-op store in Lancing which had been reported to the police.
The PCSO said: "I'm not a response unit."
Sussex Police said it had launched an investigation.
The man who was filmed in conversation with the PCSO said members of the public were trying to stop a shoplifter.
He said to the PCSO: "You need to get round to the Co-op. There's just been a fight round there, because people are trying to stop the shoplifter that you're doing nothing about."
He said: "People have called the police and you're sitting here."
The officer responded: "I'm not a response unit unfortunately."
The man said the sight of the police car would "make them scatter".
The officer replied: "Yeah, but then I have to deal with it.
"That's why I'm here and not round there."
In a statement, Sussex Police said: "We are aware of video footage of a single-crewed Police Community Support Officer being approached by a member of the public to report an incident in Lancing.
"The matter was reported to us and a police officer attended the incident as an emergency. The PCSO also then attended the scene."
Supt Nick Dias said: "We are sorry for the clumsy language used by the PCSO in this exchange and acknowledge the public's concern. A police unit was dispatched to the scene as a matter of priority. Our response to this incident is being reviewed."
The role of PCSO was introduced in 2002 to support police neighbourhood policing teams. They do not have powers of arrest, cannot interview prisoners or carry out the high risk tasks of police officers.
They may use reasonable force to prevent a person "making off", while waiting for a constable or accompanying them to a police station.
Katy Bourne, Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, said she shared "the public's disappointment and understandable concern" with the video.
"A member of the public sent me the video and I immediately shared it with the Chief Constable who referred the incident to the Sussex professional standards department."
She added: "This is not the sort of response that I would expect and the public deserve."
Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].
• None Trust in police hanging by a thread, inspector says
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-66086890 |
Air strikes as Israel begins Jenin operation - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | null | A large-scale Israeli military operation is under way, with at least three Palestinians reported to have been killed. | null | The Israeli army has launched a massive military operation on the Jenin camp in the north of the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said at least three Palestinians were killed and more than 20 others wounded in the ongoing raid.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they were striking "terrorist infrastructure in the Jenin area".
Footage from the area shows smoke rising over Jenin. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66083310 |
Welsh government had failings before Covid, Drakeford tells inquiry - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The Covid inquiry continues hearing evidence on how prepared the UK was for the pandemic. | UK | That's it for today, and for evidence from Welsh officials for the time being.
We're now ending our coverage of the UK's Covid inquiry for today. Thanks for joining us.
Today's live page was written by David Deans with analysis from Hywel Griffith. The page was edited by John Arkless and Emily McGarvey.
You can read more about the Covid inquiry here. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-66085086 |
Energy boss says prices might rise this winter - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Governments may need to give energy bill help this winter, says the head of the International Energy Agency. | Business | Energy prices could spike this winter forcing governments to step in and subsidise bills again, the head of the International Energy Agency has said.
If the Chinese economy strengthens quickly and there is a harsh winter, gas prices could rise, putting pressure on consumers, Fatih Birol said.
He added that governments should push for energy-saving and boost renewables.
However, a UK government spokesperson said annual energy bills are set to fall by an average £430 this month.
Gas prices soared after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, driving up energy bills around the world.
A number of governments then stepped in with support for households, including in the UK, to try to soften the blow to consumers.
The IEA is an agency that works with governments and industry to provide data, analysis and recommend policies.
Mr Birol told the BBC's Today programme that many European governments made "strategic mistakes", including an over-reliance on Russia for energy, and that foreign policy had been "blindfolded" by short-term commercial decisions.
He said this winter "we cannot rule out" another spike in gas prices.
"In a scenario where the Chinese economy is very strong, buys a lot of energy from the markets, and we have a harsh winter, we may see strong upward pressure under natural gas prices, which in turn will put an extra burden on consumers," he said.
The Chinese economy had been bouncing back after Covid restrictions were lifted, but recently its economy has been slowing down.
Ratings agency S&P Global this week cut its forecast for Chinese growth, saying "the risk is that its recovery loses more steam amid weak confidence among consumers and in the housing market".
Investment banks including Goldman Sachs have also been cutting forecasts for Chinese growth.
Nevertheless, Mr Birol said governments including the UK should "continue to push measures to save energy, especially as we enter the winter".
They should also push renewable technologies so they "see the light of day as soon as possible" and cut the time it takes for them to get permits, and look for "alternative energy options", he said.
He said he "wouldn't rule out blackouts" this winter as "part of the game".
"We do not know yet how strongly the Chinese economy will rebound," he said.
National Grid said last winter that short power cuts were a possibility - in the end, this was not necessary.
A UK government spokesperson said: "We spent billions to protect families when prices rose over winter covering nearly half a typical household's energy bill, with them set to fall by around £430 on average from this month."
Domestic gas and electricity bills in the UK fell at the weekend after a change to the energy price cap came into force, and a further, smaller fall is expected this winter.
However, with the annual energy bill of a typical household set to be about £2,000, costs are still much higher than the pre-pandemic norm.
Last week the head of Centrica, which owns British Gas, warned energy bills were likely to stay high for the foreseeable future.
Russia's war in Ukraine led to a "gold rush" of new fossil fuel exploration, and the UK defied climate warnings by issuing a new licensing round for North Sea oil and gas.
More than 100 applications have been submitted to drill for new oil and gas in the North Sea.
This was at odds with international climate scientists who say fossil fuel projects should be closed down, not expanded.
They say there can be no new projects if there is to be a chance of keeping global temperature rises under 1.5C.
Mr Birol said "if the world is serious" about the "climate cause" then "we have to reduce the use of oil and gas significantly in the next years to come".
If we can reduce consumption, existing oil and gas fields will be enough to meet declining demand, he added.
He said he has discussions with the chief executives of UK oil companies.
Mr Birol said he has "no problem" with oil firms making profits, but if they say: "I am going to increase my production by four million barrels per day, and my company's strategy is in line with the Paris Climate Agreement - it doesn't work, there is a problem here."
The Rosebank field in the North Sea, which has the potential to produce 500 million barrels of oil, could be approved by the government within weeks.
The UK government said it was "committed to reaching net zero by 2050 and have already come a long way to meet that target, cutting emissions faster than any other G7 country while keeping the economy growing and with low-carbon sources like renewables and nuclear providing half of the UK's electricity generation".
But a spokesperson added "the transition to cleaner energy cannot happen overnight and we will continue to need oil and gas over the coming decades, as recognised by the independent Climate Change Committee".
Emma Pinchbeck, the chief executive of Energy UK, which represents British energy companies, told the BBC's Today programme that the long-term solution to high bills "is to invest in renewables and energy efficiency to make sure that we're not reliant on volatile international gas".
"We expect that investment in more infrastructure in renewables and energy efficiency and alternative technologies to deliver cheaper bills in the long run... and that's why it's so important that we move quickly, particularly with increased international competition for these technologies."
Here are some energy saving ideas from environmental scientist Angela Terry, who set up One Home, a social enterprise that shares green, money-saving tips:
Are you struggling to pay your energy bills? Are you concerned about a potential spike in prices this winter? Share your experiences by emailing [email protected].
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at [email protected]. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66061853 |
Northern Ireland cheaper for fuel than rest of UK due to Irish competition - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Watchdog says "significantly lower" prices likely due to competition with Republic filling stations. | Northern Ireland | Petrol and diesel in Northern Ireland is cheaper than in other parts of the UK because of competition from filling stations in the Republic of Ireland, a competition watchdog has suggested.
The UK's Competition and Markets has been investigating the operation of the UK's road fuel market.
It found that competition isn't working as well as it should be, driving up prices.
It has recommendations to help people find the cheapest prices in their area.
These include a new "fuel finder" scheme that would be similar to a fuel price checker provided by the NI Consumer Council which enables consumers to compare the highest, lowest and average petrol and diesel prices in each town in Northern Ireland and is updated on a weekly basis.
However, it does not indicate prices for individual filling stations.
The CMA has recommended that the government uses legislation to create an open data fuel finder scheme.
This would require retailers to share their prices on an open, real-time basis, meaning that drivers can easily compare prices in any area of the UK.
The CMA says this would "increase incentives on retailers to compete hard on price and make it easier for consumers to identify where they are not doing so".
It has also recommended a "fuel monitor function" within an appropriate public body, to monitor developments in the market, both nationally and locally.
As part of its investigation the CMA looked at the extent to which average prices vary by region, and compared them to London, which it used as a baseline.
On average, the cheapest region was Northern Ireland, where petrol was on average 2.8p per litre cheaper, and diesel 1.4p per litre cheaper than in London.
It said: "The fact that we observe prices that are significantly lower in Northern Ireland is likely due to the fact that filling stations there are competing with filling stations across the Irish border, which are subject to a range of different competitive and fiscal dynamics." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66068987 |
Six-year-old saves mum by calling for help on Alexa device - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Emma Anderson, who has a heart condition, described her daughter Darcey as a "wee superstar". | Glasgow & West Scotland | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. From a young age, Darcey knew her mum had a "sore heart" and she could call for help on Alexa.
A Scottish mum who received a heart transplant has told how her six-year-old daughter saved her life twice using a smart speaker.
Emma Anderson, from Robroyston in Glasgow, was 15 when she was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
From a young age, her daughter Darcey knew her mum had a "sore heart" and she could call for help on Alexa.
Now Darcey has used Alexa twice to raise the alarm when her 27-year-old mum has been unwell.
"I set up the Alexa so that if I passed out or was feeling unwell all she had to do was say, 'Alexa, call help', and that would call my mum who lives around the corner," Ms Anderson said.
"And she's had to call on Alexa a couple of times, she even called an ambulance on her own and that time I was in a really bad way.
"I'm so proud of her, she is a wee superstar."
Emma said her heart was so damaged that she was hospitalised whilst waiting for a transplant
"Basically it means that the muscle surrounding the heart starts to grow too thick," she said.
"The way I was kind of described it was instead of beating against a cushion, it's like every beat the heart is beating against a brick wall so it's getting more and more damaged each time."
Mostly managed by medication through her life, she was told at a routine check-up that she needed a life-saving heart transplant urgently.
"Alexa, call help!" allowed Darcey to alert nearby family members to help Emma.
"I went in for my routine check up and was told that it had gotten really bad and I couldn't wait on the routine list at home anymore, I had to come in and be put on an urgent list because basically if I left the hospital I didn't have much time left," she said.
"I went into hospital and a few months in my heart completely failed.
"I ended up on an aortic balloon pump which kept my heart beating for me until we could hopefully get a transplant.
"And then it was about 10 days after going on that, we got a call saying a donor heart was available."
Emma received the transplant in April, 2022 at the NHS Golden Jubilee hospital in Clydebank.
Since her transplant, Emma has been able to do things she had never done before like take her daughter to swimming and to the park
When first diagnosed, she had an internal defibrillator implanted inside her chest, which "fired" three times last year.
She said the heart transplant had been transformative and she was able to marry her partner Conner last July.
Ms Anderson said: "Since my transplant I have a totally new life now.
"I can actually walk to school and pick Darcey up and walk back again, something I could never do before.
"Over Easter, I managed to take Darcey swimming and to the play park, the farm park, simple things I wasn't able to do before, I can do now. I'm able to be a mummy now."
After her transplant, Emma learned to walk again, being discharged around a week before her wedding
About 28,000 Scots have an inherited heart condition, the most common being hypertrophic cardiomyopathy according to the British Journal of Cardiology.
Ms Anderson said she was eternally grateful to her donor and their family for what they have done for her.
"Getting a transplant is a very hard road, it's not easy," she said.
"I was on life support and all sorts of other treatments after my operation for a long while, and my muscles deteriorated so much I couldn't walk any more.
"The only thing I seemed to care about once I was better was learning to walk again so I could walk down that aisle and get married.
"I was literally discharged just over a week before the wedding, I still had stitches in walking down the aisle."
Emma now stars in Tom Walker's the Best is Yet to Come music video
While recovering in hospital, Ms Anderson created a TikTok video with images of different stages of her heart journey using Scots singing star Tom Walker's song, The Best Is Yet To Come.
The singer was so touched by the video he invited her to London to appear in a video featuring people who had inspired him.
This YouTube post cannot be displayed in your browser. Please enable Javascript or try a different browser. View original content on YouTube The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. YouTube content may contain adverts. Skip youtube video by TomWalkerVEVO This article contains content provided by Google YouTube. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as they may be using cookies and other technologies. You may want to read Google’s cookie policy, external and privacy policy, external before accepting. To view this content choose ‘accept and continue’. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. YouTube content may contain adverts.
She said: "Tom contacted me and asked me to go down to London and be part of his music video to raise awareness.
"So I went down and did that with other people who were absolutely incredible, who had been through a lot in life too, and it was so nice of Tom to recognise that through his inspiring music.
"Like the lyrics say, I definitely think the best is yet to come for me thanks to my organ donor.
"It's a horrible situation to be in but…I'm eternally grateful. There are no words I could put into…what that donor family has done for me and my family and my child."
Chief executive of NHS Golden Jubilee, Gordon James, said: "As we celebrate 75 years of the NHS, Emma's inspiring story shows us how valuable and crucial the life-saving care the NHS provides is to our patients." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-66085014 |
France riots ease as mayors hold anti-violence rally - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | French mayors denounce "extreme violence" of the protests which swept the country for almost a week. | Europe | Rioters run as French police officers use tear gas in Paris on 2 July
Riots in France appear to be calming, after five days of violent protests in response to the shooting of teenager Nahel M during a police traffic stop.
Sunday night saw violence subside and fewer arrests were made.
However, President Emmanuel Macron has asked the interior ministry to keep a "massive" police presence on the streets.
On Monday, mayors called for rallies to be held outside town halls to protest the violence and looting.
In Nanterre, Nahel's hometown, mayor Patrick Jarry said he was pleased the violence had subsided, but added that "we shouldn't lose sight of the incident that sparked this situation and the continuing need for justice".
Later in the afternoon, several hundred people attended a rally in L'Haÿ-les-Roses in support of Vincent Jeanbrun, the mayor whose home was attacked by rioters who fired rockets at his fleeing wife and children, breaking her leg and injuring one of the children. The incident is being treated as attempted murder.
A visibly emotional Mr Jeanbrun said: "We saw the real faces of the rioters: they are murderers... They wanted to kill my wife and my two young children in their sleep by burning them alive."
To applause, Mr Jeanbrun also said that over the last week "democracy itself was attacked... We need the majority of people who has so far been silent to say: enough!"
The six days of riots have reportedly caused millions of euros worth of damage to public transport in the Paris region, the Ile-de-France transport network said.
While Sunday night was far calmer, authorities were careful not to prematurely hail a return to normality on Monday.
Buses and trams in the Paris region will again be halted early on Monday night, while President Macron has asked the ministry of the interior to maintain a "massive" police presence across France in order to guarantee a "return to calm".
About 45,000 officers have been deployed across the country for the past three nights and will be out on the streets again on Monday, interior minister Gérald Darmanin confirmed.
More than 150 people were arrested on Sunday night, compared with more than 700 the night before.
There were 297 cars set on fire compared with Thursday's 1,900, while 34 buildings were damaged or set ablaze compared with more than 500 on Thursday.
At the weekend, the family of Nahel, the teenager who was killed by police, called for the violence to end.
His grandmother accused rioters of using Nahel's death as an excuse and urged them to stop destroying public goods.
Another relative told the BBC that the family did not want his death to spark riots, but insisted the law around lethal force at traffic stops must change.
She also said her "heart is in pain" about a GoFundMe page for the family of the police officer who shot Nahel, which as of Monday had raised more than €1.1m (£956,200) and was growing steadily.
The fundraiser, which was set up by a far-right media commentator, has been criticised by several politicians - but the platform told French newspaper Le Parisien that GoFundMe's terms and conditions were not being broken because the funds are destined for the officer's family and "not meant for the legal defence of an alleged violent crime".
A fundraiser for Nahel's family was set up on a different platform and had raised €215,000 (£184,862) on Monday afternoon.
Meanwhile, French regional authorities are starting to announce financial support measures for looted businesses and hospitality venues.
Grants will be made available for business owners in Marseille and funding in the Paris region will help to restore the public buildings that were damaged and looted.
But there are concerns that the spate of violence might have a long-term effect on the tourism sector just as the summer season begins.
French media outlet Le Point quoted a tourism official as estimating that up to 25% of hotel bookings in Paris had already been cancelled.
The regional transport network for Ile-de-France told AFP that €20m in damage was caused to public transport, including "burned buses, a torched tramway, two damaged tramways and urban infrastructure which was smashed".
François Rial said that the riots posed "a real risk" to the image of France: "This is true even if the unrest subsides, as many tourists are allergic to risk."
On Tuesday, President Macron will meet the mayors of 220 municipal areas that have been affected by the violence. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66084677 |
Migration Bill: Lords vote to keep child migrant detention limits - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Peers voted to reverse a government plan to remove existing caps in the Illegal Migration Bill. | UK Politics | The House of Lords has voted against government plans to weaken detention limits for children and pregnant women in its migration bill.
The legislation would scrap existing legal caps on how long they can be held ahead of being removed from the UK for arriving illegally.
But peers voted to preserve the current protections in a series of amendments.
They also voted to ban the deportation of LGBT migrants to nations including Rwanda.
The proposed changes are among 11 defeats suffered by ministers on the Illegal Migration Bill in votes on Monday evening.
They can be overturned when the bill goes back to the House of Commons, where - unlike in the Lords - the government has a majority.
But it raises the prospect of another clash between ministers and Tory backbenchers over contested aspects of the legislation.
The bill, backed by MPs in March, is central to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's high-profile pledge to "stop" small boats crossing the English Channel.
It would place a legal duty on the government to detain and remove those arriving in the UK illegally, either to Rwanda or another "safe" third country.
The government says it is committed to its plan to remove migrants to Rwanda, despite the Court of Appeal ruling last week it was unlawful. It has already said it will appeal the decision at the Supreme Court.
There has been concern about how children will be treated under the new migration bill, as well as accusations that existing UK regulations to prevent modern slavery would be undermined.
Although the legal duty to deport migrants would not apply to under-18s the bill would give ministers new powers to deport them in certain circumstances.
It would also get rid of the current three day-limit on how long children and pregnant women can be detained, as well as the 24-hour maximum for children unaccompanied by an adult.
The government argues detention powers are necessary to ensure migrants destined for removal do not "disappear into the community" - and says no one would be held longer than is "absolutely necessary" to ensure they are deported.
It adds that there is also an over-arching legal duty to ensure the length of detention is "reasonable", adding that leaving the UK voluntarily will "always be an option for all".
However in series of votes on Wednesday, a handful of Conservatives teamed up with opposition peers to preserve the detention limits.
Tory peer Baroness Mobarik, who proposed the amendments, said "verbal assurances" from ministers were not enough and "necessary safeguards" had to be added to the bill itself.
"The psychological harms of detention on young children is significant and likely to impact them for the rest of their lives," she added.
Immigration Minister Lord Murray of Blidworth said safeguards were already in place for the detention of pregnant women, whilst those in the later stages of pregnancy would be released on immigration bail.
Child detention was also a contentious issue when the bill was debated in the Commons, with the government avoiding a showdown with Tory rebels by promising to listen to concerns.
Tim Loughton, who spearheaded the rebellion, said at the time he wanted a maximum limit to remain.
In other votes on Monday, the Lords voted to ban deportations of LGBT migrants to 10 mainly African countries, including Rwanda, Nigeria and Kenya - with a specific ban on trans men and women being deported to Brazil.
When the proposed bans were initially debated last week, Crossbench peer Lord Etherton, who suggested them, said the countries were "hostile and unsafe" for LGBT people.
Peers also approved an amendment to retain the role of the courts in deciding what a "reasonable" length of detention is - striking down new powers in the bill that would allow ministers to decide. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66089663 |
NHS to offer sight-saving drug to premature babies - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Premature babies can now routinely be given the drug ranibizumab on the NHS, to prevent blindness. | Health | For the first time on the NHS in England, premature babies can now routinely be given a drug treatment to prevent blindness, advice says.
Injections of ranibizumab can stop scarring caused by unusual blood-vessel growth in the back of the eye.
It is an alternative to laser therapy, which is not always suitable for tiny babies at risk of this sight problem affecting the retina of the eye.
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) can be avoidable with the right treatment.
All premature and low-birth-weight babies are screened for it, with eye tests. Up to one in 20 may require treatment to avoid damage that can lead to sight loss.
Ranibizumab injections into the eye can block the action of vascular endothelial growth factor, which promotes growth of new blood vessels.
Very high levels can grow abnormal vessels that turn into scar tissue in the retina - the part of the eye that detects light and sends messages to the brain to enable sight.
Millie Swan, from Surrey, was born prematurely at 23 weeks and developed ROP.
When she was three months old, the condition became so severe in her left eye she needed urgent treatment to save her sight.
But when doctors gave her the sedative to prepare her for laser treatment, she did not tolerate it at all, so they could not start the procedure.
"At this point, we thought she would end up blind in her left eye," Millie's mother, Natalie, said, "but we were lucky enough to get offered this new treatment, which was an injection into the eye.
"I stayed with her for the procedure. Millie needed to have her eye clamped open but I was used to seeing that happen for her assessments. And the treatment was finished in a couple of minutes. That was much quicker than the laser surgery would have been. After the procedure, Millie spent a couple of days recovering.
"Millie will be three years old in July and her eyesight is now normal and she enjoys looking at the pictures in her books and aeroplanes in the sky.
"We feel so lucky that she got to have this procedure and avoided almost certain blindness in that eye - and now other families will be able to benefit from it too."
Around 20 babies a year in England might need the drug treatment rather than laser therapy, experts believe.
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: "The impacts of vision loss can be absolutely devastating, particularly for children and young people, so it's fantastic that this treatment will now give families across the country another life-changing option to help save their child's precious sight.
"The national rollout of this lifeline treatment for babies who are too poorly to undergo laser therapy is a vital step forward in preventing avoidable vision loss."
Peter Bradley, from the premature baby charity Bliss, said: "It is absolutely brilliant to see this sight-saving treatment being rolled out nationally. Retinopathy of Prematurity affects many babies born premature, and can become very serious." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-66085393 |
Paris riots: Suburban mayor's wife hurt as rioters attack their home - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Attackers tried to set the house on fire before firing rockets at the mayor's fleeing wife and children. | Europe | Attackers in France tried to set fire to the home of a suburban Paris mayor's home overnight and fired rockets at the official's fleeing wife and children.
The incident has caused widespread shock and is being treated as attempted murder. Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne described it as intolerable.
Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun was not at home, but his wife suffered a broken leg and a child was also hurt.
France has seen violent protests after police killed a teenager on Tuesday.
The suspects in the incident in L'Haÿ-les-Roses, south of Paris, have not been identified.
Mr Jeanbrun said he had been in his office overseeing the situation when the attack on his home occurred at 01:30 (23:30 GMT on Saturday).
The attackers used a car to ram through the gates of their home before setting the vehicle on fire so that the blaze would spread to the house, the mayor said in a statement.
Then when his wife, Melanie Nowak, tried to flee with the children, aged five and seven, they were attacked with firework rockets.
"A line has been crossed," he said.
"If my priority today is to take care of my family, my determination to protect and serve the Republic is greater than before," he added.
Attackers used a burning car to try to set Mayor Jeanbrun's home ablaze
The mayor, from the centre-right Les Republicains, has received widespread support from across the French political spectrum.
The public prosecutor's office has started an investigation for attempted murder.
The attack on Mayor Jeanbrun's home came during the fifth night of violent protests across France over the death of Nahel M, 17, who was shot by police at point-blank range during a traffic stop.
Around 45,000 police were deployed in France on Saturday to control the protests and the interior ministry said Saturday night had been quieter, with fewer arrests overall.
However there were more than 700 arrests across the country and more than 800 fires were lit by rioters during the course of the night, officials said.
Mr Jeanbrun had urged the French government earlier to impose a state of emergency in response to the riots, which President Emmanuel Macron has so far declined to do.
The French leader is due to meet with top officials later to discuss the crisis. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66079408 |
Blackpink make UK festival history with electrifying K-pop set in Hyde Park - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The girl group become the first ever Korean band to headline a major UK music festival. | Entertainment & Arts | Blackpink had one of the world's top 10 albums in 2022
Blackpink have made history by becoming the first ever Korean band to headline a major UK music festival.
The K-pop girl group played an electrifying set at London's BST Hyde Park to a sold-out crowd of 65,000 fans, some of whom travelled half way across the world to see them perform.
"We've been waiting for this since last year," said Jeangil Pagunsan, who had come to the UK from the Philippines.
"No words can explain the joy we feel right now. This night was so insane."
"We love everything about them," said her friend Rick Mae Vaporoso. "Everything was so hype."
"Their songs are great, their personality is great, they're really energising," agreed Adrian and Jess Chan, who'd set off from Nottingham at 06:00 to make sure they secured a prime spot in the audience.
The gig involved a revamped setlist from Blackpink's current world tour, with new staging and choreography
Mother and daughter Michelle and Yazmin Glackin had a trickier journey - their early morning plane from Northern Ireland was cancelled.
After an agonising wait, they finally grabbed the last two seats on the 15:30 flight, arriving at the concert with all of their luggage to make sure they didn't miss the show.
"It's been a long day, but it was all worth it. We'd do it all over again," said Michelle, whose daughter is "absolutely besotted" by the quartet.
"But I've seen nothing, 'cos she was on my shoulders the whole time," she said.
Fans queued all day to get to the front of the barriers at Hyde Park
Blackpink aren't just one of the biggest K-pop bands in the world - they're one of the world's biggest bands full stop.
Formed in an intense, six-year-long bootcamp, they're comprised of Lisa (real name Lalisa Manobal), 26, from Thailand; Rosé (Roseanne Park), also 26, who was raised in New Zealand and Australia; Jennie Kim, 27, who grew up in South Korea; and Jisoo Kim, 28, from Gunpo, about 20 miles south of Seoul.
Since the release of their debut single Whistle in 2016, they've become the most followed act on YouTube and the first K-pop girl band to sell a million albums.
Their most recent record, Born Pink, entered the UK charts at number one, and the group have a combined 356 million Instagram followers.
So while they might have seemed an outlier on the UK festival circuit, where this year's headliners are largely safe, tried-and-tested acts like Arctic Monkeys, The Killers and The Strokes, Blackpink were a smart choice for the more adventurous BST line-up.
The band are currently in the middle of a world tour, with a finely-tuned show that combines their bombastic, confident pop songs with the sort of choreography that would make Strictly's professional dancers break into a cold sweat.
They burst onto the stage with two of their hardest-hitting anthems, Pink Venom and How You Like That, bathed in pink lights against a video wall covered in sharp, black thorns.
That's a dichotomy that's burned into the band's identity, from their name to their musical output.
Every sweetly-sung melody and pop hook is juxtaposed with a sinister EDM riff, or a frenetic rap breakdown; and their songs often end in a military style "rum-pa-pum" chant.
All of which works perfectly when you want to send an audience into a complete frenzy on a Sunday night.
The four-piece keep up a frenetic pace for the first 20 minutes, stomping down the catwalk and breaking into Fosse-inspired chair choreography during Pretty Savage.
"London, what a nice breeze you have," exclaims Rosé during a brief pause, grateful at the chance to stay cool amid the non-stop action.
The middle section of the show lets each member show off their solo material, and reveal a bit more of their personality.
Jisoo is all doe-eyed and demure as she plays the sweet-hearted love song Flower; while Rosé, Blackpink's most gifted writer, shows off her pop nous with a medley of the hit songs Gone and On The Ground.
Jennie, fresh from her co-starring role in the HBO drama Idol, shines through a playful version of Solo; while Lisa, who best embodies the band's in-your-face attitude, rips through the hip-hop track Money, then starts voguing in the dance breakdown.
The only slight hiccup comes when air cannons shoot thousands of streamers into the air during Rosé's solo set, only for a gust of wind to blow them backwards into the stage, where they hang off the lighting rig for the rest of the night.
Shrugging off the hitch, the band reunite for a high-octane third act that includes the summer dance anthem Lovesick Girls and the insistently catchy Shut Down (which samples Paganini's second violin concerto, La Campanella, to great effect).
But the highlight is Tally, whose strident lyrics - "No one's keeping tally, I do what I want with who I like" - are an unusual affirmation of sexual liberation in the notoriously buttoned-up world of K-pop.
Rosé introduces the song as being "very special to us", and the band drop their choreography to perform it side-by-side - like the Spice Girls doing 2 Become 1, only with more f-bombs.
Their undisguised affection suggests there's still life left in the band; despite speculation over whether they'll resign their seven-year contract with YG Entertainment, which is thought to expire next month.
Some 65,000 fans watched the Hyde Park show on Sunday
Should they take the opportunity to wrestle more control over their career, the edgier lyrical content of Tally feels like a signpost for where they want to go next.
Not that any of those backstage machinations matter to the fans in the field, who holler out every word - even the Korean ones - as the show comes to an explosive finale with the gargantuan hooks of DDU-DU DDU-DU and the euphoric Forever Young.
"We definitely did not expect this much energy," declares Rosé, as she waves goodbye.
"I can't put it into words, but thank you so much for everyone who showed up today," adds Jennie.
It's worth pointing out that the Hyde Park gig involved a completely revamped setlist from Blackpink's current world tour, incorporating both new staging and choreography.
Although the band previously delivered a version of the set when they played Coachella in April, they had to relearn all the changes while playing in Australia last week; and squeezed in a final dress rehearsal during soundcheck on Sunday morning, about 24 hours after flying into the UK from Incheon in South Korea.
But rather than letting jetlag get the better of them, onlookers said they were full of energy and perfectly locked in sync, performing as if they had a full audience in front of them.
"On any level, with any comparison, it's a spectacular, spectacular show," says Jim King, chief executive of European festivals at AEG Presents, who booked the band for Hyde Park.
"Playing Hyde Park or Coachella is very demanding on an artist, especially on a pop artist. And the level of detail in that show, combined with all the one-off elements, just shows how professional and talented they are."
And while Blackpink are the first K-pop band to headline a UK festival, King, who is the head of European festivals for live entertainment giant AEG, says they won't be the last.
"This genre of music is only going to get bigger," he says. "You've seen it today. There's great passion out there, even though many of these bands have never been to a greenfield festival before.
"I think that any resistance we may have felt before has been blown away by Blackpink - and that opens the door for many of their contemporaries to come through as well. " | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66083253 |
UK weather: hottest June since records began - Met Office - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Scientists found evidence that climate change made the warmer weather last month more likely. | Science & Environment | The UK had the hottest June on record, the Met Office has confirmed.
The average monthly temperature of 15.8C (60.4F) exceeded the previous highest average June temperature, recorded in 1940 and 1976, by 0.9C.
Climate change made the chance of surpassing the previous joint record at least twice as likely, scientists also said.
Records were broken in 72 of the 97 areas in the UK from which temperature data is collected.
As well as the overall UK June record, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland each recorded their warmest June since the Met Office started collecting the data in 1884.
"It's officially the hottest June on record for the UK, for mean temperature as well as average maximum and minimum temperature," said Met Office's Climate Science Manager Mark McCarthy.
"An increase of 0.9C may not seem a huge amount, but it's really significant because it has taken the average daytime and the night time temperature for the whole of the UK," Paul Davies, Met Office chief meteorologist and climate extremes principal fellow, told BBC News.
"That's significant in a warming climate and because of the consequential impacts on society," he added.
He also said that while the UK recorded a higher one-off temperature of 40.3C last summer, the difference last month was the sustained heat both day and night.
The west of the UK was often hotter than the east, which had increased cloud levels suppressing daytime temperatures, the Met Office said.
Rain was also in short supply for much of the month, with just 68% of the average June rainfall.
Wales was particularly dry, with just over half of its average monthly rainfall.
The Met Office used a supercomputer to analyse the temperatures and identify the fingerprint of climate change on the weather.
"We found that the chance of observing a June beating the previous joint 1940/1976 record of 14.9°C has at least doubled since the 1940s," explains Mr Davies.
"Alongside natural variability, the background warming of the Earth's atmosphere due to human-induced climate change has driven up the possibility of reaching record-high temperatures," he added.
Climate change is driving extreme weather events around the world.
The world has warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial revolution about 200 years ago.
Greenhouse gases have been pumped into the atmosphere by activities such as burning fuels, which have heated up the Earth's atmosphere.
Last year the UK recorded temperatures above 40C for the first time. Scientists said that would have been "virtually impossible without climate change".
Dr Richard Hodgkins, senior lecturer in physical geography at University of Loughborough says it is notable how the warm weather "fits expectations of a changing climate in the UK".
He said researchers have been predicting patterns where weather appears to get "stuck", which would mean longer heatwaves.
The hot June was "somewhat like a typical weather event for the UK, but stretched out in time much longer than normal," he added.
The dry and warm weather last month affected wildlife and nature with environment groups warning of fish deaths and flowering plants wilting.
Nature is being "pounded by extreme weather without a chance to recover", the Wildlife Trusts told BBC News.
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66084543 |
Orkney council to look at proposals to become territory of Norway - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The islands' councillors will consider a motion to investigate alternative forms of governance. | NE Scotland, Orkney & Shetland | A previous vote in 2017 did not back full independence for Orkney
The Orkney Islands could change their status in the UK or even become a self-governing territory of Norway under new proposals.
A motion will go before the council next week to investigate "alternative forms of governance".
Council leader James Stockan said Orkney does not get fair funding with its current relationship within the UK.
He wants to look at Crown Dependencies like the Channel Islands and overseas territories like the Falkland Islands.
He suggested another possible future could be like the Faroe Islands - which is a self-governing territory of Denmark.
Councillor Stockan told BBC Radio Scotland there were many areas where Orkney was being "failed dreadfully" by both the UK and Scottish governments.
He said: "We are really struggling at the moment, we have to replace the whole ferry fleet which is older than the CalMac fleet.
"We are denied the things that other areas get like RET (Road Equivalent Tariff) for ferry fares.
"And the funding we get from the Scottish government is significantly less per head than Shetland and the Western Isles to run the same services - we can't go on as we are."
Council leader James Stockan says Orkney does not get fair funding within the UK
Mr Stockan said an in-depth study of the finances had never been carried out.
"We know that we have contributed for the last 40 years through north sea oil, and the dividend we get back isn't sufficient to keep us going," he said.
"We've got a unique opportunity right at the heart of all the wind projects round our waters."
Mr Stockan is urging councillors to back his idea to find new ways for Orkney to get greater financial security and economic opportunities for Orcadians.
Orkney Islands Council previously voted in 2017 to look at whether the islands could have greater autonomy.
While they wanted to have a "stronger voice", they did not back full independence for Orkney.
Mr Stockan's motion also cites British Crown Dependencies Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man as potential models to follow.
Orkney was held under Norwegian and Danish control until 1472
But he warns that a large amount of staff resource would be needed to investigate the options and consult the public.
"The council will decide whether it supports this motion and from there we will take our time, because we don't want to do this emotionally," he said.
"We want to look at all the practical implications and then we'll evaluate the results.
"We are looking for the very best position for future generations and our place in the world.
Mr Stockan also suggests that the council should investigate how Orkney could secure a "Nordic connection" with Denmark, Norway or Iceland.
Orkney was previously held under Norwegian and Danish control until it became part of Scotland in 1472.
The islands were used as security for the wedding dowry of Margaret of Denmark, the future wife of King James III of Scotland.
Mr Stockan said: "We were part of the Norse kingdom for much longer than we were part of the United Kingdom.
"On the street in Orkney people come up and say to me when are we going to pay back the dowry, when are we going back to Norway,
"There is a huge affinity and a huge deep cultural relationship there. This is exactly the moment to explore what is possible."
The UK government said it was providing £2.2bn to level up UK communities, including £50m to grow the economies of Scotland's Islands - including Orkney.
A spokesperson said: "We will always be stronger together as one United Kingdom, and we have no plans to change the devolution settlement."
The Scottish government said in 2023-24 Orkney Islands Council would receive £89.7m to fund services, with an extra £4.6m from an increase in council tax by 10%.
A Scottish government spokesperson said it was "committed to supporting island communities".
The motion will be discussed by Orkney Islands Council on Tuesday.
Additional reporting provided by Andrew Stewart at the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
• None Orkney steps up calls for more autonomy | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-66066448 |
E-bike likely cause of Cambridge fire that killed mother and children - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Gemma Germeney, 31, Lilly Peden, eight, and Oliver Peden, four, died in the flat fire. | Cambridgeshire | The fire broke out on Sackville Close in King's Hedges, Cambridge, on Friday
An e-bike was the most probable cause of a fire that killed a mother and her two children, investigators said.
Gemma Germeney, 31, died at the scene on Sackville Close in King's Hedges, Cambridge, on Friday.
Lilly Peden, eight, and four-year-old Oliver Peden died later in hospital.
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service said the blaze started accidentally and, following an investigation, it was thought the most probable cause was an electric bike that was charging.
A man in his 30s remains in a critical condition.
Family members who visited the scene said were "devastated" by the "tragic" deaths.
Flowers and soft toys have been left at the scene since Friday
The fire service's area commander Stuart Smith said a thorough investigation was carried out over the weekend by police forensic teams, special fire investigators, the fire service and a fire dog.
He urged anyone with e-bikes and e-scooters to be aware of possible dangers.
"We know e-bikes and e-scooters are popular modes of personal transport at the moment and we are urging anyone with one to be aware of the potential risks and follow simple precautions to reduce the likelihood of the batteries overheating," he said.
Mr Smith urged people to check their homes for all potential fire risks.
"It isn't just e-bikes and e-scooters, we have so many electrical gadgets these days that all require charging," he said.
"People just need to be aware of the risks and put steps in place to ensure they are being charged safely."
A fire safety team would be in the Sacksville Close area in the coming days to share advice and offer reassurance, he added.
A e-bike that was charging was thought to be the most likely cause of the fatal fire
He recommended anyone with concerns about general fire safety to speak to the team or visit the service's website.
A collection of flowers and soft toys have been left at the scene since Friday.
Following the fire, the East of England Ambulance Service said an infant from an adjoining property was also taken to hospital for assessment.
The fire service made a number of safety recommendations related to e-bikes and scooters:
Follow East of England news on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Got a story? Email [email protected] or WhatsApp us on 0800 169 1830
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-66088503 |
Barbie movie gets Vietnam ban over South China Sea map - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A scene in the film features a map depicting China's territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea. | Asia | Margot Robbie plays the lead in the Barbie movie
Vietnam has banned the upcoming Barbie film over a scene featuring a map depicting contested Chinese territorial claims in the South China Sea.
Vietnam is among a number of countries that contest China's claim to almost all of the South China Sea.
The film about the famous doll, which has already taken over social media, is due to release in cinemas on 21 July.
It is unclear which scene depicts what a senior official called the "offensive image" of China's nine-dash line.
The nine-dash line is used in Chinese maps of the South China Sea to show its territorial claims.
Beijing has been building military bases on artificial islands in the area for years and also often conducts naval patrols there in a bid to assert its territorial claims.
In 2016 an international tribunal in The Hague ruled against Chinese claims in the South China Sea, but Beijing did not recognise the judgement.
Film studio Warner Bros' Barbie is not the only production to be banned by Vietnam for featuring the nine-dash line.
In 2019, the DreamWorks animated film Abominable was pulled for the same reason. Three years later, the Sony action movie Uncharted also fell foul of the Department of Cinema, a government body in charge of licensing and censoring foreign films.
Two years ago, Australian spy drama Pine Gap was removed from the Vietnamese market by Netflix, following a complaint from authorities.
China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei all have competing claims in the South China Sea.
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66083761 |
NHS whistleblowers need more protection, expert warns - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | NHS whistleblowers are being victimised, risking another big hospital scandal, an expert tells the BBC. | Health | Protections for NHS staff to speak out about wrongdoing may be insufficient to prevent another big scandal like that at the Mid Staffordshire hospital trust, an expert has told BBC News.
Sir Robert Francis led the inquiry into hundreds of patient deaths at Stafford Hospital more than a decade ago.
He says despite subsequent attempts to encourage whistleblowing, some still pay a heavy price for speaking up.
And this victimisation discourages others from coming forward.
The NHS National Guardian Dr Jayne Chidgey-Clark, whose job it is to protect whistleblowers in England, also says too many managers in the health service are still not protecting those who raise concerns from victimisation or bullying.
A record number of more than 25,000 NHS whistleblowers came forward last year - up by a quarter on the year before - raising issues such as patient safety and bullying.
Tristan Reuser, a senior eye surgeon at the main hospital trust in Birmingham, became a whistleblower when he complained about a lack of nursing staff, after he felt he had to use a non-medical colleague to help with an urgent operation.
But instead of addressing the issue, management turned on him, he tells BBC News.
The Trust says that Mr Reuser's actions led to two serious safety incidents.
Mr Reuser says: "If you whistleblow, you criticise, essentially, systems - systems designed by senior management.
"So you criticise senior management - and if you're in the position of a senior manager, you don't like that. So what can we do about this?"
Mr Reuser was investigated, suspended and then sacked and reported to the General Medical Council - which found there was no case to answer.
A subsequent employment tribunal found he had been unfairly dismissed.
Eye surgeon Tristan Reuser had been unfairly dismissed from his post, a tribunal found
Mr Reuser seems robust - but asked how he had coped with the emotional burden of the investigation, the GMC case, the employment tribunal, he falters.
"It was pretty bad," he says. "And at times, I thought this is the end of it."
There is a long pause as he gathers himself.
"It's tough, career-changing," he says. "Sometimes for some people, I'm sure, life-changing."
Asked if, like some others who have spoken to BBC News he had thought about suicide, Mr Reuser says: "I've had those thoughts, yup. But you know, a supportive wife makes it go away."
A University Hospitals Birmingham official says the trust takes safety concerns raised by staff seriously.
It accepted and apologised for errors made in Mr Reuser's case but said it had acted in the interest of patient welfare.
Like every NHS trust in England, UHB employs freedom-to-speak-up guardians to help whistleblowers be heard.
This system was set up in the wake of the Mid Staffordshire scandal that saw hundreds of patient deaths due to poor care between 2005 and 2009.
But when Sir Robert is asked whether he is confident it will prevent another catastrophe, he says: "Am I confident, 100%? No.
"There is a danger of it happening again when pressures similar to those that existed at the time of Mid Staffs come about.
"But I think the way to stop it is to think all the time about the culture and make sure you've got an open culture, a supportive one and one that treats the patient first by listening to the staff's concerns about them."
Failing to listen to staff concerns is often a sign of poor leadership, Sir Robert tells BBC News.
"Principally, it is a matter of the leadership of the organisations," he says, "because the leadership, by which I mean the chief executive, the board, have to buy into and understand what this is all about.
"And probably people at that level - of a certain type - find it difficult to let go of control and one of the things about allowing people to speak up is... you're not entirely in control."
One of the problems reporting on this story is finding people willing to speak publicly about their experiences.
Many of those who did speak to BBC News did not want to be identified - they spoke of being victimised and isolated at work, of the risk that, like Mr Reuser, they could be referred to the medical regulator or lose their jobs and careers.
And many spoke of a climate of fear.
Dr A, so terrified of management reprisals BBC News has had to disguise their identity, also raised issues around patient safety only to find themselves being investigated.
"I've had sleeping difficulties, I've had counselling - it's been absolutely horrendous," Dr A says.
"It really has been a dismantling of me as a person - it's made me more fearful, more anxious."
And the culture in their hospital is best described as "management by fear".
"My concern about doing this interview is that they would find out who I was and then the punishment that would come my way - because I'm absolutely certain punishment would come," Dr A says.
"It comes straight from the top - it's from the executive team.
"They have been instrumental in causing it but yet they are tasked with trying to sort it out - and that cannot be the case."
Dr Chidgey-Clark is calling on NHS England and the CQC to do everything in their power to protect whistleblowers
Dr Chidgey-Clark says the main healthcare regulator - the Care Quality Commission (CQC) - and NHS England itself could do more to protect individual whistleblowers and rein in rogue managers.
"I do call on them to do everything they can within their power to ensure there is accountability and these serious issues are looked into," she says, "because without that, more high-profile cases will happen and, potentially, more patient harm and worker harm will happen. And in our society, in our healthcare system, we don't want to see that.
"Nobody should suffer for doing the right thing."
NHS England admits too many staff remain afraid to raise issues - but, an official says, it wants all employees to feel they work in an organisation where their voices count.
The CQC, meanwhile, tells BBC News it examines how all hospital trusts respond to whistleblowers, as part of its inspection regime - and for any trust to restrict this information would be absolutely unacceptable.
Have you been affected by any of the issues raised here? You can share your experience with us by emailing [email protected].
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at [email protected]. Please include your name, age and location with any submission.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-66051884 |
Stormont stalemate: Department for Infrastructure warns of overspend - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Officials say that without ministers they lack the legal authority for steps to balance DfI's budget. | Northern Ireland | The Department for Infrastructure says it faces a remaining £112m funding gap
Road repairs could be drastically reduced due to budget pressures facing Stormont's Department for Infrastructure (DfI).
DfI warned it will inevitably overspend this year if current political arrangements are unchanged.
Government departments in Northern Ireland are being run by civil servants in the absence of local ministers.
DfI officials believe they lack the legal authority to take measures necessary to balance their budget.
These also include turning off street lights and stopping waste water treatment.
Civil servants have been running departments since October 2022 as a result of the DUP's ministerial boycott in protest at the Northern Ireland Protocol.
They are working with a budget imposed by the Northern Ireland secretary which will see overall day-to-day spending fall by 3.3% in real terms this financial year with all departments having to make cuts.
However, that average 3.3% figure disguises much bigger pressures in some departments.
Infrastructure has calculated that it needed £691m for day-to-day spending to provide a standard service across its areas of responsibility.
Already-announced cuts in areas such as road maintenance and flood risk management reduced the gap to £112m.
In recent weeks the department has been consulting on further possible cuts and believes it will be able to reduce the shortfall to around £55m.
It will primarily aim to do that by cutting £53m from the combined budget of Translink and NI Water.
But officials believe any remaining options for cuts cannot lawfully be taken by them and would require a minister - either the secretary of state or a Stormont minister in a restored executive.
The officials' powers were laid out in the Ireland Executive Formation Act last year and further amended by the Northern Ireland (Interim Arrangements) Act this year.
It is understood that DfI faces particularly difficulties because so much of its spending is statutorily defined, leaving little flexibility for cuts.
Turning off street lights would save the the DfI about £3m in energy payments
The department was also able to make a large one-off saving last year when Translink used £60m of its reserves, a measure that cannot be repeated.
DfI Permanent Secretary Julie Harrison said: "Around 95% of the Department's resource budget delivers essential frontline services, the vast majority of which are regulated, statutory or contractually obliged.
"This leaves very limited scope to make the kind of cuts to spending that are required. That challenge has been exacerbated by decisions that had to be taken last year and which cannot be repeated.
"I have had to make difficult decisions to ensure DfI and its delivery partners (DVA, Translink, NI Water, and Waterways Ireland) do everything possible to reduce spending and balance their budgets, while at the same time meeting responsibilities to deliver multiple statutory functions and keep people safe."
A Northern Ireland Office spokesman said this year's budget allocation from the government had given the department an allocation of £523m, an increase of £2m above the 2022-23 budget.
"The decisions required to live within this budget continue to rest with the Northern Ireland departments," he said.
"We are clear that we hope NI parties will restore locally elected, accountable and effective devolved government as soon as possible, which is the best way to govern Northern Ireland," he added. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66088192 |
Covid inquiry: Welsh government health chiefs face questions - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The chief medical officer and ex-Welsh NHS boss are being questioned on Wales' pandemic preparation. | Wales politics | Wales' response to the Covid-19 pandemic will be covered by the UK-wide Covid inquiry
Senior officials are giving evidence to the UK Covid inquiry about how well prepared Wales was for the pandemic.
Chief medical officer Sir Frank Atherton and former NHS Wales head Dr Andrew Goodall are being questioned on Monday afternoon.
Both men were key to Wales' Covid response, appearing regularly in live televised media briefings.
First Minister Mark Drakeford and the then Health Minister Vaughan Gething are due before the inquiry on Tuesday.
Mr Gething became economy minister in May 2021 while Dr Goodall is now the Welsh government's permanent secretary, its most senior civil servant.
The hearings, chaired by former judge and crossbench peer Baroness Hallett, have heard accusations from the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group that there was a "catastrophic failure" to plan for such an emergency by Welsh ministers.
Ahead of the hearing on Monday, group member Margaret Williams, whose mum died in a care home in April 2020, said she believed the Welsh government's lack of preparedness for a pandemic resulted in them acting "like headless chickens".
She told BBC Radio Wales' Breakfast programme: "It's a very significant week. I am hopeful that we get some answers from these people. We haven't had any up to now.
"I think as a government they had a duty of care and I think it was well within their remit to do a full plan.
"A lot of people died, my mum included, and I don't feel there was any preparation."
Giving evidence on the first day of the inquiry last month, the group said the Welsh government "do not appear to have taken sufficient steps to understand and plan for the risks of a pandemic", despite UK-wide warnings.
The group's barrister, Kirsten Heaven, said this had led to "much more severe consequences from Covid-19 for vulnerable groups and communities".
The group also accused the Welsh government of trying to "shift responsibility" for pandemic planning on to the Senedd and civil service.
"Wales and the Welsh government did not have an adequate understanding of the risks posed to the people of Wales from the pandemic before and during the relevant period," Ms Heaven added.
"For example, pandemic preparedness failed to take account of the acute health inequalities in Wales, distinct from the rest of the UK, and that specifically included levels of chronic ill-health and disability in the older population."
Wales' pandemic preparedness is being considered as part of the UK-wide inquiry, with public hearings in Wales this autumn.
The Welsh government has rejected calls for a Wales-specific inquiry.
A cross-party Senedd committee has also been established to see if there were any gaps in what the UK inquiry reports about Wales.
If it finds gaps it will review those areas, providing Members of the Senedd agree, but it would not be the full public inquiry that campaigners want.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-66052440 |
July train disruption: New Aslef overtime ban to hit services - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Aslef drivers will refuse to work overtime for another six days, in addition to the current industrial action. | Business | Train drivers in the Aslef union have announced a fresh overtime ban, which will see services further disrupted.
Drivers at 15 train companies based in England will refuse to work overtime from Monday 17 to Saturday 22 July.
It will coincide with strike action by rail workers in the RMT union also taking place later this month.
And it follows the overtime ban currently taking place over pay and conditions which is disrupting services across the rail network.
Most train companies rely on drivers working overtime to run their full schedules, which Aslef says is a consequence of operators not employing enough people.
Strikes by other rail workers in the RMT union are set to take place later this month, on 20, 22 and 29 July. Many will reduce their service levels, and passengers are being advised to check before they travel.
Among the disruption expected this week:
The announcement of the new overtime ban comes after Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan had warned that further industrial action was likely.
He told the BBC's Today programme on Monday the Rail Delivery Group's latest pay offer, worth 4% for two years in a row and linked to reforms, was like a return to "Victorian times".
The long-running pay dispute by train drivers centres around union members accepting a deal which would have brought drivers' average pay to £65,000. This offer has already been rejected by Aslef.
But it would have been dependent on changes to working practices, which the employers and government say are needed to cut costs and modernise how the railway runs.
Mr Whelan said the situation was a "Westminster ideological problem" and claimed the union did not have issues in Scotland, Wales, with freight, the London Underground, Crossrail or Eurostar.
"We did 14 pay deals in the last 12 months. The only place we can't get a pay deal is with the Westminster government," he added.
The Rail Delivery Group (RDG) said Aslef had rejected a "fair and affordable offer" without putting it to its members.
"We ask Aslef to recognise the very real financial challenge the industry is facing and work with us to deliver a better, more reliable railway with a strong long-term future," it added.
Meanwhile, the strike action between operators and the RMT over pay, jobs and conditions has lasted for more than a year.
With only 12% of tickets sold from ticket offices according to the RDG, train companies are preparing to move ahead with plans to close hundreds of station kiosks.
Under proposed changes staff would be moved on to concourses to help and advise more customers, an RDG spokesperson said.
But RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said last week his union would not "meekly sit by and allow thousands of jobs to be sacrificed or see disabled and vulnerable passengers left unable to use the railways as a result".
The union suggested it could take further industrial action over the issue. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66084766 |
Nigel Farage: Banks warned against closing accounts - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer says she is concerned banks are shutting accounts for the wrong reasons. | Business | The Culture Secretary has said she is concerned banks may be closing customer accounts for political reasons following claims from Brexiteer Nigel Farage.
Lucy Frazer said it is something banks "should be thinking about carefully".
Last week, Mr Farage said his bank was closing his accounts, claiming it was "serious political persecution" from an anti-Brexit banking industry.
The government is investigating payment providers over account closures.
Last year, Paypal closed accounts run by Toby Young, who is general secretary of the Free Speech Union. They were later reinstated by the US payments company.
The government subsequently announced a review into payment services regulations, including the practice of firms apparently closing down the accounts of people or businesses that hold views the lender does not agree with.
Ms Frazer told LBC, the radio station: "I'm concerned people's accounts might be closed for the wrong reasons and it's something they [the banks] should be thinking about carefully.
"Banks are regulated, and those are the sort of things regulators should consider."
Mr Farage said that he was told two months ago that his bank, who he did not name but is understood to be Coutts, was closing down his personal and business accounts.
The BBC has approached Coutts' parent company NatWest for comment.
Mr Farage, who is the former leader of UKIP and a former member of the European Parliament, suggested that the reason for the decision could be related to laws that banks follow on "politically exposed person" or PEPs.
These are people who hold a prominent position or influence who may be more susceptible to being involved in bribery or corruption.
Banks are required to do extra due diligence on PEPs.
Mr Farage said he was told by his bank that closing his accounts was a "commercial decision".
UK Finance, which represents the banking industry, said lenders should discuss the closure of an account with a customer "so far as is feasible and permissible".
It said though there will "be situations where it may not be appropriate or permissible for a bank to engage in a dialogue to explain their reasoning".
This would include a breach of terms and conditions, "abusive or threatening behaviour to colleagues" or if banks have been directed not to by "regulators, HM Government, police and other authorities".
Mr Farage said he approached seven other banks to open personal and business accounts and was turned down by all of them.
However, he claimed there were other reasons why his existing bank acted.
"Either for reasons of being active in politics, or having opinions that modern day corporate banks don't agree with, far too many accounts have been closed in recent years," he told the BBC.
"I hope that my case blows the lid off the whole thing and that we can get changes to legislation. Everyone in the UK should be entitled to a bank account."
Speaking in the House of Commons on Monday, security minister Tom Tugendhat, said "This sort of closure, on political grounds - if that is indeed what has happened and after all we only have the allegation of it at this point - should be completely unacceptable.
"PEPs is there to prevent the corrupt use of banking facilities by politicians in corrupt regimes. It is not here to silence individuals who may hold views with which we may or may not agree."
The result of the government consultation on payment services regulations is expecting in the next few weeks. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66090522 |
Seven hurt in Tel Aviv attack as Israel's raid on Jenin continues - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Palestinian militant group Hamas calls the "heroic" attack in Tel Aviv a "natural" response to Israel's operation in the West Bank. | Middle East | Israeli security and emergency personnel inspect the car used in the attack in Tel Aviv Image caption: Israeli security and emergency personnel inspect the car used in the attack in Tel Aviv
A person who was at the scene of the car ramming attack in Tel Aviv today has been speaking about what they saw.
"I saw the grey pick-up pull up at peak speed and ram the bus stop, powerfully," Liron Bahash, a sports teacher who was on a lunch break, told Reuters news agency.
"In the first seconds you think it could have been a mistake by the driver.
"He exited through the window, not the door, like in a movie, with a knife in hand and started chasing civilians. Now you understand it's an attack. We ran for our lives." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-66085089 |
French teen shooting: Piecing together what happened - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Prosecutors are due to interview a witness after he posted a version of events online. | Europe | A video still from the fatal Paris traffic stop shooting
Prosecutors have begun piecing together what happened before the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M by a police officer.
The officer has been charged with homicide and remains in custody.
In their outline of events after questioning eyewitnesses and reviewing CCTV footage, prosecutors say the teenage driver had already ignored a police demand to stop, when officers caught up with the car and drew their weapons.
Meanwhile an account has been posted online by one of the passengers, which French media say they have verified but the BBC has not.
In this account the passenger, also a teenager, says the officers hit Nahel M with the butts of their guns three times, causing him to take his foot off the brake of the car.
Prosecutors are due to talk to this witness on Monday.
Around 08:00 on Tuesday, two policemen on motorcycles spotted a Mercedes with a Polish number plate driving fast in a bus lane, Nanterre prosecutor Pascal Prache told journalists.
Turning on their siren, the officers caught up with the car at a traffic light. Three young men were inside.
The officers told the driver to stop but the vehicle pulled away, ignoring the red light. The officers gave chase and notified their unit by radio.
At 08:16, the Mercedes stopped in heavy traffic. Both officers got off their motorcycles, drew their weapons and approached the car.
They later told prosecutors that they pointed their guns at the driver to "deter him from driving away again".
They asked the driver to turn off the ignition, but the car moved forward. One of the officers fired, fatally wounding the young man in the chest.
After the car ran into a roadside barrier, one of the passengers was arrested and the other fled on foot.
The passenger says the three friends were driving around Nanterre when the car strayed into the bus lane and was chased by two policemen on motorcycles.
After Nahel stopped the car, the young man says in his video and in an interview with Le Parisien newspaper, one of the officers hit the teenage driver with the butt of his gun.
He alleges that the second policeman also struck Nahel before the first officer again hit him.
He told Le Parisien that the blows left Nahel M "a little stunned".
The third blow, according to this account, caused Nahel to take his foot off the brake and the vehicle to move forward. After the officer fired, Nahel M slumped forward and his foot pressed on the accelerator, the passenger said.
When the car came a standstill, the passenger said, he decided to flee because he was afraid he would be shot too.
Questions have been asked about the car, a Mercedes A class AMG. Officials describe it as a rented vehicle.
The passenger who fled said that someone had lent it to the three youths, without giving any details.
According to the French motoring website Autoplus, German sportscars with Polish number plates can be hired for €300-3,000 (£260-2,600) a day.
This type of short rental is popular with young men in French housing estates, Autoplus says.
Nahel M did not have a criminal record but was known to police.
He had previously been cited for driving without a licence - he was too young to have one - and for refusing to comply with an order to stop.
He was due to appear before a juvenile court in September. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66075798 |
France teen's family tell BBC police use of lethal force must change - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | One of Nahel's relatives says the riots do not honour Nahel's death, and the family want them to stop. | Europe | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Nahel's family say violence won’t bring justice for the boy they lost
A relative of the French teenager shot by police has told the BBC the family did not want his death to spark riots, but insisted the law around lethal force at traffic stops must change.
Nahel M was shot point-blank by police after failing to stop for a traffic check last Tuesday.
"We never called for hate or riots," the relative said.
France has seen five days of violent rioting.
But the unrest ebbed again on Sunday night, with 157 arrests reported by the early hours of Monday morning.
The previous night, there had been more than 700 arrests.
Speaking to the BBC near the family home in Nanterre, the relative said the rioting - which has seen thousands arrested, shops looted and hundreds of vehicles set alight across France - did not honour Nahel's memory.
"We didn't ask to break or steal. All of this is not for Nahel," they told the BBC, speaking on condition of anonymity because tensions are so high following Nahel's shooting.
They said they had called for a "White March in the street. Walking in memory of Nahel. Walking, even being angry in the street, demonstrating, but without outbursts".
Nahel M was shot dead by police on Tuesday, sparking days of protest and unrest
The relative said French authorities must now change the law that allows police officers to shoot during traffic stops.
Nahel's relative called for "better training for the French police, weapons regulation for police, and reviewing the law that allows police to use lethal force if a young person refuses to stop at a traffic stop".
France's penal code was changed in 2017 to allow for a broader use of firearms after police said they were facing increased levels of violence.
Critics argue the increase in traffic related shootings is a direct result of that change, which they say is much too vague because it leaves officers to determine whether the driver's refusal to comply poses a risk.
So far this year, three people have been killed during police traffic stops - following a record 13 people killed in traffic stop incidents last year. According to Reuters news agency most of those victims have been of black or Arab origin.
Anais, a family friend and neighbour also told the BBC that being a young black man in France's suburbs meant being subject to racism, violence and racial profiling on a daily basis.
"They [the police] humiliate, insult and don't speak properly to them. And now they kill them! Nahel was covered by the press, but it's not the first time this has happened," she said.
Nahel's relative said as a result of the ongoing chaos, the family had not had a moment to sit down together and remember him.
"We want everything to calm down. Social media, riots, everything needs to calm down. With all of this, we haven't had time to sit down for five minutes together and think about how he's gone now," they said.
Earlier on Sunday, Nahel's grandmother also called for an end to the violence and accused rioters of using Nahel's death as an excuse.
"Don't destroy the schools, don't destroy the buses. It is other mothers who take these buses," Nadia, Nahel's grandmother, told BFMTV. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66080505 |
Kevin Spacey trial: Actor behaved like a 'predator', accuser says - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The actor denies 12 charges of sexual assault alleged to have been committed between 2001 and 2013. | UK | Kevin Spacey was a "predator" who would attack one of his accusers when the two were left alone together, a court in London has heard.
The trial of the actor heard testimony from one of the four men who accuse him of sexual assaults committed in the UK between 2001 and 2013.
The court heard the man was groped so forcefully on one occasion while driving that he swerved off the road.
Mr Spacey has pleaded not guilty to all 12 charges against him.
As the trial against him heard from its first witness, the 63-year-old sat in the dock of Southwark Crown Court and listened to his accuser detail the alleged abuse, which relates to seven of the charges against him.
Jurors were played a recording of the first complainant's police interview, before the man - who has lifelong anonymity under UK law due to the nature of the charges - was questioned in court by Mr Spacey's lawyer.
The man alleges Mr Spacey assaulted him up to 12 times, saying this happened when they were "in a car or in a lift, any time when we became alone".
"Multiple occasions he would try and grope me," he said.
He said that over a number of years Mr Spacey's behaviour progressed from "eerie and awkward" to physical groping and how the actor would "laugh it off and change the subject".
The complainant said Mr Spacey started making him feel awkward a few weeks after they first met, adding: "Right from the get-go I would say he was grooming me."
The man added that Mr Spacey had told him he could introduce him to A-list celebrities.
When Mr Spacey groped him, the complainant said he would make it clear the actor's behaviour was wrong, but he felt Mr Spacey "was getting more excited by this".
If he attended the American actor's south London apartment, Mr Spacey would be "half-naked, if not naked" and would "try to touch me" before he left, the court heard.
He said on one occasion Mr Spacey grabbed his crotch while he was driving, forcing him to come off the road.
Mr Spacey spent significant periods of time in the UK while serving as the director of the Old Vic theatre in south London between 2004 and 2015.
Cross-examining the complainant, defence barrister Patrick Gibbs KC questioned the timing of the alleged incident. The accuser said he was assaulted on the way to Elton John's White Tie and Tiara Ball, an annual charity event held by the singer for a number of years.
The barrister said it was "completely untrue" as Mr Spacey went to the ball once in 2001 - and the complainant said the alleged incident had taken place in the mid-2000s.
"You'll have to forgive me if I've got the dates wrong, it happened 20 years ago," the complainant responded.
The man said he would be relieved when Mr Spacey went back to the US on trips.
"I used to dread when he was coming back," the complainant told police, adding: "My heart used to sink."
The complainant said Mr Spacey was "pretending to be nice" but was a "predator" who was "aggressive".
He described Mr Spacey as a "slippery, snaking, difficult person", adding: "He would tell me he had a troubled childhood. He was a confused man. Didn't know at the time whether he was gay or straight."
The complainant alleged it was "well-known he [Mr Spacey] was up to no good" among those associated with the Old Vic theatre and young, good looking people were warned to "be careful".
He said he now cannot bring himself to watch anything featuring the actor and it "makes me feel sick thinking about that man".
Mr Gibbs asked the man if he found Mr Spacey's behaviour "a bit exciting" or "a bit naughty", to which he replied that he has a female partner and found it "distressing".
As questioning continued, he said: "I was ashamed... after the event, yes I was ashamed."
He dismissed a question about his own sexuality as "ridiculous" and refuted any suggestion he had solicited attention from Mr Spacey or reciprocated contact.
The complainant said: "You're trying to suggest we had something going on which we... a million per cent didn't."
The man said it was "not true at all" that he reported the allegations to police because he "saw a bandwagon coming" and decided to "hop on board".
"It was the fact that it was in the news and it was all coming back to me. It made me have those feelings that I had then, thinking some others have been brave enough to come forward. It caused me to come forward and tell the truth as well," he said.
In January, Mr Spacey - who is referred to in court proceedings by his full name, Kevin Spacey Fowler - pleaded not guilty to three counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent.
He also previously denied four further charges of sexual assault and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.
It is these 12 charges which Mr Spacey is currently on trial for and he continues to deny them.
All four accusers are entitled to lifelong anonymity under the law. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66084545 |
Kilkeel: James Carlisle, 42, charged with attempted murder of woman - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | James Carlisle also faces five other charges after a domestic incident in County Down. | Northern Ireland | A 42-year-old man charged with the attempted murder of a woman in a domestic incident in County Down on Friday has been remanded into custody.
James Carlisle, of Harbour Road in Kilkeel, appeared at Monday's short hearing at Newry Magistrates' Court via video-link.
He faces five further charges.
They are grievous bodily harm with intent, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, common assault and two counts of intimidation of a witness.
An investigating officer confirmed that he was aware of the facts of the case and could connect Mr Carlisle to the charges.
A defence barrister confirmed no bail application was being made on Monday but one would be made on 19 July, when Mr Carlisle will appear in court again via video-link. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66085642 |
Backlash over bill banning boycotts of Israel goods from public bodies - BBC News | 2023-07-03T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The government says the move is needed to stop councils conducting their own foreign policy. | UK Politics | A picture shows the Jewish settlement of Kedar in the Israeli-occupied West Bank in June 2023
The government has been urged to rethink its plans to fine public bodies which initiate boycotts against Israel.
The proposals received initial backing but have been met with criticism from both Conservative and Labour MPs.
Communities Secretary Michael Gove said the bill would guarantee foreign policy remained a UK government matter.
But Labour says the bill undermines the UK's longstanding foreign policy towards the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The party warned the bill also risked undermining support for people around the world facing persecution, as well as placing "unprecedented restrictions" on elected councils, undermining freedom of speech and having potential "widespread and negative impacts" on local authority pension funds.
The Economic Activity of Public Bodies (Overseas Matters) Bill seeks to prevent public bodies, including councils, from campaigning against, boycotting or sanctioning a particular international territory - unless that is endorsed by the UK government's own foreign policy.
First published last month, it received initial backing by 268 to 70 votes after several hours of debate in the House of Commons on Monday.
Much of the debate on the issue has focused on boycotts of Israel and Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement calls for broad-based economic and cultural boycotts of Israel and Israel settlements - similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era.
Such boycotts are backed by Palestinians who see them as applying pressure on Israel to end its military occupation.
The Israeli government, on the other hand, sees the entire BDS movement as unjustly singling out Israel and describes it as antisemitic.
Speaking in the Commons, Mr Gove said there had been an "increase in antisemitic events following on from the activities of the BDS movement".
He added that although there were "legitimate reasons to criticise the Israeli government", the BDS movement was asking councils to "treat Israel differently from any other nation on the globe".
"Nothing in this bill prevents or impedes the loudest of criticisms of Israel's government and leaders," he added.
But Labour - and a number of Conservative MPs - raised concerns about the bill's potential impact on UK foreign policy.
Dame Margaret Hodge, who served in Labour governments under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, said the proposed legislation was "flawed, poorly drafted and will have damaging consequences both here and abroad".
"The bill is not a considered attempt to bring about peace, provide better security for Israel or respond to the threats posed by BDS," she said.
"It's about using Jews as a pawn in the government's political game."
Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, who chairs the Foreign Affairs Committee, said the government must remove references to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories from the bill.
She said the bill "essentially gives exceptional impunity to Israel", adding: "This is something we should not give to any country and I would be standing here making the same request if any country was named."
Longstanding UK government policy calls for an end to Israel's military occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territories as part of a negotiated "two-state solution".
The UK has for decades endorsed the position of international law, under which Israeli settlements are seen as illegal - although Israel disputes this - and sees their expansion as an "obstacle to peace".
The bill does not stop public bodies from complying with UK-wide sanctions, and it gives the government the power to make certain countries exempt from the restrictions.
For example, the government intends Russia and Belarus to be exempted.
But the bill does not allow the rules to exempt Israel, the Occupied Territories or the Occupied Golan Heights.
In doing so, it groups the three territories together, which critics including Labour argue undermines the UK's foreign policy position by suggesting boycotting Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories or Golan Heights would be the same as boycotting Israel - despite the illegality of the former two under international law.
Critics have also raised concerns that the bill would limit campaigns against human rights abuses in other parts of the world - such as against the Uyghur in Xinjiang, China.
Ahead of the vote on Monday, the government spokesperson said: "Public bodies should not be pursuing their own foreign policy agenda.
"The bill will not hinder the robust action we are taking against Uyghur forced labour in supply chains as it contains exceptions to the ban for labour related misconduct, including modern slavery.
"The ban on boycotts does not apply to individuals, including publicly elected officials, when carrying out private acts that are protected by the Human Rights Act."
A Labour amendment to the bill was defeated in the Commons by 272 votes to 212 - a margin of 60.
The amendment had sought to decline the bill a second reading over concerns it "risks significantly undermining support" for groups around the world facing persecution, for example the Uyghur, who are "currently victims of grave and systemic human rights abuses".
It said it opposed any "discrimination" by public bodies in how they spend their money and says all public bodies must act "without bias" when making decisions on procurement and investment. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66086671 |
Wrexham nurse sacked after death of secret lover patient in car park - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The patient died after being found unresponsive and partially clothed in a car park. | Wales | The pair had met at a car park in Wrexham
A nurse has been sacked after a patient she had a secret relationship with died following a late night meeting in Wrexham.
Penelope Williams didn't call an ambulance after the man, known as Patient A, collapsed in January 2022.
He was found unresponsive with his trousers down and died of heart failure and chronic kidney disease.
Mrs Williams has now been struck off by the Nursing and Midwifery Council for bringing the profession into disrepute.
The hearing was told the patient was found in the back of his own car after the pair had met in a car park.
The panel heard Mrs Williams, who worked as a general nurse on a renal unit, had met Patient A about a year before.
He had multiple health conditions, the hearing was told, and received treatment in the unit where Mrs Williams worked.
On the night, Mrs Williams had gone to the home of a colleague, before meeting with Patient A.
Just before midnight, her co-worker took a call from her.
She was "crying and distressed and asking for help", the panel heard.
After telling them someone had died, Mrs Williams was advised to call an ambulance, but did not.
When the colleague arrived at the car park, they called 999 on finding Patient A partially clothed and unresponsive.
He was pronounced dead shortly after.
Mrs Williams initially told police and a paramedic she had gone to the car park after Patient A messaged her saying he was unwell.
The next day, she admitted to police they had been in a sexual relationship.
But in February, she denied this to health board officials.
She said they had sat in the back of his car for 30-45 minutes "just talking" before Patient A "started groaning and suddenly died".
At a May disciplinary hearing, Mrs Williams admitted both the relationship and not calling an ambulance and was sacked.
The Nursing and Midwifery Council panel found failing to mention the relationship "put her own interests ahead of the wellbeing of Patient A".
It said while Mrs Williams was remorseful, she had limited insight about the damage her relationship could cause to nursing's reputation or its effect on public safety.
They found this amounted to serious misconduct and her fitness to practise was impaired.
Striking her from the nursing register, the panel concluded there were no mitigating features.
"Mrs Williams' actions were significant departures from the standards expected of a registered nurse, and are fundamentally incompatible with her remaining on the register," it said.
"The panel was of the view that the findings in this particular case demonstrate that Mrs Williams' actions were so serious that to allow her to continue practising would undermine public confidence in the profession and in the NMC as a regulatory body."
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that the incident happened in the car park at Spire Wrexham. This was based on information incorrectly provided to the Nursing and Midwifery Council fitness to practise hearing. The article has been updated to reflect that the incident did not happen in the Spire Wrexham car park. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-66091127 |
Watch: Dramatic moment officer pulls woman from burning car - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | null | A US policeman who saved a driver trapped in a fiery crash has been hailed a hero. | null | A US policeman who saved a driver from a fiery crash has been hailed a hero. Sergeant Ashley Taylor was called to Highway 46 in southern Georgia after reports a car had veered off the road. Bodycam footage shows him running to the scene of the crash, smashing the car windows and pulling a woman to safety despite the growing flames. Local media reported the driver was having a medical emergency and is expected to make a full recovery. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-66094253 |
China curbs exports of key computer chip materials - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Washington and Beijing have been battling for influence over the semiconductor industry. | Business | The Chinese government is tightening controls over exports of two key materials used to make computer chips.
From next month, special licenses will be needed to export gallium and germanium from China, which is the world's biggest producer of the metals.
It comes after Washington's efforts to curb Chinese access to some advanced microprocessors.
The announcement comes just days before a high-stakes trip to Beijing by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.
On Monday, China's Ministry of Commerce said the restrictions were needed to "safeguard national security and interests".
The silvery metals are used in semiconductor, communications and military equipment. They are also key materials in products like solar panels.
Semiconductors, which power everything from mobile phones to military hardware, are at the centre of a bitter dispute between the world's two largest economies.
The US has taken steps to restrict China's access to technology it fears could be put to military use, such as chips used for supercomputing and artificial intelligence.
In October, Washington announced that it would require licences for companies exporting chips to China using US tools or software, no matter where they are made in the world.
The efforts have been joined by countries including the Netherlands and Japan.
Last week, the Netherlands announced that it would restrict exports of certain semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
This followed plans to restrict its "most advanced" microchip technology exports, which the Netherlands announced earlier this year.
The controls are expected to affect Dutch chip equipment maker ASML, a key player in the global microchip supply chain.
Meanwhile, Japan plans to restrict some of its computer-chip making exports.
The measures, which were announced in March, will affect 23 types of semiconductor manufacturing equipment.
China has frequently called the US a "tech hegemony" in response to export controls imposed by Washington.
In recent months, Beijing has imposed restrictions on US firms linked to the American military, such as aerospace company Lockheed Martin.
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who is due to make a four-day visit to China from Thursday, has warned against breaking economic ties between Washington and Beijing.
"I think we gain and China gains from trade and investment that is as open as possible, and it would be disastrous for us to attempt to decouple from China," she said, during an appearance before Congress last month.
Ms Yellen will be the second senior US official to visit the country this year.
In June, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken held talks with China's President Xi Jinping in Beijing, restarting high-level communications between the rival superpowers. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66093114 |
Wimbledon 2023: Eight-time champion Roger Federer honoured in Centre Court ceremony - BBC Sport | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | null | Eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer takes the acclaim of an adoring Centre Court and makes his presence felt among the current players. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. More coverage details
Eight-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer may have only been a Centre Court guest but his huge aura was still felt by those competing on Tuesday.
Defending women's champion Elena Rybakina said Federer's presence - for a ceremony to mark his achievements - had made her "nervous".
Men's top seed Carlos Alcaraz was "a little bit jealous" after missing out on being watched by the retired Swiss.
Andy Murray, meanwhile, got a nod of approval from one of his great rivals.
"It was amazing to have some royalty here and some tennis royalty as well," Murray said of Federer, who was sitting next to the Princess of Wales. "It's amazing to have Roger here supporting the event.
"The last time I was on this court and he was watching it, it was the [2012] Olympics and he was sat in Stan Wawrinka's box supporting against me. [Roger,] I hope you are doing well."
Federer took the acclaim of an adoring Centre Court crowd in the special ceremony on day two of the grass-court major to mark his success at the tournament.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion, returning after retiring last year, received a long ovation as he descended the steps of the Royal Box, where he had been invited as a special guest to watch the action.
The Swiss, 41, won five successive Wimbledon titles between 2003 and 2007, adding further victories in 2009, 2012 and 2017.
His win six years ago saw him pass Pete Sampras' men's record of seven titles.
Those with a ticket for Centre Court were treated to a video montage on the big screen which showed Federer through the years - from his first Wimbledon title win through to his last.
Federer then received a guard of honour in the Royal Box, smiling and waving to the crowd as they applauded and cheered one of the greatest players of all time.
With 103 ATP titles to his name and having spent 310 weeks as world number one, Federer is much loved by the British crowds and the standing ovation lasted several minutes.
The 15,000 or so expectant fans may have been disappointed Federer did not speak, with play getting under way immediately after the announcer thanked Federer for the memories he has provided Wimbledon fans over the years.
But he did not have to speak to have an impact.
It was not that Rybakina did not want him there to see her open her title defence against American Shelby Rogers, it was just that she was rattled by his presence as she even double-faulted on the first point.
"Maybe that's why I was nervous because actually I really like Roger," the Kazakh said after fighting back from a set down to win. "When I was younger, I was always watching him play."
But one man who wished Federer had been on his court was Alcaraz, who was in electrifying form on Court One in his victory over Jeremy Chardy.
"I saw that Roger Federer was here. I was a little bit jealous," Alcaraz said with a smile. "Honestly, I want Roger Federer to watch one of my matches obviously.
"I wish to talk a little bit with him. For me [it would] would be amazing. I hope to see him around more than once."
Murray, meanwhile, has played Federer many times over the years including a loss to the Swiss in the 2012 Wimbledon final which preceded Murray's victory over him a few weeks later in the Olympic final at the same venue.
At the end of Murray's first-round victory over fellow Briton Ryan Peniston, Federer was asked whether he approved of the performance, to which he nodded, prompting laughter from the crowd.
Seven-time women's singles champion Serena Williams, who retired last year too, had also been invited by the club, but the pregnant 41-year-old was unable to travel.
• None Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone
• None In an emotional interview he opens up about what motivated him despite his very humble origins
• None Sue Barker travels the globe to find out | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/66097818 |
Jenin: Israeli military launches major operation in West Bank city - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Nine Palestinians are killed as troops carry out an air and ground assault in the West Bank city. | Middle East | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Explosions and gunfire as BBC reports from Jenin
There have been intense exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and armed Palestinian militants in Jenin refugee camp, in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military began what appears to be one of its most extensive operations in the territory in years with drone strikes early on Monday.
Nine Palestinians have been killed and 100 injured, health officials say.
Israel said it was putting a stop to Jenin being "a refuge for terrorism". Palestinians accused it of a war crime.
The Palestinian Red Crescent says its crews have evacuated 3,000 people - including patients and the elderly - from the camp to hospitals.
It says dozens of people had been detained by Israeli forces in their homes since early Monday, without being provided or allowed any food or drink.
The Israeli military said there was no specific timeline for ending the operation, but that it could be "a matter of hours or a few days".
Jenin has become a stronghold of a new generation of Palestinian militants who have become deeply frustrated by the Palestinian Authority's aging leadership and the restrictions of the Israeli occupation.
The city has seen repeated Israeli military raids in the past year as local Palestinians have carried out deadly attacks on Israelis. Other Palestinian attackers have hidden there.
In 2002, during the second Palestinian intifada, Israeli forces launched a full-scale incursion in Jenin. At least 52 Palestinian militants and civilians and 23 Israeli soldiers were killed during 10 days of intense fighting.
Hundreds of Israeli soldiers were still operating inside Jenin on Monday night, more than 20 hours after the operation began.
As well as the hum of drones overhead, regular bursts of gunfire and the loud thuds of explosions came throughout the day from the densely populated refugee camp, which is home to some 18,000 people and is now declared a closed Israeli military zone.
Acrid smoke from burning tyres lit during protests also hung in the air above the city centre. A few young Palestinians were out on the streets, standing close to shuttered shops and staring nervously in the direction of the camp.
The Israeli military has cut off telephone communications and the electricity supply to the camp, making it difficult to get an accurate picture of what is happening. Palestinian medics have also been struggling to reach the dozens of injured there.
At the Palestinian hospital by the main entrance to the camp the mood was grim.
One man told the BBC: "I met my brother's friend. I went up to him and had barely said a few words when he dropped on the ground. I went to run away, then I got hit by two bullets."
Another man said there was a "massacre" in the camp.
"There are children and civilians and they're not letting them out," he added. "Our electricity is cut, they have dug up all our roads. The camp will be destroyed."
Jovana Arsenijevic of the medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières told the BBC she was at a hospital that had seen more than 90 patients wounded by gunfire or shrapnel from explosive devices.
The Israeli military said it was acting on precise intelligence and did not to seek to harm civilians, but many have been caught in the crossfire.
The military allowed about 500 Palestinian families to leave the camp on Monday night. Some raised their hands or waved makeshift white flags in a gesture of surrender.
People told the BBC that some men and teenaged boys had been stopped by soldiers, and kept behind.
Hundreds of Israeli forces are on the ground in Jenin, said to be seizing weapons and explosives
The first drone strike overnight targeted an apartment that the military said was being used as a hideout for Palestinians who had attacked Israelis and as a "joint operational command centre" for the Jenin Brigades - a unit made up of different Palestinian militant groups including Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Drones were used for further air strikes and a brigade-size force of troops was deployed in what a military spokesman described as a "counter-terrorism operation" focused on seizing weapons and breaking "the safe haven mindset of the camp, which has become a hornet's nest".
In the past year and a half, Palestinians behind some 50 attacks targeting Israelis have come from Jenin, according to the military.
As armed Palestinians began fighting back from inside the camp, the Jenin Brigades said: "We will fight the occupation [Israeli] forces until the last breath and bullet, and we work together and unified from all factions and military formations."
The Palestinian health ministry said nine Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces, including three in the overnight drone strike. They all appeared to be young men or in their late teens - some confirmed as belonging to armed groups.
The ministry warned that the death toll might rise because 20 of the injured were in a critical condition.
Another Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire during a related protest near the West Bank city of Ramallah, it added.
The Israeli military said the Palestinians killed in Jenin were affiliated to militant groups.
Troops had also apprehended some 50 militants during the operation, and seized weapons and ammunition, it added.
On Monday evening, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised its forces for entering what he called the "nest of terrorists" and asserted that they were doing so "with minimal injury to civilians".
"We will continue this action as long as necessary in order to restore quiet and security," he added.
There was a furious response to the operation from the Palestinian Authority Prime Minister, Mohammed Shtayyeh.
"What's going on is an attempt to erase the refugee camp completely and displace the residents," he said.
Neighbouring Jordan said the operation was "a clear violation of international humanitarian law", but the US expressed its support for what it called "Israel's security and right to defend its people against Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and other terrorist groups".
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said the plan was not to expand the military operation outside Jenin, but already Palestinian protests have reached the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip. And the longer this action goes on in Jenin, the greater the risk of another dangerous, wider escalation.
The Jenin Brigade group has said its militants will fight back with their "last breath and bullet"
There has been a surge of violence in the West Bank in recent months.
On 20 June, seven Palestinians were killed during an Israeli raid in Jenin which saw the military's first use of an attack helicopter in the West Bank in years.
The next day, two Hamas gunmen shot dead four Israelis near the settlement of Eli, 40km (25 miles) to the south.
A Palestinian man was later shot dead during a rampage by hundreds of settlers in the nearby town of Turmusaya.
That week also saw three Palestinian militants from Jenin killed in a rare Israeli drone strike.
Since the start of the year, more than 140 Palestinians - both militants and civilians - have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, while another 36 have been killed in the Gaza Strip.
Twenty-four Israelis, two foreigners and a Palestinian worker have been killed in attacks or apparent attacks by Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank. All were civilians except one off-duty serving soldier and a member of the Israeli security forces.
Additional reporting by Rushdi Abu Alouf in Gaza City and Robert Greenall in London | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-66083295 |
Thames Water needs 'substantial' sums of money - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The water regulator said talks with investors to raise the necessary funds were continuing. | Business | The UK's largest water company Thames Water will need "substantial sums of money" to stabilise its finances, the water regulator has said.
Ofwat boss David Black said talks between the firm and investors to raise the extra funding were continuing.
The company is billions in debt and under pressure to fix its finances over fears it could collapse.
There have been calls to nationalise the firm after its boss quit last week.
"We need to see their revised business plan but we think it's substantial sums of money [that are needed]," Ofwat boss David Black said
He told a Lord's business committee that the issues at Thames Water, which supplies a quarter of the population, were not as acute as at other UK water companies.
However, Mr Black admitted the regulator had taken a "relatively hands-off approach" to managing water companies since privatisation in the late 1980s.
The hearing came hours after it was announced that Thames Water had been handed a £3.3m fine for discharging millions of litres of undiluted sewage into two rivers in Sussex and Surrey, killing more than 1,400 fish in 2017.
Thames Water has faced heavy criticism over sewage discharges and leaks. The company leaks more water than any other water company in the UK, losing the equivalent of up to 250 Olympic-sized swimming pools every day from its pipes.
The company is also struggling with debts of nearly £14bn.
Amid fears that the water firm would collapse, the government said last week "a lot of work is going on behind the scenes" and that a process was in place "if necessary".
A few days later, one of the UK's largest private pension funds, Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), became the first major investor to publicly back the firm to turn around its finances and performance.
But Mr Black said there may not be an appetite from current investors to put further money into water companies.
He said that the industry had built up too much debt from around 2006 and faced "deep seated challenges".
"I think we should have stepped in at that point to stop companies gearing up," he said, implying that water firms were taking on too much debt relative to equity, or available funds.
"We've changed companies' licences, we have got the powers to stop that happening now.
"At the time, we really didn't have the power to stop that happening," Mr Black said, adding that now Ofwat was "very much of the view" that companies need to reduce their debt to reasonable levels.
If the firm cannot secure investment, it could be placed under government administration until a new buyer is found.
Baroness McGregor-Smith asked Mr Black how much customers' water bills were likely to rise, given the £10bn investment water companies say they need to tackle sewage spills.
Mr Black said that he understood all water companies were "looking at requesting a bill increase" when they submitted their business plans to Ofwat later in the year, and that most of them were looking at "quite significant bill increases," but that the regulator was "yet to see the maths worked out."
When asked how much of the £10bn would be funded by increased customer bills, Mr Black said that was something that would be "examined as part of the price review".
However, he said that investment that involved companies "catching up on their current obligations," he thought was "an issue for them and their shareholders to fund".
But he added: "Where they're going above and beyond existing standards...that will be an issue for customers to fund ultimately. So investors would pay upfront and it's recovered from customers over time."
Professor David Hall, who has investigated the finances of England's nine water and wastewater companies since privatisation, said delivering the investment needed to clean up rivers, improve services and plug leaks was key to the future of Thames Water.
He said Thames had suggested getting customers to cover the cost through bill increases of up to 25%. But Ofwat said that was "not acceptable".
He added that the regulator had the "very serious option" of temporarily nationalising Thames if it could not find the £2bn of funds needed to turn things around.
He said the government's special administration regime would be used "to protect the service, not to protect the company". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66103356 |
Bank bosses told to explain low savings rates - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Bosses at Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest and Barclays will meet the industry watchdog on Thursday. | Business | Bank bosses have been summoned by the UK's financial watchdog over concerns interest rates on savings are too low.
Higher interest rates have led banks to put up mortgage costs sharply, but savings rates are not rising as fast.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says it is an "issue which needs solving", at a time when many households are struggling with the soaring cost of living.
The heads of Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest and Barclays banks will meet the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on Thursday.
The City watchdog will press the banks on their savings rates and on how they communicate with customers, according to the Financial Times, which first reported the meeting.
HSBC said it had increased its savings rates "more than a dozen times since the beginning of last year, with every savings product seeing rates increased on multiple occasions during that time".
Barclays declined to comment on the meeting, but said it "regularly" reviewed its savings rates.
Lloyds and NatWest have also been contacted by the BBC for comment.
In a tweet, the chancellor said: "@TheFCA has my full backing to ensure banks are passing on better rates as they should be."
The Bank of England has been steadily increasing UK interest rates since December 2021 as it tries to bring down soaring price rises.
Its base rate - which has a direct effect on mortgage and savings rates - is now 5%, up from close to zero 18 months ago.
The Bank is trying to make it more expensive for people to borrow money, and more worthwhile for them to save - the idea being that they will spend less and price increases will cool.
But while average mortgage rates have soared above 6% in recent weeks, returns on savings and current accounts have risen by a much smaller amount.
On Tuesday, the average rate for a two-year mortgage deal hit 6.47%, while the average easy access savings rate was 2.45%, a gap of 4.02 percentage points.
Iona Bain, a financial writer and broadcaster, told the BBC that if savings rates did not keep pace with inflation, then people's savings were effectively "being destroyed".
She added that banks had been offering poor savings rates since at least 2008, in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Part of the problem was that the biggest High Street lenders effectively had a "monopoly", she said, even though challenger banks were slowly encouraging people to shop around.
"Current account switching has gone up but it is still very low," Ms Bain said. "But until the public vote with their feet nothing is going to change."
Speaking to the BBC's Today programme, Harriett Baldwin, chair of the Treasury Select Committee, said the committee had been putting pressure on the banks all year over the issue.
"We're quite sure these rates are measly and that the banks are not treating our constituents fairly," she said.
"We're particularly concerned about some of our older constituents who have savings, who are unable to use internet banking and find it difficult to switch," she added.
Banks' profits generally rise in line with interest rates, but lenders argue that savers have access to a host of competitive deals.
UK Finance, the trade body for the banking sector, has previously said saving and mortgage rates "aren't directly linked and therefore move at different times and by different amounts".
However, the chancellor has said banks are "taking too long" to pass on increases in interest rates to savers and has raised it with chief executives, who faced questions from MPs in February.
The FCA has said it will produce a report by the end of the month on how well the cash savings market is supporting savers.
Are you a bank saver? How do the rates of interest affect you? Email: [email protected].
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at [email protected]. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-66091880 |
Nathan Law: Hong Kong activist in UK fears for safety over bounty - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Nathan Law says his life has become more dangerous as Hong Kong police offer a bounty for his arrest. | Asia | A pro-democracy campaigner who fled Hong Kong has told the BBC his life has become more dangerous because of a bounty offered for his arrest.
Nathan Law, who lives in the UK, is among eight exiled activists wanted by the territory's police.
Authorities are offering rewards of HK$1 million (£100,581; $127,637) for information leading to their capture.
Mr Law said he needed to be "more careful" about divulging his whereabouts as a result of the bounty.
The eight activists targeted are accused of colluding with foreign forces - a crime that can carry a sentence of life in prison. The offence comes under Hong Kong's draconian security law, which was imposed three years ago after widespread pro-democracy protests took place in 2019.
The UK's Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said the UK would "not tolerate any attempts by China to intimidate and silence individuals in the UK and overseas."
"We call on Beijing to remove the National Security Law and for the Hong Kong authorities to end their targeting of those who stand up for freedom and democracy," he said in a statement.
Under the national security law, hundreds of pro-democracy campaigners have been arrested and convicted in Hong Kong.
Beijing has said the law is needed to bring stability to the city, but critics say it is designed to squash dissent.
The eight named in this announcement are all based in the UK, the US and Australia - countries which do not have extradition treaties with China.
"They have committed very serious offences that endanger national security," Steven Li, chief superintendent of the national security department, said.
He added that while Hong Kong police could not arrest them while they remained abroad, they would not stop chasing them.
Mr Law, one of the most prominent figures in the pro-democracy movement, said that while he felt his situation was "relatively safe" in the UK, he would have to be more vigilant as a result of the bounty's announcement.
"There could possibly be someone in the UK - or anywhere else - to provide informations of me to (the Hong Kong authorities). For example, my whereabouts, where they could possibly extradite me when I'm transiting in certain countries," Mr Law said.
"All these things may put my life in to dangerous situations if I'm not careful enough of who I meet or where I go. It makes me have to live in a more careful life."
Writing on Twitter, Mr Law urged others not to cooperate with the authorities on the matter and said: "We should not limit ourselves, self-censor, be intimidated, or live in fear."
This sentiment was echoed by one of the other exiled activists - Anna Kwok, executive director of the Hong Kong Democracy Council - who said the bounty was aimed at intimidating her and her fellow activists.
"We are united in our fight for freedom and democracy in our home, Hong Kong," she said in a statement.
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong said her government was "deeply disappointed" by the announcement and said Australia "remains deeply concerned by the continuing erosion of Hong Kong's rights, freedoms and autonomy."
The other six activists named in the announcement are Ted Hui, Dennis Kwok, Mung Siu-tat, Elmer Yuen, Finn Law and Kevin Yam.
You may also be interested in:
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-66092827 |
Ukraine war: Major Moscow airport flights disrupted by drone attack - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Russia's defence ministry says five Ukrainian drones were shot down in the Moscow region. | Europe | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Drone appears to be shot down in Moscow region
Ukraine has launched a drone attack on Moscow, the Russian defence ministry says, forcing flights to be diverted from Vnukovo International Airport.
Five drones were reportedly used in Tuesday's attack, which also targeted locations in the wider region around the capital.
The defence ministry said all the drones were shot down and there were no casualties or damage.
Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the alleged attack.
Restrictions at Vnukovo airport, one of Moscow's three international airports, have now been lifted. Flights from Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt were among those affected.
According to the defence ministry, four of the drones flying in the Moscow region were shot down by air defence systems. A fifth was intercepted electronically before crashing.
"An attempt by the Kyiv regime to attack a zone where civil infrastructure is located, including an airport that receives international flights, is a new terrorist act," foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram.
Russian state media said one of the drones crashed in the town of Kubinka, which is roughly 36km (22 miles) from Vnukovo airport in the south-west of the city.
Another was reportedly shot down near the village of Valuevo, also near the airport.
The BBC is trying to verify this information independently.
This is not the first drone attack to target Moscow. In May, Russia's defence ministry said at least eight drones caused minor damage.
It was the first time the city had been targeted by multiple drones since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and came after Moscow blamed Kyiv for a drone attack on the Kremlin.
Tuesday's drone attack comes after Ukraine launched its counter-offensive against Russia.
This has not yet achieved the sort of speed and momentum some had hoped for, including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who previously acknowledged progress was slow.
Meanwhile, the death toll from a Russian drone attack on the northern Ukrainian city of Sumy on Monday has risen to three, according to the local mayor. Several other people were injured.
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66094744 |
Building collapses into raging China floodwaters - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | null | Authorities have warned of "multiple natural disasters" as heavy rains lash parts of the country. | null | Chinese authorities have warned of "multiple natural disasters" in the coming month, as heavy rains lash parts of the country.
A weather alert is in place for large areas of central and southwestern China and thousands of people have been evacuated.
A building collapsed into raging floodwaters in Chongqing. Meanwhile, in Henan province, rescuers were filmed freeing people trapped on top of a car in the middle of a torrent of water. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-66098030 |
Jamie Barrow: Man found guilty of murdering mum and daughters in fire - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Jamie Barrow killed his neighbour and her two young children when he set fire to their flat. | Nottingham | Fatoumatta Hydara died two days after her daughters Naeemah Drammeh and Fatimah Drammeh
A man who killed his neighbour and her two daughters by setting their flat on fire has been found guilty of murder.
Fatoumatta Hydara, 28, died along with Fatimah and Naeemah Drammeh, aged three and one, after their home in Clifton, Nottingham, was set alight in November.
Jamie Barrow, 31, had admitted their manslaughter at Nottingham Crown Court but denied three counts of murder.
On Tuesday a jury found him guilty of the more serious charges.
The trial heard Barrow had poured petrol through the letterbox of the family's Fairisle Close flat in the early hours of 20 November and set it alight.
Jurors were told he had a grievance about bags of rubbish being left in an alleyway behind where he and the victims lived but the prosecution did not accept Mrs Hydara was the person responsible and police said no clear motive had been established.
Prosecutors said Barrow knew the flat's front door was the only way in and out when he set the fire.
He had claimed he thought the property was empty but the court was told he did nothing when he heard screams.
Mrs Hydara and her daughters died from smoke inhalation.
Prosecutors said Barrow had lit the fire using tissue paper and petrol from his motorbike.
They said it would have been clear the family were inside because a pram was left outside the door and there was light coming from the hallway.
After setting the fire Barrow was seen on CCTV walking away from the burning flat with his dog while smoking a cigarette, police said.
Emergency services attended the scene and police said Barrow later returned and asked officers "how bad" the fire was.
Barrow, who admitted drinking "seven or eight" pints of lager before starting the fire, had given evidence to the police afterwards when detectives were treating the incident as a hate crime.
He later admitted his involvement to them.
In court he claimed he had been suffering from a "very, very low mood" and was "wallowing in self-pity" before starting the fire, caused partially by his emotionally unstable personality disorder.
He said he did not expect the blaze to take hold as rapidly as it did and was driven to admit what he had done to officers due to "an immense amount of guilt".
In addition to murder, Barrow was also convicted of one count of arson being reckless as to whether life was in danger and is due to be sentenced at the same court on Friday.
Some members of the victims' family, to whom he apologised while giving evidence, wept after the verdicts were delivered.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
After Barrow's conviction, relatives of Mrs Hydara and her children released a statement describing their pain and grief.
They said: "Words cannot quantify how much our family have suffered because of the horrific actions of one man.
"Neither can we quantify the emotional, psychological, physiological and financial impact of the crime Jamie Barrow committed against Fatoumatta, Fatimah and Naeemah.
"His actions were utterly heartless and cruel - and have caused a multigenerational trauma that we will never understand.
"Fatoumatta was a caring daughter, wife, sister, mother and friend. If love and compassion could make a person immortal, she would have lived forever.
"She had a pure heart and was greatly loved for her personality and qualities.
"She was the most incredible mother to Fatimah and Naeemah, two angels who deserved a beautiful childhood and a full life.
"Nottingham and the rest of the world have been denied potential future teachers, civil servants, doctors - who knows what they could have been?
"They lived a short but meaningful life, such was the joy and happiness they brought to us all."
Barrow had claimed he did not realise anyone was inside the flat
Mrs Hydara's family thanked the Gambian community in the UK and internationally for the support it had offered them since the fatal fire.
They also thanked Nottinghamshire Police, the Crown Prosecution Service, and the jurors.
Before they died Mrs Hydara and her children had been planning to move to the US to be with her husband Aboubacarr Drammeh.
Det Insp Kaz Smithson, who led the investigation, said: "Jamie Barrow committed the most despicable crime anyone could ever commit.
"He destroyed a whole family and took away their dreams of a happy life together in America.
"Today, justice has been served for Fatoumatta, Fatimah and Naeemah and their family, all of whom have carried themselves with incredible dignity since the night of this truly awful crime.
"Barrow denied the killings were deliberate but, thankfully, my investigative team was able to provide overwhelming evidence that this tragic event was indeed murder.
"We saw through his lies and, thankfully, so did the jury."
The family had been planning a new life overseas
After the hearing Nottinghamshire Police said Barrow's motive for starting the fire might never be known but jurors heard one theory was that he wanted to rehoused by local authorities.
Ch Insp Karl Thomas said: "I acknowledge there are many members of the community who believe these murders were a hate crime.
"It's important to say that, following a very detailed and thorough investigation by a large team of detectives, the investigation team left no stone unturned to investigate the circumstances and presented the evidence to the jury to reach these verdicts."
Mrs Hydara's husband Aboubacarr Drammeh read a family statement outside court following the verdicts
Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox.
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-65988132 |
How worried should we be about rising mortgage rates? - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | We're not seeing the same market panic as last autumn, but people renewing mortgages will be affected. | Business | Government borrowing costs - which directly impact mortgage rates - have risen to their highest rate since last September when the Liz Truss mini-budget sparked days of turmoil on the financial markets.
The market interest rate for the UK government to borrow money over two years is now effectively higher than it reached in the aftermath of that mini-budget. It is also the highest level for a decade and a half and now clearly higher than seen for the US government.
The fact that this is not the same market panic as last autumn will come as little respite to many people renewing their mortgages.
All this reflects market expectations that the UK has a specific problem with stubborn and sticky inflation that will require higher interest rates for longer. Some market bets now see a half percentage point rate rise next week, and rates settling closer to 6% than 5% at the end of the year.
There is an important difference to the mini-budget aftermath. The moves are being seen mainly in short-term rates. The real problem last autumn was for longer term 10- and 30-year borrowing, which saw significant moves in yields, the result of a loss of market confidence in the then government's tax and spend plans. Current rates for such long-term borrowing are still well below that market panic.
Today's move is more like a steady squeeze as the markets come to terms with the idea of the Bank of England keeping rates higher for longer had been expected, and above rates seen in similar economies.
It will be no less problematic for some homeowners. The two-year rate forms the floor for two-year fixed-rate mortgage borrowing. There has been a deluge of mortgage repricing, with particular pressure on landlords. This comes as a hump of two-year mortgage deals from 2021 - at the time of the expiry of the pandemic stamp duty holiday - come up for renewal at much higher rates. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-65892947 |
Law firm Brodies passes £100m revenue milestone - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The Edinburgh-based company says all of its main areas of practice achieved record income last year. | Scotland business | Managing partner Nick Scott said the record results had been achieved against a "constantly changing backdrop" of events
Brodies has become the first Scottish law firm to achieve annual revenues of more than £100m.
The Edinburgh-headquartered company reported that income climbed by 8% to £106m in the year to 30 April.
All of its main areas of practice reported record revenues, including corporate and commercial, banking and finance and litigation.
This year it also opened its first Middle East office in Abu Dhabi, which will focus on supporting existing and new clients in the energy sector.
Brodies now has more than 100 partners and nearly 800 staff.
The law firm said all eligible staff members received a bonus of 6% in June, adding to bonuses paid in January, June and November 2022.
During the last financial year, Brodies acted for Parks of Hamilton and Rangers Football Club in their ongoing dispute with the Scottish Professional Football League.
Other high-profile work included representing Quantum Energy Partners in their £300m investment to accelerate the redevelopment of Ardersier Port.
Brodies managing partner Nick Scott said its record results had been achieved against a "constantly changing backdrop" of events, including the war in Ukraine, historically high inflation and uncertain financial markets.
"So to record our 13th straight year of growth, and to become the first Scottish headquartered law firm to report income over £100m, underpins our continuous focus on our firm's strategic plans," he added.
Later this year Brodies will set out its strategic plans for 2024 to 2027. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-66086266 |
Tattoo artist death: Aidan Mann killer jailed for at least nine years - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Barry Donnelly, 38, is given an indeterminate custodial sentence for killing his neighbour Aidan Mann. | Northern Ireland | A man will spend at least nine years in prison for the killing of Northern Ireland tattoo artist Aidan Mann.
The 28-year-old, known as artist Zen Black, was stabbed 14 times at Church Street in Downpatrick, in January 2022.
The court said Aidan was an entirely innocent victim who did nothing to provoke the fatal attack.
Barry Donnelly, 38, whose address was given as Church Street in Downpatrick, admitted manslaughter pleading diminished responsibility.
He was given an indeterminate custodial sentence at Belfast Crown Court on Tuesday.
The judge said Donnelly must serve at least nine years in prison before he is eligible to be considered for release.
A spokesman for the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland said it was investigating a complaint of alleged police failings prior to the killing.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. "I just think life has so much to offer" - Aidan Mann archive recording
After the sentencing hearing Aidan's mother spoke of the devastating impact the killing has had on Aidan's loved ones.
Sonya Mann said Donnelly "stole my life when he killed my son".
"He chased my son down the street like an animal," she said.
"The fear my son must have felt and the suffering - that will never, ever leave me."
A previous hearing was told that Donnelly had been "actively psychotic" at the time of the attack.
He also pleaded guilty to the offences of possession of offensive weapons and assault occasioning actual bodily harm relating to a previous attack on a mother and son in June 2021.
CCTV footage shown in court traced Donnelly's movements on that day of Aidan's death.
The two were neighbours - although they barely knew each other.
The deceased left his flat at about 11:00 GMT. After being approached by Donnelly, Aidan crossed the road and started running along Church Street, still wearing a motorcycle helmet and being chased by him.
The fatal stabbing happened on Church Street in Downpatrick
The chase continued and, at one point, Aidan turned round, looked back at Donnelly and appeared to gesture at him before he crossed the road into oncoming traffic.
The CCTV footage then showed Donnelly catching up with Aidan on the pavement outside a car dealership.
After Aidan fell to the ground, Donnelly straddled his victim, who he stabbed repeatedly in the chest, leg and torso.
Members of the public intervened, pulled Donnelly off Aidan and called 999. He was arrested while still being restrained by the public.
Two large kitchen knives used by Donnelly were seized from the scene.
A prosecutor at an earlier hearing said that at the scene Donnelly shouted it was a revenge attack for his brother who had been murdered the previous evening, which the lawyer said "transpired to be completely wrong".
Donnelly was admitted to a psychiatric unit - the Shannon clinic - in the month after the killing where he remains.
Two consultant psychiatrists agreed that the defendant was suffering from an abnormality of mental functioning arising from schizophrenia at the time of the attack.
A psychiatrist indicated that he would probably not need to remain for treatment much longer and envisaged him moving to prison.
Donnelly's defence barrister told the court that his client had not been aware that he was suffering from acute mental illness until after the "terrible act" in which Aidan died.
He said his client has expressed "regret, remorse and heartbreak".
Det Insp Foreman said said the "senseless" attack had happened in the late morning, "when members of the public were going about their business".
The detective thanked those who ran to Aidan's assistance and who phoned emergency services.
"There are no words that can undo the tragic events of that morning," Det Insp Foreman added.
"There's nothing that can ease the pain and sadness of those who knew and loved Aidan, and my thoughts are very much with them today."
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-66088618 |
Partygate: Police reopen investigation into Tory 'jingle and mingle' event - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The Met reopens probe into Tory HQ party but will not investigate Boris Johnson over further alleged breaches of Covid rules. | UK Politics | The Daily Mirror previously obtained and published still images from the same party
The Metropolitan Police is reopening an investigation into breaches of Covid regulations at a Christmas gathering at Conservative Party HQ.
A video of the event, where aides were invited to "jingle and mingle", was published by the Sunday Mirror.
Police say they will not investigate alleged gatherings at the prime minister's country home, Chequers, when Boris Johnson was PM.
But they are also now investigating an event in Parliament on 8 December 2020.
According to the Guido Fawkes website, this event involved Conservative backbencher Sir Bernard Jenkin.
Sir Bernard sits on the Commons Privileges Committee, which last month published a highly critical report about Mr Johnson.
He told the BBC it was not appropriate to comment on an ongoing investigation.
Mr Johnson - who stood down as an MP with a stinging attack on the committee - had accused Sir Bernard of "monstrous hypocrisy" if the allegations on the Guido Fawkes site were true.
Conservative MP Virginia Crosbie issued an apology for attending the event while Covid restrictions were in place.
The Ynys Mon MP confirmed the event took place but said she had not sent out any invitations.
The Met police investigated the December 2020 party at Tory HQ last year, after a picture emerged showing former London mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey and Tory aides raising glasses besides buffet food, when indoor socialising was banned in the area.
In November, the Met said they were taking no further action against Mr Bailey or the others pictured.
They have now said they are reopening their inquiry, as the video published by the Mirror was not previously provided to officers.
An invitation to the gathering, seen by the BBC, invited people to a "jingle and mingle" party.
Mr Bailey - who was given a seat in the House of Lords in Mr Johnson's resignation honours list - previously said he apologised "unreservedly" for the event, which he said had "turned into something" after he left.
He claimed he was "very upset about the video" as he had "never seen it before".
The Liberal Democrats said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak should stop Mr Bailey "from taking his seat as a peer while this investigation takes place".
Meanwhile, the Met Police and Thames Valley Police said they would not launch an investigation into potential rule-breaking between June 2020 and May 2021 at Downing Street and Chequers.
In May, the forces said they were assessing information handed to them by Cabinet Office officials after a review of Mr Johnson's official diary as part of preparations for the Covid inquiry.
Thames Valley police were looking into visits by Mr Johnson's family and friends to Chequers - the prime minister's country house in Buckinghamshire - during the pandemic.
The Met were looking at possible further rule-breaches in Downing Street.
In a jointly-issued statement on Tuesday, the forces said that after "further clarification" on the diary entries, they had decided the events did "not meet the retrospective criteria for opening an investigation".
When news of his referral broke, Mr Johnson denied there had been any Covid breaches at the events, saying the actions of the Cabinet Office bore "all the hallmarks" of a "politically motivated stitch-up".
The Cabinet Office said at the time that the material it had passed to police came from the "normal" process of reviewing documents.
Former prime minister Mr Johnson stood down as an MP last month after a Commons committee accused him of misleading Parliament over separate events in Downing Street during the pandemic.
The BBC has approached him for a fresh comment.
Sign up for our morning newsletter and get BBC News in your inbox. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-66103922 |
Julian Sands: Actor said mountains were 'more unstable' in last interview - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | In his last UK interview, the actor said friends believed mountaineering had become too dangerous. | Entertainment & Arts | Sands appeared in films including A Room With A View, Warlock, Arachnophobia and Naked Lunch
Actor Julian Sands, who died in a California mountain range, said in his last UK interview that many friends had stopped going mountaineering partly because it had become too dangerous.
The British star's body was found last week, six months after he went missing.
Speaking to Radio Times late last year, he said: "Pals I used to climb with have stopped going to the mountains".
He said that was "partly because they find, with climate change, the rock faces have become much more unstable".
Also, "partly, it's age", he told the magazine.
Sands, who was 64 at the time, said those friends no longer wanted to dedicate themselves to a climb.
"If you don't really have the desire, the focus for climbing a route, if you're not absolutely committed, it becomes much more dangerous and it's a much more deflating experience," he said.
"Finding folk whose company I enjoy in such stressful and intimate conditions is not easy."
Sands, best known for the 1985 film A Room With A View, went missing on a solo trip to Mount Baldy in the San Gabriel Mountains, near Los Angeles, on 13 January.
Wintry conditions hampered the search efforts, and hikers found human remains on 24 June. They were later identified to belong to Sands.
He spoke to Radio Times to promote The Willows, a BBC radio drama that was broadcast over Christmas.
He said he knew the risks of being on mountains, and was often aware of being present in places where people had lost their lives in the past.
He said: "If you can deal with dangerous mountains, you can certainly deal with life as an actor - the two are quite complementary." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-66087488 |
Mortgage calculator: how much will my mortgage go up? - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Use our calculator to find out how much mortgage payments could go up for your household. | Business | Mortgage interest rates have risen sharply over the past six months after years of historic lows.
As higher interest rates will mean higher mortgage payments, experts say more people are at risk of falling into debt or losing their homes.
Try our calculator below to see how your fixed rate mortgage might be affected as borrowing becomes more expensive.
A modern browser with JavaScript and a stable internet connection is required to view this interactive. How much could my mortgage go up by? How much are you borrowing? If you have an existing mortgage enter the outstanding balance left to pay. If not, enter the total you are looking to borrow. How long will you take to pay it back? If you have an existing mortgage enter the total number of years remaining. If not, enter the total number of years you are looking to borrow over. What is your current... For those with a mortgage enter the rate for your current fixed term. For those without a mortgage enter an interest rate from another source, such as a bank's mortgage rate calculator. At this rate, your payments could change by… The information you provided on your monthly payments would not be sufficient to pay off your mortgage within the number of years given.
This mortgage calculator uses a standard mortgage repayment formula to estimate the monthly payments or interest rate based on the amount borrowed and the length of a mortgage.
The calculator assumes a single, fixed, interest rate which stays the same over the term of the mortgage and interest is charged monthly.
Why is my monthly payment estimate different to what I actually pay?
If there is a difference you can enter your current monthly payment instead of the interest rate.
What if I have a variable rate mortgage?
This calculator assumes that the interest rate stays the same over the term of the mortgage so is not suitable for variable rate mortgages.
What if I have an interest only mortgage?
This calculator only works for repayment mortgages.
What if I have more than one mortgage?
This calculator only works for a single mortgage at a time.
What if I don't know what my interest rate or monthly payments are or would be?
You can use mortgage comparison tools on official mortgage lender's websites to see what a likely interest rate or monthly payment would be for the amount you were looking to borrow.
What are the values already in the calculator based on?
The value of £160,000 is based on the average outstanding balance for a fixed rate mortgage as of June 2022, according to UK Finance.
The value of 20 years is based on the average outstanding term for a fixed rate mortgage as of June 2022, according to UK Finance.
The value of 2% is based on the average interest rate for outstanding fixed rate mortgages as of June 2022, according to UK Finance.
The value of £809 is based on the estimated payments made at 2% based on a mortgage of £160,000 over 20 years.
The value of 6.7% is based on research from moneyfactscompare.co.uk from 12 July 2023, who reported this figure as the average rate for a new two-year fixed rate loan. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-63474582 |
Wimbledon 2023: Queue criticised by fans after long entry delays on day one - BBC Sport | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | null | Wimbledon supporters criticise the organisation of the queue after increased security checks slowed entry, causing frustrated fans to leave. | null | Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. More coverage details
Wimbledon supporters have criticised the organisation of the queue after increased security checks slowed entry, causing frustrated fans to leave.
More than 12,000 people were queuing in Wimbledon Park, next to the grounds, with some having camped overnight.
Wimbledon said it had boosted security after the protests from the Just Stop Oil group at recent sporting events.
"We have missed a whole day's play, I would never ever do it again," Chrys Meade told the BBC.
"We were told it was unexpected numbers, but why are you letting people in [to queue]? Then they are telling us security was not enough to cope with the numbers.
"We're just obviously disappointed. It's four o'clock and we are nowhere near there [the front] yet."
Play began at 11:00 BST, but just before midday organisers advised people not to travel to join the queue.
The queue has become a Wimbledon tradition, with 500 tickets available for each of the main three courts - Centre Court, Court One and Court Two - with the remaining fans able to buy ground passes to watch the outside courts.
Last year the queue returned to Wimbledon having not been used in 2021 as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, which also caused the 2020 tournament to be cancelled.
Just Stop Oil activists interrupted the first day of the second Ashes Test between England and Australia at Lord's.
That followed similar protests by the same group at the rugby union Premiership final and the World Snooker Championship, while animal rights activists delayed the start of the Grand National race this year.
An All England Club spokesperson said the increased security operation was slowing down the entry process, adding: "There has been high demand from members of the public to join the queue on day one at Wimbledon.
"Understandably, our security team on the gates are conducting an enhanced bag check operation.
"While there has been a steady stream of guests entering the grounds since gates opened at 10am, entry via the queue has been at a slower rate than in previous years as a result of these checks.
"We sincerely thank guests in the queue for their patience and understanding."
But some fans criticised the lack of communication and the facilities on offer.
Becky Deeming arrived to queue at 3.45am on Monday and got into the grounds at 1.15pm. She told the PA news agency: "There was no water, nowhere to sit, it was the longest queue.
"Everyone around us had done it multiple times and they said: 'We have never seen it like this.' People were getting up and leaving."
Operations director at Wimbledon, Michelle Dite, told the BBC delays in the queue were due to extra bag checks being carried out by security.
"We had one of the highest attendances at Wimbledon since 2015," said Dite.
"We have a lot of security and we want to make sure everyone is safe and secure, so it did cause some delays yesterday. We did extra bag searches, but we've reviewed how everything operates and sped up our ticket sales. Every single part of the chain we went into detail last night and we're set to go.
"One of the joys of Wimbledon is everyone can come on the day and get in. This doesn't happen for many other events. The resilience for the queue was world class.
"We believe people are going to queue - that's why it's called the queue, we believe people know what they're getting in to. But [on Tuesday] it's going to be be slick, quick."
Georgia Jeffrey, trying to attend Wimbledon for the first time, said the whole experience was "hugely disappointing".
She told the BBC: "Six or seven hours of people standing in the same field, it has got a bit hectic, the toilets especially, they are not flushing any more so it has been a bit grim.
"This is my first Wimbledon and I've lived locally for a few years so this is my first go. It's just disappointing, especially for the people that have come so far."
Sally Bolton, chief executive of the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, told journalists there is "100% bag search" and "selective body search" at all gates.
"We've taken account of what we've seen elsewhere, so security has been uplifted in various places around the grounds," she added.
"We're extremely confident the measures we've got in place are the right measures and we're ready to deal with something if it happens."
Earlier on Monday, the Wimbledon Twitter account said: "Our grounds are set to be at capacity today, which means those already in the queue will be waiting several hours for admission. We advise people intending to queue today not to travel to Wimbledon."
A Metropolitan Police statement said: "A policing operation is in place for The Championships, including both generalist and specialist officers, to prevent crime and disorder and to be able to provide an effective, timely response to any emerging incidents at the location and right across London."
Warnings had also been issued around potential disruption to train travel after train drivers' union Aslef said its members would withdraw non-contractual overtime with 16 of the country's 35 rail operators for six days from Monday.
Seven-time Wimbledon men's champion Novak Djokovic and five-time women's champion Venus Williams were among those in action on Monday, while a rain delay led to no play on Centre Court or the outside courts for more than an hour.
Wimbledon will run until 16 July, with two-time champion Andy Murray and reigning women's champion Elena Rybakina among those in action on Tuesday. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/66092779 |
Forces failing women over police sex misconduct claims, BBC finds - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | In one case, a woman says a detective pursued a sexual relationship with her and continued to harass her. | UK | This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Police forces are failing vulnerable women who say they have been sexually exploited by officers, the BBC has learned.
One woman says a detective pursued a sexual relationship in texts and repeatedly visited her home.
Evidence has been deleted in "botched" inquiries and out of 500 allegations of officers abusing their position, just 24 were charged, according to BBC data.
The Home Office said it was taking action to root out predatory officers.
Police sexual misconduct is under the spotlight like never before following the rape and murder of Sarah Everard by serving officer Wayne Couzens, and the uncovering of serial rapist David Carrick.
Now the BBC has learned that individual forces are failing vulnerable women in "botched" or delayed investigations which are taking years to complete and rarely leading to misconduct sanctions or criminal charges.
Women are being let down by forces whose officers have "preyed upon" them, says Dame Vera Baird, the former victims' commissioner.
"There couldn't be a bigger breach of confidence and faith."
Interviews with multiple former police officers and women, leaked documents and freedom of information request responses reveal:
Charlotte Smith, 28, says she has been stalked and harassed by a Warwickshire police officer over a two-and-a-half-year period.
She first met Det Sgt Paul Whitehurst when she was a young adult, known to the police as a potential victim of grooming.
Years later, she bumped into Whitehurst in a bar, at a time when she was facing an ongoing legal dispute with her ex-partner. She says he then persistently pursued a sexual relationship with her in WhatsApp messages seen by the BBC.
"I'd love to spend a night with you, in a real bedroom, hotel, whatever," read one message from the officer.
One of the messages sent to Charlotte by Whitehurst
After a relationship which lasted a number of months, Charlotte complained to the force in September 2020 about his conduct.
The officer then began visiting her home without invitation, despite Charlotte making further complaints to the force and sending him messages asking to be left alone.
One visit was recorded on a doorbell camera. Det Sgt Whitehurst is seen standing outside Charlotte's home at 22:45 in the evening, repeatedly pressing her doorbell.
Charlotte says she rang Warwickshire Police while hiding under the duvet of her bed but officers took 45 minutes to arrive at her home, and they didn't take a statement.
"There was no urgency," she says, despite having been told there were "red flags" placed on her address after previous visits.
Doorbell camera footage of Det Sgt Whitehurst outside Charlotte Smith's house (lines in foreground are a spider's web)
Whitehurst - who is 20 years older than Charlotte - was suspended last year. The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) recommended 18 months ago that he face a gross misconduct hearing, but this is yet to happen.
Charlotte says persistent harassment over two and a half years - despite her numerous complaints - has left her feeling powerless.
"He works in the anti-corruption and professional standards department [PSD], that's the place you complain to - so what hope have you got?" she says.
In a phone call with the BBC, Whitehurst denied abusing his position for a sexual purpose and said he did not regard Charlotte as vulnerable when he met her again.
He said the WhatsApp messages seen by the BBC were not "familiar" to him and the visit to Charlotte's home was made out of concern for her.
Warwickshire Police says the allegations are "extremely serious" but it cannot state what steps it has taken to protect Charlotte, because of ongoing investigations. These, it says, have to be completed before a gross misconduct hearing.
All forces have their own internal professional standards teams which carry out investigations into officer misconduct - although cases can sometimes be conducted by the IOPC.
But BBC News has learned of crucial evidence being deleted relating to officers under investigation by their PSD.
One woman - a victim of child sexual abuse with complex mental health problems - told Bedfordshire Police officers that she had been raped by an inspector.
Her claims were recorded on police body-worn video during two separate visits to her home.
The BBC has learned that footage of both visits was later deleted. On one of these occasions, the inspector accused by the woman was in charge of the control room which handles callouts.
Dame Vera Baird: "There couldn't be a bigger breach of confidence and faith"
The officer has always denied the rape allegation. He initially said his relationship with the woman was platonic before later admitting they had sex. Investigators found that his police radio GPS linked him to her home. An allegation that the inspector had previously sent racist messages was also uncovered as part of the investigation.
Bedfordshire Police says the deletion of the footage was an "administrative error" and that interviews with the woman took place in response - however, one expert says that these would have different value as evidence.
The force has paid a substantial settlement to the woman without making any admissions or apologising to her. The inspector was investigated for misconduct but faced no sanction and continues to work for the force.
The BBC has also been told that the Metropolitan Police "botched" an investigation into a detective inspector accused of having sex with multiple victims of rape.
Four women reported that the lead officer in a rape investigation team had had sex with them. All had previously reported being victims of rape or sexual assault.
Two former members of the Met's professional standards team say that forensic best practice was not followed, and the officer's phone was wiped by someone remotely after his arrest.
Since then, the detective inspector has been dismissed from the force on other charges.
New Scotland Yard in central London - the Metropolitan Police's HQ
The Metropolitan Police declined to respond to the claims but said it had "matters to finalise" in relation to the officer - a number of years after first suspending him. It also declined to say whether it had re-investigated all rape cases he had dealt with. The Crown Prosecution Service concluded there was not enough evidence to charge him.
The BBC has received responses to information requests from 32 police forces in England, Wales and Scotland about allegations of "abuse of position for a sexual purpose".
The claims cover the past five years, although some forces were only able to provide figures from 2020 - when the complaint category was simplified.
We found out that 536 allegations have been made - but just 24 officers have been handed a criminal charge.
The figures also show that individual officers have faced as many as 20 allegations - while one who faced nine was only given a final written warning. Forces were also far less likely to uphold complaints than the IOPC.
Women are being "preyed upon by officers [who] they've called on to help them at a time of distress", according to Dame Vera Baird, the former victims' commissioner and former solicitor general.
She says change has to be immediate - and neighbourhood forces should be asked to investigate all complaints of officer sexual misconduct.
"Complaints should be going out to another force and not being done internally," she says. "Who is policing the police professional standard departments?"
Baroness Casey led a review into the Met which found it to be institutionally misogynist
The IOPC says it has oversight of the police complaints system but that the responsibility lies with forces themselves to root out any abuse of position it describes as "serious corruption".
The National Police Chiefs' Council says the BBC's findings reinforce the work it is doing "to lift the stones and root out wrongdoers". Forces are intent on delivering "long term improvements to standards and culture", according to Chief Constable Craig Guildford.
Baroness Casey led a review into the Met which found it to be institutionally misogynist. She does not accept that enough is being done.
"It's jaw-droppingly appalling that you have cases of really serious sexual allegations made against police officers that simply go on for years," she says.
"[Officers] think they're untouchable and frankly, they are. That's what's so terrifying."
In a statement, the crime and policing minister, Chris Philp MP, said a "zero tolerance approach" to officer abuse was needed.
He said the Home Office was acting to ensure "predatory individuals" were prevented from joining in the first place and reviewing the current police dismissals process.
Mr Philp added that a recent review into police vetting by a watchdog had recognised progress was being made and forces are pro-actively checking serving officers.
In November 2022, a previous report by the same body - His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services - also found that "in too many places, a culture of misogyny, sexism and predatory behaviour towards members of the public and female police officers and staff still exists."
Have you had an experience of police misconduct? You can share your experiences by emailing [email protected].
Please include a contact number if you are willing to speak to a BBC journalist. You can also get in touch in the following ways:
If you are reading this page and can't see the form you will need to visit the mobile version of the BBC website to submit your question or comment or you can email us at [email protected]. Please include your name, age and location with any submission. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-65768798 |
John Berylson: Millwall owner and chairman dies aged 70 in 'tragic accident' - BBC Sport | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | null | Millwall's owner and chairman John Berylson dies at the age of 70 following a "tragic accident", the club announce. | null | Last updated on .From the section Millwall
Millwall's owner and chairman John Berylson has died at the age of 70 following a "tragic accident" on Tuesday, the club have said.
The American businessman first became involved with the Championship club in 2006.
"He was a truly great man, incredibly devoted to his family," Millwall said in a statement.
Berylson is survived by wife Amy and his three children Jennifer, James, and Elizabeth.
The club added: "He was a person of such remarkable generosity, warmth, and kindness.
"He lived a storied life, one full of colour and joy, and was infinitely thoughtful of others with an endless desire to share his immense knowledge and experiences to help people."
Millwall have not released any further details around Berylson's death.
The club have said fans can pay their respects in a book of condolence which will be shared with his family.
Supporters can write in the book at the club's The Den stadium on Wednesday from 11:00 BST, or online.
"He has presided over some of the greatest moments in Millwall's history, and his influence in providing the platform for those was immeasurable," the club said.
"John continued to speak eagerly about the new season and his vision for the future, and any success moving forward will be in his memory and honour. It will be his legacy."
Millwall finished eighth in the Championship last season, just missing out on a play-off place on the final day.
Berylson became a significant shareholder of the club in 2007 after he led a consortium who invested in the then League One side.
He replaced Stewart Till as chairman in the same year and went on to oversee two promotions into the Championship.
The last promotion came in 2017 and the club have maintained their position in the second tier ever since.
Tributes have poured in for the owner with former Millwall right-back Alan Dunne saying: "My deepest condolences to not only my chairman for many years but also friend.
"John was a gentleman who put Millwall back on the map. What he has done for the club will always be remembered and can only thank him for everything he done for me and MILLWALL."
Aberdeen's chief executive Alan Burrows said: "Such awful, awful news. The thoughts of everyone at Aberdeen FC are with John's family, friends and everyone at Millwall FC. RIP."
The English Football League wrote: "The EFL is shocked and saddened by the news and sends its deepest condolences to John's family and everyone connected with Millwall."
Multiple clubs have sent their condolences, including rivals West Ham, who wrote: "Everyone at West Ham United sends their deepest condolences to John's family, friends and all at Millwall FC during this tragic time." | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66105440 |
France riots: Within days we were in hell, says mayor - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | A mayor in one of France's poorest areas wants the state to take tougher measures against rioters. | Europe | Zartoshte Bakhtiari, the mayor of Neuilly-sur-Marne, says the rioters in France "don't fear justice"
Zartoshte Bakhtiari says he hasn't slept more than three hours a night since the riots in France began a week ago.
By day, he's the mayor of Neuilly-sur-Marne, in one of France's poorest areas, east of Paris.
By night, he patrols the streets with a dozen staff and city councillors until 04:00 or 05:00, acting as an early warning system for police taking on the rioters there.
"Within days, we [were] in hell," he tells me.
On Tuesday, he'll head to the Élysée Palace with more than 200 other mayors to discuss the crisis with French President Emmanuel Macron.
His request is for "more toughness" from the state, and permission for the local city police to use drones to monitor activity in the town.
"What's happening now is the result of years of weakness from politicians, and decisions that have not been taken," he says.
"It's a problem of authority because these [rioters] don't fear justice. [They] may go to court, but they come back home a few hours after trial simply because we don't have enough places in jail in this district of Paris. We cannot support this kind of weakness from the state."
Just outside his office in the town hall is the charred wall of the local city police station.
"They jumped over this wall at 1am with a jerrycan of petrol," Mayor Bakhtiari explains, gesturing to the fleet of seven charred squad cars, their ashen skeletons lined up beneath the blackened façade.
But the building was shared with the public housing department, tasked with finding homes for 2,300 local people.
Inside, the office is a carbonised shell of melted plastic and ash. Not all the paper files were digitised. The details of many of those most desperate for housing here have been wiped from the records by the fire.
Laurence Tendron Brunet says the records of many local people in desperate need for housing have been destroyed by fire
The head of the housing department, Laurence Tendron Brunet, stands among the burnt ruins in tears.
"I'm so sad," she says. "We're going to rebuild, we're going to start again. But right now there are people who are so desperate for housing. I know about half of them - when they call, I recognise their voices. They're not files, they're human beings."
Mayor Bakhtiari says the arsonists were caught on a video surveillance camera, and from the footage they appear to be teenagers, perhaps 14-16 years old.
"I find it hard to understand that it's children who are destroying things," Laurence says, "because at that age, your parents should be responsible for you."
Round the back of the building, overlooking the car park with its fleet of charred police vehicles, we find a neighbour who filmed the fire on his mobile phone, and agreed to speak to us anonymously.
"Typical," he says, when he hears about the suspected age of the arsonists. "Organised thugs launch kids of 11 or 13 into the event, telling them: 'you'll never go to prison, so go ahead.' That's the norm here; they send the young kids [to] the front line. It's a gang tactic."
The riots across France were sparked by the fatal shooting by a police officer of 17-year-old Nahel M on 27 June
The worst-hit part of Neuilly-sur-Marne is an area called Les Fauvettes. The public library, shops and a supermarket have all been torched here. Les Fauvettes is also home to many of the rioters themselves.
Aicha, a 23-year-old teaching assistant, lives there too. She says she understands the initial anger that sparked the violence - even if she thinks it has since turned into looting and destruction.
"They're fed up," she says. "It always falls on the same people. If you're black or Arab, a gun is pulled and shots fired without thinking. When it's a white person, they think twice before shooting or even giving a fine."
But back in his office at the town hall, Mayor Bakhtiari rejects accusations that there's a problem with the French police.
"Absolutely not, I cannot hear that kind of argument," he insists. "Maybe we have people in the police who are racist, but we cannot say the police [itself] is racist. The police behave very well here in France."
But the actions of individual officers, like the one now facing a charge of voluntary homicide for shooting 17-year-old Nahel M. last week, are only half the story.
The other half is about the divisions these events expose within France.
A public collection for the family of that officer topped a million euros on Monday - dwarfing the amount collected for the family of Nahel. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-66092431 |
Kevin Spacey trial live: Actor in London court for third day of sexual assault trial - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The Oscar-winning actor faces 12 sexual offence charges against four men, which he denies. | UK | It’s worth remembering that the complainants in this case have a legal right to lifelong anonymity.
That's because they are alleged victims of a sexual offence, which means by law their names cannot be published.
We also need to ensure that the information we tell you does not lead to jigsaw identification.
That's when bits of information when pieced together can lead to someone being identified.
It means there may be some details we need to leave out from our reporting because of this. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/uk-66097010 |
Prince William and Kate meet NHS's first ever baby - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | The Prince and Princess of Wales hear from the first person born after the NHS was founded, in 1948. | UK | Aneira Thomas told Prince William she had been born on the same day as the NHS
The Prince and Princess of Wales have met the first person born under the National Health Service, at a tea party celebrating the NHS's 75th anniversary.
Aneira Thomas told them she had been born in Carmarthenshire at 00:01 on 5 July 1948, the same day as the NHS.
She was named after the NHS founder and then Health Minister Aneurin Bevan.
Catherine, Princess of Wales, told current and ex-NHS staff at the party, at St Thomas' Hospital, in London, "I wanted to come here and say thank you."
Mrs Thomas told the royal couple: "Every maternity ward in the country was waiting for the first baby.
"The doctors delivering me kept looking at the clock, looking back at Mum.
"She was waiting to hear the word 'push' - but all she heard was, 'Hold on, Edna.'
The Prince and Princess of Wales were putting the icing on cakes for the NHS birthday celebrations
Mrs Thomas went on to work in the NHS, as a mental-health nurse. Her four sisters also became nurses.
The NHS had also "saved both of my children", she said, when her son and daughter had suffered "life-changing brain haemorrhages".
Mrs Thomas has previously told a family story from before the founding of the NHS, recalling that when her grandfather broke his leg they had to sell their piano to pay the doctor's bill.
Prince William and Catherine also spoke to Blanche Hines, a nurse for almost 50 years and part of the Windrush generation, whose daughter and grandson also work in health services.
"Wishing everyone a very happy 75th birthday at the NHS," Prince William told guests at the event, organised by NHS Charities Together.
The anniversary comes in a year when NHS staff have been taking industrial action in disputes over pay.
The NHS charities focus on the wellbeing of the workforce, including offering psychological support and counselling.
Consultant clinical psychologist Dr Neil Rees said Prince William had "really understood the issues and complexities - particularly with the current challenges we're facing".
The royal visitors, filmed preparing cakes for the party, also addressed another question. Which goes on top on a scone - the jam or the cream?
"I always do jam and then cream," Catherine said.
But Prince William, remaining politically neutral, replied: "I go for whichever is closest to me."
Read the latest royal news and insights in a free, weekly newsletter - sign up here. | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-66095251 |
Climate change: World's hottest day since records began - BBC News | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews | Monday 3 July was the warmest day yet recorded with temperatures averaging over 17C for the first time. | Science & Environment | People feel the stress in China amid an ongoing heatwave
The world's average temperature reached a new high on Monday 3 July, topping 17 degrees Celsius for the first time.
Scientists say the reading was the highest in any instrumental record dating back to the end of the 19th century.
The high heat is due to a combination of the El Niño weather event and ongoing emissions of carbon dioxide.
Researchers believe there will be more records in the coming months as El Niño strengthens.
Since the start of this year, researchers have been growing increasingly concerned about rapidly rising temperatures on land and at sea.
Record spring heat in Spain and in many countries in Asia was followed by marine heatwaves in places that don't normally see them, such as in the North Sea.
This week China continued to experience an enduring heatwave with temperatures in some places above 35C, while the southern US has also been subject to stifling conditions.
Against this background, the global average temperature reached 17.01C on 3 July, according to the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction.
This broke the previous record of 16.92C that had stood since August 2016.
Monday's high was also the warmest since satellite monitoring began in 1979.
India has also felt the impacts of heat and drought
The El Niño Southern Oscillation, or ENSO, as it is properly called, has three different phases: Hot, cold or neutral. It is the most powerful fluctuation in the climate system anywhere on Earth.
In June, scientists declared that El Niño conditions were present. This means that additional heat is now welling up to the surface of the Pacific ocean, pushing up the global temperature.
"The average global surface air temperature reaching 17C for the first time since we have reliable records available is a significant symbolic milestone in our warming world," said climate researcher Leon Simons.
"Now that the warmer phase of El Niño is starting we can expect a lot more daily, monthly and annual records breaking in the next 1.5 years."
Monday's record temperature comes as the month of June was also confirmed as the hottest June in the global record.
Average temperatures across the planet were 1.46C above the average in the period between 1850 and 1900.
The impact of high temperatures is also being felt at the world's extremes. In Antarctica, the July temperature record was recently broken with a reading of 8.7C taken at Ukraine's Vernadsky Research base.
With El Niño likely to strengthen over the coming months, it's likely that more records will be shattered as the northern hemisphere summer goes on.
"Chances are that July will be the warmest ever, and with it the hottest month ever: 'ever' meaning since the Eemian which is some 120,000 years ago," said Karsten Haustein, from the University of Leipzig.
"While southern hemisphere temperatures will drop a bit in the next few days, chances are that July and August will see even warmer days yet given that El Niño is now pretty much in full swing". | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66104822 |
Wimbledon 2023 results: Venus Williams loses to Elina Svitolina - BBC Sport | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | null | Five-time champion Venus Williams, 43, recovers from a dramatic slip to continue against Elina Svitolina in a gutsy Wimbledon defeat. | null | Last updated on .From the section Tennis
Coverage: Live across BBC TV, radio and online with extensive coverage on BBC iPlayer, Red Button, Connected TVs and mobile app. More coverage details
American veteran Venus Williams says a dramatic fall that ruined her hopes of a notable Wimbledon win was "painful" and has left her "in shock".
Williams, 43, slipped early in the first-round match against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina, leading to fears she might have to retire injured.
The five-time champion did continue and pushed Svitolina before losing 6-4 6-3.
"It was bad luck for me," Williams said. "I can't believe it happened. I'm still trying to process it."
Williams, who started the match with heavy strapping on her right knee, showed undiminishing determination and courage to fight through her fitness problems before succumbing to 2019 semi-finalist Svitolina.
After a record 24th Open era appearance in the Wimbledon singles ended, Williams received a standing ovation by a crowd unsure how long she has left at the top level.
The fact she was able to finish the match, despite limping heavily around the court, felt remarkable.
Williams' defiance not to quit was warmly appreciated by the Wimbledon crowd, who willed her on throughout an entertaining contest.
The former world number one first played at the All England Club in 1997 and, as she remains coy about her retirement plans, it remains to be seen how many more times she will return to the scene of some of her greatest triumphs.
"What makes this one hard to process is I've had so many injuries. I've been missing from tour for quite a while. This is not what I want for myself," said Williams, who was playing in only her sixth match this year after being given a wildcard.
"This kind of fall, I didn't do anything wrong. I just went for the ball. There's nothing I can really do about it. Those kinds of things are hard to process emotionally, mentally and physically on the court."
• None Live TV, radio and text coverage of day one at Wimbledon
Down but not out - Williams shows her mettle
Williams walked gingerly when she came out on to court, having struggled with the knee injury earlier in the British grass-court season at Birmingham.
The veteran showed she had lost none of her shot-making ability, using her colossal serve and forehand to good effect as she broke for a 2-0 lead.
"I was literally killing it, then I got killed by the grass. I felt like I was in great form and in great form in the match," Williams said.
The complexion of the match altered in a moment, leaving those watching on Centre Court fearing the worst.
In the third game, Williams slipped on the grass as she approached the net, letting out a sharp scream which silenced the stadium.
Umpire Marija Cicak raced down to the court to check on her condition, with a concerned Svitolina coming around the net.
There was an anxious atmosphere as fans feared the worst, many who will have remembered her younger sister Serena slipping on the lush Centre Court grass in 2021 and having to retire injured.
"I'm not sure what I've done. I'll have to investigate it. It was quite painful," Williams said.
"Afterwards it was very hard to focus on what I was doing."
In what seemed remarkable given the gravity of her reaction, and the increasingly-restricted movement, Williams not only carried on but continued to keep in touch with 28-year-old Svitolina.
Heavy shots reminiscent of her peak flashed past the Ukrainian, who had to fend off two break-back points before sealing the first set at the second opportunity.
Even when Svitolina, who is still continuing her comeback after giving birth last October, threatened to run away with the second set, Williams would not roll over.
Trailing 5-1 and with the crowd willing her on, she dug in again to hold serve and then broke for 5-3.
But Svitolina, who did well to maintain her focus in the difficult circumstances, took her opponent's serve again for the match after winning a line-call challenge that left Williams smiling ruefully.
"It is always very tough to play against Venus, it was a really special moment to play here today on a special court and a big legend," said Svitolina, who is ranked 76th in the world.
"It was an unbelievable feeling."
• None Alerts: Get tennis news sent to your phone
• None In an emotional interview he opens up about what motivated him despite his very humble origins
• None Sue Barker travels the globe to find out | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/66092149 |
Hannah Dingley: Forest Green Rovers name first female boss of a men's professional football side - BBC Sport | 2023-07-04T00:00:00 | null | Forest Green Rovers name Hannah Dingley as their new caretaker boss, making her the first woman to manage a professional men's team in English football. | null | Last updated on .From the section Forest Green
Forest Green Rovers have named Hannah Dingley as their new caretaker boss, making her the first woman to manage a professional men's team in English football.
The League Two side sacked Duncan Ferguson on Tuesday after just six months in charge.
Forest Green announced Dingley, the club's academy head, would be put in caretaker charge of the first team.
Her first match in charge will be a friendly at Melksham Town on Wednesday.
The 39-year-old said: "I'm really excited for this next step of my career. Pre-season has just begun, and the full season kicks off very soon.
"It's an exciting time in football. I am grateful for the opportunity to step up and lead such a progressive and forward-thinking club."
She first joined the club in 2019 to take charge of the academy and remains the only woman to manage a men's English Football League academy.
Dingley, who was born and raised in Carmarthenshire, also initiated the club's girls academy which launched in 2021.
She has a Uefa Pro Licence and previously worked at Burton Albion.
"Hannah was the natural choice for us to be first team interim head coach - she's done a fantastic job leading our academy and is well aligned with the values of the club," club chairman Dale Vince said
"It's perhaps telling for the men's game that in making this appointment on merit, we'll break new ground - and Hannah will be the first female head coach in English [men's] football."
The EFL's head of equality, diversity and inclusion, Dave McArdle, praised the appointment: "This is a welcome moment for English football and with many highly skilled and experienced coaches across the game it was only a matter of time before the ongoing positive development of female coaches led to an opportunity in the first-team at an EFL club.
"It has always been a key priority for the EFL to create an environment in which clubs consider qualified candidates from an ever-widening pool of coaching talent and select the best possible person for a role.
"This represents another step forward as we strive to make our game representative of the communities we serve."
Women in Football's chair Ebru Koksal also tweeted that Dingley had broken "norms and barriers".
'More than capable of coaching at a men's level'
Dingley spoke to BBC Points West in March about breaking down barriers in the sport.
"You've got a responsibility as the first to open the doors for others and to encourage others," she said.
"You always say if you don't see it, you're probably not going to be it. The fact that I do this I hope it encourages more females to come into coaching, into football, into different roles. I feel a great responsibility to talk about that."
She said at the time that she did not think it would be long until a woman took charge of a men's professional team.
"It will come in sooner than you think," Dingley said. "The success that the Lionesses are having, that Emma Hayes is having at Chelsea.
"There are others, really good female coaches out there who I have more than faith in would be more than capable of coaching at a men's level."
• None In an emotional interview he opens up about what motivated him despite his very humble origins
• None Sue Barker travels the globe to find out | http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66105649 |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.