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Politics
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Man arrested on suspicion of Ann Widdecombe’s murder is released
The 26-year-old man is no longer part of the investigation, Devon and Cornwall police say A 26-year-old man who was arrested on suspicion of the murder of the former MP Ann Widdecombe has been released from custody and is no longer part of the investigation, Devon and Cornwall police said early on Saturday. In a statement, Assistant Chief Constable Matt Longman said: “Our priority remains identifying those responsible and ensuring that all available evidence is thoroughly examined. Continue reading...
Losing our religion? Australia would no longer be majority religious if format of census question changed, survey finds
Ahead of the census in August, campaign group suggests current poll design overstates the nation’s religiousness Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Australia would no longer be a majority religious country if the format of a question in the census was changed, according to a new survey. The Essential Media poll tested the existing census format, where people choose from a list that includes the most common religions, “no religion” and “other”. Continue reading...
‘He goes a bit funny if you use his real name’: the unstoppable rise of Count Binface
Nigel Farage foresaw a summer stroll to glory when he forced a byelection – but now risks his career being trashed The votes were being counted and the media had gathered for the moment that Andy Burnham, his sights on Downing Street, would be elected as the MP for Makerfield in greater Manchester. But Nick the Flying Brick, a candidate on numerous occasions for the Monster Raving Loony party, could not help but be distracted. How could it be that the candidate across the Edge Conference Centre with a silver bin on his head had managed to secure the 10 local nominations necessary to stand? The Flying Brick, real name Nick Delves, 60, who is also treasurer for the Loony party, had knocked doors-a-plenty to get the nominations for his veteran candidate, Howling Laud Hope. Yet, the Flying Brick hadn’t seen any chaps on the streets with bins on their heads. Certainly not in recent days. Not a single one. Continue reading...
Ryanair has axed its family seating policy – but kids’ fees still add up
The airfare for a baby on your lap could cost more than your own ticket. Here’s how airline charges and travel taxes can hit you Ryanair recently stopped making parents pay to sit next to their children but depending on the airline the hidden extra costs involved in flying with children can be substantial. In some cases, you can even end up spending more for the baby on your lap than you paid for your own flight. Your baby might not need a seat, but you are still likely to pay fees for them to travel. Some airlines offer discounts for children over two, while others whack families with the cost of a full-grown adult. Continue reading...
Haaland’s hometown hails ‘little boy who grew into a huge Viking’
The people of Bryne are proud of local hero’s rise to the top of world football as Norway prepare to face England Surrounded by red hats, No 9 shirts and Erling Haaland action toys at her fabric shop in the small Norwegian town of Bryne, Olinda Haaland – no relation but proud to share the now world-famous name – said everybody in the striker’s home town was a football fan these days. “It’s been pure joy,” she said of her namesake’s rise to the top of world football. “We all love him so much and he’s doing so much for Bryne.” Continue reading...
Europe considering proposals to allow navigational fees in strait of Hormuz
Plans specify tolls must not be compulsory, as US officials urge Iran to make public statement that strait is open and that shipping can safely pass Europe is studying proposals that may allow the charging of navigational fees in the strait of Hormuz so long as the tolls are not compulsory and have the support of the UN agency that regulates maritime transport. Britain’s deputy prime minister, David Lammy, said the imposition of compulsory tolls would be disastrous. But some of his cabinet colleagues said they recognised that systems of payments for specific navigational services were permissible in many natural waterways, including the strait of Malacca and the Channel. Continue reading...
Trump-appointed judge dismisses seditious conspiracy case against Proud Boys
Judge says he’s granting request to dismiss prosecutions even though request is clearly based not on facts or the law A federal judge nominated by Donald Trump during his first term reluctantly agreed on Friday to grant the Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss the seditious conspiracy convictions against leaders of the Proud Boys who were convicted by a jury of serious crimes during the attack on the US Capitol by Trump supporters on 6 January 2021. The US district judge Timothy Kelly noted in a seven-page memorandum that the Proud Boy leaders Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl were all convicted of multiple crimes, including seditious conspiracy, and a fourth member of the group, Dominic Pezzola, was convicted of assaulting an officer and “breaking a Capitol window, thereby helping to create the first entry point through which hundreds of rioters streamed into the building”. Continue reading...
Peter Falconio murder 25 years on: new footage shows dying Australian outback killer’s refusal to reveal body’s location
NT police release body-worn camera vision of Bradley John Murdoch denying knowing where UK backpacker’s body is weeks before his death Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Infamous killer Bradley John Murdoch aggressively denied knowing where the body of still-missing backpacker Peter Falconio was during a police interview weeks before he died. NT Police released body-worn camera vision of the interview on Saturday, days before the 25th anniversary of the killing of the 28-year-old Brit on the Stuart Highway near Barrow Creek, in July 2001. Continue reading...
Venezuela quake death toll passes 4,000 as scale of recovery effort looms large
Nearly 17,000 injured and thousands more are listed as missing amid calls by UN and president Delcy Rodríguez for financial help The death toll in Venezuela’s devastating twin earthquakes has topped 4,000, the government said on Friday. At least 4,118 people were killed and 16,740 injured in the back-to-back quakes on 24 June that flattened entire districts in the coastal state of La Guaira, Venezuelan parliament chief Jorge Rodriguez wrote on Telegram. Thousands more are listed as missing. Continue reading...
Crews again drain Trump’s troubled reflecting pool
Workers observed draining water from Lincoln Memorial pool plagued by algae blooms and peeling paint Crews were observed Friday draining the plagued Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool, a landmark at the heart of Donald Trump’s mission to beautify Washington DC. Interior secretary Doug Burgum, whose agency oversees the National Park Service, told conservative podcaster Katie Miller in an interview released earlier this week that the new round of draining was planned. He also said that the water might still contain debris from an extensive Independence Day fireworks display over the National Mall. Continue reading...
Man charged with Bedfordshire murder of his wife and daughters after arrest in South Africa
Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma was arrested in a Johannesburg suburb after an international manhunt A man has been charged with murdering his wife and two young daughters after being arrested in South Africa following an international manhunt. The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it had authorised three counts of murder against Ndodana Mkhanyisi Tshuma, 45, after he was arrested on Friday in Kensington, a suburb of Johannesburg. Continue reading...
Graham Platner officially withdraws candidacy for US Senate in Maine
Paperwork ends Democratic campaign laden with scandals, including most recently accusations of sexual assault Graham Platner, the Democratic nominee for US Senate in Maine, officially withdrew his candidacy on Friday afternoon, ending a campaign laden with scandals. Maine’s secretary of state confirmed Platner had filed the paperwork to remove his name from the November ballot, two days after Platner publicly said he planned to exit the race. Continue reading...
John Fetterman joins forces with Republican counterpart in Senate for fundraising committee
Venture between two Pennsylvania senators stokes speculation about Fetterman’s future in Democratic party The Democratic senator John Fetterman, who has faced mounting political challenges, is joining forces with the Republican senator Dave McCormick to launch a new joint fundraising committee, a move that is likely to fuel additional questions about Fetterman’s increasingly rightward lurch. Pennsylvania ’s two US senators have established a shared fundraising committee that will collect donations benefiting both of their campaigns in an unusual bipartisan arrangement. Continue reading...
Trump taps climate skeptic to run US government’s flagship climate report
Matthew Wielicki frequently criticizes established climate science online, including in videos from rightwing PragerU The Trump administration has tapped a former geochemist who has railed against “climate alarmism” and calls himself an “Earth science professor-in-exile” to oversee the federal government’s flagship report about climate impacts on the US. Matthew Wielicki, who lacks formal training in climate science, will now lead the nation’s Global Change Research Program, which federal officials have gutted during Trump’s second term. Continue reading...
Why Graham Platner wasn’t the answer to the Democrats’ man problem – Stateside with Kai and Carter
Earlier this week, Graham Platner, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Maine, was accused by a former partner of sexual assault. Platner denies the allegations, but on Wednesday, he suspended his campaign, accusing the “political establishment” of tanking his candidacy. But this is only the most recent scandal to have surfaced around Platner’s campaign — over the past year, the oyster farmer and combat veteran was revealed to have a tattoo that closely resembled a Totenkopf (a widely recognized Nazi symbol), a long paper trail of racist, misogynist and homophobic posts on Reddit, and in June, the New York Times published allegations from three former partners about Platner’s “toxic” behavior in their relationships, including, in several cases, physical intimidation (allegations Platner denied). As Democrats regroup and evaluate their dwindling chances to flip the Senate in November, hosts Kai Wright and Carter Sherman are joined by Guardian political reporters Lauren Gambino and Shrai Popat to ask why voters flocked to Platner, why they were reluctant to abandon him as the scandals came out — and what the whole mess says about who gets the privilege of political redemption. Continue reading...
Rapper Pitbull and fans set ‘bald cap’ Guinness World Record at Hyde Park show
Crowd of over 22,000 people – and the musician himself – formed the ‘largest gathering of people wearing bald caps’ A tight plastic cap is not an attractive option for protective headwear in 30C heat. Yet 22,141 people opted for just that – along with a white shirt, black tie and aviator sunglasses – in Hyde Park, London, on Friday afternoon. It was both a homage to the rapper Pitbull, the night’s headliner at the BST festival, and part of setting a Guinness World Record for the “largest gathering of people wearing bald caps”. “I’m speechless. Who would have thought a first-generation Cuban would be record-breaking and record-making?” said the rapper, accepting the award in an all-black suit. Continue reading...
EPA to open habitats of endangered species to logging and mining
Habitat destruction strongest driver of species loss, with legislation keeping 99% of listed species from going extinct The Trump administration repealed a crucial part of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Friday, finalizing a new rule that will open habitats of imperiled wildlife to development, logging, mining and other uses. For the last 50 years, the landmark environmental law included a broader understanding of the word “harm”, which ensured that not just the plants and animals themselves were protected but also the places that are critical to their survival. The inclusion of habitat in the “harm” definition was upheld by the supreme court in 1995, which ruled in support of old-growth forest protections relied on by endangered spotted owls. Continue reading...
NAACP demands end of Trump’s anticrime taskforce in Memphis after deaths of Black men
Advocacy group calls on acting attorney general to lead ‘thorough, transparent federal investigation’ The deaths in recent days of two Black men in Tennessee, one in the custody of police and the other at the hands of national guard troops, has prompted the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to demand the suspension of the so-called Memphis Safe Task Force , Donald Trump’s anti-crime alliance of federal, state and local law enforcement. In a letter to acting attorney general Todd Blanche on Friday, the NAACP also demanded “a thorough, transparent federal investigation” into the actions of the taskforce, which it said has surged federal and military officers into Memphis with insufficient training for civilian policing. Continue reading...
Man who was killed by ICE in Texas never ‘weaponized’ his vehicle, witnesses say
Lawyer says men who were riding in van are being pressured to self-deport as footage of incident is reportedly with investigators Sign up for the Breaking News US newsletter email The three men who were in the van when federal immigration officials shot and killed a man in Houston, Texas , this week are strongly disputing the Trump administration ’s narrative of the events and are being pressured to sign deportation orders, according to their lawyer and lawmakers. The three men, who were arrested by immigration officials during the incident, denied that the driver of the vehicle, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, “weaponized” his vehicle against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials. They also told their lawyer that there was never an ICE official in front of the van and that the shots that killed Salgado came from the “sides” of the vehicle. Continue reading...
Missouri declares state of emergency over severe storms and flooding
Governor Mike Kehoe urges people to follow guidelines with more heavy rain expected through the weekend Missouri has declared a state of emergency in response to severe storms and flash flooding affecting the state’s central, south-central, and south-eastern regions. In a news release , governor Mike Kehoe said that under the order, the Missouri state emergency operations plan has been activated, allowing state agencies to coordinate directly with local jurisdictions to expedite emergency assistance. Continue reading...
King Charles understood to have met Prince Harry’s children at Highgrove
Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet believed to have had private reunion with king King Charles has enjoyed a private reunion with the grandchildren he has not seen for four years, it is understood. The Duke and Duchess of Sussex and their children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, were hosted by Charles and Queen Camilla at the king’s private residence, Highgrove House in Gloucestershire, on Friday afternoon. Continue reading...
Marco Rubio announces deportation of Minnesota man pardoned last month
State had pardoned immigrant Tou Lue Vang in June over 2006 conviction but federal government expels him to Laos A Laotian man pardoned by state officialsin Minnesota last month has been deported from the country, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has announced. Tou Lue Vang, an immigrant from Laos, faced deportation for a 2006 conviction of first-degree criminal sexual conduct after raping a young girl between 2002 and 2004. Because Laos initially refused to accept deportees, Vang spent nearly two decades living in Minnesota. Continue reading...
Top Boy actor Micheal Ward cleared of rape and sexual assault charges
Five charges related to encounter with woman Ward met at New Year’s Day party in London in 2023 The Top Boy actor Micheal Ward has been cleared of raping and sexually assaulting a woman who claimed he had attacked her in the back of a car. Ward, 28, who is best known for his roles in the crime drama and Steve McQueen’s Small Axe, was acquitted of two counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault, after a 10-day trial at Snaresbrook crown court. Continue reading...
Top Boy actor Michael Ward cleared of rape and sexual assault charges
Five charges related to encounter with woman Ward met at New Year’s Day party in London in 2023 The Top Boy actor Michael Ward has been cleared of raping and sexually assaulting a woman who claimed he had attacked her in the back of a car. Ward, 28, who is best known for his roles in the crime drama and Steve McQueen’s Small Axe, was acquitted of two counts of rape, two counts of assault by penetration and one count of sexual assault, after a 10-day trial at Snaresbrook crown court. Continue reading...