Mubeen Blogs

A cold reality hit us in Washington. Zelenskyy was being forced to buy hope of survival by people who have no care for our freedom It’s warming up in Kyiv. The temperature has risen from -5C to 4C. Sometimes, the sun peeps through breaks in the clouds, but Kyivites are not much cheered by the sunshine. They are not watching for signs of spring as they usually do at this time of year. The atmosphere in the city and in the country as a whole has been one of nervous expectation. This was not an expectation of an end to military action or the signing of a peace treaty with Russia – nothing so specific. Indeed, it was not at all clear what we were waiting for, but it was something connected with Donald Trump and the change in US policy towards Ukraine. Clarity emerged at today’s macabre theatre at the White House: handshakes, a thumbs up and some fist pumps from the US president, before Trump sat side by side with Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss a minerals-for-war-support deal and to humil...

The US president’s day of diplomacy involved an alleged rapist, a claimed trafficker and then Britain’s PM. It said everything about our new era Shortly after Keir Starmer arrived in Washington to fight for the future of Europe, two men who make a mockery of everything he stands for touched down on American soil. The toxic YouTube influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate have spent years under investigation in Romania on charges of rape and human trafficking, which they deny, Andrew is now wanted by British police over allegations of rape , and both brothers for tax evasion in this country. But to MAGAworld they are martyrs, unjustly persecuted abroad for the crime of saying what they think on the internet. Their triumphant homecoming to Florida, following reported US diplomatic pressure on the Romanian government to lift its travel ban, sends a signal to aggrieved young men who voted for Donald Trump over Kamala Harris that the president has not forgotten them . There could hardly have...

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The prime minister did his best with the press’ questions, as he prepared to ride two horses all the way to Washington A question that’s been asked a lot about Keir Starmer is, which bit of being prime minister is he a natural at? Everyone knows he’s not Mr Charisma, could he be Mr Competent? Huh, after six months of bad optics, that wasn’t flying either. It turned out yesterday [Tuesday] that he is incredibly good at surprise escalation. Before noon, we were in a world where the prime minister was about to ride two horses all the way to the US - the horse that supported Ukraine, and the horse that was happy to see a “peace deal” devised by Putin and bloviated by Trump. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/o2ZJYEr

Cottrell, who served eight months for fraud, paid £15,000 for Reform party leader’s flight to US in December Nigel Farage’s trip to Florida where he met Elon Musk was part-funded by his friend and former fraudster George Cottrell, who paid for his £15,000 flight. The Reform leader accepted the flight for his visit in December last year, when he was pictured smiling with Musk and the Reform party treasurer, Nick Candy. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/bijOyhI

Diverting money from aid to the military is a grim expedient in a crisis that will surely define this prime minister’s legacy British politics is having one of its periodic outbreaks of polarised consensus. This is the paradoxical condition that occurs from time to time when the ruling party and the official opposition are forced by circumstance to have the same policy, while compelled by traditional enmity to resent the convergence. The pressure on Keir Starmer to raise defence spending to 2.5% of gross domestic product has been building steadily in recent months, and independently of Tory demands that he do it. Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/AWza6qj

Director and peer decries government’s ‘shameful’ copyright rules policy and role of tech investor Matt Clifford Beeban Kidron, the film director who is campaigning against government plans to overhaul copyright rules for AI companies, has become the latest high-profile figure to complain about the role being played by the prime minister’s AI tsar, Matt Clifford. Lady Kidron, an award-winning film director whose work includes Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, said ministers were only listening to people who stood to benefit from the controversial proposals, which will take another step forward on Tuesday. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/LKXvfCw

Holmes, who is serving nine years, attempted to overturn conviction over multimillion-dollar investor fraud scandal A US court upheld the conviction of the Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes for defrauding investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars while operating her failed blood-testing startup, once valued at $9bn, rejecting her multi-year appeal. The court also upheld the conviction of Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani, once Holmes’s romantic partner and president of Theranos. A three-judge panel for the 9th US circuit court of appeals in San Francisco rejected claims of legal errors at their separate trials held in 2022. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/fC425xl

The victorious CDU leader is likely to be more proactive on the European stage. He will also need to forge broad alliances at home to see off the far right Friedrich Merz, the leader of Germany’s centre-right Christian Democratic Union party (CDU), has a reputation for being blunt. On Sunday evening, as it became clear that the CDU had won the snap election triggered by the outgoing Social Democrat chancellor, Olaf Scholz, he did not disappoint. “For me,” said Mr Merz in a post-election television debate, “the absolute priority will be to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible so that, step by step, we can really achieve independence from the USA.” As recently as a fortnight ago, such a statement from a German chancellor-elect would have been inconceivable. But these are new and extraordinary times. A convinced transatlanticist , Mr Merz has previously played down the dangers to western unity posed by Donald Trump. But crude electioneering on behalf of the extreme right Altern...

Salah and Szoboszlai on target in 2-0 victory Liverpool 11 points clear of Arsenal at top of table After Liverpool defeated ­Manchester City on Sunday to take a crucial step towards the title, Arne Slot admitted being 11 points clear of Arsenal places them in a “good position” become champions. First-half goals from Mohamed Salah and Dominik Szoboszlai were enough to lengthen their lead, though Mikel Arteta’s side have played one game fewer than the Merseyside club. Slot was asked if it is now Liverpool’s cham­pionship to throw away. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Rna6rB8

‘Best and the worst’ of Newcastle on show in 4-3 victory Saudi owners to make decision on new stadium this week As the final whistle blew at St James’ Park and Nottingham Forest’s players collapsed to the turf in despair, Eddie Howe looked simply bemused and confused. Shortly afterwards Newcastle’s manager said that, even though his team had won 4-3, he felt as if they had lost one of the most extraordinary Premier League games of the season. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/1EaC346

A lack of conviction in front of goal and defensive problems were evident in the Nations League draw in Portugal For at least 15 minutes on Friday night, almost everyone watching England’s Nations League game in Portimão could sense that a goal for Portugal was coming. Everyone except, it seemed, Sarina Wiegman. Jess Carter had replaced Lucy Bronze as a ­precaution at half-time but the head coach felt no need to make another substitution until the 84th minute. By then the damage was done, and the Lionesses were hit by an all-too-familiar feeling of ­frustration after a game they knew they should have won. In isolation, a draw away against a Portugal team ranked 22nd in the world would be a touch ­disappointing but not cause for great alarm. The problem, though, is that it is not an outlier, and three themes have ­continued to crop up in the past 18 months: England’s inconsistency, their profligacy in front of goal and the concerning ease with which ­opponents are creating chances ag...

UK prime minister aiming to cool escalating transatlantic row over war in Ukraine Keir Starmer will not risk riling Donald Trump by challenging him over his attack on Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, when the pair finally meet next week, as the prime minister seeks to cool an escalating transatlantic row. Starmer will fly to the US in the coming days for what could be a defining moment for his leadership, as Europe and the US trade accusations and insults about the origins of the war in Ukraine and the best way to end it. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/FpKQu24

Business secretary alleged to never have qualified as solicitor, despite listing job on LinkedIn profile The solicitors’ regulator has reopened an investigation into the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, over accusations he misrepresented his legal career. The Solicitors Regulation Authority said on Friday it would look into allegations that Reynolds had incorrectly claimed to have worked as a solicitor even though he did not finish his legal training. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/iwlgHJo

Running for just four days, and with its influencer coverage dwarfed by New York and Paris, LFW needs British soft power and its prized creatives to bring some buzz Beneath the glitter and sequins and extra-long false eyelashes, the bald truth at London fashion week is of an industry overshadowed by the luxury might of Europe and the US. Many designers have closed their doors, or cannot afford to splash out on a show. At just four days long, London fashion week has shrunk to half the duration of the Paris shows. Cash is in short supply, but ambition and creativity are not. At SS Daley, the Harry Styles-backed brand whose trench coats are now sold at John Lewis , the show opened with the sound of Big Ben, included “Stay Faithfull to Marianne” sweaters in tribute to the late British style icon , and closed with a general clamour for selfies with front row guest of honour, the Amandaland actor Lucy Punch. Actor Debi Mazar took the stage for jewellery brand Completedworks, playing a tele...

As Donald Trump persists with a monstrous proposal to remove Palestinians, the immediate need is to prevent fresh conflict The pain and damage wreaked in the last 16 months will reverberate through families, communities and the Middle East for decades to come. On Thursday, the bodies of two young children and their mother, and that of an 83-year-old peace activist, were returned to Israel by Hamas. They were kidnapped in the 7 October 2023 raid in which the militants killed around 1,200 Israelis and others. Around 48,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, have been killed in Gaza since Israel launched its war in response. It was always feared that the ceasefire deal, which has brought desperately needed respite for Palestinians in Gaza and the return of Israeli and foreign hostages, would be fleeting. The six-week opening stage is due to expire on 1 March. The talks on the more complicated second stage have yet to begin, more than a fortnight after th...

As Europe innovates to boost defence without public service cuts, Britain clings to fiscal restraint – an unaffordable risk in an unstable world When settling wars rewards lawlessness, displaces populations and fuels lasting grievances, the result is more war. That was the former foreign secretary William Hague’s verdict on Donald Trump’s approach to peacemaking, drawing lessons from the Balkans, the second world war and the Middle East. A more insecure world will require Britain to increase defence spending. The UK currently could not sustain major troop deployments in Ukraine, undermining the idea it could provide Kyiv with “ security guarantees ”. This is a dilemma faced across Europe, leading the EU to see deficit-financed defence spending as the answer. In contrast, Britain remains seemingly bound by economic orthodoxy, prioritising fiscal discipline over borrowing. The UK Treasury has apparently asked unprotected public services – excluding health, education and defe...

Jack Bennett, 39, given 28 weeks for message sent a day after criticism of minister by X owner Elon Musk A 39-year-old man has been jailed for sending an “utterly deplorable” email to safeguarding minister Jess Phillips, one day after she was criticised by X owner Elon Musk. Jack Bennett, from Seaton, Devon, pleaded guilty to sending malicious communications to three people between February 2024 and January 2025, including the Birmingham Yardley MP, at Exeter magistrates court on Tuesday. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/RfC9ZsN

Four alleged victims of sexual violence by self-styled ‘misogynist influencer’ react after reports US envoy asked for travel restrictions on Tate to be lifted Four alleged victims of sexual violence by Andrew Tate have urged the US to stay out of Romanian criminal proceedings, after reports the Trump administration had put pressure on authorities to lift travel restrictions against the self-styled “misogynist influencer”. The former professional kickboxer and his brother Tristan were arrested in 2022 and indicted in mid-2023, along with two Romanian women, on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ngYLzUi

In this back-to-the-future world, Russia is fully restored to the top table, while the US envoys outdo each other to praise Trump Europe live – latest on Ukraine talks Ukraine was laid out on the glossy conference table in Riyadh on Tuesday, not to be dissected on this occasion, but rather for an initial inspection by the Americans and Russians, who have reserved the carving knives for future use. No Ukrainians were present for these opening discussions on the country’s fate, or for the lunch of whole lamb and “symphony of scallops”, nor was anyone there representing the rest of the European continent. Whether they will be given a seat at the table before lines are drawn is far from clear. For now, they must wonder if they are among the “irritants” in US-Russia relations referred to by the US state department. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/1hbedmi

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Finborough theatre, London A symbolic, stripped-down staging fails to plumb the chilling emotional depths of this story about a Jewish man trying to flee Germany in the 1930s A wealthy Jewish businessman takes a series of Kafkaesque journeys on the German train system soon after Kristallnacht, driven from his home and in flight for his life. Otto Silbermann never makes it out of the country but – maddeningly – loops round and round, stuck in the trap of rising Nazi terror and afraid of every passenger he meets. He carries a suitcase of money, the last vestige of power he has in a homeland that has turned against Jews. The Passenger is based on Ulrich Alexander Boschwitz’s novel, which was written at blazing speed when Boschwitz, himself a German Jew, was just 23. His manuscript was discovered decades after his death in 1942, at the age of 27. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/952CkjX

Lawyers for Tucker say claims are ‘utterly baseless’ Kicker faced similar reports of misconduct in January Seven more massage therapists have accused Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker of sexually inappropriate conduct, the Baltimore Banner reported on Sunday. The Banner says a total of 16 massage therapists from eight Baltimore-area spas have now shared allegations of Tucker’s misconduct with the Banner. All the therapists said Tucker’s actions occurred between 2012 and 2016. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/QiIqBeK

Olympic champion’s event blends music and athletics Injured Hodgkinson hopeful of return to track in June After winning an Olympic 800m gold medal and the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award, Keely Hodgkinson set herself a bold new challenge: getting a whole new generation of fans into track and field. Foolish? Brave? Or visionary? The sceptics and gatekeepers certainly had their doubts. But the sight of hundreds of teenage and young girls dancing to Taylor Swift, Rosé and Bruno Mars, and Psy’s Gangnam Style in between races at her brand new event, the Keely Klassic, was quite the riposte. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/hxdquXH

The one-time defiance and solidarity of publications across the political aisle is strained as outlets cave to Trump’s threats In 1971, the Nixon administration asked for a court order to stop the New York Times from publishing further stories about the so-called Pentagon Papers – documents that showed the US government had escalated its Vietnam war efforts even as it was acknowledging privately that it could not win the war. A temporary restraining order – the first time the US press had been restrained prior to publication – was granted. Knowing she could be sued, jailed and could even have faced financial ruin if her own paper followed suit, the Washington Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham, decided that the Post, which had copies of some of the Pentagon Papers, would publish anyway. As immortalised in the 2017 film The Post , Graham – who had previously described herself as shy and insecure – took a deep breath and told her editors: “ Let’s go. Let’s publish! ” Continue reading...

Ukrainian leader appears reassured after Munich bilateral, having feared he could be bounced into peace negotiations Europe live – latest updates Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said during a meeting with the US vice-president, JD Vance, that his country wants “security guarantees” and a joint US-Ukrainian peace plan before he enters into any talks with Vladimir Putin to end the war in his country. Both men agreed after an hour-long discussion on Friday on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference that further talks were required to see if they could reach a common understanding. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/lfTKIdk

US vice-president told litany of tales of Europe’s rights infringements in speech to leaders at defence gathering JD Vance stuns Munich conference with blistering attack on Europe’s leaders In JD Vance’s confrontational and pugnacious speech at the Munich Security Conference, the vice-president ran through a series of examples to highlight his claims that Europe has gone off the rails. Here, we look at what he said – and whether it stacks up. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/wtr94Va

Experts, and children in violence-torn areas, see factors such as education and land ownership as keys to progress The Operation Restoration Christian school sits amid a line of patched-up housing blocks and streetside cookshops in Trench Town. In an area known as one of Kingston’s inner-city crime hotspots, it was founded as a haven for children caught up in gang violence. Inside, boys in smart khaki uniforms and girls in yellow shirts and pleated burgundy skirts sit chatting in groups. The classrooms are adorned with images of Jamaican heroes, such as Marcus Garvey and past prime ministers – a reminder to the children, says the principal, Robert Dixon, of what they might one day accomplish. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Ky1LDXt

Statements that there can be no negotiations without Kyiv ring hollow when the US president has just sidelined it Europe live – latest updates In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s incendiary call with Vladimir Putin, UK ministers and officials have had to do some extraordinary contortions. There is no greater priority in the UK’s foreign policy than keeping the volatile occupant of the White House on side. And that has meant over the past 24 hours that some pronouncements by the British government have seemed at odds with reality. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/unec640

The US president wants to end this war – and is happy to do so on Russian terms Ukraine and its European allies braced for the worst when Donald Trump won a second term. But the scale of his surrender to Russian aggression has still shocked them. On Wednesday, Vladimir Putin’s nearly three years of isolation by the west was broken by his 90-minute, “highly productive” conversation with Mr Trump. Joe Biden called the Russian president a murderous dictator; Mr Trump praised Mr Putin’s mounting aggression towards Ukraine as “genius” , days before the full-scale invasion of 2022. Now, two great powers plan negotiations – without regard for Ukraine, Europe or even Mr Trump’s own Ukraine envoy. Forget territorial integrity. The US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, described a return to Ukraine’s pre-2014 borders as “unrealistic” and “an illusory goal”. Forget Ukrainian membership of Nato: “I don’t think it’s practical … I’m OK with that,” Mr Trump declared. Forget US support: it will...

Temporary nationalisation isn’t guaranteed to deliver shock needed, but upgrading operations is priority lost in legal drama Will the high court allow Thames Water to load another £3bn of debt on to its already unsustainable pile of £19bn? Will the company appeal to the Competition and Markets Authority to try to bag bigger bill rises than the pre-inflation 35% permitted by the regulator? Does special administration, AKA temporary nationalisation, loom at the end of the end of next month? Answers to the first two questions should emerge in the next week. In the meantime, here comes a subplot that in other circumstances would be the main event: Ofwat will investigate whether Thames has breached its obligations by failing to deliver environmental upgrades on time. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/ftJ8ocY

Spending public money carefully is a virtue in itself, but running down the public sector can cause huge problems later on Slash-and-burn government is back in vogue. Whether it is Elon Musk and his engineers taking the axe to US agency spending, the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, wishing she had her own mini-Musk, or Sir Keir Starmer complaining about the “tepid bath of managed decline”, the complaint is that bureaucracy is bloated and needs to be cut down to size. We’ve heard such charges before. For some it is ideologically driven: they believe that the state is inherently inefficient and that only businesspeople know how to make money count. For others it is prompted by the expansion of government in response to crises ultimately caused by state undercapacity, not overreach. They were wheeled out in the 2010s, after rich states stepped in to save the banks and prop up the economies. Then came the Covid pandemic, in which rich states stepped in to save employees (th...

Herbivorous rodents built a dam in area officials were planning to make a barrier to shield Klabava River Beavers have saved Czech taxpayers $1m (£800m) by flooding a protected former army training site where a long-stalled dam was planned. Officials had hoped to build a barrier to shield the Klabava River and its population of critically endangered crayfish from sediment and acidic water spilling over from two nearby ponds. As a bonus it would turn a part of this protected area south of the capital, Prague, into a nature-rich wetland. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/muLNZlo

Ignore the issue? Praise the president? Blame the opposition? No one in the Commons has a clue how to deal with looming US tariffs on steel See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil. Hide under the duvet and hope the world forgets you exist. Up until now, the UK government’s strategy for dealing with President Trump has worked out pretty much OK. Wherever possible, do nothing to create waves. To be ignored is very heaven. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/wfY9SkD

Iya Patarkatsishvili and Dr Yevhen Hunyak sued property developer over infestation that ruined wine and clothes The daughter of a Georgian billionaire and her husband have been granted a refund after buying a £32m London mansion that was infested with moths. Iya Patarkatsishvili and Dr Yevhen Hunyak bought the early Victorian seven-bedroom Notting Hill home in May 2019. It boasted a pool, spa, gym, wine room, library, cinema, and a “snoring room” designed for peaceful sleep. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/YGBpn9N

Insiders say online forum soon turned ‘nasty’ and Tameside party members were notorious for ‘slagging off’ each other The brutally swift downfall of the health minister Andrew Gwynne and his Labour colleague Oliver Ryan was a story few in Westminster saw coming. Gwynne, 50, had managed to dodge most controversies during his near 20-year stint in parliament, though rose to brief fame for calling Boris Johnson a “pillock” on live television in 2017. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/WVXvA2a

Club’s record scorer nets in 3-1 win against Leicester Chelsea through to last eight with 4-1 rout of Everton Khadija Shaw made her return to action for Manchester City, scoring their third goal in a 3-1 win against Leicester, after she sat out their midweek League Cup semi-final against Arsenal to protect her mental wellbeing after racist and misogynistic abuse received online. City released a statement on Tuesday condemning the abuse of their record goalscorer after City’s 4-3 defeat by Arsenal in the Women’s Super League last weekend and announcing it was being investigated. On Thursday night it was confirmed Shaw had withdrawn from the squad for the League Cup tie against Arsenal. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Y9l5FHG

Patrick Mahomes can become the first quarterback to win four titles before turning 30 while Saquon Barkley has a shot at breaking the postseason rushing record A spectre of inevitability hangs over New Orleans in the final run-up to America’s high holy day. The Kansas City Chiefs, having spent the past half-decade as the National Football League’s most dominant force, are on the verge of something never before seen: a third successive Super Bowl title. Theirs is a kind of supremacy that feels almost unnatural in the modern NFL, an era defined by salary caps and roster churn and parity-by-design, where success is intended to be fleeting in the best interests of the revenue-sharing collective. Yet here they are again, winners of 17 games so far and one more from a three-peat no team in the six-decade Super Bowl era has even come within 60 minutes of accomplishing. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/b5viJ7Q

Supermodel alleges ‘concerted deception’ by fellow trustee kept her in dark over running of Fashion for Relief The supermodel Naomi Campbell has claimed she knew nothing of the extensive financial misconduct and mismanagement at the anti-poverty fashion charity she created and sat on the board of for more than five years. Campbell was disqualified from running a charity in May 2024, before the publication of a devastating watchdog report that revealed a trail of administrative chaos , misuse of charity funds, and chaotic record-keeping. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/i6v9Nue

Billions of pounds from energy bill payers to run out in 2027 but could be extended as soon as Monday Green campaigners fear ministers are poised to award billions of pounds in fresh subsidies to Drax power station, despite strong concerns that burning trees to produce electricity is bad for the environment. Drax burns wood to generate about 8% of the UK’s “green” power, and 4% of overall electricity. This is classed as “low-carbon” because the harvested trees are replaced by others that take up carbon from the atmosphere as they grow. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/DpRd94n

Player out of League Cup tie to protect mental wellbeing Club had condemned racist and misogynistic abuse Khadija Shaw withdrew from Manchester City’s League Cup semi-final against Arsenal on Thursday night to protect her mental wellbeing having been subjected to racist and misogynistic abuse following the WSL tie between the sides on Sunday. Shaw made her 100th appearance for City when she came on 66 minutes into the 4-3 loss to Arsenal at the Joie stadium. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/t7FQ1KT

Just look at the chaos Trump is causing in the Department of Education to understand the nature of his second term In retrospect, the weeks between the election and Donald Trump’s first executive order seem like a phoney war. Everyone knew that something bad was about to happen, but there was still a sense it might not be so bad. After all, Trump’s first four years had been less terrible than observers predicted. That was always a mistake: aspiring autocrats are most dangerous when they come to power a second time. But even those bracing for shocks could hardly have expected Trump to be so blatantly lawless and destructive once back in office. This approach – sabotage bureaucracies, violate the constitution, then see what happens – might now be applied to education . Trump’s choice of education secretary, pro-wrestling billionaire Linda McMahon, seemed positively harmless compared with figures like the walking talking threat to public health known as Robert F Kennedy Jr. Though she ...

Drivers raise safety concerns as projectiles ‘aimed at’ services close to Cambridge North station, damaging trains Transport police are investigating a series of incidents in which trains were struck by projectiles in Cambridge. Services operated by Greater Anglia and Great Northern were hit between Cambridge and Cambridge North stations, with reports of up to 20 carriages damaged. British Transport Police said there had been no reported injuries. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/gM9JdR0

Former nurse is serving 15 whole-life terms in prison yet an appeal is not guaranteed despite findings of expert panel Despite 14 leading experts concluding there was “no medical evidence” that Lucy Letby murdered babies, there is no guarantee that her case will be sent back to the court of appeal – let alone quickly. Letby’s fate now sits with the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), the miscarriage of justice body that has the power to refer convictions back for appeal, and what the outcome will be remains uncertain. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/iI07OCa

There’s no hiding from a 5% fall in operating profit at owner Diageo in the second half of 2024, Trump trade policy or not Donald Trump’s on-off tariffs are at least good for one thing: they provide struggling managements with a handy excuse to ditch their sales forecasts. Diageo, the Guinness, Johnnie Walker and Smirnoff combo, was able to cite “the current macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty” – exhibit A being the possible US tariffs on Canada and Mexico – as it dropped its guidance for growth . What that reasonable-sounding explanation misses, however, is that nobody believed Diageo’s old forecasts anyway – and they hadn’t for a long time before Trump re-entered the White House. The company’s longstanding “medium-term” range of 5% to 7% for organic sales growth was achieved in 2022-23, but it has looked fanciful ever since the newish chief executive, Debra Crew, issued a thumping profits warning in November 2023 . Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/IbpB...

Chair Jürgen Maier also refused to put a date on when the agency would bring down energy bills It could take 20 years for GB Energy to meet its pledge to employ 1,000 people, its chair acknowledged on Monday. Jürgen Maier also refused to put a date on when it would bring down energy bills. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/t0x69BJ

The PM and Nato’s secretary general were in perfect agreement that the orange manchild is a sensible, super-smart genius Don’t mention the trade war. Don’t mention anything much, come to think of it. Stick to generalised soundbites. Careless talk costs lives. Keir Starmer’s trip to Brussels to meet EU leaders was fraught with danger. Don’t say anything too complimentary about the EU as all the Brexiters will go mad and shout “betrayal”. Don’t sound too hostile about the EU as remainers will also be up in arms. Try to find the tricky balance of somewhere in between. A politeness that lands the right side of indifference. Then there’s the US to worry about. How to cope with the orange manchild. Too much independence of thought and you might feel the full weight of trade tariffs. Time to bury your self-worth and go into full-fawning mode. Few people had ever come unstuck by telling Donald Trump he was an undiscovered genius. No one said that being prime minister was going to be easy. Or...

Epic drama takes top prize, Ralph Fiennes and Marianne Jean-Baptiste win best actors and RaMell Ross best director The Brutalist, Brady Corbet’s three-and-a-half-hour drama about the treatment of a brilliant Hungarian postmodern architect in the US after the second world war, has taken best picture at the London Critics’ Circle awards. The film , which stars Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones and Guy Pearce, missed out on other prizes, however, with best director going to RaMell Ross for his much-acclaimed but little seen Colson Whitehead adaptation Nickel Boys , which also won the technical achievement prize for Jomo Fray’s cinematography. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/aOovgsb

Home fans irate after Liverpool awarded first-half penalty Visiting goalkeeper makes vital saves to keep clean sheet “Having Mo Salah definitely helps,” said Arne Slot after the Premier League’s leading goalscorer notched twice at Bournemouth to stretch Liverpool’s lead in the title race as the Egyptian continued to write his name in the record books. A 2-0 win at the Vitality left Arsenal with a deficit of nine points to bridge. “If you want to win here, maybe you need a bit of luck as well, because the margins are so small,” said Slot. Andoni Iraola’s team had previously beaten Manchester City, Arsenal and, last week, Nottingham Forest 5-0 but Liverpool forged on where their rivals had slipped. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/RwECvYN

Lord Foulkes believes rules must change after series of scandals involving Prince Andrew Rules banning scrutiny of the royal family in parliament must be changed in light of the continuing scandals about Prince Andrew, a Labour peer has said. Lord Foulkes is seeking a meeting this week with the clerk of the ­parliaments Simon Burton, who is head of the House of Lords administration, to discuss what Foulkes says is a growing list of concerns about the activities of the royal family. Foulkes, a junior minister under Tony Blair, said he has been refused permission to table a question ­proposing a ­public register of royal interests. Continue reading... from The Guardian https://ift.tt/Fg7dNCt

The loss of the young figure skaters whose lives were cut tragically short in the American Eagle flight 5342 crash has ripped a hole in the tightly knit world of figure skating Everyone agreed it was the best camp they’d ever been to. The most fun. There was an interpretive dance class. Successful jump drills were met with high-fives all around. On the day of the Chinese new year, the kids all went out for hot pot. And parents and coaches, regardless of athlete rivalries, intermingled in camaraderie; when one parent noticed a coach’s voice grow hoarse, they pulled a ginger shot from out of their purse, handing it to her with a smile. National development camps, such as the one that took place following the US figure skating championships in Wichita last week, are held for the highest performing juvenile, intermediate and novice skaters. The young athletes with the greatest potential are offered this chance to watch the stars of their sport compete, and then learn from some of the mos...