Three Kingston schools were placed in a hold and secure Monday morning following a break and enter in the area of Alfred Crescent and Barbara Avenue, in the Kingscourt neighbourhood. Read More
Judgment finds systems designed to protect against inhuman and degrading treatment ‘unlawfully’ failing for years
The Home Office has failed to protect vulnerable migrants it locks up in detention centres, a high court judge has ruled.
Mrs Justice Jefford found an unlawful failure of the “systems” designed to protect immigration detainees from inhuman and degrading treatment under article 3 of the European convention on human rights and that these failings have been going on for years. The judgment could affect thousands of migrants who are at risk behind bars.
Critics fear country will be drawn into Trump’s pressure campaign against Maduro after radar installed in Tobago
The government of Trinidad and Tobago has announced that it will allow the US military access to its airports in coming weeks as tensions build between the US and Venezuela.
The announcement follows the recent installation of a radar system at the airport in Tobago. The Caribbean country’s government has said the radar is being used to fight local crime, and that the small nation would not be used as a launchpad to attack any other country.
Bryony Worthington says the media should not be pushing a western attitude to climate strategies to the detriment of African nations. Plus letters from Prof Hugh Hunt, Dr Portia Adade Williams and Angela Churie Kallhauge
Your editorial (8 December) says that it is “hard to disagree” with calls to ban research into climate interventions or geoengineering solutions, citing well-worn tropes about a “termination shock” scenario and a dislike of private-sector involvement in the field. The pretext for forming this opinion – and claiming it represents all of Africa – appears to be the brief reference in a joint statement earlier this year from the African environmental ministers.
I can’t help feeling that the Guardian is being played. Every advance in human technology elicits cries from a vocal few that a line must be drawn that cannot be crossed. Usually seeded in the corridors of western NGOs, legitimate concerns are whipped up into fearmongering and luddism, with the goal of holding back scientific inquiry.
Guardian readers respond to a report by the homelessness charity Crisis and our editorial
Your editorial (The Guardian view on England’s social housing system: failing the very people it was built for, 10 December) claims that “social homes were supposed to be for those who couldn’t afford private rents”. That’s not so. Most council estates, such as Becontree and Harold Hill, were built following the first and second world wars to house ordinary working families when decent housing was in dire straits. Privately rented properties were often of poor quality and devoid of basic amenities.
The governments then believed it imperative to house ordinary families in good-quality modern housing. Relying on private landlords and precarious tenancies was seen practically as an insult to the nation’s people, and even financially well-off council tenants could rest assured that their tenancy was not going to be terminated.
We shouldn’t be surprised that teenagers are turning to tools such as ChatGPT in this way. NHS waiting lists are rising, and one in five young people are living with a mental health condition. It is unacceptable that young people who require support for their mental health are unable to access the services they need, before they reach crisis point.
William Schabas on the conviction of two officers of a German submarine of ‘an offence against the law of nations’ during the first world war
Sidney Blumenthal referred to a 1945 war crimes judgment on the killing of seamen who had survived an attack at sea during the second world war (Does Pete Hegseth even believe that war crimes exist?, 8 December). There is an even earlier case. In a trial held by a German court pursuant to the treaty of Versailles (1919), two officers of U-86 were convicted of “an offence against the law of nations” for attacking survivors after the sinking of a Canadian hospital ship, the Llandovery Castle, off the coast of Ireland in the final months of the first world war. The judges said the rule against such attacks was “simple” and “universally known”. They rejected the defence argument that the officers were following orders of the submarine’s captain. They said such an order was manifestly unlawful. The precedent is still cited today and is codified in the Rome statute of the international criminal court. William Schabas Professor of international law, Middlesex University
Prime minister reiterates support for Kyiv as it comes under mounting US pressure to sign up to Trump-backed plan
A peace deal between Russia and Ukraine will fail unless it is backed up by “robust” security guarantees from western powers, the UK prime minister has said.
Keir Starmer, speaking ahead of talks with European leaders in Berlin, told MPs on Monday he was opposed to any agreement that did not include sufficient military guarantees for Ukraine, as Kyiv comes under mounting US pressure to sign up to a Trump-backed plan.
Nick Reiner has been arrested on suspicion of murder following the deaths of his parents, actor-director Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, according to the Los Angeles police chief, Jim McDonnell.
Nick, 32, was taken into custody Sunday night, and his bail was set $4m, jail records show.
There is a hint of feudalism about the way the unelected body has treated those who love the track like its serfs
It has taken the better part of a decade but the Jockey Club, the private, self-appointed body that has wielded immense power in racing for nearly 300 years, seems poised to realise its long-standing ambition to see one of the sport’s most historic racecourses bulldozed for housing. If the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day is on your racing bucket list, next week’s renewal might be one of the final chances to tick it off.
That, sadly, is the only conclusion to be drawn from what was almost a throwaway comment by Jim Mullen, the Jockey Club’s new chief executive, to the Racing Post’s industry editor, Bill Barber, over the weekend.
Ofqual issues fines over English proficiency test that some candidates sat at home, A-level Chinese and GCSE English
One of the world’s biggest providers of educational services has been fined more than £2m for a range of serious breaches related to examination standards that could have affected tens of thousands of students.
Pearson, a FTSE 100-listed company, was hit by financial penalties of £750,000 for each of two cases and £505,000 for a third by Ofqual, the exams regulator. The cases concerned GCSE English language exams, A-level spoken Chinese and an online English proficiency test.
Menzies apologises saying ‘it was the wrong thing to do’
Cameron Menzies saw red and punched the table in frustration following his 3-2 defeat by Charlie Manby in the first round of the World Darts Championship.
Scot Menzies led twice in the game as he took the opening set before going 2-1 up, but the 20-year-old from Huddersfield fought back to take it into a deciding set before he finally pinned double four, after both players missed several darts at double.
Will the employment rights bill be passed by Christmas? Well, the chances are slightly improved after six leading business groups published a temperature-lowering letter on Monday that said parliament, which in this instance means the blockers in the House of Lords, should get on with it.
The employers, note, are still unhappy about the issue that triggered the most recent revolt by Conservative peers and a few cross-benchers: the removal of a cap on compensation claims for unfair dismissal. But they’re more worried that further delays would jeopardise their negotiating victory last month, namely the government’s U-turn on rights guaranteeing workers protection against unfair dismissal from day one of employment. A six-month qualifying period was adopted instead, with the blessing of the TUC, which was similarly motivated by trying to get the bill over the line quickly.
Bus and train initiative comes as government struggles to survive corruption and sexual harassment allegations
Spain’s socialist-led government is to launch a national public transport pass that will allow people to travel anywhere in the country by bus or train for a flat monthly fee of €60 (£52.70).
The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, unveiled the initiative on Monday, saying it would come into effect in the second half of January and was intended “to change the way Spaniards understand and use public transport for ever”.
Kingston Health Sciences Centre and its Research Institute have been recognized as one of Canada’s top 40 research hospitals, according to a ranking released by Research InfoSource. Read More
Ian Murray says he has still not been given an explanation for his demotion to technology minister
The former Scottish secretary Ian Murray has hit out at the prime minister for his “humiliating” sacking, despite deciding to remain a minister in the government.
In a candid interview Murray said he had felt underappreciated in his cabinet role, and that he had been in two minds whether to accept his current position as technology minister.
We can still call off this week’s strike – if the health secretary meaningfully addresses job shortages, real-terms pay cuts and the ongoing exodus
Dr Jack Fletcher is chair of the British Medical Association’s UK resident doctors committee
Resident doctors in England have voted overwhelmingly to go ahead with this week’s planned strike, because the government’s latest offer fails to address the medical jobs crisis and does nothing to stem the exodus of medics from this country.
Despite the government spin, this offer will not lead to more doctors in our NHS. It makes a start, but the proposed increase of specialty training posts over the next three years, from the 1,000 extra announced in the 10-year health plan to 4,000, simply repurposes “locally employed doctors”, rather than increasing capacity. It will not mean more doctors on the shop floor of our A&E departments – it’s just shuffling the deck chairs on a sinking ship.
Dr Jack Fletcher is an acute medicine doctor working in the north-east of England and chair of the British Medical Association’s UK resident doctors committee
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Reflecting on chaos of early pandemic, former chancellor said it was ‘acutely stressful’ to see rising interest bill on government bonds
Rishi Sunak was concerned about the UK’s ability to fund itself in March 2020 after the government announced rescue measures costing tens of billions of pounds to prevent mass redundancies, the Covid-19 pandemic inquiry has heard.
The former prime minister, who was chancellor when the first UK lockdown was announced, said he feared foreign investors had become more concerned about Britain’s ability to pay its way than other countries in a similar situation.
FBI director said his agency helped detain ‘person of interest’ in Brown shooting – who was released hours later
Kash Patel, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations, is once again facing criticism for rushing to social media to tout his agency’s work on tracking down a person of interest in a shooting prematurely.
After a shooter killed two and injured nine at Brown University on Saturday, Patel, a lawyer and rightwing commentator before his job in the administration, posted on X that his agency had helped detain a “person of interest in a hotel room” in Coventry, Rhode Island, acting off a lead from the Providence police.
The Salt Path author has rejected new accusations from a niece alleging she took money from relatives, describing the claims as part of a ‘false narrative’ about her life
Raynor Winn, the author of The Salt Path, has denied fresh allegations that she stole money from members of her family, describing the claims as part of a “false narrative” about her life.
The writer responded after her niece alleged that Winn had written a letter more than a decade ago setting out details of taking money from her mother and from her parents-in-law. Winn has strongly denied the allegations and said she did not write the letter.
Some potential first-time buyer groups ‘could be better served’, regulator says in review
Freelancers and gig economy workers could enjoy more flexibility over how and when they pay their mortgage under plans designed to help more people get on the property ladder.
A shake-up of the rules so people whose income is “variable or irregular” could be freed up from having to make monthly mortgage payments is one of a number of changes being considered by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) that could make it easier for millions of “underserved” UK consumers to get a home loan.
How do you sell turkey and all the luxury trimmings when the world’s in chaos and the cost of living crisis continues? It’s no surprise that this year’s adverts are a complicated lot
There can’t be anyone skirting closer to burnout, more deserving of our sympathy and complicated respect, than the people who conceive Christmas ads. The goal is straightforward: make people feel good about Christmas so that they spend more than they otherwise might. Amp up the love and affection of the season; play down the labour (emotional and otherwise); make everyone feel a bit hungrier and thirstier – job done.
This must be at least the fifth year, though, that the world looks so perilous, so fraught and vexed, so sad and chaotic, that what’s an honest supermarket to do? The retailers weathered the first Covid Christmas, when demand for nut multipacks and pigs in blankets was poignantly low; then they weathered Christmas 2021, when restrictions came back so unexpectedly that it wasn’t unusual for a household to have 14 times as much turkey as they could possibly eat.
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