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Scientists not backing Covid jabs for 12 to 15-year-olds - BBC News
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2021-09-03
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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But 200,000 extra children with underlying conditions will now be eligible for two doses.
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Health
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The UK's vaccine advisory body has refused to give the green light to vaccinating healthy children aged 12-15 years on health grounds alone.
The JCVI said children were at such a low risk from the virus that jabs would offer only a marginal benefit.
The UK's four chief medical officers have now been asked to have the final say, and to consider the wider impact on schools and society.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said a decision would be made shortly.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation did advise widening the existing vaccine programme to include an extra 200,000 teenagers with specific underlying conditions.
Doctors identified that children with chronic heart, lung and liver conditions were at much higher risk of Covid than healthy children.
The decision not to recommend the vaccine to all healthy children was based on concern over an extremely rare side effect of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines which causes heart inflammation, and can lead to palpitations and chest pain.
Data from the US, where millions of young teenagers have been vaccinated, suggests there are 60 cases of the heart condition for every million second doses given to 12 to 17-year-old boys (compared to eight in one million girls).
France, Italy, Israel and Ireland are also offering the vaccine to all children in this age group.
But as children are at such low risk from the virus, the JCVI decided that vaccination would offer only "marginal gain" and, therefore, there was "insufficient" evidence to offer mass vaccination to this age group.
The JCVI said it was difficult to factor in long Covid in its advice because of the uncertainty over how common it is in children, although it appears to be less prevalent than in adults.
The vaccine advisers have been under huge pressure.
Ministers have let it be known they are very keen on getting this age group vaccinated - both through their public pronouncements and privately behind the scenes.
This has caused frustration among JCVI members - with some complaining about the habit of government officials sitting in on meetings.
Despite this, the JCVI has stood firm. Taking into account the impact on school disruption might make a difference.
But even then it's not clear-cut. Vaccinating kids will cause disruption in itself, with children having to leave class to get jabbed and then maybe needing time off to recover from the common side effects, such as fever.
Another argument put forward is that it could help reduce the wider spread of the virus - although encouraging the 6 million adults who have not even taken up the offer a jab yet could arguably make more of a difference.
Clearly though it would have some impact - although the emergence of the Delta variant means the vaccines offer less protection against infection than they did previously.
What's more, around half of children in this age group are thought to have had Covid, providing them with natural immunity anyway.
Prof Wei Shen Lim, chairman of Covid immunisation for the JCVI said it was "taking a precautionary approach".
"The margin of benefit is considered too small to support universal Covid-19 vaccination for this age group at this time.
"The committee will continue to review safety data as they emerge," he added.
Paediatricians say that healthy children with Covid end up in intensive care at a rate of two in one million, but this rises to 100 in one million for children with certain health problems.
As a result, the JCVI's advice is that a larger group of at-risk children aged 12 to 15 should be offered a vaccine.
They include children with the following conditions:
Children with poorly-controlled asthma and other respiratory conditions which can result in severe illness from Covid should also be offered the vaccine, the JCVI said.
A group of 150,000 children with conditions such as severe neurodisabilities, Down's syndrome and severely weakened immune systems as well as those living with vulnerable adults are already eligible.
There are three million children in total in this age group across the UK.
Mr Javid said he had written to the chief medical officers in the UK's four nations to ask them to consider the vaccination of all 12-15 year olds "from a broader perspective".
They will look at the effects of Covid on children's education and pupil absences from school, which the JCVI is not qualified to consider.
Senior leaders in clinical and public health will be involved in the discussions and help to inform a final decision on a rollout to all 12-15 year olds.
"We will then consider the advice, building on the advice from the JCVI, before making a decision shortly," Mr Javid said.
On Friday, 42,076 cases of coronavirus were reported in the UK and 121 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.
What questions do you have about the decision not to recommend vaccination for healthy children aged 12-15 years on health grounds?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58438669
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news_health-58438669
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Ayia Napa: Woman appeals against conviction for false rape claim - BBC News
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2021-09-03
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The woman challenges her conviction for making a false report of an attack by 12 men in a hotel room.
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Derby
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The woman covered her face as she arrived at court in January 2020
A British woman who reported being gang-raped in Cyprus hopes to have her conviction for lying about the attack overturned.
The woman, then 19, told Cypriot police she had been raped by a group of 12 Israeli men in Ayia Napa in July 2019.
The Derbyshire teenager retracted the allegation after being held without a lawyer, and was then tried and convicted of causing public mischief.
Her appeal will now be heard by the Cypriot Supreme Court on 16 September.
If the conviction is not overturned her legal team intends to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
"She wants to get on with life, but for her to get on with life she needs to get this conviction overturned," said barrister Michael Polak, who is helping the woman in his role as director of the law firm Justice Abroad.
"This will be on her record. It means any time she applies to join an association or for a job she will be thinking back to this and what's happened to her.
"So it's very important to her, even though she's not in prison now, she's back in the United Kingdom, it's very important for her to overturn the conviction for that reason."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Protesters say they believe the British woman's rape claim
Her case outraged women's rights groups, who protested outside court ahead of the sentencing in January 2020.
Judge Michalis Papathanasiou gave the teenager a four-month suspended sentence, which meant she could return to the UK.
She will not have to return to Cyprus for the appeal hearing.
"We will be arguing that the conviction is unsafe for a number of reasons and we are hoping the Supreme Court will set aside the conviction," said Mr Polak.
One of these arguments will be that the judge did not consider evidence the woman really was raped.
"For public mischief you need to be making a false allegation and every time we brought forward evidence that the rape took place he would shout at our female Cypriot lawyers and say 'this is not a rape trial, this is not a rape trial'," said Mr Polak.
"He did it about seven times during the trial process, so in effect he shut out any consideration that the rape had taken place, which meant he didn't properly consider all the elements of the offence."
The woman's mother (left), shown leaving court in December 2019, said her daughter was prevented from defending the case properly
The woman's mother said getting the conviction overturned would be "the first step for my daughter reclaiming her life".
"Imagine being raped then imprisoned because the authorities say you lied, after refusing to hear evidence to the contrary, then having to relive this each time you apply for a job or training course," she said.
"This is a terrible burden for my daughter, having such a terrible thing happen to her and then carrying a conviction against her name for life."
She said it was "difficult to be optimistic about the outcome of the appeal" given their experience of the courts in Cyprus.
"Our daughter was prevented from defending the case properly because of the trial court's unwillingness to hear evidence of the serious sexual offences that she was subjected to," she said.
"If this is understood then we have some hope that the legal minds in the Cypriot Supreme Court should acquit."
If that does not happen, she said they would "take this matter to the European Court where we are certain that the justice will ultimately prevail".
Barrister Michael Polak, director of Justice Abroad, said he would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary
Another argument relates to the woman retracting the rape claim, which her lawyers say she did under pressure from police.
"She was there for almost seven hours without a lawyer, without her parents," said Mr Polak.
"European law is particularly strong on this. There's a case against Cyprus where a young teenager was taken into a police station in Limassol and a confession was taken from him with no lawyer.
"So in European law, the European Court of Human Rights has already decided that issue against Cyprus, and so we hope the Supreme Court will take account of that."
Mr Polak said the woman would ultimately like the men involved to be prosecuted, but for now her legal team is concentrating on getting her conviction overturned.
"It was a really horrendous experience for her and she, of course, would like to see justice done in this case," he said.
"The most important thing for the moment is to get the conviction overturned so she doesn't have to carry it around for the rest of her life.
"We hope the Cypriot Supreme Court will make the right decision when we go there in a few weeks, and we hope we don't have to take it all the way up to the European Court of Human Rights."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-58436404
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news_uk-england-derbyshire-58436404
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Cyprus gang rape case: Woman appeals against conviction for lying - BBC News
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2021-09-17
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Her legal team says she retracted the rape allegation while under extreme pressure from police.
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Derby
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The woman covered her face as she arrived at a previous hearing in January 2020
A British woman who reported being gang-raped in Cyprus has appealed against her conviction for lying about the attack.
Her legal team told the Cypriot Supreme Court that her statement retracting the gang rape allegation was unreliable because of how it was obtained.
She was detained for more than six hours, they said, with no access to a lawyer or translator, and placed under extreme pressure.
The woman, who is 21 and from Derbyshire, originally told Cypriot police she had been raped by a group of 12 Israeli men and boys in Ayia Napa in July 2019.
After retracting the allegation she was then tried and convicted of causing public mischief.
She was given a four-month suspended sentence in January 2020, which meant she could return to the UK.
She did not attend the two-hour appeal hearing, which was conducted in Greek in front of a panel of three judges.
There was no ruling on the appeal today, and it could take as long as six months.
Activists held up banners as they demonstrated outside the Supreme Court in Nicosia
Speaking after the hearing, the woman's English barrister, Lewis Power QC, said: "This is the biggest case here in the last decade beyond a shadow of a doubt and the world is watching.
"It is so important for young women across the world. This case is a beacon."
Mr Power said he had spoken to the woman and her mother, who were "back in the UK watching from afar".
"She's bearing up really well. She is getting on with her life at university," he said.
"She is very anxious about the result but she is fairly upbeat and determined that this won't ruin her life."
Her case has attracted widespread publicity and dozens of protesters gathered outside the court building for the appeal hearing.
As they banged drums, chanted and clapped their hands, some held up banners reading "End rape culture" and "I believe her".
Activists chanted outside the Supreme Court as the appeal hearing was held
Adamos Demosthenous, representing the Cyprus attorney general, had argued the appeal should not be heard because the woman had criticised the trial judge in an ITV documentary, but the court ruled against the submission and heard the arguments.
The woman's lawyers said the retraction statement, which formed the basis of the prosecution case, should never have been admitted into evidence.
They said as well as being placed under pressure with no lawyer or translator, she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time as a result of the rape.
They also argued the retraction statement was not written by a native English speaker.
Her Cypriot lawyer, Nicoletta Charalambidou, said the lower court started from the position that there was no rape and had misunderstood the offence of public mischief, which requires a false statement of a make-believe crime.
She said the trial judge, Michalis Papathanasiou, also did not allow the defendant to talk about the alleged rape, repeatedly saying: "This is not a rape trial."
Lewis Power QC (left) and Michael Polak of Justice Abroad spoke to media outside court
If the conviction is not overturned her legal team intends to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
After the hearing, Mr Power said: "I think it was a very fruitful hearing where the court asked very poignant questions, considered the legal arguments and identified the points which will ultimately decide this appeal.
"We cannot pre-empt the decision of the court, but we were glad to see the court had given much thought and considerable consideration to a very, very difficult case."
Michael Polak from Justice Abroad, which has been helping the woman, added: "Without wanting to pre-judge the decision of the Supreme Court, we feel we were happy with the way proceedings went today and the way the judges engaged with our arguments."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-58583251
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news_uk-england-derbyshire-58583251
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Prince Philip's will to be secret for 90 years - BBC News
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2021-09-17
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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A judge says he made the ruling, in line with other royal deaths, to protect the Queen's dignity.
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UK
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The Duke of Edinburgh's will is to remain secret for at least 90 years to protect the "dignity and standing" of the Queen, the High Court has ruled.
It has been convention for over a century that, after the death of a senior member of the Royal Family, the courts are asked to seal their wills.
It means that, unlike most wills granted probate, it will not be open to public inspection.
There will be a private process in 90 years to decide if it can be unsealed.
The hearing into the application to seal the will was also held in private in July by Sir Andrew McFarlane, the most senior judge in the family courts.
He heard arguments from lawyers representing the duke's estate and the attorney general, the government's chief legal adviser, and published his ruling on Thursday.
Sir Andrew said that as president of the Family Division of the High Court, he is the custodian of a safe containing more than 30 envelopes, each containing the sealed will of a dead member of the Royal Family.
And for the first time in more than 100 years, he set out a process by which those wills could be made public.
Sir Andrew said: "I have held that, because of the constitutional position of the Sovereign, it is appropriate to have a special practice in relation to royal wills.
"There is a need to enhance the protection afforded to truly private aspects of the lives of this limited group of individuals in order to maintain the dignity of the Sovereign and close members of her family."
The judge said he had not seen Prince Philip's will or been told anything of its contents, other than the date of its execution and the identity of the appointed executor.
He said he decided to hold the hearing in private because it would be likely to generate "very significant publicity and conjecture" that would "defeat the purpose of the application".
"I accepted the submission that, whilst there may be public curiosity as to the private arrangements that a member of the Royal Family may choose to make in their will, there is no true public interest in the public knowing this wholly private information," he said.
Prince Francis of Teck, brother of Queen Mary, was the first royal whose will was sealed on his death
He said there was no legal reason for any representations from media organisations because the public interest was represented by the attorney general.
Lawyers for Philip's estate argued that news of the hearing and the application "might generate wholly unfounded conjecture" which would be "deeply intrusive" for the Queen and the Royal Family.
Detailing the history of previous decisions, Sir Andrew said the first family member whose will was sealed by the court was Prince Francis of Teck, the younger brother of Queen Mary, who died in 1910.
According to the legal and royal expert Michael L Nash, author of Royal Wills in Britain from 1509 to 2008, the new legal mechanism was devised after Prince Francis left valuable emeralds prized by Queen Mary to his mistress, the Countess of Kilmorey.
An envelope containing Prince Francis's will resides in the safe held by Sir Andrew, with the most recent additions being those of the late Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, the Queen's sister, who died in 2002.
In 2007, a man claiming to be the illegitimate child of Princess Margaret, Robert Andrew Brown, applied to unseal the wills of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret but his claim was struck out as "vexatious and an abuse of process".
However, Sir Andrew amended previous orders, which had sealed royal wills indefinitely, so that they can be inspected privately 90 years after probate was granted.
The "grant of probate" is an order that allows someone to distribute a deceased person's assets according to their wishes, and normally marks the point where person's will becomes a public document.
Wills by the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret are among those being held in a safe
Sir Andrew said after 90 years each royal will would be opened and examined by the monarch's private solicitor, the keeper of the Royal Archives, the attorney general and by any personal representatives of the dead person who may still be available.
They will decide whether the will may be made public at that stage, but Sir Andrew said some royal wills may never be published, even in part.
The unsealing should be conducted by a professional archivist to ensure the documents and seals are properly preserved. Further details of the process will be decided by the court before it begins to unseal the first of the wills.
The Queen's solicitor and the attorney general argued that the wills should be sealed for 125 years, but Sir Andrew said that 90 years was "proportionate and sufficient" and would mean the risk of publication intruding on the private lives of royals would be substantially reduced.
Sir Andrew said he intends to publish an annex listing the names on the 30 envelopes in his safe, but added that he will not do so until any potential appeal against his judgement has been able to run its course.
One name which will not feature is that of Diana, Princess of Wales. Unlike other members of the Royal Family, her will was published after her death in 1997, revealing that the majority of her fortune was being held in trust for her sons until they reached the age of 25.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-58587147
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news_uk-58587147
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Social care: Arguments ahead as PM sets out overhaul of sector - BBC News
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2021-09-07
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Boris Johnson makes his first big move of the political season, with only ragged support from his MPs.
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UK Politics
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As Westminster has been cranking up for a busy autumn, so too has frantic and fraught speculation about the government's first big move of the political season.
At around noon on Tuesday, Boris Johnson will unveil his plan to "fix" the system in England that looks after some of the most vulnerable people in society.
It will come more than two years, an election, and a pandemic after he first promised to do so.
Despite thousands of column inches and hours and hours of earnest public debate already, there is a huge amount that we don't know about what will be on offer.
And as I write on Monday evening, most of the cabinet is not fully in the loop. Let's start though with what we do expect.
The government is expected to announce an increase in National Insurance, the tax paid by workers and employers, likely of 1.25%, to raise billions of pounds to pay for helping the NHS catch up with lost time and treatment after the pandemic, and to help improve and pay for social care in England.
I'm told the cash raised, potentially over £12 billion, will be ring-fenced somehow, targeted initially at the health service itself then will switch to social care after three years.
Expect also promises of changes to how the system works, including limiting the amount that families have to pay for care if need it.
As I wrote before the summer, for months it's been likely that the plan would be based on reforms put forward by Sir Andrew Dilnot years ago, not least because the legislation required is also on the statute book.
The social care changes do relate to the system in England, because Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have different mechanisms when it comes to its provision.
But if extra National Insurance income is spent in the way we'd expect, there will be more money for every part of the UK too.
It's likely there would have to be a specific vote in Parliament to set the level of the limit, or "cap" for families in England.
But the Dilnot framework already exists, which reduces the need for months of wrangling or Commons complications.
Indeed, whispers today suggest that ministers might push for a vote sooner rather than later on the increase to NI, potentially branded as the "Health and Social Care Levy".
And by tying the long-term changes to the care system to extra cash the NHS says it needs because of the pandemic, it could make it harder for critics to oppose the plan.
The care system is facing growing demands as a result of an ageing UK population
I'm told the proposals include increasing current hospital capacity to 110% of its current level, to help make up for lost time and treatments during the pandemic.
It's potentially one thing for an angry MP to argue against a costly and complicated change to the social care system. It's quite another to vote against extra money for the health service.
We also know that Boris Johnson is willing to break a manifesto pledge by raising National Insurance, and up for going ahead with a tax rise that proportionately hits the young and less wealthy harder than the richer and older generation.
One minister suggested that unfairness would be balanced out with the chancellor's expected ditching of the so-called triple lock that protects the level of pension payments.
That might help government ministers with their script, but it doesn't smooth the edges of what many see as a blunt increase to a tax paid by millions.
And it is abundantly clear that many Conservatives, including Cabinet ministers, are very unhappy with the proposed tax increase.
That's not just because it breaks the promise in their 2019 election manifesto, once seen as politically sacred documents, not to raise NI.
But also because the details of the reforms that are meant to take place alongside it are sketchy.
Which takes us to what we don't know - a lot.
First, we don't know what kind of changes will be made to the care sector yet.
What about the workforce? What about local authorities' role? What will the limits be on what families have to pay for care?
And what about so called "hotel" costs, for food and accommodation in residential care?
Crucially, what kind of guarantee will there be that the huge amount of extra cash raised will actually go to the NHS and then on to social care, when it's a rise in general taxation?
What will happen to the money due to social care in three years' time if the NHS comes to believe that it actually needs to keep the extra finances?
How much extra will the NHS itself, and social care providers, have to stump up in extra NI themselves? As a huge employer, the NHS could find itself on the hook for hundreds of millions of pounds.
When the details of the plan - named "A Build Back Better Plan for the NHS and Social Care," I'm told (what else, I hear you cry) - emerge in black and white at lunchtime on Tuesday, it's likely more questions will emerge in response.
There will be noise. There are arguments ahead. The opposition parties are bristling.
The prime minister may receive only ragged support from his party for the plan.
But Boris Johnson has had enough of answering "wait and see" when asked for his plan on social care, and is unwilling to go into the next election with this long-running dilemma not resolved.
• None Will the National Insurance cut leave me better off?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58469879
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news_uk-politics-58469879
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Analysis: A very significant tax rise - BBC News
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2021-09-07
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Pensioners will have social care certainty, but workers and work will be taxed.
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Business
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This is a very significant tax rise, with little precedent outside of a Budget.
It doesn't just break a manifesto promise, it drives a JCB through it, with £11.4bn a year in extra taxes that were the subject of a guarantee that they would not go up.
The March Budget of this year was already the most significant tax-raising Budget since 1993.
But a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic recession and associated long-lasting damage to the NHS do give some rationale for thinking about how appropriate promises are made in very different circumstances.
Among workers, the money will be raised in a "progressive fashion" - unlike say a VAT rise - with the highest earners paying the most.
However, some very low earners, including some on the cusp of losing £1,000 in annual universal credit payments, will face higher tax bills of £100.
And it is pretty clear that one of the rationales here is to be able to present a National Insurance increase of 1.25% as lower than the 2% rise in income tax that would have been required to raise such funds.
The argument is almost entirely presentational and relies on a general public lack of familiarity with how National Insurance works.
The tax rise on working is effectively 2.5%, with the direct burden shared between workers and their bosses.
As the Treasury acknowledges, however, firms may reduce wages, or raise prices to pay the extra bill.
So this is the big choice the government has made.
The prize is that pensioners can have certainty about the cost of social care, and the least well off will have it paid for.
Tax could have been raised on, for example, the inflating value of homes, especially at the point of their being inherited.
The social care cost could have been spread more evenly on all forms of income, from savings to pensions, through income taxes.
Instead, with some tweaks to apply it to those over the age of 66 from 2023, it will go on workers and work.
It used to be called a "jobs tax". The hope is by earmarking it for health and care and separating out this levy on all tax bills, that the public won't mind.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58457136
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news_business-58457136
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Gabby Petito: Body found in Wyoming is missing 'van life' blogger - BBC News
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2021-09-22
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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A coroner says the 22-year-old's death was a homicide but gives no details as to how she died.
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US & Canada
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The FBI has confirmed that a body found inside a Wyoming national park on Sunday belongs to the missing "van life" blogger Gabby Petito.
A coroner made an initial finding that her death was homicide but gave no indication as to how she died.
Ms Petito, 22, was visiting Grand Teton National Park with her fiancé, Brian Laundrie, 23.
Police are currently searching for Mr Laundrie, whose whereabouts are unknown.
He is considered a "person of interest" in the case, but has not been charged with any crime.
No details from the post-mortem have been released.
"Teton County Coroner Dr Brent Blue confirmed the remains are those of Gabrielle Venora Petito... Coroner Blue's initial determination for the manner of death is homicide," the FBI's Denver office tweeted.
The couple had been travelling for several weeks before Mr Laundrie returned home to Florida alone with their white van on 1 September. He did not contact police or the Petito family on his return.
Several weeks earlier, police in the Utah town of Moab were called to a possible domestic violence incident.
Bodycam footage showed Ms Petito crying and complaining about her mental health. A police report later said Mr Laundrie claimed Ms Petito had struck him during an argument.
No charges were filed, with officers recommending that the couple spend the night apart. What happened next is unclear.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: Police stopped Gabby Petito more than two weeks ago
Mr Laundrie's family reported him missing over the weekend. They claim he left for a hike on 14 September and never returned. He had refused to speak with investigators before disappearing.
The search for Mr Laundrie has focused on a 24,000-acre nature reserve near his home in North Port, Florida.
Police are using dogs, drones, and all-terrain vehicles for the search, which officers say is complicated by difficult, swampy terrain.
Additionally, police are investigating hundreds of reported sightings of Mr Laundrie, including more than a dozen from Alabama, which borders Florida to the west.
On Monday, investigators searched the Laundrie family home. Agents were then seen removing several boxes from the house and towing away a silver Ford Mustang.
The case has captivated the public, with each new development becoming the focus of web sleuths on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Twitter.
As of Tuesday, the hashtag #GabbyPetito had received more than 650 million views on TikTok alone, according to the Associated Press.
• None What do we know about case?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58646087
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news_world-us-canada-58646087
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Car use back to levels seen before first lockdown - BBC News
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2021-09-10
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The data is likely to intensify debate about how to get people out of vehicles and on to public transport.
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Business
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Car use in Britain is now up to or higher than before the first lockdown, while the number of people using public transport has lagged behind, data from the Department for Transport shows.
The data for cars compares the levels now as a percentage of the traffic on the first week of February 2020.
The figures for buses compares to the third week of January, and the data for national rail services is compared to the equivalent week in 2019.
It comes as the debate about getting more people on to public transport intensifies.
At the start of the first lockdown - the end of March and start of April 2020 - there was between a quarter and a third of car traffic than there had been in the first week of February.
National rail use dropped to as low as 4% as the same week in 2019, and bus use outside London to as low as 10%.
During the summer 2020, car traffic returned to around 90%-100% of February 2020 figures and didn't drop as low as levels in the first lockdown during subsequent lockdowns.
By this summer, car traffic on weekends has consistently been more than 100% of February 2020 levels, reaching as high as 111% on 15 August.
Bus and train use has increased since the first lockdown and during this summer, but is still far from the levels seen before the pandemic.
Bus use outside London this summer is about or below 60% during the week and under 80% on weekends. Meanwhile national rail use is still less than 60%.
Although the statistics are released every week, they are of particular interest at the moment. As the end of the summer approaches, and with the COP 26 climate change conference approaching, arguments about car use are intensifying.
Politicians are facing more questions about how to get travellers out of cars and on to public transport. The annual decision on whether to raise rail ticket prices from next year has still to be made.
Paul Tuohy, chief executive of Campaign for Better Transport, said: "If this shift towards car use becomes entrenched, we will see increased carbon emissions, air pollution and traffic-clogged streets."
"With the effects of climate change being felt around the world, it's more important than ever that the government encourages people back onto public transport."
Freezing rail fares for next year would be a good start, he said, but added: "We really need to rebalance pricing towards greener modes: it makes no sense that bus and rail fares continue to rise while fuel duty for drivers has been frozen for a decade and the government is considering cutting air passenger duty."
The fact that car traffic is now at up to 111% of the comparable week in February 2020 does not mean this is an all time high, however. The analysis of the data says that traffic can vary by plus or minus by 20% over the course of a year.
Train companies are operating around 85% of services at the moment.
A spokesperson for the Rail Delivery Group, which represents the industry, said: "Since the relaxation of restrictions last month we have seen a 10% increase in rail journeys, driven by leisure travel, as more people take the train to see friends and family or to go on holiday.
"This is good news because when people travel by train it's more than just a journey, it's part of a clean, fair recovery as leisure travellers by train spending over £100 with local businesses while on their travels."
A DfT spokesperson said: "Our Safer Travel guidance is helping people to return confidently to all forms of transport, as we build back better and greener from the pandemic.
"We are working with industry experts to make all options of travel sustainable as we strive towards decarbonising our transport network and delivering net zero by 2050."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58274806
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news_business-58274806
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Nicola Sturgeon: Indyref2 timetable is realistic despite Covid - BBC News
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2021-09-10
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Scotland's first minister says a referendum could be held within two years despite Covid making "everything harder".
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Scotland politics
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Scotland's first minister has said that holding an independence referendum in the next two years is realistic despite Covid making "everything harder".
Nicola Sturgeon announced this week that her government was resuming work on its plans to hold indyref2 by the end of 2023.
She told the BBC it was important not to underplay the challenges caused by the pandemic.
But she said remaining in the UK would not "magic away" those difficulties.
The first minister said that regardless of whether or not Scotland becomes independent, the next few years would be difficult for Scotland - as it will for the UK and countries across the world.
Asked about the financial case for independence, and whether setting up a new country after the pandemic would be harder, she replied: "I think everything is harder after the pandemic.
"There are always challenges, big challenges, and I think it's important we do not underplay them.
"Everything has become harder, but the point I'm making is if we decide not to become independent and stay in the UK that doesn't magic away these difficulties and challenges."
The SNP leader was speaking as her party's four-day virtual conference - which was postponed earlier in the year - got under way, with her speech due on Monday.
She said the Scottish government would have a "small team" of civil servants working on its preparations for a possible referendum.
The UK government has said it intends to block indyref2, but Ms Sturgeon said it was realistic to plan for one by the end of 2023.
While she said Covid "continued to be the priority", the SNP leader argued it was right that the country's future would be "decided by people in Scotland" once the crisis is over.
Ms Sturgeon said that decision should be "an informed one".
She said that regardless of whether or not Scotland becomes independent, the next few years would be difficult for Scotland - as it will for the UK and countries across the world - as it recovers from the pandemic.
She said there were "big decisions" to be taken as Scotland emerges from the pandemic about what kind of country, society and economy it wants to be.
This weekend's SNP conference will see the party recommit to another referendum - Nicola Sturgeon wants it by the end of 2023.
But it's impossible to say with certainty that will happen. The UK government isn't budging - and the pro-independence side are still working on their updated case for a post-Brexit, post-Covid vision.
Nicola Sturgeon told me that the Scottish government team working on independence would be small - and consist of civil servants already focused on intergovernmental issues.
She doesn't want it to look like taxpayer-funded staff are being taken away from Covid - but some in the SNP want the government to move much faster.
Then there's the case for independence itself. Ms Sturgeon admits that the financial arguments for independence have been harder by the pandemic. Scotland's deficit doubled in the latest figures.
She still believes Scotland should control its recovery - but it's a sign of the challenge ahead for her side of the independence debate. That challenge becomes all the more acute if there's just two years to provide the answers.
Ms Sturgeon added: "Every country is facing those, so for Scotland it's about who drives those decisions and what values guide those decisions.
"Is it Boris Johnson and his government or is it the government we elect here in Scotland? That is the fundamental issue."
The UK government has repeatedly dismissed calls for a fresh vote on independence, saying that such referendums should be once in a generation and that the current priority was to recover from Covid.
In her interview, Ms Sturgeon also said that Scotland's NHS was under more pressure now than ever before due the recent surge in the number of Covid cases.
And she said the controversial new vaccine passport rules, which are due to come into force on 1 October and will only allow fully vaccinated people to go into nightclubs and many other major events, were not a "magic wand".
Ms Sturgeon said the passports would instead be a measure that might "help tip the balance that will allow events to go ahead, nightclubs to stay open, when otherwise we may as we go into the winter face difficult choices about closing them".
The Scottish Conservatives have described the vaccine passport scheme as "a shambles waiting to happen".
And the party's constitution spokesman, Donald Cameron, said the economic case for independence "has never been weaker".
"The pandemic has shown the strength of being part of our UK during a time of crisis," he said.
"The SNP/Green government's full focus should be on our recovery from Covid. No vital resources should be diverted by this nationalist coalition of chaos away from tackling the true priorities of the people of Scotland."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-politics-58517369
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news_uk-scotland-scotland-politics-58517369
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Scientists not backing Covid jabs for 12 to 15-year-olds - BBC News
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2021-09-04
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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But 200,000 extra children with underlying conditions will now be eligible for two doses.
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Health
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The UK's vaccine advisory body has refused to give the green light to vaccinating healthy children aged 12-15 years on health grounds alone.
The JCVI said children were at such a low risk from the virus that jabs would offer only a marginal benefit.
The UK's four chief medical officers have now been asked to have the final say, and to consider the wider impact on schools and society.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid said a decision would be made shortly.
The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation did advise widening the existing vaccine programme to include an extra 200,000 teenagers with specific underlying conditions.
Doctors identified that children with chronic heart, lung and liver conditions were at much higher risk of Covid than healthy children.
The decision not to recommend the vaccine to all healthy children was based on concern over an extremely rare side effect of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines which causes heart inflammation, and can lead to palpitations and chest pain.
Data from the US, where millions of young teenagers have been vaccinated, suggests there are 60 cases of the heart condition for every million second doses given to 12 to 17-year-old boys (compared to eight in one million girls).
France, Italy, Israel and Ireland are also offering the vaccine to all children in this age group.
But as children are at such low risk from the virus, the JCVI decided that vaccination would offer only "marginal gain" and, therefore, there was "insufficient" evidence to offer mass vaccination to this age group.
The JCVI said it was difficult to factor in long Covid in its advice because of the uncertainty over how common it is in children, although it appears to be less prevalent than in adults.
The vaccine advisers have been under huge pressure.
Ministers have let it be known they are very keen on getting this age group vaccinated - both through their public pronouncements and privately behind the scenes.
This has caused frustration among JCVI members - with some complaining about the habit of government officials sitting in on meetings.
Despite this, the JCVI has stood firm. Taking into account the impact on school disruption might make a difference.
But even then it's not clear-cut. Vaccinating kids will cause disruption in itself, with children having to leave class to get jabbed and then maybe needing time off to recover from the common side effects, such as fever.
Another argument put forward is that it could help reduce the wider spread of the virus - although encouraging the 6 million adults who have not even taken up the offer a jab yet could arguably make more of a difference.
Clearly though it would have some impact - although the emergence of the Delta variant means the vaccines offer less protection against infection than they did previously.
What's more, around half of children in this age group are thought to have had Covid, providing them with natural immunity anyway.
Prof Wei Shen Lim, chairman of Covid immunisation for the JCVI said it was "taking a precautionary approach".
"The margin of benefit is considered too small to support universal Covid-19 vaccination for this age group at this time.
"The committee will continue to review safety data as they emerge," he added.
Paediatricians say that healthy children with Covid end up in intensive care at a rate of two in one million, but this rises to 100 in one million for children with certain health problems.
As a result, the JCVI's advice is that a larger group of at-risk children aged 12 to 15 should be offered a vaccine.
They include children with the following conditions:
Children with poorly-controlled asthma and other respiratory conditions which can result in severe illness from Covid should also be offered the vaccine, the JCVI said.
A group of 150,000 children with conditions such as severe neurodisabilities, Down's syndrome and severely weakened immune systems as well as those living with vulnerable adults are already eligible.
There are three million children in total in this age group across the UK.
Mr Javid said he had written to the chief medical officers in the UK's four nations to ask them to consider the vaccination of all 12-15 year olds "from a broader perspective".
They will look at the effects of Covid on children's education and pupil absences from school, which the JCVI is not qualified to consider.
Senior leaders in clinical and public health will be involved in the discussions and help to inform a final decision on a rollout to all 12-15 year olds.
"We will then consider the advice, building on the advice from the JCVI, before making a decision shortly," Mr Javid said.
On Friday, 42,076 cases of coronavirus were reported in the UK and 121 deaths within 28 days of a positive test.
What questions do you have about the decision not to recommend vaccination for healthy children aged 12-15 years on health grounds?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-58438669
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news_health-58438669
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Ayia Napa: Woman appeals against conviction for false rape claim - BBC News
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2021-09-04
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The woman challenges her conviction for making a false report of an attack by 12 men in a hotel room.
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Derby
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The woman covered her face as she arrived at court in January 2020
A British woman who reported being gang-raped in Cyprus hopes to have her conviction for lying about the attack overturned.
The woman, then 19, told Cypriot police she had been raped by a group of 12 Israeli men in Ayia Napa in July 2019.
The Derbyshire teenager retracted the allegation after being held without a lawyer, and was then tried and convicted of causing public mischief.
Her appeal will now be heard by the Cypriot Supreme Court on 16 September.
If the conviction is not overturned her legal team intends to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
"She wants to get on with life, but for her to get on with life she needs to get this conviction overturned," said barrister Michael Polak, who is helping the woman in his role as director of the law firm Justice Abroad.
"This will be on her record. It means any time she applies to join an association or for a job she will be thinking back to this and what's happened to her.
"So it's very important to her, even though she's not in prison now, she's back in the United Kingdom, it's very important for her to overturn the conviction for that reason."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Protesters say they believe the British woman's rape claim
Her case outraged women's rights groups, who protested outside court ahead of the sentencing in January 2020.
Judge Michalis Papathanasiou gave the teenager a four-month suspended sentence, which meant she could return to the UK.
She will not have to return to Cyprus for the appeal hearing.
"We will be arguing that the conviction is unsafe for a number of reasons and we are hoping the Supreme Court will set aside the conviction," said Mr Polak.
One of these arguments will be that the judge did not consider evidence the woman really was raped.
"For public mischief you need to be making a false allegation and every time we brought forward evidence that the rape took place he would shout at our female Cypriot lawyers and say 'this is not a rape trial, this is not a rape trial'," said Mr Polak.
"He did it about seven times during the trial process, so in effect he shut out any consideration that the rape had taken place, which meant he didn't properly consider all the elements of the offence."
The woman's mother (left), shown leaving court in December 2019, said her daughter was prevented from defending the case properly
The woman's mother said getting the conviction overturned would be "the first step for my daughter reclaiming her life".
"Imagine being raped then imprisoned because the authorities say you lied, after refusing to hear evidence to the contrary, then having to relive this each time you apply for a job or training course," she said.
"This is a terrible burden for my daughter, having such a terrible thing happen to her and then carrying a conviction against her name for life."
She said it was "difficult to be optimistic about the outcome of the appeal" given their experience of the courts in Cyprus.
"Our daughter was prevented from defending the case properly because of the trial court's unwillingness to hear evidence of the serious sexual offences that she was subjected to," she said.
"If this is understood then we have some hope that the legal minds in the Cypriot Supreme Court should acquit."
If that does not happen, she said they would "take this matter to the European Court where we are certain that the justice will ultimately prevail".
Barrister Michael Polak, director of Justice Abroad, said he would take the case to the European Court of Human Rights if necessary
Another argument relates to the woman retracting the rape claim, which her lawyers say she did under pressure from police.
"She was there for almost seven hours without a lawyer, without her parents," said Mr Polak.
"European law is particularly strong on this. There's a case against Cyprus where a young teenager was taken into a police station in Limassol and a confession was taken from him with no lawyer.
"So in European law, the European Court of Human Rights has already decided that issue against Cyprus, and so we hope the Supreme Court will take account of that."
Mr Polak said the woman would ultimately like the men involved to be prosecuted, but for now her legal team is concentrating on getting her conviction overturned.
"It was a really horrendous experience for her and she, of course, would like to see justice done in this case," he said.
"The most important thing for the moment is to get the conviction overturned so she doesn't have to carry it around for the rest of her life.
"We hope the Cypriot Supreme Court will make the right decision when we go there in a few weeks, and we hope we don't have to take it all the way up to the European Court of Human Rights."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-58436404
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news_uk-england-derbyshire-58436404
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Laura Kuenssberg: Starmer's relief and delight at Labour rule changes - BBC News
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2021-09-26
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The leader's office hope changes to Labour rules will make the party more manageable and disciplined.
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UK Politics
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"Labour is changing in front of our eyes," says one of Keir Starmer's allies. That, for the Labour leadership, is the point.
It's only a few days since they took the powerful unions and the left of the Labour Party by surprise in revealing their intention to sweep away rules that were the framework for the Jeremy Corbyn era.
Those were the rules that encouraged thousands upon thousands of new members into the party, who then chose Mr Corybn. Those were the rules that gave power to members to try to get rid of their MPs.
And suggesting getting rid of those rules created huge upset, provoking the ire of union leaders, who felt they'd been cut out of the loop, and anger among some on the left who felt the leadership was trying to wrestle power away from them.
One senior party figure told me: "There was a lot of swearing on both sides."
Confronted by accusations that he'd failed to do the groundwork, amid warnings that he would not be able to ram the overhaul through in a matter of days, Sir Keir dropped one of the big ideas - changing the electoral college, the party's voting system. You can read about what happened here.
By Sunday night, however, Starmer's team was delighted by what happened - after what they see as that temporary humiliation.
After discussions on the conference floor, the leadership was able to change a significant number of the rules, making it harder for members to get rid of MPs they weren't happy with, in so called "trigger ballots", giving MPs more power in selecting the party's leader, and cracking down on anti-Semitism.
They are pleased and relieved for three big reasons.
One shadow cabinet member said the changes were "the right thing to do and the right time to do it". Removing trigger ballots should, in theory, mean that Labour MPs can spend more time talking to constituents than having to worry that every move might lead to their local party trying to oust them.
And for Starmer's team it cuts down on the risk of "entryists" to the party, who could join for a few pounds to install their favoured candidate, even if they have no long-term commitment to the Labour Party.
Inevitably, it's outraged many of former leader Jeremy Corbyn's backers, and those who believe that activists should have that power.
It's worth noting, too, that the plans passed because of the backing of the unions and MPs, not existing members. But the hope in the leader's office is of a party that becomes more manageable and more disciplined.
Similarly for Starmer's team, cracking down on anti-Semitism was the first promise he made on becoming leader, and a promise that he had to keep.
Beyond the technical impact of the changes, party top brass feel too that their decision in pushing for the changes, and to do so quickly, is a vindication of Starmer's judgement.
He was warned against picking the fight, was embarrassed when he ditched some of his plans, but pushed on with a watered-down programme and won.
One of those behind the strategy told me: "If we had to take three days of pain so we could spend the next 18 months facing outwards and talking to the public, it was worth it."
Keir Starmer's critics often portray him as too safe, too cautious. This time he's secured changes "in six days that could have turned into six months of arguments".
Lastly, a highly visible vote, a highly significant (in Brighton at least!) change also gives evidence Starmer desperately wants to show the public that Labour is changing.
Inside the party, Jeremy Corbyn was wildly popular in some sections, and excited a new generation of activists who hadn't been previously reached. But his leadership was toxic to many, and the party crashed to its worst defeat in decades with him in charge.
Keir Starmer - who don't forget was part of Mr Corbyn's top team throughout - has long believed that he has to show to the country, not just that it has a new boss, but that it is turning into a different party altogether.
Sir Keir was pictured having a shandy, celebrating the Arsenal result, and perhaps tonight's results too.
But the win for the leadership does not sweep away all of their problems. Far from it. There is intense pressure on Sir Keir to say more about what he would want to do in government, to put forward more convincing policies, and to communicate them better.
There are people in the party like Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham willing to say that out loud, too, as he did speaking to us on Sunday in pretty bold terms.
And there are also plenty of activists, and some MPs on the left, who are not on board with these changes, and may never be.
The left's sway is clearly fading here, but it hasn't disappeared. One senior party figure told me "they are still alive and kicking", and it's not clear how hard they will be willing to kick.
But the internal wrangling came out in Sir Keir's favour on Sunday. He hopes it will clear this vital week for other conversations.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58701880
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news_uk-politics-58701880
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Analysis: A very significant tax rise - BBC News
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2021-09-08
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Pensioners will have social care certainty, but workers and work will be taxed.
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Business
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This is a very significant tax rise, with little precedent outside of a Budget.
It doesn't just break a manifesto promise, it drives a JCB through it, with £11.4bn a year in extra taxes that were the subject of a guarantee that they would not go up.
The March Budget of this year was already the most significant tax-raising Budget since 1993.
But a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic recession and associated long-lasting damage to the NHS do give some rationale for thinking about how appropriate promises are made in very different circumstances.
Among workers, the money will be raised in a "progressive fashion" - unlike say a VAT rise - with the highest earners paying the most.
However, some very low earners, including some on the cusp of losing £1,000 in annual universal credit payments, will face higher tax bills of £100.
And it is pretty clear that one of the rationales here is to be able to present a National Insurance increase of 1.25% as lower than the 2% rise in income tax that would have been required to raise such funds.
The argument is almost entirely presentational and relies on a general public lack of familiarity with how National Insurance works.
The tax rise on working is effectively 2.5%, with the direct burden shared between workers and their bosses.
As the Treasury acknowledges, however, firms may reduce wages, or raise prices to pay the extra bill.
So this is the big choice the government has made.
The prize is that pensioners can have certainty about the cost of social care, and the least well off will have it paid for.
Tax could have been raised on, for example, the inflating value of homes, especially at the point of their being inherited.
The social care cost could have been spread more evenly on all forms of income, from savings to pensions, through income taxes.
Instead, with some tweaks to apply it to those over the age of 66 from 2023, it will go on workers and work.
It used to be called a "jobs tax". The hope is by earmarking it for health and care and separating out this levy on all tax bills, that the public won't mind.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58457136
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news_business-58457136
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Laura Kuenssberg: Starmer's relief and delight at Labour rule changes - BBC News
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2021-09-27
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The leader's office hope changes to Labour rules will make the party more manageable and disciplined.
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UK Politics
|
"Labour is changing in front of our eyes," says one of Keir Starmer's allies. That, for the Labour leadership, is the point.
It's only a few days since they took the powerful unions and the left of the Labour Party by surprise in revealing their intention to sweep away rules that were the framework for the Jeremy Corbyn era.
Those were the rules that encouraged thousands upon thousands of new members into the party, who then chose Mr Corybn. Those were the rules that gave power to members to try to get rid of their MPs.
And suggesting getting rid of those rules created huge upset, provoking the ire of union leaders, who felt they'd been cut out of the loop, and anger among some on the left who felt the leadership was trying to wrestle power away from them.
One senior party figure told me: "There was a lot of swearing on both sides."
Confronted by accusations that he'd failed to do the groundwork, amid warnings that he would not be able to ram the overhaul through in a matter of days, Sir Keir dropped one of the big ideas - changing the electoral college, the party's voting system. You can read about what happened here.
By Sunday night, however, Starmer's team was delighted by what happened - after what they see as that temporary humiliation.
After discussions on the conference floor, the leadership was able to change a significant number of the rules, making it harder for members to get rid of MPs they weren't happy with, in so called "trigger ballots", giving MPs more power in selecting the party's leader, and cracking down on anti-Semitism.
They are pleased and relieved for three big reasons.
One shadow cabinet member said the changes were "the right thing to do and the right time to do it". Removing trigger ballots should, in theory, mean that Labour MPs can spend more time talking to constituents than having to worry that every move might lead to their local party trying to oust them.
And for Starmer's team it cuts down on the risk of "entryists" to the party, who could join for a few pounds to install their favoured candidate, even if they have no long-term commitment to the Labour Party.
Inevitably, it's outraged many of former leader Jeremy Corbyn's backers, and those who believe that activists should have that power.
It's worth noting, too, that the plans passed because of the backing of the unions and MPs, not existing members. But the hope in the leader's office is of a party that becomes more manageable and more disciplined.
Similarly for Starmer's team, cracking down on anti-Semitism was the first promise he made on becoming leader, and a promise that he had to keep.
Beyond the technical impact of the changes, party top brass feel too that their decision in pushing for the changes, and to do so quickly, is a vindication of Starmer's judgement.
He was warned against picking the fight, was embarrassed when he ditched some of his plans, but pushed on with a watered-down programme and won.
One of those behind the strategy told me: "If we had to take three days of pain so we could spend the next 18 months facing outwards and talking to the public, it was worth it."
Keir Starmer's critics often portray him as too safe, too cautious. This time he's secured changes "in six days that could have turned into six months of arguments".
Lastly, a highly visible vote, a highly significant (in Brighton at least!) change also gives evidence Starmer desperately wants to show the public that Labour is changing.
Inside the party, Jeremy Corbyn was wildly popular in some sections, and excited a new generation of activists who hadn't been previously reached. But his leadership was toxic to many, and the party crashed to its worst defeat in decades with him in charge.
Keir Starmer - who don't forget was part of Mr Corbyn's top team throughout - has long believed that he has to show to the country, not just that it has a new boss, but that it is turning into a different party altogether.
Sir Keir was pictured having a shandy, celebrating the Arsenal result, and perhaps tonight's results too.
But the win for the leadership does not sweep away all of their problems. Far from it. There is intense pressure on Sir Keir to say more about what he would want to do in government, to put forward more convincing policies, and to communicate them better.
There are people in the party like Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham willing to say that out loud, too, as he did speaking to us on Sunday in pretty bold terms.
And there are also plenty of activists, and some MPs on the left, who are not on board with these changes, and may never be.
The left's sway is clearly fading here, but it hasn't disappeared. One senior party figure told me "they are still alive and kicking", and it's not clear how hard they will be willing to kick.
But the internal wrangling came out in Sir Keir's favour on Sunday. He hopes it will clear this vital week for other conversations.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58701880
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news_uk-politics-58701880
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EU rules to force USB-C chargers for all phones - BBC News
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2021-09-23
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Manufacturers could be forced to change devices to a uniform charging system.
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Technology
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Some Apple devices - such as the iPad Pro and Mac laptops - use USB-C (left) while the iPhone uses Lightning (right)
Manufacturers will be forced to create a universal charging solution for phones and small electronic devices, under a new rule proposed by the European Commission (EC).
The aim is to reduce waste by encouraging consumers to re-use existing chargers when buying a new device.
All smartphones sold in the EU must have USB-C chargers, the proposal said.
Apple has warned such a move would harm innovation.
The tech giant is the main manufacturer of smartphones using a custom charging port, as its iPhone series uses an Apple-made "Lightning" connector.
"We remain concerned that strict regulation mandating just one type of connector stifles innovation rather than encouraging it, which in turn will harm consumers in Europe and around the world," the firm told the BBC.
It added that it aims to make every Apple device and usage carbon neutral by 2030.
Most Android phones come with USB micro-B charging ports, or have already moved to the more modern USB-C standard.
New models of the iPad and MacBook use USB-C charging ports, as do high-end phone models from popular Android manufacturers such as Samsung and Huawei.
The changes would apply to the charging port on the device body, whereas the end of the cable connecting to a plug could be USB-C or USB-A.
Around half of chargers sold with mobile phones in the European Union in 2018 had a USB micro-B connector, while 29% had a USB C connector and 21% a Lightning connector, a Commission impact assessment study in 2019 found.
The proposed rules will apply to:
Other products including earbuds, smart-watches and fitness trackers were not considered for technical reasons linked to size and use conditions.
The proposal also standardises fast charging speeds - meaning devices capable of fast charging will be charged at the same speeds.
EU politicians have been campaigning for a common standard for over a decade, with the Commission's research estimating that disposed of and unused charging cables generate more than 11,000 tonnes of waste per year.
In the European Union, around 420 million mobile phones and other portable electronic devices were sold in the last year.
The average person owns around three mobile phone chargers, of which they use two regularly.
In 2009, there were more than 30 different chargers, whereas now most models stick to three - the USB-C, Lightning and USB micro-B.
"Having one common charging standard would be a victory for common sense in the eyes of consumers," Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight said.
"Although Apple has made a strong argument for keeping its Lightning connector, given the one billion active iPhone users, some of its products including Mac and iPad now support USB-C.
"Hopefully it will eventually become a non-issue if Apple keeps adding USB-C to more devices."
It may be a number of years before the proposals come into effect.
The legislative proposal, known as a Directive, will be debated by the European Parliament and national governments.
MEPs and member states may suggest amendments to the proposal. Only once the EC has agreed these amendments, will the directive be enacted.
The EC hopes that will happen in 2022 - after which member states usually have two years to enact the rules into national law, and manufacturers will have 24 months to change their charging ports.
"We gave industry plenty of time to come up with their own solutions, now time is ripe for legislative action for a common charger. This is an important win for our consumers and environment and in line with our green and digital ambitions," Commission Vice President Margrethe Vestager said.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-58665809
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R. Kelly lawyer compares him to Martin Luther King - BBC News
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2021-09-23
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The defence makes its final arguments in the singer's sex-abuse trial.
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Entertainment & Arts
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R. Kelly's lawyer has compared him to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr in the closing argument of the singer's sex-trafficking trial.
Deveraux Cannick said both men held the government to account and he urged jurors to be courageous.
The singer, 54, denies all charges against him in the federal case.
The prosecution ended its argument with a simple message: "Convict him", after saying he should pay for the "pain he inflicted on each of his victims".
R. Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is accused of grooming and sexually abusing women and underage girls.
The charges include one count of racketeering and eight counts of illegally transporting people across state lines for the purpose of sex.
Over the past five weeks, the jury in Brooklyn, New York, has heard from a number of men and women who said the star stripped them of control, enforcing draconian rules over when they could eat, sleep and go to the bathroom, and pressured them into sexual acts, which he would often videotape.
Prosecutors have portrayed him as a predator who exploited his fame to attract fans into his circle, where he would demand strict obedience or else punish them.
"For decades, the defendant recruited and groomed women, girls and boys for his own sexual gratification," Elizabeth Geddes, a lawyer for the prosecution, told the jury. "With the help of his inner circle, he slowly isolated his victims, set rules and exacted punishment."
She continued: "It is time to hold the defendant responsible for the pain he inflicted on each of his victims. It is now time for the defendant to pay for his crimes. Convict him."
Nine women and two men have appeared in court, saying R. Kelly sexually abused them.
The defence lawyer said R. Kelly was living a "playboy life" because his record label painted him as a sex symbol. "Where's the crime in that?" said Mr Cannick, dismissing alleged victims as groupies.
"You heard about a man who treated these women like gold," Mr Cannick added. "He bought them bags more expensive than cars."
He invoked King's "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech: "Somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press."
King upheld the Constitution to try to make the government "be true to what's on paper", he said, adding: "That's all Robert is trying to do."
On Wednesday, R. Kelly declined to testify in his own defence.
Court reporters said he was shaking his head during the prosecution's final arguments.
The jury is expected to retire to consider its verdict later on Thursday.
If convicted, R. Kelly faces up to 15 years in prison.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-58672967
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news_entertainment-arts-58672967
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Cristiano Ronaldo breaks men's international scoring record with 110th and 111th goals - BBC Sport
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2021-09-01
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Cristiano Ronaldo breaks the world record for goals scored in men's international football with two headers against the Republic of Ireland.
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Last updated on .From the section European Football
Cristiano Ronaldo broke the world record for goals scored in men's international football as he hit his 110th and 111th goals for Portugal in their dramatic 2-1 World Cup qualifying win over the Republic of Ireland.
The 36-year-old scored two late headers - to break and extend the record - after he had a penalty saved by Gavin Bazunu.
Ali Daei, who scored 109 goals for Iran between 1993 and 2006, held the record which Ronaldo equalled with a double against France at Euro 2020.
The Manchester United forward has also equalled Sergio Ramos' European record for men's caps - with his 180th Portugal appearance.
The world record - only ratified by Fifa this summer - is the 195 Malaysia caps won by Soh Chin Ann between 1969 and 1984.
Ronaldo, who rejoined United from Juventus on deadline day, and Daei are the only two male players to score 90 or more international goals.
"I'm so happy, not only because I beat the record, but for the special moment that we had," he told RTE. "Two goals at the end of the game. I have to appreciate what the team did, we believed until the end. I'm so glad."
This is the latest landmark to push the argument for the Portuguese to be considered an all-time great.
He is already the top scorer in club football's top tournament, the European Cup/Champions League, a trophy he has won five times.
The former Real Madrid forward is also the top scorer in European Championship history (14) and in Euros and World Cups combined (21).
• None How has Ronaldo game changed in recent years?
• None Watch Cristiano Ronaldo: Impossible to Ignore on BBC iPlayer now
How his international goals have come
What tournaments have they come in?
Almost half of Ronaldo's goals have come in the final 30 minutes of games.
He has netted 33 times in the final 15 minutes - including twice against the Irish - and 22 times between the 61st and 75th minute.
Ronaldo has scored 17 times between minutes 16-30 and 16 times between 31-45, with 11 in the opening 15 minutes of the first half and 12 in the opening 15 minutes of the second half.
Some 91 of his goals have been inside the box with 20 from outside. He has scored 14 penalties and nine free-kicks.
Lithuania and Sweden - seven each - are the sides he has scored the most against. He had not scored against the Republic of Ireland before Wednesday's game in the Algarve.
There is no official database for top men's international goalscorers which makes it hard to say exactly who ranks where.
Ronaldo is top on 111 and Daei is next on 109, of that there is no doubt.
Iran's Daei, who played for Bayern Munich, was said to have broken Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas' record in 2003 with his 85th international goal. That is the year Ronaldo made his international debut.
Cynics could argue that Daei's goals were against easier opposition - with 95 against fellow Asian sides.
He scored eight against the Maldives and Laos and six against Lebanon.
But Ronaldo has also benefitted from facing weaker nations including six against Andorra and Luxembourg each.
The only question is who ranks below them? Mokhtar Dahari of Malaysia - who played in the 1970s and 80s - is credited as being third in some places with 89 goals. A Fifa tweet this summer seemed to confirm that , despite it never being officially validated.
Puskas is definitely next, with 84 goals in 85 caps for Hungary. He was the top-scoring European before Ronaldo.
Zambia's Godfrey Chitalu scored 79 goals between the 1960s and 1980s - again not certified but also mentioned on that Fifa tweet.
Ronaldo is unlikely to beat the world record, including women's football, of Canada striker Christine Sinclair. She has scored 187 goals in 304 caps and has not yet retired.
Ronaldo gets one over on Messi
In the strange modern-day phenomena of Ronaldo and Lionel Messi fanboys, this is another tick in the Ronaldo column.
Ronaldo's 111 goals in 180 games is well clear of Messi's 76 in 151 - roughly 0.6 goals a game compared with 0.5.
Messi - the joint eighth top scorer in the world - is 34 and on current form would need to play into his forties to reach 111 international goals.
The highlight of Ronaldo's international career was undoubtedly winning Euro 2016, although he went off injured early in the final.
He has scored in two Euros semi-finals too, 12 years apart - against the Netherlands in 2004 and Wales in 2016.
His finest hour at a World Cup was a hat-trick against Spain in the group stages three years ago in Russia, including a late free-kick. That is one of his nine international hat-tricks - including one against Switzerland in the 2019 Uefa Nations League semi-finals.
He has also scored in all nine major tournaments he has played in - World Cups and European Championships. Including the Confederations Cup and Nations League, he has scored in 11 out of 11.
He won the Golden Boot at Euro 2020 with five goals in four games, beating five-goal Czech Patrik Schick on assists.
• None How did a humble arcade machine become a multi-billion pound industry?
• None Find out how you can get your money back for a rescheduled show
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/58412201
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rt_football_58412201
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Social care: Arguments ahead as PM sets out overhaul of sector - BBC News
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2021-09-06
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Boris Johnson makes his first big move of the political season, with only ragged support from his MPs.
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UK Politics
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As Westminster has been cranking up for a busy autumn, so too has frantic and fraught speculation about the government's first big move of the political season.
At around noon on Tuesday, Boris Johnson will unveil his plan to "fix" the system in England that looks after some of the most vulnerable people in society.
It will come more than two years, an election, and a pandemic after he first promised to do so.
Despite thousands of column inches and hours and hours of earnest public debate already, there is a huge amount that we don't know about what will be on offer.
And as I write on Monday evening, most of the cabinet is not fully in the loop. Let's start though with what we do expect.
The government is expected to announce an increase in National Insurance, the tax paid by workers and employers, likely of 1.25%, to raise billions of pounds to pay for helping the NHS catch up with lost time and treatment after the pandemic, and to help improve and pay for social care in England.
I'm told the cash raised, potentially over £12 billion, will be ring-fenced somehow, targeted initially at the health service itself then will switch to social care after three years.
Expect also promises of changes to how the system works, including limiting the amount that families have to pay for care if need it.
As I wrote before the summer, for months it's been likely that the plan would be based on reforms put forward by Sir Andrew Dilnot years ago, not least because the legislation required is also on the statute book.
The social care changes do relate to the system in England, because Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all have different mechanisms when it comes to its provision.
But if extra National Insurance income is spent in the way we'd expect, there will be more money for every part of the UK too.
It's likely there would have to be a specific vote in Parliament to set the level of the limit, or "cap" for families in England.
But the Dilnot framework already exists, which reduces the need for months of wrangling or Commons complications.
Indeed, whispers today suggest that ministers might push for a vote sooner rather than later on the increase to NI, potentially branded as the "Health and Social Care Levy".
And by tying the long-term changes to the care system to extra cash the NHS says it needs because of the pandemic, it could make it harder for critics to oppose the plan.
The care system is facing growing demands as a result of an ageing UK population
I'm told the proposals include increasing current hospital capacity to 110% of its current level, to help make up for lost time and treatments during the pandemic.
It's potentially one thing for an angry MP to argue against a costly and complicated change to the social care system. It's quite another to vote against extra money for the health service.
We also know that Boris Johnson is willing to break a manifesto pledge by raising National Insurance, and up for going ahead with a tax rise that proportionately hits the young and less wealthy harder than the richer and older generation.
One minister suggested that unfairness would be balanced out with the chancellor's expected ditching of the so-called triple lock that protects the level of pension payments.
That might help government ministers with their script, but it doesn't smooth the edges of what many see as a blunt increase to a tax paid by millions.
And it is abundantly clear that many Conservatives, including Cabinet ministers, are very unhappy with the proposed tax increase.
That's not just because it breaks the promise in their 2019 election manifesto, once seen as politically sacred documents, not to raise NI.
But also because the details of the reforms that are meant to take place alongside it are sketchy.
Which takes us to what we don't know - a lot.
First, we don't know what kind of changes will be made to the care sector yet.
What about the workforce? What about local authorities' role? What will the limits be on what families have to pay for care?
And what about so called "hotel" costs, for food and accommodation in residential care?
Crucially, what kind of guarantee will there be that the huge amount of extra cash raised will actually go to the NHS and then on to social care, when it's a rise in general taxation?
What will happen to the money due to social care in three years' time if the NHS comes to believe that it actually needs to keep the extra finances?
How much extra will the NHS itself, and social care providers, have to stump up in extra NI themselves? As a huge employer, the NHS could find itself on the hook for hundreds of millions of pounds.
When the details of the plan - named "A Build Back Better Plan for the NHS and Social Care," I'm told (what else, I hear you cry) - emerge in black and white at lunchtime on Tuesday, it's likely more questions will emerge in response.
There will be noise. There are arguments ahead. The opposition parties are bristling.
The prime minister may receive only ragged support from his party for the plan.
But Boris Johnson has had enough of answering "wait and see" when asked for his plan on social care, and is unwilling to go into the next election with this long-running dilemma not resolved.
• None Will the National Insurance cut leave me better off?
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58469879
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news_uk-politics-58469879
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R. Kelly lawyer compares him to Martin Luther King - BBC News
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2021-09-24
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The defence makes its final arguments in the singer's sex-abuse trial.
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Entertainment & Arts
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R. Kelly's lawyer has compared him to civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr in the closing argument of the singer's sex-trafficking trial.
Deveraux Cannick said both men held the government to account and he urged jurors to be courageous.
The singer, 54, denies all charges against him in the federal case.
The prosecution ended its argument with a simple message: "Convict him", after saying he should pay for the "pain he inflicted on each of his victims".
R. Kelly, whose full name is Robert Sylvester Kelly, is accused of grooming and sexually abusing women and underage girls.
The charges include one count of racketeering and eight counts of illegally transporting people across state lines for the purpose of sex.
Over the past five weeks, the jury in Brooklyn, New York, has heard from a number of men and women who said the star stripped them of control, enforcing draconian rules over when they could eat, sleep and go to the bathroom, and pressured them into sexual acts, which he would often videotape.
Prosecutors have portrayed him as a predator who exploited his fame to attract fans into his circle, where he would demand strict obedience or else punish them.
"For decades, the defendant recruited and groomed women, girls and boys for his own sexual gratification," Elizabeth Geddes, a lawyer for the prosecution, told the jury. "With the help of his inner circle, he slowly isolated his victims, set rules and exacted punishment."
She continued: "It is time to hold the defendant responsible for the pain he inflicted on each of his victims. It is now time for the defendant to pay for his crimes. Convict him."
Nine women and two men have appeared in court, saying R. Kelly sexually abused them.
The defence lawyer said R. Kelly was living a "playboy life" because his record label painted him as a sex symbol. "Where's the crime in that?" said Mr Cannick, dismissing alleged victims as groupies.
"You heard about a man who treated these women like gold," Mr Cannick added. "He bought them bags more expensive than cars."
He invoked King's "I've Been to the Mountaintop" speech: "Somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press."
King upheld the Constitution to try to make the government "be true to what's on paper", he said, adding: "That's all Robert is trying to do."
On Wednesday, R. Kelly declined to testify in his own defence.
Court reporters said he was shaking his head during the prosecution's final arguments.
The jury is expected to retire to consider its verdict later on Thursday.
If convicted, R. Kelly faces up to 15 years in prison.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-58672967
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news_entertainment-arts-58672967
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YesCymru: Welsh independence group must act, a founder says - BBC News
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2021-09-12
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Siôn Jobbins says Scotland's push for an independence referendum means Wales must be ready.
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Wales politics
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Siôn Jobbins is one of the founders of the YesCymru Welsh independence movement
One of the founders of a Welsh independence movement says it must act to ensure "Wales is not lagging behind" if Scotland breaks away from the UK.
Siôn Jobbins stood down as YesCymru chairman in July, over the "strain of the role".
Speaking to Radio Cymru, he said it was also time for those leading YesCymru to "put their egos to either side".
"We must work together and ensure that independence for Wales is top priority," he told Bethan Rhys Roberts.
Mr Jobbins' comments came after the Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said this week she would try to secure a referendum on independence in Scotland before the end of 2023.
"We in Wales need to have things in order by then," Mr Jobbins said.
"The starting gun has fired. Whatever our opinion about independence, I don't think a lot of people want to be in a United Kingdom that has no Scotland, and I think Northern Ireland won't stand around too long either.
"Hiding behind a sofa hoping that Westminster will give us cookies is naïve."
YesCymru claimed 10,000 marched through Caernarfon for a rally back before the Covid pandemic
The YesCymru group was officially launched in 2016 and has seen a rapid rise in membership, and said it now boasts 18,000 paid-up members.
Before the pandemic, rallies organised by the group attracted thousands of people in Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil and Caernarfon.
However, in recent months, some members have engaged in bitter online arguments about YesCymru's leadership and direction.
It led to the organisation publishing an anti-harassment statement in July stating it was "aware of the targeted harassment of YesCymru central committee members and YesCymru staff".
The entire leadership committee of YesCymru then resigned in mid-August, citing harassment "beyond social media posts" that had "taken an incredible toll on mental wellbeing and can no longer be tolerated".
It has now called an extraordinary meeting to elect a new leadership team.
Planting YesCymru stickers on signs and buildings has become a controversial tactic used by some of its supporters
The former chairman Mr Jobbins told Radio Cymru he believed the sudden growth of the organisation was primarily responsible for the difficulties.
"The organisation grew very quickly but had no structures to deal with that growth - they are now in place and we need to strengthen our systems," he said.
"There is a need to look at staffing and ensure that day-to-day work is done by people who are paid. The Central Committee cannot discuss all decisions on Twitter, or nothing will be decided."
Mr Jobbins said he would not be putting himself forward to chair the movement again, but would be "back to fight" for independence.
"A fight is going to come and people will have to roll up their sleeves," he added.
"YesCymru's message is more important now than ever."
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-58519193
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news_uk-wales-politics-58519193
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FBI begins declassifying documents into Saudi 9/11 links - BBC News
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2021-09-12
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The memo lists some contact between Saudi nationals and hijackers, but does not implicate the government.
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US & Canada
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The US on Saturday marked the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks
The FBI has released a newly declassified document that looks into connections between Saudi citizens in the US and two of the 9/11 attackers.
Relatives of victims have long urged the release of the files, arguing Saudi officials had advance knowledge but did not try to stop the attacks.
But the document provides no evidence that the Saudi government was linked to the 9/11 plot.
Fifteen of the 19 plane hijackers were Saudi nationals.
Ahead of the declassification, the Saudi embassy in Washington welcomed the release and once again denied any link between the kingdom and the hijackers, describing such claims as "false and malicious".
The document was declassified on the 20th anniversary of the deadliest terror attacks on US soil - almost 3,000 people were killed after four planes were hijacked - and is the first of several expected to be released.
Some families of the victims had put pressure on President Joe Biden to declassify the documents, saying he should not attend Saturday's commemoration ceremonies in New York if he was not prepared to release them.
Most of the 19 hijackers on 9/11 were Saudi nationals. Al-Qaeda's leader, Osama bin Laden, was from an influential Saudi family and his organisation alleged to have received money from wealthy Saudis in the 1990s.
All of that has led to questions about whether there was any official involvement in the attacks - and whether successive US administrations had covered this up to protect an ally.
This latest document does not prove that. But nor will it dispel all the questions, making clear that the FBI in 2016 was still investigating an apparently well-connected Saudi who was alleged to have provided logistical support to two of the hijackers.
This is only the first release and even if, as the Saudi embassy maintains, none of it will show any complicity in the attacks, it may still raise awkward questions for both Washington and Riyadh, including why it has taken so long to be more open.
This 16-page FBI document is still heavily redacted. It is based on interviews with a source whose identity is classified (listed as PII) and outlines contacts between a number of Saudi nationals and two of the hijackers, Nawaf al-Hazmi and Khalid al-Midhar.
The hijackers posed as students to enter the US in 2000. The FBI memo says they then received significant logistical support from Omar al-Bayoumi, who witnesses said was a frequent visitor to the Saudi Consulate in Los Angeles despite his official status at the time as a student.
Mr Bayoumi, the source tells the FBI, had "very high status" at the consulate. "Bayoumi's assistance to Hamzi and Midha included translation, travel, lodging and financing," the memo said.
The document is one of several that is expected to be released
The FBI document also says there were links between the two hijackers and Fahad al-Thumairy, a conservative imam at the King Fahad Mosque in Los Angeles. He was described by sources as "having extremist beliefs".
Both Mr Bayoumi and Mr Thumairy left the US weeks before the 9/11 attacks, according to the AP news agency.
The agency also quoted Jim Kreindler, a lawyer for the relatives of 9/11 victims, as saying that the released document did "validate the arguments we have made in the litigation regarding the Saudi government's responsibility for the 9/11 attacks".
Last month, a lawsuit launched by relatives saw several top former Saudi officials questioned under oath.
The administrations of George W Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump all declined to declassify the documents, citing national security concerns.
Joe Biden had been urged by relatives of victims to release the documents
But Joe Biden last week ordered a review of investigative documents, telling officials to release what they could over the next six months.
There has long been speculation of official Saudi links to the plot, given the number of Saudi nationals involved and al-Qaeda leaders Osama Bin Laden's Saudi background.
However, the 9/11 commission report found no evidence to implicate the Saudi government or senior officials.
The US and Saudi Arabia have long been allies, although the relationship has at times been difficult.
Donald Trump strengthened ties but Joe Biden called Saudi Arabia "a pariah" for its part in the gruesome murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Turkey.
The BBC's Frank Gardner says Mr Biden has since softened his stance towards most powerful man in Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, reflecting the hard reality of the importance of the alliance.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-58533538
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news_world-us-canada-58533538
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Dad of girl murdered by Stephen Leonard says review rebuff 'unfair' - BBC News
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2021-09-16
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Jim Holt's daughter Lorraine was murdered in 1979 by a man who would try to kill again in 2018.
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Cambridgeshire
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Stephen Leonard was known as Stephen Chafer when he murdered a three-year-old girl in 1979
The father of a three-year-old killed in 1979 said he was "gutted" he could not see the full official reviews after her murderer tried to kill again.
Stephen Chafer, also known as Stephen Leonard, killed Lorraine Holt and, after being released from jail twice, nearly decapitated a woman in 2018.
Lorraine's dad Jim Holt said he did not "want the same mistakes made again".
The Ministry of Justice said "details" would be shared with him, but not whole reports.
Chafer was 17 years old when he carried Lorraine, whom he was related to through marriage, to the grounds of a vicarage in Derby.
He sexually assaulted her before stabbing her 39 times on 20 January 1979.
He pleaded guilty to murder and was jailed, before being released in 2002.
Stephen Chafer admitted the murder of Lorraine Holt in 1979
More than 10 years later, Chafer - now known as Stephen Leonard - was jailed for 26 months for arson, having removed the fire alarms at his Peterborough flat and set it alight.
In June 2018, just under a year after being released on licence, he stabbed Faye Mills, a 60-year-old woman with dementia whom he had known for about 15 years, in a "frenzied" attack over an argument about a garden rake in Peterborough.
Prosecutor Charles Falk had told the trial he "almost decapitated her" and the extent of her injuries made it "almost inexplicable" she lived.
He was convicted of attempted murder and jailed for life, with a minimum term of 17 years.
Following the attack on Ms Mills both a serious case review (SCR) and a serious further offence (SFO) review were completed.
In July 2019, the BBC asked the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) for the SCR through the Freedom of Information Act, but this was refused on the grounds of personal information.
After the BBC took the request to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the MOJ further cited "information provided in confidence" as a reason for refusal.
The ICO agreed with the MOJ and the review has not been released.
Jim Holt has asked to see the reviews
However, Mr Holt claimed he was told he would receive a copy of the reviews, but that he was now being refused them.
"All I wanted was the reports, for them to admit that they made a mistake," he said.
"This isn't about Lorraine anymore. This is about all child killers that you are releasing, because if you're making mistakes on Stephen Chafer, Stephen Leonard, whatever you want to call him, you're making mistakes elsewhere because people just don't learn."
He said he believed the authorities were "scared to death I'm going to sue".
But he added: "I don't want the money - no amount of money can bring my daughter back.
"I just don't want the same mistakes made again with other criminals."
Mr Holt had been offered a meeting and said: "I'm prepared to meet them but I'm gutted that they say one thing and then do another - that's not fair."
The Ministry of Justice has since said that, in general, SFO reviews were provided to victims of later offences to share with them the actions being taken to address any failings in the supervision of offenders.
It said the confidential information in them was not routinely available to victims of the initial offences.
A spokesman said: "The details of this review have already been shared with the victims of this crime and we are also meeting with Mr Holt to do the same.
"We are committed to ensuring victims get the information they need to understand what happened, which is why we disclose SFO reviews to victims of the offence where they request to receive them."
Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-58413667
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Woman guilty of murdering husband in knife attack at Clydebank flat - BBC News
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2021-09-16
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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The 36-year-old struck out after claiming her husband did not stick up for her in a row with a stranger.
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Glasgow & West Scotland
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William and Lorna Middleton on their wedding day
A woman is facing a life sentence after being convicted of murdering her husband in a stabbing attack at their home.
Lorna Middleton, 36, stabbed William Middleton, 38, in the heart after claiming he had failed to stick up for her in a row with a stranger.
Police found Mr Middleton lying in a pool of blood at the flat in Clydebank. Two knives were lying near his body.
His wife later told officers: "Revenge is a dish best served cold."
Mother-of-four Middleton later claimed she had been acting in self-defence when she carried out the attack on 26 June 2020.
But she was found guilty of murder following a trial at the High Court in Glasgow.
The court heard the Middletons had people at their flat the night before the attack.
Witnesses claimed Lorna Middleton got into a fight with a male stranger and threw a bottle.
Neighbour James Long said Lorna Middleton later argued with her husband after he didn't "back her up" in the argument.
The 32-year-old stated he also saw Middleton punching William "a couple of times on the head" but he did not react.
He added: "They were good punches, not to knock him out but he was more upset.
"When he was getting hit, he was sitting crying."
William briefly left the flat before returning, and this was when Middleton claimed he attacked her.
Her claim was dismissed by a jury.
Lord Clark remanded Middleton in custody and deferred sentence until next month.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-58584025
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news_uk-scotland-glasgow-west-58584025
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Cyprus gang rape case: Woman appeals against conviction for lying - BBC News
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2021-09-16
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['https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews']
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Her legal team says she retracted the rape allegation while under extreme pressure from police.
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Derby
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The woman covered her face as she arrived at a previous hearing in January 2020
A British woman who reported being gang-raped in Cyprus has appealed against her conviction for lying about the attack.
Her legal team told the Cypriot Supreme Court that her statement retracting the gang rape allegation was unreliable because of how it was obtained.
She was detained for more than six hours, they said, with no access to a lawyer or translator, and placed under extreme pressure.
The woman, who is 21 and from Derbyshire, originally told Cypriot police she had been raped by a group of 12 Israeli men and boys in Ayia Napa in July 2019.
After retracting the allegation she was then tried and convicted of causing public mischief.
She was given a four-month suspended sentence in January 2020, which meant she could return to the UK.
She did not attend the two-hour appeal hearing, which was conducted in Greek in front of a panel of three judges.
There was no ruling on the appeal today, and it could take as long as six months.
Activists held up banners as they demonstrated outside the Supreme Court in Nicosia
Speaking after the hearing, the woman's English barrister, Lewis Power QC, said: "This is the biggest case here in the last decade beyond a shadow of a doubt and the world is watching.
"It is so important for young women across the world. This case is a beacon."
Mr Power said he had spoken to the woman and her mother, who were "back in the UK watching from afar".
"She's bearing up really well. She is getting on with her life at university," he said.
"She is very anxious about the result but she is fairly upbeat and determined that this won't ruin her life."
Her case has attracted widespread publicity and dozens of protesters gathered outside the court building for the appeal hearing.
As they banged drums, chanted and clapped their hands, some held up banners reading "End rape culture" and "I believe her".
Activists chanted outside the Supreme Court as the appeal hearing was held
Adamos Demosthenous, representing the Cyprus attorney general, had argued the appeal should not be heard because the woman had criticised the trial judge in an ITV documentary, but the court ruled against the submission and heard the arguments.
The woman's lawyers said the retraction statement, which formed the basis of the prosecution case, should never have been admitted into evidence.
They said as well as being placed under pressure with no lawyer or translator, she was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time as a result of the rape.
They also argued the retraction statement was not written by a native English speaker.
Her Cypriot lawyer, Nicoletta Charalambidou, said the lower court started from the position that there was no rape and had misunderstood the offence of public mischief, which requires a false statement of a make-believe crime.
She said the trial judge, Michalis Papathanasiou, also did not allow the defendant to talk about the alleged rape, repeatedly saying: "This is not a rape trial."
Lewis Power QC (left) and Michael Polak of Justice Abroad spoke to media outside court
If the conviction is not overturned her legal team intends to take the case to the European Court of Human Rights.
After the hearing, Mr Power said: "I think it was a very fruitful hearing where the court asked very poignant questions, considered the legal arguments and identified the points which will ultimately decide this appeal.
"We cannot pre-empt the decision of the court, but we were glad to see the court had given much thought and considerable consideration to a very, very difficult case."
Michael Polak from Justice Abroad, which has been helping the woman, added: "Without wanting to pre-judge the decision of the Supreme Court, we feel we were happy with the way proceedings went today and the way the judges engaged with our arguments."
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Prince Philip's will to be secret for 90 years - BBC News
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2021-09-16
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A judge says he made the ruling, in line with other royal deaths, to protect the Queen's dignity.
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UK
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The Duke of Edinburgh's will is to remain secret for at least 90 years to protect the "dignity and standing" of the Queen, the High Court has ruled.
It has been convention for over a century that, after the death of a senior member of the Royal Family, the courts are asked to seal their wills.
It means that, unlike most wills granted probate, it will not be open to public inspection.
There will be a private process in 90 years to decide if it can be unsealed.
The hearing into the application to seal the will was also held in private in July by Sir Andrew McFarlane, the most senior judge in the family courts.
He heard arguments from lawyers representing the duke's estate and the attorney general, the government's chief legal adviser, and published his ruling on Thursday.
Sir Andrew said that as president of the Family Division of the High Court, he is the custodian of a safe containing more than 30 envelopes, each containing the sealed will of a dead member of the Royal Family.
And for the first time in more than 100 years, he set out a process by which those wills could be made public.
Sir Andrew said: "I have held that, because of the constitutional position of the Sovereign, it is appropriate to have a special practice in relation to royal wills.
"There is a need to enhance the protection afforded to truly private aspects of the lives of this limited group of individuals in order to maintain the dignity of the Sovereign and close members of her family."
The judge said he had not seen Prince Philip's will or been told anything of its contents, other than the date of its execution and the identity of the appointed executor.
He said he decided to hold the hearing in private because it would be likely to generate "very significant publicity and conjecture" that would "defeat the purpose of the application".
"I accepted the submission that, whilst there may be public curiosity as to the private arrangements that a member of the Royal Family may choose to make in their will, there is no true public interest in the public knowing this wholly private information," he said.
Prince Francis of Teck, brother of Queen Mary, was the first royal whose will was sealed on his death
He said there was no legal reason for any representations from media organisations because the public interest was represented by the attorney general.
Lawyers for Philip's estate argued that news of the hearing and the application "might generate wholly unfounded conjecture" which would be "deeply intrusive" for the Queen and the Royal Family.
Detailing the history of previous decisions, Sir Andrew said the first family member whose will was sealed by the court was Prince Francis of Teck, the younger brother of Queen Mary, who died in 1910.
According to the legal and royal expert Michael L Nash, author of Royal Wills in Britain from 1509 to 2008, the new legal mechanism was devised after Prince Francis left valuable emeralds prized by Queen Mary to his mistress, the Countess of Kilmorey.
An envelope containing Prince Francis's will resides in the safe held by Sir Andrew, with the most recent additions being those of the late Queen Mother and Princess Margaret, the Queen's sister, who died in 2002.
In 2007, a man claiming to be the illegitimate child of Princess Margaret, Robert Andrew Brown, applied to unseal the wills of the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret but his claim was struck out as "vexatious and an abuse of process".
However, Sir Andrew amended previous orders, which had sealed royal wills indefinitely, so that they can be inspected privately 90 years after probate was granted.
The "grant of probate" is an order that allows someone to distribute a deceased person's assets according to their wishes, and normally marks the point where person's will becomes a public document.
Wills by the Queen Mother and Princess Margaret are among those being held in a safe
Sir Andrew said after 90 years each royal will would be opened and examined by the monarch's private solicitor, the keeper of the Royal Archives, the attorney general and by any personal representatives of the dead person who may still be available.
They will decide whether the will may be made public at that stage, but Sir Andrew said some royal wills may never be published, even in part.
The unsealing should be conducted by a professional archivist to ensure the documents and seals are properly preserved. Further details of the process will be decided by the court before it begins to unseal the first of the wills.
The Queen's solicitor and the attorney general argued that the wills should be sealed for 125 years, but Sir Andrew said that 90 years was "proportionate and sufficient" and would mean the risk of publication intruding on the private lives of royals would be substantially reduced.
Sir Andrew said he intends to publish an annex listing the names on the 30 envelopes in his safe, but added that he will not do so until any potential appeal against his judgement has been able to run its course.
One name which will not feature is that of Diana, Princess of Wales. Unlike other members of the Royal Family, her will was published after her death in 1997, revealing that the majority of her fortune was being held in trust for her sons until they reached the age of 25.
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Cristiano Ronaldo breaks men's international scoring record with 110th and 111th goals - BBC Sport
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2021-09-02
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Cristiano Ronaldo breaks the world record for goals scored in men's international football with two headers against the Republic of Ireland.
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Last updated on .From the section European Football
Cristiano Ronaldo broke the world record for goals scored in men's international football as he hit his 110th and 111th goals for Portugal in their dramatic 2-1 World Cup qualifying win over the Republic of Ireland.
The 36-year-old scored two late headers - to break and extend the record - after he had a penalty saved by Gavin Bazunu.
Ali Daei, who scored 109 goals for Iran between 1993 and 2006, held the record which Ronaldo equalled with a double against France at Euro 2020.
The Manchester United forward has also equalled Sergio Ramos' European record for men's caps - with his 180th Portugal appearance.
The world record - only ratified by Fifa this summer - is the 195 Malaysia caps won by Soh Chin Ann between 1969 and 1984.
Ronaldo, who rejoined United from Juventus on deadline day, and Daei are the only two male players to score 90 or more international goals.
"I'm so happy, not only because I beat the record, but for the special moment that we had," he told RTE. "Two goals at the end of the game. I have to appreciate what the team did, we believed until the end. I'm so glad."
This is the latest landmark to push the argument for the Portuguese to be considered an all-time great.
He is already the top scorer in club football's top tournament, the European Cup/Champions League, a trophy he has won five times.
The former Real Madrid forward is also the top scorer in European Championship history (14) and in Euros and World Cups combined (21).
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How his international goals have come
What tournaments have they come in?
Almost half of Ronaldo's goals have come in the final 30 minutes of games.
He has netted 33 times in the final 15 minutes - including twice against the Irish - and 22 times between the 61st and 75th minute.
Ronaldo has scored 17 times between minutes 16-30 and 16 times between 31-45, with 11 in the opening 15 minutes of the first half and 12 in the opening 15 minutes of the second half.
Some 91 of his goals have been inside the box with 20 from outside. He has scored 14 penalties and nine free-kicks.
Lithuania and Sweden - seven each - are the sides he has scored the most against. He had not scored against the Republic of Ireland before Wednesday's game in the Algarve.
There is no official database for top men's international goalscorers which makes it hard to say exactly who ranks where.
Ronaldo is top on 111 and Daei is next on 109, of that there is no doubt.
Iran's Daei, who played for Bayern Munich, was said to have broken Hungarian legend Ferenc Puskas' record in 2003 with his 85th international goal. That is the year Ronaldo made his international debut.
Cynics could argue that Daei's goals were against easier opposition - with 95 against fellow Asian sides.
He scored eight against the Maldives and Laos and six against Lebanon.
But Ronaldo has also benefitted from facing weaker nations including six against Andorra and Luxembourg each.
The only question is who ranks below them? Mokhtar Dahari of Malaysia - who played in the 1970s and 80s - is credited as being third in some places with 89 goals. A Fifa tweet this summer seemed to confirm that , despite it never being officially validated.
Puskas is definitely next, with 84 goals in 85 caps for Hungary. He was the top-scoring European before Ronaldo.
Zambia's Godfrey Chitalu scored 79 goals between the 1960s and 1980s - again not certified but also mentioned on that Fifa tweet.
Ronaldo is unlikely to beat the world record, including women's football, of Canada striker Christine Sinclair. She has scored 187 goals in 304 caps and has not yet retired.
Ronaldo gets one over on Messi
In the strange modern-day phenomena of Ronaldo and Lionel Messi fanboys, this is another tick in the Ronaldo column.
Ronaldo's 111 goals in 180 games is well clear of Messi's 76 in 151 - roughly 0.6 goals a game compared with 0.5.
Messi - the joint eighth top scorer in the world - is 34 and on current form would need to play into his forties to reach 111 international goals.
The highlight of Ronaldo's international career was undoubtedly winning Euro 2016, although he went off injured early in the final.
He has scored in two Euros semi-finals too, 12 years apart - against the Netherlands in 2004 and Wales in 2016.
His finest hour at a World Cup was a hat-trick against Spain in the group stages three years ago in Russia, including a late free-kick. That is one of his nine international hat-tricks - including one against Switzerland in the 2019 Uefa Nations League semi-finals.
He has also scored in all nine major tournaments he has played in - World Cups and European Championships. Including the Confederations Cup and Nations League, he has scored in 11 out of 11.
He won the Golden Boot at Euro 2020 with five goals in four games, beating five-goal Czech Patrik Schick on assists.
• None How did a humble arcade machine become a multi-billion pound industry?
• None Find out how you can get your money back for a rescheduled show
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Covid: Schools aren't infection hubs, says public health boss - BBC News
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2021-09-02
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Dr Yvonne Doyle seeks to reassure parents as pupils head back to classrooms across the country.
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UK
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Schools are not "drivers" or "hubs" of Covid infection, Public Health England's medical director has said.
Dr Yvonne Doyle said she understood parents' nervousness about schools returning after the summer in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
She stressed that lots of measures to cut Covid spread remained in place.
But Prof Calum Semple, a government scientific adviser, said with most adults vaccinated, schools were likely to be a "greater part of the problem".
Some have suggested a surge in cases in Scotland, where pupils returned in August, could be linked to schools.
Fewer measures are in place in schools than during last term, with bubbles and masks no longer in use in England and Wales, while Northern Ireland has also scrapped social distancing requirements.
Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told BBC Breakfast it was right for children to have a "much more normal education experience", with adults being able to go back to the pub, music festivals and theatres.
He said there needed to be a "sensible balance" and that was why mass testing of secondary school pupils was taking place.
Dr Doyle said there were lots of regimes in place already to prevent the spread, including extra cleaning, advice on ventilation and testing.
She said: "We understand, and I understand fully, that parents may be nervous but I would stress again that schools are not the drivers and not the hubs of infection."
She added that PHE attributed some of the school-related coronavirus figures to the testing regime.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Education Secretary Gavin Williamson says pupils deserve to have a normal education experience
Prof Semple, professor of child health and outbreak medicine at the University of Liverpool, said he believed schools should stay open "nearly at all costs" because the damage caused by a lack of education could be lifelong.
He said while pupils were unlikely to get sick themselves they could transmit the disease to others, and that this should be considered when discussing vaccines for 12 to 15-year-olds.
A paper, published by the Royal Society, suggests the reopening of schools, and particularly secondary schools, is associated with an increased risk of transmission both among school-aged pupils and in the wider community. But it said the scale of that increase depended on control measures in the classroom and community as well as compliance with mass testing.
Prof Semple said his biggest worry was closing schools again because education was very important but he said school building stock was poor, with ventilation an issue.
Both experts agreed that school is the best place for children.
But vaccinating everyone else means that they'll look more like "hubs" than they did last year.
If your problems get smaller and mine stay the same, I start to look worse than you.
Last September, older teenagers and younger adults saw the fastest rises in infections and cases in England.
This year, they'll be able to get vaccinated. Their place as "leaders" in infection rates and rises is likely to be taken by children because everyone else will have the vaccine to slow the spread.
The decision about vaccination for under-16s is finely balanced because the risks of illness for children from Covid are so low.
Parents have to balance the risks of Covid with the risks of disruption to education. Health experts currently appear more worried about missing education.
Scientists have already said it is "highly likely" that high levels of coronavirus will be seen in schools by the end of September.
And there could be consequences for parents and carers, they say - but it remains to be seen what effect it will have on cases and hospital admissions.
Imperial College epidemiologist Prof Neil Ferguson said the UK could expect cases to surge in step with what has happened in Scotland when schools return but the big unknown was how long that surge would last.
He said that in a post-vaccine world the country could cope with much higher levels of cases and what ministers might consider an "acceptable level of hospitalisation" but he said that daily caseloads of 100,000 to 150,000 would put "significant demands on the healthcare system".
In Scotland more than 32,000 pupils have been off school due to Covid-19 as of Tuesday - with 6,471 having the virus, up from 3,500 the week before, while a further 25,622 were isolating.
Among the measures being implemented for safety in schools in England are carbon dioxide monitors to help improve ventilation, with 300,000 being made available, but when asked on BBC Breakfast Mr Williamson was unable to say how many were already in place.
While CO2 monitors do not affect the transmission risk in schools, they can help to indicate how well ventilated a classroom is.
Humans breathe out a higher concentration of carbon dioxide than is present in the atmosphere, so the monitors help to detect how much of the surrounding air has been breathed out, and how much is fresh air from outside.
Asked about vaccinations for 12 to 15-year-olds the education secretary said parents would find it "deeply reassuring to have a choice of whether their children should have a vaccination or not" and that he was "very keen" to hear the decision from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI).
He said that government was "ready to go" if it did decide to extend the eligibility to children that age.
Prof Anthony Harnden, deputy chairman of the JCVI, said there were many arguments for and against vaccinating the age group but said whatever decision the committee reached would be in children's best interests.
Prof Semple, who sits on the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage), said it was a "really difficult judgement" with a fine balancing act between a "rare side effect", in myocarditis, and the low risk from Covid to children themselves and the impact of transmission on wider society.
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COP26: Document leak reveals nations lobbying to change key climate report - BBC News
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2021-10-21
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Countries are asking the UN to play down the need to move rapidly away from fossil fuels.
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Science & Environment
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A huge leak of documents seen by BBC News shows how countries are trying to change a crucial scientific report on how to tackle climate change.
The leak reveals Saudi Arabia, Japan and Australia are among countries asking the UN to play down the need to move rapidly away from fossil fuels.
It also shows some wealthy nations are questioning paying more to poorer states to move to greener technologies.
This "lobbying" raises questions for the COP26 climate summit in November.
The leak reveals countries pushing back on UN recommendations for action and comes just days before they will be asked at the summit to make significant commitments to slow down climate change and keep global warming to 1.5 degrees.
The leaked documents consist of more than 32,000 submissions made by governments, companies and other interested parties to the team of scientists compiling a UN report designed to bring together the best scientific evidence on how to tackle climate change.
These "assessment reports" are produced every six to seven years by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the UN body tasked with evaluating the science of climate change.
These reports are used by governments to decide what action is needed to tackle climate change, and the latest will be a crucial input to negotiations at the Glasgow conference.
The authority of these reports derives in part from the fact that virtually all the governments of the world participate in the process to reach consensus.
The comments from governments the BBC has read are overwhelmingly designed to be constructive and to improve the quality of the final report.
The cache of comments and the latest draft of the report were released to Greenpeace UK's team of investigative journalists, Unearthed, which passed it on to BBC News.
The leak shows a number of countries and organisations arguing that the world does not need to reduce the use of fossil fuels as quickly as the current draft of the report recommends.
An adviser to the Saudi oil ministry demands "phrases like 'the need for urgent and accelerated mitigation actions at all scales…' should be eliminated from the report".
One senior Australian government official rejects the conclusion that closing coal-fired power plants is necessary, even though ending the use of coal is one of the stated objectives the COP26 conference.
Saudi Arabia is the one of the largest oil producers in the world and Australia is a major coal exporter.
A senior scientist from India's Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research, which has strong links to the Indian government, warns coal is likely to remain the mainstay of energy production for decades because of what they describe as the "tremendous challenges" of providing affordable electricity. India is already the world's second biggest consumer of coal.
A number of countries argue in favour of emerging and currently expensive technologies designed to capture and permanently store carbon dioxide underground. Saudi Arabia, China, Australia and Japan - all big producers or users of fossil fuels - as well as the organisation of oil producing nations, Opec, all support carbon capture and storage (CCS).
It is claimed these CCS technologies could dramatically cut fossil fuel emissions from power plants and some industrial sectors.
Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil exporter, requests the UN scientists delete their conclusion that "the focus of decarbonisation efforts in the energy systems sector needs to be on rapidly shifting to zero-carbon sources and actively phasing out fossil fuels".
Argentina, Norway and Opec also take issue with the statement. Norway argues the UN scientists should allow the possibility of CCS as a potential tool for reducing emissions from fossil fuels.
The draft report accepts CCS could play a role in the future but says there are uncertainties about its feasibility. It says "there is large ambiguity in the extent to which fossil fuels with CCS would be compatible with the 2C and 1.5C targets" as set out by the Paris Agreement.
The offshore Sleipner gas field in Norway has been using CCS since 1996
Australia asks IPCC scientists to delete a reference to analysis of the role played by fossil fuel lobbyists in watering down action on climate in Australia and the US. Opec also asks the IPCC to "delete 'lobby activism, protecting rent extracting business models, prevent political action'."
When approached about its comments to the draft report, Opec told the BBC: "The challenge of tackling emissions has many paths, as evidenced by the IPCC report, and we need to explore them all. We need to utilise all available energies, as well as clean and more efficient technological solutions to help reduce emissions, ensuring no one is left behind."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Tony Blair on climate change: "Even though the challenge is immense, there really isn't an alternative to dealing with it"
The IPCC says comments from governments are central to its scientific review process and that its authors have no obligation to incorporate them into the reports.
"Our processes are designed to guard against lobbying - from all quarters", the IPCC told the BBC. "The review process is (and always has been) absolutely fundamental to the IPCC's work and is a major source of the strength and credibility of our reports.
Professor Corinne le Quéré of the University of East Anglia, a leading climate scientist who has helped compile three major reports for the IPCC, has no doubts about the impartiality of the IPCC's reports.
She says all comments are judged solely on scientific evidence regardless of where they come from.
"There is absolutely no pressure on scientists to accept the comments," she told the BBC. "If the comments are lobbying, if they're not justified by the science, they will not be integrated in the IPCC reports."
She says it is important that experts of all kinds - including governments - have a chance to review the science.
"The more the reports are scrutinised", says Professor le Quéré, "the more solid the evidence is going to be in the end, because the more the arguments are brought and articulated forward in a way that is leaning on the best available science".
Christiana Figueres, the Costa Rican diplomat who oversaw the landmark UN climate conference in Paris in 2015, agrees it is crucial that governments are part of the IPCC process.
"Everybody's voice has to be there. That's the whole purpose. This is not a single thread. This is a tapestry woven by many, many threads."
The United Nations was awarded a Nobel Prize in 2007 for the IPCC's work on climate science and the crucial role it has played in the effort to tackle climate change.
Brazil and Argentina, two of the biggest producers of beef products and animal feed crops in the world, argue strongly against evidence in the draft report that reducing meat consumption is necessary to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The draft report states "plant-based diets can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 50% compared to the average emission intensive Western diet". Brazil says this is incorrect.
Both countries call on the authors to delete or change some passages in the text referring to "plant-based diets" playing a role in tackling climate change, or which describe beef as a "high carbon" food. Argentina also asked that references to taxes on red meat and to the international "Meatless Monday" campaign, which urges people to forgo meat for a day, be removed from the report.
The South American nation recommends "avoiding generalisation on the impacts of meat-based diets on low-carbon options", arguing there is evidence that meat-based diets can also reduce carbon emissions.
On the same theme, Brazil says "plant-based diets do not for themselves guarantee the reduction or control of related emissions" and maintains the focus of debate should be on the levels of emissions from different production systems, rather than types of food.
Brazil, which has seen significant increases in the rate of deforestation in the Amazon and some other forest areas, also disputes a reference to this being a result of changes in government regulations, claiming this is incorrect.
A significant number of Switzerland's comments are directed at amending parts of the report that argue developing countries will need support, particularly financial support, from rich countries in order to meet emission reduction targets.
It was agreed at the climate conference in Copenhagen in 2009 that developed nations would provide $100bn a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020, a target that has yet to be met.
Australia makes a similar case to Switzerland. It says developing countries' climate pledges do not all depend on receiving outside financial support. It also describes a mention in the draft report of the lack of credible public commitments on finance as "subjective commentary".
The Swiss Federal Office for the Environment told the BBC: "While climate finance is a critical tool to increase climate ambition, it is not the only relevant tool.
"Switzerland takes the view that all Parties to the Paris Agreement with the capacity to do so should provide support to those who need such support."
A number of mostly eastern European countries argue the draft report should be more positive about the role nuclear power can play in meeting the UN's climate targets.
India goes even further, arguing "almost all the chapters contain a bias against nuclear energy". It argues it is an "established technology" with "good political backing except in a few countries".
The Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia criticise a table in the report which finds nuclear power only has a positive role in delivering one of 17 UN Sustainable Development goals. They argue it can play a positive role in delivering most of the UN's development agenda.
Do you have any questions about the leak of climate documents? Email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.
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The COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow in November is seen as crucial if climate change is to be brought under control. Almost 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut emissions, and it could lead to major changes to our everyday lives.
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Net zero announcement: Obstacles facing the UK government's plans - BBC News
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2021-10-21
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Potential hazards for ministers include sceptical Tory MPs and voters worried about rising bills.
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UK Politics
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The government has laid out its plans to reduce emissions sharply by 2035 and take the UK towards being a zero carbon economy by 2050. These including more electric cars, planting trees and moving away from gas-powered central heating.
But what potential hazards are there ahead for ministers?
Some in the prime minister's own party doubt the economic arguments in favour of moving towards what they consider an over-reliance on renewable energy sources.
Conservative MP John Redwood asked in the House of Commons what would happen when the sun stopped shining and the wind stopped blowing. Another, Steve Baker, said a lot of "assumptions" were involved and asked that ministers carry out a "comprehensive audit" of their plans.
Tory MP: What happens when the wind doesn't blow?
Others are concerned about the cost to the general public, particularly those on lower incomes, and the impact that, in turn, may have on their chances at the next election.
Craig Mackinlay said it could become "electorally difficult" once people realised the plans "cost them money" or mean "a lifestyle that's not as convenient".
Given that the Conservatives have an 80-seat majority, this is unlikely to stop any plans becoming law, but if some of Mr Johnson's backbenchers are not persuaded, there could be some political turbulence.
Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband was scathing in his response to the government's announcement, saying there was nothing like "the commitment we believe is required", in terms of investment, to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Labour's commitment to borrow and invest £28bn per year in tackling climate change is a markedly different approach to the Conservatives. The Treasury has said borrowing heavily to cut greenhouse gases goes against the "polluter pays" principle and passes the costs on to future taxpayers.
It's not certain how this will play out in Parliament or whether this could become an important dividing line between the parties - and how it would play with voters.
The Treasury accepts there will be an overall cost to achieving net zero emissions in the short term, but sources stress the cost of inaction would also be significant.
No overall figure is given but officials admit new taxes will be needed to recoup the revenue lost from the move away from petrol and diesel fuelled cars, for example.
The government raised £37bn from fuel duty and vehicle excise duty in the 2019-20 financial year, or about 1.7% of GDP.
A carbon tax could plug some of this, but the takings would dwindle as emissions fall, leaving a big shortfall.
How will voters feel if their bills go up to cover the costs?
In an assessment to go with the government's carbon-cutting plans, the Treasury said that "as with all economic transitions, ultimately the costs and benefits of the transition will pass through to households through the labour market, prices and asset values".
There is evidence of public support for stronger measures to tackle climate change, but if households end up having to spend a lot more money to go greener, there could be increased unease among voters that the government will not want ahead of a likely general election in the next couple of years.
In particular, it is feared this could go down badly in some of the former industrial areas of the the Midlands and northern England where the Conservatives made large gains from Labour in 2019.
"Any policies we bring in will be designed to be fair across the board," the PM's spokesman said.
One thing most governments agree on is that any effort to reduce emissions must be international if it is to succeed in limiting temperature rises.
With the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow fast approaching, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hope his plan prompts other countries to make similar commitments and boost the chances of the UK brokering a renewed global effort to cut greenhouse gases.
If the world's biggest CO2 producers - including the US, China and India - reach an agreement it could ease domestic political pressures and allow him to claim more of an environmental "legacy".
US President Jo Biden and Indian PM Narendra Modi are attending COP26, but China's Xi Jinping is not thought likely to do the same.
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Covid in Wales: Sorry for early mistakes, says health minister - BBC News
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2021-10-13
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Eluned Morgan apologises after MPs say early Covid response one of worst ever public health failings.
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Wales politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Eluned Morgan says she has never understood politicians who refuse to apologise where it's due
Wales' Health Minister Eluned Morgan has apologised for the mistakes made by the Welsh government in its initial handling of the pandemic.
She was responding to a report by MPs which said the UK's early response to the pandemic is one of the worst ever public health failures.
"I'm prepared to apologise to all of those who have suffered," she said.
The report said the slow move to lockdown led to a higher initial death toll than if ministers acted sooner.
It said the slow move into restrictions - backed by UK government scientists and adopted by the UK's central and devolved governments - was "wrong" and "deliberate".
The study, written by two House of Commons committees, claimed scientific advisers and government suffered "a degree of group think".
Wales and the rest of the UK went into lockdown on 23 March - while the policy was controlled by ministers in Cardiff, early on they acted alongside the Westminster government.
There were 2,289 deaths in Wales due to Covid, and 2,512 deaths involving Covid, in the first wave of the pandemic up to the end of July 2020.
Wales went into lockdown on 23 March 2020
Opposition parties reiterated calls for a Wales-only public inquiry, with Plaid Cymru saying the Welsh government "must take responsibility for its actions".
In the Senedd, First Minister Mark Drakeford declined to say whether he agreed the early response was one of the worst ever public health failures in the UK, and said he had not read the report.
"I've been asked the question many times, 'Were there things that you would have done differently had you known then what you know now?' " he said.
"We didn't know those things then, we were following the advice that we had at the time."
He said as "our knowledge grew" ministers have "not hesitated to take our own decisions where we thought that was in the best interests of Wales".
There have been a total of 8,262 deaths where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate up to 24 September this year.
Speaking at a press briefing, Ms Morgan said: "Of course I'm prepared to apologise to all of those who have suffered during the pandemic.
"This was a new disease that we'd never seen before. None of us knew how it was going to impact, none of us knew how it was going to spread, none of us had any idea that it could be spread even without showing any symptoms."
She added: "Of course we made mistakes at the beginning of that process, because of the lack of information and data and knowledge that we have now learned.
"I think we have a duty and responsibility to say sorry to people where we've made mistakes."
But the minister argued it would have been "extremely difficult" to have locked down Wales before England, because of the border and "because furlough was not available".
She said since then, the Welsh government has taken a "far more cautious approach compared to that of the rest of the United Kingdom".
But Ms Morgan denied that the Welsh government had suffered from group think - when a group of individuals reaches a consensus without critical reasoning.
A decision to scrap community testing for coronavirus early in the pandemic was described by the report as a "serious mistake".
Wales, in common with the rest of the UK, took the same approach. Ms Morgan partly blamed this on a limitation on the number of tests available at the time.
Catherine Griffiths's father Harry died with Covid in his Aberystwyth care home
Figures showed that there were 157% more care home deaths from all causes than there would be normally in April 2020, with 1,171 in total.
The daughter of a man who died from Covid last year said it was "good to have an apology" but said it was "slightly qualified".
Catherine Griffiths, whose father Harry Griffiths died with Covid in his Aberystwyth care home, told BBC Wales: "They didn't know what was happening in the first wave but they knew what was happening in the second wave, my father died in the second wave.
"They should have protected people they should have acted and learned from countries in the Far East. While we were going into the second wave they were asking people to do quick tests before they enter care facilities, and we weren't doing that."
Ms Griffiths is part of the Covid Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group, which is calling for a dedicated public inquiry for Wales into decisions made about the pandemic.
There are calls for a Wales-only public inquiry into the Covid response
Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said the report showed the "fatalistic approach at the heart of this Westminster government" but also called for a Welsh public inquiry.
Plaid health spokesman Rhun ap Iorwerth said: "The Welsh government must take responsibility for its actions - good and bad, and there should be no avoidance of detailed scrutiny."
Welsh Conservative health spokesman Russell George said: "The pandemic was an unprecedented crisis and as these reports show decision-makers in government followed the science and evidence provided by experts."
He added the report shows "why we need a Wales-specific Covid inquiry".
However Mark Drakeford argued in the Senedd that the report strengthens the argument for the Welsh "experience to be properly investigated within the wider UK context".
The first minister has backed a UK government inquiry, but has not ruled out a Wales-only effort if he is not satisfied with what is set up by the UK government.
Mr Drakeford told the Senedd he was yet to receive a reply to a letter to Communities Secretary Michael Gove on the 10 September setting out a "series of tests" the Welsh government would apply "to give us confidence".
The first minister said he was hoping to have a meeting with the prime minister in the coming days, and added he expects devolved governments to be "properly involved" in the appointment of the UK government's inquiry chair.
During the press conference it was announced that the Welsh government had set a target of offering all 12 to 15-year-olds a Covid vaccine by the end of October.
The government also said all residents of care homes will have been offered a booster by the same date.
Dr Gill Richardson, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Vaccines, said she expected the majority of people over 50 or who have an underlying health condition to have been offered their booster by the end of the year.
A Welsh government statement said the committees' report "does not scrutinise decisions made by any of the devolved governments in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland".
"Some actions and decisions in the pandemic response were taken at a UK level on a four-nations basis - we have always been open to working together where there are shared decisions and shared responses.
"We have followed the advice of our medical and scientific advisers and have taken a more cautious approach. Independent reports, by Audit Wales, have shown our approach to testing, for example, was less costly and more efficient than that taken by the UK government."
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Sprinkles: Leeds Get Baked bakery bins best-seller in topping row - BBC News
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2021-10-13
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Get Baked, in Leeds, is told to stop using US-made decorations containing a prohibited additive.
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Leeds & West Yorkshire
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Rich Myers said he would have to stop selling his "best-selling" raspberry glazed donut cookies
A bakery has had to stop producing its bestselling biscuit after officials found the treats were topped with illegal sprinkles.
Get Baked in Leeds withdrew its raspberry glazed donut cookies, which contained a banned food colouring.
Owner Rich Myers branded the decision "ridiculous" and said alternative sprinkles on the market were "rubbish".
West Yorkshire Trading Standards said the imported decoration had fallen foul of UK regulations.
Mr Myers said: "I know it sounds like a small thing but it is a big deal for my business - we used them a lot.
"Our best-selling cookie, we're not going to be able to sell them any more. For a small independent business that only has a small menu, it's a problem."
Trading Standards said the E127 food colouring, also know as Erythrosine, is only approved for use in the UK and EU in cocktail cherries and candied cherries.
The ingredient has been linked to problems with hyperactivity and behavioural issues in children and a US study suggested an increased risk of thyroid tumours when tested on male rats.
"[The inspector] said they'd had reports of us using illegal sprinkles and I actually laughed by mistake, then realised he was being serious," Mr Myers said.
"To whoever reported us to Trading Standards, all I have to say is: 'Dear Lord, what a sad little life Jane'."
He said he sourced the US-made cake toppers from a UK-based wholesaler, adding that other products on the market were not as good.
"British sprinkles are rubbish," he said.
"They run and aren't bake-stable. The colours aren't vibrant and they just don't look very good."
The bakery uses the decorations on a number of products
Mr Myers' plight was recognised by two former Great British Bake Off contestants, who sympathised with his desire to obtain suitable ingredients.
Edd Kimber, 2010 winner, agreed supermarket sprinkles were "not as good".
"It is what he's designing his product around, so I feel his pain," he added.
Fellow contestant Hermine Dossou, who was a semi-finalist in the 2020 show, called on sprinkle makers in the UK to "step up their game".
"I get where Trading Standards is coming from, but it comes back to the everything in moderation argument," she said.
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Trading Standards said: "We can confirm that we have advised the business concerned the use of E127 is not permitted in this type of confectionery item.
"We stand by this advice and would urge all food business operators, when seeking to use imported foods containing additives, to check that they are permitted for use in the UK."
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Claudia Webbe: MP guilty of threatening and harassing woman - BBC News
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2021-10-13
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Claudia Webbe made a string of phones calls in which she threatened to use acid and share naked photos.
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Leicester
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Claudia Webbe was found guilty of using a misogynistic insult and threatening a woman with acid
An MP who made threatening phone calls to a woman because she was jealous of her relationship with her partner has been found guilty of harassing her.
Claudia Webbe, 56, a former Labour MP for Leicester East, who is now independent, was found guilty of one charge of harassment.
Westminster Magistrates' Court heard she made several calls over two years and threatened the woman with acid.
After the verdict, Webbe said she was "deeply shocked" and would appeal.
The prosecution said Webbe, of Islington, north London, made 16 calls to 59-year-old Michelle Merritt, a friend of her partner Lester Thomas, between September 2018 and April last year.
The court heard on one occasion she made an "angry" call, used a derogatory term and added: "You should be acid."
In another she threatened to send naked photos and videos of Ms Merritt to her family and made silent calls from a withheld number, the hearing was told.
During cross-examination on Wednesday, Webbe, who was suspended by the Labour party, said she had never met Ms Merritt and "there was no reason for any falling out".
She claimed a recorded phone call on 25 April in which Webbe was heard saying "get out of my relationship" 11 times was taken out of context.
Webbe said it had been during a heated argument with Mr Thomas over breaching the Covid-19 lockdown with Ms Merritt.
"I simply called her and asked her not to break lockdown with Lester," she said.
"She was breaking the rules and I was just pointing it out. I'm the victim."
Webbe claimed she was a victim of "domestic abuse and coercive control" and was being "goaded and gaslighted" during the row, which resulted in police being called after a neighbour reported her screams.
She confirmed she was still in a relationship with Mr Thomas and they were engaged.
Webbe told the court she was still with her partner Lester Thomas
Webbe previously said: "I have spent my lifetime campaigning for the rights of women, for challenging this type of behaviour and this is not something that is in my character and not something I would ever do."
Paul Hynes QC representing Webbe read out character references from former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott.
Ms Abbott said the defendant was "very committed to working to support women", describing her "warm, empathetic manner" and added: "I regard her as a very honest woman."
While Mr Corbyn said she was "very committed to ensuring the administration of justice is done" and prepared to "state uncomfortable truths when it matters".
However, District Judge Paul Goldspring said he had found Webbe "untruthful" in her evidence.
"Some of the things she said I believe were made up on the spur of the moment," he said.
"Some things she said in the witness box just don't bear scrutiny.
"In short, I find Ms Webbe to be vague, incoherent and at times illogical."
He released Webbe on unconditional bail but warned her that she could face prison when she is sentenced on 4 November.
"Threatening to throw acid at somebody and to send intimate photographs to family members crosses the custody threshold," he added.
After the verdict, Webbe said: "I am innocent and will appeal this verdict. As I said in court and repeat now, I have never threatened violence nor have I ever harassed anyone."
Her lawyer, Raj Chada, added: "The recording of the call Ms Webbe made has been taken out of context. We are sure that Ms Webbe will be vindicated at an appeal."
Lisa Rose from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Webbe's "persistent nuisance behaviour caused considerable distress and alarm to her victim who became genuinely concerned for her safety".
"No-one should have to endure this sort of harassment," she added.
The Labour Party called on Webbe to step down after the verdict.
A spokesperson added: "The Labour Party strongly condemns Claudia Webbe's actions and she should now resign."
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Prince Andrew to receive Epstein-Giuffre agreement - BBC News
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2021-10-07
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His legal team believes the sealed document will end a case brought by his accuser, Virginia Giuffre.
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UK
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Virginia Giuffre, then Roberts, was pictured with Prince Andrew in London in 2001
Prince Andrew has been granted access to a sealed document his lawyers believe could help end the sexual abuse case being brought by Virginia Giuffre.
A US judge gave permission for the agreement between Ms Giuffre and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to be shared with the prince's lawyers.
Ms Giuffre's lawyers had made the offer to release the document but believe it will be "irrelevant" to the civil case.
The Duke of York, 61, has consistently denied Ms Giuffre's allegations.
Ms Giuffre, 38, claims she was sexually assaulted by the prince at three locations including New York City.
Andrew B Brettler, who represents Prince Andrew, had argued at a previous hearing that Ms Giuffre had entered into a "settlement agreement" with Epstein that would end her current legal action,
During the first pre-trial hearing of the case last month, Prince Andrew's lawyer said the agreement "releases the duke and others from any and all potential liability".
The prince's lawyers have said in court that Ms Giuffre agreed in 2009 not to sue anyone else connected to Epstein when she settled her damages claim against the billionaire sex offender, who died in prison in 2019.
The precise wording of that deal is currently confidential - sealed by a court.
In a court document filed on Wednesday, US Judge Loretta Preska agreed to a request from Ms Giuffre's lawyer, David Boies, to provide the duke's legal team with the document.
Mr Boies previously said about the document: "Although we believe that the release is irrelevant to the case against Prince Andrew, now that service has been accepted and the case is proceeding to a determination on the merits, we believe that counsel for Prince Andrew have a right to review the release and to make whatever arguments they believe appropriate based on it."
Then known as Virginia Roberts, Ms Giuffre claims she was assaulted by the prince at the London home of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and at Epstein's homes in Manhattan and Little Saint James, in the US Virgin Islands.
Her case claims Prince Andrew engaged in sexual acts without Ms Giuffre's consent, including when she was 17, knowing how old she was, and "that she was a sex-trafficking victim".
The prince has consistently denied the claims and, in 2019, told BBC Two's Newsnight programme: "It didn't happen."
• None Prince accepts being served with US lawsuit papers
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Signs of first planet found outside our galaxy - BBC News
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2021-10-25
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Astronomers have found hints of what could be the first planet ever to be discovered outside our galaxy.
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Science & Environment
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The finding comes from observation of an X-ray binary - a neutron star or black hole pulling in gas from a companion star
Astronomers have found hints of what could be the first planet ever to be discovered outside our galaxy.
Nearly 5,000 "exoplanets" - worlds orbiting stars beyond our Sun - have been found so far, but all of these have been located within the Milky Way galaxy.
The possible Saturn-sized planet discovered by Nasa's Chandra X-Ray Telescope is in the Messier 51 galaxy.
This is located some 28 million light-years away from the Milky Way.
This new result is based on transits, where the passage of a planet in front of a star blocks some of the star's light and yields a characteristic dip in brightness that can be detected by telescopes.
This general technique has already been used to find thousands of exoplanets.
Dr Rosanne Di Stefano and colleagues searched for dips in the brightness of X-rays received from a type of object known as an X-ray bright binary.
These objects typically contain a neutron star or black hole pulling in gas from a closely orbiting companion star. The material near the neutron star or black hole becomes superheated and glows at X-ray wavelengths.
Because the region producing bright X-rays is small, a planet passing in front of it could block most or all of the rays, making the transit easier to spot.
The team members used this technique to detect the exoplanet candidate in a binary system called M51-ULS-1.
"The method we developed and employed is the only presently implementable method to discover planetary systems in other galaxies," Dr Di Stefano, from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, US, told BBC News.
"It is a unique method, uniquely well-suited to finding planets around X-ray binaries at any distance from which we can measure a light curve."
The Chandra telescope was launched in 1999 to study X-ray emission from hot regions of the Universe
This binary contains a black hole or neutron star orbiting a companion star with a mass about 20 times that of the Sun. A neutron star is the collapsed core of what had once been a massive star.
The transit lasted about three hours, during which the X-ray emission decreased to zero. Based on this and other information, the astronomers estimate that the candidate planet would be around the size of Saturn, and orbit the neutron star or black hole at about twice the distance Saturn lies from the Sun.
Dr Di Stefano said the techniques that have been so successful for finding exoplanets in the Milky Way break down when observing other galaxies. This is partly because the great distances involved reduce the amount of light which reaches the telescope and also mean that many objects are crowded into a small space (as viewed from Earth), making it difficult to resolve individual stars.
With X-rays, she said, "there may be only several dozen sources spread out over the entire galaxy, so we can resolve them. In addition, a subset of these are so bright in X-rays that we can measure their light curves.
"Finally, the huge emission of X-rays comes from a small region that can be substantially or (as in our case) totally blocked by a passing planet."
Messier 51 is also called the Whirlpool Galaxy because of its distinctive spiral shape
The researchers freely admit that more data is needed to verify their interpretation.
One challenge is that the planet candidate's large orbit means it would not cross in front of its binary partner again for about 70 years, quashing any attempts to make a follow-up observation in the near-term.
One other possible explanation that the astronomers considered is that the dimming has been caused by a cloud of gas and dust passing in front of the X-ray source.
However, they think this is unlikely, because the characteristics of the event do not match up with the properties of a gas cloud.
"We know we are making an exciting and bold claim so we expect that other astronomers will look at it very carefully," said co-author Julia Berndtsson of Princeton University, New Jersey.
"We think we have a strong argument, and this process is how science works."
Dr Di Stefano said that the new generation of optical and infrared telescopes would not be able to compensate for the problems of crowding and dimness, so observations at X-ray wavelengths would likely remain the primary method for detecting planets in other galaxies.
However, she said a method known as microlensing might also hold promise for identifying extra-galactic planets.
The study has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Astronomy.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-59044650
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Climate change: Sir David Attenborough in 'act now' warning - BBC News
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2021-10-25
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"If we don't act now, it'll be too late," warns Sir David Attenborough ahead of the COP26 climate summit.
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Science & Environment
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The BBC goes behind the scenes with Sir David Attenborough on the set of his new documentary, The Green Planet
"If we don't act now, it'll be too late." That's the warning from Sir David Attenborough ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.
The broadcaster says the richest nations have "a moral responsibility" to help the world's poorest.
And it would be "really catastrophic" if we ignored their problems, he told me in a BBC News interview.
"Every day that goes by in which we don't do something about it is a day wasted," he said.
Sir David and I were speaking at Kew Gardens in London during filming for a new landmark series, The Green Planet, to be aired on BBC1 next year.
Our conversation ranged from the latest climate science to the importance of COP26 to the pace of his working life.
The UN climate science panel recently concluded that it is "unequivocal" that human activity is driving up global temperatures.
And Sir David said that proved that he and others had not been making "a fuss about nothing", and that the risks of a hotter world are real.
Extreme weather such as drought will increase as the world gets warmer
"What climate scientists have been saying for 20 years, and that we have been reporting upon, you and I both, is the case - we were not causing false alarms.
"And every day that goes by in which we don't do something about it is a day wasted. And things are being made worse".
But he said the report had not convinced everyone and that they are acting as a brake on efforts to tackle climate change.
"There are still people in North America, there are still people in Australia who say 'no, no, no, no, of course it's very unfortunate that there was that forest fire that absolutely demolished, incinerated that village, but it's a one-off'.
"Particularly if it's going to cost money in the short term, the temptation is to deny the problem and pretend it's not there.
"But every month that passes, it becomes more and more incontrovertible, the changes to the planet that we are responsible for that are having these devastating effects."
His call for an urgent response reflects the latest scientific assessment that to avoid the worst impacts of rising temperatures, global carbon emissions need to be halved no later than 2030.
That's why the coming years are described as "the decisive decade" and why the COP26 talks are so crucial for getting the world on a safer path now.
As things stand, emissions are projected to continue rising rather than starting to fall, and Sir David was sounding more exasperated than I've heard before.
"If we don't act now, it will be too late," he said. "We have to do it now."
We turned to the question of responsibility, a highly contentious issue which will loom large at the conference. Developing countries have for years accused the richest nations, which were the first to start polluting the atmosphere, of failing to shoulder their share of the burden.
The argument is that they should be making the deepest cuts in carbon emissions and providing help to those who need it most. A long-standing promise of $100bn a year for low carbon development and to build stronger defences against more violent weather has yet to be fulfilled - reaching that total will be a key test of whether COP26 succeeds or fails.
Bangladesh, on the UN's list of Least Developed Countries, is battling river erosion due to climate change
For Sir David, this is one of the most worrying challenges, and he says it would be "really catastrophic" if threats to the poorest nations were ignored.
"Whole parts of Africa are likely to be unliveable - people will simply have to move away because of the advancing deserts and increasing heat, and where will they go? Well, a lot of them will try to get into Europe.
"Do we say, 'Oh, it's nothing to do with us' and cross our arms?
"We caused it - our kind of industrialisation is one of the major factors in producing this change in climate. So we have a moral responsibility.
"Even if we didn't cause it, we would have a moral responsibility to do something about thousands of men, women and children who've lost everything, everything. Can we just say goodbye and say this is no business of ours?"
Finally I asked about his own hectic workload at the age of 95 - from filming documentaries to addressing the G7 summit, the UN Security Council and the Duke of Cambridge's Earthshot Prize.
The COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow in November is seen as crucial if climate change is to be brought under control. Almost 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut emissions, and it could lead to major changes to our everyday lives.
"I don't plan very far ahead - as you say, I'm 95. How long can you go on? It isn't within our gift to say those things or to know those things.
"All I know is that if I get up tomorrow and I feel that I'm able to do a decent day's work, then I shall jolly well do it and be grateful.
"And the day is going to come when I'm going to get out of bed and say, I don't think I can do that. When that's going to be, who knows? I don't."
Having watched him filming for five hours straight, and remaining not only focused but also good-humoured, I suggested that he still loved what he was doing.
"At the moment, I feel it would be a waste of an opportunity just to back out and not do the things I think are very important to do in which I am well placed to do."
And the next major engagement in the Attenborough diary? Nothing less than speaking, virtually or in-person, to what's set to be the largest ever gathering of global leaders on British soil: COP26, in a few days' time.
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Robert Durst charged with murder of ex-wife who vanished in 1982 - BBC News
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2021-10-22
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The jailed real estate heir is facing a new second-degree murder charge, authorities say.
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US & Canada
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US real estate heir Robert Durst has been charged in the 1982 disappearance of his ex-wife, authorities have said.
Kathie McCormack Durst's body was never found, and she was legally declared dead in 2017.
A new criminal complaint accuses Durst of second-degree murder in connection with the case.
Last week Durst, 78, was sentenced to life in prison for the 2000 murder of his best friend to stop her talking about his wife's disappearance.
The new criminal complaint against Durst - the subject of HBO crime documentary series The Jinx - was filed by a state police investigator in Lewisboro, New York.
Citing sources familiar with the matter, the Associated Press has reported that a grand jury has begun hearing witness testimony.
In a statement sent to the BBC, the Westchester County District Attorney's Office confirmed that a complaint had been filed but provided no further comment.
Kathie McCormack Durst was 29 when she vanished in January 1982 following an argument with Durst, who had long claimed that he took her to a train station so that she could return to their Manhattan apartment.
While he initially claimed that he spoke with her once she returned, he later admitted that was a lie. Durst divorced McCormack in 1990, citing abandonment.
The new complaint is based on "conversations with numerous witnesses and observations of defendants, recorded interviews and observations of Durst's recorded interviews and court testimony in related proceedings".
The BBC has reached out to attorneys representing Durst for comment.
Robert Abrams, a spokesman for Kathie McCormack Durst's family, was quoted by the New York Times as saying they were "unaware" of the latest criminal complaint, but grateful for the work of the district attorney's office, and told the BBC that they "are very happy with this development".
On 14 October, Durst was sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Susan Berman, who was found shot in the head in her Beverly Hills home. Authorities believe she was murdered to prevent her from talking to police about the McCormack case. Durst has denied killing his friend and his lawyers have said he intends to appeal.
Prosecutors believe that Durst has murdered three people: Berman, McCormack and Morris Black, an elderly neighbour who discovered Durst's identity in 2001 while he was hiding out in Texas. Durst was later acquitted in the Black case.
Just days after his sentencing in the Berman case, Durst was hospitalised with Covid-19.
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Ex-MP Frank Field reveals he is close to death - BBC News
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2021-10-22
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A statement from the veteran politician was read out in the Lords, backing a new assisted dying bill.
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UK Politics
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Lord Field was too unwell to attend the debate in the House of Lords
Ex-Labour MP Frank Field has announced his support for assisted dying and revealed that he is dying himself.
Lady Meacher read out a statement from Lord Field in the House of Lords, where peers are debating a new bill to legalise terminally ill adults seeking assistance to end their lives.
It said that he had recently spent time in a hospice and that he was not well enough to attend debates.
Lord Field urged other members to back the bill in his absence.
The 79-year-old spent 40 years as the MP for Birkenhead, and briefly served as minister for welfare reform in Tony Blair's first term in government.
He built a reputation as one of the most effective backbenchers in the House of Commons, with campaigns against poverty and for curbs on EU immigration.
He quit Labour's group in Parliament in 2018, saying Jeremy Corbyn's leadership had become "a force for anti-Semitism in British politics".
He was made a non-affiliated, crossbench peer by the Conservative government in 2020, after campaigning in favour of Brexit.
A number of MPs have sent their best wishes to Lord Field, with Health Secretary Sajid Javid calling him "an amazing, compassionate man".
His sentiments were echoed by Tory peer and minister Zac Goldsmith, who described Lord Field as "a man of immense courage and integrity", as well as "an extraordinarily effective and independent-minded parliamentarian".
Lady Meacher told peers: "Our colleague, Lord Field, who is dying, asked me to read out a short statement."
In the statement, he said he "had just spent a period in a hospice and I am not well enough to participate in today's debate. Had I been, I would have spoken strongly in favour".
It also explained his change of heart on the issue, saying: "I changed my mind on assisted dying when an MP friend was dying of cancer and wanted to die early before the full horror effects set in, but was denied this opportunity."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The words of the peer, and former Labour MP, are said in the Lords by Lady Meacher.
Lord Field said one particular argument against the bill was "unfounded", adding: "It is thought by some the culture would change and people would be pressured into ending their lives.
"[But] the number of assisted deaths in Australia and the US remains very low - under 1% - and a former supreme court judge in Victoria, Australia, [talking] about pressure from relatives has said it just hasn't been an issue."
He concluded: "I hope the house will today vote for the assisted dying bill."
The new bill has been proposed by Lady Meacher - a crossbench peer - and would give patients of sound mind, with six months or less left to live, the right to die by taking life-ending medication.
The person wanting to end their life would have to sign a declaration that was approved by two doctors and signed off by the High Court.
The bill passed its first stage - known as its second reading - unopposed and will undergo further scrutiny in the House of Lords at a later date.
But even if it was passed in the Lords, it would not become law unless it was backed by MPs in the Commons, and the government.
Lady Meacher and Lord Field are among the peers in favour of the changes, but others have spoken out against the bill, including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who told BBC Breakfast vulnerable people could face "intangible" pressure to end their lives.
Speaking in Friday's debate, another crossbench peer Lord Curry, also opposed the bill, describing how it would have been a "tragedy" if his daughter - who had a learning disability and died aged 42 - had had her life cut short.
"She breathed her last while we held her hands, a very emotional and precious moment for us," he said.
"If someone at that time had offered an assisted dying, assisted suicide option, I firmly believe that in that heightened emotional state we were in, not thinking rationally, we may have been tempted to agree to her premature death. Had we done that, it'd have troubled us for the rest of our lives."
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Victims to get more time to report domestic abuse in England and Wales - BBC News
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2021-10-22
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The home secretary wants to change the law after the BBC revealed a big rise in cases being dropped.
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UK Politics
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Home Secretary Priti Patel has backed calls to change the law to give victims of domestic abuse more time to report a crime, the BBC has been told.
There is currently a six-month time limit for a charge to be brought against someone for common assault.
But Ms Patel has agreed to extend the timeframe to up to two years.
It comes after the BBC revealed 13,000 cases in England and Wales had been dropped in five years because the six month limit had been breached.
The change is expected to come as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.
Campaigners have said the move would be very welcome, but they are waiting to see an official announcement.
Common assault cases include things like a push, threatening words or being spat at and are normally dealt with at magistrates court.
The clock starts from the date of the incident, and within the next six months, a victim needs to have come forward and the police have to have carried out their work to secure a charge against the alleged perpetrator, or the case will be dropped.
Victims of domestic common assault are sometimes reluctant to report incidents and the cases can be complex - which is why campaigners say the police should be given more time before having to bring charges.
The argument for the time limit was to keep the criminal justice system moving, especially when there is now such a backlog of cases to be heard following Covid.
But Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who chairs the Commons Home Affairs Committee, said the number of incidents being "timed out" because of the six month factor was "shocking".
The BBC has been told this time limit will now be extended to two years, and there will be a renewed push to ensure police and prosecutors are alive to incidents of coercive control, which are often linked with incidents of domestic abuse.
Ms Cooper said the change would be "excellent news", adding: "Making this simple and practical change would give domestic abuse victims more time to report assault and means stronger action to tackle violence against women and girls - something that is badly needed right now."
Three-quarters of all domestic abuse cases - including sexual assaults - are closed early without the suspect being charged, according to a report by HM inspector of constabulary.
And just 1.6% of rape allegations in England and Wales result in someone being charged - something the government has said it is "deeply ashamed" about.
Figures obtained by the BBC using Freedom of Information from 30 of the 43 police forces in England and Wales, revealed a huge increase in allegations of common assault involving domestic abuse - but a fall in the number of charges being brought.
From 2016-17 to 2020-21 there were at least 12,982 cases of common assault that were flagged as involving domestic abuse in which no-one was charged due to the time limit.
In the same time period, the total number of common assaults flagged as instances of domestic abuse increased by 71% from 99,134 to 170,013.
But the number of these common assaults that resulted in charges being brought fell by 23%.
A government spokesman said all allegations should be investigated and pursued where possible, and money had been invested into supporting victims of such crimes during the pandemic.
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Son accused of mother's murder is found dead - BBC News
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2021-10-22
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Sean Flynn had been due to stand trial for a second time after being cleared of killing Louise Tiffney in 2005.
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Edinburgh, Fife & East Scotland
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Sean Flynn was cleared of murder after a trial in 2005
A man who was set to stand trial for the second time accused of murdering his mother has been found dead in Spain.
Sean Flynn was cleared of killing Louise Tiffney after a trial in 2005.
Ms Tiffney, who was 43, was last seen outside her flat in the Dean Village area of Edinburgh in May 2002.
Following extensive searches and repeated appeals from her family, her body was eventually found in 2017 in Longniddry, East Lothian.
Last year prosecutors were given permission to bring fresh prosecution under double jeopardy laws, which mean someone can be tried again on the same charges.
Flynn was accused of murder and attempting to defeat the ends of justice by concealing his mother's body in the boot of a car before driving to woods and disposing of it.
A warrant for his arrest was issued earlier this week when he failed to appear in court.
His lawyer Aamer Anwar said he had been advised by police in Spain that Flynn, 37, had been found dead after taking his own life.
He said: "Any loss of life is a tragedy. Sean Flynn's next of kin has been informed and there will be no further comment."
The body of Louise Tiffney was only found 15 years after she went missing from her home in Edinburgh
Police Scotland said it had been notified by Spanish police on Thursday about the death of a 38-year-old man in the Alicante region.
"Formal identification is still to be carried out. However, the family of Sean Flynn have been informed," a spokesperson said.
"We will continue to work with the Spanish police to establish the full circumstances, but at this time the death is not believed to be suspicious."
The Foreign Office said it was supporting the family of a British man who had died in Peniscola.
Louise Tiffney's disappearance in 2002 sparked a murder hunt that become one of Scotland's most notorious unsolved cases.
Her 18-year-old son Sean Flynn reported her missing the next day, and the search that followed was one of the largest in Scottish police history.
Ms Tiffney disappeared four days before Flynn was due to appear in court accused of causing the deaths of a cousin and friend by dangerous driving.
He admitted crashing a high-powered BMW while speeding through West Lothian and was sentenced to three years and nine months in a young offenders institution.
Back seat passengers Paul Ross and Christopher Magee were killed, but Flynn and his front seat passenger, Mario Gagliardini, escaped with cuts and bruises.
It was initially thought that Ms Tiffney may have fled her home under the pressure of Flynn facing imprisonment and her sister Lulu grieving for her son.
But in the investigation that followed, it emerged that Flynn and his mother argued frequently - and had done so on the night that Ms Tiffney was last seen.
Flynn claimed she had "stormed out" of their home, but she had not taken her keys, bank cards or cash, or made childcare arrangements for her six-year-old daughter.
During their investigation, officers found blood matching Ms Tiffney's DNA in the boot of a car that Flynn drove, along with mud and vegetation.
Mobile phone records also showed he was in East Lothian when he claimed to be in Edinburgh.
Louise Tiffney's body was found near Gosford House in East Lothian in 2017
Flynn was still in Polmont Young Offenders' Institution in February 2004, serving his sentence for the fatal car crash, when he was charged with his mother's murder.
During a 22-day trial at the High Court in Perth the following year, prosecutors alleged that Flynn snapped and killed Ms Tiffney after arguing with her over the driving case and over his relationship with an older woman.
Neighbours told how they had heard noises on the night Ms Tiffney went missing.
Professional gambler Brian Rockall, 39, said he heard the sound of someone running across the floor of the flat above him.
He said: "It seemed fairly loud, startling. It seemed like someone finally losing it at the end of an argument. It didn't sound like someone was being hurt."
Flynn's defence team argued that Ms Tiffney could have taken her own life, and the jury found the charges against him not proven.
Police had previously searched the 60,000-acre estate in East Lothian
After Ms Tiffney's body was found in April 2017, prosecutors sought permission to set aside the acquittal and prosecute Flynn again for her murder.
The discovery was made by a cyclist near Gosford House in East Lothian.
Police confirmed that the area around the stately home had been searched by officers during the original inquiry, but the specific area where the body was found had never previously been searched.
Officers had a theory that the killer had driven to Gosford House to bury Ms Tiffney's body in a shallow grave.
Minute traces of leaves and flowers had been found in a car linked to the investigation, and officers enlisted botanical experts to try and establish where they came from.
Despite an extensive search at Gosford House, the sheer size of the 60,000-acre estate prevented police from finding the body.
After the discovery in 2017, Flynn was tracked down in Berlin, where he had made a new home, and he was returned to Scotland.
The laws on double jeopardy had been changed in 2011 to allow someone to be tried again on the same charges.
In January last year, three judges agreed to set aside the previous verdict and allow a fresh prosecution to take place.
That trial had been due to start earlier this week, but Flynn - who had denied the charges - failed to appear at the High Court in Livingston.
There is an incredible coincidence at the heart of this tragic case.
Louise Tiffney's remains were found very close to a beach where the body of another murder victim was discovered 30 years previously.
That earlier crime led to a change in Scotland's law on double jeopardy, and that change paved the way for Sean Flynn's second trial over the murder of his mother.
Two teenage friends, Christine Eadie and Helen Scott, had vanished after a night out in the World's End pub in Edinburgh's Old Town, in October 1977. Their bodies were found the next day.
Decades passed before DNA and dogged police work linked their killings to a convicted murderer, Angus Sinclair, but the first attempt to bring him to justice in 2007 collapsed when a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence and brought the trial to a halt.
The outcome caused uproar and the ancient law on double jeopardy was changed, allowing a retrial if there was compelling new evidence which substantially strengthened the original case against the accused.
New DNA evidence put Sinclair back in the dock a second time, in 2014. He was found guilty, handed a 37 year jail sentence and died in prison.
Both Christine Eadie and Louise Tiffney were last seen alive in Edinburgh. They were found, thirty years apart, within a mile or two of each other, on the coast of East Lothian.
Sinclair had left Christine Eadie on the beach at Gosford Bay. Louise Tiffney was discovered in woods beside the road that runs alongside the beach.
It is just a coincidence, a twist of fate, but if the law had not been changed following the first trial over the World's End murders, Sean Flynn would not have faced a retrial.
Under the new rules on double jeopardy, the courts judged that the discovery of Louise's remains had substantially strengthened the case against him.
The World's End murders were solved nearly four decades after Christine and her friend were killed. We don't know what the outcome of Sean Flynn's trial would have been, but there will be no such resolution over the disappearance and death of Louise Tiffney.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-59011735
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Texas abortion law to stay in place until Supreme Court decision - BBC News
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2021-10-22
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The controversial law will be tested next month when the court holds an expedited hearing.
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US & Canada
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The US Supreme Court will allow Texas to maintain a near-total ban on abortions, but will take up the case next month in a rare sped-up process.
The law, known as SB8, gives any person the right to sue doctors who perform an abortion past six-weeks - before most women know they are pregnant.
The Supreme Court said it will focus on how the law was crafted and whether it can be legally challenged.
It is considered extraordinarily rare for the top US court to expedite cases.
Lower courts have yet to issue final rulings on the so-called Texas Heartbeat Act.
The controversial law - which makes an exception for a documented medical emergency but not for cases of rape or incest - bans abortion after what some refer to as a foetal heartbeat.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says that at six weeks a foetus has not yet developed a heartbeat, but rather an "electrically induced flickering" of tissue that will become the heart.
The Texas law is enforced by giving any individual - from Texas or elsewhere - the right to sue doctors who perform an abortion past the six-week point. However, it does not allow the women who get the procedure to be sued.
The Biden administration has previously said it would ask the court to block the law. Since 1973's landmark Roe v Wade Supreme Court case, US women have had a right to abortions until a foetus is able to survive outside the womb - usually between 22 and 24 weeks into pregnancy.
The US is one of seven out of 198 countries to allow elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, according to the Washington Post.
Lawyers for the state of Texas asked the justices on the court to consider overruling the landmark Roe decision, as well as a separate case that affirmed the constitutional right to an abortion. The court did not accept that request.
Oral arguments in the case have been set for 1 November. The Supreme Court said that it would wait for those arguments to take place before taking any action.
In a written dissent, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that the expedited timeframe would offer "cold comfort" for women in Texas who are hoping for abortion treatment.
She was the only one of the Supreme Court's nine judges to advocate blocking the law in the short-term.
"Women seeking abortion care in Texas are entitled to relief from this court now," she wrote. "Because of the court's failure to act today, that relief, if it comes, will be too late for many."
The law came into effect in Texas on 1 September.
Abortion providers and opponents of the law had called for it to be lifted until the Supreme Court took up the case.
Whole Woman's Health, which operates four clinics in Texas, tweeted that "the legal limbo is excruciating for both patients and our clinic staff".
Experts believe that the oral arguments may provide a glimpse into how the Supreme Court will approach other abortion cases.
In December, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a separate case regarding a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The abortion battle explained in three minutes
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Homeless man who confessed to murder to get off the streets is jailed - BBC News
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2021-10-14
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Homeless Anthony Kemp walked into a police station to admit the 1983 killing as a way to get shelter.
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London
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Anthony Kemp told police he would rather spend his last years in prison than sleep on the streets
A homeless man who walked into a police station to admit to a killing he committed almost 40 years ago has been jailed for life for murder.
Anthony Kemp was 21 when he bludgeoned Christopher Ainscough with a marble ashtray after they met on a night out in London in December 1983.
Now aged 59, Kemp confessed to the killing in July, telling police "I'm not going to sleep on the streets."
He was sentenced at the Old Bailey to a minimum of 15 and a half years in jail.
The court previously heard Mr Ainscough, 50, had invited Kemp back to his home in Kilburn in the early hours of the morning and was on the sofa when he was attacked.
His body was found after the head waiter failed to turn up for work at a restaurant in the City.
Christopher Ainscough moved to London from Ireland in the 1950s
The original murder investigation was closed in 1985 when no leads were found, but was reopened after Kemp confessed to the killing.
On 28 July he turned up at Chiswick police station and began throwing stones at the window.
He then told an officer he had murdered someone 40 years ago, explaining that: "I'd rather do the last few years of my life in bang-up than sleep on the streets."
The court heard that Kemp told police he "bashed" his victim's "brains in" during an argument, but he did not know what had sparked the row.
He retracted his confession three days later after being released on bail and blamed the murder on his accomplice from an aggravated burglary in 1988, who had killed himself in prison.
However, police matched Kemp's DNA to that left on a cigarette butt in Mr Ainscough's sitting room and he later pleaded guilty to murder.
Sentencing Kemp, Judge Mark Dennis QC said: "This was a wholly unjustified, brutal killing that led to the death of a harmless, well respected, good-natured man who had befriended you and caused you no harm."
In a victim statement read in court, a close friend of Mr Ainscough, who asked not to be named, described him as "a kind, generous, caring and funny man" who "had the extraordinary ability to get on with anybody and everybody".
"The brutality of what was done has haunted me," she said.
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Sprinkles: Leeds Get Baked bakery bins best-seller in topping row - BBC News
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2021-10-14
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Get Baked, in Leeds, is told to stop using US-made decorations containing a prohibited additive.
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Leeds & West Yorkshire
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Rich Myers said he would have to stop selling his "best-selling" raspberry glazed donut cookies
A bakery has had to stop producing its bestselling biscuit after officials found the treats were topped with illegal sprinkles.
Get Baked in Leeds withdrew its raspberry glazed donut cookies, which contained a banned food colouring.
Owner Rich Myers branded the decision "ridiculous" and said alternative sprinkles on the market were "rubbish".
West Yorkshire Trading Standards said the imported decoration had fallen foul of UK regulations.
Mr Myers said: "I know it sounds like a small thing but it is a big deal for my business - we used them a lot.
"Our best-selling cookie, we're not going to be able to sell them any more. For a small independent business that only has a small menu, it's a problem."
Trading Standards said the E127 food colouring, also know as Erythrosine, is only approved for use in the UK and EU in cocktail cherries and candied cherries.
The ingredient has been linked to problems with hyperactivity and behavioural issues in children and a US study suggested an increased risk of thyroid tumours when tested on male rats.
"[The inspector] said they'd had reports of us using illegal sprinkles and I actually laughed by mistake, then realised he was being serious," Mr Myers said.
"To whoever reported us to Trading Standards, all I have to say is: 'Dear Lord, what a sad little life Jane'."
He said he sourced the US-made cake toppers from a UK-based wholesaler, adding that other products on the market were not as good.
"British sprinkles are rubbish," he said.
"They run and aren't bake-stable. The colours aren't vibrant and they just don't look very good."
The bakery uses the decorations on a number of products
Mr Myers' plight was recognised by two former Great British Bake Off contestants, who sympathised with his desire to obtain suitable ingredients.
Edd Kimber, 2010 winner, agreed supermarket sprinkles were "not as good".
"It is what he's designing his product around, so I feel his pain," he added.
Fellow contestant Hermine Dossou, who was a semi-finalist in the 2020 show, called on sprinkle makers in the UK to "step up their game".
"I get where Trading Standards is coming from, but it comes back to the everything in moderation argument," she said.
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Trading Standards said: "We can confirm that we have advised the business concerned the use of E127 is not permitted in this type of confectionery item.
"We stand by this advice and would urge all food business operators, when seeking to use imported foods containing additives, to check that they are permitted for use in the UK."
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Claudia Webbe: MP guilty of threatening and harassing woman - BBC News
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2021-10-14
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Claudia Webbe made a string of phones calls in which she threatened to use acid and share naked photos.
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Leicester
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Claudia Webbe was found guilty of using a misogynistic insult and threatening a woman with acid
An MP who made threatening phone calls to a woman because she was jealous of her relationship with her partner has been found guilty of harassing her.
Claudia Webbe, 56, a former Labour MP for Leicester East, who is now independent, was found guilty of one charge of harassment.
Westminster Magistrates' Court heard she made several calls over two years and threatened the woman with acid.
After the verdict, Webbe said she was "deeply shocked" and would appeal.
The prosecution said Webbe, of Islington, north London, made 16 calls to 59-year-old Michelle Merritt, a friend of her partner Lester Thomas, between September 2018 and April last year.
The court heard on one occasion she made an "angry" call, used a derogatory term and added: "You should be acid."
In another she threatened to send naked photos and videos of Ms Merritt to her family and made silent calls from a withheld number, the hearing was told.
During cross-examination on Wednesday, Webbe, who was suspended by the Labour party, said she had never met Ms Merritt and "there was no reason for any falling out".
She claimed a recorded phone call on 25 April in which Webbe was heard saying "get out of my relationship" 11 times was taken out of context.
Webbe said it had been during a heated argument with Mr Thomas over breaching the Covid-19 lockdown with Ms Merritt.
"I simply called her and asked her not to break lockdown with Lester," she said.
"She was breaking the rules and I was just pointing it out. I'm the victim."
Webbe claimed she was a victim of "domestic abuse and coercive control" and was being "goaded and gaslighted" during the row, which resulted in police being called after a neighbour reported her screams.
She confirmed she was still in a relationship with Mr Thomas and they were engaged.
Webbe told the court she was still with her partner Lester Thomas
Webbe previously said: "I have spent my lifetime campaigning for the rights of women, for challenging this type of behaviour and this is not something that is in my character and not something I would ever do."
Paul Hynes QC representing Webbe read out character references from former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and former shadow home secretary Diane Abbott.
Ms Abbott said the defendant was "very committed to working to support women", describing her "warm, empathetic manner" and added: "I regard her as a very honest woman."
While Mr Corbyn said she was "very committed to ensuring the administration of justice is done" and prepared to "state uncomfortable truths when it matters".
However, District Judge Paul Goldspring said he had found Webbe "untruthful" in her evidence.
"Some of the things she said I believe were made up on the spur of the moment," he said.
"Some things she said in the witness box just don't bear scrutiny.
"In short, I find Ms Webbe to be vague, incoherent and at times illogical."
He released Webbe on unconditional bail but warned her that she could face prison when she is sentenced on 4 November.
"Threatening to throw acid at somebody and to send intimate photographs to family members crosses the custody threshold," he added.
After the verdict, Webbe said: "I am innocent and will appeal this verdict. As I said in court and repeat now, I have never threatened violence nor have I ever harassed anyone."
Her lawyer, Raj Chada, added: "The recording of the call Ms Webbe made has been taken out of context. We are sure that Ms Webbe will be vindicated at an appeal."
Lisa Rose from the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Webbe's "persistent nuisance behaviour caused considerable distress and alarm to her victim who became genuinely concerned for her safety".
"No-one should have to endure this sort of harassment," she added.
The Labour Party called on Webbe to step down after the verdict.
A spokesperson added: "The Labour Party strongly condemns Claudia Webbe's actions and she should now resign."
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Science Museum: Climate activists in overnight protest over fossil fuel sponsors - BBC News
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2021-10-26
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The activists say they stayed at London's Science Museum for the "victims" of fossil fuel sponsors.
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London
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This vigil was staged outside the Science Museum
Climate activists who slept overnight in London's Science Museum will approach the attraction's visitors to tell them about its sponsorship deals.
A new gallery funded by a subsidiary of the Adani Group, a multinational business involved in coal extraction, is due to open in 2023.
About 30 members of the UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN) camped out in the lobby as a protest on behalf of "victims" of fossil fuel companies.
No arrests have been made.
The museum has also faced criticism for partnering with Shell to fund its Our Future Planet exhibition
Demonstrator Izzy Warren, 17, said the group, which includes school pupils, university students and scientists, chose to occupy the museum because the owners had ignored their petitions, letters and boycotts.
"We would really like to greet people who come to the museum this morning so they are aware of what they are supporting, and what they are paying for.
"The Science Museum is blatantly taking money from some of the worst perpetrators of the climate crisis."
The demonstration comes after the Science Museum last week announced a new gallery, called Energy Revolution: The Adani Green Energy Gallery.
The demonstration comes after the Science Museum last week announced a new gallery, called Energy Revolution: The Adani Green Energy Gallery
Adani Green Energy is a solar power developer based in India and is a subsidiary of the Adani Group, which through another arm of its business is also involved in extracting coal.
A spokesperson for the renewables company said: "An environment where every child can grow up breathing pollution-free air - that is the environment we dream to create and have to a certain extent managed to enrich lives with our renewable energy plants.
"Adani Green Energy is pioneering in helping transition to renewable power generation. We develop, build, own, operate and maintain utility scale grid connected solar and wind projects."
Biologist Dr Alexander Penson, who took part in the sit-in, said it was "appalling" the museum was persisting in fossil fuel sponsorship and starting a new relationship with Adani.
The activists said they negotiated with museum staff to be moved from the second floor of the building to the Energy Hall near the main entrance so that they would have access to toilets for the whole night.
The museum has also faced criticism for partnering with Shell to fund its Our Future Planet exhibition, which is about carbon capture and storage and nature-based solutions to the climate crisis.
The agreement with the fossil fuel giant included a gagging clause, committing the museum not to say anything that could damage Shell's reputation.
The students have staged the protest against sponsorship by fossil fuel companies
The Science Museum has consistently defended its stance on working with fossil fuel partners.
Chief executive Ian Blatchford said trustees "are not convinced by the argument from some who say we should sever all ties with organisations that are 'tainted' by association, direct or indirect, with fossil fuels.
"We believe the right approach is to engage, debate and challenge companies, governments and individuals to do more to make the global economy less carbon intensive.
"Adani Green Energy is an example of an energy sector business bringing expertise and investment to renewables at the scale needed to deliver meaningful change."
A Met Police spokesperson said: "Officers attended and engaged with the protesters and museum staff.
"The protesters stated their intention was to remain in the museum overnight. This was agreed to by museum staff.
"No further police action was required."
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Signs of first planet found outside our galaxy - BBC News
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2021-10-26
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Astronomers have found hints of what could be the first planet ever to be discovered outside our galaxy.
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Science & Environment
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The finding comes from observation of an X-ray binary - a neutron star or black hole pulling in gas from a companion star
Astronomers have found hints of what could be the first planet ever to be discovered outside our galaxy.
Nearly 5,000 "exoplanets" - worlds orbiting stars beyond our Sun - have been found so far, but all of these have been located within the Milky Way galaxy.
The possible Saturn-sized planet discovered by Nasa's Chandra X-Ray Telescope is in the Messier 51 galaxy.
This is located some 28 million light-years away from the Milky Way.
This new result is based on transits, where the passage of a planet in front of a star blocks some of the star's light and yields a characteristic dip in brightness that can be detected by telescopes.
This general technique has already been used to find thousands of exoplanets.
Dr Rosanne Di Stefano and colleagues searched for dips in the brightness of X-rays received from a type of object known as an X-ray bright binary.
These objects typically contain a neutron star or black hole pulling in gas from a closely orbiting companion star. The material near the neutron star or black hole becomes superheated and glows at X-ray wavelengths.
Because the region producing bright X-rays is small, a planet passing in front of it could block most or all of the rays, making the transit easier to spot.
The team members used this technique to detect the exoplanet candidate in a binary system called M51-ULS-1.
"The method we developed and employed is the only presently implementable method to discover planetary systems in other galaxies," Dr Di Stefano, from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, US, told BBC News.
"It is a unique method, uniquely well-suited to finding planets around X-ray binaries at any distance from which we can measure a light curve."
The Chandra telescope was launched in 1999 to study X-ray emission from hot regions of the Universe
This binary contains a black hole or neutron star orbiting a companion star with a mass about 20 times that of the Sun. A neutron star is the collapsed core of what had once been a massive star.
The transit lasted about three hours, during which the X-ray emission decreased to zero. Based on this and other information, the astronomers estimate that the candidate planet would be around the size of Saturn, and orbit the neutron star or black hole at about twice the distance Saturn lies from the Sun.
Dr Di Stefano said the techniques that have been so successful for finding exoplanets in the Milky Way break down when observing other galaxies. This is partly because the great distances involved reduce the amount of light which reaches the telescope and also mean that many objects are crowded into a small space (as viewed from Earth), making it difficult to resolve individual stars.
With X-rays, she said, "there may be only several dozen sources spread out over the entire galaxy, so we can resolve them. In addition, a subset of these are so bright in X-rays that we can measure their light curves.
"Finally, the huge emission of X-rays comes from a small region that can be substantially or (as in our case) totally blocked by a passing planet."
Messier 51 is also called the Whirlpool Galaxy because of its distinctive spiral shape
The researchers freely admit that more data is needed to verify their interpretation.
One challenge is that the planet candidate's large orbit means it would not cross in front of its binary partner again for about 70 years, quashing any attempts to make a follow-up observation in the near-term.
One other possible explanation that the astronomers considered is that the dimming has been caused by a cloud of gas and dust passing in front of the X-ray source.
However, they think this is unlikely, because the characteristics of the event do not match up with the properties of a gas cloud.
"We know we are making an exciting and bold claim so we expect that other astronomers will look at it very carefully," said co-author Julia Berndtsson of Princeton University, New Jersey.
"We think we have a strong argument, and this process is how science works."
Dr Di Stefano said that the new generation of optical and infrared telescopes would not be able to compensate for the problems of crowding and dimness, so observations at X-ray wavelengths would likely remain the primary method for detecting planets in other galaxies.
However, she said a method known as microlensing might also hold promise for identifying extra-galactic planets.
The study has been published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Astronomy.
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Climate change: Sir David Attenborough in 'act now' warning - BBC News
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2021-10-26
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"If we don't act now, it'll be too late," warns Sir David Attenborough ahead of the COP26 climate summit.
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Science & Environment
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The BBC goes behind the scenes with Sir David Attenborough on the set of his new documentary, The Green Planet
"If we don't act now, it'll be too late." That's the warning from Sir David Attenborough ahead of the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.
The broadcaster says the richest nations have "a moral responsibility" to help the world's poorest.
And it would be "really catastrophic" if we ignored their problems, he told me in a BBC News interview.
"Every day that goes by in which we don't do something about it is a day wasted," he said.
Sir David and I were speaking at Kew Gardens in London during filming for a new landmark series, The Green Planet, to be aired on BBC1 next year.
Our conversation ranged from the latest climate science to the importance of COP26 to the pace of his working life.
The UN climate science panel recently concluded that it is "unequivocal" that human activity is driving up global temperatures.
And Sir David said that proved that he and others had not been making "a fuss about nothing", and that the risks of a hotter world are real.
Extreme weather such as drought will increase as the world gets warmer
"What climate scientists have been saying for 20 years, and that we have been reporting upon, you and I both, is the case - we were not causing false alarms.
"And every day that goes by in which we don't do something about it is a day wasted. And things are being made worse".
But he said the report had not convinced everyone and that they are acting as a brake on efforts to tackle climate change.
"There are still people in North America, there are still people in Australia who say 'no, no, no, no, of course it's very unfortunate that there was that forest fire that absolutely demolished, incinerated that village, but it's a one-off'.
"Particularly if it's going to cost money in the short term, the temptation is to deny the problem and pretend it's not there.
"But every month that passes, it becomes more and more incontrovertible, the changes to the planet that we are responsible for that are having these devastating effects."
His call for an urgent response reflects the latest scientific assessment that to avoid the worst impacts of rising temperatures, global carbon emissions need to be halved no later than 2030.
That's why the coming years are described as "the decisive decade" and why the COP26 talks are so crucial for getting the world on a safer path now.
As things stand, emissions are projected to continue rising rather than starting to fall, and Sir David was sounding more exasperated than I've heard before.
"If we don't act now, it will be too late," he said. "We have to do it now."
We turned to the question of responsibility, a highly contentious issue which will loom large at the conference. Developing countries have for years accused the richest nations, which were the first to start polluting the atmosphere, of failing to shoulder their share of the burden.
The argument is that they should be making the deepest cuts in carbon emissions and providing help to those who need it most. A long-standing promise of $100bn a year for low carbon development and to build stronger defences against more violent weather has yet to be fulfilled - reaching that total will be a key test of whether COP26 succeeds or fails.
Bangladesh, on the UN's list of Least Developed Countries, is battling river erosion due to climate change
For Sir David, this is one of the most worrying challenges, and he says it would be "really catastrophic" if threats to the poorest nations were ignored.
"Whole parts of Africa are likely to be unliveable - people will simply have to move away because of the advancing deserts and increasing heat, and where will they go? Well, a lot of them will try to get into Europe.
"Do we say, 'Oh, it's nothing to do with us' and cross our arms?
"We caused it - our kind of industrialisation is one of the major factors in producing this change in climate. So we have a moral responsibility.
"Even if we didn't cause it, we would have a moral responsibility to do something about thousands of men, women and children who've lost everything, everything. Can we just say goodbye and say this is no business of ours?"
Finally I asked about his own hectic workload at the age of 95 - from filming documentaries to addressing the G7 summit, the UN Security Council and the Duke of Cambridge's Earthshot Prize.
The COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow in November is seen as crucial if climate change is to be brought under control. Almost 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut emissions, and it could lead to major changes to our everyday lives.
"I don't plan very far ahead - as you say, I'm 95. How long can you go on? It isn't within our gift to say those things or to know those things.
"All I know is that if I get up tomorrow and I feel that I'm able to do a decent day's work, then I shall jolly well do it and be grateful.
"And the day is going to come when I'm going to get out of bed and say, I don't think I can do that. When that's going to be, who knows? I don't."
Having watched him filming for five hours straight, and remaining not only focused but also good-humoured, I suggested that he still loved what he was doing.
"At the moment, I feel it would be a waste of an opportunity just to back out and not do the things I think are very important to do in which I am well placed to do."
And the next major engagement in the Attenborough diary? Nothing less than speaking, virtually or in-person, to what's set to be the largest ever gathering of global leaders on British soil: COP26, in a few days' time.
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Dennis Hutchings: Ex-soldier on trial over Troubles shooting dies - BBC News
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2021-10-18
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The trial of Dennis Hutchings, 80, had been adjourned when he tested positive for Covid-19.
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Northern Ireland
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Dennis Hutchings, 80, denied attempting to murder and cause grievous bodily harm to John Pat Cunningham
An ex-soldier has died while on trial over a fatal shooting during Northern Ireland's Troubles.
Dennis Hutchings, 80, denied attempting to murder and cause grievous bodily harm to John Pat Cunningham.
Mr Cunningham, 27, was shot in the back as he ran from an Army patrol near Benburb, County Tyrone, in 1974.
Mr Hutchings' trial was adjourned for three weeks due to illness and the court heard on Monday that he had tested positive for Covid-19.
The non-jury trial had been sitting at Belfast Crown Court for three days a week to allow Mr Hutchings, who had been suffering from kidney disease, to receive dialysis treatment.
Mr Hutchings, from Cawsand in Cornwall, was an ex-member of the Life Guards regiment.
He also suffered from heart failure and fluid on the lung. He died in the Mater Hospital in Belfast on Monday afternoon.
His death was confirmed by an Army veterans' group on behalf of his family.
Dennis Hutchings' supporters had made an issue of his age and ill-health during a long campaign against his prosecution.
Legal attempts to have his case thrown out failed before it reached trial stage.
His death will very likely reopen arguments around legacy prosecutions.
The government is proposing to end all future investigations and court cases related to Troubles incidents prior to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
Part of its reasoning is to protect veterans.
This development leaves just one other veteran facing trial, David Holden, who is accused of the manslaughter of Aidan McAnespie in 1988.
All other recent cases involving former soldiers have collapsed.
Unionist politicians have criticised the decision to prosecute Mr Hutchings.
Democratic Unionist Party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said there were "serious questions around those who made the decision that Dennis should stand trial once more".
"Whilst understanding the desire of the Cunningham family for justice, we have consistently challenged those in legal authority who insisted that Dennis stand trial again.
"He was an 80-year-old veteran, in ill-health on dialysis and there was a lack of compelling new evidence.
"This is a sad indictment on those who want to rewrite history, but also demands serious questions of the Public Prosecution Service about how this trial was deemed to be in the public interest."
John Pat Cunningham was 27 at the time of his death but had a mental age of between six and 10
Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said the decision by the Public Prosecution Service to proceed with a trial given Mr Hutchings' ill-health demanded an independent review.
"The questions must be asked, did this trial hasten Mr Hutchings' death and did it meet the evidential and public interest tests?" he said.
"Regrettably that will be too late for the Hutchings family and will be of little comfort to them at this time."
Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister said the "needless dragging of an 80-year-old soldier through the courts has had a very sad end".
"The strain on this man was cruel, with him requiring regular dialysis, while being brought to Belfast to face a trial of dubious provenance," he said.
The Sinn Féin MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone Michelle Gildernew said she was aware of a grieving family following the death of Mr Hutchings, but the Cunningham family also continued to grieve.
"Let's remember that grief knows no bounds," she tweeted.
Mr Hutchings had previously lost a Supreme Court challenge to have a trial before a jury.
In July, the UK government confirmed plans to bring forward legislation to ban all prosecutions related to the Troubles.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the legacy proposals would allow Northern Ireland to "draw a line under the Troubles".
The plans, which are opposed by NI political parties and victims organisations, include an end to all legacy inquests and civil actions related to the conflict.
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Facebook harms children and weakens democracy: ex-employee - BBC News
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2021-10-05
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Mark Zuckerberg denies claims, heard in the US Senate, that Facebook puts profits before people.
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US & Canada
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A former Facebook employee has told US politicians that the company's sites and apps harm children's mental health and stoke division in society.
Frances Haugen, a 37-year-old former product manager turned whistleblower, heavily criticised the company at a hearing in the Senate.
Facebook has faced growing scrutiny and increasing calls for its regulation.
Founder Mark Zuckerberg hit back, saying the latest accusations were at odds with the company's goals.
In a letter to staff, he said many of the claims were "illogical" and pointed to Facebook's efforts to fight harmful content.
"We care deeply about issues like safety, well-being and mental health," he said in the letter, made public on his Facebook page. "It's difficult to see coverage that misrepresents our work and our motives."
Facebook is the world's most popular social media site. The company says it has 2.7 billion monthly active users. Hundreds of millions of people also use the company's other products, including WhatsApp and Instagram.
But it has been criticised on several fronts - from failing to protect users' privacy to not doing enough to halt the spread of disinformation.
Ms Haugen told CBS News on Sunday that she had shared a number of internal Facebook documents with the Wall Street Journal in recent weeks.
Using the documents, the WSJ reported that research carried out by Instagram showed the app could harm girls' mental health.
This was a theme Ms Haugen continued during her testimony on Tuesday. "The company's leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer, but won't make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people," she said.
She criticised Mark Zuckerberg for having wide-ranging control, saying that there is "no one currently holding Mark accountable but himself."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Facebook's Monika Bickert says commissioning research into issues shows the company is prioritising safety above profit
And she praised the massive outage of Facebook services on Monday, which affected users around the world.
"Yesterday we saw Facebook taken off the internet," she said. "I don't know why it went down, but I know that for more than five hours, Facebook wasn't used to deepen divides, destabilise democracies and make young girls and women feel bad about their bodies."
The answer, she told senators, was congressional oversight. "We must act now," she said.
Mr Zuckerberg, in his letter, said the research into Instagram had been mischaracterised and that many young people had positive experiences of using the platform. But he said "it's very important to me that everything we build is safe and good for kids".
On Monday's outage, he said the deeper concern was not "how many people switch to competitive services or how much money we lose, but what it means for the people who rely on our services to communicate with loved ones, run their businesses, or support their communities".
Frances Haugen said the company repeatedly prioritised profits over its users safety
Both Republican and Democratic senators on Tuesday were united in the need for change at the company - a rare topic of agreement between the two political parties.
"The damage to self-interest and self-worth inflicted by Facebook today will haunt a generation," Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said.
"Big Tech now faces the Big Tobacco jaw-dropping moment of truth," he added, a reference to how tobacco firms hid the harmful effects of their products.
Fellow Republican Dan Sullivan said the world would look back and ask "What the hell were we thinking?" in light of the revelations about Facebook's impact on children.
In a statement issued after the hearing, Facebook said it did not agree with Ms Haugen's "characterisation of the many issues she testified about". But it did agree that "it's time to begin to create standard rules for the internet."
"It's been 25 years since the rules for the internet have been updated, and instead of expecting the industry to make societal decisions that belong to legislators, it is time for Congress to act," the statement read.
Mark Zuckerberg's blog is lengthy and thoughtful. He doesn't name Frances Haugen - but he has clearly been rattled.
His main argument is that the research she leaked has been misrepresented by both her and the media. He argues that the negative internal research has been cherry-picked and positive conclusions brushed over.
Interestingly, he thinks this episode could have a chilling effect on internal research in companies - worried that bad conclusions might one day be leaked.
But there is of course a simple come back to this. Release the data.
Facebook and other social media companies don't have to do internal research; they could let their data be analysed independently.
To be fair to Facebook, the company does give researchers some access. However, only Facebook has the full spectrum of user metrics needed to fully analyse its effect on society.
His arguments too are at times overly simplified. Why would we want to make people angry, he asks.
I'm sure he doesn't. But it's been proven over and over again that social media that provokes any emotion, whether it be laughter, love or anger gets more engagement.
Zuckerberg believes passionately that Facebook is a force for good. It's becoming harder and harder to find people on Capitol Hill who think that.
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Science Museum: Climate activists in overnight protest over fossil fuel sponsors - BBC News
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2021-10-27
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The activists say they stayed at London's Science Museum for the "victims" of fossil fuel sponsors.
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London
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This vigil was staged outside the Science Museum
Climate activists who slept overnight in London's Science Museum will approach the attraction's visitors to tell them about its sponsorship deals.
A new gallery funded by a subsidiary of the Adani Group, a multinational business involved in coal extraction, is due to open in 2023.
About 30 members of the UK Student Climate Network (UKSCN) camped out in the lobby as a protest on behalf of "victims" of fossil fuel companies.
No arrests have been made.
The museum has also faced criticism for partnering with Shell to fund its Our Future Planet exhibition
Demonstrator Izzy Warren, 17, said the group, which includes school pupils, university students and scientists, chose to occupy the museum because the owners had ignored their petitions, letters and boycotts.
"We would really like to greet people who come to the museum this morning so they are aware of what they are supporting, and what they are paying for.
"The Science Museum is blatantly taking money from some of the worst perpetrators of the climate crisis."
The demonstration comes after the Science Museum last week announced a new gallery, called Energy Revolution: The Adani Green Energy Gallery.
The demonstration comes after the Science Museum last week announced a new gallery, called Energy Revolution: The Adani Green Energy Gallery
Adani Green Energy is a solar power developer based in India and is a subsidiary of the Adani Group, which through another arm of its business is also involved in extracting coal.
A spokesperson for the renewables company said: "An environment where every child can grow up breathing pollution-free air - that is the environment we dream to create and have to a certain extent managed to enrich lives with our renewable energy plants.
"Adani Green Energy is pioneering in helping transition to renewable power generation. We develop, build, own, operate and maintain utility scale grid connected solar and wind projects."
Biologist Dr Alexander Penson, who took part in the sit-in, said it was "appalling" the museum was persisting in fossil fuel sponsorship and starting a new relationship with Adani.
The activists said they negotiated with museum staff to be moved from the second floor of the building to the Energy Hall near the main entrance so that they would have access to toilets for the whole night.
The museum has also faced criticism for partnering with Shell to fund its Our Future Planet exhibition, which is about carbon capture and storage and nature-based solutions to the climate crisis.
The agreement with the fossil fuel giant included a gagging clause, committing the museum not to say anything that could damage Shell's reputation.
The students have staged the protest against sponsorship by fossil fuel companies
The Science Museum has consistently defended its stance on working with fossil fuel partners.
Chief executive Ian Blatchford said trustees "are not convinced by the argument from some who say we should sever all ties with organisations that are 'tainted' by association, direct or indirect, with fossil fuels.
"We believe the right approach is to engage, debate and challenge companies, governments and individuals to do more to make the global economy less carbon intensive.
"Adani Green Energy is an example of an energy sector business bringing expertise and investment to renewables at the scale needed to deliver meaningful change."
A Met Police spokesperson said: "Officers attended and engaged with the protesters and museum staff.
"The protesters stated their intention was to remain in the museum overnight. This was agreed to by museum staff.
"No further police action was required."
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Autumn Budget 2021: Boost for science is less than promised - BBC News
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2021-10-27
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The chancellor boosts science spending to £20bn a year by 2024 - £2bn less than previously pledged.
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Science & Environment
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Boris Johnson has pledged to make the UK a science superpower
The chancellor will increase science spending to £20bn a year by 2024 - £2bn less than he pledged in 2020.
The boost was announced in the Budget by Rishi Sunak on Wednesday.
There is some disappointment among many scientific leaders - but the commitment to sustained additional investment has been welcomed by some.
The President of the UK's Royal Society, Prof Sir Adrian Smith, told BBC news that the settlement sent out a positive signal.
"It is not absolutely ideal. But we are grown-ups. There are real pressures on the economy, but the government is saying that it really does recognise that R&D [research and development] is absolutely vital," he said.
Although the chancellor's increase is less many had hoped for, it is more than some had feared. Last week, those negotiating with the Treasury told BBC News they were getting clear signals that the commitment to increase spending to £22bn a year would be kicked into the long grass.
Scientific and business leaders lobbied hard, arguing that a long deferral of scientific investment would mean that other countries, which are investing more in research, would overtake the UK.
Those sources say that the Mr Sunak seems to have listened to those arguments. The chancellor said that the commitment of £22bn would be pushed back by two years to 2026. But that will be after the next General Election, when someone else might have Mr Sunak's job - and take a different view.
But the Chancellor has promised to deliver what has been described as a sizeable increase of around £5bn before the end of this Parliament. That's a 33% increase on top of the current research budget of £15bn a year. What is notable is that the bulk of the increase will come in 2023, so a large amount of the additional funding for science is not that far away.
Some £2bn of that increase is for membership of the EU's collaborative research programme, Horizon Europe. BBC News reported earlier this week that the UK's access to the programme was being used as a bargaining chip in wider negotiations with the EU over the status of Northern Ireland.
Now that the money has been allocated to the science budget, research leaders have a clear choice between spending it on membership fees or on doing more science. The Treasury itself is understood to feel that spending money on Horizon Europe is an inefficient use of funds but will leave the decision to the scientific community.
Sir Jeremy Farrar, who is director of the Wellcome Trust, believes that, given the financial pressures the chancellor faces, this is not a bad settlement.
"We welcome the government's ongoing commitment to making the UK a science superpower. But it will need to continue to increase investment in science to catch up with other leading science nations. The UK's investment in R&D as a proportion of GDP lags behind the OECD average, and it will take time to change that," he said.
Scientific and business leaders say that the most important aspect of the science settlement is that they now have a firm timetable and an upward trajectory for science spending. According to the president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Prof Sir Jim McDonald, that sends out a clear message to the private sector thinking of investing in research and to overseas scientists and businesses thinking of coming to Britain.
"The comprehensive package of investment for R&D announced today gives much needed confidence to businesses that the UK is a great place to invest. The measures outlined by the chancellor today will stimulate innovation for a better, faster and more resilient recovery."
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Thailand to reopen for some vaccinated visitors on 1 November - BBC News
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2021-10-11
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Fully vaccinated travellers from nations including the UK will no longer need to quarantine.
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Asia
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Foreign tourism, once an engine of the Thai economy, has collapsed
Thailand plans to end Covid quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers from at least 10 low-risk nations from 1 November, officials say.
PM Prayuth Chan-ocha admitted that "this decision comes with some risk" - but it is seen as a key step to revive the country's collapsed tourism sector.
The 10 nations seen as low risk include the UK, China, Germany and the US.
The country has been recording more than 10,000 positive infections daily since July.
It has fully vaccinated around 33% of its almost 70 million people. Half the population has received one dose.
Mr Prayuth said Thailand would also allow entertainment venues to reopen on 1 December and permit alcohol sales.
He added that the authorities were planning to open Thailand for more countries on that date.
Mr Prayuth's comments came in a televised address on Monday.
Referring to visitors from 10 low-risk nations, he stressed that "when they arrive, they should present a [negative] Covid test... and test once again upon arrival".
If the second test is also negative, any visitor from those countries "can travel freely like Thais", the prime minister said.
But he warned that the government would act decisively if there were to be a spike in infections or an emergence of a highly contagious variant of Covid-19.
It is estimated that Thailand - popular for its sandy beaches and non-stop nightlife - lost about $50bn (£37bn) in tourism revenue in 2020.
The economy suffered its deepest contraction in more than two decades as a result of the pandemic.
Thailand was the first country outside China to record a Covid-19 case in January last year.
It took the drastic step of sealing its borders in April, effectively killing off a tourist industry accounting for perhaps 20% of GDP, but managed to cut new daily infections to just single figures, one of the best records anywhere.
This year though, with the arrival of the Delta variant, infections have soared, from a total of less than 7,000 at the end of 2020, to 1.7 million today. The argument for keeping out foreign visitors to contain Covid became much less persuasive, especially with tourist-related businesses pleading for restrictions to be eased.
The success in containing Covid last year had another unforeseen consequence; it led the Thai government to believe it need not rush to order vaccines. The result has been a tardy and at times confused vaccine programme, and a public outcry.
The need for some economic good news is in large part what has driven it to start reopening, well before reaching its own declared target of getting 70% of the population vaccinated.
It is proceeding cautiously though, with only 10 countries on the list until the end of the year. Like other countries in the region Thailand's health system has limited ICU capacity; in August ICU units in Bangkok were quickly overwhelmed by the number of serious Covid cases.
In any case, even with an end to the two week quarantine requirement, a recovery to the 40 million tourists who came in 2019 is unlikely next year, or even the year after.
Just over 70,000 visitors came into the country in the first eight months of this year, compared with 40 million in the whole of 2019.
Thailand has reported more than 1.7 million confirmed Covid cases since the pandemic began, with nearly 18,000 deaths, according to America's Johns Hopkins University.
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Victims to get more time to report domestic abuse in England and Wales - BBC News
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2021-10-23
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The home secretary wants to change the law after the BBC revealed a big rise in cases being dropped.
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UK Politics
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Home Secretary Priti Patel has backed calls to change the law to give victims of domestic abuse more time to report a crime, the BBC has been told.
There is currently a six-month time limit for a charge to be brought against someone for common assault.
But Ms Patel has agreed to extend the timeframe to up to two years.
It comes after the BBC revealed 13,000 cases in England and Wales had been dropped in five years because the six month limit had been breached.
The change is expected to come as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, which is currently making its way through Parliament.
Campaigners have said the move would be very welcome, but they are waiting to see an official announcement.
Common assault cases include things like a push, threatening words or being spat at and are normally dealt with at magistrates court.
The clock starts from the date of the incident, and within the next six months, a victim needs to have come forward and the police have to have carried out their work to secure a charge against the alleged perpetrator, or the case will be dropped.
Victims of domestic common assault are sometimes reluctant to report incidents and the cases can be complex - which is why campaigners say the police should be given more time before having to bring charges.
The argument for the time limit was to keep the criminal justice system moving, especially when there is now such a backlog of cases to be heard following Covid.
But Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who chairs the Commons Home Affairs Committee, said the number of incidents being "timed out" because of the six month factor was "shocking".
The BBC has been told this time limit will now be extended to two years, and there will be a renewed push to ensure police and prosecutors are alive to incidents of coercive control, which are often linked with incidents of domestic abuse.
Ms Cooper said the change would be "excellent news", adding: "Making this simple and practical change would give domestic abuse victims more time to report assault and means stronger action to tackle violence against women and girls - something that is badly needed right now."
Three-quarters of all domestic abuse cases - including sexual assaults - are closed early without the suspect being charged, according to a report by HM inspector of constabulary.
And just 1.6% of rape allegations in England and Wales result in someone being charged - something the government has said it is "deeply ashamed" about.
Figures obtained by the BBC using Freedom of Information from 30 of the 43 police forces in England and Wales, revealed a huge increase in allegations of common assault involving domestic abuse - but a fall in the number of charges being brought.
From 2016-17 to 2020-21 there were at least 12,982 cases of common assault that were flagged as involving domestic abuse in which no-one was charged due to the time limit.
In the same time period, the total number of common assaults flagged as instances of domestic abuse increased by 71% from 99,134 to 170,013.
But the number of these common assaults that resulted in charges being brought fell by 23%.
A government spokesman said all allegations should be investigated and pursued where possible, and money had been invested into supporting victims of such crimes during the pandemic.
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Ex-MP Frank Field reveals he is close to death - BBC News
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2021-10-23
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A statement from the veteran politician was read out in the Lords, backing a new assisted dying bill.
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UK Politics
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Lord Field was too unwell to attend the debate in the House of Lords
Ex-Labour MP Frank Field has announced his support for assisted dying and revealed that he is dying himself.
Lady Meacher read out a statement from Lord Field in the House of Lords, where peers are debating a new bill to legalise terminally ill adults seeking assistance to end their lives.
It said that he had recently spent time in a hospice and that he was not well enough to attend debates.
Lord Field urged other members to back the bill in his absence.
The 79-year-old spent 40 years as the MP for Birkenhead, and briefly served as minister for welfare reform in Tony Blair's first term in government.
He built a reputation as one of the most effective backbenchers in the House of Commons, with campaigns against poverty and for curbs on EU immigration.
He quit Labour's group in Parliament in 2018, saying Jeremy Corbyn's leadership had become "a force for anti-Semitism in British politics".
He was made a non-affiliated, crossbench peer by the Conservative government in 2020, after campaigning in favour of Brexit.
A number of MPs have sent their best wishes to Lord Field, with Health Secretary Sajid Javid calling him "an amazing, compassionate man".
His sentiments were echoed by Tory peer and minister Zac Goldsmith, who described Lord Field as "a man of immense courage and integrity", as well as "an extraordinarily effective and independent-minded parliamentarian".
Lady Meacher told peers: "Our colleague, Lord Field, who is dying, asked me to read out a short statement."
In the statement, he said he "had just spent a period in a hospice and I am not well enough to participate in today's debate. Had I been, I would have spoken strongly in favour".
It also explained his change of heart on the issue, saying: "I changed my mind on assisted dying when an MP friend was dying of cancer and wanted to die early before the full horror effects set in, but was denied this opportunity."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The words of the peer, and former Labour MP, are said in the Lords by Lady Meacher.
Lord Field said one particular argument against the bill was "unfounded", adding: "It is thought by some the culture would change and people would be pressured into ending their lives.
"[But] the number of assisted deaths in Australia and the US remains very low - under 1% - and a former supreme court judge in Victoria, Australia, [talking] about pressure from relatives has said it just hasn't been an issue."
He concluded: "I hope the house will today vote for the assisted dying bill."
The new bill has been proposed by Lady Meacher - a crossbench peer - and would give patients of sound mind, with six months or less left to live, the right to die by taking life-ending medication.
The person wanting to end their life would have to sign a declaration that was approved by two doctors and signed off by the High Court.
The bill passed its first stage - known as its second reading - unopposed and will undergo further scrutiny in the House of Lords at a later date.
But even if it was passed in the Lords, it would not become law unless it was backed by MPs in the Commons, and the government.
Lady Meacher and Lord Field are among the peers in favour of the changes, but others have spoken out against the bill, including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who told BBC Breakfast vulnerable people could face "intangible" pressure to end their lives.
Speaking in Friday's debate, another crossbench peer Lord Curry, also opposed the bill, describing how it would have been a "tragedy" if his daughter - who had a learning disability and died aged 42 - had had her life cut short.
"She breathed her last while we held her hands, a very emotional and precious moment for us," he said.
"If someone at that time had offered an assisted dying, assisted suicide option, I firmly believe that in that heightened emotional state we were in, not thinking rationally, we may have been tempted to agree to her premature death. Had we done that, it'd have troubled us for the rest of our lives."
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Texas abortion law to stay in place until Supreme Court decision - BBC News
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2021-10-23
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The controversial law will be tested next month when the court holds an expedited hearing.
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US & Canada
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The US Supreme Court will allow Texas to maintain a near-total ban on abortions, but will take up the case next month in a rare sped-up process.
The law, known as SB8, gives any person the right to sue doctors who perform an abortion past six-weeks - before most women know they are pregnant.
The Supreme Court said it will focus on how the law was crafted and whether it can be legally challenged.
It is considered extraordinarily rare for the top US court to expedite cases.
Lower courts have yet to issue final rulings on the so-called Texas Heartbeat Act.
The controversial law - which makes an exception for a documented medical emergency but not for cases of rape or incest - bans abortion after what some refer to as a foetal heartbeat.
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists says that at six weeks a foetus has not yet developed a heartbeat, but rather an "electrically induced flickering" of tissue that will become the heart.
The Texas law is enforced by giving any individual - from Texas or elsewhere - the right to sue doctors who perform an abortion past the six-week point. However, it does not allow the women who get the procedure to be sued.
The Biden administration has previously said it would ask the court to block the law. Since 1973's landmark Roe v Wade Supreme Court case, US women have had a right to abortions until a foetus is able to survive outside the womb - usually between 22 and 24 weeks into pregnancy.
The US is one of seven out of 198 countries to allow elective abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, according to the Washington Post.
Lawyers for the state of Texas asked the justices on the court to consider overruling the landmark Roe decision, as well as a separate case that affirmed the constitutional right to an abortion. The court did not accept that request.
Oral arguments in the case have been set for 1 November. The Supreme Court said that it would wait for those arguments to take place before taking any action.
In a written dissent, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor said that the expedited timeframe would offer "cold comfort" for women in Texas who are hoping for abortion treatment.
She was the only one of the Supreme Court's nine judges to advocate blocking the law in the short-term.
"Women seeking abortion care in Texas are entitled to relief from this court now," she wrote. "Because of the court's failure to act today, that relief, if it comes, will be too late for many."
The law came into effect in Texas on 1 September.
Abortion providers and opponents of the law had called for it to be lifted until the Supreme Court took up the case.
Whole Woman's Health, which operates four clinics in Texas, tweeted that "the legal limbo is excruciating for both patients and our clinic staff".
Experts believe that the oral arguments may provide a glimpse into how the Supreme Court will approach other abortion cases.
In December, the Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a separate case regarding a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The abortion battle explained in three minutes
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Net zero announcement: Obstacles facing the UK government's plans - BBC News
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2021-10-19
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Potential hazards for ministers include sceptical Tory MPs and voters worried about rising bills.
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UK Politics
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The government has laid out its plans to reduce emissions sharply by 2035 and take the UK towards being a zero carbon economy by 2050. These including more electric cars, planting trees and moving away from gas-powered central heating.
But what potential hazards are there ahead for ministers?
Some in the prime minister's own party doubt the economic arguments in favour of moving towards what they consider an over-reliance on renewable energy sources.
Conservative MP John Redwood asked in the House of Commons what would happen when the sun stopped shining and the wind stopped blowing. Another, Steve Baker, said a lot of "assumptions" were involved and asked that ministers carry out a "comprehensive audit" of their plans.
Tory MP: What happens when the wind doesn't blow?
Others are concerned about the cost to the general public, particularly those on lower incomes, and the impact that, in turn, may have on their chances at the next election.
Craig Mackinlay said it could become "electorally difficult" once people realised the plans "cost them money" or mean "a lifestyle that's not as convenient".
Given that the Conservatives have an 80-seat majority, this is unlikely to stop any plans becoming law, but if some of Mr Johnson's backbenchers are not persuaded, there could be some political turbulence.
Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband was scathing in his response to the government's announcement, saying there was nothing like "the commitment we believe is required", in terms of investment, to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Labour's commitment to borrow and invest £28bn per year in tackling climate change is a markedly different approach to the Conservatives. The Treasury has said borrowing heavily to cut greenhouse gases goes against the "polluter pays" principle and passes the costs on to future taxpayers.
It's not certain how this will play out in Parliament or whether this could become an important dividing line between the parties - and how it would play with voters.
The Treasury accepts there will be an overall cost to achieving net zero emissions in the short term, but sources stress the cost of inaction would also be significant.
No overall figure is given but officials admit new taxes will be needed to recoup the revenue lost from the move away from petrol and diesel fuelled cars, for example.
The government raised £37bn from fuel duty and vehicle excise duty in the 2019-20 financial year, or about 1.7% of GDP.
A carbon tax could plug some of this, but the takings would dwindle as emissions fall, leaving a big shortfall.
How will voters feel if their bills go up to cover the costs?
In an assessment to go with the government's carbon-cutting plans, the Treasury said that "as with all economic transitions, ultimately the costs and benefits of the transition will pass through to households through the labour market, prices and asset values".
There is evidence of public support for stronger measures to tackle climate change, but if households end up having to spend a lot more money to go greener, there could be increased unease among voters that the government will not want ahead of a likely general election in the next couple of years.
In particular, it is feared this could go down badly in some of the former industrial areas of the the Midlands and northern England where the Conservatives made large gains from Labour in 2019.
"Any policies we bring in will be designed to be fair across the board," the PM's spokesman said.
One thing most governments agree on is that any effort to reduce emissions must be international if it is to succeed in limiting temperature rises.
With the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow fast approaching, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hope his plan prompts other countries to make similar commitments and boost the chances of the UK brokering a renewed global effort to cut greenhouse gases.
If the world's biggest CO2 producers - including the US, China and India - reach an agreement it could ease domestic political pressures and allow him to claim more of an environmental "legacy".
US President Jo Biden and Indian PM Narendra Modi are attending COP26, but China's Xi Jinping is not thought likely to do the same.
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Dennis Hutchings: Ex-soldier on trial over Troubles shooting dies - BBC News
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2021-10-19
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The trial of Dennis Hutchings, 80, had been adjourned when he tested positive for Covid-19.
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Northern Ireland
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Dennis Hutchings, 80, denied attempting to murder and cause grievous bodily harm to John Pat Cunningham
An ex-soldier has died while on trial over a fatal shooting during Northern Ireland's Troubles.
Dennis Hutchings, 80, denied attempting to murder and cause grievous bodily harm to John Pat Cunningham.
Mr Cunningham, 27, was shot in the back as he ran from an Army patrol near Benburb, County Tyrone, in 1974.
Mr Hutchings' trial was adjourned for three weeks due to illness and the court heard on Monday that he had tested positive for Covid-19.
The non-jury trial had been sitting at Belfast Crown Court for three days a week to allow Mr Hutchings, who had been suffering from kidney disease, to receive dialysis treatment.
Mr Hutchings, from Cawsand in Cornwall, was an ex-member of the Life Guards regiment.
He also suffered from heart failure and fluid on the lung. He died in the Mater Hospital in Belfast on Monday afternoon.
His death was confirmed by an Army veterans' group on behalf of his family.
Dennis Hutchings' supporters had made an issue of his age and ill-health during a long campaign against his prosecution.
Legal attempts to have his case thrown out failed before it reached trial stage.
His death will very likely reopen arguments around legacy prosecutions.
The government is proposing to end all future investigations and court cases related to Troubles incidents prior to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
Part of its reasoning is to protect veterans.
This development leaves just one other veteran facing trial, David Holden, who is accused of the manslaughter of Aidan McAnespie in 1988.
All other recent cases involving former soldiers have collapsed.
Unionist politicians have criticised the decision to prosecute Mr Hutchings.
Democratic Unionist Party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said there were "serious questions around those who made the decision that Dennis should stand trial once more".
"Whilst understanding the desire of the Cunningham family for justice, we have consistently challenged those in legal authority who insisted that Dennis stand trial again.
"He was an 80-year-old veteran, in ill-health on dialysis and there was a lack of compelling new evidence.
"This is a sad indictment on those who want to rewrite history, but also demands serious questions of the Public Prosecution Service about how this trial was deemed to be in the public interest."
John Pat Cunningham was 27 at the time of his death but had a mental age of between six and 10
Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said the decision by the Public Prosecution Service to proceed with a trial given Mr Hutchings' ill-health demanded an independent review.
"The questions must be asked, did this trial hasten Mr Hutchings' death and did it meet the evidential and public interest tests?" he said.
"Regrettably that will be too late for the Hutchings family and will be of little comfort to them at this time."
Traditional Unionist Voice (TUV) leader Jim Allister said the "needless dragging of an 80-year-old soldier through the courts has had a very sad end".
"The strain on this man was cruel, with him requiring regular dialysis, while being brought to Belfast to face a trial of dubious provenance," he said.
The Sinn Féin MP for Fermanagh and South Tyrone Michelle Gildernew said she was aware of a grieving family following the death of Mr Hutchings, but the Cunningham family also continued to grieve.
"Let's remember that grief knows no bounds," she tweeted.
Mr Hutchings had previously lost a Supreme Court challenge to have a trial before a jury.
In July, the UK government confirmed plans to bring forward legislation to ban all prosecutions related to the Troubles.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the legacy proposals would allow Northern Ireland to "draw a line under the Troubles".
The plans, which are opposed by NI political parties and victims organisations, include an end to all legacy inquests and civil actions related to the conflict.
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Polish PM accuses EU of blackmail as row over rule of law escalates - BBC News
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2021-10-19
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Mateusz Morawiecki clashes with EU leaders over a Polish court ruling that rejected parts of EU law.
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Europe
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says she is "deeply concerned" about Poland's court ruling
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has accused the EU of blackmail in a heated debate with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen over the rule of law.
The clash in the European Parliament follows a top Polish court ruling that rejected key parts of EU law.
Mrs von der Leyen said she would act to prevent Poland undermining EU values.
In response, Mr Morawiecki rejected "the language of threats" and accused the EU of overstepping its powers.
Poles overwhelmingly support being part of the EU, opinion polls suggest, but Poland's right-wing nationalist government has increasingly been at odds with the union on issues ranging from LGBT rights to judicial independence.
The latest row has come to a head over an unprecedented and controversial ruling by Poland's Constitutional Tribunal that in effect rejects the core principle that EU law has primacy over national legislation.
The case, brought by the Polish prime minister, was the first time that an EU member state's leader had questioned EU treaties in a national constitutional court.
On Tuesday, Mrs von der Leyen told the European Parliament that the European Commission - the EU's executive - was "carefully assessing this judgement".
She said the situation had to be resolved, but she was adamant: "This ruling calls into question the foundations of the European Union. It is a direct challenge to the unity of the European legal order."
Vowing to take action, Mrs von der Leyen set out three ways the European Commission could respond to the Polish court judgement.
The options, she said, were legally challenging the court ruling, withholding EU funds and suspending some of Poland's rights as a member state.
The European Commission is yet to approve €57bn (£48bn; $66bn) of Covid-19 recovery funds earmarked for Poland, and may not do so until the dispute is settled.
Poland's Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki (R), said his country had been attacked in an "unjust" way
In a speech that ran over his allotted time, Mr Morawiecki said Poland was "being attacked" by EU leaders and it was "unacceptable to talk about financial penalties".
"Blackmail must not be a method of policy," said Mr Morawiecki of Poland's ruling conservative-nationalist Law and Justice party.
Seeing this fiery debate in Strasbourg, you might wonder whether this so-called Polexit is a real prospect - given that it appears there are two very different legal, political and cultural perspectives set on a collision course.
But the resounding answer amongst those I've spoken to is no.
On the EU side, one diplomat recently told me they believed the EU couldn't survive another exit.
So there are huge political calculations to weigh up here, as well as legal ones.
President von der Leyen is under mounting pressure to take action. It's a major test of her presidency.
You could see on Tuesday she wished to impress upon MEPs she was ready, if needed, to take a tough line. Yet last Friday, outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared to urge compromise over confrontation.
There is an argument to say that, if the EU opted for strong action, it could just serve to escalate the crisis and push Poland further away.
But, if it decides on a more conciliatory course, does the bloc look weak and undermine its entire legal basis?
Mr Morawiecki said the Polish court ruling on 7 October had been misunderstood and only questioned one area of EU treaties.
He said EU treaties must not threaten a member state's constitution, which outline laws and principles that specify how a country should be governed.
The Polish court ruling and the European Commission's response to it has divided opinion among the political leaders of EU member states.
Luxembourg's Foreign Minister, Jean Asselborn, said the clash threatened the existence of the EU, while Germany's Minister for European affairs, Michael Roth, said the union must not compromise on its founding values.
But Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said linking issues about the rule of law to funding risked inflicting "unimaginable harm to European Union unity".
Mr Nauseda offered to mediate EU talks after a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda.
The tribunal ruling has raised concerns that Poland - like the UK - could exit the EU in a so-called Polexit. But Mr Morawiecki has repeatedly insisted the country has no plans to leave the union.
"We should not be spreading lies about Polish Polexit," he told the European Parliament.
Unlike the UK before its Brexit referendum in 2016, support for membership of the EU remains high in Poland. Mass protests have been held by Poles who back remaining a member.
Earlier this month, more than 100,000 people gathered in the capital, Warsaw, to show their support for Poland's EU membership.
At one rally, Donald Tusk, former president of the European Council and now leader of the opposition party Civic Platform, called on people to "defend a European Poland".
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Dennis Hutchings: Trial was in public interest, say prosecutors - BBC News
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2021-10-19
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Dennis Hutchings, who was on trial over a fatal shooting in County Tyrone in 1974, died on Monday.
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Northern Ireland
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Dennis Hutchings, 80, denied attempting to murder and cause grievous bodily harm to John Pat Cunningham
The decision to prosecute a former soldier over a fatal shooting during Northern Ireland's Troubles was in the public interest, prosecutors have said.
Dennis Hutchings, 80, from Cawsand in Cornwall, died in Belfast on Monday.
He had denied attempting to murder and cause grievous bodily harm to John Pat Cunningham.
The Cunningham family said they "wish to acknowledge that this is a difficult time for his family and they should be given time to grieve".
Mr Cunningham, 27, was shot in the back as he ran from an Army patrol near Benburb, County Tyrone, in 1974.
"When the time is judged appropriate, the family will respond in more detail to the issues surrounding the prosecution of Dennis Hutchings," they said in a statement.
"We respectfully remind the public of the facts that were pronounced at the trial, which were uncontested."
Speaking before the trial got under way, Mr Hutchings told the BBC he felt ex-soldiers were being used as "cannon fodder" by politicians.
Mr Hutchings was interviewed earlier in October, shortly before his death, by the BBC's Ireland correspondent Emma Vardy.
He said that former soldiers were being unfairly reinvestigated for their actions because records were kept by the military on soldiers' activities.
"Everything a soldier does from the minute a round is fired, it's logged, on the radio, it's logged in the control room.
"Talking abut the other side, the terrorist sides, there are no records."
He added: "It was a bloody war between two sides, and we were stuck in the middle, it was my job when I was here to try and keep the peace, try and protect people."
Mr Hutchings' solicitor, Philip Barden, who had worked with him for 10 years, has called on the government to "halt the historic prosecution of veterans".
"I was with him on Monday shortly before he passed away," he added.
"I hope that the government will now enact a statute of limitation that will end the shameful pursuit of Army veterans in Northern Ireland.
"This should be known as Dennis' Law as it is the cause that he fought and died for."
The Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions in Northern Ireland, Michael Agnew, said the file submitted to the PPS by police "included certain evidence not previously available".
You can read his full statement here.
The non-jury trial had been sitting at Belfast Crown Court for three days a week to allow Mr Hutchings, who had been suffering from kidney disease, to receive dialysis treatment.
It was adjourned on Monday after the court heard he had tested positive for Covid-19. He died in the Mater Hospital in Belfast later that afternoon.
John Pat Cunningham was 27 at the time of his death but had a mental age of between six and 10
Unionist politicians have criticised the decision to prosecute Mr Hutchings.
Democratic Unionist Party leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson said there were "serious questions around those who made the decision that Dennis should stand trial once more".
"Whilst understanding the desire of the Cunningham family for justice, we have consistently challenged those in legal authority who insisted that Dennis stand trial again.
"He was an 80-year-old veteran, in ill-health on dialysis and there was a lack of compelling new evidence."
Ulster Unionist Party leader Doug Beattie said the decision by the Public Prosecution Service to proceed with a trial given Mr Hutchings' ill-health demanded an independent review.
"The questions must be asked, did this trial hasten Mr Hutchings' death and did it meet the evidential and public interest tests?" he said.
The deputy director of public prosecutions said the PPS commenced proceedings against Mr Hutchings in 2015 after "a careful consideration of a wide range of issues, including the strength of evidence against him and the relevant public interest considerations".
"The PPS decision to prosecute Mr Hutchings for attempted murder was taken after an impartial and independent application of the Test for Prosecution," Michael Agnew added.
"Whilst a review of a previous 'no prosecution' decision does not require the existence of new evidence, the police investigation in this case resulted in a file being submitted to the PPS which included certain evidence not previously available.
"In the course of the proceedings there were rulings by High Court judges that the evidence was sufficient to put Mr Hutchings on trial and also that the proceedings were not an abuse of process. "
Dennis Hutchings' supporters had made an issue of his age and ill-health during a long campaign against his prosecution.
Legal attempts to have his case thrown out failed before it reached trial stage.
His death will very likely reopen arguments around legacy prosecutions.
The government is proposing to end all future investigations and court cases related to Troubles incidents prior to the 1998 Good Friday Agreement.
Part of its reasoning is to protect veterans.
This development leaves just one other veteran facing trial, David Holden, who is accused of the manslaughter of Aidan McAnespie in 1988.
All other recent cases involving former soldiers have collapsed.
Mr Agnew said the PPS recognised concerns "in some quarters" in relation to the decision to prosecute.
"However, where a charge is as serious as attempted murder, it will generally be in the public interest to prosecute."
Northern Ireland Veterans Commissioner Danny Kinahan said he was "incredibly sad to learn of the passing" of Mr Hutchings.
"It has to be recognised that we need a fair, balanced and proportionate system that has been promised," he said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson's official spokesman said "sincere condolences go to the family, friends and loved ones of Dennis Hutchings".
"The Ministry of Defence supported Mr Hutchings throughout his trial with legal representation and pastoral care, and that will continue to be offered to his family," he said.
"This tragic case highlights that the criminal justice approach broadly is no longer working and that is why we are committed to introducing new legislation to bring greater certainty for all communities, including the veterans and families of victims."
Sinn Féin's Michelle O'Neill said while she was conscious of Mr Hutchings' grieving family, she was also thinking of the family of John Pat Cunningham, who had been campaigning for 47 years.
"They shouldn't have had to wait this long," she said.
"My message today would be very straightforward to the British government - get on with implementing the Stormont House Agreement, find a way to allow families to have closure, to deal with the past in an adequate way.
"We agreed that many, many years ago in the Stormont House Agreement and the proposals they have put on the table at this moment in time are not acceptable to anyone."
Johnny Mercer, Plymouth MP and former veterans minister, who travelled to Northern Ireland with Dennis Hutchings, said he was devastated by his death.
"He was polite, kind, generous and strong. He was determined to prove his innocence," Mr Mercer said.
"I have huge admiration and respect for his resilience, and that of his family and his partner, Kim.
"In a nation that is quick to forget the price of the freedoms we enjoy, it was a privilege to be close to him, and I remain fiercely proud of him."
Meanwhile, relatives of Troubles victims were in London on Tuesday lobbying politicians in their campaign against the government's legacy proposals
In July, Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis announced plans for a statute of limitations which would end all prosecutions related to the Troubles up to April 1998 and would apply to military veterans as well as ex-paramilitaries.
The proposals, which the prime minister said would allow Northern Ireland to "draw a line under the Troubles", would also end all legacy inquests and civil actions related to the conflict.
At Westminster on Tuesday afternoon, a cross-party group of MPs signed an open letter "totally rejecting" the UK government's proposals on how to deal with legacy issues.
It was signed by, among others, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Louise Haigh, SDLP leader and Foyle MP Colum Eastwood and MP Joanna Cherry from the Scottish National Party.
Speaking outside Parliament, campaigner Raymond McCord, whose son Raymond Jr was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries in 1997, called on the prime minister "to take these proposals away" and said they have to be scrapped".
He said they had received "total support from every political party at Westminster except the Tories".
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Covid passes: Conservative who missed vote was at party conference - BBC News
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2021-10-06
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Gareth Davies missed a tight Senedd vote that saw Covid passes for nightclubs and events approved.
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Wales politics
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A Conservative politician who missed a crucial vote on compulsory Covid passes in nightclubs and big events in Wales was at the Tory conference in Manchester at the time.
Gareth Davies says he was "angry" that he was unable to access the Welsh Parliament's remote voting system.
But the Senedd's Presiding Officer Elin Jones said he had been given "every opportunity to be present".
His absence meant Welsh ministers won by one vote.
Elin Jones had said on Tuesday that she had provided her personal phone number to allow Mr Davies to vote.
The Night Time Industries Association called for the decision to be taken again, but that was not echoed by any of the Senedd's party groups.
Under the new law evidence of full vaccination or a negative Covid test within 48 hours will be required when visiting nightclubs or large events.
Health Minister Eluned Morgan has said the vote will not be re-run.
The Conservative Party conference has been taking place in Manchester
The Senedd, because of the Covid pandemic, is sitting in a hybrid session where MSs can attend in person or take part via Zoom.
It had not been clear, initially, where Mr Davies had been at the time of the decision.
Then, around Wednesday lunchtime, the Vale of Clwyd politician said he was "working and representing the group at the Conservative Party conference and I would have been able to vote remotely if I'd have been able to access the remote voting tools".
"I am deeply upset, frustrated and angry at last night's events and my inability to cast a vote against vaccine passports," he said.
He said concerns have been raised with the Senedd's ICT department.
However BBC Wales was told attempts had been made by the Senedd to contact Mr Davies but "no one could get hold of him" - a Tory source said that was because he was speaking to the chief whip Darren Millar and staff.
One MS said that just before the vote Elin Jones read out a phone number to the Tory chief whip for Gareth Davies to call her on.
Darren Millar had told Ms Jones there were difficulties with getting one of his members onto Zoom.
"Elin waited for a phone call. The phone didn't ring," the MS said.
They added that Ms Jones then offered Mr Davies another 30 seconds to get in touch before eventually deciding to proceed.
At the time of the vote on Tuesday evening Ms Jones said: "We are holding the vote please, and we have made every opportunity possible for that... member to get in, including sharing my personal phone."
She later added: "It is a member's responsibility to give themselves sufficient time to secure their Zoom connection in time for voting, just as it is for any member travelling to the Senedd to vote."
On Wednesday she declined to give Mr Davies a chance to make a personal statement to the Senedd, saying as he had shared it with the media it was already in the public domain.
Mr Davies later put the statement on Facebook, saying he was not able to call the presiding officer: "I was already on a call at that time frantically speaking with Welsh Conservative staff members in an attempt to solve the ICT problems."
With the whole opposition against the plans, and Labour controlling only half of the Senedd's 60 seats, if Mr Davies voted there would have been a tie.
The new law would have failed to pass as a result.
Mandatory Covid passes are being introduced this coming Monday in Wales
Asked about holding a re-run of the vote, Eluned Morgan told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast with Claire Summers that that is "not how democratic processes work".
"You don't keep on having a vote until you get the answer that you want," she said.
"Actually this is a system that's been in place for about four months already. People have been using it throughout the summer.
"What we know is that the people of Wales want to be protected."
"We had a huge mandate as a result of the election because of our cautious approach."
Conservative Monmouth MS Peter Fox told the programme that a re-run "would be a difficult thing to do".
"Democracy has a set of processes, and you have to follow them and, you know, sometimes you don't like the outcome of the decision or the circumstances in which you've created a decision.
"But democracy is what it is and if you start eroding that where are you ending up?"
Following the vote the Welsh Conservatives called for the ending of the hybrid arrangements.
But there was frustration in the party outside of the Senedd group of Tories.
Tory councillor David Fouweather, of Newport, tweeted that the Conservative group should have got their whip "sorted", adding: "Letting Wales down. Abolish the assembly."
Parliaments, and governments, are generally reluctant to re-run votes because doing so can open a huge can of worms.
Do so on this occasion and it's not hard to imagine politicians routinely queueing up for a re-vote on this or that issue, conjuring up ingenious, or not so ingenious, arguments as to why.
The Senedd authorities insist there was no failure on their part to allow every Senedd member a fair chance to vote on Covid passes, and therefore there is no case for a re-match.
This was down to a particular Conservative member, Gareth Davies, not doing what he needed to do to vote, they say.
Mr Davies, of course, disputes this.
Mistakes when voting do happen from time to time, by the way, but tend to go unnoticed by the world at large because there are usually no significant consequences.
However, fifteen years ago the Labour Welsh health minister of the day, Brian Gibbons, caused great amusement by pressing the wrong button and, with help from a party colleague who failed to vote with Labour, accidentally backed an an inquiry into the state of the Welsh Ambulance Service.
That vote stood and all the indications are that this one will too.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-58816952
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news_uk-wales-politics-58816952
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Facebook harms children and weakens democracy: ex-employee - BBC News
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2021-10-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Mark Zuckerberg denies claims, heard in the US Senate, that Facebook puts profits before people.
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US & Canada
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A former Facebook employee has told US politicians that the company's sites and apps harm children's mental health and stoke division in society.
Frances Haugen, a 37-year-old former product manager turned whistleblower, heavily criticised the company at a hearing in the Senate.
Facebook has faced growing scrutiny and increasing calls for its regulation.
Founder Mark Zuckerberg hit back, saying the latest accusations were at odds with the company's goals.
In a letter to staff, he said many of the claims were "illogical" and pointed to Facebook's efforts to fight harmful content.
"We care deeply about issues like safety, well-being and mental health," he said in the letter, made public on his Facebook page. "It's difficult to see coverage that misrepresents our work and our motives."
Facebook is the world's most popular social media site. The company says it has 2.7 billion monthly active users. Hundreds of millions of people also use the company's other products, including WhatsApp and Instagram.
But it has been criticised on several fronts - from failing to protect users' privacy to not doing enough to halt the spread of disinformation.
Ms Haugen told CBS News on Sunday that she had shared a number of internal Facebook documents with the Wall Street Journal in recent weeks.
Using the documents, the WSJ reported that research carried out by Instagram showed the app could harm girls' mental health.
This was a theme Ms Haugen continued during her testimony on Tuesday. "The company's leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer, but won't make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people," she said.
She criticised Mark Zuckerberg for having wide-ranging control, saying that there is "no one currently holding Mark accountable but himself."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Facebook's Monika Bickert says commissioning research into issues shows the company is prioritising safety above profit
And she praised the massive outage of Facebook services on Monday, which affected users around the world.
"Yesterday we saw Facebook taken off the internet," she said. "I don't know why it went down, but I know that for more than five hours, Facebook wasn't used to deepen divides, destabilise democracies and make young girls and women feel bad about their bodies."
The answer, she told senators, was congressional oversight. "We must act now," she said.
Mr Zuckerberg, in his letter, said the research into Instagram had been mischaracterised and that many young people had positive experiences of using the platform. But he said "it's very important to me that everything we build is safe and good for kids".
On Monday's outage, he said the deeper concern was not "how many people switch to competitive services or how much money we lose, but what it means for the people who rely on our services to communicate with loved ones, run their businesses, or support their communities".
Frances Haugen said the company repeatedly prioritised profits over its users safety
Both Republican and Democratic senators on Tuesday were united in the need for change at the company - a rare topic of agreement between the two political parties.
"The damage to self-interest and self-worth inflicted by Facebook today will haunt a generation," Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal said.
"Big Tech now faces the Big Tobacco jaw-dropping moment of truth," he added, a reference to how tobacco firms hid the harmful effects of their products.
Fellow Republican Dan Sullivan said the world would look back and ask "What the hell were we thinking?" in light of the revelations about Facebook's impact on children.
In a statement issued after the hearing, Facebook said it did not agree with Ms Haugen's "characterisation of the many issues she testified about". But it did agree that "it's time to begin to create standard rules for the internet."
"It's been 25 years since the rules for the internet have been updated, and instead of expecting the industry to make societal decisions that belong to legislators, it is time for Congress to act," the statement read.
Mark Zuckerberg's blog is lengthy and thoughtful. He doesn't name Frances Haugen - but he has clearly been rattled.
His main argument is that the research she leaked has been misrepresented by both her and the media. He argues that the negative internal research has been cherry-picked and positive conclusions brushed over.
Interestingly, he thinks this episode could have a chilling effect on internal research in companies - worried that bad conclusions might one day be leaked.
But there is of course a simple come back to this. Release the data.
Facebook and other social media companies don't have to do internal research; they could let their data be analysed independently.
To be fair to Facebook, the company does give researchers some access. However, only Facebook has the full spectrum of user metrics needed to fully analyse its effect on society.
His arguments too are at times overly simplified. Why would we want to make people angry, he asks.
I'm sure he doesn't. But it's been proven over and over again that social media that provokes any emotion, whether it be laughter, love or anger gets more engagement.
Zuckerberg believes passionately that Facebook is a force for good. It's becoming harder and harder to find people on Capitol Hill who think that.
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Prince Andrew to receive Epstein-Giuffre agreement - BBC News
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2021-10-06
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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His legal team believes the sealed document will end a case brought by his accuser, Virginia Giuffre.
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UK
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Virginia Giuffre, then Roberts, was pictured with Prince Andrew in London in 2001
Prince Andrew has been granted access to a sealed document his lawyers believe could help end the sexual abuse case being brought by Virginia Giuffre.
A US judge gave permission for the agreement between Ms Giuffre and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein to be shared with the prince's lawyers.
Ms Giuffre's lawyers had made the offer to release the document but believe it will be "irrelevant" to the civil case.
The Duke of York, 61, has consistently denied Ms Giuffre's allegations.
Ms Giuffre, 38, claims she was sexually assaulted by the prince at three locations including New York City.
Andrew B Brettler, who represents Prince Andrew, had argued at a previous hearing that Ms Giuffre had entered into a "settlement agreement" with Epstein that would end her current legal action,
During the first pre-trial hearing of the case last month, Prince Andrew's lawyer said the agreement "releases the duke and others from any and all potential liability".
The prince's lawyers have said in court that Ms Giuffre agreed in 2009 not to sue anyone else connected to Epstein when she settled her damages claim against the billionaire sex offender, who died in prison in 2019.
The precise wording of that deal is currently confidential - sealed by a court.
In a court document filed on Wednesday, US Judge Loretta Preska agreed to a request from Ms Giuffre's lawyer, David Boies, to provide the duke's legal team with the document.
Mr Boies previously said about the document: "Although we believe that the release is irrelevant to the case against Prince Andrew, now that service has been accepted and the case is proceeding to a determination on the merits, we believe that counsel for Prince Andrew have a right to review the release and to make whatever arguments they believe appropriate based on it."
Then known as Virginia Roberts, Ms Giuffre claims she was assaulted by the prince at the London home of Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and at Epstein's homes in Manhattan and Little Saint James, in the US Virgin Islands.
Her case claims Prince Andrew engaged in sexual acts without Ms Giuffre's consent, including when she was 17, knowing how old she was, and "that she was a sex-trafficking victim".
The prince has consistently denied the claims and, in 2019, told BBC Two's Newsnight programme: "It didn't happen."
• None Prince accepts being served with US lawsuit papers
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news_uk-58823289
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Covid in Wales: Sorry for early mistakes, says health minister - BBC News
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2021-10-24
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Eluned Morgan apologises after MPs say early Covid response one of worst ever public health failings.
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Wales politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Eluned Morgan says she has never understood politicians who refuse to apologise where it's due
Wales' Health Minister Eluned Morgan has apologised for the mistakes made by the Welsh government in its initial handling of the pandemic.
She was responding to a report by MPs which said the UK's early response to the pandemic is one of the worst ever public health failures.
"I'm prepared to apologise to all of those who have suffered," she said.
The report said the slow move to lockdown led to a higher initial death toll than if ministers acted sooner.
It said the slow move into restrictions - backed by UK government scientists and adopted by the UK's central and devolved governments - was "wrong" and "deliberate".
The study, written by two House of Commons committees, claimed scientific advisers and government suffered "a degree of group think".
Wales and the rest of the UK went into lockdown on 23 March - while the policy was controlled by ministers in Cardiff, early on they acted alongside the Westminster government.
There were 2,289 deaths in Wales due to Covid, and 2,512 deaths involving Covid, in the first wave of the pandemic up to the end of July 2020.
Wales went into lockdown on 23 March 2020
Opposition parties reiterated calls for a Wales-only public inquiry, with Plaid Cymru saying the Welsh government "must take responsibility for its actions".
In the Senedd, First Minister Mark Drakeford declined to say whether he agreed the early response was one of the worst ever public health failures in the UK, and said he had not read the report.
"I've been asked the question many times, 'Were there things that you would have done differently had you known then what you know now?' " he said.
"We didn't know those things then, we were following the advice that we had at the time."
He said as "our knowledge grew" ministers have "not hesitated to take our own decisions where we thought that was in the best interests of Wales".
There have been a total of 8,262 deaths where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate up to 24 September this year.
Speaking at a press briefing, Ms Morgan said: "Of course I'm prepared to apologise to all of those who have suffered during the pandemic.
"This was a new disease that we'd never seen before. None of us knew how it was going to impact, none of us knew how it was going to spread, none of us had any idea that it could be spread even without showing any symptoms."
She added: "Of course we made mistakes at the beginning of that process, because of the lack of information and data and knowledge that we have now learned.
"I think we have a duty and responsibility to say sorry to people where we've made mistakes."
But the minister argued it would have been "extremely difficult" to have locked down Wales before England, because of the border and "because furlough was not available".
She said since then, the Welsh government has taken a "far more cautious approach compared to that of the rest of the United Kingdom".
But Ms Morgan denied that the Welsh government had suffered from group think - when a group of individuals reaches a consensus without critical reasoning.
A decision to scrap community testing for coronavirus early in the pandemic was described by the report as a "serious mistake".
Wales, in common with the rest of the UK, took the same approach. Ms Morgan partly blamed this on a limitation on the number of tests available at the time.
Catherine Griffiths's father Harry died with Covid in his Aberystwyth care home
Figures showed that there were 157% more care home deaths from all causes than there would be normally in April 2020, with 1,171 in total.
The daughter of a man who died from Covid last year said it was "good to have an apology" but said it was "slightly qualified".
Catherine Griffiths, whose father Harry Griffiths died with Covid in his Aberystwyth care home, told BBC Wales: "They didn't know what was happening in the first wave but they knew what was happening in the second wave, my father died in the second wave.
"They should have protected people they should have acted and learned from countries in the Far East. While we were going into the second wave they were asking people to do quick tests before they enter care facilities, and we weren't doing that."
Ms Griffiths is part of the Covid Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group, which is calling for a dedicated public inquiry for Wales into decisions made about the pandemic.
There are calls for a Wales-only public inquiry into the Covid response
Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said the report showed the "fatalistic approach at the heart of this Westminster government" but also called for a Welsh public inquiry.
Plaid health spokesman Rhun ap Iorwerth said: "The Welsh government must take responsibility for its actions - good and bad, and there should be no avoidance of detailed scrutiny."
Welsh Conservative health spokesman Russell George said: "The pandemic was an unprecedented crisis and as these reports show decision-makers in government followed the science and evidence provided by experts."
He added the report shows "why we need a Wales-specific Covid inquiry".
However Mark Drakeford argued in the Senedd that the report strengthens the argument for the Welsh "experience to be properly investigated within the wider UK context".
The first minister has backed a UK government inquiry, but has not ruled out a Wales-only effort if he is not satisfied with what is set up by the UK government.
Mr Drakeford told the Senedd he was yet to receive a reply to a letter to Communities Secretary Michael Gove on the 10 September setting out a "series of tests" the Welsh government would apply "to give us confidence".
The first minister said he was hoping to have a meeting with the prime minister in the coming days, and added he expects devolved governments to be "properly involved" in the appointment of the UK government's inquiry chair.
During the press conference it was announced that the Welsh government had set a target of offering all 12 to 15-year-olds a Covid vaccine by the end of October.
The government also said all residents of care homes will have been offered a booster by the same date.
Dr Gill Richardson, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Vaccines, said she expected the majority of people over 50 or who have an underlying health condition to have been offered their booster by the end of the year.
A Welsh government statement said the committees' report "does not scrutinise decisions made by any of the devolved governments in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland".
"Some actions and decisions in the pandemic response were taken at a UK level on a four-nations basis - we have always been open to working together where there are shared decisions and shared responses.
"We have followed the advice of our medical and scientific advisers and have taken a more cautious approach. Independent reports, by Audit Wales, have shown our approach to testing, for example, was less costly and more efficient than that taken by the UK government."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-58883469
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news_uk-wales-politics-58883469
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Covid in Wales: Sorry for early mistakes, says health minister - BBC News
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2021-10-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Eluned Morgan apologises after MPs say early Covid response one of worst ever public health failings.
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Wales politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Eluned Morgan says she has never understood politicians who refuse to apologise where it's due
Wales' Health Minister Eluned Morgan has apologised for the mistakes made by the Welsh government in its initial handling of the pandemic.
She was responding to a report by MPs which said the UK's early response to the pandemic is one of the worst ever public health failures.
"I'm prepared to apologise to all of those who have suffered," she said.
The report said the slow move to lockdown led to a higher initial death toll than if ministers acted sooner.
It said the slow move into restrictions - backed by UK government scientists and adopted by the UK's central and devolved governments - was "wrong" and "deliberate".
The study, written by two House of Commons committees, claimed scientific advisers and government suffered "a degree of group think".
Wales and the rest of the UK went into lockdown on 23 March - while the policy was controlled by ministers in Cardiff, early on they acted alongside the Westminster government.
There were 2,289 deaths in Wales due to Covid, and 2,512 deaths involving Covid, in the first wave of the pandemic up to the end of July 2020.
Wales went into lockdown on 23 March 2020
Opposition parties reiterated calls for a Wales-only public inquiry, with Plaid Cymru saying the Welsh government "must take responsibility for its actions".
In the Senedd, First Minister Mark Drakeford declined to say whether he agreed the early response was one of the worst ever public health failures in the UK, and said he had not read the report.
"I've been asked the question many times, 'Were there things that you would have done differently had you known then what you know now?' " he said.
"We didn't know those things then, we were following the advice that we had at the time."
He said as "our knowledge grew" ministers have "not hesitated to take our own decisions where we thought that was in the best interests of Wales".
There have been a total of 8,262 deaths where Covid was mentioned on the death certificate up to 24 September this year.
Speaking at a press briefing, Ms Morgan said: "Of course I'm prepared to apologise to all of those who have suffered during the pandemic.
"This was a new disease that we'd never seen before. None of us knew how it was going to impact, none of us knew how it was going to spread, none of us had any idea that it could be spread even without showing any symptoms."
She added: "Of course we made mistakes at the beginning of that process, because of the lack of information and data and knowledge that we have now learned.
"I think we have a duty and responsibility to say sorry to people where we've made mistakes."
But the minister argued it would have been "extremely difficult" to have locked down Wales before England, because of the border and "because furlough was not available".
She said since then, the Welsh government has taken a "far more cautious approach compared to that of the rest of the United Kingdom".
But Ms Morgan denied that the Welsh government had suffered from group think - when a group of individuals reaches a consensus without critical reasoning.
A decision to scrap community testing for coronavirus early in the pandemic was described by the report as a "serious mistake".
Wales, in common with the rest of the UK, took the same approach. Ms Morgan partly blamed this on a limitation on the number of tests available at the time.
Catherine Griffiths's father Harry died with Covid in his Aberystwyth care home
Figures showed that there were 157% more care home deaths from all causes than there would be normally in April 2020, with 1,171 in total.
The daughter of a man who died from Covid last year said it was "good to have an apology" but said it was "slightly qualified".
Catherine Griffiths, whose father Harry Griffiths died with Covid in his Aberystwyth care home, told BBC Wales: "They didn't know what was happening in the first wave but they knew what was happening in the second wave, my father died in the second wave.
"They should have protected people they should have acted and learned from countries in the Far East. While we were going into the second wave they were asking people to do quick tests before they enter care facilities, and we weren't doing that."
Ms Griffiths is part of the Covid Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group, which is calling for a dedicated public inquiry for Wales into decisions made about the pandemic.
There are calls for a Wales-only public inquiry into the Covid response
Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said the report showed the "fatalistic approach at the heart of this Westminster government" but also called for a Welsh public inquiry.
Plaid health spokesman Rhun ap Iorwerth said: "The Welsh government must take responsibility for its actions - good and bad, and there should be no avoidance of detailed scrutiny."
Welsh Conservative health spokesman Russell George said: "The pandemic was an unprecedented crisis and as these reports show decision-makers in government followed the science and evidence provided by experts."
He added the report shows "why we need a Wales-specific Covid inquiry".
However Mark Drakeford argued in the Senedd that the report strengthens the argument for the Welsh "experience to be properly investigated within the wider UK context".
The first minister has backed a UK government inquiry, but has not ruled out a Wales-only effort if he is not satisfied with what is set up by the UK government.
Mr Drakeford told the Senedd he was yet to receive a reply to a letter to Communities Secretary Michael Gove on the 10 September setting out a "series of tests" the Welsh government would apply "to give us confidence".
The first minister said he was hoping to have a meeting with the prime minister in the coming days, and added he expects devolved governments to be "properly involved" in the appointment of the UK government's inquiry chair.
During the press conference it was announced that the Welsh government had set a target of offering all 12 to 15-year-olds a Covid vaccine by the end of October.
The government also said all residents of care homes will have been offered a booster by the same date.
Dr Gill Richardson, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Vaccines, said she expected the majority of people over 50 or who have an underlying health condition to have been offered their booster by the end of the year.
A Welsh government statement said the committees' report "does not scrutinise decisions made by any of the devolved governments in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland".
"Some actions and decisions in the pandemic response were taken at a UK level on a four-nations basis - we have always been open to working together where there are shared decisions and shared responses.
"We have followed the advice of our medical and scientific advisers and have taken a more cautious approach. Independent reports, by Audit Wales, have shown our approach to testing, for example, was less costly and more efficient than that taken by the UK government."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-58883469
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news_uk-wales-politics-58883469
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Thailand to reopen for some vaccinated visitors on 1 November - BBC News
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2021-10-12
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Fully vaccinated travellers from nations including the UK will no longer need to quarantine.
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Asia
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Foreign tourism, once an engine of the Thai economy, has collapsed
Thailand plans to end Covid quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers from at least 10 low-risk nations from 1 November, officials say.
PM Prayuth Chan-ocha admitted that "this decision comes with some risk" - but it is seen as a key step to revive the country's collapsed tourism sector.
The 10 nations seen as low risk include the UK, China, Germany and the US.
The country has been recording more than 10,000 positive infections daily since July.
It has fully vaccinated around 33% of its almost 70 million people. Half the population has received one dose.
Mr Prayuth said Thailand would also allow entertainment venues to reopen on 1 December and permit alcohol sales.
He added that the authorities were planning to open Thailand for more countries on that date.
Mr Prayuth's comments came in a televised address on Monday.
Referring to visitors from 10 low-risk nations, he stressed that "when they arrive, they should present a [negative] Covid test... and test once again upon arrival".
If the second test is also negative, any visitor from those countries "can travel freely like Thais", the prime minister said.
But he warned that the government would act decisively if there were to be a spike in infections or an emergence of a highly contagious variant of Covid-19.
It is estimated that Thailand - popular for its sandy beaches and non-stop nightlife - lost about $50bn (£37bn) in tourism revenue in 2020.
The economy suffered its deepest contraction in more than two decades as a result of the pandemic.
Thailand was the first country outside China to record a Covid-19 case in January last year.
It took the drastic step of sealing its borders in April, effectively killing off a tourist industry accounting for perhaps 20% of GDP, but managed to cut new daily infections to just single figures, one of the best records anywhere.
This year though, with the arrival of the Delta variant, infections have soared, from a total of less than 7,000 at the end of 2020, to 1.7 million today. The argument for keeping out foreign visitors to contain Covid became much less persuasive, especially with tourist-related businesses pleading for restrictions to be eased.
The success in containing Covid last year had another unforeseen consequence; it led the Thai government to believe it need not rush to order vaccines. The result has been a tardy and at times confused vaccine programme, and a public outcry.
The need for some economic good news is in large part what has driven it to start reopening, well before reaching its own declared target of getting 70% of the population vaccinated.
It is proceeding cautiously though, with only 10 countries on the list until the end of the year. Like other countries in the region Thailand's health system has limited ICU capacity; in August ICU units in Bangkok were quickly overwhelmed by the number of serious Covid cases.
In any case, even with an end to the two week quarantine requirement, a recovery to the 40 million tourists who came in 2019 is unlikely next year, or even the year after.
Just over 70,000 visitors came into the country in the first eight months of this year, compared with 40 million in the whole of 2019.
Thailand has reported more than 1.7 million confirmed Covid cases since the pandemic began, with nearly 18,000 deaths, according to America's Johns Hopkins University.
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news_world-asia-58838189
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Net zero announcement: Obstacles facing the UK government's plans - BBC News
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2021-10-20
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Potential hazards for ministers include sceptical Tory MPs and voters worried about rising bills.
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UK Politics
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The government has laid out its plans to reduce emissions sharply by 2035 and take the UK towards being a zero carbon economy by 2050. These including more electric cars, planting trees and moving away from gas-powered central heating.
But what potential hazards are there ahead for ministers?
Some in the prime minister's own party doubt the economic arguments in favour of moving towards what they consider an over-reliance on renewable energy sources.
Conservative MP John Redwood asked in the House of Commons what would happen when the sun stopped shining and the wind stopped blowing. Another, Steve Baker, said a lot of "assumptions" were involved and asked that ministers carry out a "comprehensive audit" of their plans.
Tory MP: What happens when the wind doesn't blow?
Others are concerned about the cost to the general public, particularly those on lower incomes, and the impact that, in turn, may have on their chances at the next election.
Craig Mackinlay said it could become "electorally difficult" once people realised the plans "cost them money" or mean "a lifestyle that's not as convenient".
Given that the Conservatives have an 80-seat majority, this is unlikely to stop any plans becoming law, but if some of Mr Johnson's backbenchers are not persuaded, there could be some political turbulence.
Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband was scathing in his response to the government's announcement, saying there was nothing like "the commitment we believe is required", in terms of investment, to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Labour's commitment to borrow and invest £28bn per year in tackling climate change is a markedly different approach to the Conservatives. The Treasury has said borrowing heavily to cut greenhouse gases goes against the "polluter pays" principle and passes the costs on to future taxpayers.
It's not certain how this will play out in Parliament or whether this could become an important dividing line between the parties - and how it would play with voters.
The Treasury accepts there will be an overall cost to achieving net zero emissions in the short term, but sources stress the cost of inaction would also be significant.
No overall figure is given but officials admit new taxes will be needed to recoup the revenue lost from the move away from petrol and diesel fuelled cars, for example.
The government raised £37bn from fuel duty and vehicle excise duty in the 2019-20 financial year, or about 1.7% of GDP.
A carbon tax could plug some of this, but the takings would dwindle as emissions fall, leaving a big shortfall.
How will voters feel if their bills go up to cover the costs?
In an assessment to go with the government's carbon-cutting plans, the Treasury said that "as with all economic transitions, ultimately the costs and benefits of the transition will pass through to households through the labour market, prices and asset values".
There is evidence of public support for stronger measures to tackle climate change, but if households end up having to spend a lot more money to go greener, there could be increased unease among voters that the government will not want ahead of a likely general election in the next couple of years.
In particular, it is feared this could go down badly in some of the former industrial areas of the the Midlands and northern England where the Conservatives made large gains from Labour in 2019.
"Any policies we bring in will be designed to be fair across the board," the PM's spokesman said.
One thing most governments agree on is that any effort to reduce emissions must be international if it is to succeed in limiting temperature rises.
With the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow fast approaching, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will hope his plan prompts other countries to make similar commitments and boost the chances of the UK brokering a renewed global effort to cut greenhouse gases.
If the world's biggest CO2 producers - including the US, China and India - reach an agreement it could ease domestic political pressures and allow him to claim more of an environmental "legacy".
US President Jo Biden and Indian PM Narendra Modi are attending COP26, but China's Xi Jinping is not thought likely to do the same.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-58967560
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Priti Patel failing over small boat Channel crossings, Labour says - BBC News
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2021-11-21
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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But former Home Secretary Sajid Javid says he is confident his successor is doing everything she can.
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UK Politics
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Priti Patel's "incompetence" in dealing with small boats crossing the Channel is "dangerous", Labour has said.
More than 24,700 people have made the crossing from France to the UK by boat so far this year to seek asylum or to immigrate - almost three times the total of 8,500 in 2020.
Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds accused the government of "comprehensive failure" on the issue.
But ex-Home Secretary Sajid Javid said his successor was doing all she could.
He also questioned why people were making the dangerous journey, telling the BBC's Andrew Marr programme: "You have to ask the question, if you are a genuine asylum seeker, why have you not claimed asylum already if you're in a safe country [like France]?"
The government has launched a review into how to prevent boats from crossing the 21-mile stretch of water from Calais, with the now-Health Secretary Mr Javid saying it wanted to "bust the business model" of people smugglers, who were "ultimately responsible" for the problem.
But Tory MPs are warning the issue is costing the Conservative Party in the polls.
Speaking to the BBC, South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay said it had become a key issue on the doorstep and a solution was needed "now".
A government source told the BBC the home secretary was the only one who had come up with a credible plan.
But they acknowledged there was no "silver bullet" to solve the issue.
Record numbers of people have made the crossing this year, with more than 1,000 making the journey in a single day earlier this month.
Home Secretary Ms Patel has promised tougher action, but the numbers have continued to rise.
And it is understood Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants more to be done.
The UK signed a deal with France in July, pledging €62.7m (£54m) during 2021-22 to help the country increase police patrols along its coastline, boost aerial surveillance and increase security infrastructure at ports.
But Labour's Mr Thomas-Symonds accused his government counterpart of being "more interested in a diplomatic spat [with France] than she is in a workable deal".
Ministers have often talked tough on small boats crossing the Channel - but record numbers are making the dangerous journey and potentially risking their lives.
Some Tory MPs believe the government is increasingly looking weak by not managing to stop illegal crossings.
They report significant concern among constituents and believe that is being reflected in opinion polls.
For a party that promised to take back control after Brexit, they argue this shows the opposite.
Labour wants closer cooperation with France - accusing ministers of indulging in "spats".
But it's not clear that would solve the issue either.
Ministers argue the Nationality and Borders Bill going through the Commons at the moment will give them more powers, such as to process asylum cases in another country.
The argument is this would deter those people who are not genuine asylum seekers.
But it will be some time before ministers get those powers - and there are growing calls for a more immediate answer.
The shadow home secretary said his party would reintroduce the Dubs scheme - intended to offer safe passage to unaccompanied child asylum seekers - as well as increasing patrols further away from the coast and reinstating overseas aid funding.
He also said a Labour government would find a replacement for the Dublin agreement, which allows EU countries to transfer asylum seekers back to the first member state they were proven to have entered - an agreement the UK left after Brexit.
Between January 2019 and October 2020, 231 migrants who crossed the Channel were returned to mainland Europe using the Dublin agreement.
But Immigration Minister Tom Pursglove told MPs last week that only five had been returned to mainland Europe so far in 2021.
Mr Thomas-Symonds told Andrew Marr: "There are thousands of lives being risked in the English Channel on a day-to-day basis and the home secretary's incompetence on this matter is dangerous."
But Mr Javid said leaving the Dublin agreement had made little difference to the UK's ability to send asylum seekers back to other countries.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sajid Javid: ''The pandemic has made returning people across the world, across asylum systems, much harder''
"Hardly any country in Europe enforced the Dublin agreement," the health secretary said.
"I can tell you that because I was home secretary at the time trying to enforce it and almost every country in Europe ignored it."
The minister said new agreements were needed with the EU, but he said Ms Patel had already signed some with countries like India.
He added: "I would say that the pandemic has made returning people across the world, across asylum systems, much harder, and we do have to take that into account as well."
Mr Javid also said the home secretary "is doing everything that she can and she hasn't taken anything off the table" to tackle the issue.
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Owen Paterson: Anger as Tory MP avoids suspension in rule shake-up - BBC News
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2021-11-03
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The opposition cries "shame" as Conservatives vote through plans to overhaul the way MPs' behaviour is policed.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Tellers announce the votes to change the rules which are backed by a majority of MPs, while "shame" is shouted from the benches.
Conservative Owen Paterson has avoided punishment for now as the government ordered its MPs to back a review of standards investigations.
The result of the vote was met with cries of "shame" from opposition MPs.
Mr Paterson was found to have misused his position as an MP to benefit two companies he worked for.
But he said the probe into his conduct had been unfair - and the government backed plans by his allies to overhaul the system.
Labour, the SNP and Lib Dems voted against the plans, along with 13 Conservative MPs, but it was carried by 18 votes after a heated Commons debate.
In a statement after the vote, Mr Paterson said: "After two years of hell, I now have the opportunity to clear my name."
In an interview with the BBC, he thanked the MPs who voted for the overhaul, acknowledging they had "taken a political hit".
"But we will at last now be able to create a proper system, based on the rules of natural justice," he added.
Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner accused the Conservatives of being "rotten to the core" and called the move an "absolute disgrace".
She said Labour would "not be taking any part in this sham process or any corrupt committee", with the SNP and Lib Dems also saying they would boycott the overhaul.
The controversy comes after a committee of MPs recommended Mr Paterson be suspended from the Commons for 30 days, following a damning report into his conduct by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone.
The report said the former Northern Ireland secretary had breached Commons rules by lobbying government bodies about Randox and Lynn's Country Foods, which employed him as a paid consultant.
After the vote not to uphold the committee's recommendation, the BBC understands Ms Stone will not be resigning as standards commissioner.
The government did not order its MPs to uphold the proposed suspension, which could have led to Mr Paterson facing a by-election in his North Shropshire constituency.
Instead, they were told to back an amendment drawn up by Tory former cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom to pause his suspension and set up a new Tory-majority committee to look at how investigations are carried out.
Owen Paterson watched on in the Commons as MPs debated whether to suspend him
At Prime Minister's Questions, Boris Johnson said MPs found to have broken the rules should get a right of appeal, as would happen with doctors and teachers found guilty of misconduct.
But the SNP's Pete Wishart accused the government of "attempting to turn back the clock to the worst examples of 1990s Tory sleaze".
Ahead of the vote, the committee's Labour chairman Chris Bryant told MPs Mr Paterson had lobbied ministers "time and again, in a way that conferred a direct benefit on his paying clients".
"That is expressly forbidden. It is a corrupt practice," he added.
He said Mr Paterson had been given "every opportunity" to put his case across - and his arguments had been heard "respectfully and fairly".
Every MP who backed today's move can expect to have it used against them on political leaflets or Facebook campaigns.
There could be serious consequences in Parliament if the opposition parties decide to use this moment to withdraw cooperation on other committees or ways of working.
Some ministers already fear this is an episode that Downing Street may come to regret.
Owen Paterson is adamant that he did nothing wrong, and has been denied natural justice.
But with this Tory response, voters may well come to wonder, what's fair about this?
The Commons standards committee found that Mr Paterson had used his parliamentary office on 16 occasions for meetings relating to his outside business interests and sent two letters relating to business interests on House of Commons-headed notepaper.
It described the MP's actions as "an egregious case of paid advocacy".
However Mr Paterson denied any wrongdoing, and argued his approaches had been within the rules because he was seeking to alert ministers to defects in safety regulations.
He said the investigation had "a major contributory factor" in the death of his wife, Rose, who took her own life last year.
He claimed he had been pronounced guilty "without being spoken to" and that "no proper investigation was undertaken".
Andrea Leadsom said she had "grave concerns" about the existing system
Thirteen Conservatives voted against Ms Leadsom's amendment, while 98 had no vote recorded - either by a deliberate abstention or because they were not able to vote.
Tory MP Angela Richardson appeared to confirm she was no longer a parliamentary aide to ministers after defying government orders to vote for the amendment and abstaining instead.
As a parliamentary private secretary, she would normally be expected to resign in order to oppose the government.
Writing on Twitter, she said: "I abstained on the Leadsom amendment aware that my job was at risk, but it was a matter of principle for me."
Aaron Bell - a Tory who opposed the amendment - said the proposals made it look "like we're moving the goalposts" and that any reform of the rules needed support across the Commons.
Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain described the amendment as a "stitch-up", adding: "You expect in a tin-pot dictatorship, not the home of parliamentary democracy."
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Sao Paulo Grand Prix: Lewis Hamilton disqualified from qualifying, Max Verstappen fined 50,000 euros - BBC Sport
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2021-11-13
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Lewis Hamilton has been disqualified from qualifying at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix for a technical infringement on his Mercedes car.
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Last updated on .From the section Formula 1
Lewis Hamilton has been disqualified from qualifying at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix for a technical infringement on his Mercedes car.
The rear wing on his Mercedes was found to contravene rules after he set pole position for Saturday's 'sprint' event.
It means Hamilton will start the 'sprint' from last place, with title rival Max Verstappen on pole.
In a separate verdict, Verstappen was fined 50,000 euros for touching Hamilton's car after qualifying.
The decision to penalise Hamilton is a potentially major blow to his title hopes as the season heads towards its climax.
Hamilton trails Verstappen by 19 points in the World Championship with four races and a maximum of 107 points available.
The Briton also has a five-place grid penalty for the main grand prix after Mercedes fitted a new engine to his car. It was his fifth of the season, when the maximum allowed is three.
If Verstappen scores at least five points more than Hamilton this weekend, the Dutchman will be able to finish second behind the seven-time champion at all three remaining races and still win his first world title.
The 'sprint' - a short race about one third the distance of a grand prix - sets the grid for Sunday's main event and awards a small number of points to the top three.
There are three points for the winner of the sprint, two for the driver in second and one for third.
What was wrong with Hamilton's car?
Hamilton's car was referred to the stewards after he had set a fastest lap that was 0.438 seconds quicker than Verstappen in Friday's qualifying session.
The move came after Red Bull lodged a complaint with governing body the FIA about Hamilton's rear wing.
Officials inspected the wing and found that it did not comply with the rules regarding the maximum gap between its two elements when the DRS overtaking aid was deployed.
The DRS operates the upper flap of the rear wing, lifting it up on specified parts of the lap to reduce drag and increase straight-line speed.
The gap was measured to be larger at the outer sections of the wing than the maximum permitted distance of 85mm.
Mercedes argued that the design was intended to meet the rules, and the stewards said they were "satisfied that the design meets the intent of the regulation" and there was "no question… of any intent to exceed the maximum dimension either by action or design".
It was clear, the stewards said, that the extra gap was caused by additional play in either the DRS activator or pivots, "or some combination or other fault with the mechanism or incorrect assembly of parts".
The stewards accepted Mercedes' argument that the problem was that "something [had] gone wrong" but ruled that Hamilton had to be disqualified because the parts did not comply with the rules.
Verstappen's offence occurred when he went over to look at Hamilton's car after qualifying, when the two had pulled up in what is known as parc ferme, because Red Bull had questions about the Mercedes' rear wing.
Stewards said it was clear "that there was insignificant force when Verstappen touched the wing".
And they added that Verstappen's actions had "no bearing" on the problem with Hamilton's wing.
The stewards accepted that it had "become a habit of drivers to touch cars after qualifying and races" - a point Verstappen made to them.
But they added: "This general tendency has been seen as mostly harmless and so has not been uniformly policed.
"Nevertheless, it is a breach of the parc ferme regulation and has significant potential to cause harm."
The stewards added that further similar offences "may incur different penalties".
• None The remarkable aftermath of the verdict on the Nazi war criminals
• None Mohamed Nasheed is fighting for his island
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Meghan told ex-aide she wrote to estranged father to protect Harry - BBC News
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2021-11-13
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The Duchess of Sussex said Prince Harry was being berated by the royals over her father's behaviour.
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The Duchess of Sussex said she chose to write to her father, Thomas Markle, to protect Prince Harry from the Royal Family's "constant berating" over his media interviews, text messages reveal.
Meghan told ex-aide Jason Knauf the royals did not understand why she could not visit her estranged father's home in Mexico to "make this stop".
She also said she had seen the "pain" the situation was causing Prince Harry.
The messages were released by a court on Friday after a media application.
Meghan, 40, won her privacy case against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Mail on Sunday, earlier this year, when the High Court found its publication of her letter to her father - sent in August 2018 - was unlawful.
But ANL brought an appeal to overturn the ruling, which has been the subject of hearings at the Court of Appeal this week. The ruling is due at a later date.
This long ongoing court case is an attempt to protect the privacy of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex but in bringing the action it is, in some ways, doing the opposite.
The obvious anger and distress caused by the Mail on Sunday publishing extracts of a deeply personal letter has led to the release of a series of court documents which reveal arguments and disagreements from behind closed doors.
The fact that Harry and Meghan felt under pressure from the Royal Family to resolve the difficult relationship with her father, Thomas, has been discussed at length in court.
These text messages which mention what she feels was the "constant berating" of her husband over the issue of her father reveal something of the level of feeling in the days leading up to the letter being written.
It is also worth noting that this was taking place in the summer of 2018, just three months after the happy scenes at their wedding when Prince Charles walked Meghan down the aisle at Windsor.
The latest revelations come a day after the Court of Appeal heard Mr Knauf, the couple's former communications chief, "regretted" not giving evidence in her High Court case against ANL.
After extracts of texts and emails between Meghan and Mr Knauf were used in court, further messages were released on Friday following an application by the PA news agency and the Times newspaper.
In the newly released text messages, sent to Mr Knauf while she was drafting the handwritten letter to her father, the duchess said she was motivated to write to her father due to the "pain" the situation was causing Prince Harry.
She wrote: "Even after a week with his dad and endlessly explaining the situation, his family seem to forget the context - and revert to 'Can't she just go and see him and make this stop?'"
She accused the Royal Family of "fundamentally" failing to understand and that by writing to her father, her husband would be able to tell them "she wrote him a letter and he's still doing it".
The duchess added that she was doing this to "protect my husband from this constant berating and while unlikely perhaps it will give my father a moment to pause".
However, she told Mr Knauf the letter "does not open the door for a conversation".
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were pictured at an event in New York on Wednesday
On Wednesday Mr Knauf, who is due to stand down from his current role as the chief executive officer of the Royal Foundation at the end of the year, said in a witness statement that the duchess had written the letter to her father with the understanding that it could be leaked.
The Court of Appeal also heard this week that Mr Knauf had been asked by Meghan to pass information to Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, the authors of the Finding Freedom biography - leading to the duchess apologising to the court for forgetting about emails sent about the book.
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Jersey approves principle of legalising assisted dying - BBC News
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2021-11-25
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The agreement in principle means further debates on rules and safeguards will take place in Jersey.
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Jersey
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The plans, which will be worked up before further debate, include only registered medical staff being involved
Jersey politicians have approved the principle of legalising assisted dying in the island.
A further debate on the issue will be held next year, after details of the processes and safeguards have been worked up.
If those proposals are backed then a draft law could be discussed and voted on in 2023.
Assisted dying involves allowing some terminally ill adults to end their lives with medical supervision.
The vote by Jersey politicians was 36 in favour, 10 against and three absent.
This is undoubtedly a hugely significant decision which could have implications beyond Jersey's shores.
But this historic vote represents the beginning, rather than the end, of a process which might - or might not - eventually see assisted dying legalised in the island.
Detailed work will now begin to determine how assisted dying could be permitted while ensuring vulnerable people remain safe.
At least two more separate votes will be required before the law can be changed.
Those opposed to assisted dying are certain to continue campaigning, while for those who have long called for the law to be changed, this will be seen as a major step forward.
Safeguards agreed include a pre-approval process, a mandatory period of reflection, pre-approved locations and while registered medical professionals should be able to assist, they are not under a legal duty to do so.
Physician assisted suicide - the prescription of lethal drugs - and voluntary euthanasia, where a person has their life ended by a registered medical practitioner, would become legal under the agreed proposals.
During the debate Deputy Louise Doublet said: "We must recognise the elderly and vulnerable have an inherent value as human beings and ensure they have a place in our society.
"We can do that and look after the rights of those who are suffering unbearably. We can do both."
Minister for Health and Social Services, Deputy Richard Renouf, who spoke against the proposals, said: "Safeguards can be built up and to the best of our ability, but none of them can be truly effective.
"None of them would truly protect patients who are going to become vulnerable if assisted dying were to be introduced."
Deputy David Johnson said: "I think it's important we proceed to the next step where all the various arguments, the processes and safeguards can be fleshed out in greater detail."
Deputy Carina Alves said despite her beliefs she agreed with the proposition.
"This proposition is about choice and I would never want anyone to restrict my choices on something that impacts me and my body," she said.
"Regardless of my faith I have no right to do that."
The principles agreed by politicians include that the scheme is only open to Jersey residents, aged 18 or over, who have the capacity to make the decision.
The debate was called after 78% of the citizens' jury, made up of islanders who were asked to apply, ruled it was in favour of changing the law.
Kathy Riddick, from Humanists UK which includes Channel Islands Humanists, said: "This considered and respectful debate has shown that there is a will in Jersey to afford freedom of choice to those with terminal illness or who are incurably suffering.
"Making sure the correct safeguards are in place will be undertaken with the same level of consideration, showing that Jersey is ready to spearhead this significant change and hopefully set the standard for the rest of the UK and Crown Dependencies to follow suit."
The coordinators of Care for Life Jersey said they were very disappointed at the decision, describing the proposals as "flawed and dangerous".
They plan to continue to be involved in the public debate abound the issue, call for the rejection of assisted dying "in favour of genuine reforms to laws relating to suicide and end-of-life care".
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Priti Patel failing over small boat Channel crossings, Labour says - BBC News
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2021-11-22
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But former Home Secretary Sajid Javid says he is confident his successor is doing everything she can.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Priti Patel's "incompetence" in dealing with small boats crossing the Channel is "dangerous", Labour has said.
More than 24,700 people have made the crossing from France to the UK by boat so far this year to seek asylum or to immigrate - almost three times the total of 8,500 in 2020.
Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds accused the government of "comprehensive failure" on the issue.
But ex-Home Secretary Sajid Javid said his successor was doing all she could.
He also questioned why people were making the dangerous journey, telling the BBC's Andrew Marr programme: "You have to ask the question, if you are a genuine asylum seeker, why have you not claimed asylum already if you're in a safe country [like France]?"
The government has launched a review into how to prevent boats from crossing the 21-mile stretch of water from Calais, with the now-Health Secretary Mr Javid saying it wanted to "bust the business model" of people smugglers, who were "ultimately responsible" for the problem.
But Tory MPs are warning the issue is costing the Conservative Party in the polls.
Speaking to the BBC, South Thanet MP Craig Mackinlay said it had become a key issue on the doorstep and a solution was needed "now".
A government source told the BBC the home secretary was the only one who had come up with a credible plan.
But they acknowledged there was no "silver bullet" to solve the issue.
Record numbers of people have made the crossing this year, with more than 1,000 making the journey in a single day earlier this month.
Home Secretary Ms Patel has promised tougher action, but the numbers have continued to rise.
And it is understood Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants more to be done.
The UK signed a deal with France in July, pledging €62.7m (£54m) during 2021-22 to help the country increase police patrols along its coastline, boost aerial surveillance and increase security infrastructure at ports.
But Labour's Mr Thomas-Symonds accused his government counterpart of being "more interested in a diplomatic spat [with France] than she is in a workable deal".
Ministers have often talked tough on small boats crossing the Channel - but record numbers are making the dangerous journey and potentially risking their lives.
Some Tory MPs believe the government is increasingly looking weak by not managing to stop illegal crossings.
They report significant concern among constituents and believe that is being reflected in opinion polls.
For a party that promised to take back control after Brexit, they argue this shows the opposite.
Labour wants closer cooperation with France - accusing ministers of indulging in "spats".
But it's not clear that would solve the issue either.
Ministers argue the Nationality and Borders Bill going through the Commons at the moment will give them more powers, such as to process asylum cases in another country.
The argument is this would deter those people who are not genuine asylum seekers.
But it will be some time before ministers get those powers - and there are growing calls for a more immediate answer.
The shadow home secretary said his party would reintroduce the Dubs scheme - intended to offer safe passage to unaccompanied child asylum seekers - as well as increasing patrols further away from the coast and reinstating overseas aid funding.
He also said a Labour government would find a replacement for the Dublin agreement, which allows EU countries to transfer asylum seekers back to the first member state they were proven to have entered - an agreement the UK left after Brexit.
Between January 2019 and October 2020, 231 migrants who crossed the Channel were returned to mainland Europe using the Dublin agreement.
But Immigration Minister Tom Pursglove told MPs last week that only five had been returned to mainland Europe so far in 2021.
Mr Thomas-Symonds told Andrew Marr: "There are thousands of lives being risked in the English Channel on a day-to-day basis and the home secretary's incompetence on this matter is dangerous."
But Mr Javid said leaving the Dublin agreement had made little difference to the UK's ability to send asylum seekers back to other countries.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Sajid Javid: ''The pandemic has made returning people across the world, across asylum systems, much harder''
"Hardly any country in Europe enforced the Dublin agreement," the health secretary said.
"I can tell you that because I was home secretary at the time trying to enforce it and almost every country in Europe ignored it."
The minister said new agreements were needed with the EU, but he said Ms Patel had already signed some with countries like India.
He added: "I would say that the pandemic has made returning people across the world, across asylum systems, much harder, and we do have to take that into account as well."
Mr Javid also said the home secretary "is doing everything that she can and she hasn't taken anything off the table" to tackle the issue.
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Meghan apologises to court for forgetting biography briefing notes - BBC News
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2021-11-10
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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The Duchess of Sussex says she forgot her exchanges with an aide prior to the Finding Freedom biography.
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UK
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The Duchess of Sussex has apologised to a court for making a misleading statement in her privacy case against the Mail on Sunday's publishers.
The Appeal Court heard she had asked an aide to pass on information to the authors of a biography - despite having earlier said she "did not contribute".
Meghan said she had forgotten the events and had not intended to mislead.
Associated Newspapers is trying to overturn a ruling after it published a letter from the duchess to her father.
Meghan, 40, won her privacy case against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday earlier this year, when the High Court found its publication of the letter was unlawful.
Associated Newspapers' legal team are now seeking to overturn this judgement at the Court of Appeal, disputing that this was simply a private and personal letter - and have argued that it was crafted with the "possibility of public consumption" in mind.
A spokesman for the Sussexes had previously said the couple "did not contribute" to the Finding Freedom biography, written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
But in new evidence heard on Wednesday, Jason Knauf, the couple's former communications secretary, said the book was "discussed on a routine basis" and "discussed directly with the duchess multiple times in person and over email".
He also discussed planning a meeting with the authors to provide background information and said Meghan had given him briefing points to share with them, including information on how she had "very minimal contact" with her half-siblings during her childhood.
Two of the arguments put forward by Meghan's lawyers in her battle with the Mail on Sunday would appear to have been compromised by these latest revelations.
She has always claimed that she did not co-operate with the authors of the book Finding Freedom, but she has now remembered that she provided "briefing notes" to one of her key aides who she knew was in touch with the book's authors.
The second strand of her case that would appear to have been undermined is her assertion that she had an "expectation of privacy" when she sent her handwritten letter to her estranged father Thomas Markle, which was partially published by the Mail on Sunday.
It has now emerged in previously unpublished texts that she accepted the possibility the letter might be leaked.
She had used language, she said in one text to her head of communications, that "would pull at the heartstrings".
It will now be for the Court of Appeal to decide whether to stand by or overturn the original finding that was in favour of the duchess.
In the second day of the appeal hearing, lawyers for Associated Newspapers had also challenged the extent to which the letter from Meghan to her father - at the centre of the case it is trying to overturn - was "private".
They quoted an exchange of text messages between the duchess and Mr Knauf in which Meghan said: "Obviously everything I have drafted is with the understanding that it could be leaked, so I have been meticulous in my word choice."
Mr Knauf's evidence to the court also included emails with the Duke of Sussex, discussing the proposed meeting with the authors and the need to conceal any involvement by Prince Harry and Meghan.
The former aide said Prince Harry replied: "I totally agree that we have to be able to say we didn't have anything to do with it.
"Equally, you giving the right context and background to them would help get some truths out there."
In a witness statement to the court the duchess said she accepted that her aide did provide information to the authors of the book with her knowledge but she said the "extent of the information he shared is unknown to me".
"When I approved the passage... I did not have the benefit of seeing these emails and I apologise to the court for the fact that I had not remembered these exchanges at the time," she said.
"I had absolutely no wish or intention to mislead the defendant or the court."
The court heard Prince Harry - pictured with Meghan at an event in New York on Wednesday - had said the couple needed to be able to deny any involvement in briefing the authors
The duchess added that she would have been "more than happy" to refer to the exchanges with Mr Knauf if she had been aware of them at the time, but said they were "a far cry from the very detailed personal information that the defendant alleges that I wanted or permitted to put into the public domain".
Another reason the duchess gave for not discovering the emails between her and Mr Knauf sooner was that the disclosure stage of the litigation had not yet been reached, and in October last year her lawyers applied to adjourn the trial date as she was pregnant.
She said she was advised to avoid stress after a recent miscarriage, which came shortly after Associated Newspapers Limited indicated it wished to reveal the identities of her five friends who gave an interview to the US magazine People, in which they referred to her relationship with her father.
Meghan said: "I was in the first trimester of my third pregnancy at the time, having suffered a miscarriage a few months prior, and was feeling very unwell.
"My doctor advised me to avoid stress, particularly given the recent miscarriage days after the defendant threatened to break the confidentiality of the original 'sources' for the People magazine article, which resulted in my having to make an urgent application for an anonymity order.
"This was granted... but I found the process extremely stressful, and it took its toll physically and emotionally.
"I have at all times wanted to protect the privacy of those friends, while the defendant was, it seemed to me, doing everything it could to make this litigation as intrusive as possible."
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'NHS could lose experienced staff over Covid jabs' - BBC News
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2021-11-10
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"Some people will stick by their principles," over the mandatory staff vaccinations, a GP warns.
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Hereford & Worcester
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Dr Crispin Fisher said tone and discussions were key to persuading staff to get vaccinated
"Massively experienced" NHS workers could be lost over the government's decision to introduce mandatory staff vaccinations, a GP has warned.
The government has announced the move for frontline staff.
"Some people will stick by their principles - they do not want to be vaccinated for whatever reason," said Herefordshire GP Dr Crispin Fisher.
"But they're working caring for vulnerable, sick people for whom Covid could be a disaster.
"There are going to be some very difficult conversations," he added.
Dr Fisher, from The Marches Surgery in Leominster, explained the NHS could lose members of staff, some of whom will have done "years of service and be massively experienced, but just have particular views on this one subject".
It is estimated between 80,000 and 100,000 NHS workers in England are unvaccinated, according to NHS Providers.
More than 92% of frontline staff have had their first dose and 89% are fully vaccinated - higher than the general working-age population, where about 81% have had both doses.
More than 92% of frontline NHS staff have had their first vaccination
The government's decision to introduce a deadline for unvaccinated staff to get both doses follows a consultation which began in September and considered whether both the Covid and flu jabs should be compulsory for frontline NHS and care workers.
The BBC understands there will be exemptions for the Covid vaccine requirement for medical reasons.
"Conversely we're working in the health service - this is probably one of the biggest public health initiatives that's certainly been taken in my career - and if you're not on board with it, it's difficult to see how you can continue to work in the NHS," the GP added.
"If we get the tone right and if we have sensible talks with persuasion and discussion, I think this will tip the balance for quite a number of people."
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers which represents England's NHS trusts, urged the government to think carefully about the tone of any announcement.
"We need to win the argument with them rather than beat them around the head," he told BBC Radio 4's Today, adding the possibility of losing staff was a "real problem".
From Thursday, care homes will be required to refuse entry to workers who have not been fully vaccinated, unless they have a medical exemption or there is an emergency.
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Owen Paterson: Anger as Tory MP avoids suspension in rule shake-up - BBC News
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2021-11-04
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The opposition cries "shame" as Conservatives vote through plans to overhaul the way MPs' behaviour is policed.
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UK Politics
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This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Tellers announce the votes to change the rules which are backed by a majority of MPs, while "shame" is shouted from the benches.
Conservative Owen Paterson has avoided punishment for now as the government ordered its MPs to back a review of standards investigations.
The result of the vote was met with cries of "shame" from opposition MPs.
Mr Paterson was found to have misused his position as an MP to benefit two companies he worked for.
But he said the probe into his conduct had been unfair - and the government backed plans by his allies to overhaul the system.
Labour, the SNP and Lib Dems voted against the plans, along with 13 Conservative MPs, but it was carried by 18 votes after a heated Commons debate.
In a statement after the vote, Mr Paterson said: "After two years of hell, I now have the opportunity to clear my name."
In an interview with the BBC, he thanked the MPs who voted for the overhaul, acknowledging they had "taken a political hit".
"But we will at last now be able to create a proper system, based on the rules of natural justice," he added.
Labour's deputy leader Angela Rayner accused the Conservatives of being "rotten to the core" and called the move an "absolute disgrace".
She said Labour would "not be taking any part in this sham process or any corrupt committee", with the SNP and Lib Dems also saying they would boycott the overhaul.
The controversy comes after a committee of MPs recommended Mr Paterson be suspended from the Commons for 30 days, following a damning report into his conduct by the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner Kathryn Stone.
The report said the former Northern Ireland secretary had breached Commons rules by lobbying government bodies about Randox and Lynn's Country Foods, which employed him as a paid consultant.
After the vote not to uphold the committee's recommendation, the BBC understands Ms Stone will not be resigning as standards commissioner.
The government did not order its MPs to uphold the proposed suspension, which could have led to Mr Paterson facing a by-election in his North Shropshire constituency.
Instead, they were told to back an amendment drawn up by Tory former cabinet minister Andrea Leadsom to pause his suspension and set up a new Tory-majority committee to look at how investigations are carried out.
Owen Paterson watched on in the Commons as MPs debated whether to suspend him
At Prime Minister's Questions, Boris Johnson said MPs found to have broken the rules should get a right of appeal, as would happen with doctors and teachers found guilty of misconduct.
But the SNP's Pete Wishart accused the government of "attempting to turn back the clock to the worst examples of 1990s Tory sleaze".
Ahead of the vote, the committee's Labour chairman Chris Bryant told MPs Mr Paterson had lobbied ministers "time and again, in a way that conferred a direct benefit on his paying clients".
"That is expressly forbidden. It is a corrupt practice," he added.
He said Mr Paterson had been given "every opportunity" to put his case across - and his arguments had been heard "respectfully and fairly".
Every MP who backed today's move can expect to have it used against them on political leaflets or Facebook campaigns.
There could be serious consequences in Parliament if the opposition parties decide to use this moment to withdraw cooperation on other committees or ways of working.
Some ministers already fear this is an episode that Downing Street may come to regret.
Owen Paterson is adamant that he did nothing wrong, and has been denied natural justice.
But with this Tory response, voters may well come to wonder, what's fair about this?
The Commons standards committee found that Mr Paterson had used his parliamentary office on 16 occasions for meetings relating to his outside business interests and sent two letters relating to business interests on House of Commons-headed notepaper.
It described the MP's actions as "an egregious case of paid advocacy".
However Mr Paterson denied any wrongdoing, and argued his approaches had been within the rules because he was seeking to alert ministers to defects in safety regulations.
He said the investigation had "a major contributory factor" in the death of his wife, Rose, who took her own life last year.
He claimed he had been pronounced guilty "without being spoken to" and that "no proper investigation was undertaken".
Andrea Leadsom said she had "grave concerns" about the existing system
Thirteen Conservatives voted against Ms Leadsom's amendment, while 98 had no vote recorded - either by a deliberate abstention or because they were not able to vote.
Tory MP Angela Richardson appeared to confirm she was no longer a parliamentary aide to ministers after defying government orders to vote for the amendment and abstaining instead.
As a parliamentary private secretary, she would normally be expected to resign in order to oppose the government.
Writing on Twitter, she said: "I abstained on the Leadsom amendment aware that my job was at risk, but it was a matter of principle for me."
Aaron Bell - a Tory who opposed the amendment - said the proposals made it look "like we're moving the goalposts" and that any reform of the rules needed support across the Commons.
Liberal Democrat chief whip Wendy Chamberlain described the amendment as a "stitch-up", adding: "You expect in a tin-pot dictatorship, not the home of parliamentary democracy."
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Covid: New variant classed 'of concern' and named Omicron - BBC News
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2021-11-26
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More nations are restricting travel to southern Africa to try to slow the spread of a new variant.
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World
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Only about 24% of South Africans have been fully vaccinated so far
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a new coronavirus variant to be "of concern" and named it Omicron.
It had a large number of mutations, and early evidence suggested an increased reinfection risk, the WHO said.
It was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on 24 November, and has also been identified in Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel.
A number of countries around the world have now decided to ban or restrict travel to and from southern Africa.
Travellers from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini will not be able to enter the UK unless they are UK or Irish nationals, or UK residents.
US officials said flights from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi would be blocked, mirroring earlier moves taken by the EU. It will come into effect on Monday.
On Friday, the WHO said the number of cases of this variant, initially named B.1.1.529, appeared to be increasing in almost all of South Africa's provinces.
"This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning," the UN public health body said in a statement.
It said "the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9 November".
The WHO said it would take a few weeks to understand the impact of the new variant, as scientists worked to determine how transmissible it was.
A top UK health official warned that vaccines would "almost certainly" be less effective against the new variant.
But Professor James Naismith, a structural biologist from the University of Oxford, added: "It is bad news but it's not doomsday."
He said mutations in the variant suggested it may spread more quickly - but transmissibility "is not just as simple as 'this amino acid does this'" and was determined by how mutations worked together.
Only about 24% of South Africa's population is fully vaccinated, which could spur a rapid spread of cases there, Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M), told the BBC on Friday.
Meanwhile, US infectious disease chief Dr Anthony Fauci said that while the reports on the new variant threw up a "red flag", it was possible that vaccines might still work to prevent serious illness.
"Until it's properly tested... we don't know whether or not it evades the antibodies that protect you against the virus", Dr Fauci told CNN.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: WHO name omicron "variant of concern"
The WHO has warned against countries hastily imposing travel restrictions, saying they should look to a "risk-based and scientific approach".
However, in addition to the UK, and the US and the EU, a host of other countries have also announced restrictions:
South Africa's Health Minister Joe Phaahla told reporters that the flight bans were "unjustified".
"The reaction of some of the countries, in terms of imposing travel bans, and such measures, are completely against the norms and standards as guided by the World Health Organization," he said.
Echoing his words, Angelique Coetzee, chairperson of the South African Medical Association, told the BBC that the travel restrictions on her country were premature.
"For now, it is a storm in a tea cup," she said.
Only about 24% of South Africa's population is fully vaccinated, which could spur a rapid spread of cases there, Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M), told the BBC on Friday.
Stock markets across the world also fell sharply on Friday, reflecting the fears of investors over the potential economic impact.
The FTSE 100 index of leading UK shares closed 3.7% down, while main markets in Germany, France and the US also sank.
A "variant of concern" is the World Health Organization's top category of worrying Covid variants.
The decision adds weight to the mounting scientific worry about the potential of this new variant, but it doesn't change any of the facts.
The variant has an astounding collection of mutations which are thought to increase its ability to spread and bypass some, but not all, of the protection from vaccines.
However, we still don't have the clear real-world data.
We don't know for sure that it spreads faster, makes vaccines or drugs less effective or whether it leads to more severe disease.
The WHO have also given it a name and ended days of speculation that we would end up in the slightly ridiculous position of calling the new variant the "Nu variant".
There have even been arguments about the correct pronunciation of the Greek letter Nu (it's technically a "Nee").
Instead, you can guarantee we'll be talking a lot about Omicron in the weeks to come.
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Channel migrants: Johnson under pressure to reduce small boat crossings - BBC News
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2021-11-26
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Lives remain at risk, but as the crisis persists, the greater the political risks for the PM too.
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UK Politics
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A child on Dungeness beach in Kent after crossing the Channel
Usually tragedies bring people together but the deaths in the Channel seem to have highlighted the differences between the UK and French governments
The prime minister is under pressure from many of his own MPs - who in turn are under pressure from a substantial number of their voters - to do more to stop the small boats coming to our shores.
So it was perhaps unsurprising that Boris Johnson made his letter to the French president public, portraying himself as offering potential solutions.
Downing Street insiders say they were genuinely surprised at what they regarded as a disproportionate response from France.
And they point out that it is not unknown for French ministers to use social media to criticise UK positions, or indeed to denounce the prime minister personally for "populism".
Downing Street is emphasising that everything Mr Johnson asked for publicly in his letter - for example, joint patrols or an agreement on returning refugees - had already been asked for privately, but to no avail.
And those close to discussions with the French government say that many of the arguments that are now out in the open had persisted for some time behind closed doors.
It had been thought that the events of this week might have led to a willingness to revisit some of the more contentious issues.
The atmosphere, though, has instead turned more negative.
But while the sound of megaphone diplomacy has dominated much of the coverage today, there are quieter attempts to get the UK/French relationship on an even keel.
There is a move to try to get Home Secretary Priti Patel's invitation to meet her French counterpart, Gérald Darmanin, reinstated.
I'm told that amid rocky relations with France over fishing and the Northern Ireland protocol, the entente between the Home Office and the French interior ministry is usually relatively cordiale.
So while she is currently not on this weekend's guest list in France, Ms Patel did speak to Mr Darmanin this afternoon.
Home Office officials are already in France tonight to try to discuss closer co-operation.
And the UK government is still paying by instalments the £54m promised to France to help bolster patrols and surveillance on the other side of the Channel.
But Labour realises what a potentially toxic issue this is for Boris Johnson.
Problems with fishing and the Northern Ireland protocol have led to rocky relations between the UK and France
In his attack today, the shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds has targeted the prime minister's vulnerabilities.
He deliberately echoed concerns of Mr Johnson's backbenchers by accusing him of "losing control of the situation in the Channel".
But he has also picked at another political sore.
With concerns about how Downing Street has handled some difficult issues in recent weeks, the Labour MP has accused the prime minister of "a gross error of judgment" over his diplomacy by Twitter.
It's well known in Whitehall that Boris Johnson has been frustrated at the continuation of the migrant crisis.
His critics say he has focused too much on small boats, while not doing enough to tackle the underlying factors driving migration.
Lives remain at risk, but the longer the crisis persists, the greater the political risks for the prime minister too.
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Ava White: Liverpool murder arrests after girl stabbed to death - BBC News
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2021-11-26
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Four boys, aged between 13 and 15, are arrested on suspicion of murdering Ava White in Liverpool.
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Liverpool
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Ava White died after being assaulted while out with friends
A 12-year-old girl has been stabbed to death during an argument in a city centre.
Ava White was with friends in Liverpool when she was assaulted at 20:40 GMT on Thursday, shortly after the city's Christmas lights switch-on.
Merseyside Police said she suffered "catastrophic injuries" and a weapon was yet to be found.
Four teenage boys, aged between 13 and 15 and from Toxteth, have been arrested on suspicion of her murder.
Police said officers found Ava collapsed on the ground on Church Alley and a member of the public, who had witnessed the incident, was giving her first aid.
Ava, who attended Notre Dame Catholic College in Everton, was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital with critical injuries but died a short time later.
"We know at the moment that Ava was with her friends in Liverpool city centre and there has been a verbal argument which has escalated to an assault on her involving a knife," Det Supt Sue Coombs said.
"We are able to say there has been a verbal argument and there has been an assault, and the offenders ran off up School Lane, across Hanover Street and into Fleet Street."
Assistant Chief Constable Ngaire Waine said police were not looking for anyone else in connection with Ava's death.
"It's very sad for the city but it is even sadder for her family, their lives are never going to be the same," she said.
"This is a very, very rare event, so I hope that will reassure people."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Assistant mayor of Liverpool, Sarah Doyle, said Ava's death was "devastating"
Paying tribute to Ava, her head teacher Peter Duffy said the Year Eight pupil was a "much loved, valued and unique member of the Notre Dame family".
"She was an incredibly popular girl with a fantastic group of friends," he said.
"My staff are working with students to provide all the support they need at this traumatic time."
Rebecca Flynn, her head teacher at Trinity RC Primary School, said she was a "popular and caring" girl who was "bright and respectful".
Peace campaigner Colin Parry, whose son Tim was killed in the Warrington bomb in 1993, tweeted that Ava had been given a peace ambassador award by his charity in 2019 and her death was a "tragic loss".
Metro Mayor of Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram, said he was "horrified" by Ava's death.
"I am angry today for Ava and her family, for the parents across the region worrying about their children's safety and angry that such a heinous act should take place here," he tweeted.
Sarah Doyle, the assistant mayor of Liverpool, said she was "heartbroken" at the "extremely devastating" news.
"It's senseless and I know it will bring a lot of fear to communities across the city," she said.
"I just want to send a message of reassurance that our city is a safe place but I know this will be giving a lot of anxiety to people. We all share in [her family's] unimaginable grief."
Posting on Twitter, Dame Rachel de Souza, children's commissioner for England, said: "This kind of violence involving a child and with such tragic consequences is shocking at any time, but when the victim is 12 it's particularly so."
Floral tributes to Ava have been left near the scene
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Mary Katilius, 65, from Limerick, said she had been nearby with her granddaughter when Ava was attacked.
"We heard screams and someone said to call an ambulance. We rushed over straight away but there was already a man helping her," she said.
Det Supt Coombs said a lot of the witnesses were young and would be given special treatment when being interviewed.
Floral tributes have been left near the scene, with one message saying: "Rest in peace angel."
Lacey, 17, who came to lay flowers and a balloon, said her younger sister had been close friends with Ava.
"She was just a bubbly character, so loving and caring," she added.
There is a massive police presence in Liverpool with several of the city's main shopping streets taped off.
Dozens of police vehicles are parked close to the scene where 12-year-old Ava was fatally attacked.
Many shoppers and tourists are having to ask officers how they can get to their destinations as many are unaware of the tragedy which lies behind the disruption to their usual routine.
Ava died on what is called White Ribbon Day, a worldwide campaign to end violence against women and girls.
Civic leaders came together yesterday to mark it and start 16 days of activity to highlight the issue.
The death of a girl, not yet in her teens, throws the need for the campaign into the starkest relief.
Forensic teams could be seen carrying out fingertip searches
The four boys - a 13-year-old, two 14-year-olds and a 15-year-old - remain in custody for questioning.
They were arrested at different locations during Thursday evening and into the early hours of Friday, police said.
A police cordon was in place surrounding Williamson Square, Tarleton Street, Church Street, Church Alley and School Lane crossing over Hanover Street on to Fleet Street.
Several shops on Church Street, one of the city's main shopping streets, remained closed on Black Friday due to the cordon.
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HS2 rail extension to Leeds scrapped amid promise to transform rail - BBC News
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2021-11-18
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Boris Johnson dismisses criticism that his rail overhaul amounts to broken promises as "total rubbish".
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Business
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The government has scrapped the Leeds leg of the HS2 high-speed rail line as part of a package that ministers promise will transform services.
The prime minister said the overhaul would mean faster travel up to 10 years earlier than planned, and said claims of broken promises are "total rubbish".
The package won support from some business leaders, and anti-HS2 groups.
But Boris Johnson faced criticism that he had reneged on investment promises to the Midlands and north of England.
The axing of a new East Midlands-Leeds high-speed line, with HS2 trains now to run on existing upgraded routes, and a scaling back of the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project, drew strong condemnation.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Johnson had "ripped up" promises he made that HS2 would go all the way to Leeds and that there would be a new NPR line from Manchester to Leeds.
"This was the first test of 'levelling up' and the government has completely failed and let down everybody in the North. You can't believe a word the Prime Minister says," he said.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. 'We're building in the most efficient possible way'
There was also criticism that a significant portion of the £96bn pledged as new investment has already been announced, such as £360m to improve ticketing.
On a visit to a Network Rail logistics hub near Selby, Mr Johnson dismissed the charges of broken promises as "total rubbish", insisting the government would deliver on them "eventually".
"Of course there are going to be people who always want everything at once. And there are lots of people who are [going to] say, look, what we should do is carve huge new railways through virgin territory, smashing through unspoilt countryside and villages and do it all at once," he said.
And in a BBC interview later the prime minister said that laying new track through countryside would take decades to complete.
Mr Johnson said: "You can wait decades and dig up virgin countryside and plough through villages, but you have to wait an awful lot longer and it costs an awful lot more.
"I'm afraid that we are going to be building a huge amount of new line but what we're doing is doing it in the most efficient possible way and to bring the maximum possible commuter benefits."
In addition to the HS2 changes, there is also a scaling back of a new Trans-Pennine rail route between Manchester and Leeds as part of the NPR project to improve links between major northern cities.
The route between Leeds and Manchester will now be a combination of new track and enhancements to existing infrastructure.
"We're cutting journey times from Manchester in half from 2 hours 9 min to 1 hour 11 min," said Mr Johnson.
"We're also cutting times from Manchester to Leeds from 55 min to 33 min and [creating] a crossrail for the Midlands for the first time."
He added that there would also be a new high-speed line taking the time needed to travel from the West Midlands to East Midlands, from 1 hour 14 min down to 26 min.
"What that means is you will be able to have HS2 trains all the way up to Sheffield, taking half an hour off the time up to Sheffield," Mr Johnson stressed.
"You will have a crossrail for the north, a crossrail for the Midlands and then the HS2."
Tory MP Robbie Moore, whose Keighley seat sits close to Bradford, said he was "deeply disappointed" by the plan, which had "completely short-changed" his constituents.
Bradford had expected to be included on the proposed Leeds to Manchester route and to see a station built to accommodate new trains.
"We are one of the most socially deprived parts of the UK and we must get better transport connectivity," Mr Moore said.
Delivering the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) in the Commons, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told MPs it was an "ambitious and unparalleled programme" to overhaul inter-city links across the north and Midlands, and "speed up the benefits for local areas and serves destinations people most want to reach".
Work has already started on the first phase of HS2, linking London and the West Midlands. The next section will extend the line to Crewe.
The final phase was to take HS2 to Manchester and Leeds.
Commenting on plans for rail links between the East Midlands to Leeds, Mr Shapps said: "We'll study how best to take HS2 trains into Leeds as well".
However, that is likely to be via upgrades to existing rail network, a move condemned by MPs and regional business leaders who said a high-speed line was vital to the economic growth of the Midlands and north England.
Labour MP Hilary Benn, who represents Leeds Central, said: "Today that promise has been broken, and Leeds and the North have been betrayed."
Andy Bagnall, director general of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said: "While millions of people will benefit from this major investment in boosting connectivity between major cities in the North of England and the Midlands, leaving out key pieces of the jigsaw will inevitably hold back the ability for the railways to power the levelling up agenda and the drive to net zero."
The government's argument is that faster delivery at lower cost is now the best approach. It also makes the case for putting cash towards better local services, not just high speed inter-city connections.
That won't wash with those who will accept nothing but the original proposals for both HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail - with their full capacity benefits, as well as journey times. They feel a promise is being broken.
Bradford is one example of this; a city whose leaders view a new, full high-speed link to both Manchester and Leeds as essential to regeneration.
Opponents of HS2 - a controversial project - will see today's news as a relief. Although the door has not been fully closed to the eastern leg being completed at some future date.
However, businesses in Yorkshire who hoped HS2 would bring jobs, investment and confidence, albeit not for a while, feel that opportunity has just been diminished.
Labour also point out that despite the £96bn label, much of this money had already been earmarked for HS2.
News that part of HS2 was being scrapped was met with "elation" by campaigners against the line.
Sandra Haith, from an anti-HS2 group in Bramley, Rotherham, said she was pleased, "not only as a resident of Bramley, but as a taxpayer. It's a complete waste of money".
Sandra Haith (far right) has spent years fighting the plans
She said: "The eastern leg costs a lot of money and it basically connects two cities. We can't get on it. We've got all the pain and no gain."
However, business people warned about the economic loss from scrapping the HS2 line. James Greenhalgh, who runs the Flamingos Coffee House, in Leeds, told the BBC it would deter investment in the city.
"We want to encourage other businesses to move up from London, up to Leeds, get people moving around and coming to our city centre. It is really tough, it is stopping businesses from expanding," he said.
There was praise, though, from business leaders at regional trade body Midlands Connect.
Chairman Sir John Peace said: "Although these plans are different in some respects to what we'd expected, there are a lot of positives in here and lots of things to be excited about - a new high-speed connection between Birmingham and East Midlands Parkway, direct links onto HS2 for Derby, Nottingham, and Chesterfield and a commitment to the Midlands Rail Hub."
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Ahmaud Arbery murder trial: Prosecutors reveal full footage of black jogger's death - BBC News
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2021-11-05
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Prosecutors in US state of Georgia say three white men assumed Ahmaud Arbery had committed a crime.
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US & Canada
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Ahmaud Arbery's sister and mother comfort each other at a gathering after the black jogger's death
Georgia prosecutors have shown the full footage of the fatal shooting of a black jogger at the trial of three white men accused of his murder.
The prosecutors argued 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was attacked by men who pursued him because of racial bias.
On the opening day of arguments, the court was also shown video from the first police officer on the scene.
Defendants Gregory and Travis McMichael and William Bryan deny all charges and have said they acted in self-defence.
Mr Arbery was shot and killed during the confrontation with the McMichaels on 23 February 2020. The case erupted into public view after footage of Mr Arbery's final moments surfaced online months later.
Mr McMichael, 65, his son Travis, 35, and neighbour Mr Bryan, 52, who filmed the incident, say they pursued Mr Arbery in order to make a citizen's arrest - allowed at the time under Georgia law. They say they suspected he had stolen from a nearby construction site.
The McMichaels have also said they acted in self defence, accusing Mr Arbery of attacking Travis when they tried to stop him.
In her opening statement, lead prosecutor Linda Dunikoski told the jury: "All three of these defendants did everything they did based on assumptions - not on facts, not on evidence."
Ms Dunikoski showed an extended version of the mobile phone footage taken by Mr Bryan.
"Mr Arbery was under attack by strangers with the intent to kill him," she said. "The only thing Mr Arbery did was run away."
"They didn't simply follow Mr Arbery. All three 'trapped him like a rat' with their two pickup trucks," said Ms Dunikoski, using the elder Mr McMichael's own words.
She added that Mr Bryan tried to hit the jogger four times with his car, getting so close that Mr Arbery's palm prints and T-shirt fibres were later visible on the vehicle.
"No-one said 'I'm making a citizen's arrest today'," she told the jury.
The first witness called by prosecutors to testify was Glynn County police officer William Duggan, who described the bloody scene before his bodycam footage was shown to jurors.
"I could see he was covered in blood," Mr Duggan said of Travis McMichael. "There was blood all over, and I remember at some point asking if he was OK."
He said that the defendant responded: "'No I'm not OK. I just effing killed somebody.'"
"This case is about duty and responsibility," began Bob Rubin, a lawyer for Travis McMichael. "It's about Travis McMichael's duty and responsibility to himself, his family and his neighbourhood."
He added that the younger McMichael had received training from the US Coast Guard that prepared him for the encounter with Mr Arbery and that he feared for the safety of his five-year-old son when he left the house to pursue him.
Mr Rubin argued that other neighbourhood residents had also previously offered to make a "citizens arrest" of Mr Arbery, who he claimed was seen repeatedly "plundering around" properties.
At the time of Mr Arbery's death, Travis McMichael - Mr Rubin said - was "hoping to raise the weapon to de-escalate the situation," thinking it would act as a deterrent. But instead Mr Arbery charged towards him, it was alleged.
"Travis has no choice but to fire his weapon in self defence," the lawyer continued, adding that his client "reasonably believed" that Mr Arbery would beat him up and use this own shotgun against him.
Earlier, in twin blows to the defence, the judge ruled that evidence of recent cannabis use by Mr Arbery was not relevant to the case, but that the McMichaels' Confederate flag licence plate was admissible as evidence.
While the mobile phone video of Ahmaud Arbery's death went viral, and ultimately led to the arrest of the men now on trial for murdering him, Ahmaud's mother had told me she had studiously avoided watching it over the past 18 months.
In the courtroom today on the first day of the trial, the anguished cry of Wanda Cooper Jones, as she saw that footage of her son's final moments for the first time, brought her devastating loss into stark focus.
That the three white men on trial thought it was a good idea to put that video online (which one of them had filmed) thinking it would somehow show them in a good light, gives us a sense of the attitudes that persist in this part of Georgia.
Supporters of Ahmaud's family argue that those attitudes undoubtedly contributed not only to the killing but also to the response of the police in the aftermath.
Relatives of Mr Arbery have said they were concerned that the case would have been covered up without the emergence of the video.
The racial composition of the jury - one black juror and 11 white - has led to new concerns from Mr Arbery's family about the possible outcome of the trial.
The case is currently on its fourth prosecutor. Two district attorneys earlier recused themselves due to ties to Greg McMichael, a former police officer.
The first prosecutor to handle the case is facing charges of obstruction for allegedly blocking the arrest of the McMichaels. The second district attorney to take the case declined to arrest the men after determining that they were using citizen's arrest rights in confronting the jogger.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The perils of jogging when you're black
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Covid: New variant classed 'of concern' and named Omicron - BBC News
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2021-11-27
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More nations are restricting travel to southern Africa to try to slow the spread of a new variant.
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World
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Only about 24% of South Africans have been fully vaccinated so far
The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a new coronavirus variant to be "of concern" and named it Omicron.
It had a large number of mutations, and early evidence suggested an increased reinfection risk, the WHO said.
It was first reported to the WHO from South Africa on 24 November, and has also been identified in Botswana, Belgium, Hong Kong and Israel.
A number of countries around the world have now decided to ban or restrict travel to and from southern Africa.
Travellers from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Lesotho and Eswatini will not be able to enter the UK unless they are UK or Irish nationals, or UK residents.
US officials said flights from South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique and Malawi would be blocked, mirroring earlier moves taken by the EU. It will come into effect on Monday.
On Friday, the WHO said the number of cases of this variant, initially named B.1.1.529, appeared to be increasing in almost all of South Africa's provinces.
"This variant has a large number of mutations, some of which are concerning," the UN public health body said in a statement.
It said "the first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9 November".
The WHO said it would take a few weeks to understand the impact of the new variant, as scientists worked to determine how transmissible it was.
A top UK health official warned that vaccines would "almost certainly" be less effective against the new variant.
But Professor James Naismith, a structural biologist from the University of Oxford, added: "It is bad news but it's not doomsday."
He said mutations in the variant suggested it may spread more quickly - but transmissibility "is not just as simple as 'this amino acid does this'" and was determined by how mutations worked together.
Only about 24% of South Africa's population is fully vaccinated, which could spur a rapid spread of cases there, Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M), told the BBC on Friday.
Meanwhile, US infectious disease chief Dr Anthony Fauci said that while the reports on the new variant threw up a "red flag", it was possible that vaccines might still work to prevent serious illness.
"Until it's properly tested... we don't know whether or not it evades the antibodies that protect you against the virus", Dr Fauci told CNN.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Watch: WHO name omicron "variant of concern"
The WHO has warned against countries hastily imposing travel restrictions, saying they should look to a "risk-based and scientific approach".
However, in addition to the UK, and the US and the EU, a host of other countries have also announced restrictions:
South Africa's Health Minister Joe Phaahla told reporters that the flight bans were "unjustified".
"The reaction of some of the countries, in terms of imposing travel bans, and such measures, are completely against the norms and standards as guided by the World Health Organization," he said.
Echoing his words, Angelique Coetzee, chairperson of the South African Medical Association, told the BBC that the travel restrictions on her country were premature.
"For now, it is a storm in a tea cup," she said.
Only about 24% of South Africa's population is fully vaccinated, which could spur a rapid spread of cases there, Dr Mike Tildesley, a member of the Scientific Pandemic Influenza Modelling group (Spi-M), told the BBC on Friday.
Stock markets across the world also fell sharply on Friday, reflecting the fears of investors over the potential economic impact.
The FTSE 100 index of leading UK shares closed 3.7% down, while main markets in Germany, France and the US also sank.
A "variant of concern" is the World Health Organization's top category of worrying Covid variants.
The decision adds weight to the mounting scientific worry about the potential of this new variant, but it doesn't change any of the facts.
The variant has an astounding collection of mutations which are thought to increase its ability to spread and bypass some, but not all, of the protection from vaccines.
However, we still don't have the clear real-world data.
We don't know for sure that it spreads faster, makes vaccines or drugs less effective or whether it leads to more severe disease.
The WHO have also given it a name and ended days of speculation that we would end up in the slightly ridiculous position of calling the new variant the "Nu variant".
There have even been arguments about the correct pronunciation of the Greek letter Nu (it's technically a "Nee").
Instead, you can guarantee we'll be talking a lot about Omicron in the weeks to come.
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Channel migrants: Johnson under pressure to reduce small boat crossings - BBC News
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2021-11-27
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Lives remain at risk, but as the crisis persists, the greater the political risks for the PM too.
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UK Politics
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A child on Dungeness beach in Kent after crossing the Channel
Usually tragedies bring people together but the deaths in the Channel seem to have highlighted the differences between the UK and French governments
The prime minister is under pressure from many of his own MPs - who in turn are under pressure from a substantial number of their voters - to do more to stop the small boats coming to our shores.
So it was perhaps unsurprising that Boris Johnson made his letter to the French president public, portraying himself as offering potential solutions.
Downing Street insiders say they were genuinely surprised at what they regarded as a disproportionate response from France.
And they point out that it is not unknown for French ministers to use social media to criticise UK positions, or indeed to denounce the prime minister personally for "populism".
Downing Street is emphasising that everything Mr Johnson asked for publicly in his letter - for example, joint patrols or an agreement on returning refugees - had already been asked for privately, but to no avail.
And those close to discussions with the French government say that many of the arguments that are now out in the open had persisted for some time behind closed doors.
It had been thought that the events of this week might have led to a willingness to revisit some of the more contentious issues.
The atmosphere, though, has instead turned more negative.
But while the sound of megaphone diplomacy has dominated much of the coverage today, there are quieter attempts to get the UK/French relationship on an even keel.
There is a move to try to get Home Secretary Priti Patel's invitation to meet her French counterpart, Gérald Darmanin, reinstated.
I'm told that amid rocky relations with France over fishing and the Northern Ireland protocol, the entente between the Home Office and the French interior ministry is usually relatively cordiale.
So while she is currently not on this weekend's guest list in France, Ms Patel did speak to Mr Darmanin this afternoon.
Home Office officials are already in France tonight to try to discuss closer co-operation.
And the UK government is still paying by instalments the £54m promised to France to help bolster patrols and surveillance on the other side of the Channel.
But Labour realises what a potentially toxic issue this is for Boris Johnson.
Problems with fishing and the Northern Ireland protocol have led to rocky relations between the UK and France
In his attack today, the shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds has targeted the prime minister's vulnerabilities.
He deliberately echoed concerns of Mr Johnson's backbenchers by accusing him of "losing control of the situation in the Channel".
But he has also picked at another political sore.
With concerns about how Downing Street has handled some difficult issues in recent weeks, the Labour MP has accused the prime minister of "a gross error of judgment" over his diplomacy by Twitter.
It's well known in Whitehall that Boris Johnson has been frustrated at the continuation of the migrant crisis.
His critics say he has focused too much on small boats, while not doing enough to tackle the underlying factors driving migration.
Lives remain at risk, but the longer the crisis persists, the greater the political risks for the prime minister too.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-59438500
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Ava White: Liverpool murder arrests after girl stabbed to death - BBC News
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2021-11-27
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Four boys, aged between 13 and 15, are arrested on suspicion of murdering Ava White in Liverpool.
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Liverpool
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Ava White died after being assaulted while out with friends
A 12-year-old girl has been stabbed to death during an argument in a city centre.
Ava White was with friends in Liverpool when she was assaulted at 20:40 GMT on Thursday, shortly after the city's Christmas lights switch-on.
Merseyside Police said she suffered "catastrophic injuries" and a weapon was yet to be found.
Four teenage boys, aged between 13 and 15 and from Toxteth, have been arrested on suspicion of her murder.
Police said officers found Ava collapsed on the ground on Church Alley and a member of the public, who had witnessed the incident, was giving her first aid.
Ava, who attended Notre Dame Catholic College in Everton, was taken to Alder Hey Children's Hospital with critical injuries but died a short time later.
"We know at the moment that Ava was with her friends in Liverpool city centre and there has been a verbal argument which has escalated to an assault on her involving a knife," Det Supt Sue Coombs said.
"We are able to say there has been a verbal argument and there has been an assault, and the offenders ran off up School Lane, across Hanover Street and into Fleet Street."
Assistant Chief Constable Ngaire Waine said police were not looking for anyone else in connection with Ava's death.
"It's very sad for the city but it is even sadder for her family, their lives are never going to be the same," she said.
"This is a very, very rare event, so I hope that will reassure people."
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. Assistant mayor of Liverpool, Sarah Doyle, said Ava's death was "devastating"
Paying tribute to Ava, her head teacher Peter Duffy said the Year Eight pupil was a "much loved, valued and unique member of the Notre Dame family".
"She was an incredibly popular girl with a fantastic group of friends," he said.
"My staff are working with students to provide all the support they need at this traumatic time."
Rebecca Flynn, her head teacher at Trinity RC Primary School, said she was a "popular and caring" girl who was "bright and respectful".
Peace campaigner Colin Parry, whose son Tim was killed in the Warrington bomb in 1993, tweeted that Ava had been given a peace ambassador award by his charity in 2019 and her death was a "tragic loss".
Metro Mayor of Liverpool City Region, Steve Rotheram, said he was "horrified" by Ava's death.
"I am angry today for Ava and her family, for the parents across the region worrying about their children's safety and angry that such a heinous act should take place here," he tweeted.
Sarah Doyle, the assistant mayor of Liverpool, said she was "heartbroken" at the "extremely devastating" news.
"It's senseless and I know it will bring a lot of fear to communities across the city," she said.
"I just want to send a message of reassurance that our city is a safe place but I know this will be giving a lot of anxiety to people. We all share in [her family's] unimaginable grief."
Posting on Twitter, Dame Rachel de Souza, children's commissioner for England, said: "This kind of violence involving a child and with such tragic consequences is shocking at any time, but when the victim is 12 it's particularly so."
Floral tributes to Ava have been left near the scene
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Mary Katilius, 65, from Limerick, said she had been nearby with her granddaughter when Ava was attacked.
"We heard screams and someone said to call an ambulance. We rushed over straight away but there was already a man helping her," she said.
Det Supt Coombs said a lot of the witnesses were young and would be given special treatment when being interviewed.
Floral tributes have been left near the scene, with one message saying: "Rest in peace angel."
Lacey, 17, who came to lay flowers and a balloon, said her younger sister had been close friends with Ava.
"She was just a bubbly character, so loving and caring," she added.
There is a massive police presence in Liverpool with several of the city's main shopping streets taped off.
Dozens of police vehicles are parked close to the scene where 12-year-old Ava was fatally attacked.
Many shoppers and tourists are having to ask officers how they can get to their destinations as many are unaware of the tragedy which lies behind the disruption to their usual routine.
Ava died on what is called White Ribbon Day, a worldwide campaign to end violence against women and girls.
Civic leaders came together yesterday to mark it and start 16 days of activity to highlight the issue.
The death of a girl, not yet in her teens, throws the need for the campaign into the starkest relief.
Forensic teams could be seen carrying out fingertip searches
The four boys - a 13-year-old, two 14-year-olds and a 15-year-old - remain in custody for questioning.
They were arrested at different locations during Thursday evening and into the early hours of Friday, police said.
A police cordon was in place surrounding Williamson Square, Tarleton Street, Church Street, Church Alley and School Lane crossing over Hanover Street on to Fleet Street.
Several shops on Church Street, one of the city's main shopping streets, remained closed on Black Friday due to the cordon.
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Row over 'drunk' MPs on Gibraltar military visit - BBC News
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2021-11-11
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The defence secretary writes to Labour and the SNP over claims about a trip arranged with the military.
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UK Politics
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SNP MP David Linden posted a picture on Twitter of MPs visiting troops in Gibraltar
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has written to Labour and the SNP after three of their MPs were accused of getting drunk on a flight to Gibraltar.
The BBC understands that officials complained about the behaviour of the SNP's Drew Hendry and David Linden and Labour's Charlotte Nichols.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called the claims about the SNP MPs "false", but Labour has yet to comment.
The Tories rejected reports two of their own MPs drank heavily later.
A party source told the BBC the accusations some Conservatives had turned up to subsequent events with a hangover were "quite clearly a desperate attempt by those involved in the flight incident to deflect attention away from their behaviour".
The MPs were in a group of 15 taking part in the trip to Gibraltar.
Coinciding with Armistice Day, it was organised as part of the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme. set up to give politicians an insight into military life so they can "make a more informed and useful contribution to defence debates".
SNP MPs Drew Hendry and David Linden have rejected claims they drank heavily on the trip
Several witnesses said the three MPs had been inebriated when the plane touched down at Gibraltar.
One witness claimed they had been drinking before departure from Heathrow and had drunk heavily on the flight.
Two military chaperones who were accompanying the group of MPs on the flight were so concerned by their behaviour they reported it to the Ministry of Defence in London, the BBC understands.
The claims of drunkenness were first reported by the Times and Sun newspapers.
Mr Hendry and Mr Linden are said to have become argumentative when officials queried their Covid documents.
Charlotte Nichols is said to have suffered a mental health episode
And Ms Nichols returned to the UK early after what has been described as a "mental health episode".
It is understood the MP for Warrington North has post-traumatic stress disorder and is on medication.
Mr Wallace's letter has been sent to Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford, House of Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle and Tory MP James Gray, who chairs the Armed Forces Parliamentary Scheme.
The defence secretary said the scheme provided "an opportunity for both parliamentarians and the military to understand each other.
"This behaviour puts military personnel in a difficult position and risks undermining respect for Parliament," Mr Wallace added.
The Army has had a presence in Gibraltar for more than three centuries
But Ms Sturgeon rejected the claims against Mr Hendry and Mr Linden as "completely unfounded and false", describing them as a "disgraceful attempt" to divert attention from sleaze allegations against Conservative MPs.
"I know both Drew and David extremely well and if they say these allegations are false I have confidence in that," she added.
Glasgow East MP Mr Linden said he was "incredibly disappointed" by the "bizarre Tory smear campaign".
Mr Hendry, MP for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, accused Conservatives of making "false claims", saying: "That is a matter for their conscience. I'll focus on doing my job and respecting our troops as we mark Armistice Day."
A Government of Gibraltar spokesperson said there had been "no reports of shouting or any sort of aggressive behaviour" at the airport.
The Army has had a presence in Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory with a population of 30,000, for more than 300 years.
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Meghan apologises to court for forgetting biography briefing notes - BBC News
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2021-11-11
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The Duchess of Sussex says she forgot her exchanges with an aide prior to the Finding Freedom biography.
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UK
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The Duchess of Sussex has apologised to a court for making a misleading statement in her privacy case against the Mail on Sunday's publishers.
The Appeal Court heard she had asked an aide to pass on information to the authors of a biography - despite having earlier said she "did not contribute".
Meghan said she had forgotten the events and had not intended to mislead.
Associated Newspapers is trying to overturn a ruling after it published a letter from the duchess to her father.
Meghan, 40, won her privacy case against the publisher of the Mail on Sunday earlier this year, when the High Court found its publication of the letter was unlawful.
Associated Newspapers' legal team are now seeking to overturn this judgement at the Court of Appeal, disputing that this was simply a private and personal letter - and have argued that it was crafted with the "possibility of public consumption" in mind.
A spokesman for the Sussexes had previously said the couple "did not contribute" to the Finding Freedom biography, written by Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand.
But in new evidence heard on Wednesday, Jason Knauf, the couple's former communications secretary, said the book was "discussed on a routine basis" and "discussed directly with the duchess multiple times in person and over email".
He also discussed planning a meeting with the authors to provide background information and said Meghan had given him briefing points to share with them, including information on how she had "very minimal contact" with her half-siblings during her childhood.
Two of the arguments put forward by Meghan's lawyers in her battle with the Mail on Sunday would appear to have been compromised by these latest revelations.
She has always claimed that she did not co-operate with the authors of the book Finding Freedom, but she has now remembered that she provided "briefing notes" to one of her key aides who she knew was in touch with the book's authors.
The second strand of her case that would appear to have been undermined is her assertion that she had an "expectation of privacy" when she sent her handwritten letter to her estranged father Thomas Markle, which was partially published by the Mail on Sunday.
It has now emerged in previously unpublished texts that she accepted the possibility the letter might be leaked.
She had used language, she said in one text to her head of communications, that "would pull at the heartstrings".
It will now be for the Court of Appeal to decide whether to stand by or overturn the original finding that was in favour of the duchess.
In the second day of the appeal hearing, lawyers for Associated Newspapers had also challenged the extent to which the letter from Meghan to her father - at the centre of the case it is trying to overturn - was "private".
They quoted an exchange of text messages between the duchess and Mr Knauf in which Meghan said: "Obviously everything I have drafted is with the understanding that it could be leaked, so I have been meticulous in my word choice."
Mr Knauf's evidence to the court also included emails with the Duke of Sussex, discussing the proposed meeting with the authors and the need to conceal any involvement by Prince Harry and Meghan.
The former aide said Prince Harry replied: "I totally agree that we have to be able to say we didn't have anything to do with it.
"Equally, you giving the right context and background to them would help get some truths out there."
In a witness statement to the court the duchess said she accepted that her aide did provide information to the authors of the book with her knowledge but she said the "extent of the information he shared is unknown to me".
"When I approved the passage... I did not have the benefit of seeing these emails and I apologise to the court for the fact that I had not remembered these exchanges at the time," she said.
"I had absolutely no wish or intention to mislead the defendant or the court."
The court heard Prince Harry - pictured with Meghan at an event in New York on Wednesday - had said the couple needed to be able to deny any involvement in briefing the authors
The duchess added that she would have been "more than happy" to refer to the exchanges with Mr Knauf if she had been aware of them at the time, but said they were "a far cry from the very detailed personal information that the defendant alleges that I wanted or permitted to put into the public domain".
Another reason the duchess gave for not discovering the emails between her and Mr Knauf sooner was that the disclosure stage of the litigation had not yet been reached, and in October last year her lawyers applied to adjourn the trial date as she was pregnant.
She said she was advised to avoid stress after a recent miscarriage, which came shortly after Associated Newspapers Limited indicated it wished to reveal the identities of her five friends who gave an interview to the US magazine People, in which they referred to her relationship with her father.
Meghan said: "I was in the first trimester of my third pregnancy at the time, having suffered a miscarriage a few months prior, and was feeling very unwell.
"My doctor advised me to avoid stress, particularly given the recent miscarriage days after the defendant threatened to break the confidentiality of the original 'sources' for the People magazine article, which resulted in my having to make an urgent application for an anonymity order.
"This was granted... but I found the process extremely stressful, and it took its toll physically and emotionally.
"I have at all times wanted to protect the privacy of those friends, while the defendant was, it seemed to me, doing everything it could to make this litigation as intrusive as possible."
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Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart fuelled opioid crisis, Ohio jury finds - BBC News
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2021-11-23
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A federal court finds Walgreens, CVS and Walmart helped create an oversupply of addictive painkillers.
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Business
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CVS was among the pharmacies found to have helped fuel an opioid crisis
America's three largest pharmacies have been found to be liable for helping fuel a painkiller crisis in two Ohio counties, in a landmark case.
A federal court found that actions by Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS, and Walmart helped create an oversupply of addictive opioid pills.
The scale of compensation, to be paid to the two Ohio counties, will be decided at a future hearing.
CVS said it would appeal against the judgement.
The other retailers, who all contested the cases, did not immediately comment.
Over the last two decades, millions of Americans have become addicts through over-prescription and abuse of legal opiate-based painkillers such as Fentanyl and OxyContin.
Nearly 500,000 deaths were attributed to painkiller overdoses between 1999 and 2019.
Local and state governments say the painkiller epidemic put huge strain on their resources as they tried to tackle it through social programmes and the legal system.
There are around 3,300 other cases being brought in an attempt to recoup some of those costs from firms that profited from the sales of the painkillers.
As well as the pharmacy chains, big pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals have been accused of turning a blind eye to the problem.
Lawyers for the two Ohio counties, Lake and Trumbull, said the costs are potentially $1bn for each county, to cover social and legal expenses related to the impact of the opioid epidemic.
"The judgement today against Walmart, Walgreens and CVS represents the overdue reckoning for their complicity in creating a public nuisance," they said in a joint statement.
They argued that the pharmacies created a public nuisance by failing to ensure opioid prescriptions were valid allowing excessive quantities of addictive pain pills to flood their communities.
Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS and Walmart denied the allegations, saying they had taken steps to prevent painkillers being diverted from their intended legal use.
CVS in a statement said it strongly disagreed with the verdict and would appeal.
"As plaintiffs' own experts testified, many factors have contributed to the opioid abuse issue, and solving this problem will require involvement from all stakeholders in our healthcare system and all members of our community," CVS said.
Other cases around the country are relying on the "public nuisance" argument to target the companies involved in making and distributing the opioid painkillers.
However earlier this month courts in Oklahoma and California rejected it as a legal argument in cases against drugs makers.
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'NHS could lose experienced staff over Covid jabs' - BBC News
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2021-11-09
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"Some people will stick by their principles," over the mandatory staff vaccinations, a GP warns.
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Hereford & Worcester
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Dr Crispin Fisher said tone and discussions were key to persuading staff to get vaccinated
"Massively experienced" NHS workers could be lost over the government's decision to introduce mandatory staff vaccinations, a GP has warned.
The government has announced the move for frontline staff.
"Some people will stick by their principles - they do not want to be vaccinated for whatever reason," said Herefordshire GP Dr Crispin Fisher.
"But they're working caring for vulnerable, sick people for whom Covid could be a disaster.
"There are going to be some very difficult conversations," he added.
Dr Fisher, from The Marches Surgery in Leominster, explained the NHS could lose members of staff, some of whom will have done "years of service and be massively experienced, but just have particular views on this one subject".
It is estimated between 80,000 and 100,000 NHS workers in England are unvaccinated, according to NHS Providers.
More than 92% of frontline staff have had their first dose and 89% are fully vaccinated - higher than the general working-age population, where about 81% have had both doses.
More than 92% of frontline NHS staff have had their first vaccination
The government's decision to introduce a deadline for unvaccinated staff to get both doses follows a consultation which began in September and considered whether both the Covid and flu jabs should be compulsory for frontline NHS and care workers.
The BBC understands there will be exemptions for the Covid vaccine requirement for medical reasons.
"Conversely we're working in the health service - this is probably one of the biggest public health initiatives that's certainly been taken in my career - and if you're not on board with it, it's difficult to see how you can continue to work in the NHS," the GP added.
"If we get the tone right and if we have sensible talks with persuasion and discussion, I think this will tip the balance for quite a number of people."
Chris Hopson, chief executive of NHS Providers which represents England's NHS trusts, urged the government to think carefully about the tone of any announcement.
"We need to win the argument with them rather than beat them around the head," he told BBC Radio 4's Today, adding the possibility of losing staff was a "real problem".
From Thursday, care homes will be required to refuse entry to workers who have not been fully vaccinated, unless they have a medical exemption or there is an emergency.
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As it happened: Kyle Rittenhouse: Jury clears teen gunman of homicide charges - BBC News
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2021-11-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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Kyle Rittenhouse said he acted in self-defence when he killed two men at a racial justice protests.
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US & Canada
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Defence attorney: 'It was a very strong case for the defence'
Criminal defence attorney Lara Yeretsian has previously represented high-profile clients including Scott Peterson, convicted of murdering his pregnant wife in 2004, and singer Michael Jackson. She told the BBC that prosecutors "should have focused on the strongest parts of the case, instead of trying to build up the weakest parts of the case". "The bottom line is the prosecution didn't have enough here. It blew up in their face, including their own witnesses," she said. "Even the one person who could speak on behalf of the three [who were shot] said he pointed the gun at Rittenhouse." Yeretsian said a better argument would have been to portray Rittenhouse as the aggressor, pointing the gun at people and scaring them off. "He would have done better to talk about whether the force used was proportionate to the threat," she noted. "It was hard to pretend that he didn't have the right to defend himself." But she noted that she expected the verdict because "putting aside how you feel, from a criminal defence perspective, it was a very strong case for the defence". "I thought it was going to be a quick acquittal, but as more time passed, the possibility of a mistrial was crossing my mind."
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Brexit: UK looks likely to trigger Article 16 - then what? - BBC News
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2021-11-19
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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An in-depth look at the likely consequences if post Brexit talks on the Northern Ireland border fail.
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UK Politics
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This has not been a good week for Boris Johnson.
The Conservative Party has been battered by allegations that some of its MPs are on the take.
The way the prime minister has reacted to the situation has been publicly criticised, and privately slammed by many on his own side.
Even some of Boris Johnson's most stalwart backers in parts of the Conservative press have called foul.
But if you think this has been bumpy, it's not impossible that the government might find itself in a much more dramatic and risky situation with much further-reaching consequences for us all.
It sounds harmless enough: Article 16, an obscure set of three paragraphs agreed as part of the Brexit withdrawal deal between the UK and EU.
So first off, it's important to understand it is part and parcel of the agreement that both sides grappled to achieve, and then signed up to in October 2019.
You might remember that the Brexit arrangements left Northern Ireland, of course part of the UK, essentially in the EU's huge trading bloc for goods.
This meant that goods could go backwards and forwards over the land border on the island of Ireland without hassle.
That sorted out one aspect of the geographic reality - but it also meant that there would be checks and controls on goods going into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
From the off, that created an inbuilt difference between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Both sides were perfectly aware that these arrangements might be tricky in practice, so the deal included Article 16.
The Article gives either side the ability to cry foul and take their own "safeguard measures" if it's all going wrong - if trade is going haywire, or the deal is causing real suffering.
Either the UK or the EU has the right to take its own action, after giving a month's notice.
Boris Johnson celebrates his Brexit trade deal with the cabinet in December 2020
That could mean, for example, the UK stopping checks on goods that are being sent across the Irish Sea, intended only for use in Northern Ireland.
In other words, if something's made in Bolton, but sold in Belfast, it wouldn't go through customs checks.
But the actions could be more dramatic, suspending more of the deal the two sides agreed, whether that's product standards, customs checks, or VAT rules.
Working out how far to go, and what is justified, is a hard first step.
As one cabinet minister told me: "The mechanics aren't controversial, the difficult decision is how far you want to go."
Article 16 could be used to carry out a few tweaks, or to tear through the existing agreements. In turn, that would also have an impact on how the EU reacts.
Why though would the UK want to go down that road in any case, whether using it as a big bazooka or just trying to fiddle around with a few elements?
Some in the Nationalist community had a message for the PM on a 2019 visit
One diplomat told me that triggering Article 16 would be "lose, lose, lose", and could cause a "total breakdown of trust, and a deep freeze in relations" between the EU and the UK.
Former Prime Minister Sir John Major, who it's fair to say is no fan of the current occupant of Downing Street, has said it would be "absurd".
The main opposition parties would likely condemn the move.
But for months, the UK government has been saying the impact of the arrangements and how they are being implemented can't last, even though, as things stand, the part of the deal relating to Northern Ireland - known as the protocol - is certainly not being implemented in full.
But its effects have already caused lots of different concerns - whether that would be, as one source describes it, companies being "buried under mountains of new paperwork", warnings over shortages of medicines, difficulties moving pets around, or the issue that's taken up most column inches, the so-called "sausage wars" over the sale of chilled meats.
The UK believes the EU adopted an overly vigorous approach to pursuing the rules, when a lighter touch would do.
In turn of course, the EU says the UK signed up to the deal, why are they surprised when Brussels insists its followed in full?
Dominic Cummings claims the government always intended to ditch the parts they didn't like
As ever in high-tension diplomatic spats like this, the situation is not binary, and both sides have reasons for frustration.
Of course, intense politics are at play here too.
Unionist politicians in Northern Ireland largely can't stand the protocol, and have deep concerns about being able to keep a lid on tensions.
One source warns "if the government doesn't move and show a bit of teeth, things could implode".
The DUP leader has even said if there isn't movement he could pull his support.
With an election due by May 2022, they are pushing for action as soon as possible.
There's political mistrust between the UK and the EU side too over Boris Johnson's original attitude to the deal, and whether he ever intended to stick to the legal promises he made.
That was stoked by his controversial former adviser, Dominic Cummings, who said publicly the government had always intended to "ditch" the bits they didn't like.
Another source familiar with the negotiations told me "Article 16 was the route we thought we would go down from the beginning", adding: "it was always clear that unless the EU was willing to back down, we wouldn't be able to stick with it long term".
Now it is not exactly unusual for political deals to leave ambiguities, and some issues unresolved.
Given that the European Court did retain a role in supervising the protocol, that source suggests it was never likely to be "compatible with the autonomy of the UK".
But the admission that Boris Johnson's team believed there was something seriously up with the deal to start with has not exactly put the EU in the mood for compromise.
And what Brussels has been willing to budge on so far has not been nearly enough to satisfy No 10.
For political and practical reasons therefore, it seems almost inevitable that unless the European Union changes its position in a significant way, and soon, that the UK will trigger Article 16.
Lord Frost is still in talks with EU counterpart Maroš Šefčovič
Talks are continuing, and while one source says, "it's not definite", they acknowledge that "optimism has been waning".
In fact, the UK has said publicly since July that the conditions for the trigger to be pulled have indeed been met.
Since then, the UK view is clearly that "the EU solution is just not good enough".
But on the other side, there's sceptism over the UK's desire even to find a way out. Lord Frost, the PM's Brexit lieutenant, is "in problem-finding, not problem- solving mode", one source said.
I'm told that diplomats were reassured by government that the action wouldn't be taken this week, after the talks between that will take place between the two sides on Friday.
But I'm told there have been discussions about starting the process, even early next week.
Don't panic, this does not seem to have yet been resolved.
Some in government are arguing for more explanation of the case to the public before drastic action is taken.
One insider described a "reasonableness test". Another said that the UK government wanted to build an "evidence base" to demonstrate why they felt the action had to be taken, before going public.
Some of the smart money is on the bust-up not coming until December, with one government source suggesting on Thursday: "We're going to see a bit more time pass before it happens."
The border at the centre of the dispute
Whatever the moment, unless something very unexpected happens, or the negotiators and politicians on both sides have personality transplants, it seems like Article 16 will be introduced before too long.
The likely impact of the move seems less certain than whether Boris Johnson and Lord Frost take the decision.
It hasn't happened before, so there is no real precedent.
And there are different schools of thought. First, it's important to understand that triggering Article 16 is starting a dispute process.
It's not one moment, but the start of many.
One source says some Brexiteer MPs "think you trigger it and everyone starts singing Rule Britannia - no one is asking themselves what happens after you trigger".
Theoretically, the process begins with a month of intense technical talks to try to resolve the dispute.
If that doesn't work, there would probably then be an emergency meeting of EU leaders, to take the decision up to prime ministers, not just the EU Commission.
There could be different forms of restrictions on trade, specific sanctions, or they could give notice that they would tear up the whole trade agreement, which Ireland warned might happen this week.
Without getting too technical, the trigger could end up with grumpy talks dragging on over many months with lots of politicking but not much changing practically.
Both sides could, in a genuine way, join together to try to work things out.
Or the trigger could, as one observer warned, boil over into a "full scale trade war that undermines the UK and the EU's post-Covid economic recovery".
The economic consequences of that could be profound for us all, if the argument really went that far.
And what would Number 10 do in the end, if the UK didn't get what it wanted?
If, as another source suggests, Boris Johnson "triggers the process, it finds against the UK….and ultimately the European Court says you must comply - he's snookered".
As explained here, the UK may well want to strip the European Court of Justice of its role overseeing the Protocol.
Technically, the Article 16 process itself does not come directly under the European Court. But if, as some fear is likely, the argument tips into a wider dispute about the application of EU law then the European Court would end up as the final arbiter.
At the risk of hammering the point, the UK could try to reduce the European Court's influence on Northern Ireland by starting a huge legal argument, but actually end up with its influence being confirmed.
Mid-November has been pencilled in for several months, as the moment when an actual decision was going to have to be made.
That final conclusion has not yet been reached.
And given what could be at stake, both sides would still, in theory, like the negotiations to work.
But we are approaching a moment where Downing Street may decide that the huge political and economic risks of triggering Article 16 are worth it, that the downsides of the protocol are no longer tolerable, and efforts to find a compromise have run their course.
Yet the potential outcomes might make the last stormy seven days look like a moment of deep calm.
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Kyle Rittenhouse: US teenager cleared over Kenosha killings - BBC News
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2021-11-19
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Kyle Rittenhouse killed two men during racial justice protests and rioting in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
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US & Canada
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A US teenager who shot dead two men during racial unrest has been cleared of homicide and all other charges after claiming self-defence.
Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, killed the men and wounded a third on the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, on 25 August 2020.
During the high profile and politically divisive trial, his defence said he had feared for his life. Prosecutors argued he was looking for trouble that night.
National Guard troops have been sent to the city amid fears of unrest.
US President Joe Biden called on people to "express their views peacefully", saying that while the outcome of the case "will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken".
Mr Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and then wounded 27-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz. Mr Rittenhouse and the men he shot are all white.
He faced five charges, including intentional homicide, which carries a life sentence.
His fate was decided by a 12-person jury made up of seven women and five men, who had spent more than three days deliberating.
The teenager began to shake with sobs and nearly collapsed as he heard the words "not guilty" read out five times.
Two nights before he turned up in Kenosha last year, riots had erupted on its streets after police shot Jacob Blake, a black man, leaving him paralysed.
Mr Rittenhouse, then aged 17, had travelled to the city from his home in Illinois. Armed with a semi-automatic rifle, he said he sought to help protect property from unrest.
During the trial, jurors were shown video, sometimes frame by frame, leading up to and after each shooting.
In their closing arguments, Mr Rittenhouse's lawyers argued that he was "trying to help this community" and "reacted to people attacking him". Prosecutors, meanwhile, questioned why he broke curfew in a city he did not live in and "pretended to guard" people and property he was not familiar with.
Kyle Rittenhouse hugged his lawyer as the verdict was read
The case has become a flashpoint in the highly polarised debate over gun rights in the US.
Mr Rittenhouse is championed as a hero by those who say he tried to keep the peace in sometimes violent protests. Others were horrified by what they saw as a heavily armed teenage vigilante in a volatile setting.
BBC correspondent Nomia Iqbal, who was at the courthouse on Friday, said several cars drove past tooting their horns and shouting "Free Kyle" and "We love the second amendment", which covers the right to keep and bear arms.
On the court steps Jacob Blake's uncle was in tears and said he was shocked at the verdict.
Mr Huber's parents said there was "no accountability" for their son's killer.
"It sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street," they said in a statement.
But Mr Rittenhouse's defence attorney Mark Richards said his client "wished none of this would have ever happened" and just wanted to get on with his life.
David Hancock, a spokesman for the Rittenhouse family, told CBS they had expected the acquittal, adding that they were now "in an undisclosed location".
The trial has divided opinion, with rival demonstrators outside the courthouse
Reactions from politicians on Friday highlighted divisions over the case.
Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, a Democrat, was among those to denounce the verdict.
"Over the last few weeks, many dreaded the outcome we just witnessed," he was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.
"The presumption of innocence until proven guilty is what we should expect from our judicial system, but that standard is not always applied equally. We have seen so many black and brown youth killed, only to be put on trial posthumously, while the innocence of Kyle Rittenhouse was virtually demanded by the judge."
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio went further, in a tweet describing the verdict as "disgusting".
"Justice has been served," he said, quoted by AFP. "I hope everyone can accept the verdict, remain peaceful, and let the community of Kenosha heal and rebuild."
The state's former governor, Scott Walker, also tweeted his approval: "All of us who knew what actually happened in Kenosha last year assumed this would be the verdict. Thankfully, the jury thought the same."
In a brief statement, the office of the Kenosha County District Attorney - which handled the prosecution's case - said it respected the verdict and called for calm.
Wisconsin's Governor Tony Evers said it was "time to move forward, together".
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Kyle Rittenhouse case: Why it so divides the US - BBC News
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2021-11-19
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Few US trials in recent years have generated such debate and acrimony. Why this one?
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US & Canada
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Few US trials in recent years have generated such acrimony. What is it about the Kyle Rittenhouse case that so divides the country?
Inside the courtroom, the 18-year-old was visibly shaking as he heard the jury clear him of all five charges, including intentional homicide.
He killed two men during racial unrest in Wisconsin, but successfully convinced the jury he only used his semi-automatic weapon because he feared for his life.
Meanwhile, outside court cars drove past tooting their horns and cheering. Some leaned from windows to shout "Free Kyle!" and "We love the Second Amendment!"
Some were distraught at the verdict - one man collapsed on the courtroom steps in tears, saying if Mr Rittenhouse had been black and brandishing a weapon like that, he would have been shot dead.
Here's why the case provoked such deeply held emotions.
Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal hinged on the specific details of Wisconsin's self-defence laws, taking into account Mr Rittenhouse's state of mind at the moment of shootings. The first occurred when Joseph Rosenbaum tried to grab Mr Rittenhouse's gun, the next two after two men - one of whom was armed - confronted Mr Rittenhouse following Rosenbaum's shooting.
The law considers whether Mr Rittenhouse believed himself to be in imminent threat of harm, but it does not factor in the choices he made in the hours and days beforehand that put him in the middle of a volatile situation, with guns drawn and tempers flaring.
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The trial could prompt renewed consideration of self-defence laws across the US and whether they sufficiently weigh the totality of circumstances involving the use lethal force, particularly in a society where restrictions on the possession of firearms have been loosened.
The trend up until now has been to expand the right of self-defence in many states through "castle doctrine" and "stand your ground" laws that give individuals a presumptive right to use force to protect their homes and themselves, rather than to back down from a confrontation.
The divisiveness of the Rittenhouse trial could further fuel the debate over whether those laws go too far - or not far enough.
Race is not central to this case, but for one man it is.
Jacob Blake, who is black, was shot seven times by a white police officer in Kenosha last year.
It was that shooting which sparked the violent protests in the first place. The police officer remains in the force. Mr Blake said in an interview that if Mr Rittenhouse had been of a different ethnicity, "he'd be gone".
Mr Rittenhouse was not immediately arrested after he shot three white men - two of them fatally - despite surrendering to police.
Black Lives Matter protesters outside the court say it is "white privilege" that has allowed the teenager to even have a fair trial.
Controversially, in closing arguments Mr Rittenhouse's defence attorney Mark Richards referenced the Blake shooting saying: "Other people in this community have shot people seven times and it's been found to be OK, and my client did it four times in three-quarters of a second to protect his life."
It's renewed this debate over exactly who is allowed to possess guns and then proclaim self-defence when they kill someone.
The Rittenhouse trial has once again highlighted laws restricting gun possession and use in America that varies widely by state and local jurisdiction. Often the regulations are less than precise, the product of intense legislative debate over the types of firearms covered and under what circumstances the laws apply.
A day before closing arguments in the Rittenhouse trial, Judge Bruce Schroeder ordered that one of the charges - that Mr Rittenhouse violated a state law prohibiting a person under 18 from possessing a "dangerous weapon" - be dropped because the rifle Mr Rittenhouse was carrying wasn't prohibited to him.
The decision turned on the length of the firearm's barrel, which would have been prohibited if it were a few inches shorter.
Gun-control activists have cited this as yet another example of the kind of loophole that could be remedied by more uniform national gun laws.
While the 30-year-old Wisconsin law contains a provision to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to go hunting, they view the weapon Mr Rittenhouse was carrying as clearly "dangerous" in the circumstances he used it.
Gun rights activists, on the other hand, have celebrated Mr Rittenhouse's right to possess such weapons and use them to defend himself.
"If it wasn't for 17-year-olds with guns," tweeted Ohio Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel, "we'd still be British subjects."
Bruce Schroeder is the longest-serving circuit judge in the Wisconsin state court system. He was appointed by a Democratic governor in 1983 and has won election to his seat seven times since then, each by overwhelming margins.
Perhaps it was inevitable that the judge would become a focus in such a high-profile, nationally televised trial, but the unusual American tradition of electing judges has made a delicate political situation even more fraught.
Over the years, Judge Schroeder has developed idiosyncrasies, such as allowing defendants to conduct the random drawings that select their final jury and quizzing jurors on esoteric trivia. He's also established a reputation as a pro-defence jurist - one further cemented by his testy exchanges with prosecutors during the Rittenhouse trial.
Given the highly charged political nature of the trial, many of those quirks and choices have been scrutinised for evidence of bias. His rulings to drop the illegal firearm charge and saying the men Mr Rittenhouse shot could not be called "victims" were criticised by many on the left.
Even his choice of mobile phone ringtone, the patriotic anthem God Bless the USA - a staple of Donald Trump rallies in recent years - made headlines as possible evidence of his political proclivities.
Legal analysts have generally concluded that Judge Schroeder's rulings have been within the norms for such proceedings, but with the impartiality of the entire US criminal system challenged in last year's protests against institutional racism and police shootings - including the one in Kenosha - those norms are under scrutiny, as well.
The facts of that night have never been up for debate - Kyle Rittenhouse killed two men and injured a third.
Instead the jury had to work out why he did it. He was being chased by a group of people when he fired the fatal shots. Was he acting in self-defence or was he a dangerous vigilante provoking an already volatile situation in a city he did not belong to?
Many groups who want tighter gun control say it was the latter. They are worried that by being cleared of the charges, Mr Rittenhouse's case now sets a precedent - that anyone can turn up to angry protests with a gun, but without facing any consequences.
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HS2 rail extension to Leeds scrapped amid promise to transform rail - BBC News
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2021-11-19
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Boris Johnson dismisses criticism that his rail overhaul amounts to broken promises as "total rubbish".
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Business
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The government has scrapped the Leeds leg of the HS2 high-speed rail line as part of a package that ministers promise will transform services.
The prime minister said the overhaul would mean faster travel up to 10 years earlier than planned, and said claims of broken promises are "total rubbish".
The package won support from some business leaders, and anti-HS2 groups.
But Boris Johnson faced criticism that he had reneged on investment promises to the Midlands and north of England.
The axing of a new East Midlands-Leeds high-speed line, with HS2 trains now to run on existing upgraded routes, and a scaling back of the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project, drew strong condemnation.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said Mr Johnson had "ripped up" promises he made that HS2 would go all the way to Leeds and that there would be a new NPR line from Manchester to Leeds.
"This was the first test of 'levelling up' and the government has completely failed and let down everybody in the North. You can't believe a word the Prime Minister says," he said.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. 'We're building in the most efficient possible way'
There was also criticism that a significant portion of the £96bn pledged as new investment has already been announced, such as £360m to improve ticketing.
On a visit to a Network Rail logistics hub near Selby, Mr Johnson dismissed the charges of broken promises as "total rubbish", insisting the government would deliver on them "eventually".
"Of course there are going to be people who always want everything at once. And there are lots of people who are [going to] say, look, what we should do is carve huge new railways through virgin territory, smashing through unspoilt countryside and villages and do it all at once," he said.
And in a BBC interview later the prime minister said that laying new track through countryside would take decades to complete.
Mr Johnson said: "You can wait decades and dig up virgin countryside and plough through villages, but you have to wait an awful lot longer and it costs an awful lot more.
"I'm afraid that we are going to be building a huge amount of new line but what we're doing is doing it in the most efficient possible way and to bring the maximum possible commuter benefits."
In addition to the HS2 changes, there is also a scaling back of a new Trans-Pennine rail route between Manchester and Leeds as part of the NPR project to improve links between major northern cities.
The route between Leeds and Manchester will now be a combination of new track and enhancements to existing infrastructure.
"We're cutting journey times from Manchester in half from 2 hours 9 min to 1 hour 11 min," said Mr Johnson.
"We're also cutting times from Manchester to Leeds from 55 min to 33 min and [creating] a crossrail for the Midlands for the first time."
He added that there would also be a new high-speed line taking the time needed to travel from the West Midlands to East Midlands, from 1 hour 14 min down to 26 min.
"What that means is you will be able to have HS2 trains all the way up to Sheffield, taking half an hour off the time up to Sheffield," Mr Johnson stressed.
"You will have a crossrail for the north, a crossrail for the Midlands and then the HS2."
Tory MP Robbie Moore, whose Keighley seat sits close to Bradford, said he was "deeply disappointed" by the plan, which had "completely short-changed" his constituents.
Bradford had expected to be included on the proposed Leeds to Manchester route and to see a station built to accommodate new trains.
"We are one of the most socially deprived parts of the UK and we must get better transport connectivity," Mr Moore said.
Delivering the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) in the Commons, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told MPs it was an "ambitious and unparalleled programme" to overhaul inter-city links across the north and Midlands, and "speed up the benefits for local areas and serves destinations people most want to reach".
Work has already started on the first phase of HS2, linking London and the West Midlands. The next section will extend the line to Crewe.
The final phase was to take HS2 to Manchester and Leeds.
Commenting on plans for rail links between the East Midlands to Leeds, Mr Shapps said: "We'll study how best to take HS2 trains into Leeds as well".
However, that is likely to be via upgrades to existing rail network, a move condemned by MPs and regional business leaders who said a high-speed line was vital to the economic growth of the Midlands and north England.
Labour MP Hilary Benn, who represents Leeds Central, said: "Today that promise has been broken, and Leeds and the North have been betrayed."
Andy Bagnall, director general of the Rail Delivery Group, which represents train operators, said: "While millions of people will benefit from this major investment in boosting connectivity between major cities in the North of England and the Midlands, leaving out key pieces of the jigsaw will inevitably hold back the ability for the railways to power the levelling up agenda and the drive to net zero."
The government's argument is that faster delivery at lower cost is now the best approach. It also makes the case for putting cash towards better local services, not just high speed inter-city connections.
That won't wash with those who will accept nothing but the original proposals for both HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail - with their full capacity benefits, as well as journey times. They feel a promise is being broken.
Bradford is one example of this; a city whose leaders view a new, full high-speed link to both Manchester and Leeds as essential to regeneration.
Opponents of HS2 - a controversial project - will see today's news as a relief. Although the door has not been fully closed to the eastern leg being completed at some future date.
However, businesses in Yorkshire who hoped HS2 would bring jobs, investment and confidence, albeit not for a while, feel that opportunity has just been diminished.
Labour also point out that despite the £96bn label, much of this money had already been earmarked for HS2.
News that part of HS2 was being scrapped was met with "elation" by campaigners against the line.
Sandra Haith, from an anti-HS2 group in Bramley, Rotherham, said she was pleased, "not only as a resident of Bramley, but as a taxpayer. It's a complete waste of money".
Sandra Haith (far right) has spent years fighting the plans
She said: "The eastern leg costs a lot of money and it basically connects two cities. We can't get on it. We've got all the pain and no gain."
However, business people warned about the economic loss from scrapping the HS2 line. James Greenhalgh, who runs the Flamingos Coffee House, in Leeds, told the BBC it would deter investment in the city.
"We want to encourage other businesses to move up from London, up to Leeds, get people moving around and coming to our city centre. It is really tough, it is stopping businesses from expanding," he said.
There was praise, though, from business leaders at regional trade body Midlands Connect.
Chairman Sir John Peace said: "Although these plans are different in some respects to what we'd expected, there are a lot of positives in here and lots of things to be excited about - a new high-speed connection between Birmingham and East Midlands Parkway, direct links onto HS2 for Derby, Nottingham, and Chesterfield and a commitment to the Midlands Rail Hub."
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Ahmaud Arbery murder trial: Prosecutors reveal full footage of black jogger's death - BBC News
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2021-11-06
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Prosecutors in US state of Georgia say three white men assumed Ahmaud Arbery had committed a crime.
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US & Canada
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Ahmaud Arbery's sister and mother comfort each other at a gathering after the black jogger's death
Georgia prosecutors have shown the full footage of the fatal shooting of a black jogger at the trial of three white men accused of his murder.
The prosecutors argued 25-year-old Ahmaud Arbery was attacked by men who pursued him because of racial bias.
On the opening day of arguments, the court was also shown video from the first police officer on the scene.
Defendants Gregory and Travis McMichael and William Bryan deny all charges and have said they acted in self-defence.
Mr Arbery was shot and killed during the confrontation with the McMichaels on 23 February 2020. The case erupted into public view after footage of Mr Arbery's final moments surfaced online months later.
Mr McMichael, 65, his son Travis, 35, and neighbour Mr Bryan, 52, who filmed the incident, say they pursued Mr Arbery in order to make a citizen's arrest - allowed at the time under Georgia law. They say they suspected he had stolen from a nearby construction site.
The McMichaels have also said they acted in self defence, accusing Mr Arbery of attacking Travis when they tried to stop him.
In her opening statement, lead prosecutor Linda Dunikoski told the jury: "All three of these defendants did everything they did based on assumptions - not on facts, not on evidence."
Ms Dunikoski showed an extended version of the mobile phone footage taken by Mr Bryan.
"Mr Arbery was under attack by strangers with the intent to kill him," she said. "The only thing Mr Arbery did was run away."
"They didn't simply follow Mr Arbery. All three 'trapped him like a rat' with their two pickup trucks," said Ms Dunikoski, using the elder Mr McMichael's own words.
She added that Mr Bryan tried to hit the jogger four times with his car, getting so close that Mr Arbery's palm prints and T-shirt fibres were later visible on the vehicle.
"No-one said 'I'm making a citizen's arrest today'," she told the jury.
The first witness called by prosecutors to testify was Glynn County police officer William Duggan, who described the bloody scene before his bodycam footage was shown to jurors.
"I could see he was covered in blood," Mr Duggan said of Travis McMichael. "There was blood all over, and I remember at some point asking if he was OK."
He said that the defendant responded: "'No I'm not OK. I just effing killed somebody.'"
"This case is about duty and responsibility," began Bob Rubin, a lawyer for Travis McMichael. "It's about Travis McMichael's duty and responsibility to himself, his family and his neighbourhood."
He added that the younger McMichael had received training from the US Coast Guard that prepared him for the encounter with Mr Arbery and that he feared for the safety of his five-year-old son when he left the house to pursue him.
Mr Rubin argued that other neighbourhood residents had also previously offered to make a "citizens arrest" of Mr Arbery, who he claimed was seen repeatedly "plundering around" properties.
At the time of Mr Arbery's death, Travis McMichael - Mr Rubin said - was "hoping to raise the weapon to de-escalate the situation," thinking it would act as a deterrent. But instead Mr Arbery charged towards him, it was alleged.
"Travis has no choice but to fire his weapon in self defence," the lawyer continued, adding that his client "reasonably believed" that Mr Arbery would beat him up and use this own shotgun against him.
Earlier, in twin blows to the defence, the judge ruled that evidence of recent cannabis use by Mr Arbery was not relevant to the case, but that the McMichaels' Confederate flag licence plate was admissible as evidence.
While the mobile phone video of Ahmaud Arbery's death went viral, and ultimately led to the arrest of the men now on trial for murdering him, Ahmaud's mother had told me she had studiously avoided watching it over the past 18 months.
In the courtroom today on the first day of the trial, the anguished cry of Wanda Cooper Jones, as she saw that footage of her son's final moments for the first time, brought her devastating loss into stark focus.
That the three white men on trial thought it was a good idea to put that video online (which one of them had filmed) thinking it would somehow show them in a good light, gives us a sense of the attitudes that persist in this part of Georgia.
Supporters of Ahmaud's family argue that those attitudes undoubtedly contributed not only to the killing but also to the response of the police in the aftermath.
Relatives of Mr Arbery have said they were concerned that the case would have been covered up without the emergence of the video.
The racial composition of the jury - one black juror and 11 white - has led to new concerns from Mr Arbery's family about the possible outcome of the trial.
The case is currently on its fourth prosecutor. Two district attorneys earlier recused themselves due to ties to Greg McMichael, a former police officer.
The first prosecutor to handle the case is facing charges of obstruction for allegedly blocking the arrest of the McMichaels. The second district attorney to take the case declined to arrest the men after determining that they were using citizen's arrest rights in confronting the jogger.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. The perils of jogging when you're black
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As it happened: Three men guilty of murdering black jogger in US - BBC News
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2021-11-24
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The white men pursued and shot dead Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia in what some called a modern-day lynching.
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US & Canada
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Thanks for following our live coverage as a US jury delivered a verdict in the Ahmaud Arbery murder trial.
You can follow updates to the story here.
Travis McMichael, his father Greg McMichael and their neighbour William Bryan were found guilty by a mostly-white jury of killing the 25-year-old black jogger in 2020.
Family had called Arbery's killing a "modern-day lynching". The case drew national attention after a video of the confrontation went viral.
The verdict, which came after two days of deliberations, followed 13 days of trial arguments and testimony.
Supporters outside the court chanted Arbery's name as the convicted men were led out of the court in shackles. No sentencing date has yet been set for the trio, who each face decades behind bars.
Lawyers for the McMichaels say they plan to appeal the decision.
Earlier, the BBC spoke with Arbery's sister, Jasmine. "Ahmaud was so much more than what happened that day," she said. You can watch the full interview below.
Today's coverage was brought to you by Jessica Murphy, Ritu Prasad, Bernd Debusmann, Sam Cabral and Max Matza.
Video caption: Ahmaud Arbery: 'He was wonderful in every way' Ahmaud Arbery: 'He was wonderful in every way'
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Walgreens, CVS, and Walmart fuelled opioid crisis, Ohio jury finds - BBC News
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2021-11-24
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A federal court finds Walgreens, CVS and Walmart helped create an oversupply of addictive painkillers.
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Business
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CVS was among the pharmacies found to have helped fuel an opioid crisis
America's three largest pharmacies have been found to be liable for helping fuel a painkiller crisis in two Ohio counties, in a landmark case.
A federal court found that actions by Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS, and Walmart helped create an oversupply of addictive opioid pills.
The scale of compensation, to be paid to the two Ohio counties, will be decided at a future hearing.
CVS said it would appeal against the judgement.
The other retailers, who all contested the cases, did not immediately comment.
Over the last two decades, millions of Americans have become addicts through over-prescription and abuse of legal opiate-based painkillers such as Fentanyl and OxyContin.
Nearly 500,000 deaths were attributed to painkiller overdoses between 1999 and 2019.
Local and state governments say the painkiller epidemic put huge strain on their resources as they tried to tackle it through social programmes and the legal system.
There are around 3,300 other cases being brought in an attempt to recoup some of those costs from firms that profited from the sales of the painkillers.
As well as the pharmacy chains, big pharmaceutical companies and medical professionals have been accused of turning a blind eye to the problem.
Lawyers for the two Ohio counties, Lake and Trumbull, said the costs are potentially $1bn for each county, to cover social and legal expenses related to the impact of the opioid epidemic.
"The judgement today against Walmart, Walgreens and CVS represents the overdue reckoning for their complicity in creating a public nuisance," they said in a joint statement.
They argued that the pharmacies created a public nuisance by failing to ensure opioid prescriptions were valid allowing excessive quantities of addictive pain pills to flood their communities.
Walgreens Boots Alliance, CVS and Walmart denied the allegations, saying they had taken steps to prevent painkillers being diverted from their intended legal use.
CVS in a statement said it strongly disagreed with the verdict and would appeal.
"As plaintiffs' own experts testified, many factors have contributed to the opioid abuse issue, and solving this problem will require involvement from all stakeholders in our healthcare system and all members of our community," CVS said.
Other cases around the country are relying on the "public nuisance" argument to target the companies involved in making and distributing the opioid painkillers.
However earlier this month courts in Oklahoma and California rejected it as a legal argument in cases against drugs makers.
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Brexit: UK looks likely to trigger Article 16 - then what? - BBC News
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2021-11-12
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An in-depth look at the likely consequences if post Brexit talks on the Northern Ireland border fail.
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UK Politics
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This has not been a good week for Boris Johnson.
The Conservative Party has been battered by allegations that some of its MPs are on the take.
The way the prime minister has reacted to the situation has been publicly criticised, and privately slammed by many on his own side.
Even some of Boris Johnson's most stalwart backers in parts of the Conservative press have called foul.
But if you think this has been bumpy, it's not impossible that the government might find itself in a much more dramatic and risky situation with much further-reaching consequences for us all.
It sounds harmless enough: Article 16, an obscure set of three paragraphs agreed as part of the Brexit withdrawal deal between the UK and EU.
So first off, it's important to understand it is part and parcel of the agreement that both sides grappled to achieve, and then signed up to in October 2019.
You might remember that the Brexit arrangements left Northern Ireland, of course part of the UK, essentially in the EU's huge trading bloc for goods.
This meant that goods could go backwards and forwards over the land border on the island of Ireland without hassle.
That sorted out one aspect of the geographic reality - but it also meant that there would be checks and controls on goods going into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK.
From the off, that created an inbuilt difference between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Both sides were perfectly aware that these arrangements might be tricky in practice, so the deal included Article 16.
The Article gives either side the ability to cry foul and take their own "safeguard measures" if it's all going wrong - if trade is going haywire, or the deal is causing real suffering.
Either the UK or the EU has the right to take its own action, after giving a month's notice.
Boris Johnson celebrates his Brexit trade deal with the cabinet in December 2020
That could mean, for example, the UK stopping checks on goods that are being sent across the Irish Sea, intended only for use in Northern Ireland.
In other words, if something's made in Bolton, but sold in Belfast, it wouldn't go through customs checks.
But the actions could be more dramatic, suspending more of the deal the two sides agreed, whether that's product standards, customs checks, or VAT rules.
Working out how far to go, and what is justified, is a hard first step.
As one cabinet minister told me: "The mechanics aren't controversial, the difficult decision is how far you want to go."
Article 16 could be used to carry out a few tweaks, or to tear through the existing agreements. In turn, that would also have an impact on how the EU reacts.
Why though would the UK want to go down that road in any case, whether using it as a big bazooka or just trying to fiddle around with a few elements?
Some in the Nationalist community had a message for the PM on a 2019 visit
One diplomat told me that triggering Article 16 would be "lose, lose, lose", and could cause a "total breakdown of trust, and a deep freeze in relations" between the EU and the UK.
Former Prime Minister Sir John Major, who it's fair to say is no fan of the current occupant of Downing Street, has said it would be "absurd".
The main opposition parties would likely condemn the move.
But for months, the UK government has been saying the impact of the arrangements and how they are being implemented can't last, even though, as things stand, the part of the deal relating to Northern Ireland - known as the protocol - is certainly not being implemented in full.
But its effects have already caused lots of different concerns - whether that would be, as one source describes it, companies being "buried under mountains of new paperwork", warnings over shortages of medicines, difficulties moving pets around, or the issue that's taken up most column inches, the so-called "sausage wars" over the sale of chilled meats.
The UK believes the EU adopted an overly vigorous approach to pursuing the rules, when a lighter touch would do.
In turn of course, the EU says the UK signed up to the deal, why are they surprised when Brussels insists its followed in full?
Dominic Cummings claims the government always intended to ditch the parts they didn't like
As ever in high-tension diplomatic spats like this, the situation is not binary, and both sides have reasons for frustration.
Of course, intense politics are at play here too.
Unionist politicians in Northern Ireland largely can't stand the protocol, and have deep concerns about being able to keep a lid on tensions.
One source warns "if the government doesn't move and show a bit of teeth, things could implode".
The DUP leader has even said if there isn't movement he could pull his support.
With an election due by May 2022, they are pushing for action as soon as possible.
There's political mistrust between the UK and the EU side too over Boris Johnson's original attitude to the deal, and whether he ever intended to stick to the legal promises he made.
That was stoked by his controversial former adviser, Dominic Cummings, who said publicly the government had always intended to "ditch" the bits they didn't like.
Another source familiar with the negotiations told me "Article 16 was the route we thought we would go down from the beginning", adding: "it was always clear that unless the EU was willing to back down, we wouldn't be able to stick with it long term".
Now it is not exactly unusual for political deals to leave ambiguities, and some issues unresolved.
Given that the European Court did retain a role in supervising the protocol, that source suggests it was never likely to be "compatible with the autonomy of the UK".
But the admission that Boris Johnson's team believed there was something seriously up with the deal to start with has not exactly put the EU in the mood for compromise.
And what Brussels has been willing to budge on so far has not been nearly enough to satisfy No 10.
For political and practical reasons therefore, it seems almost inevitable that unless the European Union changes its position in a significant way, and soon, that the UK will trigger Article 16.
Lord Frost is still in talks with EU counterpart Maroš Šefčovič
Talks are continuing, and while one source says, "it's not definite", they acknowledge that "optimism has been waning".
In fact, the UK has said publicly since July that the conditions for the trigger to be pulled have indeed been met.
Since then, the UK view is clearly that "the EU solution is just not good enough".
But on the other side, there's sceptism over the UK's desire even to find a way out. Lord Frost, the PM's Brexit lieutenant, is "in problem-finding, not problem- solving mode", one source said.
I'm told that diplomats were reassured by government that the action wouldn't be taken this week, after the talks between that will take place between the two sides on Friday.
But I'm told there have been discussions about starting the process, even early next week.
Don't panic, this does not seem to have yet been resolved.
Some in government are arguing for more explanation of the case to the public before drastic action is taken.
One insider described a "reasonableness test". Another said that the UK government wanted to build an "evidence base" to demonstrate why they felt the action had to be taken, before going public.
Some of the smart money is on the bust-up not coming until December, with one government source suggesting on Thursday: "We're going to see a bit more time pass before it happens."
The border at the centre of the dispute
Whatever the moment, unless something very unexpected happens, or the negotiators and politicians on both sides have personality transplants, it seems like Article 16 will be introduced before too long.
The likely impact of the move seems less certain than whether Boris Johnson and Lord Frost take the decision.
It hasn't happened before, so there is no real precedent.
And there are different schools of thought. First, it's important to understand that triggering Article 16 is starting a dispute process.
It's not one moment, but the start of many.
One source says some Brexiteer MPs "think you trigger it and everyone starts singing Rule Britannia - no one is asking themselves what happens after you trigger".
Theoretically, the process begins with a month of intense technical talks to try to resolve the dispute.
If that doesn't work, there would probably then be an emergency meeting of EU leaders, to take the decision up to prime ministers, not just the EU Commission.
There could be different forms of restrictions on trade, specific sanctions, or they could give notice that they would tear up the whole trade agreement, which Ireland warned might happen this week.
Without getting too technical, the trigger could end up with grumpy talks dragging on over many months with lots of politicking but not much changing practically.
Both sides could, in a genuine way, join together to try to work things out.
Or the trigger could, as one observer warned, boil over into a "full scale trade war that undermines the UK and the EU's post-Covid economic recovery".
The economic consequences of that could be profound for us all, if the argument really went that far.
And what would Number 10 do in the end, if the UK didn't get what it wanted?
If, as another source suggests, Boris Johnson "triggers the process, it finds against the UK….and ultimately the European Court says you must comply - he's snookered".
As explained here, the UK may well want to strip the European Court of Justice of its role overseeing the Protocol.
Technically, the Article 16 process itself does not come directly under the European Court. But if, as some fear is likely, the argument tips into a wider dispute about the application of EU law then the European Court would end up as the final arbiter.
At the risk of hammering the point, the UK could try to reduce the European Court's influence on Northern Ireland by starting a huge legal argument, but actually end up with its influence being confirmed.
Mid-November has been pencilled in for several months, as the moment when an actual decision was going to have to be made.
That final conclusion has not yet been reached.
And given what could be at stake, both sides would still, in theory, like the negotiations to work.
But we are approaching a moment where Downing Street may decide that the huge political and economic risks of triggering Article 16 are worth it, that the downsides of the protocol are no longer tolerable, and efforts to find a compromise have run their course.
Yet the potential outcomes might make the last stormy seven days look like a moment of deep calm.
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Meghan told ex-aide she wrote to estranged father to protect Harry - BBC News
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2021-11-12
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The Duchess of Sussex said Prince Harry was being berated by the royals over her father's behaviour.
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UK
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The Duchess of Sussex said she chose to write to her father, Thomas Markle, to protect Prince Harry from the Royal Family's "constant berating" over his media interviews, text messages reveal.
Meghan told ex-aide Jason Knauf the royals did not understand why she could not visit her estranged father's home in Mexico to "make this stop".
She also said she had seen the "pain" the situation was causing Prince Harry.
The messages were released by a court on Friday after a media application.
Meghan, 40, won her privacy case against Associated Newspapers Limited (ANL), the publisher of the Mail on Sunday, earlier this year, when the High Court found its publication of her letter to her father - sent in August 2018 - was unlawful.
But ANL brought an appeal to overturn the ruling, which has been the subject of hearings at the Court of Appeal this week. The ruling is due at a later date.
This long ongoing court case is an attempt to protect the privacy of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex but in bringing the action it is, in some ways, doing the opposite.
The obvious anger and distress caused by the Mail on Sunday publishing extracts of a deeply personal letter has led to the release of a series of court documents which reveal arguments and disagreements from behind closed doors.
The fact that Harry and Meghan felt under pressure from the Royal Family to resolve the difficult relationship with her father, Thomas, has been discussed at length in court.
These text messages which mention what she feels was the "constant berating" of her husband over the issue of her father reveal something of the level of feeling in the days leading up to the letter being written.
It is also worth noting that this was taking place in the summer of 2018, just three months after the happy scenes at their wedding when Prince Charles walked Meghan down the aisle at Windsor.
The latest revelations come a day after the Court of Appeal heard Mr Knauf, the couple's former communications chief, "regretted" not giving evidence in her High Court case against ANL.
After extracts of texts and emails between Meghan and Mr Knauf were used in court, further messages were released on Friday following an application by the PA news agency and the Times newspaper.
In the newly released text messages, sent to Mr Knauf while she was drafting the handwritten letter to her father, the duchess said she was motivated to write to her father due to the "pain" the situation was causing Prince Harry.
She wrote: "Even after a week with his dad and endlessly explaining the situation, his family seem to forget the context - and revert to 'Can't she just go and see him and make this stop?'"
She accused the Royal Family of "fundamentally" failing to understand and that by writing to her father, her husband would be able to tell them "she wrote him a letter and he's still doing it".
The duchess added that she was doing this to "protect my husband from this constant berating and while unlikely perhaps it will give my father a moment to pause".
However, she told Mr Knauf the letter "does not open the door for a conversation".
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex were pictured at an event in New York on Wednesday
On Wednesday Mr Knauf, who is due to stand down from his current role as the chief executive officer of the Royal Foundation at the end of the year, said in a witness statement that the duchess had written the letter to her father with the understanding that it could be leaked.
The Court of Appeal also heard this week that Mr Knauf had been asked by Meghan to pass information to Omid Scobie and Carolyn Durand, the authors of the Finding Freedom biography - leading to the duchess apologising to the court for forgetting about emails sent about the book.
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Capitol riot: Court temporarily blocks release of Trump files - BBC News
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2021-11-12
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Files chased by the Capitol riot inquiry will not be released until an appeals court hears the case.
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US & Canada
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Mr Trump seen attending the baseball World Series last month
A US appeals court has temporarily denied a bid by US Capitol riot investigators to access ex-President Donald Trump's White House records.
The ruling comes two days after a court ordered the documents to be turned over to the congressional committee leading the inquiry.
Lawmakers are trying to find out if Mr Trump had foreknowledge of the riot.
Trump supporters stormed the Capitol building on 6 January as Congress was meeting to certify the election result.
Mr Trump has refused to acknowledge losing the election to President Joe Biden last year, making claims - without evidence - of mass voter fraud.
The inquiry is being conducted by a committee set up by the House of Representatives, which is dominated by President Biden's Democrats.
The panel wants to see phone records, visitor logs and other White House documents that could shed light on events leading up to the attack on Congress.
But on Thursday, the US Court of Appeals in Washington placed a temporary hold on a lower court's order to hand over the trove by Friday.
The appeals court said it will schedule a hearing for 30 November. The case will be heard by three judges who were selected at random, according to US media. All three were appointed by Democratic presidents.
This video can not be played To play this video you need to enable JavaScript in your browser. When a mob stormed the US capitol
Mr Trump's lawyers had said in their emergency filing to the appeals court that their client could "suffer irreparable harm through the effective denial of a constitutional and statutory right to be fully heard on a serious disagreement between the former and incumbent President".
The legal battle is likely to wind up at the Supreme Court.
Mr Trump - a Republican - has argued his White House communications were protected by executive privilege, under which presidential documents can be kept secret. But Mr Biden has waived executive privilege on the files.
And on Tuesday, US District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected Mr Trump's argument, writing in a 39-page decision: "Presidents are not kings, and Plaintiff is not President."
The House Select Committee has issued dozens of subpoenas in the last week, calling on many former Trump officials to hand over documents and testify about the riot.
They include Kayleigh McEnany, the White House press secretary, Stephen Miller, who was Mr Trump's senior adviser, Mark Meadows, former White House chief of staff, and Michael Flynn, former national security adviser.
On Thursday, Mr Meadows notified the committee that he would refuse to co-operate until a final court judgement. The move led the committee's top investigator to threaten him with criminal contempt charges.
Following the Capitol riot, Mr Trump was impeached by the lower house of Congress, but cleared by the then Republican-dominated upper house, the Senate, of inciting an insurrection.
More than 670 people have been arrested for the invasion of the Capitol complex.
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Kyle Rittenhouse: US teenager cleared over Kenosha killings - BBC News
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2021-11-20
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Kyle Rittenhouse killed two men during racial justice protests and rioting in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
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US & Canada
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A US teenager who shot dead two men during racial unrest has been cleared of homicide and all other charges after claiming self-defence.
Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, killed the men and wounded a third on the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, on 25 August 2020.
During the high profile and politically divisive trial, his defence said he had feared for his life. Prosecutors argued he was looking for trouble that night.
National Guard troops have been sent to the city amid fears of unrest.
US President Joe Biden called on people to "express their views peacefully", saying that while the outcome of the case "will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken".
Mr Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and then wounded 27-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz. Mr Rittenhouse and the men he shot are all white.
He faced five charges, including intentional homicide, which carries a life sentence.
His fate was decided by a 12-person jury made up of seven women and five men, who had spent more than three days deliberating.
The teenager began to shake with sobs and nearly collapsed as he heard the words "not guilty" read out five times.
Two nights before he turned up in Kenosha last year, riots had erupted on its streets after police shot Jacob Blake, a black man, leaving him paralysed.
Mr Rittenhouse, then aged 17, had travelled to the city from his home in Illinois. Armed with a semi-automatic rifle, he said he sought to help protect property from unrest.
During the trial, jurors were shown video, sometimes frame by frame, leading up to and after each shooting.
In their closing arguments, Mr Rittenhouse's lawyers argued that he was "trying to help this community" and "reacted to people attacking him". Prosecutors, meanwhile, questioned why he broke curfew in a city he did not live in and "pretended to guard" people and property he was not familiar with.
Kyle Rittenhouse hugged his lawyer as the verdict was read
The case has become a flashpoint in the highly polarised debate over gun rights in the US.
Mr Rittenhouse is championed as a hero by those who say he tried to keep the peace in sometimes violent protests. Others were horrified by what they saw as a heavily armed teenage vigilante in a volatile setting.
BBC correspondent Nomia Iqbal, who was at the courthouse on Friday, said several cars drove past tooting their horns and shouting "Free Kyle" and "We love the second amendment", which covers the right to keep and bear arms.
On the court steps Jacob Blake's uncle was in tears and said he was shocked at the verdict.
Mr Huber's parents said there was "no accountability" for their son's killer.
"It sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street," they said in a statement.
But Mr Rittenhouse's defence attorney Mark Richards said his client "wished none of this would have ever happened" and just wanted to get on with his life.
David Hancock, a spokesman for the Rittenhouse family, told CBS they had expected the acquittal, adding that they were now "in an undisclosed location".
The trial has divided opinion, with rival demonstrators outside the courthouse
Reactions from politicians on Friday highlighted divisions over the case.
Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, a Democrat, was among those to denounce the verdict.
"Over the last few weeks, many dreaded the outcome we just witnessed," he was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.
"The presumption of innocence until proven guilty is what we should expect from our judicial system, but that standard is not always applied equally. We have seen so many black and brown youth killed, only to be put on trial posthumously, while the innocence of Kyle Rittenhouse was virtually demanded by the judge."
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio went further, in a tweet describing the verdict as "disgusting".
"Justice has been served," he said, quoted by AFP. "I hope everyone can accept the verdict, remain peaceful, and let the community of Kenosha heal and rebuild."
The state's former governor, Scott Walker, also tweeted his approval: "All of us who knew what actually happened in Kenosha last year assumed this would be the verdict. Thankfully, the jury thought the same."
In a brief statement, the office of the Kenosha County District Attorney - which handled the prosecution's case - said it respected the verdict and called for calm.
Wisconsin's Governor Tony Evers said it was "time to move forward, together".
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Kyle Rittenhouse case: Why it so divides the US - BBC News
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2021-11-20
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Few US trials in recent years have generated such debate and acrimony. Why this one?
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US & Canada
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Few US trials in recent years have generated such acrimony. What is it about the Kyle Rittenhouse case that so divides the country?
Inside the courtroom, the 18-year-old was visibly shaking as he heard the jury clear him of all five charges, including intentional homicide.
He killed two men during racial unrest in Wisconsin, but successfully convinced the jury he only used his semi-automatic weapon because he feared for his life.
Meanwhile, outside court cars drove past tooting their horns and cheering. Some leaned from windows to shout "Free Kyle!" and "We love the Second Amendment!"
Some were distraught at the verdict - one man collapsed on the courtroom steps in tears, saying if Mr Rittenhouse had been black and brandishing a weapon like that, he would have been shot dead.
Here's why the case provoked such deeply held emotions.
Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal hinged on the specific details of Wisconsin's self-defence laws, taking into account Mr Rittenhouse's state of mind at the moment of shootings. The first occurred when Joseph Rosenbaum tried to grab Mr Rittenhouse's gun, the next two after two men - one of whom was armed - confronted Mr Rittenhouse following Rosenbaum's shooting.
The law considers whether Mr Rittenhouse believed himself to be in imminent threat of harm, but it does not factor in the choices he made in the hours and days beforehand that put him in the middle of a volatile situation, with guns drawn and tempers flaring.
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The trial could prompt renewed consideration of self-defence laws across the US and whether they sufficiently weigh the totality of circumstances involving the use lethal force, particularly in a society where restrictions on the possession of firearms have been loosened.
The trend up until now has been to expand the right of self-defence in many states through "castle doctrine" and "stand your ground" laws that give individuals a presumptive right to use force to protect their homes and themselves, rather than to back down from a confrontation.
The divisiveness of the Rittenhouse trial could further fuel the debate over whether those laws go too far - or not far enough.
Race is not central to this case, but for one man it is.
Jacob Blake, who is black, was shot seven times by a white police officer in Kenosha last year.
It was that shooting which sparked the violent protests in the first place. The police officer remains in the force. Mr Blake said in an interview that if Mr Rittenhouse had been of a different ethnicity, "he'd be gone".
Mr Rittenhouse was not immediately arrested after he shot three white men - two of them fatally - despite surrendering to police.
Black Lives Matter protesters outside the court say it is "white privilege" that has allowed the teenager to even have a fair trial.
Controversially, in closing arguments Mr Rittenhouse's defence attorney Mark Richards referenced the Blake shooting saying: "Other people in this community have shot people seven times and it's been found to be OK, and my client did it four times in three-quarters of a second to protect his life."
It's renewed this debate over exactly who is allowed to possess guns and then proclaim self-defence when they kill someone.
The Rittenhouse trial has once again highlighted laws restricting gun possession and use in America that varies widely by state and local jurisdiction. Often the regulations are less than precise, the product of intense legislative debate over the types of firearms covered and under what circumstances the laws apply.
A day before closing arguments in the Rittenhouse trial, Judge Bruce Schroeder ordered that one of the charges - that Mr Rittenhouse violated a state law prohibiting a person under 18 from possessing a "dangerous weapon" - be dropped because the rifle Mr Rittenhouse was carrying wasn't prohibited to him.
The decision turned on the length of the firearm's barrel, which would have been prohibited if it were a few inches shorter.
Gun-control activists have cited this as yet another example of the kind of loophole that could be remedied by more uniform national gun laws.
While the 30-year-old Wisconsin law contains a provision to allow 16- and 17-year-olds to go hunting, they view the weapon Mr Rittenhouse was carrying as clearly "dangerous" in the circumstances he used it.
Gun rights activists, on the other hand, have celebrated Mr Rittenhouse's right to possess such weapons and use them to defend himself.
"If it wasn't for 17-year-olds with guns," tweeted Ohio Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel, "we'd still be British subjects."
Bruce Schroeder is the longest-serving circuit judge in the Wisconsin state court system. He was appointed by a Democratic governor in 1983 and has won election to his seat seven times since then, each by overwhelming margins.
Perhaps it was inevitable that the judge would become a focus in such a high-profile, nationally televised trial, but the unusual American tradition of electing judges has made a delicate political situation even more fraught.
Over the years, Judge Schroeder has developed idiosyncrasies, such as allowing defendants to conduct the random drawings that select their final jury and quizzing jurors on esoteric trivia. He's also established a reputation as a pro-defence jurist - one further cemented by his testy exchanges with prosecutors during the Rittenhouse trial.
Given the highly charged political nature of the trial, many of those quirks and choices have been scrutinised for evidence of bias. His rulings to drop the illegal firearm charge and saying the men Mr Rittenhouse shot could not be called "victims" were criticised by many on the left.
Even his choice of mobile phone ringtone, the patriotic anthem God Bless the USA - a staple of Donald Trump rallies in recent years - made headlines as possible evidence of his political proclivities.
Legal analysts have generally concluded that Judge Schroeder's rulings have been within the norms for such proceedings, but with the impartiality of the entire US criminal system challenged in last year's protests against institutional racism and police shootings - including the one in Kenosha - those norms are under scrutiny, as well.
The facts of that night have never been up for debate - Kyle Rittenhouse killed two men and injured a third.
Instead the jury had to work out why he did it. He was being chased by a group of people when he fired the fatal shots. Was he acting in self-defence or was he a dangerous vigilante provoking an already volatile situation in a city he did not belong to?
Many groups who want tighter gun control say it was the latter. They are worried that by being cleared of the charges, Mr Rittenhouse's case now sets a precedent - that anyone can turn up to angry protests with a gun, but without facing any consequences.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-59348734
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Call for five-year delay in all-lane smart motorways - BBC News
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2021-11-02
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https://www.facebook.com/bbcnews
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More safety data is needed before the hard shoulder is made into a permanent traffic lane, MPs have said.
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England
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The government has said it plans to make all future smart motorways "all-lane" running
The introduction of "all-lane" smart motorways should be halted until their safety can be ensured, MPs have warned.
The schemes use the hard shoulder as a permanent live traffic lane to increase capacity - but critics say this has contributed to deaths on the roads.
In a report, the Commons' Transport Select Committee said there was not enough safety and economic data to justify continuing with the plans.
The Department for Transport said it would consider the recommendations.
However, the report did not recommend reinstating hard shoulders where they have been removed.
Claire Mercer, whose husband Jason was killed on a stretch of smart motorway near Sheffield in 2019, wants that to happen and said the report's recommendations did not "go far enough".
Claire Mercer, from Rotherham, has campaigned against the use of smart motorways since her husband's death
Smart motorways, which use technology to maintain the flow of traffic and give information on overhead displays, have existed in England since 2002.
There are three types - the all-lane-running version, which involves opening the hard shoulder permanently to drivers, began in 2014.
The other types are controlled motorways, which have three or more lanes, variable speed limits and a hard shoulder for emergency use, and dynamic hard shoulder motorways, which have variable speed limits and a hard shoulder that can be opened up to traffic at busy times.
There are about 375 miles of smart motorway in England, including 235 miles without a hard shoulder.
According to government figures obtained by Panorama in 2020, 38 people were killed on smart motorways between 2014 and 2019.
Mrs Mercer's husband Jason was killed when he and another driver stopped in a live lane of an all lane running motorway following a minor collision and were hit by a lorry.
Mrs Mercer said: "We need the hard shoulder because everything that they have tried to substitute it with doesn't work.
"The hard shoulder was just there, it didn't rely on software, it didn't rely on humans, it was just there and you could use it when you needed it."
In a nutshell, this report is saying wait, don't get rid of more hard shoulders, but don't put them back either.
The argument has been intensifying between campaigners and the government.
The Transport Select Committee argues that the existing data can be cut both ways so the best option is to improve safety on the ones already built and wait for five years so the data is more reliable.
That hasn't been well received by campaigners who argue that any delay could lead to more deaths.
There are currently plenty of works under way to convert the hard shoulder on other motorways too and the government is under no obligation to follow these recommendations.
But the hope from the committee is that they've offered a pragmatic approach that might be more appealing to the government.
The committee's report said: "The government and National Highways should pause the rollout of new all-lane running schemes until five years of safety and economic data is available for every all-lane running scheme introduced before 2020 and the implementation of the safety improvements in the government's action plan has been independently evaluated."
It described the government's decision in March 2020 that all future smart motorways would be all-lane-running versions as "premature".
Demonstrators protesting against smart motorways marched with coffins to the Houses of Parliament on Monday.
Protesters carried cardboard coffins in a demonstration outside the Houses of Parliament on Monday
Relatives of those killed on smart motorways have called for the hard shoulder to be permanently reinstalled after a number of incidents in which broken-down vehicles were hit from behind.
However, the committee said it was "not convinced" that such a policy would boost safety.
It concluded: "The evidence suggests that doing so could put more drivers and passengers at risk of death and serious injury" as motorway capacity would be reduced.
It said: "If that traffic were diverted on to A-roads, it might result in an extra 25 deaths and 224 serious casualties per year."
The committee pointed out that controlled motorways, which retain the hard shoulder and have technology to regulate traffic, have the lowest casualty rates of all types of motorway on the network.
It said: "The Department and National Highways should revisit the case for controlled motorways."
Responding to the report, Labour's shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon said the government must listen to victims' families.
"We know smart motorways in their current form, coupled with inadequate safety systems, are not fit for purpose and are putting lives at risk," he said.
A Department for Transport spokesperson said: "We're pleased that the TSC (Transport Select Committee) recognises that reinstating the hard shoulder on all all-lane running motorways could put more drivers and passengers at risk of death and serious injury and that we're right to focus on upgrading their safety."
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-59125133
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