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Two men jailed for violence at protest over police treatment of Henry Nowak

Leon O’Leary threw a smoke grenade and Connor Bishop a traffic cone at officers during disturbance in Southampton

Two men who threw a smoke grenade and traffic cone at police during the violence in Southampton that followed the sentencing of Henry Nowak’s killer have been jailed.

Leon O’Leary, 41, from Basingstoke, Hampshire, was sentenced to three years and one month after throwing a smoke grenade at officers.

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© Photograph: Isabel Infantes/Reuters

© Photograph: Isabel Infantes/Reuters

© Photograph: Isabel Infantes/Reuters

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‘You can never be safe’: Belfast’s Sudanese community hunkers down after grisly attack

Fears grow over anti-immigration protests after asylum seeker charged with attempted murder in Northern Ireland

The Sudanese barber shop owner was at his cash register and smiling at the question, “Did he feel safe in Belfast?”, when two men strolling down the street paused at his open doorway and unleashed a sudden, shrieking howl.

It ended as abruptly as it began and without saying a word the two men, white, in their 20s, wearing grey tracksuits, resumed their stroll.

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© Photograph: Isabel Infantes/Reuters

© Photograph: Isabel Infantes/Reuters

© Photograph: Isabel Infantes/Reuters

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Passenger on train to London given first sentence for harassment under new law

David Stroud grabbed a woman’s hair and asked if he could kiss her two days after legislation took effect

A train passenger has become the first person to be sentenced under a new harassment law after a prosecution brought by the British Transport Police (BTP).

David Stroud, 44, grabbed a woman’s hair and asked her “can I kiss you?” on a rail journey to London on 3 April, two days after the new legislation came into force banning harassment motivated by a person’s sex.

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© Photograph: Antonia Johlen/PA

© Photograph: Antonia Johlen/PA

© Photograph: Antonia Johlen/PA

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David Sullivan’s Sport newspapers used sexualised images of underage girls as ‘bait for predatory men’

Former victims’ commissioner says publication ‘deliberately came as close as possible to breaking the law’

David Sullivan’s Sport newspapers used sexualised images of underage girls as “bait for predatory men”, the former victims’ commissioner has said.

Vera Baird spoke amid scrutiny of the newspapers’ ’Countdown to 16’ feature, where during Sullivan’s tenure as owner, models were pictured in lingerie and bikinis in the weeks before their 16th birthdays, until they could legally be shown topless.

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© Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

© Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

© Photograph: Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

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Can common sense replace Equality Act protections, as Kemi Badenoch suggests?

The Tory leader says the public sector duty to consider minorities encourages division – but legal experts say abolishing it will fuel discrimination

For more than two decades, an important part of Britain’s equality laws ensured public institutions had to think about the impact their decisions could have on different groups in society.

Introduced after the Stephen Lawrence inquiry, the public sector equality duty required public bodies – such as local councils, police forces and hospitals – to think proactively about equality law. Now this once uncontroversial public duty is a new battleground in Britain’s culture wars.

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© Photograph: James Manning/PA

© Photograph: James Manning/PA

© Photograph: James Manning/PA

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Stranger Things: The First Shadow announces final curtain in London and New York

The theatrical prequel to the Duffer Brothers’ smash-hit Netflix series is to shut down in the West End and on Broadway this winter, after selling more than 1.5m tickets

The London and New York productions of Stranger Things: The First Shadow, the theatrical prequel to Netflix’s TV blockbuster, are to both close this winter. The stage spectacular will have run for just over three years in the West End, where it won two Olivier awards, and for just over 20 months on Broadway, where it won four Tony awards. The final performance at the Phoenix theatre in London will be on 27 December and the last show at the Marquis theatre in New York will be on 3 January.

The announcement, made on Tuesday, comes as a surprise considering the TV series’ phenomenal continued success. The November launch of the fifth and final season broke viewing records for an English-language series on Netflix, with 59.6m views in the first five days, and even caused the streaming service to crash within minutes of the episodes first becoming available. In February, it was widely reported that the New York stage production was being filmed for future release, but Netflix has made no such official statement.

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© Photograph: Manuel Harlan

© Photograph: Manuel Harlan

© Photograph: Manuel Harlan

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Politicians try to calm tensions inflamed by social media after stabbing in Belfast

Attack was filmed and shared online prompting Elon Musk and others to call for anti-immigration protests

Politicians from across the spectrum have called for calm after a knife attack in Belfast prompted widespread shock and condemnation.

There are fears there could be disorder after figures on social media, including Elon Musk, called for people to fill the streets in protest against immigration. The alleged perpetrator of the attack, which was filmed and shared widely online, was revealed today as an asylum seeker from Sudan.

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© Photograph: Social Media

© Photograph: Social Media

© Photograph: Social Media

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Tommy Robinson meets Elon Musk’s father in Moscow

Activist, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, shared video of his meeting with Errol Musk

Tommy Robinson has travelled to Russia, where he has met Elon Musk’s father, Errol, in a Moscow hotel.

Robinson – who has been issuing calls for his supporters to take to the streets across the UK over a bloody knife attack in Belfast – shared video of his meeting with Musk, whose son has been a vocal supporter of Robinson, on Monday.

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© Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

© Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

© Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

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Search black boys, protect white folk: Kemi vies to out-right the far right | John Crace

When politicians talk ‘common sense’ it’s time to worry; when the Tory leader does, it’s time to be doubly vigilant

You know how it is. You’re a middle class, straight white man in his 60s in A&E. Possibly the most disadvantaged person in the entire country. You complain of chest pains. In the adjoining triage queue there is a black woman with what looks like a broken toe. You know what happens next. The black woman is seen within minutes. You have a cardiac arrest on the waiting room floor.

Said no one ever. There may be times when there simply aren’t enough staff in the A&E department. There may also be times when a doctor under pressure fails to make the right diagnosis. But no one for a minute believes they are being deliberately kept waiting any longer than necessary. The founding principle of the NHS is predicated on patients being treated according to the severity of their condition.

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© Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP

© Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP

© Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP

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UK’s biggest retailers urge government to act on youth unemployment

Bosses of M&S, Sainsbury’s and Tesco among those writing to Starmer that the ‘ladder of opportunity’ is wobbling

Some of the UK’s biggest retailers are planning to write to the prime minister urging him to tackle the youth unemployment crisis, with signatories expected to include the bosses of Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Tesco.

Lobby group the British Retail Consortium said it had drafted a letter to Keir Starmer calling for action, and is circulating it among its 200 members, which include all the main UK retailers (with the exception of Games Workshop) as well as smaller shops. The letter is expected to be published on Wednesday.

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© Photograph: Oliver Dixon/PA

© Photograph: Oliver Dixon/PA

© Photograph: Oliver Dixon/PA

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Tempest in the stalls as baby disrupts Kenneth Branagh RSC performance

Audience members said baby’s cooing and gurgling ruined Branagh’s return to the RSC after 30 years, with some seeking refunds

Boatswain! The opening scene of Shakespeare’s seminal play The Tempest, in which Prospero conjures up a violent storm to shipwreck his treacherous brother, is enough to wake up anyone – let alone a baby.

Audience members at a matinee performance of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production, starring Kenneth Branagh as Prospero, complained after a baby gurgled and cooed its way throughout the entire first half.

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© Photograph: Tim Gainey/Alamy

© Photograph: Tim Gainey/Alamy

© Photograph: Tim Gainey/Alamy

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Family pay tribute to ‘altruistic’ London woman as her killer is jailed for life

Father and mother of Annabel Rook praised her dedication to helping others and want to focus on her legacy

A retired Old Bailey judge has paid tribute to his daughter after her killer was jailed for life.

Today at Snaresbrook crown court, Clifton George, 45, was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of the murder of Annabel Rook, 46, whom he stabbed in the living room of her own home in Stoke Newington, north London.

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© Photograph: family Handout/PA

© Photograph: family Handout/PA

© Photograph: family Handout/PA

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Badenoch criticises Macpherson report and calls for more stop and search

Tory leader takes aim at police guidance and says more black boys searched means more black lives saved

Kemi Badenoch has argued that Britain took a wrong turn after the landmark Macpherson report into the racist killing of Stephen Lawrence, and said that it didn’t matter how many young black boys were stopped and searched by police.

The Conservative leader made the comments as she announced plans to scrap the obligation on public bodies to consider how they can promote equality as she seeks to head off the challenge to her party from Reform UK.

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© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

© Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

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Jersey teenage politician congratulated by Trump says he is not a fan

Gabriel Raimondo put his A-levels on hold to run in Channel Islands and ‘represent the younger voice’

Most politicians who win an election in Jersey are probably satisfied with a pat on the back from their supporters and a mention in the local newspapers.

But after becoming one of the youngest politicians in the world, Gabriel Raimondo received a message of congratulations from Donald Trump.

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© Photograph: Gabriel Raimondo

© Photograph: Gabriel Raimondo

© Photograph: Gabriel Raimondo

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Guernsey cardiologist Dean Patterson has been persecuted by the medical establishment for doing what’s right; “Someone has to stand up for the truth”

In 2023, Doc Malik interviewed Dean Patterson, a leading consultant cardiologist in Guernsey, who had his medical licence suspended by the General Medical Council pending the outcome of fitness to practice proceedings. […]

The post Guernsey cardiologist Dean Patterson has been persecuted by the medical establishment for doing what’s right; “Someone has to stand up for the truth” first appeared on The Expose.

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UK regulator orders social media firms to adopt measures to stop viral illegal content

Ofcom move follows concerns about misinformation and online claims over police response to Henry Nowak stabbing

Social media companies have been ordered to have emergency measures in place to stop illegal content going viral, as regulators battle to stop the type of misinformation spiral that circulated after the 2024 summer riots.

Sites such as X, formerly Twitter, and TikTok will have to have a “crisis protocol” in place to intervene when the sharing of dangerous content begins to rise.

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© Photograph: Chesnot/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chesnot/Getty Images

© Photograph: Chesnot/Getty Images

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Amazon’s main UK arm handed £7.6m tax credit as profits soar to £355m

Tech company received infrastructure relief as its five biggest UK divisions generate £32bn in revenues

Amazon’s main division in the UK was handed a £7.6m tax credit last year by HM Revenue and Customs, despite profits at the retail-to-streaming company surging by more than a quarter to £355m.

Amazon UK Services – which employs 66,000 staff, the vast majority of the company’s 75,000 employees in Britain – said it owed £9.1m in “current tax” last year.

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© Photograph: Daniel Leal/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Daniel Leal/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Daniel Leal/AFP/Getty Images

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Summer holiday bookings down amid ‘apprehension’, says UK travel industry

Fears about the Middle East conflict, cost of living and EU border checks are leading people to delay their decisions

Holiday bookings for early summer have been hit by uncertainty around the conflict in the Middle East and the rising cost of living, the travel industry has said.

Mark Tanzer, chief executive of the UK travel association Abta, said that while people still wanted to go on holiday, the industry was bracing for a difficult summer.

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© Photograph: Maria Galan/Alamy

© Photograph: Maria Galan/Alamy

© Photograph: Maria Galan/Alamy

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UK Parliament needs to launch an investigation into the Clean Power 2030 plan before it does any more damage

In 2024, National Energy System Operator (“NESO”) and Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (“DESNZ”) devised their “Clean Power 2030” plan.  They claimed their plan would bring down energy bills for […]

The post UK Parliament needs to launch an investigation into the Clean Power 2030 plan before it does any more damage first appeared on The Expose.

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Unions rebuff Farage and say Reform ‘cosplaying’ as workers’ champions

TUC, GMB and Unison leaders reject invitation to affiliate to Reform amid rising support for party among their members

Major trade unions and the TUC have rebuffed Nigel Farage’s call for unions to affiliate to Reform UK, saying the party is “cosplaying” as workers’ champions and has opposed new employment rights.

Farage issued a call on Tuesday for unions to attend Reform’s conference and to affiliate to the party, and he suggested one union may be on the brink of doing so.

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© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

© Photograph: Sean Smith/The Guardian

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