United Kingdom

    George Galloway has welcomed his sixth child, after his wife Putri Gayatri Pertiwi gave birth to a baby girl on Saturday. The former MP, 65, took to Twitter to announce his daughter's arrival, and revealed both wife Putri, 35, and their bundle of joy were doing well. This is George and Putri's third child together since they married in 2012, as he's also dad to three children from his previous marriages. George tweeted: 'We are delighted to announce the natural home-birth of our third child -a girl - at 1.41am -8lbs 6oz. 'Mother and baby are both doing well. Pictures later! She has three brothers and two sisters by the grace of God. Huge thanks to the truly wonderful midwives Karen and Lucy.' In March George announced that he and Putri were expecting their third ...

    The death toll from a massive blast at Beirut’s port has risen again to 137, as the Lebanese army took control of the site on the first day of a two-week state of emergency. The new casualty figures on Thursday morning include at least 5,000 injured and a health ministry spokesman said dozens were still missing. This toll is not final, he said. As volunteers worked with the army to clean up shattered streets, buildings and hospitals, the government said it had formed an investigation committee to look into the explosion, which appears to have been set off by 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had been stored at the port since 2014. Lebanese officials have started blaming each other for leaving the highly explosive substance sitting so close to residential neighb...

    WHSmith is looking to cut up to 1,500 jobs after the high street retailer said its recovery from the COVID-19 lockdown remained slow. With other firms also threatening redundancies, including PizzaExpress, DW Sports and Hays Travel, it brings the total number to almost 6,000 so far this week alone. WHSmith said it was starting to consult with staff over the cost-cutting plans after its revenue was down 57% in July compared with the same month last year, even as its shops started to welcome customers back. While most of the loss came from its coronavirus-hit travel business, the company said its shops in airports and train stations had been hit by low passenger numbers, while its high street stores also suffered from low footfall. It said it now expected to make a ...

    Women who join Isis are being “underestimated” by international security services because of gender stereotypes, the United Nations has warned. The head of its Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) told The Independent there were a range of different biases in investigations, charging, sentencing and the provision of rehabilitation and reintegration support. Executive director Michele Coninsx would not comment directly on the Shamima Begum case, but said that governments should “steer away from politicising and sensationalising women’s roles in terrorism”. Begum, who left the UK to join Isis in Syria when she was 15, is attempting to return to Britain for a legal battle over her citizenship. Ms Coninsx said several countries had removed jihadis’...

    Fresh lockdown restrictions in England have sparked fears of hundreds of thousands of job losses as the Government's furlough scheme begins to wind down. From today, employers will start paying National Insurance and pension contributions for their staff, the first easing of a scheme that has paid the wages of more than 9 million workers since March. It comes after a wave of new coronavirus infections prompted Boris Johnson to reimpose lockdown restrictions in some areas of north west England, and postpone the reopening of certain businesses including bowling alleys and casinos. Meanwhile, a Spitfire plane emblazoned with the names of 80,000 NHS staff will carry out a flypast over hospitals in Kent today in a tribute to key workers.

    The government has been granted permission to fight a ruling that Shamima Begum should be allowed to return to Britain. The Supreme Court will consider whether the former Isis bride can enter the UK for a legal battle over the removal of her British citizenship. The Court of Appeal ruled against the government by granting Begum permission to launch a judicial review on 16 July. But at a new hearing on Friday, judges said the home secretary’s case should be heard “as soon as reasonably practicable”. Judges formally stayed the previous ruling, meaning that Begum cannot currently return to the UK from Syria. The Court of Appeal heard that The Sun would be referred to the attorney general's office for potential contempt of court proceedings because it published a sto...

    Quarantine measures could be extended to a host of European countries as coronavirus outbreaks continue to emerge across the continent. Belgium and Croatia are among the nations being touted as the next destinations to be axed from the Government’s list of safe countries to visit after Boris Johnson said ministers were prepared to take action where it is necessary. Heathrow Airport’s chief executive is among those calling on the Government to replace the 14-day self-isolation period for travellers returning to the UK from higher-risk countries with a comprehensive testing scheme. However, Cabinet minister Oliver Dowden has refuted this as a viable solution, saying there is no silver bullet against quarantine. In other developments, a £4.3 million review has been l...

    The UK's "true" coronavirus death toll has passed 56,400, the latest Office for National Statistics figures reveal. So far 56,409 deaths have been registered across the country where Covid-19 was mentioned on the death certificate, including suspected cases. The figures come amid an ongoing row over Britain's travel quarantine measures, with reports the self-isolation period will be cut down from 14 days to 10. The Government continues to opinion over its swift decision to remove Spain from its list of safe destinations to visit. Meanwhile, Downing Street has added a further five countries to the so-called travel corridor group. In other developments, Boris Johnson has announced plans to make bikes available on the NHS as part of the Government’s anti-obesity driv...

    A pet cat has become the first animal to test positive for coronavirus in the UK. The only details known about the feline are that it lives in England and was tested at a laboratory in Weybridge, Surrey, last week, on 22 July. The government said there is no evidence the cat transmitted the virus to its owners or that any other domestic pets are able to, either. Chief veterinary officer Christine Middlemiss explained: "Tests conducted by the Animal and Plant Health Agency have confirmed that the virus responsible for COVID-19 has been detected in a pet cat in England. This is a very rare event with infected animals detected to date only showing mild clinical signs and recovering within in a few days. There is no evidence to suggest that pets directly transmit the ...

    Mayor of Luton Cllr Tahir Malik, Cllr Waheed Akbar and Cllr Asif Mahmood attended a large gathering where social distancing was not being followed, and face masks were not worn. Pictures of the event caused outrage after they were shared on Facebook. On one image, Cllr Malik is seen with a face mask hanging beneath his face. Luton has currently been earmarked as an area for intervention by the government after a spike in Covid-19 cases. In a statement to the media, the three councillors stated: We apologise unreservedly to the people of Luton for our breach of the lockdown rules. We attended what we believed was going to be a small socially distanced gathering, in line with the government guidelines. During the course of the event, the arrival of additional guests ...