Tag: News Story

STORY

Louise Cantillon has taken up her appointment as British High Commissioner to New Zealand and Governor of the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie and Oeno Islands. She succeeds Iona Thomas OBE, who completed her tenure earlier in 2026. The appointment was initially announced on 14 August, with the British High Commission confirming on 26 August that Ms Cantillon had joined the diplomatic mission.

Ms Cantillon previously served as British Consul General in Sydney and Deputy Trade Commissioner for Asia Pacific, covering Australia and New Zealand. Her earlier career included trade and project management roles in China, work for the British Council across Asia and positions in the private sector. She is also a chartered surveyor.

The High Commissioner said she would work to strengthen trade, investment and cultural links between the two countries, alongside cooperation on security and wider challenges in the Indo Pacific region. The UK New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, which entered into force in May 2023, will form an important part of that work by providing tariff free access and supporting bilateral trade.

STORY

Police are investigating after a group of burglars broke into the Cornish Bakehouse in Norwich city centre. The burglary took place at the bakery’s premises on Haymarket on Tuesday 25 August, with food and drink reported stolen from the business.

Officers are seeking information about the group responsible for the break in. No arrests have yet been reported and the value of the stolen goods has not been disclosed. The investigation remains ongoing, meaning the identity of those involved and the full circumstances of the burglary have not been established.

STORY

An RAC patrol worker has been dismissed for gross misconduct after he was filmed stopping beside a road in Solihull to speak to a friend involved with the Raise the Colours campaign. Abdul Bashir, from Birmingham, had worked for the breakdown company for six years before his dismissal, which followed an internal investigation into the incident on 26 July. The footage showed Mr Bashir, who was wearing RAC uniform, greeting Raise the Colours co-founder Ryan Bridge while flags were being attached to lampposts.

The RAC said the dismissal followed multiple breaches of road traffic law, health and safety requirements and company policy. According to the company, these included stopping a patrol vehicle illegally in a live lane, delaying attendance to a stranded member, standing unsafely between two vehicles and directing a colleague to make an unlawful manoeuvre. The RAC said the safety of its members, employees and other road users was its priority and that the grounds for dismissal had been explained to Mr Bashir following a thorough investigation.

Mr Bashir disputed the company’s account, arguing that the road was quiet, the vehicle’s hazard lights and beacons were operating and he had merely stopped to greet a longstanding friend. He claimed his association with Mr Bridge and Raise the Colours was the real reason for his dismissal, although the RAC maintains that its decision concerned safety, traffic law and company policy. Raise the Colours describes the display of Union and St George’s flags as patriotic, while critics have associated the campaign with anti-immigration and far-right political messaging.

STORY

Reform UK has announced that it would replace the United Kingdom’s GDPR data protection framework and abandon the requirement for all new cars and vans to be zero emission by 2035. The party presented the proposals as part of a wider plan to reduce regulation and lower costs for businesses.

The party also said it would reverse the increase in employers’ National Insurance introduced by the Labour Government in 2024 and remove income tax from qualifying overtime payments. Reform has argued that its measures would encourage businesses to employ more people and reward those working additional hours, although questions remain about the cost of the proposed tax reductions and the system that would be required to distinguish overtime from ordinary earnings.

Labour said removing GDPR would weaken protections for people’s private information, while the Conservatives described Reform’s announcements as insufficiently developed. Any replacement for the existing data protection system would also need to address whether the European Union would continue recognising British standards as adequate for the transfer of personal data. Reform said current regulations placed unnecessary burdens on employers and that it would introduce a less restrictive domestic framework.

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Sainsbury’s is to provide around 10,000 work experience and employability opportunities for young people during the next year as part of a Government backed effort to reduce youth unemployment. The Modern Work Experience Programme will begin in October and operate across England, Scotland and Wales.

The programme will give participants access to workplace visits, careers sessions, practical experience and help with CVs, interviews and job applications. It will cover careers in areas including retail, logistics, food, technology and business, with different forms of support available to young people aged between 14 and 24. Schools will be able to register their interest from September.

The scheme will concentrate on communities with high levels of free school meal eligibility and areas where young people face significant barriers to employment. The Government said more than one million people aged between 16 and 24 were not in education, employment or training. Prime Minister Andy Burnham called on other businesses to provide similar opportunities, arguing that access to work experience should not depend on personal contacts.

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A 19-year-old man has died and a woman has been critically injured following a police pursuit near Stratford upon Avon. Warwickshire Police said officers attempted to stop a black Audi on Birmingham Road at around 5.23pm on Monday 24 August, but its driver failed to stop and travelled towards the A46 before returning towards Stratford on the A439 Warwick Road.

At approximately 5.44pm, the Audi is understood to have collided with a white Ford Puma. The 19-year-old driver of the Audi was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, while the driver of the Ford was taken to hospital and remained in a critical condition when police issued their statement. Several other vehicles were also damaged during the pursuit.

The families of those involved have been informed and are receiving specialist support. Warwickshire Police has made a mandatory referral to the Independent Office for Police Conduct because the death followed police contact. The IOPC has declared an independent investigation and the force said it would cooperate fully.

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Chancellor John Healey has said the Government will continue working with the United States and other international partners to apply economic pressure on Iran. He said more than 240 sanctions had been imposed by the Government since it took office, targeting Iranian individuals and organisations whose activities were considered a threat to British people and national security.

Healey said the measures were intended to prevent the Iranian regime from using the global economy and British financial system to support its nuclear programme and other activities the Government regards as destabilising. He also welcomed US efforts to increase pressure through Operation Economic Outcast, although his statement did not identify any additional UK sanctions being imposed as part of the announcement.

The Chancellor said Britain supported American efforts to secure a diplomatic settlement and would continue working with international partners to protect UK interests and restore access through the Strait of Hormuz. He called on Iran to end what he described as destabilising activity across the region and to participate in diplomatic discussions in good faith.

STORY

British businesses are to be given greater access to the expertise of UK diplomats as part of a new Government programme intended to help companies expand into international markets. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has launched the Global Network Programme, which will bring together business leaders, diplomats and international partners to help firms identify overseas opportunities and understand the risks associated with operating in different markets.

Participants will receive advice from ambassadors, senior policymakers and academics on subjects including international trade, geopolitics, security and emerging technology. Overseas officials, businesses and civil society organisations will also participate, with the Government saying the programme should help British companies build international networks and make better informed investment decisions. UK diplomats will meanwhile gain greater insight into the challenges faced by businesses seeking to expand abroad.

Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband said stronger international networks and a better understanding of economic and geopolitical developments would be increasingly important for British businesses. Sessions will be held at FCDO venues including King Charles Street, Wilton Park and Lancaster House, with the scheme forming part of the department’s Diplomatic College and its wider FCDO2030 modernisation programme.

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Donald Trump has been mocked after suggesting that the United States could rename Lake Ontario as “Lake America”, as criticism grows that the President’s increasingly confrontational approach towards traditional allies is damaging America’s international reputation. Trump wrote on Truth Social that the US was giving “serious consideration” to changing the lake’s name because he did not expect the country to be doing much business with Ontario in future. The proposal was quickly met with ridicule and bemusement online, with critics describing it as childish and absurd.

The intervention came during a rapidly escalating trade dispute between the United States and Canada, after talks collapsed and Washington imposed tariffs of up to 50% on billions of dollars of Canadian goods. Canada has responded with retaliatory tariffs, while Prime Minister Mark Carney has accused the Trump administration of attempting to subordinate his country and interfere with Canadian protections for French language and culture. Lake Ontario itself crosses the US Canadian border and is jointly managed by the two countries, meaning Trump could change the name used by US federal agencies but could not compel Canada or international organisations to adopt it.

The episode has also fed a wider debate in the United States about the reputational and strategic damage caused by Washington’s increasingly hostile rhetoric towards allies. Republican politicians and former senior US military figures have criticised recent attacks on Canada as embarrassing and harmful to American interests, pointing to Canada’s long standing role as a NATO ally, NORAD partner and military partner in conflicts including Afghanistan. The dispute now extends well beyond a row about the name of a lake, with critics arguing that repeated threats and insults risk weakening trust in the United States among countries which have traditionally regarded Washington as their closest ally.

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The UK has called for an immediate humanitarian truce in Sudan followed by a permanent ceasefire and an inclusive civilian led political process, warning that the conflict has created what it described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Britain told the UN Security Council that 33 million people now require humanitarian assistance, while civilians continue to face attacks, torture, arbitrary detention, sexual violence and the loss of essential services.

UK Permanent Representative to the UN Dame Sarah MacIntosh said responsibility for ending the conflict ultimately rested with Sudan’s military leaders, fighters and those financing and supplying the war. She said Britain supported efforts by the United States, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to broker a humanitarian truce, alongside wider international attempts to establish an inclusive Sudanese political dialogue. The UK also called for restrictions on the flow of weapons, stronger sanctions and greater pressure on those responsible for attacks on civilians.

The Government said Britain was providing $200 million in humanitarian assistance to Sudan this year, intended to reach more than 1.8 million people with food, healthcare, clean water, nutrition and protection services. MacIntosh also called on all parties to allow rapid and unrestricted humanitarian access, saying families were starving and aid workers remained under attack. She said the UK would continue supporting mediation efforts, sanctions against those responsible for atrocities and work to gather evidence for potential accountability through international bodies including the International Criminal Court.