No 10 defends May not signing letter opposing US on Paris climate deal

Pic: No 10 said Theresa May robustly expressed her disappointment in a phone call with Donald Trump.
Political reporter(wp):

Downing Street has defended Theresa May not signing up to a joint declaration by Germany, France and Italy in opposition to Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord by stressing that other countries also chose a different path.

A source pointed out that Japan and Canada had not signed up to the letter and said the prime minister’s approach was “consistent as to how we approach dealings with international leaders”. 

They said May first wanted to speak to the US president and claimed she was robust in her disappointment during a phone call.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, earlier accused May of a “dereliction of duty to our country and our planet” for failing to issue a stronger condemnation.

He told an election rally in York: “Given the chance to present a united front with our international partners, she has instead opted for silence and subservience to Donald Trump.”

A Downing Street spokesperson said Trump had called May to discuss the decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement and said the door remained open to future US involvement in the deal.

“She [May] said the Paris agreement provides the right global framework for protecting the prosperity and security of future generations, while keeping energy affordable and secure for our citizens and businesses,” the spokesperson said.

“The president made clear that the door remains open to future US involvement in the agreement.”

They said the pair had also agreed on the importance of continued cooperation on wider energy issues. 

The former Labour leader Ed Miliband said BBC Radio’s World at One that May was being “weak and feeble and spineless” for not being willing to condemn the US president.

When it was put to him that May has said she expressed disappointment about Trump’s decision, Miliband replied: “Disappointment is when your football team loses a match. It is not when somebody makes a devastating decision like this. America is one of the two largest emitters in the world, along with China. This decision was backed by every country in the world apart from Syria, which is in the middle of a civil war, and Nicaragua, which wanted us to go further. American leadership was so important to this.”

Large knife seized and two arrested after police chase in north London

Crime reporter(wp/es):

Two men were arrested and a large knife was seized following a police chase involving a Mercedes in north London.

Officers traced the reportedly stolen car before the suspects made off on foot in Belfast Road, near Stoke Newington station, on Sunday.

The driver was spotted entering a building on the street and he and another man was arrested at the scene.

Dramatic pictures from the incident show a smashed up dark blue Mercedes with a punctured tyre.

Police released an image of the weapon seized, which they say is a 13-inch blade.

Hackney Police said on Twitter that the knife was recovered “following a vehicle pursuit and foot chase.”

The pair were arrested on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle, criminal damage, failing to stop and possession of an offensive weapon.

A Metropolitan Police spokeswoman said: “They were taken to an east London police station where they remain in custody.”

“Enquiries continue.”

Thousands of London drivers caught using mobiles at wheel despite tougher penalties

Pic:Police caught the equivalent of one driver every seven minutes illegally using their mobile at the wheel
Staff reporter(wp/es):

Thousands of drivers were caught illegally using their mobile phones on London's roads following a major crackdown.

Police in Britain penalised almost 6,000 motorists, more than a third of them in the capital, in the four weeks after tough new penalties for the offence came into force.

More than 200 drivers a day were caught using their phones at the wheel, the equivalent of one every seven minutes.

Campaigners claimed the "worrying" findings suggest people are ignoring repeated warnings about the dangers of using phones while driving despite a string of publicity campaigns and the risk of harsher sanctions.

From March 1, those who fall foul of the rules have faced receiving six points on their licence and a £200 fine - up from the previous penalty of three points and £100.

The changes mean new drivers risk losing their licence for sending a single text.

Calls for efforts to curb illegal mobile phone use intensified in the wake of a string of high-profile cases and research indicating that it is widespread.

Figures obtained by the Press Association following Freedom of Information requests show forces recorded 5,977 instances of the offence the four weeks after the clampdown was rolled out alongside a nationwide police campaign.

The actual figure is likely to be higher as seven forces did not provide figures and some cases may not have been logged at the time FOI responses were issued.

The Metropolitan Police registered the highest number at 2,037, meaning more than 70 drivers were caught using a handheld phone on London's roads each day.

Thames Valley Police recorded the second-largest total at 478, followed by Police Scotland (339), Hampshire Police (280) and Cheshire Police (224).

Incidents reported by police after the tougher penalties were introduced include:

•  A man spotted doing his online banking while driving along the M5 motorway near Birmingham
• A driver on his phone while behind the wheel of a school minibus with 10 children on board in Manchester
• Norfolk Police stopped a woman who was responding to a message about her lost puppy being found
• A foreign lorry driver fined for texting on a bright pink mobile phone while travelling along the M2 in Kent
• A 7.5-tonne lorry driven around a roundabout in Bournemouth by a man using his phone

The RAC Foundation described the increased penalties as "a start", but warned the figures for March suggest "the key message still isn't sinking in".

Steve Gooding, director of the motoring research charity, said: "Driving is a safety-critical activity that requires our full attention. Hands need to be on the wheel and eyes looking out of the windscreen, not down at the phone screen."

The new figures sparked calls for more investment in traffic policing to compliment the tougher penalties.

There have been falls in the numbers of drivers handed fines for using handheld mobiles in recent years amid reductions in full-time dedicated roads policing officers.

Jack Kushner, a spokesman for road safety charity Brake, described the number of drivers "selfishly using their mobile phones behind the wheel" as concerning.

"Driver distraction is a growing menace and it's worrying that drivers don't seem to be getting the message," he added.

The charity wants the £200 fine to be "significantly increased" to deter offenders.

Twenty-two people were killed and 99 seriously injured in accidents on Britain's roads in 2015 where a motorist using a mobile was a contributory factor, Department for Transport figures show.

Police say they want to make using a mobile while driving as "socially unacceptable" as drink-driving.

National Police Chiefs' Council lead for roads policing Anthony Bangham said: "Drivers need to understand that this is not a minor offence and you will be prosecuted under new, tougher penalties."

He said forces are committed to tackling the behaviour, adding: "Encouraging results from recent campaigns show how effective new tactics and innovative approaches can be."

British Airways boss apologises for 'catastrophic' IT failure that caused havoc for 75,000 people

Staff reporter(wp/es):

IT failure which caused chaos for thousands of travellers, but insisted it was down to a “power surge” rather than outsourcing of jobs.

BA flights were brought to a halt at Heathrow and Gatwick on Saturday with 75,000 people affected by the three days of disruption.

The firm was accused of greed after the GMB union suggested the disruption could have been prevented if the beleaguered airline had not cut "hundreds of dedicated and loyal" IT staff and contracted the work to India in 2016.

But the airline's chief executive Alex Cruz said this was not the case, adding that a full investigation would be conducted into the failure which affected 75,000 passengers.

He told Sky News: "I can confirm that all the parties involved around this particular event have not been involved in any type of outsourcing in any foreign country.

"They have all been local issues around a local data centre who has been managed and fixed by local resources."

Mr Cruz said: "On Saturday morning at around 9.30 there was indeed a power surge that had a catastrophic effect over some communications hardware which eventually affected all the messaging across our systems."

He added: "We will have completed an exhaustive investigation on exactly the reasons of why this happened. We will, of course, share those conclusions once we have actually finished them.

"We have no evidence whatsoever that there was any cyber attack of any sort."

Mr Cruz apologised "profusely" for the hardship caused to customers and insisted a similar incident would never happen again.

He further offered assurances that no customer data or any list, including terror watch lists, had been compromised by the glitch.

Mick Rix, national officer for aviation at the union, said at the weekend: "This could have all been avoided.

"In 2016 BA made hundreds of dedicated and loyal IT staff redundant and outsourced the work to India.

"BA have made substantial profits for a number of years, and many viewed the company's actions as just plain greedy."

BA has said it will run a full schedule at Gatwick on Monday and it intends to operate a full long-haul schedule and a "high proportion" of its short-haul programme at Heathrow.

However, the airports advised passengers to check the status of their flights before travelling.

On Saturday night travellers spent the night sleeping on yoga mats spread on terminal floors after BA cancelled all flights leaving the London hubs, while disruption continued into Sunday with dozens more services from Heathrow axed.

The IT outage had a knock-on effect on BA services around the world, while passengers who did get moving on the limited number of flights to take off from the UK reported arriving at their destinations without their luggage.

The disruption also hit transport systems on the ground, with hundreds of travellers flooding London's King's Cross station in hope of boarding a train north instead.

Experts predict the knock-on effect could continue for several days and BA is facing huge compensation costs, with reports suggesting the bill could top £100 million.

Mr Cruz said the airline was "committed" to following all compensation rules.

British Airways: turmoil continues after IT failure grounds flights

Staff reporter(wp):

Disruption from a major British Airways IT failure that affected more than 1,000 flights on Saturday has continued into a second day, leaving more passengers stranded.

After all the airline’s flights from Heathrow and Gatwick were grounded on Saturday, services resumed but with cancellations and delays.

By 11am, 36 flights from Heathrow had been cancelled and 36 had departed, the BBC reported. There were no cancellations at Gatwick but passengers experienced delays of about 30 minutes.

Both airports advised passengers to check the status of their flights after terminals became congested on Saturday with travellers hoping to get away for the long weekend and half-term school holiday.

Welsh international table tennis player Chloe Thomas, whose 7.30am flight to Germany for the World Table Tennis Championship in Düsseldorf was cancelled at the last minute after she arrived four hours before the scheduled departure time, described chaotic scenes.

“It’s chaos, people are running about all over the place trying to rebook,” she said. “There’s no one to help, no leadership. There are lots of people everywhere. There’s nowhere to sit, so people are just lying on the floor, sleeping on yoga mats.”

She said airport staff had handed out the mats, as well as thin blankets, for people who were stuck there overnight. She added that one of the shops had already sold out of food. Passengers faced long lines to check in, rebook or find lost luggage.

Melanie Ware, who flew in from Los Angeles and was trying to get to Venice on her honeymoon, told Sky News: “We rebooked for Venice for tonight, which they also have cancelled now. So we have no way of getting out of Heathrow and they haven’t compensated us for anything, and we’re stuck and this is the worst honeymoon ever. British Airways has ruined our honeymoon.”

King’s Cross station in London was packed with people trying to make their way north, with travellers queuing out of the doors and on to the platform for the 9am train to Edinburgh.

Those that could not get on ran to the doors of the next service at 9.30am when the platform was announced, but were met with a warning from the train guard that seats could not be guaranteed for all passengers.

Some passengers lucky enough to board one of the few flights taking off on Saturday later found their luggage had not made it on to the plane with them.

Terry Page, 28, from London, flew from Heathrow to Fort Worth, Texas, where he and about 50 other passengers were told they would have to wait until Monday before being reunited with their bags.

BA, which is facing huge compensation costs as a result of the disruption, was unable to say how many flights would be cancelled or how for long the disruption was likely to continue. Experts predict the knock-on effect, with many planes not in the right place, could continue for several days

The airline said it was aiming to operate a near-normal schedule at Gatwick and the majority of services from Heathrow on Sunday.

A spokesman said: “Our focus is on updating customers and doing what we can to get them to their destinations as quickly as possible.”

The glitch is believed to have been caused by a power supply issue and there is no evidence of a cyber-attack, the airline said. It has denied a claim by the GMB union that BA’s decision to outsource hundreds of IT jobs to India last year was behind the problems.

There were issues with its online check-in systems in September and July last year, causing severe delays for passengers.

Cancelled flight? Know your rights

Passengers have some rights under EU law to claim compensation for delayed or cancelled flights for services that departed within the EU or were operated by a European airline.

Delays of more than three hours for short-haul flights (up to 1,500km or 930 miles) get compensation of €250 (£218); while the figure is €400 for medium-haul trips (1,500km to 3,500km).

For long-haul flights (more than 3,500km), delays of between three and four hours have compensation set at €300; for delays longer than four hours the figure is €600.

Airlines are required to give passengers food and drinks for delays of more than two hours, as well as hotel accommodation for overnight delays and transfers.

Police release CCTV pictures of Manchester bomber

Pic:Greater Manchester police handout of of Salman Abedi taken from CCTV footage of the night of the Manchester Arena attack.
Crime reporter(wp):

Pictures of the Manchester bomber on his way to the arena where he carried out Britain’s worst terrorist attack in 12 years have been released by police. CCTV footage shows Salman Abedi, 22, shortly before his suicide attack on an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester arena on Monday night.

The CCTV images show Abedi in glasses, wearing a black puffa jacket, baseball cap, jeans and trainers and carrying the rucksack containing the device that killed 22 people and injured 119 others.

Police believe he assembled his deadly bomb in a rented Airbnb flat in a mansion block on Granby Row in the city centre, near Canal Street. The flat is one of 17 locations searched by forensic experts in the past few days. Fourteen searches were continuing on Saturday night.

Detectives know that Abedi returned to the UK from Libya on 18 May, four days before the bombing. They hope the images will jog the memories of people who may have seen him in the run-up to the attack.

In a statement released on Saturday night, hours after the terrorism threat level in the UK was reduced from critical to severe, Greater Manchester’s police chief, Ian Hopkins, and its deputy assistant commissioner, Neil Basu, said the investigation was making good progress.

Thirteen people have so far been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences, police said. A thousand people are involved in the investigation to Abedi’s network.

“In the past five days we have gathered significant information about Abedi, his associates, his finances, the places he had been, how the device was built and the wider conspiracy. As a result of the arrests and searches which have taken place, we now have many further lines of inquiry. We already have more than 1,500 actions we are pursuing,” the officers said.

“Since Monday night, Greater Manchester police and Counter Terrorism Policing North-West have been working closely with the national counter-terrorism policing network on what continues to be a large-scale and fast-moving investigation.

“The investigation is making good progress and we know one of the last places Abedi went was the city centre flat, and from there he left to make his way to the Manchester Arena. The flat is highly relevant as a location which we believe may be the final assembly place for the device.”

The latest arrests took place in the early hours of Saturday morning during a raid in Cheetham Hill, a multicultural area of north Manchester. Two men aged 20 and 22 were taken into custody. Neighbours identified Yahya and Mohamed Werfalli, aged 20 and 22, as two of the occupants of the raided house. They were said to be of Libyan descent and part of the same friendship groups as the Manchester bomber.

Shortly after those arrests, armed officers arrived at a terraced house in Boscombe Street, on the Moss Side/Rusholme border, near the site of Manchester City’s old Maine Road ground. Some residents were evacuated as bomb disposal experts from the army carried out investigations in the property.

In their joint statement, the senior officers revealed details on how the investigation unfolded following the bomb, which detonated around 10.30pm on Monday just as the concert finished.

Firearms officers from across the country were deployed to support GMP in case of a further attack. More officers from around the national counter-terrorism policing network across the UK soon arrived. “By early Tuesday morning there was an established pattern, with all officers and staff working on the response to the attack in day and night shifts of approximately 14 hours each,” the senior officers said.Within an hour, GMP had set up a specialist counter-terrorism control room, with a first priority of identifying the attacker. “Specialist counter-terrorist forensic teams were sent to try and identify the attacker and within two hours his identity was known. With this information, officers could begin to establish his movements to try and understand if anyone else was linked or any more attacks planned,” the statement said.

They added: “The whole team are working round the clock. We have around 1,000 people involved in the investigation alone. In addition, there are hundreds of officers and staff from Greater Manchester Police and other forces involved in the security around Greater Manchester.

“This is still a live investigation, which is not slowing down. Our priorities are to understand the run-up to this terrible event and to understand if more people were involved in planning this attack.”

Murder hunt after woman stabbed to death in south London

Crime reporter(wp/es):

A murder hunt was under way today after a woman was stabbed to death in the street in south London.

The woman, who is in her 30s, died at the scene after being attacked in Aubyn Hill, West Norwood shortly after 7pm last night. 

Scotland Yard said there had been no arrests.

Police are seeking an attacker who is understood to be known to the victim.