United Kingdom

A former counter terrorism chief has described how he initially wondered if the poisoning of a former spy and his daughter could have been "an act of war".

Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were exposed to the deadly nerve agent Novichok in Salisbury in March 2018.

Neil Basu, who led the counter-terrorism investigation, said the "true horror" of the "colourless and odourless" poison was not knowing how to warn people or what to look for.

In an exclusive interview with the BBC's Salisbury Poisonings podcast, he said: "To leave that lying around anywhere on foreign soil is the most unbelievably reckless disregard for human life I've ever witnessed."

Thoughts on this?

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/25105380

Kevin Jordan and two other claimants argued the country’s climate adaptation plans were insufficient and unlawful

East Riding council promised to store Robert Bracegirdle’s possessions after his disappearance, but disposed of them

The Russian president closed this year's BRICS summit by addressing a variety of topics, including claims Russia is trying to create mayhem in the UK.

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Good news! Following up from this https://feddit.uk/post/18671151

The men's World Conker Championships winner has been cleared of cheating after a steel chestnut was found in his pocket.

In an average working day, Claudia Bowring has to play the role of detective, estate agent, family mediator and, occasionally, grief counsellor.

She’s an empty homes officer for a borough council in the suburbs of Nottingham.

There are just short of 700,000 empty and unfurnished homes in England, according to the most recent government figures, external. Of those, 261,471 are classed as “long-term empty,” meaning no-one has lived there for six months or more.

If all empty homes were brought back into use, the housing crisis would be solved at a stroke and, arguably, the government would not have to build 1.5m new homes.

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that. Bringing derelict and abandoned properties back to life can be a long and complex process.

Even finding out who owns properties that have been standing empty for years, or in some cases decades, can be a challenge.

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When persuasion fails, the gloves come off.

Like many local authorities, Conservative-controlled Rushcliffe charges extra council tax on homes that have been unoccupied for more than a year, under the Empty Homes Premium brought in by the previous government.

If that doesn’t do the trick, the council can take enforcement action.

It treats abandoned properties as an environmental health issue - derelict properties can be a magnet for vandalism and vermin, harming the quality of life for people living next to them.

In some cases, the council is able to carry out emergency repair work on abandoned homes, and then force a sale at auction to recover its costs. This sometimes results in a windfall for the owners who were so reluctant to sell up in the first place.

Another tool at the council’s disposal are Empty Dwelling Management Orders, which give councils the right to take over and make repairs to run-down private properties that have been vacant for at least two years. They can rent the property out for up to seven years to recover costs.

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But it does not have to do this. There is no legal requirement for local authorities to bring empty homes back into use – and some councils choose not to.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/3843656

Securing the release of pro-democracy activist and British citizen Jimmy Lai from a Hong Kong prison is a "priority" for the government, Sir Keir Starmer has said.

During Prime Minister's Questions, Conservative leader Rishi Sunak asked if Lai's imprisonment was a breach of the 1984 treaty transferring power over Hong Kong from the UK to China.

The prime minister agreed it was a breach and said the government would "continue" to raise the case with China.

Lai, who is 76, was arrested in 2020 for fraud and involvement in protests and, following delays, is now facing trial for sedition and collusion with foreign forces.

His son called for "action" from Sir Keir to "save my father's life".

[...]

But he added: "My father will be 77 soon, he has spent close to four years in solitary confinement in a maximum security prison for peacefully campaigning for democracy in Hong Kong.

"As you can expect his health has deteriorated by a lot. I would ask our prime minister to put word to action, to save my father’s life and bring him home.”

Jimmy Lai has pleaded not guilty, but would face life in prison if convicted.

Lai founded the now-defunct newspaper Apple Daily and was involved in pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.

[Edit title for clarity.]

Counter-terrorism police are investigating whether Russian spies planted an incendiary device on a plane to Britain that later caught fire at a DHL warehouse in Birmingham, the Guardian can reveal.

Nobody was reported injured in the fire on 22 July at a warehouse in the suburb of Minworth that handles parcels for delivery, and the blaze was dealt with by the local fire brigade and by staff.

The parcel is believed to have arrived at the DHL warehouse by air, though it is not known if it was a cargo or passenger aircraft, nor where it was destined for. There could have been serious consequences if it had ignited during the flight.

A similar incident occurred in Germany, also in late July, when a suspect package bound for a flight caught fire at another DHL facility in Leipzig, and investigators are looking at links between the two. German authorities warned this week that had the parcel caught fire mid-air it could have downed the plane.

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British investigators suspect that the incendiary device is part of a wider campaign that Russian spies have been carrying out across Europe this year, which has been condemned as rash and careless by spy chiefs in the UK and elsewhere.

Ken McCallum, the head of MI5, warned last week that Russia’s GRU military intelligence appeared to be on “a sustained mission to generate mayhem on British and European streets: we’ve seen arson, sabotage and more”.

The British spy chief accused Russia of engaging in “dangerous actions conducted with increasing recklessness” and argued that the plotting was counter-productive for the Kremlin because it was “driving increased operational coordination with partners across Europe and beyond”.

Russia’s motive appears to have been to try to inflict a cost on western allies of Ukraine, though the plots are at times precise and at others poorly coordinated and amateurish. But the Kremlin usually denies it is engaged in sabotage activity and has in the past dismissed its accusers of engaging in conspiracy theories.

Metal replica conker found in pocket of David Jakins AKA King Conker, first-time winner after competing since 1977

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/21381352

The Dutch have seen their prison population decrease by more than 40% over the past 20 years. At the other end of the spectrum, Britain has the highest rate of incarceration in western Europe, and is struggling with an unprecedented prisons crisis. Britain’s minister of prisons, James Timpson, calls the Netherlands a source of inspiration.

What could the Dutch system teach the rest of the world? First, the declining prison population is not actually the result of recent policies by visionary politicians. Much of it is due to changes in reported crime and the nature of crime. As in many other western countries, the number of violent crimes has significantly dropped in the Netherlands in recent decades.

This does not necessarily mean that there is actually less crime overall, as Dutch criminologist Francis Pakes, professor at the University of Portsmouth, who has studied the reasons for the emptying Dutch prisons, told me: “There is less conventional, violent crime, like murder. On the other hand, a lot of conventional crime went online and is less visible. And it is quite possible that there is a kind of organised crime that we have little visibility on. But fewer serious cases are coming to the police and courts.” And so fewer people end up in jail.

But while the Dutch don’t have a model policy the world can copy, the overall Dutch attitude towards imprisonment could be instructive. According to Pakes, the Dutch are much more aware that a stay in prison does more harm than good. Society may be rid of a criminal for a while, but in many cases, criminals simply resume their activities when they leave prison. They may become more ruthless, due to the violent prison climate in which they have had to survive. And perhaps they have a wider criminal network that they built up behind bars.

This also applies to shorter sentences. Even these can completely turn an offender’s life upside down. You can lose your job, home and social network. And you rarely become a better person during a short stay in jail.