A BBC presenter informed Southern Water’s managing director his firm is a “full failure and basket case” throughout a heated conflict.
BBC Radio 4 host Amol Rojan challenged managing director Tim McMahon after 58,000 properties in elements of Southampton, Eastleigh, Romsey and the New Forest had been left with out water earlier this week.
Showing on the breakfast present on Friday (20 December) Mr McMahon apologised for the issue after water was restored.
Mr Rojan informed him: “In the event you had been one among your clients you’ll be completely sick of Southern Water. You’d suppose you’re a full failure, an entire basketcase and never offering worth for cash, and fairly frankly you’ll wish to go elsewhere and also you’re not allowed to.”
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A Minnesota man yelled “Y’all don’t cease preventing” to his supporters after a choose determined Thursday to not free him from custody as he appeals his conviction in a gun and drug case that drew consideration as a result of it adopted the commutation of his life sentence in a high-profile homicide case.
Myon Burrell was locked up at 16 for the 2002 demise of 11-year-old Tyesha Edwards, a Minneapolis lady who was hit by a stray bullet. He maintained his innocence. The Related Press and APM Studies in 2020 uncovered new proof and severe flaws in that investigation, resulting in the creation of an impartial authorized panel to assessment the case.
Finally, Burrell was freed after 18 years behind bars. However then police within the Minneapolis suburb of Robbinsdale discovered medicine and a handgun in his SUV throughout a visitors cease final 12 months. That was an issue as a result of, whereas a state pardons board had commuted Burrell’s sentence, his pardon request was denied. That meant his conviction for first-degree homicide remained on his report, making it nonetheless unlawful for him to have a gun.
In consequence, he was sentenced to 5 years in jail on the gun and drug expenses. However his protection is interesting the legality of the visitors cease.
Burrell, now 38, mentioned on Thursday there was no excuse for his conduct however that he was studying to reside once more and attempting to course of what had occurred to him in jail. His backers spoke of his highly effective work with younger individuals to attempt to maintain them from being incarcerated, the Minnesota Star Tribune reported.
Senior Assistant County Lawyer Cheri Townsend mentioned the state merely opposed the movement to launch Burrell due to considerations about public security.
Following the visitors cease, Burrell was charged in Might with a further drug cost after an investigation by which police allege they discovered a small quantity of methamphetamine in his automobile and $60,000 in a suitcase in his residence. Just a few months after that, Burrell was arrested on suspicion of DUI, and police discovered marijuana in his automobile.
Each of these circumstances are pending, and Hennepin County District Choose Mark Kappelhoff mentioned they forged severe doubt on Burrell’s means to show there was no threat he would commit a severe crime.
“I see the group, I hear the group,” mentioned Kappelhoff, who labored for years within the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Assistant Lawyer Common. “However my job is to use the regulation based mostly on what I see, based mostly on the details earlier than me.”
The court docket dominated that the case in opposition to Tate, his brother Tristan and two Romanian girls can not proceed to trial because of procedural errors within the prosecution’s investigation
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An appeals court docket in Romania dominated Thursday that the human trafficking case in opposition to influencer Andrew Tate, his brother and two Romanian ladies can’t go to trial due to a number of authorized and procedural irregularities on the a part of the prosecutors.
The ruling comes two years after Andrew Tate, 38, and his brother Tristian Tate, 36, have been arrested, together with the 2 ladies. The 4 are accused of human trafficking and forming a legal gang to sexually exploit ladies, and Andrew additionally faces an extra rape cost.
The choice by the Bucharest Court docket of Attraction is a large setback for Romania’s anti-organized crime company, DIICOT, however it doesn’t imply the Tates and the 2 ladies stroll free — the case has not been closed, and there may be additionally a separate authorized case in opposition to the brothers in Romania.
The court docket successfully returned case to the prosecutors, who can now convey forth new proof to again up their expenses, or amend and alter the prevailing ones. In November, the identical court docket gave prosecutors 5 days to amend their case file or withdraw it.
The request for the appeals court docket to evaluation the case was made by Tate’s protection staff. His spokesperson, Mateea Petrescu, stated the court docket’s determination “confirms the shortage of credible proof or consistency within the accusations” by the prosecutors.
“The evaluation revealed vital procedural flaws and raised severe considerations concerning the integrity of the investigative course of, additional undermining the credibility of the prosecution’s case,” she stated.
Romanian prosecutors final 12 months formally indicted the Tate brothers and the 2 Romanian ladies, and earlier this 12 months, the Bucharest Tribunal dominated {that a} trial may begin however didn’t set a date. All 4 deny the allegation in opposition to them.
After Thursday’s ruling, Andrew Tate stated prosecutors “had years to construct their case” and to “tear aside my life … and but, they don’t have anything.”
“They threw me in jail, took my cash, my automobiles, and each ounce of my freedom. They made me the largest enemy on the streets, dragging my title by means of the dust with accusations of the bottom, most vile deeds a person might be accused of,” he stated.
“However I by no means broke,” he added.
In its November ruling, the appeals court docket ordered some proof eliminated — together with witness statements by two alleged victims and statements by the Tate brothers, deeming them inadmissible.
The identical court docket additionally stated it had recognized a number of flaws within the prosecutors’ case, which had did not adequately clarify the fees in opposition to Andrew to 1 alleged feminine sufferer who’s a part of the case, and that the fees in opposition to the 2 feminine suspects weren’t correctly offered.
Additionally, the indictment did not specify the quantities associated to the confiscation of belongings within the case, it stated.
The prosecutors didn’t instantly touch upon Thursday’s determination.
Eugen Vidineac, one of many Tate brothers’ legal professionals, stated the choice was “a big authorized victory” that “rightly decided that there’s inadequate foundation to proceed with the case.”
“This determination is a testomony to the power of our authorized system and the integrity of its judges,” Vidineac stated. “Let this function a warning to those that search to weaponize falsehoods: Andrew and Tristan Tate won’t be silenced, and neither will the reality.”
Andrew Tate, who has amassed greater than 10 million followers on the social media platform X, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors in Romania don’t have any proof in opposition to him and that there’s a political conspiracy to silence him.
In the meantime, a British court docket dominated on Wednesday that in a separate case in opposition to the Tate brothers, police can seize greater than 2.6 million kilos ($3.3 million) to cowl years of unpaid taxes from the pair.
Andrew Tate accused the U.Okay. authorities of “outright theft” for freezing his accounts and stated it was “a coordinated assault on anybody who dares to problem the system.”
In August, Romania’s DIICOT launched a second case in opposition to the Tate brothers, investigating allegations of human trafficking, the trafficking of minors, sexual activity with a minor, influencing statements and cash laundering. They’ve additionally denied these expenses.
In March, the Tate brothers appeared on the Bucharest Court docket of Attraction in a separate case after British authorities issued arrest warrants over allegations of sexual aggression in a U.Okay. case relationship again to 2012-2015.
The appeals court docket granted the British request to extradite the Tates, however solely after authorized proceedings in Romania have concluded.
After the Tate brothers’ preliminary arrest in December 2022, they have been held for 3 months in police detention earlier than being moved to deal with arrest. They have been later restricted to motion solely within the Bucharest municipality and close by Ilfov county, after which inside Romania.
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McGrath reported from Warwick, England.
The grieving mom of a teenage boy has described the harrowing second her son died in her arms after a brutal knife assault close to their house in Bristol.
Riley Tolliver, 18, Kodishair Westcott, 17, and two youngsters have been sentenced for the homicide of Max Dixon and his finest buddy Mason Rist, who have been stabbed and left to die on the street within the Knowle West space of town. Tolliver and Westcott obtained life sentences, whereas the 2 youngsters have been detained for all times.
Talking earlier than the listening to at Bristol Crown Courtroom on Thursday, Leanne Ekland instructed how she believed her 16-year-old son Max was in his bed room taking part in his PlayStation earlier than a buddy pulled up outdoors their house, shouting he had been stabbed.
It later emerged that Max had slipped out to satisfy his Mason, 15, to get some meals – earlier than the pair have been savagely attacked with machetes in a chilling case of mistaken id.
The chums, who had been shut since nursery, had been hunted down by Antony Snook and the 4 youngsters after a brick was thrown at a home in a rival space of Bristol.
Recalling the moments her world was turned the wrong way up, Leanne stated: “I used to be up in mattress, Max was at house in his bed room on the PlayStation and we simply didn’t assume something of it – subsequent minute a automotive pulled up outdoors home and was shouting up at home windows saying Max had been stabbed.
“I stated ‘no he’s not – he’s in mattress’.
However, shortly being pushed to the scene, the brutal nature of the state of affairs turned clear to Leanne.
“[It hit me] once I was allowed to sit down with him on the ground as a result of he was so pale.
“I used to be sat down on the ground and the paramedics have been chopping off his garments and I simply stored considering ‘he’s going to be so irritated with you for chopping his coat off, as a result of it was his Christmas coat, and that was all that was going by my thoughts.
“It was so hectic. I simply wanted to ensure Max knew I used to be there with him…. he knew I used to be there.”
Lower than two hours later, at Bristol Youngsters’s Hospital, the pair have been pronounced lifeless inside quarter-hour of one another.
CCTV performed on the trial at Bristol Crown Courtroom – during which Snook and all 4 youngsters have been discovered responsible of homicide – confirmed the assault with machetes took simply 33 seconds.
The six-week trial heard how the violence was triggered by the brick assault on a home in Hartcliffe a mile from Max’s house, with the masked youngsters pushed by Snook on a revenge mission to Knowle West.
After the assault, one of many murderers was seen on CCTV consuming a McDonald’s.
Snook was jailed for at least 38 years. On Thursday, Tolliver, 18, Westcott, 17, and two teenage boys – who can’t be named for authorized causes – additionally obtained their sentences.
Tolliver and Westcott will serve minimal phrases of 23 years, the 16-year-old boy will serve not less than 18 years, and the 16-year-old will serve not less than 15 years.
For the households of Max and Mason, the sentences could come as a aid, however they nonetheless don’t have solutions to the lacking items of their lives.
The boys’ funerals in March have been crowded occasions with the local people – church buildings, soccer golf equipment and colleges – coming collectively to grieve. Championship soccer membership Bristol Metropolis additionally paid its respects throughout a sport.
Leanne stated: “After I see Max and Mason on the CCTV [moments before they were attacked], once I see them meet up with one another, I take a look at it and I can see them smiling.
“What is gloomy is these boys don’t know what going to occur to them once they stroll out that gate. They should have been petrified as a result of they have been simply going to get some meals. They’ve accomplished nothing unsuitable, they went out to get some meals.”
She added: “Max didn’t simply die, he was brutally murdered and there’s no motive for him to have been, so there’s no solutions [as to] why. It’s exhausting to attempt to piece issues collectively to maneuver on.”
Leanne stated she now desires to make a distinction. She has helped arrange a Max Dixon Basis to distribute transportable bleed kits throughout the area.
She has additionally visited native colleges to unfold the anti-knife crime message to younger folks.
She stated: “It begins at house with the mother and father, I feel there are numerous mother and father understanding what they [children] are getting as much as and know what they’re carrying. It begins at house earlier than we go anyplace else.”
On latest modifications within the regulation banning zombie-style knives and machetes, Leanne is hopeful the state of affairs can enhance, but in addition practical.
She stated: “Sadly I don’t assume it [knife crime] will disappear for good, however [I’m] hoping it’s going to enhance.”
As for these now beginning their jail sentences, Leanne hopes they at some point perceive the influence of their actions. “I don’t assume they actually perceive but,” she stated.
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Italy’s deputy premier, Matteo Salvini, is sounding defiant as he awaits Friday’s verdict in Sicily for blocking some 100 migrants at sea on a humanitarian rescue boat in 2019 when he was inside minister.
Salvini, who leads the Euroskeptic, anti-migrant League, informed a rally final week that “defending the borders, the dignity, the legal guidelines, the respect of a rustic can’t ever be against the law.”
He has vowed to enter the courtroom in Palermo along with his “head held excessive” to listen to a courtroom’s verdict on whether or not he’s responsible of detaining the migrants aboard the Open Arms rescue ship in Italy‘s southernmost island of Lampedusa for 5 days in August 2019. He’s additionally charged with failing to meet his public duties.
Prosecutors have demanded a six-year jail sentence. A sentence of over 5 years would additionally mechanically bar him from workplace. No matter Friday’s sentencing, it will not have rapid impact as verdicts in Italy are solely thought of ultimate as soon as two ranges of appeals are exhausted, a course of that may take years.
In August 2019, Open Arms approached Italy with 150 migrants rescued at sea, some within the Maltese rescue space, with Lampedusa the closest port. They spent 10 days in worldwide waters and one other 5 days nearby of Lampedusa, with these onboard rising more and more agitated amid deteriorating hygienic situations. Some migrants threw themselves overboard, and minors have been evacuated throughout the stand-off.
Finally, a courtroom ordered the remaining 89 folks onboard to be allowed to disembark in Lampedusa.
Open Arms’ Italian lawyer, Arturo Salerni, dismissed Salvini’s declare that he was defending Italy’s borders, saying it was his responsibility as a public official to guard the human rights of individuals on board.
“The supreme responsibility, particularly of those that belong to governments, is to defend worldwide legal guidelines and conventions, and other people’s rights,” stated Salerni, who’s representing Open Arms as an injured get together within the trial. ”It can’t be that the inside minister … can deprive anybody of freedom.”
The Open Arms standoff was simply certainly one of greater than 20 throughout Salvini’s hardline stand towards migration when he was inside minister from 2018-2919 throughout the first authorities of former Premier Giuseppe Conte. He closed Italian ports to humanitarian rescue ships and accused the teams that rescued migrants at sea of successfully encouraging smugglers.
In one other incident, a German captain, Carola Rackete, entered the Lampedusa port in June 2019 towards Salvini’s orders after declaring a state of emergency on her boat, the Sea-Watch 3, which had been carrying 40 rescued folks for some 16 days. She was quickly arrested. Italy finally dropped fees of aiding unlawful migration towards her.
Now transport minister in Premier Giorgia Meloni’s far-right-led authorities, Salvini has the help of the premier and different ministers within the Palermo trial.
Since taking energy in 2022, Meloni has moved to crackdown on migration, placing offers with northern African nations in a bid to stop departures whereas additionally organising still-dormant facilities in Albania aimed to vet migrants rescued at sea within the non-EU nation with out setting foot in Italy.
“Salvini will get the solidarity of the whole authorities,” Meloni informed the Italian Senate on Wednesday, to a standing ovation from right-wing lawmakers.
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AP visible journalist Paolo Santalucia contributed from Rome.
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Montana’s Supreme Court docket on Wednesday upheld a landmark local weather ruling that mentioned the state was violating residents’ constitutional proper to a clear atmosphere by allowing oil, fuel and coal initiatives with out regard for international warming.
The justices, in a 6-1 ruling, upheld an August 2023 choice by a state decide that was thought-about a breakthrough in makes an attempt by younger environmentalists and their attorneys to make use of the courts to leverage motion on local weather change.
The justices discovered a coverage that prevented Montana from contemplating the impact of greenhouse gases when issuing permits for fossil gas improvement is unconstitutional.
The state had appealed the ruling and the arguments have been held earlier than the Montana Supreme Court docket in July.
The US has now seen dozens of human chook flu circumstances this 12 months, all of them delicate—till now.
The Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention confirmed Wednesday {that a} affected person in Louisiana has been hospitalized with a extreme case of avian influenza attributable to the H5N1 virus. This marks the primary occasion of extreme sickness linked to the virus within the US.
The virus has decimated poultry flocks and wild birds throughout the nation and has contaminated greater than 800 dairy herds in 16 states. Contaminated animals have been spreading the virus to individuals who come into contact with them. Since April, the US has seen a complete of 61 reported human circumstances of chook flu in eight states. Of these, 37 had publicity to sick or contaminated dairy cows, whereas 21 had publicity to poultry farms and culling operations. In these circumstances, folks developed conjunctivitis and delicate respiratory signs and totally recovered.
A extreme case is important as a result of chook flu has beforehand been related to extreme sickness in different international locations, together with outbreaks that resulted in dying in as much as 50 p.c of circumstances. From 2003 to 2023, of the 878 individuals who examined constructive for the virus, 458 deaths had been reported.
An investigation by the Louisiana Division of Well being and CDC has decided that the hospitalized affected person, a resident of southwestern Louisiana, had publicity to sick and useless birds in yard flocks. That is the primary case of H5N1 chook flu within the US that has been linked to publicity to a yard flock, relatively than a industrial farm.
“Whereas an investigation into the supply of this an infection in Louisiana is ongoing, it’s believed that the affected person that was reported by Louisiana had publicity to sick or useless birds on their property,” stated Demetre Daskalakis, director of the CDC’s Nationwide Middle for Immunization and Respiratory Illnesses, throughout a press briefing on Wednesday. No different particulars had been accessible on the supply of publicity or the affected person’s situation.
An individual with chook flu in Missouri was hospitalized in late August, however CDC officers say it was on account of underlying medical situations. The affected person didn’t have respiratory signs and was not severely unwell from their an infection. “Within the Missouri case, we don’t actually have that very same kind of knowledge that helps that it was associated to their influenza an infection,” Daskalakis stated.
There are genetic similarities between the virus from the Louisiana affected person and the virus from a teen in Canada who was hospitalized with H5N1. Scientists have categorized the virus in Louisiana as sort D1.1, the identical sort discovered within the Canadian affected person and one other case from Washington state. This variant has additionally been detected in wild birds and poultry within the US.
That is completely different from the B3.13 sort, which has been detected in dairy cows, some poultry outbreaks, and in sporadic human circumstances in a number of states. CDC scientists are finishing up further genomic sequencing of the Louisiana affected person’s viral pattern. Genomic sequencing can determine probably regarding modifications within the virus that may sign an elevated capacity to contaminate people or be capable of transmit from individual to individual.
Nobody-to-person unfold of H5N1 chook flu has been detected. The CDC says the instant danger to the general public’s well being stays low, however these with work or leisure exposures to contaminated animals are at larger danger of coming down with the virus. “Because of this yard flock homeowners, hunters, and different chook fans must also take precautions,” the company stated in a press release.
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An individual in Louisiana has the primary extreme sickness attributable to chook flu within the U.S., well being officers stated Wednesday.
The affected person had been in touch with sick and useless birds in yard flocks, the Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention stated. Company officers did not instantly element the particular person’s signs.
Earlier diseases within the U.S. had been gentle and the overwhelming majority had been amongst farmworkers uncovered to sick poultry or dairy cows.
This 12 months, greater than 60 chook flu infections have been reported, greater than half of them in California. In two — an grownup in Missouri and a baby in California — well being officers haven’t decided how they caught it.
The CDC confirmed the Louisiana an infection on Friday, however didn’t announce it till Wednesday. It’s additionally the primary U.S. human case linked to publicity to a yard flock.
Well being officers say chook flu continues to be primarily an animal well being problem, and the chance to most people stays low. There’s been no documented unfold of the virus from individual to individual.
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The Related Press Well being and Science Division receives help from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Instructional Media Group. The AP is solely answerable for all content material.
