Author: Loveworld UK

A famous face is set to grace a jury with former US president Barack Obama expected to answer the call of duty in his home city of Chicago. The 44th US president, who served as a senior lecturer at the Chicago Law School prior to his election, is due to be called up for jury duty in November. Cook County chief judge Tim Evans announced Mr Obama’s selection to county commissioners during a budget hearing on Friday. He said the safety of Mr Obama, who owns homes in Washington DC and Chicago, will be “uppermost in our minds” during the…

The mental health response to the Grenfell tragedy is the biggest ever seen in Europe, according to the psychologist in charge, with more than 11,000 people potentially affected. The local NHS trust has been turned into “the largest trauma service in the UK”, said Dr John Green. “I think this is the biggest programme there’s ever been in Europe, certainly in terms of mental health. “There’s never been anything like it,” said Dr Green, who is clinical director of the Grenfell Tower NHS Mental Health Response. More than 1,300 people have so far been seen for either post-traumatic stress disorder…

The US government has released 2,800 previously classified files on the assassination of President John F Kennedy in 1963. President Donald Trump said the public deserved to be “fully informed” about the event, which has been the subject of numerous conspiracy theories. But some documents have been withheld at the request of government agencies. One memo revealed that the FBI had warned police of a death threat against the assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. “We at once notified the chief of police and he assured us Oswald would be given sufficient protection”, writes the FBI director J Edgar Hoover. Oswald, a former Marine…

The NHS and the Department of Health need to “get their act together” or risk more damaging cyber attacks on their computer systems, a new report has warned. It comes from the head of the National Audit Office (NAO) after they carried out an independent investigation into a cyber attack that crippled parts of the NHS in England in May. On Friday 12 May, hundreds of computers were infected with ransomware called WannaCry – leading to thousands of appointments being cancelled and A&E departments having to turn away ambulances. It was the largest ever cyber attack on the health service, but…

Relations between Spain and Catalonia are set to be tested further today as the Spanish government prepares to take away Catalan regional powers. The Spanish Senate in Madrid is to approve Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s plan to use Article 155 of the country’s constitution to remove or limit Catalonia’s self-rule. But some expect the move will motivate Catalan lawmakers to unilaterally declare its independence from Spain, in what is seen by separatists as mandated by the independence referendum on 1 October. In the weeks since the referendum, which was labelled as illegal by Spain, tensions between the two sides have…

State-backed Royal Bank of Scotland has reported a third straight quarter of profits but a looming US fine looks likely to see it rack up a tenth annual loss in a row. The third quarter profit figure of £392m compared to a loss of £469m for the same period last year. It is only the second time since the financial crisis in 2008 that RBS has reported three quarters in a row in the black. But a potential multi-billion dollar penalty from the US Department of Justice (DoJ) over the sale of toxic mortgage bonds could see it in the…

The UK will have to settle for a trade deal with the EU similar to Canada, Michel Barnier has warned. The EU’s lead negotiator suggested the UK’s decision to leave the single market and customs union meant any deal would “have to work on a model that is closer to the agreement signed with Canada”. Theresa May had ruled out a Canada-style deal in her Florence speech last month. Mr Barnier also claimed it would be “several years” before a Brexit trade deal was agreed – another blow to Mrs May, who told the House of Commons on Monday that…

A man charged in connection with the Nuneaton bowling alley lockdown is due to appear before magistrates later. David Clarke, 53, was arrested and charged with false imprisonment and imitation firearm offences after armed officers swooped on the MFA Bowl in Bermuda Park on Sunday afternoon. The arrest came after reports that a man had entered the building with a firearm at about 2.30pm. Specialist firearms officers, police negotiators, and other emergency services arrived at the scene before officers announced they had made an arrest after 7pm. The retail park, which contains restaurants and a cinema, was evacuated and there…

BrightHouse is facing a compensation bill of almost £15m after the City watchdog found it did not act as a “responsible lender” to 249,000 customers. The firm, which describes itself online as “leading by lending responsibly”, provides household goods such as TVs and furniture to customers on hire purchase agreements. But the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said 384,000 customer lending agreements were found that “may not have been affordable” and payments “which should have been refunded” between 2010 and 2016. The regulator hit out at the firm’s lending application affordability assessment and collections processes, saying they “did not always deliver…

A plan to help people in serious debt, by potentially giving them a six-week grace period from things like higher interest charges, has been announced by the Treasury. The Government said it was launching a consultation until January on how its “breathing space” scheme could work and in what circumstances amid concerns about growing problem debt levels among “millions of people in the UK”. It was revealed in the summer that unsecured credit – which is borrowing through credit cards, overdrafts and car loans – had topped £200bn for the first time since the financial crisis. Regulators and economists have sounded…