Author: Loveworld UK

Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly will have their salaries cut by over £13,000 until an executive is restored, it has been announced. Stormont has been without a power-sharing government since January 2017.Karen Bradley, the Northern Ireland secretary, said the country was “stalling” without devolved government and that local people were “suffering” because of a lack of decision-making.She confirmed the cut would take place in two stages, starting in November.Staff working for politicians in Stormont will have their pay rate protected.It will see salaries slashed from £49,500 down to £35,888, in line with a recommendation by former Assembly chief executive…

The 12 boys who made headlines across the world following their dramatic rescue from a cave in Thailand have relived their ordeal at a Bangkok exhibition. The boys crawled through a 10-metre replica tunnel in front of crowds who turned out to see them speak at a reproduction of the cave at one of the city’s largest shopping centres.Far from nervous, the young football team appeared in high spirits as they made their way through the fake cave. Image: The boys were happy to talk about their experience As well as the murky brown tunnel, the exhibition features underwater robots,…

India’s top court has reversed a law from the colonial era that made gay sex punishable by up to 10 years in jail. Five people had challenged the law, saying they lived in fear of being harassed by police.A law known as Section 377, enacted by British rulers in 1861, was widely interpreted as referring to homosexual sex.It prohibited “carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal”.Many people consider gay sex to be taboo in socially conservative India. Image: A woman taking part in a pride parade in Bhopal in July Five judges sitting at…

Energy regulator Ofgem has announced plans for a new price cap that it says will save up to 11 million households on poor value supplier deals £75 on average. The industry watchdog’s proposals would see energy suppliers being forced to cap their annual tariffs at £1,136 – a move that could save those on the worst deals up to £120 per year.”The exact savings each individual household would make will depend on the price of their current deal, how much energy they use, whether they have both gas and electricity and how they pay for their energy,” Ofgem said.The watchdog…

The public spending watchdog has accused the government of having a “limited understanding” of problem personal debt and its knock-on effects. The report by the National Audit Office (NAO) found people with problem debt cost taxpayers, at a national and local level, around £900m annually.It said £248m of that sum came from increased use of housing and health services.Problem debt – defined as the inability to pay debts or household bills – affects an estimated 8.3 million across the UK.The NAO’s Tackling Problem Debt study found 40% of the population struggle to manage their day-to-day finances – with a lack…

Police have named two suspects believed to be behind the Salisbury poisonings as Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov.A timeline of the suspects’ movements before and after the attack on ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia has been revealed, with CCTV images. Friday 2 March 3pm The suspects arrive at Gatwick Airport after flying in from Moscow on Aeroflot flight SU2588.Petrov wears a blue coat with jeans as he is captured on CCTV footage.Boshirov is seen in a black waterproof jacket and trousers. Image: Alexander Petrov is seen on CCTV at Gatwick Airport Image: Ruslan Boshirov was…

BBC news presenter Rachael Bland has died after being diagnosed with incurable cancer, her family has announced. A tweet posted on the Radio 5 Live broadcaster’s Twitter account said: “Our beautiful, courageous Rachael died peacefully this morning surrounded by her close family.”We are crushed but she would want me to thank everyone who took an interest in her story or sent messages of support. You’ll never know how much they meant to her. Steve and Freddie xxx”On Monday the 40-year-old told her followers that doctors said she had just days left to live.The mother of one wrote: “In the words…

British prosecutors say they have sufficient evidence to charge two Russian nationals over the Salisbury novichok poisonings. They said they had enough evidence to charge Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov with the attempted murder of Sergei Skripal, Yulia Skripal and police officer Nick Bailey.The men are also facing charges of conspiracy to murder Mr Skripal, the use and possession of novichok contrary to the Chemical Weapons Act, and causing grievous bodily harm with intent to Yulia Skripal and Mr Bailey.:: LIVE: Police reveal novichok perfume bottle:: How the Wiltshire novichok poisonings unfolded Image: Suspects Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov in…

Ticket reseller Viagogo is suing Ed Sheeran’s promoter over alleged fraud, accusing the company of confiscating genuine tickets from fans and forcing them to purchase new ones. Viagogo said its lawsuit, filed in Germany, claims Stuart Galbraith and his firm, UK-based Kilimanjaro Live Ltd, defrauded fans out of several million pounds during the British singer’s 2017 tour.It alleges the promoter set up fake Viagogo booths at venues “luring fans into declaring that they were Viagogo customers. The promoter then confiscated their authentic tickets and forced fans to buy new ones”.Kilimanjaro rejected the claim, telling The Associated Press in an email…

Thousands of people across the UK were charged twice for debit card payments following a glitch. Customers paid twice due to a problem with card terminals run by Cardnet, despite transactions only showing up once on receipts.The error affected around 5% of payments made on machines on 29 August. Cardnet is a payment system run by Lloyds Bank and card processor First Data, which handles 1.1 billion transactions a year, including for a wide range of shops, restaurants and businesses in Britain.This means that Lloyds customers were not the only ones affected, since the machines accept most Mastercard and Visa…