Author: Loveworld UK

A 21-year-old man has appeared in court charged with murdering his ex-partner and her mother at their home. Janbaz Tarin, of Sparkhill, Birmingham, is accused of killing Raneem Oudeh, 22, and 49-year-old Khaola Saleem after being charged on Friday.Both women died outside Ms Saleem’s house in Solihull, in the West Midlands, early on Bank Holiday Monday after being attacked.A post-mortem found the pair died from multiple stab wounds.Tarin, who was married to Ms Oudeh under Islamic law, appeared briefly at Birmingham Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.The suspect, wearing grey joggers and a sweatshirt, spoke only to confirm his name, age and…

A controversial giant balloon of London Mayor Sadiq Khan dressed in a bikini has been flown over Parliament Square. The 29ft blimp is part of a campaign that is trying to get him removed from office.Organisers have raised more than £58,000 on a crowdfunding site to fly the blimp over the capital this weekend.They claim crime has risen sharply during his time in the job and want to use the inflatable to “demonstrate our unhappiness with him as our mayor of London”.Mr Khan has appeared relaxed about the stunt, after defending a similarly huge balloon depicting a spray-tanned Donald Trump…

The US is stopping its funding for a UN organisation that helps Palestinian refugees, calling it an “irredeemably flawed operation”. America has contributed almost 30% to the total budget of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).The latest move means the agency will no longer get nearly $300m (£231m) of planned support.The US state department attacked the “fundamental business model and fiscal practices” of the UNRWA, and the “endlessly and exponentially expanding community of entitled beneficiaries”.The agency expressed “deep regret and disappointment” at the decision and strongly rejected the Trump administration’s criticism of its operations.The move ends decades of US…

Aretha Franklin has been remembered as the “voice of a generation” as stars including Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson and Stevie Wonder performed at her funeral. Franklin died, aged 76, after suffering from cancer, on 16 August and was laid to rest after a seven-hour long funeral at her church, the Greater Grace Temple in Detroit.Led by the Bishop Charles Ellis III, it included tributes from former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, performances from the Clark Sisters, and Smokey Robinson, as well as heartfelt memorials from her family.Franklin’s music was described as “revelation and revolution”, while she was described as…

The industrialists who paid £8bn this year to buy GKN, the historic British engineering group, are courting pension buyout firms to take on a big chunk of its pension liabilities. Sky News has learnt that Melrose Industries has opened talks with a number of insurers specialising in pension risk transfer (PRT) transactions about offloading the smaller of GKN’s two retirement schemes.The discussions have been going on for several weeks and are understood to involve firms including Aviva and Scottish Widows, which is owned by Lloyds Banking Group.Sources close to the situation said on Friday that Melrose would only strike an…

Details on Britain’s future relationship with the EU are becoming “clearer and clearer” the Brexit secretary has insisted, as he again hinted that negotiators could miss the hoped-for October deadline. Dominic Raab said as the latest round of talks finished that he was “stubbornly optimistic” a deal was “within our reach”.Progress was made on security and defence – such as extradition agreements – he added, but the Northern Irish border remains a sticking point.Mr Raab promised any deal on the border would be “workable” for the nearby communities it would affect most. Image: Theresa May is hoping to strike a…

The new £15bn Crossrail route in London will open almost a year later than planned after missing its December opening date. Those in charge of the project admitted on Friday that an extension is needed to finish “final infrastructure and extensive testing” to ensure a “safe and reliable railway for customers”.The major scheme, which has been under construction since 2009, will be known as the Elizabeth Line once it starts carrying passengers.Services were due to begin running in December this year, but its central section – between Paddington and Abbey Wood – will now not be opened until autumn 2019.The…

DIY chain Homebase has won approval from creditors to close 42 stores, averting a crisis that could have led to its collapse.  Hilco Capital, which bought the chain for £1 in May, hopes its controversial Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) will revive Homebase’s fortunes.Its plans were approved by 95.92% of its creditors.The closure of stores, expected this year and early 2019, is likely to result in the loss of 1,500 jobs.Homebase had proposed that landlords share the pain felt by retailers – who have seen a combination of factors undermine their businesses.CVAs have been used by House of Fraser, Carpetright, Mothercare…

Leisure group Whitbread has agreed to sell the UK’s biggest coffee chain Costa to Coca-Cola for £3.9bn. Whitbread acquired Costa in 1995 for £19m when it had 39 shops. It now has more than 2,400 outlets and is embarking on an overseas expansion.The leisure group, which owns the Premier Inn hotel business, had been under pressure from shareholders to demerge and list the coffee chain as a separate company.Chief executive Alison Brittain said: “This transaction is great news for shareholders as it recognises the strategic value we have developed in the Costa brand and its international growth potential and accelerates…

President Donald Trump has threatened to pull the United States out of the World Trade Organisation and is ready to impose more tariffs on China. The US last week blocked the reappointment of a judge to the Geneva-based institution, which regulates international trade and helps to resolve disputes between nations.”If they don’t shape up, I would withdraw from the WTO,” Mr Trump said in an interview.Washington has accused the WTO of infringing on US sovereignty as some decisions have gone against the country.Mr Trump said the US had been treated “very badly” by the organisation.The president said the 1994 agreement…