Poll What should be the primary response to acts of provocation in diplomatic protests? Protesters chanted slogans demanding justice and accountability, and urged the UK government to take diplomatic action. "This is not just insensitivity—it is provocation," said one of the protest organisers. What happened in Pahalgam reminded us of the Hamas attack on Israel.”The government has responded to the Pahalgam attack by suspending the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, closing the Attari land border, and ordering Pakistani nationals to leave by May 1. Diplomatic staff strength at High Commissions on both sides is also being reduced.

Balfour Beatty’s employee engagement programme, My Contribution, has featured in The Times exploring how employees can help organisations to run better and save money, but only if employers value their contribution. Launched in 2015, My Contribution has played a key role in helping Balfour Beatty go from strength to strength, harnessing the enthusiasm, knowledge and expertise of employees to crowd-source ideas, innovate and problem solve to drive the business forward. One idea stemmed from the company’s Tilbury flood barrier site where an employee suggested that instead of installing cabling for high-powered lights during construction, that the company use solar-powered lights instead. “We have so many experts across Balfour Beatty who understand what the business needs, what works and what doesn’t, and ultimately how we can improve things for the company and our people. My Contribution gives them the voice, but Balfour Beatty truly wants to hear what they have to say.

Keir Starmer I trust we’ve all heard the terrible news. Angela Rayner But there was a photo of him meeting JD Vance just yesterday! How strange to think that Britain was once so divided on matters of tribal doctrine and dogmatic faith. Angela Rayner BTW, are you also going to say something about the Supreme Court’s ruling on biological women? Keir Starmer No way.

Representative imageThe US government has strongly condemned the terrorist attack on tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam. Quoting the screenshot of the same, the America's Foreign Affairs Committee said, "Hey, @nytimes we fixed it for you. This was a TERRORIST ATTACK plain and simple. "As to those wondering what is the US government's House Committee on Foreign Affairs? The United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs, also known as the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is a standing committee of the U.S. House of Representatives with jurisdiction over bills and investigations concerning the foreign affairs of the United States.Earlier in a post on Truth Social, the US President Trump said, "Deeply disturbing news out of Kashmir.

Yuri Alberto’s pursuit by West Ham dates back to 2022 and beyond: The young Corinthians striker disappointed a whole phalanx of Hammers fans by moving to Zenit St Petersburg when David Moyes would have dearly loved him to land at London Stadium. More recently West Ham were linked again with a rejected offer in 2023 for something around £13 million. So when thetimes.co.uk reported this afternoon that 24 year old Alberto had agreed personal terms with West Ham, there was a note of caution sounded as West Ham and Alberto have, shall we say, history. The Brazilian was reported as having agreed personal terms back in August 2023. Far be it from me to contradict either ‘The Times’ or Claret and Hugh’s impeccable source inside West Ham.

Think of English folk music and maybe thoughts come to mind of villagers lamenting lost loves or sailors bellowing tales of adventure at sea. But when the rising British folk band Shovel Dance Collective performs, its members want their listeners to think of more contemporary concerns. At the band’s shows, the singer Mataio Austin Dean sometimes introduces “The Merry Golden Tree,” a song about a badly treated cabin boy, as a tale of “being shafted by your boss” — a scenario many office workers might relate to. The group also performs “I Wish There Was No Prisons” and “A Hundred Stretches Hence”: probable 19th-century ditties that Alex McKenzie, who plays accordion and flute in the group, said could be thought of as pleas for prison abolition.

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The food industry has a dirty secret - and it's making Britain poorer and unhealthierBy Brad Young, Money feature writerIt's no secret that cheap and convenient supermarket food is often bad for you - but what we're not told is how large parts of the food industry have been engineered to keep you eating it. "The reason we expect [food] to be a cheap commodity is because of something that happened in the development of the food industry," he explains. I feel quite strongly that if you want to eat healthy you need to have the time to cook and, increasingly, we're having to work more." "It frustrates me a little bit that you hear people saying that it's expensive to eat healthy - that's just not my experience," the removals surveyor says. The Food and Drink Federation adds: "We want to work collaboratively with the government as it develops its food strategy to achieve a healthier and more sustainable food system, whilst ensuring the resilience of the sector and maintaining the UK's food security."

AP file photoLONDON: Violence in Sudan 's Darfur region shows "the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing and may amount to crimes against humanity ," UK foreign minister David Lammy said.Lammy called on the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces ( RSF ) to "de-escalate urgently" and said in a statement issued late Thursday that Britain would continue to "use all tools available to us to hold those responsible for atrocities to account".Paramilitary shelling of the besieged city of El-Fasher, the state capital of North Darfur , has killed more than 30 civilians and wounded dozens more, activists said on Monday.El-Fasher is the last major city in the vast Darfur region that still remains in army control.Lammy said that reports of the violence in and around El-Fasher were "appalling". "Last week, the UK gathered the international community in London to call for an end to the suffering of the Sudanese people. "Yet some of the violence in Darfur has shown the hallmarks of ethnic cleansing and may amount to crimes against humanity," he said.He called on the RSF to "halt its siege of El-Fasher", adding that "the warring parties have a responsibility to end this suffering. "Lammy also urged the Sudanese Armed Forces to allow safe passage for civilians to reach safety.International aid agencies have long warned that a full-scale RSF assault on El-Fasher could lead to devastating urban warfare and a new wave of mass displacement.UNICEF has described the situation as "hell on earth" for at least 825,000 children trapped in and around El-Fasher.

POLICE chief Chris Sewell said they have received a complaint about a website which has ‘named and shamed’ birdwatchers accessing supposedly private land. The hosting company of the website, as well as the council’s outdoor access and antisocial behaviour teams, have also been alerted. Carmichael challenged the minister following a report in The Times newspaper that the UK government had made major concessions on EU access to UK fishing waters. LERWICK Port Authority’s cruise and marketing manager has joined the leadership team of Cruise Scotland. The Lerwick Port Authority joined Cruise Scotland in attending Seatrade Cruise Global – the annual international cruise industry event – earlier this month in Miami, Florida.

If successful, the project could provide a temporary solution to cool the planet, buying time to address the underlying causes of climate change. The aim is to temporarily cool the planet, slowing the effects of climate change while the world works on reducing carbon emissions. Techniques like solar radiation management may alter weather patterns, disrupt rainfall, and impact food production, especially in vulnerable regions. Critics also warn that focusing on such technological fixes could reduce the urgency to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the root cause of climate change. This data will help inform whether solar geoengineering could be a viable emergency solution in the future.

UK, Italy's Eni unveil deal on carbon capture project222LONDON: The UK government and Italian energy company Eni Thursday announced a deal to create a major carbon capture and storage network to store millions of tonnes of CObeneath the Irish Sea.Prime Minister Keir Starmer set out the deal at an energy summit in London. "Earlier today, we finalised a deal with Eni, it will see them award £2 billion ($2.6 billion) in supply chain contracts for the high net carbon capture and storage project, creating 2,000 jobs across north Wales and the North West,"Eni said it had reached "financial" closure with the UK government's department of energy security and net zero for the Liverpool Bay carbon capture and storage project.The agreement would allow the project "to move into the construction phase, unlocking key investments in supply chain contracts," it added.The Labour government said in October it plans to invest nearly £22 billion over 25 years to develop carbon capture and storage in two former industrial regions of northern Britain, to help the nation reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.The government did not specify the exact amount that will be allocated to the Eni project.The country was launching a "whole new clean energy industry for our country, carbon capture and storage" to "revitalise our industrial communities", energy secretary Ed Miliband said.CCS is a technology that seeks to eliminate emissions created by burning fuels for energy and from industrial processes.The carbon is captured from emissions from industrial sites such as power plants, cement plants and blast furnaces and stored permanently in various underground environments.Eni plans to store 4.5 million tonnes of COper year, a quantity that could rise to 10 million after 2030, equivalent to the emissions of four million cars.Although complex and costly, the CCS solution is supported by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), particularly as a way of reducing the footprint of industries that are difficult to decarbonise, such as cement and steel, in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming.Environmental non-governmental organisations, however, have criticised the UK's huge investment in the sector, calling for a focus on renewable energies.Parliament's Public Accounts Committee in February also raised concerns, describing the "government's backing of unproven, first-of-a-kind technology" to reach net zero as "high-risk".According to the International Energy Agency, the world's total COcapture capacity currently stands at only 50.5 million tonnes per year. This represents 0.1 percent of the world's annual total emissions.

The United Kingdom may abandon plans to send thousands of troops to defend Ukraine, as such action is considered too risky, The Times reported. The United Kingdom may abandon plans to send thousands of troops to defend Ukraine, as such action is considered too risky, The Times reported. Instead, British and French military instructors will be sent to western Ukraine. Arms supplies from the United Kingdom and European countries will continue to be delivered to Ukraine to ensure that it maintains a strong position in case Russia violates the terms of a possible peace agreement. A diplomatic source told The Times: "We will change our position, but we also want Moscow to cross its red lines."

The U.K. is likely to drop its plans to deploy thousands of troops to help defend Ukraine, The Times reported Thursday, citing diplomatic sources. “The risks are too high and the forces inadequate for such a task,” one source told the paper. Instead, the revised strategy would focus on air and naval defense, as well as strengthening Ukraine’s military by sending French and British instructors to the country’s western regions. According to The Times, this approach would allow the U.K. to maintain a military presence in Ukraine without positioning troops near the front line or assigning them to guard key sites.

READERS familiar with the Book of Common Prayer will know the Prayer of St Chrysostom, which concludes the prayers after the third collect at morning and evening prayer. Archbishop Cranmer took it from the Orthodox Divine Liturgy ascribed to St John Chrysostom, whose works were popular with 16th-century reformers. Popular in the city, John soon lost the support of the Empress Eudoxia and the court by criticising aspects of her behaviour and preaching against the weaknesses of women. Whitworth’s book has the enthusiastic commendation of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, distant successor of John Chrysostom as Bishop of Constantinople, and the assurance of his blessing on its readers. The Empress and the Bishop: The triumphs and tragedy of John ChrysostomPatrick WhitworthSacristy Press £25 hbk, £16.99 pbk(978-1-78959-385-3 hbk)(978-1-78959-370-9 pbk)Church Times Bookshop £22.50, £15.29