Tulip Siddiq: Bangladesh issues arrest warrant for UK MP Tulip Siddiq amid corruption probe
The case also includes allegations related to a 2013 nuclear power deal with Russia, where Siddiq is accused of helping inflate the project cost, reported BBC.Siddiq has strongly denied any wrongdoing. In a statement via her lawyers at Stephenson Harwood , she said she has "never had a plot of land in Bangladesh" and "has never influenced any allocation of plots of land to her family members or anyone else. "Her legal team insisted the charges are “completely false” and “politically motivated”, adding that neither Siddiq nor her lawyers had been contacted formally by the ACC or informed of any hearing or warrant.The warrant reportedly stems from her non-attendance at a Dhaka court hearing earlier this week, as per the Financial Times. Her legal representatives argue she had no knowledge of the hearing or prior summons.Siddiq resigned in January as city minister following scrutiny over her ties to the Hasina regime.The accusations have ignited political backlash in the UK. ACC chair Mohammad Abdul Momen rejected these claims, was quoted by BBC that the investigation is based on “documentary evidence” and that Siddiq “must not shy away from the court proceedings.”Bangladesh does not have a formal extradition treaty with the UK, though it is listed as a 2B extradition country, meaning clear evidence must be shown for any legal action to proceed.
Source:The Times
April 14, 2025 01:11 UTC
Ultra-rare 50p selling for staggering 300 THOUSAND times its face value – do you have one in your pocket?
COINING IT Ultra-rare 50p selling for staggering 300 THOUSAND times its face value – do you have one in your pocket? A RARE 50p coin is going under the hammer for a whopping 300,000 times its face value - and punters are raking through their pockets to see if they have one too. The mind-blowing coin is going for a staggering £150,000 after its owner highlighted its stunning detail and reference to an iconic writer. Her character Benjamin Bunny, from her book The Tale of Benjamin Bunny, features on the rare coin's face. The rare sale comes after the UK's rarest coin sold for nearly 300 times its face value after an intense bidding war.
Source:The Times
April 14, 2025 00:38 UTC
The Masters Golf 2025 LIVE: Final round leaderboard, tee times, scores & updates from Augusta
Image source, Getty ImagesProbably the longest saga in men's professional golf has come to the most satisfying end. What are we going to talk about next? Well, we're only five weeks away from the next major - and the US PGA Championship is at Quail Hollow, where Rory McIlroy has won four times. I think we know who's going to be the favourite! Join us as we go again from Thursday, 15 May.
Source:The Times
April 14, 2025 00:38 UTC
UK Laws Are Not ‘Fit for Social Media Age,’ Says Report Into Summer Riots
British laws restricting what the police can say about criminal cases are “not fit for the social media age,” a government committee said in a report released Monday in Britain that highlighted how unchecked misinformation stoked riots last summer. Violent disorder, fueled by the far right, affected several towns and cities for days after a teenager killed three girls on July 29 at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in Southport, England. In the hours after the stabbings, false claims that the attacker was an undocumented Muslim immigrant spread rapidly online. In a report looking into the riots, a parliamentary committee said a lack of information from the authorities after the attack “created a vacuum where misinformation was able to grow.” The report blamed decades-old British laws, aimed at preventing jury bias, that stopped the police from correcting false claims. By the time the police announced the suspect was British-born, those false claims had reached millions.
Source:The Times
April 14, 2025 00:37 UTC
British Steel tries to reverse ‘sabotage’ of Scunthorpe furnace
British Steel should be the “canary in the coalmine” that forces ministers to remove Chinese companies from critical infrastructure, they have been told. The government was forced to take direct control of the company amid concern that its Beijing-based owners would not keep the plant running at Scunthorpe. Ministers feared the company planned to “sabotage” the site to increase British reliance on cheap Chinese imports, The Times understands. There is alarm over Chinese involvement in other areas of critical infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants. “It is an explicit strategy of the Chinese Communist Party to undermine the industrial base of foreign countries,” said Luke de Pulford, executive director of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international group of politicians that scrutinises Beijing’s approach to
Source:The Times
April 13, 2025 21:34 UTC
Saudi Arabian Grand Prix practice, qualifying and race times, UK times, plus weather forecast
Formula 1 heads to Saudi Arabia for the fifth race of the Formula 1 season from 18-20 April. Oscar Piastri took a dominant victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix to move within three points of McLaren team-mate and championship leader Lando Norris in the title race. Sunday's grand prix at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in Saudi starts at 18:00 BST.
Source:The Times
April 13, 2025 21:18 UTC
Dhaka issues warrant for arrest of Sheikh Hasina's niece UK MP Tulip Siddiq
London:A Dhaka court on Sunday issued an arrest warrant against ex-PM Sheikh Hasina 's niece and UK Labour MP Tulip Siddiq for allegedly acquiring a 7,200-square-foot plot during her deposed aunt’s tenure in office.Dhaka metropolitan senior special judge Md Zakir Hossain Galib issued the warrant based on charge sheets filed by Bangladesh’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), which sought to declare Siddiq (42), who resides in London, as a fugitive. The court also issued arrest warrants for 52 others, including Hasina, Siddiq's mother Rehana, her brother Radwan, and sister Azmina.The judge set April 27 as the deadline for the implementation of the arrest warrants or the appearance of the accused in court.ACC DG Md Akhtar Hossain said members of the Hasina family had secretly and illegally acquired six 10-katha plots on Road No 203 in Sector 27 of the diplomatic zone of Purbachal New Town on Dhaka outskirts, with help from senior Rajuk officials, Bangladeshi daily “The Business Standard” reported. Hasina and her family members allegedly took possession of the plots in 2022.“The arrest warrant would make Ms Siddiq, a sitting Labour MP, an absconding suspect wanted in a foreign criminal investigation. It would also pave the way for Bangladeshi authorities to seek her extradition,” The Daily Mail reported.There is currently no extradition treaty between the UK and Bangladesh.Siddiq resigned from her role as the UK’s anti-corruption minister in Jan after it emerged that she was under investigation by ACC.The court had also issued an arrest warrant against Hasina and her daughter Saima Wazed last Thursday in a separate probe involving other plots in Purbachal New City.A Conservative Party spokesperson commented, “She should immediately stand down as a Labour MP.”Siddiq’s lawyers issued a statement saying, “Ms Siddiq knows nothing about a hearing in Dhaka relating to her and has no knowledge of any arrest warrant that is said to have been issued. To be clear, there is no basis at all for any charges to be made against her, and there is absolutely no truth in any allegation that she received a plot of land in Dhaka through illegal means."
Source:The Times
April 13, 2025 20:44 UTC
H-1B workers, Green Card holders, listen up! Immigrants in US will now have to carry IDs at all times
Stricter Compliance RulesChildren turning 14 must re-register and submit fingerprints within 30 days of their birthday. Any change of address must be reported within 10 days, failing which individuals may face up to $5,000 in fines or 30 days in jail. (Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates)The rule primarily targets undocumented immigrants, with DHS estimates putting the number of illegal Indian immigrants in the US at 220,000. For example:DHS Secretary Kristi Noem reiterated the message: “Foreign nationals who have been in the US for more than 30 days must register by April 11. And for the millions of immigrants living in the US, the message is clear: carry your papers—or face the consequences.
Source:The Times
April 13, 2025 20:12 UTC
UK wildfires: 112 and counting leave an area bigger than Liverpool burnt
Britain is heading towards its worst year for wildfires on record, after 112 fires in 15 weeks burnt an area bigger than Liverpool. In the past few days a fire caused huge plumes of smoke at moorland near Marsden in West Yorkshire, and it took firefighters days to bring it under control. Woodland in Shropshire caught fire at the weekend, and wildlife-rich heathland in Dorset was devastated earlier this month. Satellite data shows that 95 sq miles have burnt this year, already making it the second worst year on record for the area burnt and the number of fires. Only 2019 was worse for area burnt and 2022 for the number of fires, according to figures from the European Forest Fire Information System.
Source:The Times
April 13, 2025 19:48 UTC
UK’s oldest Indian restaurant could close in row with Crown Estate
Princess Anne, Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton and King Abdullah of Jordan are among those to have frequented the Michelin starred-restaurant. The building is owned by the Crown Estate and Veeraswamy’s lease expires in June. The Crown Estate told MW Eat, which owns Veeraswamy along with a handful of other Indian restaurants including Chutney Mary, last summer that it would not be renewing the lease. Veeraswamy’s founder, Edward Palmer was the great grandson of General William Palmerv and the Moghul Princess Faisan Nissa Begum. Palmer was influenced in the creation of the menu by his great-grandmother REX/SHUTTERSTOCKRanjit Mathrani, co-owner of MW Eat, said the
Source:The Times
April 13, 2025 19:27 UTC
Masters 2025 prize money: How much does the winner get?
TrendingHow much money will the Masters 2025 winner earn? The Masters represents the first big-money spinner for golf players this year, but that doesn’t mean the sport’s top talents haven’t already been earning the big bucks in 2025. Other big earners on the Tour this year have been Russell Henley with £4.3m in prize money, and Collin Morikawa just behind with £4.2m. As such, it means the winner of the Masters will bank a healthy £2.8m for topping the standings this evening. Total prize money for top 10 players at the 2025 Masters: 1 - £2.8m 2 - 1.6m 3 - £1.0m 4 - £752,000 5 - £627,000 6 - £564,000 7 - £525,000 8 - £485,000 9 - £454,000 10 - £423,000
Source:The Times
April 13, 2025 19:01 UTC
UK businesses plan £6.5bn project to raise hydrogen production
The owners of British Gas and Johnson Matthey have teamed up with JCB scion Jo Bamford to launch a £6.5 billion project to dramatically increase Britain’s hydrogen production. Engineering giant Arup, cement-maker Heidelberg, the building materials company Tarmac and the pipeline business National Gas, are also among a heavy coalition led by Bamford, which has submitted proposals to energy secretary Ed Miliband. The consortium, Project HySpeed, wants to build one gigawatt of green hydrogen production capacity in the UK by 2030. They estimate that it would attract £6.5 billion of private investment and create 24,300 jobs, with at least half of them in this country. Lord Bamford has become an advocate for the advantages of the clean-burning hydrogen combustion engine JCB BAMFORD EXCAVATORS GROUPThe government’s 2023 Hydrogen Production Delivery Roadmap is targeting ten gigawatts of low-carbon hydrogen production by 2030.
Source:The Times
April 13, 2025 18:32 UTC
Jordan Spieth hits Masters official in crotch with club and leaves him bent over in pain
Jordan Spieth hit a Masters official in the crotch with the grip of his clubJordan Spieth left a Masters official hunched over in pain after tagging him in the nether region with the grip of his golf club. Spieth has been flying under the radar for most of the week. And one unlucky customer bore the brunt of his playfulness by taking a tap in the crotch. Spieth wore the green jacket in 2015 and has finished inside the top five on five other occasions. But the fact that you're not supposed to talk about it is a bit frustrating because it is a difference-maker."
Source:The Times
April 13, 2025 18:21 UTC
Who is Tulip Siddiq? UK MP facing corruption allegations by Bangladesh
Who is Tulip Siddiq ? Born into a politically prominent Bangladeshi family, she is the daughter of Sheikh Rehana and the niece of Bangladesh's former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. She faced criticism for her perceived closeness to her aunt’s authoritarian regime in Bangladesh. She made headlines in 2019 for attending Parliament in a wheelchair two days before giving birth, casting a crucial vote on Brexit. Following that, she became the first MP to vote by proxy under new rules.
Source:The Times
April 13, 2025 17:49 UTC