Latest news with #Bristol
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
India women in England 2025
June 28 1st Twenty20 international, Trent Bridge Play starts at 14:30 BST Scorecard July 1 2nd Twenty20 international, Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol (d/n) (18:30 BST) 4 3rd Twenty20 international, The Kia Oval (d/n) (18:35 BST) Advertisement 9 4th Twenty20 international, Emirates Old Trafford (d/n) (18:30 BST) 12 5th Twenty20 international, Edgbaston (d/n) (18:35 BST) 16 1st ODI, Utilita Bowl, Southampton (d/n) (13:00 BST) 19 2nd ODI, Lord's (11:00 BST) 22 3rd ODI, Seat Unique Riverside, Chester-le-Street (d/n) (13:00 BST) NB Fixtures and start times are subject to change. The BBC is not responsible for any changes that may be made
Times
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Times
Officially defining Islamophobia endangers freedom of speech
Professor Steven Greer worked at Bristol University for 36 years as an expert in human rights law before his career was ruined. The 68-year-old faced a false accusation in 2020 from the university's Islamic Society alleging he had made Islamophobic remarks. The complainant had not attended Mr Greer's teaching module, yet alleged he had made discriminatory remarks. In reality the lecturer had merely spoken of the Islamist attack on the Charlie Hebdo magazine. The complaint against Mr Greer went nowhere, until Bristol's Islamic Society launched a social media campaign against the lecturer. It falsely claimed he had mocked Islam and the Quran. A pile-on ensued with a petition calling for his sacking garnering 4,000 signatures. Mr Greer felt so intimidated by the online anger that he went into hiding, venturing out only in disguise. He sincerely believed his life was in danger. • Islamophobia row academic: I wore a disguise. Better ridiculous than dead Bristol University initiated an inquiry and, five months later, he was exonerated after an independent assessor from another department concluded it was a storm over nothing. The lecturer went on sick leave and has since retired but, rightly, he is not letting the matter rest. In an interview with this newspaper today, he accuses his former employer of failing to protect him. By scrapping Mr Greer's module on 'Islam, China and the Far East' following its inquiry, Bristol University has demonstrated institutional cowardice, as well as humiliating Mr Greer. Alas, there is a precedent here. Kathleen Stock, a professor of philosophy at Sussex University, was driven out for her views on sex and gender. Eventually an investigation by the Office for Students led to Sussex being fined £585,000 for its failure to protect freedom of speech. If the OfS is to fulfil its duties as a protector of freedom of speech on campuses, it must urgently investigate whether or not Bristol offered Mr Greer appropriate protection. Mr Greer's case is instructive as the government considers a formal definition of Islamophobia. Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, instigated a working group earlier this year following a rise in reports of anti-Muslim hatred. The working group claimed that any definition 'must be compatible with the unchanging right of British citizens to exercise freedom of speech and expression'. Yet the mere instance of a definition creates a bar for free speech to be measured by, especially if a commissar is created to adjudicate on it. Although the group has pledged to engage 'widely', there are concerns about its findings becoming a foregone conclusion. According to the Policy Exchange think tank, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims, which promotes its own definition of Islamophobia, has claimed that stating that those involved in grooming gangs were predominantly of Pakistani origin is Islamophobic. Yet that is exactly what Baroness Casey of Blackstock concluded in her recent report into such gangs. Equally troubling is the fact that the working group, led by Dominic Grieve, a former attorney general, has endorsed the parliamentary group's work. Given the ongoing debate on grooming gangs, with a national inquiry due, the government would be wise to halt its work on an Islamophobia definition. The danger to free speech is too great, as is the danger of more cases arising like that of Mr Greer. Strong laws against racial hatred already exist. There is no need for more.
The Sun
11 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Sun
M5 traffic: Motorway at a standstill after horror caravan crash with debris strewn across the road
DRIVERS have been warned of traffic chaos on the M5 after a caravan crash this evening. Bumper-to-bumper queues are building on the major motorway after a smash unfolded near Avonmouth Bridge, Bristol, on the southbound carriageway. 2 Motorists were forced to navigate debris strewn over the road following the collision. Traffic is now at a standstill as investigations are underway between J18 M49 to J19 A369 Martcombe Road (Portishead). Traffic monitoring site Inrix confirmed: "All traffic being temporarily held and stationary traffic due to debris on road and accident, a caravan involved on M5 Avonmouth Bridge Southbound from J18 M49 to J19 A369 Martcombe Road (Portishead). "Traffic held now around 18:35." It follows "severe delays" on the M5 this afternoon Northbound between J23 A39 (Bridgwater North) and J22 (Burnham-On-Sea), according to AA. The congestion formed after another crash earlier today. This comes after we reported on a horror bus accident yesterday. narrowly avoiding cars before flying off the road near Eastleigh, Hampshire yesterday morning. 19 people were left injured following the disturbing ordeal, which was over in a matter of seconds. A youngster behind the camera says: "Oh my god, the bus has just had a major crash and now he's speeding off." Someone else yells in panic: "Get away from the windshield." "We're going to die, we're actually going to die, what's he doing?", says the concerned boy filming. "Oh my god, oh my god, we're actually going to die," he repeats, his voice growing more shaky. Terrified screams pierce through the air as the camera falls and the large vehicle loses control. The video cuts off as the bus ploughs into the River Itchen, on Bishopstoke Road, near Eastleigh. It comes as the driver earlier blamed faulty brakes and a "jammed accelerator". Three passengers were rushed to hospital while fourteen were treated for minor injuries. Pictures from the scene also showed the large blue bus sitting upright in the shallow river with broken railings left behind. Elsewhere, the moment a speeding driver leaves a woman for dead in a crushed car to pick up his scattered £20 notes was caught on camera. Ty Kelsall smashed into the victim, who is aged in her 50s, as she drove along a quiet street in Rotherham, South Yorkshire. 2
BBC News
12 hours ago
- BBC News
Paedophile who posted child abuse online jailed for 19 years
A paedophile who committed a string of "revolting" sexual offences against children has been jailed for 19 years. Mark Manship, 39, of Cardiff, was convicted of raping, sexually assaulting and sharing indecent images of a young girl from Bristol online. During sentencing at Bristol Crown Court on Friday, he was made subject to a lifelong Sexual Harm Prevention Order, restraining orders and was added to the sex offenders Con Elizabeth Howell described Manship as a "manipulative man who committed truly abhorrent crimes to fuel his own grotesque sexual desires". 'Extremely distressing' The court was told of the significant impact of his crimes which "continue to echo through every part" of his two victims' Manship to 19 years in prison, with an extended licence period of eight years, the judge said: "The facts of this case are extremely distressing. "They are nothing short of revolting or horrific." Manship was caught after exchanging sexually explicit messages describing child abuse, as well as indecent images of children, with an undercover FBI agent in December 2020, the court was was arrested by Avon and Somerset Police and a search of his devices uncovered hundreds of indecent images of was charged with one count of rape of a child under 13, four counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, two counts of taking indecent photographs of a child, two counts of distributing indecent photographs of a child, and one count of making indecent photographs of a pleaded guilty to all charges at Bristol Crown Court in May. Det Con Howell commended the two victims for their bravery."He took advantage of very young girls and shared his horrific abuse of one of them online - giving absolutely no thought to their wellbeing or the devastating long-term effects his crimes will have on them and their families," she said."I'm very pleased they have been able to see him handed a significant prison sentence today."
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Claire Callender obituary
As an expert on student funding and graduate experiences of indebtedness, my sister, Claire Callender, who has died of cancer aged 71, made significant contributions to the debate about student funding at a local and international level, and played a central role in government policy and public discussion for three decades. At the time of her death Claire held joint professorships at UCL Institute of Education and Birkbeck, University of London. She was appointed OBE for services to higher education in 2017. She was born in London, a twin of Ne'eman, and the daughter of Lydia (nee Berkman) and Martin Callender, who had been a Lt Col in the British army in India during the second world war and went on to become an economist and management consultant. The war and the Holocaust cast a giant shadow over the family, and had a profound influence on Claire, shaping her sense of Jewish identity and her lifelong dedication to social justice. Claire attended Notting Hill and Ealing high school and completed a degree in social administration and sociology at Bristol in 1979. After a period as a community worker in the Beit She'an Community Centre in Israel, she received her PhD in gender and social policy at the University of Wales in 1988. When tuition fees were introduced in 1998 into what had been a free higher education system, Claire became a staunch advocate of maintenance grants and dedicated herself to drawing attention, in public and to policy makers, to the challenges that resulted from student debt. Claire's first chair appointment was at London South Bank University as professor of social policy (1998-2008) and early in the Blair years she spent time in the Cabinet Office on secondment as head of research in the women's unit. She reported to numerous parliamentary select committees, and all the major reviews of student funding that took place in the UK after 1997, including the most recent review, the Augar report of 2019. In 2006-07 she was a visiting scholar at the Harvard graduate school of education, and was a Fulbright New Century scholar in 2007-08. Her post as professor of higher education policy at Birkbeck began in 2008, followed by the professorship of higher education studies at the Institute of Education (which later merged with UCL) in 2010. In 2014, under the leadership of Simon Marginson, Claire was named deputy director of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) Centre for Global Higher Education (CGHE) and was central to CGHE research management. Claire's contributions to research scholarship included more than 125 books, reports and chapters, more than 30 peer-reviewed journal papers, and numerous conference and seminar presentations. She was renowned for her generosity as a mentor to young researchers, and for the warmth that she evoked in old and new acquaintances. With her longtime partner, Annette Zera, an educationist, Claire loved to travel - there was not a corner of the globe they hadn't visited – and she also enjoyed cooking, gardening and going to the theatre. Claire is survived by Annette, Ne'eman and me.
