Sopra Steria claims the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which leads the shared services program for multiple departments, failed to spot that Capita's bid for the contract was "abnormally low" relative to Sopra Steria's tender for the same work. It also alleges that after the UK outsourcer was named preferred bidder for the contract, the DWP conducted further renegotiations around Capita's tender.
I guarantee you that if I took a gun and I filed off the serial number of the gun and sent it to those states where that's illegal, they would want to prosecute me for that. Anybody can go online, they can obtain these pills, there is no human interaction at all. Some doctors somewhere is facilitating the distribution of these pills, it would be no different if they were sending fentanyl.
For the first time ever, the U.S. is invoking Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act, which allows tariffs of up to 15% for as long as 150 days to quickly address international payments problems. On Saturday, Trump hiked his new tariffs to 15%, less than 24 hours after setting them at 10% in an executive order. That's after the Supreme Court ruled the president has no authority to apply tariffs under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Local election administrators have warned that councils face "an uphill struggle" to be ready in time for the May local elections after the government reversed its plan to delay some votes. Local Government Secretary Steve Reed had initially approved delays in 30 council elections in England until 2027. But the government abandoned plans to postpone ballots after advice was given that the move could be unlawful.
Sir Keir Starmer has abandoned plans to postpone elections across 30 councils this May after being warned it would be illegal, in yet another humiliating U-turn for the government. Local government secretary Steve Reed had previously approved proposals to delay the polls for more than 4.5 million people to help deliver a major reorganisation of local authorities. But on Monday, the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) spokesperson said it was abandoning the plan in the face of new legal advice a climbdown that has been claimed as a victory for Reform UK, which had launched legal action against the government to challenge the proposed delay.
The co-founder of Palestine Action has won a legal challenge to the home secretary's decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws. Huda Ammori. Photograph: Abdullah Bailey/Alamy The proscription of Palestine Action, which categorised it alongside the likes of Islamic State, was the first of a direct action protest group and attracted widespread condemnation as well as a civil disobedience campaign defying the ban, during which more than 2,000 people have been arrested.
Patrick Matthews and Emma Fernandez have run the cafes at Parliament Hill Lido, Queen's Park and Highgate Wood for several years, but were told just before Christmas they had been unsuccessful in a retendering process. The corporation, the governing body that runs London's Square Mile, has responsibility for managing green spaces such as Hampstead Heath, which it runs as a registered charity.
They specifically highlight "vibrations and shocks" the "extremely fragile" embroidered cloth will face on its road journey to London, The Telegraph reported. Experts say potholes on roads in both countries could generate enough vibrations to rip apart the 1,000-year-old fabric.
The site in question is the subject of a legal challenge raised by tech justice non-profit Foxglove in collaboration with environmental charity Global Action Plan, who claimed the government was wrong to grant planning permission for the project without conducting an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) first. The project, known as the West London Technology Park (WLTP) development, is being overseen by developer Greystoke, which wants to transform the former landfill site (located within an area of green belt land) into a hyperscale datacentre.
The British government has conceded it should not have approved a campus near London's M25 orbital motorway and that the decision should be quashed, following a legal challenge by campaign group Foxglove. The non-profit filed its challenge last year after the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government overturned Buckinghamshire Council's rejection of the Woodlands Park site near Iver. The local authority had blocked the project on grounds it would significantly alter the area's character and appearance.
The Trump administration has since poured billions of dollars into immigration enforcement, and in March, Trump issued an executive order requiring the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that states have "access to appropriate systems for verifying the citizenship or immigration status of individuals registering to vote or who are already registered." In May, DHS began encouraging states to check their voter rolls against immigration data with the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program, run by US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). SAVE now has access to data from across the federal government, not just on immigrants but on citizens as well.
Opponents of a huge new Chinese embassy next to the Tower of London say they will soon begin legal action in an attempt to block the scheme. On Tuesday, the government approved China's proposal to redevelop the former Royal Mint site into a vast 215,300 sq ft (20,000 sq m) UK headquarters, despite opposition from politicians and campaigners. About 200 people live in Royal Mint Court, a complex of flats on the site,
The outcome of a trial over Missouri's abortion regulations could ripple far beyond the state, potentially creating new availability for women in the Midwest and South who can't access abortion close to home. As a judge weighs the constitutionality of a litany of state restrictions on abortion, the stakes are clear for Missouri women: The decision could hamper access for nearly everyone in the state - or greatly broaden it in ways not seen in decades.
Donald Trump has said it would be a complete mess if the US supreme court were to strike down his global trade tariffs. In a lengthy post on social media, the US president said WE'RE SCREWED if the supreme court rules against the tariffs, before the decision, which could come as soon as Wednesday. It is a crucial legal test of his controversial economic strategy and his power.
The Trump administration secretly reimposed a policy limiting Congress members' access to immigration detention facilities a day after a federal immigration officer fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis, attorneys for several congressional Democrats said Monday in asking a federal judge to intervene. Three Democratic members of Congress from Minnesota were blocked from visiting an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility near Minneapolis on Saturday, three days after an ICE officer shot and killed U.S. citizen Renee Good in the city.
Rollins asked Walz and Frey to provide the USDA with justification for all federal spending from 20 January 2025 to the present within 30 days. She is also requiring that all federal payments to the state moving forward require the same justification. We're communicating with state partners to understand the impacts of such a blanket cut to funding meant for residents most in need, Brian Feintech, a spokesperson for the city of Minneapolis, told the Guardian in a written statement in response to Rollins' letter.
Your decision to withdraw at the last moment-explicitly in response to the Center's recent renaming, which honors President Trump's extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure-is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution,
As the first anniversary of congestion pricing approaches on Jan. 5, a federal judge has delayed a ruling on the controversial toll program until next month. The judge set oral arguments for Jan. 28 in the legal battle over the tolls into Manhattan south of 61st Street, according to an article in Bloomberg. The lawsuit centers around the MTA suing President Donald Trump's administration because it is seeking to end the toll program in the city.
Massachusetts will no longer require prospective foster parents to affirm the sexual orientation and gender identity of the children they foster, following legal challenges and criticism from religious groups. The change comes after the conservative legal group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) filed a federal lawsuit in September on behalf of two Massachusetts families, who claimed the requirement conflicted with their religious beliefs, according to a Fox News report.
Reddit has launched a challenge in Australia's highest court against the nation's landmark social media ban for children. The online forum is among 10 social media platforms which must bar Australians aged under 16 from having accounts, under a new law which began on Wednesday. The ban, which is being watched closely around the world, was justified by campaigners and the government as necessary to protect children from harmful content and algorithms.
A federal judge has ordered the National Guard to leave Los Angeles and return to Gov. Gavin Newsom's control in a stern rebuke of the Trump administration 's contention that it can leave troops in the city indefinitely. The order handed down today goes into effect at noon on Monday. "It is profoundly un-American to suggest that people peacefully exercising their fundamental right to protest constitute a risk justifying the federalization of military forces," U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer wrote in the opinion.
Under a joint proposal with seven Republican-led states that challenged the program, the department would not enroll any new borrowers in the Saving on a Valuable Education, or SAVE, plan, deny any pending applications and place borrowers currently in the plan into legally compliant repayment plans. The program, introduced in 2023 under then-President Joe Biden's administration, was hit with legal challenges from several GOP-led states, including Missouri, and has been blocked by the courts.
Lawmakers passed the All-Electric Buildings Act, which requires most new buildings to have only electric appliances, in 2023 as a step toward reducing pollution from the state's largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and advancing New York's legally mandated emissions targets. It was set to take effect in January. Delaying the law's implementation past then would cause the state "irreparable harm," lawyers argued in an Oct. 1 brief. They'd spent two years successfully defending the law against industry opponents.
