Ministry of Justice figures show recalls rose 27% in year to June despite emergency measures to ease overcrowding

More people were recalled to jails in England and Wales in the first half of this year than were released, despite government efforts to reduce the prison population, according to figures released on Thursday.

Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data shows that 12,338 people were recalled to custody between the beginning of April and the end of June, while 12,278 people were released. It continues a trend set between January and March, when 13,193 people were returned to prison and 12,977 released.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

A once-confidential letter says child sexual abuser might implicate senior church officials if allowed near ‘the legal arena’ upon his release from jail

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Lawyers from a leading law firm for the Marist Brothers have been subpoenaed to explain a once-confidential document showing they advised the Catholic order to keep a serial offender out of “the legal arena”, suggesting he was too honest and might implicate senior church officials.

The offender was “regrettably up front” about his interactions with senior leadership, and could not be trusted to heed “suggestions” about “not dumping on others excessively”, the document says.

Continue reading...

© Composite: Getty images

© Composite: Getty images

© Composite: Getty images

Catherine’s Originals denies Mondelēz claims in London high court of ‘passing off’ and trademark infringement

The owner of Toblerone is taking legal action against a tiny British vegan chocolate brand which it claims has been copying the Swiss chocolate bar’s famous chunky shape.

Mondelēz has filed papers at the high court in London accusing Catherine’s Original’s of “passing off” and trademark infringement with its O’bar – a length of chocolate divided into segments each with a rounded semi-oval hump.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Catherines Originals

© Photograph: Catherines Originals

© Photograph: Catherines Originals

Catherine’s Originals denies Mondelēz claims in London high court of ‘passing off’ and trademark infringement

The owner of Toblerone is taking legal action against a tiny British vegan chocolate brand that it claims has been copying the Swiss chocolate bar’s famous chunky shape.

Mondelēz has filed papers at the high court in London accusing Catherine’s Originals of “passing off” and trademark infringement with its O’bar – a length of chocolate divided into segments each with a rounded semi-oval hump.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Catherines Originals

© Photograph: Catherines Originals

© Photograph: Catherines Originals

Survivors tell rights group that serving officers who worked as guards administered electric shocks and beatings

Cambodian police and military officers worked as private security guards in scam compounds where thousands were forced to work in the online fraud industry, according to a report by Amnesty International.

The global rights group alleged they worked for security companies as part of a system that enabled slavery and rape in the compounds, with some guards using electric batons to keep people trapped.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

Survivors tell rights group that serving officers who worked as guards administered electric shocks and beatings

Cambodian police and military officers worked as private security guards in scam compounds where thousands were forced to work in the online fraud industry, according to a report by Amnesty International.

The global rights group alleged they worked for security companies as part of a system that enabled slavery and rape in the compounds, with some guards using electric batons to keep people trapped.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images

Individual known in court as PPT is seeking a permanent injunction, with lawyers citing his risk of suicide

Two news organisations have a duty to the public and their sources to publish allegations of exploitative sexual behaviour by a well-known figure despite claims he is “highly likely” to attempt suicide, the high court has heard.

The anonymous individual, known in court simply as PPT, is seeking an injunction against the Guardian and ITN to stop them publishing the allegations, which he denies.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Individual known in court as PPT is seeking a permanent injunction, with lawyers citing his risk of suicide

Two news organisations have a duty to the public and their sources to publish allegations of exploitative sexual behaviour by a well-known figure despite claims he is “highly likely” to attempt suicide, the high court has heard.

The anonymous individual, known in court simply as PPT, is seeking an injunction against the Guardian and ITN to stop them publishing the allegations, which he denies.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

© Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

The $72.5m suit alleges Scott Jennings falsely told listeners Piker had a ‘plan of returning our country to lynchings’

The prominent socialist political commentator and influencer Hasan Piker is suing his conservative counterpart Scott Jennings for $72.5m over comments on a podcast that he said portrayed him as “a violent racist” who advocated the lynching of Black people.

Piker’s defamation lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in US district court for the District of Columbia, states that Jennings misrepresented his comments in a podcast and subsequent social media post in August.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian

© Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian

© Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian

The $72.5m suit alleges Scott Jennings falsely told listeners Piker had a ‘plan of returning our country to lynchings’

The prominent socialist political commentator and influencer Hasan Piker is suing his conservative counterpart Scott Jennings for $72.5m over comments on a podcast that he said portrayed him as “a violent racist” who advocated the lynching of Black people.

Piker’s defamation lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in US district court for the District of Columbia, states that Jennings misrepresented his comments in a podcast and subsequent social media post in August.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian

© Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian

© Photograph: Julius Constantine Motal/The Guardian

EHRC says transparency needed to prevent pay discrimination, particularly against women

Workers should have a legal right to know their colleagues’ pay to help prevent pay discrimination, particularly against women, the UK’s human rights watchdog has said.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) made the recommendation in response to government proposals to overhaul equal pay laws, saying workers deserved a right to transparency if they suspected other staff were being paid more for similar work.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

Individual seeks permanent injunction against Guardian and ITN to block claims, citing high risk of suicide

A “well-known individual” attempting to block two media outlets from publishing allegations about him has been accused of inappropriate and exploitative sexual activities with girls and young women, the high court has heard.

The individual, referred to in court as PPT, is seeking a permanent injunction against the Guardian and ITN to stop them publishing the allegations, which he denies. His legal team argued that publishing them would “highly likely lead him to commit suicide”.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Rasid Necati Aslim/Anadolu/Getty Images

Commanders suspected of sexual violence during the largest and fastest slaughter of civilians in more than 30 years have been subjected to travel ban and asset freeze

Senior Sudanese commanders implicated in a “campaign of rape” have been targeted by the UK on the first anniversary of a mass atrocity that saw tens of thousands of civilians killed over several days.

A year after the fall of El Fasher, the British government said it had sanctioned military leaders from both sides in the country’s ongoing conflict whom it suspected of sexual violence during the siege of the city.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Ebrahim Hamid/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ebrahim Hamid/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ebrahim Hamid/AFP/Getty Images

Legal AI startup Legora announced Wednesday that it raised a $550 million Series E round, valuing it at $8.8 billion.