Transport secretary says figures will be shown on screens in effort to hold operators and government to account

Passengers will be shown how often their trains are delayed and cancelled on screens at stations under plans by the transport secretary to hold operators to account.

Louise Haigh promised to increase transparency by publicly displaying punctuality performance of train operating companies, including those run by the government, on screens at most stations.

Continue reading...

Prop 6, which would have banned involuntary servitude in prisons, fails in blow to criminal justice reform advocates

California voters have rejected a ballot measure to prohibit forced prison labor, in a major disappointment to advocates of criminal justice reform and many of the 90,000 people incarcerated in state prisons.

Proposition 6 would have amended the state’s constitution to ban involuntary servitude for people in prison. The proposition would instead have allowed people in prison to chose their jobs, with a related proposal that would have created voluntary work programs within the prison system.

Continue reading...

Victim reported being sexually assaulted by ‘several males’ and coerced into taking drugs on frat row, officials say

Officials at Cornell University have suspended one of the Ivy League institution’s Greek fraternities while police investigate an incident in which a victim was allegedly repeatedly sexually assaulted by “several males” and forced into taking drugs.

The New York university’s police department said it received a report about an assault said to have taken place at an off-campus event in the city of Ithaca on the night of 25 October, the Times Union reported .

Continue reading...

Allegations against Karim Khan to be examined by outside body ‘to ensure fully independent, impartial and fair process’

The chief prosecutor of the international criminal court will face an external investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, the court’s governing body has said.

In a statement, the president of the body that oversees the ICC said the inquiry would examine the allegations against Karim Khan, which related to his alleged conduct towards a woman who worked for him.

Continue reading...

New class is latest to explore a pop icon’s impact, with other universities offering courses on Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga

Students at Yale University are getting the chance to take a class entirely devoted to Beyoncé , school officials have announced.

The class – titled Beyoncé Makes History: Black Radical Tradition History, Culture, Theory & Politics through Music – will be taught by the African American studies and music professor Daphne Brooks beginning in the upcoming spring semester.

Continue reading...

Artist rose to prominence for his Ku Klux Klan painting and now his provocative, powerful work is on exhibition

In 2015, artist Vincent Valdez released his imposingly large painting The City I. The controversy that swiftly ignited upon its release had long been brewing even as Valdez was painting it. The 30-ft black and white work shows over a dozen hooded Klansmen gathering rather portentously in the middle of the night. The painting, which many initially critiqued for unnecessarily referencing a long-past chapter in American race relations, quickly showed its relevancy – as it was arriving into the world, Klansman David Duke himself gave then candidate Donald Trump a presidential endorsement, and the four years of the first Trump presidency would embolden exactly the racial animus that Valdez had portrayed.

Now, the first major museum survey of Valdez’s prodigious output is released on the eve of a second Trump presidency, when signs of the racism this second term is likely to unleash is already evident in the form of revolting text messages being sent to Black Americans. The City I is joined by works paying testament to the sweep of Valdez’s artistic vision, showing it as not an isolated example of artistic prophecy but rather as a part of the uncannily accurate, unerring vision that Valdez has demonstrated as a painter.

Continue reading...

Where others began by expressing regret over the Horizon scandal, Kemi said nothing. Because she feels nothing

Look on the bright side. Kemi Badenoch lasted two and a half hours in the witness stand at the Post Office inquiry without losing it. She didn’t get into an argument with Jason Beer, the counsel for the crown, though that could be because his questions were not unduly threatening. After all, we were there to hear Kemi’s version of events . Other versions of the truth may be available. Nor did she square up to any of those in the public gallery who laughed when Beer thanked her for answering “some” of his questions.

Not that Kemi nailed it. Like many narcissists, she is a curious mixture of the thick- and thin-skinned. She likes to present herself as a no-nonsense, tough woman. Someone who isn’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with her opponents. Who can tell it like it is. But beneath the surface there’s a vulnerability that she despises. It’s why she lashes out so readily. The person she dislikes the most is herself.

Taking the Lead by John Crace is published by Little, Brown (£18.99). To support the Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com . Delivery charges may apply.

Continue reading...

Agreement on rules paving way for rich countries to pay for cheap climate action abroad breaks years-long deadlock

Diplomats have greenlit key rules that govern the trade of “carbon credits”, breaking a years-long deadlock and paving the way for rich countries to pay for cheap climate action abroad while delaying expensive emission cuts at home.

The agreement, reached late on the first day of Cop29 in Azerbaijan, was hailed by the hosts as an early win at climate talks that have been snubbed by prominent world leaders and clouded by the threat of a US retreat from climate diplomacy after Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election.

Continue reading...

Seven men are ordered back to Italy from migration hub in Albania which defies deal aimed at curbing their arrival

Italian judges have ordered seven men detained in a migration hub in Albania to be transferred to Italy, in another blow to a controversial deal between the far-right Rome government and Tirana aimed at curbing the arrival of migrants.

The individuals arrived at the Albanian port of Shëngjin aboard a military vessel on Saturday after being rescued in international waters while trying to make their way to Europe.

Continue reading...