New prime minister - live updates: Liz Truss says 'we will deliver' in first speech but victory not as decisive as expected - Sky News

 Liz Truss is giving a speech following news she will become prime minister tomorrow after winning the Conservative leadership contest.

To applause, Ms Truss said it was an "honour" to be elected as leader of the Tory party.

She described it as "one of the longest job interviews in history".

Ms Truss then paid tribute to Rishi Sunak, saying the contest showed the "depth and breadth" of talent in the Conservative Party.

She also thanked "my friend" Boris Johnson, saying: "Boris, you got Brexit done, you crushed Jeremy Corbyn, you rolled out the vaccine and you stood up to Vladimir Putin".

"You are admired from Kyiv to Carlisle," she said.

There was a slight pause from the crowd before applause began.

Ms Truss then thanked Tory members for putting their "faith" in her to lead the "greatest political party on Earth".

"I know that our beliefs resonate with the British public," she added.

"As your party leader I intend to deliver what we promised those voted across our great country."

Ms Truss said she has "campaigned as a Conservative and I will govern as a Conservative".

She went on to claim she will deliver a "bold plan" to cut taxes and bolster the British economy after the COVID pandemic.

Ms Truss added that she will deliver on the energy crisis - and on the NHS.

"We all will deliver for our country, and I will make sure that we use all the fantastic talents of our Conservative Party."

Ms Truss said she knows: "We will deliver, we will deliver, we will deliver - and we will deliver a great victory for the Conservative Party in 2024."

She left the stage to a standing ovation.

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2022-09-05 06:06:38Z
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Three siblings killed in 'violent incident' in Dublin named by police - Sky News

Irish police have named the three siblings who died in a "violent incident" at a house in Dublin.

Lisa Cash, 18, and her twin siblings Christy and Chelsea Cawley, 8, were found at a property in Rossfield Estate, Tallaght, at about 12.30am on Sunday.

They were taken to hospital in Crumlin but later pronounced dead.

Police said their mother, in her 40s, has been discharged from hospital, while the victims' fourteen-year-old brother is still being treated for serious but non-life threatening injuries.

An man in his early 20s arrested at the scene continues to be detained.

Police believe everyone involved knew each another and described the scene as violent, challenging and traumatic.

Post mortems will take place this afternoon and tomorrow.

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The scene - in the west of the Irish capital - remans sealed off while forensic examinations take place.

Upstairs windows of the house were open and smashed, and there were bloodstains on the window frames. A smashed downstairs window was also open while forensic officers worked in the front garden.

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Items including a shoe, black coat and small bag were removed from the scene in forensic bags.

Fianna Fail councillor Charlie O'Connor said the incident had caused "deep shock" in the community.

"People are really, really upset," he said.

"Any event like this would cause shock but the fact that it involves children, it's a really shocking event for this community, and indeed for the wider Tallaght community and elsewhere. This will affect many, many people.

"I was talking to the gardai and they told me that their colleagues who were on last night were all deeply shocked."

Flowers have been left at the scene, with one message saying: "Fly high little angels. Our hearts are broken for you all."

Dermot Richardson, Sinn Fein councillor for Tallaght, said welfare support should be provided for the family and the local community.

He also urged people not to share any images on social media.

"There are videos being shared on WhatsApp," he said. "I would ask people not to share it out of respect for the family and the local community as well," he added.

"If you have footage, please pass on to the gardai."

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2022-09-04 15:45:28Z
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Germany levies windfall tax on energy groups to fund €65bn aid package - Financial Times

The German government is to impose a windfall tax on electricity producers and use the proceeds to finance a new €65bn package of relief measures to soften the blow of soaring inflation and higher energy bills.

The new package brings the total cost of the aid measures Germany has enacted since Russia invaded Ukraine in February to €95bn — one of the largest support programmes in the developed world.

Speaking in Berlin on Sunday, German chancellor Olaf Scholz said the government would impose a cap on the profits of energy producers who generate electricity from wind, solar, biomass, coal and nuclear energy rather than gas.

Such companies were making “excessive” profits because the market price of electricity was determined by the price of gas. Proceeds from the tax would go towards an “electricity price brake”, allowing private households to enjoy a basic volume of electricity at reduced prices, he added.

“Germany stands together in a difficult time,” Scholz said. “No one will be left behind.”

Scholz’s government has come under pressure to help Germans concerned about the rising cost of living and the prospect of much higher gas bills this winter as Russia chokes off supplies.

Those concerns have intensified over the weekend as Russia indefinitely suspended shipments of gas to Europe through the crucial Nord Stream 1 pipeline that runs through the Baltic Sea to Germany.

Gazprom, the Kremlin-controlled gas exporter, said the suspension was because of a technical fault — a justification the German government has questioned.

Western governments have accused Moscow of “weaponising” its gas to drive up prices and punish Europe for its support of Ukraine. European gas prices stand at about €200 per megawatt hour — about 10 times the average level of the past decade.

Scholz said he was aware that “many Germans worry about their future, about the high price of electricity and gas, about the rising cost of living . . . We take all these concerns very, very seriously”.

Scholz’s measures were closely aligned with recommendations by the European Commission: Brussels is recommending member states levy a share of inflated profits generated by some electricity producers to fund support measures for households and companies. Scholz said if the EU did not implement these policies “in a timely manner”, Germany would go ahead and reform its national electricity market itself.

Scholz announced the measures after 18 hours of negotiations between the three parties in his coalition — his Social Democrats, the Greens and the liberal FDP.

He said the government would also make €1.5bn available for a continuation of the €9 ticket scheme, which allowed Germans to travel for just €9 a month on all local and regional public transport during the summer months. A national ticket priced at between €49 and €69 is currently under discussion.

The government also agreed to make one-time payments of €300 to pensioners to help them with energy costs — a measure it said would provide €6bn in total relief. Students will also be entitled to a one-off payment of €200 each. Child allowance will also be increased.

Scholz said the government would also expand the number of people eligible for housing allowance to 2mn, up from 640,000 currently, and provide recipients of such payments with a special grant to help with heating costs during this winter.

An aid scheme for energy-intensive companies to help with higher energy bills will be extended till the end of the year, the government said.

It also said it would postpone by a year a planned €5/tonne increase in the price of CO₂ that was due to come into force next January.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev responded to Scholz’s remarks by saying that Germany was “acting as an enemy of Russia” by supporting sanctions against Moscow and supplying Ukraine with weapons.

“They have declared hybrid war against Russia,” Medvedev, now deputy chair of Russia’s security council, wrote on Telegram. “And this old man acts surprised that the Germans have some little problems with gas.”

Additional reporting by Max Seddon in Riga

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2022-09-04 11:05:36Z
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Teen and two children killed in 'violent incident' in Dublin - Sky News

A teenager and two children have died following a violent incident at a house in Dublin, police have said.

The 18-year-old girl and her twin 8-year-old siblings - a boy and a girl - were taken by ambulance to Children's Health Ireland (CHI) in Crumlin, but all three were later pronounced dead.

Officers were called to a property on the Rossfield Estate in Tallaght at about 12.30am on Sunday, describing the incident as violent, challenging and traumatic.

Image: Officers were called to the house in the Rossfield Estate in Tallaght at around 12.30am on Sunday

A 14-year-old boy was also taken from the scene to hospital with serious injuries, however they are not thought to be life-threatening.

A man in his early 20s was subsequently arrested at the scene by the Garda Armed Support Unit.

He is being held at Tallaght Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984.

The mother of the children, who was not injured, was also taken to CHI and is currently receiving medical treatment.

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Gardai said everyone involved is believed to be known to each other and officers are not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident.

The scene in Rossfield Estate remains sealed off and a forensic examination will take place on Sunday by the Garda Technical Bureau.

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Image: The scene remains sealed off and a forensic examination will take place

Post-mortem examinations are also due to take place.

An Garda Siochana said it has appointed a family liaison officer and will continue to support those involved, in conjunction with other state agencies.

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2022-09-04 10:41:15Z
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Donald Trump: What we learned from his rally in Pennsylvania - BBC

Reuters

Donald Trump has called President Joe Biden an "enemy of the state" at his first rally since the FBI searched his Florida resort for sensitive files.

Speaking to thousands of supporters in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, the ex-president accused Mr Biden of weaponizing the FBI against him.

The raid was "one of the most shocking abuses of power by any administration in American history", Mr Trump claimed.

He was in the state to promote two Republican candidates.

Dr Mehmet Oz is running for the US Senate, and state Senator Doug Mastriano is in the race to become Pennsylvania's next governor.

Both spoke only briefly - as always, the rally on Saturday night was really about one person: the headliner.

Mr Trump, 76, spent the first part of his nearly two-hour speech criticising the FBI search early last month.

FBI agents conducting the search found dozens of empty folders marked as classified, and top secret files were recovered from his personal office.

Mr Trump, who is being investigated over his handling of classified records, denies wrongdoing.

Apart from the raid, the former president returned to familiar themes at the Pennsylvania rally: false claims that the 2020 election was stolen from him, attacks on rivals in the Democratic Party, and promises to "save our country".

Several times, he called for people who deal drugs to receive the death penalty.

Here are four key things you need to know about Donald Trump's rally.

Punching back at the Department of Justice (DoJ)

The former president is currently involved in a legal tussle with federal authorities over a cache of classified documents that the FBI seized last month.

Government authorities say Mr Trump improperly took and stored White House documents, including some marked "top secret," at his Florida home - the Mar-a-Lago resort.

Federal prosecutors now say he may have obstructed the investigation into his possession of the documents.

EPA

Mr Trump has previously spun investigations and attacks against him as "witch hunts," and it was no different on Saturday.

He came out swinging, calling the FBI's search "the shameful raid and break-in on my home in Mar-a-Lago" a "travesty".

The former president has long built his appeal by casting himself and his supporters as political outsiders and persecuted figures.

Mr Trump linked his personal legal troubles to his supporters' political frustrations, claiming: "We are being assaulted… by the FBI and DOJ".

"It was not just my home that was raided… it was the hopes and dreams of every citizen who I've been fighting for since the moment I came down the golden escalator in 2015, wanting to represent the people," he said, drawing boos from the crowd.

Supporters think Trump was 'set up'

The crowd was on his side when it came to the FBI's search.

This region supported Mr Trump in the 2020 election, even though Pennsylvania overall slipped from his grasp and chose Mr Biden.

Two supporters had already procured "Defund the FBI" T-shirts to wear to the rally.

Gail McCloskey, from the city of Altoona, nearly a three-hour drive away, told the BBC she thought the FBI visit was "a set up".

Meanwhile, Kelly Borgogelli, 60, who had driven four hours from Buffalo, New York, to see Mr Trump, said: "They're just going after him for pure hate."

Asked if she believed any of the multiple accusations made against Mr Trump over the years - that he incited a violent mob to storm the US Capitol last year, that he improperly pressured Ukraine's president to investigate his political enemies, or that he falsified claims of election fraud in 2020 - Mrs Borgogelli replied she did not.

"They've never given us any proof," she said.

Her companion, Maureen Ewart, 62, said if the justice department actually charged Mr Trump, the country would be "divided".

"It will be crowded out there, the streets will be full," Ms Ewart said, emphasising that she did not condone violence - but feared any criminal charges against the former president could spark civil unrest.

At one point, Mr Trump himself claimed that the latest investigation into his possession of government documents was "going to produce a backlash" the likes of which the country had not seen before.

His visit to Pennsylvania is a strategic choice

Mr Trump's name might not be on the ballot in Pennsylvania this year, but Trumpism certainly is.

He hand-picked the US Senate candidate, celebrity medical expert Dr Oz, and endorsed the far-right election conspiracy theorist Mr Mastriano for governor after his surprising primary win.

Reuters

Their performance in the November election will be seen as a referendum on the strength of Mr Trump's endorsement, and the political ideologies he's unleashed on the Republican Party.

The outcome could have ramifications for 2024.

Mr Trump has not announced another presidential campaign, but has left the door wide open.

• A simple guide to the US midterm elections

Should his candidates prevail, the Republican Party will see it as a sign of Mr Trump's continued dominance of their base voters.

Should they lose, however, it could indicate to Mr Trump's potential 2024 rivals that they may have a chance at the White House after all.

Rallygoers were far more enthused about Mr Mastriano - a candidate more closely forged in the former president's mould - than they were about Dr Oz.

The crowd roared when Mr Mastriano was brought onstage. However Dr Oz was invited to join Mr Trump onstage well over an hour into the rally.

The celebrity doctor spoke for less than two minutes, and after his remarks, someone in the back of the crowd shouted "he's a Rino!" or "Republican in name only," a criticism that Dr Oz is not sufficiently conservative.

Both parties eye Pennsylvania

The state is vital to Democrats' hopes as well. They want to pick up a US Senate seat by propelling Lt Gov John Fetterman to victory.

The governor's race has taken on extra significance with Mr Mastriano's landslide win in the Republican primary. He attended the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Congress and played a key role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Pennsylvania.

Should he win the governorship, he would have significant power over the state's election implementation.

To oppose him, Democrats have put forth the state's attorney general, Josh Shapiro, and President Biden held several high-profile events in the state in recent days to help whip up the Democratic base.

In fact, he also visited Wilkes-Barre, on 30 August to give a major speech about guns and public safety and two days ago he gave a primetime address in Philadelphia.

He argued that Trump's ideology - which he called "Maga Republicans" after his predecessor's famous campaign slogan - threatened American democracy.

"Not every Republican, not even a majority of Republicans, are Maga Republicans," Mr Biden said.

"But there's no question the Republican Party today is dominated, driven and intimidated by Donald Trump and the Maga Republicans, and that is a threat to this country."

On Saturday, Mr Trump called Mr Biden's address the most "vicious hateful and divisive speech ever delivered by an American president".

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2022-09-04 06:40:15Z
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Pilot 'threatening to crash stolen' plane into Walmart in Mississippi - Sky News

The pilot of a plane in Mississippi is threatening to "intentionally" crash his aircraft into a Walmart store.

A statement put out by Tupelo Police Department (TPD) says at about 5am local time (11am UK time) they were notified in an emergency 911 call that a pilot was making the threat.

The aircraft is believed to be a King Air propeller type.

AP said it had spoken to sources who revealed the aircraft is thought to be stolen and are trying to find out if the pilot is a worker at a local airport.

The Department of Homeland Security is now working with multiple other agencies to discern a motive, AP said it had been told.

Officers have been trying to clear the area and talk to the pilot, who is said to have been circling the scene in the air since, flying at low altitude.

The local newspaper the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported that the plane is believed to have moved to an area near a Toyota factory in nearby Blue Springs - a situation that appears to be confirmed by images from flight tracking websites.

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Police said in the statement: "On 09-03-2022 at approximately 05:00am TPD was notified that a pilot of an airplane (possibly King Air type) was flying over Tupelo. The pilot has made contact with E911 and is threatening to intentionally crash into Wal Mart on West Main.

"TPD has worked with Wal-Mart West and Dodges on West Main to evacuate the stores and disperse people as much as practical. TPD also has been able to begin talking with the pilot directly.

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"At this time the situation is ongoing with TPD and all Emergency Services in our area on alert.

Image: A Flightaware image showing the path of the aircraft near Tupelo (TUP). Pic: Flightaware.com

"Citizens are asked to avoid that area until an all clear is given. With the mobility of an airplane of that type the danger zone is much larger than even Tupelo."

State governor Tate Reeves said authorities were tracking the situation.

He said on Twitter: "State law enforcement and emergency managers are closely tracking this dangerous situation. All citizens should be on alert and aware of updates from the Tupelo Police Department."

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2022-09-03 14:44:00Z
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No going back to reliance on Russian gas from here - BBC

Reuters

This is no coincidence. Russia's state-controlled gas giant announced an indefinite extension to a three-day maintenance halt to flows of gas through the continent's key energy artery, hours after leading western finance ministers vowed to escalate sanctions on Russian oil.

Gazprom's official reason is that an oil leak has been found and the pipeline cannot work without German imports of technology, which are now subject to sanctions.

Few observers believe, however, that this is anything other than an attempt essentially to blackmail Europe over supplies.

The G7 world's main economies, including the UK, agreed to cap the price they pay for oil from Russia. This is a way to limit the revenues that fund the Kremlin's war in Ukraine - it earns more from oil exports than gas.

But this is a very serious development. Even during the height of the Cold War, Russia kept supplies of its gas flowing into Europe.

This cut-off though - and the pointed attempt by Gazprom to blame the German energy giant Siemens for the malfunction - is the culmination of decades of dysfunction in the energy relationship between Russia and Germany.

For most of that time, of course, Bonn and then Berlin were delighted to avail themselves of cheap Russian gas.

A younger Vladimir Putin did his PhD thesis on the importance of Russian energy exports.

When I visited Gazprom's headquarters a decade ago and its fields in Siberia, I was told menacingly "anyone who artificially tries to diminish the role of Russian gas is playing a very dangerous game". A visit to the Novi Urengoy field showed Gazprom consolidating its hold on the Russian state, with some assistance from Berlin.

Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder enshrined this dependence with the building of this same Nordstream pipeline, which then gave him a job on its board. Gazprom sponsored German football, Europe's premier football competition the Champions League, and bankrolled various Russian soft power projects.

Perhaps most incredibly, German industry swapped the gas storage facilities under its soil for privileged access to deep-lying gas reserves under the Siberian tundra.

The very facilities, including Germany's largest, designed for resilience in the face of Russian energy diplomacy were passed into Russian ownership. It beggars belief that this was completed in 2015, after Russia's annexation of Crimea.

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One sliver of hope, though, now lies in those same storage facilities. The German government seized ownership of the storage facilities that had been left at very low levels last year.

There, and across the continent, energy companies backed by government loans have spent the summer buying up as much gas as possible at any price.

The major economies are now on course to fill massive stores of gas, designed to cope with a cut to supplies of several weeks. Germany's huge stores are now 84% full, having been less than half full in June.

As a result, gas prices traded in international markets have come down from extreme highs over the past week. But they are still very high by normal standards.

There remains a dash to secure alternative supplies that is pushing up the price for all countries, including Britain. And the true impact of all this will depend on just how long the pipeline outage lasts.

But surely now, for Germany and the rest of Europe, there will be no going back to reliance on Russia.

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2022-09-03 12:25:36Z
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