
King approves new sovereign seal
The King has approved a new sovereign seal which depicts him seated on a throne.
The Great Seal of the Realm is used to signify royal approval by including it on official state documents.
A new, unique seal is created for each monarch during their reign.
The one created for King Charles III depicts him on a throne on the face of the gilded seal.
On the reverse side, the seal shows the Royal Arms designed by artist Timothy Noad.
Charles approved his Great Seal of the Realm during a Privy Council meeting this week, marking the final stage of the formal transition to the King's reign following his coronation two years ago.
As per tradition, the King would have struck Queen Elizabeth II 's seal with a hammer during the meeting to symbolise its destruction.
Her seal, which is only symbolically defaced, is preserved for historical record.
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The Guardian
15 minutes ago
- The Guardian
‘We've been left in this mess': residents of condemned Merseyside blocks face eviction
Residents of two Merseyside tower blocks who have been ordered to leave after the buildings where they live were deemed unsafe say they feel 'stuck' and 'left behind'. Hundreds of people living in Beech Rise and Willow Rise, which stand beside each other in Kirkby, were issued a prohibition notice by Merseyside fire and rescue service in May. It is the latest revelation of the poor conditions of many privately rented dwellings and tenants' apparent lack of rights. Residents in Beech Rise and Willow Rise have been allowed to stay temporarily due to a 24-hour 'waking watch' of trained personnel carrying out inspections on the properties. The watch is expected to end any day, however, meaning that residents do not know how much time they have left in their homes. Once the watch is over, returning to their homes will be illegal. Aside from the odd sign of life the towers already look abandoned, with large puddles of water coming from behind locked doors, pipes hanging through holes in the ceiling and rubbish piling up in the hallways. Neither building has had a working lift for the past year, and residents had complained that the combination of constant leaks and bad wiring presented a constant fire risk. As a result, some flats had their supplies cut off, leaving many without power or water for months. Arunee Leerasiri bought her duplex flat in Willow Rise two years ago. Now the flat, which she sank her savings into, is practically worthless with no recourse to compensation. 'This is my home. Well, it used to be,' Leerasiri said through tears. 'I thought I'd found my forever home. I paid to fix everything, the bathroom, the ceiling, everything. And now that's all gone.' She says the building's problems were severe enough for her to try to move, but with the notice to leave in place, she was unable to sell. While the council have told her she will be rehoused temporarily, they have not said when this will happen. 'I knew that I had to move out one day because of all these problems in the building, I knew, but I can't sell now. The building is not safe as a seller,' she said. 'I can't sign and lie to say, 'yeah, it's safe to sell', so I'm stuck.' Leerasiri has been forced to rely on the kindness of her employers to store her heavier belongings, meaning many of the things she needs for day-to-day life are no longer in her flat. With the waking watch ongoing and no money for temporary accommodation or news of when she may be rehoused, she has been forced to stay in the flat, sleeping on the floor as her bed and mattress are already in storage. The watch costs the council about £3,000 a day and, since taking over the responsibility to fund it from the previous management company on 21 May, it has spent more than £50,000 in order to continue it. This process does nothing to make the building itself safer, allowing only for people to be evacuated more quickly in the event of an emergency. One fire marshall on the watch described the buildings as 'incredibly dangerous', and said that in his opinion, 'nobody should have been here for a while'. Chris Penfold-Ivany who has rented in Willow Beech for more than 15 years, said the buildings 'are not fit for purpose' and that the residents had been let down. 'The companies that have ran these buildings, one after the other, have let this place fall apart,' he says. 'And now it's so far gone it would cost them millions to fix it, so we've just been left behind in this mess, and someone needs to take responsibility. Whoever these are, cannot be allowed to just leave this.' Penfold-Ivany has cancer and is taking medication to treat it as well as dealing with the after-effects of a liver transplant. His medical needs have made it hard for him to move his possessions from his 13th-floor flat, and he has resigned himself to the fact that, without help, he will have to leave much of his life behind once he is forced to move. Though he says the council have told him they will be able to house him somewhere, he is wary of the prospect of leaving the area as his family, who are based in Kirkby, help him with the day-to-day chores that are are made more difficult because of his ill-health. Anneliese Midgley, the Labour Knowsley MP, has said that the council is doing everything it can to address a 'deeply distressing situation that has left 160 households in my constituency at risk of homelessness through no fault of their own', and that she intends to bring the situation to national attention. 'The immediate priority must be to ensure everyone is safely rehoused,' she said. 'The private companies responsible must be held to account. It's encouraging to see the government engaging with this issue and exploring ways to help.'


BBC News
20 minutes ago
- BBC News
Bristol van-dweller attacks protester as tensions flare
A campaigner has been "attacked" as tensions continue to escalate with a van-dwelling community. During filming on Tuesday, a BBC camera was struck by a van-dweller as Tony Nelson, who founded a group calling for the vehicles to be removed, was interviewed. Mr Nelson had attempted to speak to a man living in a van at Durdham Down in Bristol, where around 107 vehicles are parked, believed to be one of the largest van-dwelling sites in the man accused Mr Nelson of spreading "hate and violence" against van-dwellers, and said the two groups were "well past talking to each other" before reportedly pushing him. Faced with soaring rental prices, another van-dweller told BBC News he had no choice but to live in his vehicle and said they were not harming some residents say they are now too scared to go out at night and have complained about increased has been living in a van on the Downs for nine a house share with friends ended, he said he did not have enough money to put down a deposit on a rental flat and was "lucky" to find the when residents in the area formed a group calling for van-dwellers to be removed from the area, Callum said it had "an emotional effect"."As much as I kind of see their side, it's a lot of weight on us. "People are tooting their horns, revving their engines. If this was your home, would you want someone to come and disturb your sleep and your life in that way?"It would be nice if they just left us alone, if we're not doing any direct harm to anyone up here, I don't see why we shouldn't be allowed to stay," he rent-free had allowed Callum to drop down his hours working in hospitality and retrain as a joiner, he now he has a new job, he said he and his partner were looking for a is one of 107 vehicle dwellers who Bristol City Council estimates live on the Downs. Mr Nelson, who founded the Facebook group Protect the Downs, believes living in a van had become a "lifestyle choice".His group, which has nearly 2,000 members, has called for the council to use its powers to remove vans and those living in them. Mr Nelson said: "People really feel very strongly about the council's inaction, their permissiveness, their saying 'it's OK to come and trash our parks'. "People are fed up with that. I don't know if it's council incompetence or whatever."He wants the council to help those who need it, and move others on. Bristol City Council (BCC) said it was choosing not to move people on as this would simply result in "moving people from one part of the city to the other"."Every inch of this city is important and special to somebody", said councillor Barry Parsons, who chairs the Homes and Housing Delivery council has previously shut down other encampments - once they were deemed to have had too great an impact on the News was told the current impact on the Downs was assessed to be at a "medium" level, which meant it did not meet the threshold for intervention. Nevertheless, Mr Parsons said it was "unfair" to claim the council had done nothing, as it had developed a new policy that will be in place "by the end of the year"."I can understand why people are feeling anxious and frustrated. "We're trying to do something really new, that hasn't been tried before, here or anywhere else in the country", he are proposals to provide kerbside "service sites", where people living in vans could dispose of waste and get access to water, as well as plans to open more "meanwhile sites", where people can live in their vans and be provided with basic council currently has around 60 such pitches, with a new site due to open soon. But there is already a waiting list for several councillors raised concerns about the pace at which change seemed to be happening, acknowledging people needed to see improvements up on the Downs, among people living in vans, and those living beside them, patience is wearing thin.


The Independent
20 minutes ago
- The Independent
Watch: Moment London-bound Air India flight crashes shortly after take-off
This is the moment an Air India flight bound for London crashed shortly after take-off. The Boeing 787 departed Ahmedabad Airport at 1.39 p.m. local time and crashed minutes later in a residential area. More than 240 people were on board, with Air India confirming 53 were British nationals. According to flight tracking service Flightradar24, the aircraft, carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members, lost signal just seconds after leaving the runway. Authorities have yet to confirm the cause of the crash. London Gatwick confirmed the flight was due to arrive later today.