Latest news with #Phillips'
ITV News
2 days ago
- ITV News
Former teacher in Grimsby barred from profession after 'sexual activity with pupil'
A former teacher has been barred from teaching ever again after a disciplinary panel found he had sexual relations with a pupil and sent inappropriate messages and photos to another. A Teaching Regulation Agency professional conduct panel has issued an order to ban Cheyne Phillips, 34, who taught at Healing Academy near Grimsby between 2016 and 2022, from teaching indefinitely. Findings included that Mr Phillips fell significantly short of professional standards, sent comments of a sexual or inappropriate nature, and had sexual relations with one pupil. One message Mr Phillips is alleged to have sent to one of the pupils, highlighted by the panel for its inappropriate nature, said: "Times ticking baby cakes [emoji] u either want ur eyes to water or you don't [emoji].' The Harbour Learning Trust, which runs the school says the incident was dealt with swiftly under a previous headteacher and chief executive officer, and it complied fully with the investigation. The Teaching Regulation Agency panel viewed the misconduct findings as particularly serious as they "include a finding of sexual activity, sexual communication with a child and activity involving viewing and possessing indecent photographs of a child". Both pupils reported Mr Phillips' behaviour towards them changed as they entered the last months of their time at school. Screenshots showed Instagram messages between Mr Phillips and one of the pupils, including him sending one which read: 'Is this the part where I get lucky and get a few pics and videos? [emojis].' Messages with the other pupil were alleged to have occurred by Snapchat, a social media app where screenshotting notifies the other person of this action. Consequently, the pupil copied and pasted messages sent by Mr Phillips, such as 'Times ticking baby cakes'. The panel found Mr Phillips was sexually motivated in pursuing entirely inappropriate lines of communication with both pupils. It was found on the balance of probabilities he had sexual relations with one pupil on one or more occasions, and received one or more explicit photographs of the pupil. This pupil stated in her evidence that Mr Phillips would request explicit images. This was not a finding of fact made by the panel, but it did find Mr Phillips requested pictures from the other pupil. There was no doubt from the panel that both pupils had been harmed and Mr Phillips' actions "were having a serious and continued effect" on them. The teaching ban will last for life, unless it is appealed at High Court within 28 days of the order's issuing. Mr Phillips chose not to attend the hearing as he did not feel in a position to properly respond to the allegations, the panel heard. But in a written statement, he had denied the allegations and a large amount of the factual assertions surrounding them. He also stated regardless of the outcome, he did not wish, or intend, to return to teaching. In a statement, Harbour Learning Trust, which runs Healing Academy, said it is :committed to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of all of our students and expects all our staff to share this unwavering commitment". It continued: "We wish to make it unequivocally clear that the behaviours attributed to this individual do not align with the values, professional standards, or expectations held by our Trust. "We are deeply committed to fostering a safe, respectful, and nurturing environment for all students, and any actions that undermine this commitment are viewed with the utmost seriousness. "We can confirm that this incident was dealt with swiftly by the Trust, under the previous CEO and Headteacher, and the school and Trust have complied fully with the investigation. "Harbour Learning Trust do not condone behaviour that compromises the well-being, trust, or safety of our students in any way. Our primary concern remains the protection and education of the young people in our care."
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
A Christian baker was sued for not serving a lesbian couple. The Supreme Court may hear her case
Christian baker Cathy Miller was sued in 2018 for refusing to sell a cake for use at a same-sex wedding. Seven years later, she's still fighting the accusations of discrimination by citing religious freedom protections. On Wednesday, Miller was dealt a blow by the California Supreme Court, which announced it won't reconsider a lower court ruling against the Christian baker. Miller has now said she will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to take up her case, a move that would put the debate over the rights of religious business owners back in the national spotlight. If Miller's lawsuit sounds familiar, it's because it has much in common with a separate lawsuit out of Colorado that the Supreme Court heard in 2017. The case centered on Masterpiece Cakeshop and baker Jack Phillips, who was accused of violating Colorado civil rights law when he refused to create a wedding cake for a gay couple. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled in Phillips' favor in June 2018, although it didn't answer whether religious business owners have a right to be exempted from nondiscrimination laws protecting the LGBTQ community. Instead, the 7-2 ruling was focused on the actions of Colorado officials involved in Phillips' case. Justices in the majority said the Colorado Civil Rights Commission had disrespected the Christian baker's beliefs. Five years later, in June 2023, the Supreme Court again ruled in favor of a religious business owner in a case about the scope of free speech protections. The business owner, a web designer named Lorie Smith, came to the court for an assurance that she could refuse to work on projects that conveyed messages — like support for same-sex marriage — that contradicted her religious beliefs. The 6-3 decision, which pitted all of the court's more conservative justices against its three liberals, said that anti-discrimination laws don't overrule free speech. 'The First Amendment prohibits Colorado from forcing a website designer to create expressive designs speaking messages with which the designer disagrees,' Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority. Miller and her attorneys have cited those two Supreme Court decisions to fight the discrimination claims — with limited success. Miller initially won at the county level but then lost on appeal. In 2022, she won when the case was reconsidered at the county level, as the Deseret News reported at the time, but a California appeals court later overturned that decision. The rulings partly hinged on the question of whether or not the lesbian couple who tried to purchase a wedding cake from Miller's bakery, Tastries, were seeking a custom product. The court that sided with Miller saw the cake order as custom and, because of that, said Miller had a right to refuse to express her support for same-sex marriage in that way and could respect nondiscrimination law by referring the couple to another bakery, as she did. But the appellate court that ruled against her earlier this year said the couple essentially wanted something off the shelf and that Miller could not treat LGBTQ customers differently than any other customer seeking a standard cake. In a statement released on Thursday, Miller's attorneys from Becket, a prominent religious freedom firm, argued that her wedding cakes are custom creations. 'As the United States Supreme Court has made clear twice already, creative professionals like Cathy Miller shouldn't have to choose between following their faith and practicing their art,' said Adèle Keim, senior counsel at Becket. 'California should have dropped its campaign against Cathy years ago and let her design in peace. We plan to appeal this decision to the Supreme Court to defend Cathy's right to make custom creations that are consistent with her faith.' If the Supreme Court agrees to hear Miller's appeal next term, it will reanimate the national debate over faith-based service refusals, which became more common after the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide 10 years ago. The 2024 American Values Atlas from Public Religion Research Institute found that 58% of U.S. adults oppose allowing small business owners in their state to refuse to provide products or services to gay or lesbian people even if doing so would violate their religious beliefs. 'This percentage has remained consistent since this question was first asked in 2015 (59%),' PRRI reported.
Euronews
4 days ago
- Euronews
Friends complete book of environmental journalist killed in the Amazon
After British journalist Dom Phillips was killed while researching an ambitious book on how to protect the world's largest rainforest, friends vowed to finish the project. Three years later, their task is complete. 'How to Save the Amazon' published yesterday (28 May) in Brazil and the UK ahead of its US release on 10 June. It was pieced together by fellow journalists who immersed themselves in Phillips' notes, outlines and the handful of chapters he'd already written. The resulting book pairs Phillips' own writing with others' contributions in a powerful examination of the cause for which he gave his life. In addition to the core group who led the work on finishing the book, other colleagues and friends helped to edit chapters, including AP journalists Fabiano Maisonnave and David Biller. Phillips, who had been a regular contributor to The Guardian newspaper, was taking one of the final reporting trips planned for his book when he was gunned down by fishermen on 5 June 2022, in western Amazon's Javari Valley. Also killed was Bruno Pereira, a Brazilian expert on Indigenous tribes who had made enemies in the region for defending the local communities from intruding fishermen, poachers and illegal gold miners. Their deaths made headlines around the world. Nine people have been indicted in the killings. 'It was just a horrifying, really sad moment. Everybody was trying to think: How can you deal with something like this? And the book was there,' said Jonathan Watts, an Amazon-based environmental writer for The Guardian who co-authored the foreword and one of the chapters. With the blessing of Phillips' widow, Alessandra Sampaio, a group of five friends agreed to carry the project forward. The group led by Watts also included Andrew Fishman, the Rio-based president of The Intercept Brasil; Phillips' agent, Rebecca Carter; David Davies, a colleague from his days in London as a music journalist; and Tom Hennigan, Latin America correspondent for The Irish Times. 'It was a way to not just feel awful about what had happened, but to get on with something. Especially because so many of Dom's friends are journalists,' Watts said. 'And what you fall back on is what you know best, which is journalism.' By the time of his death, Phillips had travelled extensively across the Amazon and had completed an introduction and nearly four of the 10 planned chapters. He also left behind an outline of the remaining chapters, with different degrees of detail, and many pages of handwritten notes, some of them barely legible. 'I think it's fair to say even Dom didn't yet know what he would do exactly in those chapters,' Watts said. Phillips was searching for hope. He promised his editors a character-driven travel book in which readers would get to know a wide-ranging cast of people living in the area, 'all of whom know and understand the Amazon intimately and have innovative solutions for the millions of people who live there.' The group led by Watts selected writers for the remaining chapters, with subjects ranging from a bioeconomy initiative in Brazil's Acre state to global funding for rainforest preservation. Indigenous leader Beto Marubo of the Javari Valley was recruited to co-write an afterword. The team also launched a successful crowdfunding campaign to pay for more reporting trips. Among the group's challenges was ensuring that the book reflected a political shift in Brazil's approach to the Amazon in the years since Phillips' death. Most of Phillips' research was done during the term of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, as Brazil's Amazon deforestation reached a 15-year high in 2021. The pace of destruction slowed after Bolsonaro's 2022 defeat by leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Throughout the finished book's more than 300 pages, fragments of hope mix with grim realities. In Chapter 2, 'Cattle Chaos,' Phillips notes that 16 per cent of Brazil's Amazon has already been converted to pasture. Even a farmer who has become a model for successfully increasing productivity without clearing most of his land is criticised for his widespread use of fertilisers. In his chapter on bioeconomy, journalist Jon Lee Anderson visits a reforestation initiative where Benki Piyãko, an Ashaninka leader, promotes environmental restoration coupled with ayahuasca treatment and a fish farm. But the veteran reporter doesn't see how it can be scalable and reproducible given man-made threats and climate change. Later in the chapter, he quotes Marek Hanusch, a German economist for the World Bank, as saying: 'At the end of the day, deforestation is a macroeconomic choice, and so long as Brazil's growth model is based on agriculture, you're going to see expansion into the Amazon.' In the foreword, the group of five organizers state that 'Like Dom, none of us was under any illusion that our writing would save the Amazon, but we could certainly follow his lead in asking the people who might know.' But in this book stained by blood and dim hope, there is another message, according to Watts: 'The most important thing is that this is all about solidarity with our friend and with journalism in general.' The European Union and six of its member states formally ratified the United Nations treaty to protect the high seas on Wednesday in New York. This international agreement is seen as a critical opportunity to safeguard parts of the ocean that lie beyond national maritime borders. The latest wave of ratifications comes ahead of the landmark UN Ocean Conference, scheduled to take place in Nice, France, in early June. EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans, Costas Kadis, described the move as a 'historic step towards protecting the world's oceans and preserving the delicate balance of our planet's ecosystem.' Ratification means that the EU and the six individual member states have formally agreed to the treaty becoming binding international law. This often involves aligning national legislation with what the treaty outlines. In April, the European Commission presented a proposal for a directive that would transpose the High Seas Treaty into European law. The High Seas Treaty has the potential to bring about a significant shift in global ocean conservation efforts. Areas beyond national jurisdiction -including the high seas and seabed -cover nearly two-thirds of the world's oceans. These regions face increasing threats from pollution, overexploitation, climate change, and biodiversity loss. Currently, only about 1 per cent of the high seas is protected. Following years of negotiations, a global consensus on the need to protect the high seas was reached in March 2023. The text of the treaty was formally adopted in June 2023 at the UN headquarters in New York. The agreement paves the way for protecting marine life in areas outside of national maritime boundaries. It allows for the creation of marine protected areas and supports the global goal of safeguarding at least 30 per cent of the world's oceans by 2030. Classified as a 'mixed agreement,' the treaty needs to be ratified by both the EU and its individual member states separately. On Wednesday, Cyprus, Finland, Hungary, Latvia, Portugal, and Slovenia joined the EU in submitting their ratification. France and Spain had already ratified the treaty earlier this year. To come into force, the treaty requires ratification by 60 parties. With these latest additions, the number of ratifications has reached 28. A total of 115 countries have signed the treaty, indicating their potential commitment to ratification. The EU is urging all remaining parties to ratify the agreement without delay, in the hope of securing the 60 ratifications required for it to enter into force by the time of the UN Ocean Conference in Nice. Nathalie Rey, European Regional Coordinator for the High Seas Alliance, described the EU's action as a 'powerful acceleration' toward meeting the ratification threshold just days before the summit. 'EU leadership is essential in confronting the biodiversity and climate crises. This bold move sends a clear message that ocean protection is not optional - it's a global priority,' she said.
New Indian Express
4 days ago
- New Indian Express
A journalist was killed while writing a book on the Amazon. Here's how friends completed his work
BRASILIA, Brazil: After British journalist Dom Phillips was shot and killed while researching an ambitious book on how to protect the world's largest rainforest, friends vowed to finish the project. Three years later, their task is complete. 'How to Save the Amazon,' published Tuesday in Brazil and the United Kingdom ahead of its US release, was pieced together by fellow journalists who immersed themselves in Phillips' notes, outlines and the handful of chapters he'd already written. The resulting book, scheduled to be published in the US on June 10, pairs Phillips' own writing with others' contributions in a powerful examination of the cause for which he gave his life. In addition to the core group who led the work on finishing the book, other colleagues and friends helped to edit chapters, including The Associated Press journalists Fabiano Maisonnave and David Biller. Phillips, who had been a regular contributor to The Guardian newspaper, was taking one of the final reporting trips planned for his book when he was gunned down by fishermen on June 5, 2022, in western Amazon's Javari Valley. Also killed was Bruno Pereira, a Brazilian expert on Indigenous tribes who had made enemies in the region for defending the local communities from intruding fishermen, poachers and illegal gold miners. Their deaths made headlines around the world. Nine people have been indicted in the killings. 'It was just a horrifying, really sad moment. Everybody was trying to think: How can you deal with something like this? And the book was there,' said Jonathan Watts, an Amazon-based environmental writer for The Guardian who coauthored the foreword and one of the chapters. With the blessing of Phillips' widow, Alessandra Sampaio, a group of five friends agreed to carry the project forward. The group led by Watts also included Andrew Fishman, the Rio-based president of The Intercept Brasil; Phillips' agent, Rebecca Carter; David Davies, a colleague from his days in London as a music journalist; and Tom Hennigan, Latin America correspondent for The Irish Times. 'It was a way to not just feel awful about what had happened, but to get on with something. Especially because so many of Dom's friends are journalists,' Watts said. 'And what you fall back on is what you know best, which is journalism.'
4 days ago
A journalist was killed while writing a book on the Amazon. Here's how friends completed his work
BRASILIA, Brazil -- After British journalist Dom Phillips was shot and killed while researching an ambitious book on how to protect the world's largest rainforest, friends vowed to finish the project. Three years later, their task is complete. 'How to Save the Amazon,' published Tuesday in Brazil and England ahead of its U.S. release, was pieced together by fellow journalists who immersed themselves in Phillips' notes, outlines and the handful of chapters he'd already written. The resulting book, scheduled to be published in the U.S. on June 10, pairs Phillips' own writing with others' contributions in a powerful examination of the cause for which he gave his life. In addition to the core group who led the work on finishing the book, other colleagues and friends helped to edit chapters, including The Associated Press journalists Fabiano Maisonnave and David Biller. Phillips, who had been a regular contributor to The Guardian newspaper, was taking one of the final reporting trips planned for his book when he was gunned down by fishermen on June 5, 2022, in western Amazon's Javari Valley. Also killed was Bruno Pereira, a Brazilian expert on Indigenous tribes who had made enemies in the region for defending the local communities from intruding fishermen, poachers and illegal gold miners. Their deaths made headlines around the world. Nine people have been indicted in the killings. 'It was just a horrifying, really sad moment. Everybody was trying to think: How can you deal with something like this? And the book was there,' said Jonathan Watts, an Amazon-based environmental writer for The Guardian who coauthored the foreword and one of the chapters. Under the leadership of Phillips' widow, Alessandra Sampaio, a group of five friends agreed to carry the project forward. Along with Watts, the core group also included Andrew Fishman, the Rio-based president of The Intercept Brasil; Phillips' agent, Rebecca Carter; David Davies, a colleague from his days in London as a music journalist; and Tom Hennigan, Latin America correspondent for The Irish Times. 'It was a way to not just feel awful about what had happened, but to get on with something. Especially because so many of Dom's friends are journalists,' Watts said. 'And what you fall back on is what you know best, which is journalism.' By the time of his death, Phillips had traveled extensively across the Amazon and had completed an introduction and nearly four of the 10 planned chapters. He also left behind an outline of the remaining chapters, with different degrees of detail, and many pages of handwritten notes, some of them barely legible. 'I think it's fair to say even Dom didn't yet know what he would do exactly in those chapters,' Watts said. Phillips was searching for hope. He promised his editors a character-driven travel book in which readers would get to know a wide-ranging cast of people living in the area, 'all of whom know and understand the Amazon intimately and have innovative solutions for the millions of people who live there.' The group led by Sampaio selected writers for the remaining chapters, with subjects ranging from a bioeconomy initiative in Brazil's Acre state to global funding for rainforest preservation. Indigenous leader Beto Marubo of the Javari Valley was recruited to co-write an afterword. The team also launched a successful crowdfunding campaign to pay for more reporting trips. Among the group's challenges was ensuring that the book reflected a political shift in Brazil's approach to the Amazon in the years since Phillips' death. Most of Phillips' research was done during the term of right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, as Brazil's Amazon deforestation reached a 15-year high in 2021. The pace of destruction slowed after Bolsonaro's 2022 defeat by leftist leader Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Throughout the finished book's more than 300 pages, fragments of hope mix with grim realities. In Chapter 2, 'Cattle Chaos,' Phillips notes that 16% of Brazil's Amazon has already been converted to pasture. Even a farmer who has become a model for successfully increasing productivity without clearing most of his land is criticized for his widespread use of fertilizers. In his chapter on bioeconomy, journalist Jon Lee Anderson visits a reforestation initiative where Benki Piyãko, an Ashaninka leader, promotes environmental restoration coupled with ayahuasca treatment and a fish farm. But the veteran reporter doesn't see how it can be scalable and reproducible given man-made threats and climate change. Later in the chapter, he quotes Marek Hanusch, a German economist for the World Bank, as saying: 'At the end of the day, deforestation is a macroeconomic choice, and so long as Brazil's growth model is based on agriculture, you're going to see expansion into the Amazon.' In the foreword, the group of five organizers state that 'Like Dom, none of us was under any illusion that our writing would save the Amazon, but we could certainly follow his lead in asking the people who might know.' But in this book stained by blood and dim hope, there is another message, according to Watts: 'The most important thing is that this is all about solidarity with our friend and with journalism in general.'
