Hornets-Pistons game turns chaotic with massive brawl leading to 4 ejections







The prime minister Keir Starmer is hoping to push forward on policy following a bruising week for his leadership
In his Sky News interview, defending the government’s record on growth (see 10.45am), Ed Miliband said that he was announcing investment today. He was referring to this £1bn plan for community renewable energy projects.
Here is our story, by Severin Carrell.
We support the government’s ambition to back local and community energy and give people a real stake in the clean energy transition. Investment that helps communities co-own generation, cut bills and reinvest returns locally is a positive step.
Today’s publication of the local power plan will ensure communities across the country can benefit from the clean energy transition. Backed by a new £1bn fund, the plan sets out a strong and ambitious vision – that by 2030, every community in the UK will have the opportunity to own or participate in local energy projects.
The focus on building capacity, capability and skills is essential. We know from our work delivering the Scottish government’s community and renewable energy scheme and the Welsh government energy service just how effective expert, tailored support can be in empowering communities to get projects off the ground.
Putting power in the hands of ordinary communities can bring down bills and build durable support for the energy transition. But expanding local renewable production always required ambitious public action to overcome barriers of cost and coordination. That is why the local power plan is an exciting moment: a coherent strategy to decentralise and democratise energy production. It is a downpayment on the potential of GB Energy and a statement of what more ambitious public ownership and investment can deliver.
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© Photograph: James Manning/PA

© Photograph: James Manning/PA

© Photograph: James Manning/PA

























































Who will speak out for values and rights and my fellow democracy activist now that opposition has been silenced in Hong Kong? I say Britain should
Nathan Law is a politician and activist from Hong Kong
Waking up on Monday morning to the news of the pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai’s 20-year prison sentence for national security offences felt surreal. I could have easily been in his position if I hadn’t fled Hong Kong right before the implementation of the notorious national security law (NSL), under which Lai has faced the harshest penalty ever given. In fact, Lai chose to stay and stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Hong Kong in the face of an uncertain and repressive future. Now his family fears that he will die in prison.
A mix of emotions filled my mind. I was immensely disgusted by the audacity and malevolence of such punishment. This sentence has a transparently political end, but the Hong Kong and Chinese governments make no bones about it. Their sole purpose is to silence critics, and they have succeeded: civil society and domestic media, which should be the watchdogs of individual rights and government overreach, are dead silent on criticising the trial.
Nathan Law is a politician and activist from Hong Kong, and was leader of Demosistō from 2016 to 2018
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© Photograph: Jérôme Favre/EPA

© Photograph: Jérôme Favre/EPA

© Photograph: Jérôme Favre/EPA




Teacher who ran school outside Paris was a formative influence on generations of comedians and actors including Helena Bonham Carter and Emma Thompson
Master clown Philippe Gaulier, the influential founder of France’s École Philippe Gaulier, has died aged 82. Gaulier taught the art of clowning for decades and his students included Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Emma Thompson, Rachel Weisz and Geoffrey Rush.
Gaulier died on Monday due to complications from a lung infection. He had a stroke in 2023 and, since then, had “received warm words of encouragement from all over the world”, according to a statement made by his family. “He seemed especially happy to receive letters and messages from his former students. Teaching was his passion and purpose in life.”
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© Photograph: Courtesy of the artist

© Photograph: Courtesy of the artist

© Photograph: Courtesy of the artist
At a time when Black military history is being rewritten under Trump officials, new book The War Within a War provides a vital reminder
Wil Haygood’s new book, his 10th, is The War Within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home. Meeting in Washington DC to discuss it, he produces from between the pages a small Ziploc bag. Carefully, he takes out a flier, yellowed and brittle with age. The text at the top is Vietnamese. Underneath there is English.
It reads: “Colored Gl’s! The South Vietnamese people, who are struggling for their independence and freedom, are friends with the American colored people being victim of barbarous racial discrimination at home. Your battlefield is right in the USA! Your enemy is the war lords in the White House and the Pentagon!”
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© Photograph: US Army/Getty Images

© Photograph: US Army/Getty Images

© Photograph: US Army/Getty Images