Hears

Conviction revealed during questioning of Rob Hastings about a second woman whom he deceived into intimate relationshipAn undercover officer who deceived a woman into an intimate relationship was later convicted and dismissed from the police for assaulting his long-term partner, the public inquiry into undercover policing has heard.Rob Hastings, who infiltrated pro-Palestinian and left wing protest groups for three years during his covert deployment, was convicted of assaulting his now ex-partner and mother of his three children in 2014. He was sacked by the Metropolitan police for gross misconduct as a result. Continue reading...

Case focuses on RNC’s challenge to a Mississippi law that allows ballots to count if they are arrive after election dayUS politics live – latest updatesThe US supreme court is hearing arguments Monday about whether mail-in ballots can be counted if they arrive after election day, which would affect laws in more than a dozen states during a midterm election year.The justice are considering Watson v Republican National Committee, a challenge over a Mississippi state law that was brought in 2024 by the Republican party. Mississippi allows mailed ballots to be counted if they arrive within five business days of election day, so long as they were postmarked by election day. Fourteen states, Washington DC and three US territories have similar laws that allow for late-arriving ballots to be counted. Continue reading...

Officer said he held himself responsible for accidentally phoning activist while in secret special branch meetingAn undercover police officer has admitted he was exposed as an infiltrator by his own blunder, which has been described by activists as worthy of Inspector Clouseau, the spycops public inquiry has heard.The officer, who used the fake name Simon Wellings, jeopardised his own covert deployment by mistakenly recording himself discussing individual campaigners with other special branch officers. Continue reading...

Accusations were false and primary cause of major meat supplier ‘panicking’ and cancelling contract, Victorian judge finds on balance of probabilitiesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA halal certifier wrongly accused a rival of being connected to Islamic extremism to secure the business of a major meat supplier, a Victorian court has found.The Victorian county court ruled that the Islamic Co-ordinating Council of Victoria (ICCV) suffered from malicious or injurious falsehood when Midfield Meats cancelled a lucrative halal certification contract primarily because its managing director was told the Australian federal police were investigating the certifier for financing terrorism. Continue reading...