Jury

Drivers booted off the platform say they have little recourse to appeal as rideshare giant increasingly relies on automated systemsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMichael Thorn thought he’d suffered enough after his Uber passenger punched him in the head, sending him to hospital. But then the ride-share platform deactivated his account.“It’s even worse than getting belted,” Thorn said. Continue reading...

Heather Hallett hails vaccine scheme but criticises rule that only those meeting 60% disabled threshold can get payoutsThe Covid-19 vaccine programme in the UK was an “extraordinary feat” but the payment scheme for people injured by the jabs must be urgently reformed, the public inquiry on the pandemic has found.In her report, the inquiry chair, Heather Hallett, praised the fact the UK was a world leader in biomedical sciences, which set it in good stead for developing and rolling out vaccines at scale. But she said the government must act urgently to reform the scheme for payments to the “small minority” of people seriously injured by the vaccines, and almost double maximum payouts to at least £200,000 from an upper limit of £120,000 at present. Continue reading...

Verdict in states’ lawsuit says concert giant stifled competition, raising pressure for changes to ticketing marketA jury has found that concert giant Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had a harmful monopoly over big concert venues, dealing the company a loss in a lawsuit over claims brought by dozens of US states.A Manhattan federal jury deliberated for four days before reaching its decision Wednesday in the closely watched case, which gave fans the equivalent of a backstage pass to a business that dominates live entertainment in the US and beyond. Continue reading...

• Jake Paul stated he is targeting a return to the ring in late 2026 or early 2027 after recovering from a severe jaw injury sustained during his fight against Anthony Joshua. • Paul told Babcock this week that he is "finally feeling healthy again" and that his jaw is "definitely recovering," though he still requires medical clearance and testing before competing. • The boxer continues his rehabilitation process and has not ruled out further boxing ventures despite the significant injury, marking his next competitive timeline.

Child killer attacked at workshop at HMP Frankland with metal bar and died in hospitalAn inquest into the death of the Soham murderer, Ian Huntley, has heard he was struck over the head multiple times with a metal bar in prison.Huntley, 52, was an inmate in the maximum security prison HMP Frankland in Durham, where he was allegedly attacked in a workshop on 26 February. Continue reading...

Geoffrey Robertson says proposals to reduce backlog are betrayal of party’s values and a ‘cure worse than the disease’The founder of Keir Starmer’s barristers’ chambers has condemned the planned restriction of jury trials in England and Wales as “a betrayal of the values for which Labour purports to stand”.Geoffrey Robertson KC, founding head of Doughty Street Chambers, where the attorney general, Richard Hermer KC, and the justice secretary, David Lammy, also had their professional homes, has written a more than 9,000-word polemic to coincide with the committee stage of the courts and tribunals bill. Continue reading...