Tuesday evening news briefing: Humza Yousaf elected Scotland's …
Good evening. Humza Yousaf said that Nicola Sturgeon left “very big shoes to fill”, as he was elected Scotland’s new First Minister today. We also have the latest from Tennessee, as police released bodycam footage of the moment they cornered the church school shooter in Nashville.
Humza Yousaf elected Scotland’s new First Minister
Humza Yousaf has been selected as Scotland’s new First Minister in a vote by MSPs at the Scottish Parliament.
During his speech before the vote, Mr Yousaf said there was “no doubt at all that Nicola Sturgeon leaves some very big shoes to fill indeed”. The 37-year-old succeeds Ms Sturgeon, who formally tendered her resignation to the King on Tuesday morning after announcing her intention to stand down last month after more than eight years in the post. The SNP leader is the youngest ever First Minister and the first from an ethnic minority background, Simon Johnson reports.
Mr Yousaf’s election at Holyrood comes after he won the SNP leadership contest on Monday, beating closest rival Kate Forbes by picking up 52 per cent of votes compared to her 48 per cent, when second preferences were included. Tom Harris has a piece on why Mr Yousaf will almost certainly fail. JK Rowling said the new SNP leader, “will disappear through the ice” like Ms Sturgeon. The Harry Potter author made the remarks in relation to Mr Yousaf’s support for controversial gender legislation passed in Scotland which makes it easier for biological males to self-identify as women, and thus access female-only spaces.
Charles Moore writes that the power the nationalists retain is due to the weakness of Unionists, not their own remaining strengths.
Northern Ireland terror threat raised to ‘severe’
The terror threat level in Northern Ireland has been raised from “substantial” to “severe”. Chris Heaton-Harris, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, announced that MI5 had made the decision on Tuesday. The escalation means an attack is highly likely, with Mr Heaton-Harris saying in a statement the threat is “constantly monitored and is subject to a regular formal review”.
The levels are designed to give an indication of how severe the terror threat is in the country, with five rankings from low to critical. The Northern Ireland secretary said that the public “should remain vigilant, but not be alarmed”.
Billionaire’s son admits role in student’s ‘sex accident’ death
The son of a Yemeni billionaire has admitted involvement in the death of a Norwegian student found raped and strangled in Mayfair, but will not return to the UK to face justice. Martine Vik Magnussen, 23, was found dead in 2008 under rubble in the basement of a block of flats where her university friend, Farouk Abdulhak, was living at the time.
Now, more than 15 years after the killing, Mr Abdulhak has spoken for the first time about the incident and claimed to the BBC that Ms Vik Magnussen’s death was the result of a “sex accident gone wrong”. Police believed she had been raped and murdered, but the only suspect in the case – Mr Abdulhak – left the UK for Yemen before her body was discovered. He has never returned.
Our Crime Correspondent Jack Hardy has more on this story here.
Evening Briefing: Today’s essential headlines
HS2 | During a grilling by the Liaison Committee, Rishi Sunak insisted the Government is “completely committed” to HS2 despite major delays to the roll out of the high speed rail project. The Prime Minister told the committee this afternoon that HS2 was “significant investment in our national infrastructure” and that it was right to “prioritise delivery”.
- Gary Lineker | Presenter wins GBP4.9m tax appeal
- Taxes | Labour charges GBP80 more than Tories in council tax
- Countess Christine Bolza | Airbnb landlord who left aristocrat in ‘total darkness’ could face GBP100,000 bill
- Royals | Prince Harry’s barrister embroiled in row over Leveson Inquiry material
- Labour | Starmer’s move to block Corbyn running as Labour MP approved
Comment and analysis
- Charles Moore | The SNP’s future no longer looks heroic
- Celia Walden | If we can’t joke about men and women, there’s truly no hope for comedy
- Jeremy Warner | Don’t panic, but a wrecking ball risks hitting the world’s biggest economy
- Suzanne Moore | If you think children now aren’t sexualised the way Brooke Shields was, you aren’t paying attention
- Ben Marlow | Brexit Britain must have Biden quietly chuckling to himself
World news: Bodycam footage captures moment Nashville police corner school shooter
Nashville police have released footage of the moment they opened fire on a church school shooter in the middle of her deadly attack. Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old who went by the name of Aiden and identified as male, shot and killed three nine-year-old students and three adults at The Covenant School, a private Christian academy in Tennessee, on Monday morning.
The shooter messaged a friend minutes before the massacre saying “one day this will all make sense” because they had “left more than enough evidence behind”.
Interview of the day
Blue Lights star Sian Brooke: ‘We’re reflecting the reality of policing – good and bad’ The Sherlock actress (and policeman’s daughter) talks about why her tough new BBC drama Blue Lights is more than just ‘copaganda’ Read the interview
Business news: Royal Mail bosses threaten administration amid strike chaos
Royal Mail bosses have threatened to put the loss-making postal service into administration as talks with striking union chiefs become more fraught.
The company has warned that it could place the regulated part of the business – which has a legal duty to deliver post to every address in the country – into a special form of insolvency if a compromise deal cannot be reached. Matt Oliver has the full story here.
Editor’s choice
Royals | King Charles’s Coronation guest list: a who’s who of everyone expected to attend Food | Everything you thought you knew about British honey is wrong Succession | Series 4 episode 1 review: it’s magnificent, but thank God it’s nearly over
Sport news: Rangers coach headbutts Celtic manager after women’s Old Firm derby
There was a controversial end to the women’s Old Firm derby with a Rangers coach headbutting Celtic manager Fran Alonso.
Alonso claimed he had been called a “little rat” by Rangers assistant manager Craig McPherson, who was seen on televised footage butting his forehead into the back of the Celtic manager’s head – watch the clip here.
Today’s Matt cartoon
Prince Harry’s presence in the UK inspired Matt’s cartoon today. Click here to see more from Matt. And you can find today’s political cartoon here.
Three things for you
- TV | Murder in Mayfair, BBC Two, 9pm
- Review | Blue Lights: BBC One’s Belfast cop drama deserves as much hype as Line of Duty
- Fashion | At 53, am I too old to wear what’s on the catwalk?
And finally… for this evening’s downtime
Succession’s glamorous filming locations that you can visit in real life | As the Roys return, we look at the filming locations for season four – including Norway’s most famous hotel
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