Thomas Cashman tells Manchester crown court he ‘never ever had any problems’ with Joseph Nee and denies planning attack on himA man accused of murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel has told a court he was friends with the alleged target of the shooting and denied “scoping out” an attack.Thomas Cashman, 34, is accused of fatally shooting Olivia when he allegedly chased a convicted burglar, Joseph Nee, into her family home and opened fire last August. He denies the charges. Continue reading...

Analysis: Tragic story struck a chord with other headteachers increasingly disillusioned with grading regime

Ruth Perry’s death a ‘direct result of pressure’ from report by England’s education watchdog, says family

Takeaway delivery firm shifts back to gig-economy model and ditches sick pay and holiday payJust Eat is planning to make 1,700 couriers redundant in the UK as the takeaway delivery firm shifts back towards a gig-economy model and ditches guaranteed minimum pay, sick pay and holiday pay.A further 170 head office staff are also set to lose their jobs as Just Eat attempts to cut costs in a highly competitive market. Continue reading...

Fiona McBain’s independence was questioned by Amar Bhidé, who has also left board of FTSE 100 trustThe chair of one of the UK’s biggest tech investors is standing down after a corporate governance row.Fiona McBain, who has chaired Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust since 2017 and sat on its board for 14 years, will leave after the trust’s annual meeting in June. Continue reading...

Exclusive: inadequately qualified coaches charging thousands claiming to offer support to people with eating disordersVulnerable mental health patients are being put at risk by unregulated “eating disorder coaches” who do not have the necessary qualifications, experts have said.As demand for eating disorder support soars – hospital admissions for eating disorders increased by 84% in the last five years – more people are filling gaps in NHS care. Continue reading...

Rishi Sunak’s attitude ‘much more responsible’ than that of Boris Johnson, says former EU negotiatorThe EU’s former Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has praised the agreement on Northern Ireland between the union and the British government as a positive step that turns a page in relations between the two sides.In an interview with the Guardian, the veteran French politician said the Windsor framework agreement signed by Rishi Sunak and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, last month, “operationalised” the Northern Ireland protocol he had negotiated with the British government in 2019. “There was a spirit of goodwill for the first time in three years, to find solutions that are concrete, operational and realistic.” Continue reading...

Steven Knight’s Digbeth Loc. Studios in Birmingham will house ska drama This Town, UB40 and Peaky Blinders filmBy order of Peaky Blinders’ creator Steven Knight construction has begun on his new multimillion-pound TV and film studio in Birmingham – which is designed to put the city on the media map, create over 700 jobs, add £30m to the local economy and house Knight’s new ska music BBC drama This Town as well the Peaky Blinders film.Eight years since Knight began working on his idea, building started on the new studios, which will also provide a home for the band UB40, training for local residents to get into TV and a development of restaurants, a hotel and bars. Advanced talks are also in place for an outpost of the media industry’s most famous chain of clubs, Soho House. Continue reading...

Extreme violence in Caribbean state has claimed 530 lives so far this year, particularly in gang-dominated capitalThe United Nations has called for the deployment of an international “specialized support force” to impede Haiti’s accelerating tumble into extreme violence after more than 530 people were killed in the opening weeks of this year.“Clashes between gangs are becoming more violent and more frequent,” the spokesperson for the UN human rights office, Marta Hurtado, warned on Tuesday, voicing “grave concern” that the security situation was spiraling out of control. Continue reading...

Defence team had argued David Hunter’s confession should be ruled inadmissible as evidence in trialA court in Cyprus has ruled that the confession of a retired Northumberland coalminer accused of murdering his terminally ill wife was obtained lawfully and can be used in evidence against him.In what will amount to a major setback for David Hunter, 75, who has campaigned to be tried on the lesser charge of manslaughter, Judge Michalis Droussiotis ruled that the evidence was admissible. Continue reading...

Investigation into attack being supported by counter-terror officers, West Midlands police sayA man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a man was set alight as he walked home from a mosque in Birmingham. The investigation is being supported by counter-terror officers, police have said.The victim was walking home from Dudley Road mosque when he was approached by another man, West Midlands police said. He spoke to him briefly before spraying him with an unknown substance and his jacket was set alight, causing burns to his face. Continue reading...

Russian cruise missiles destroyed in Crimea blast; Xi Jinping meets Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on day two of state visit

Lenin Artieda was one of several journalists targeted by explosive devices mailed out across the countryAn Ecuadorian television presenter was wounded after a bomb disguised as a USB stick exploded when he inserted it in his computer, after explosive devices were sent to journalists across the country.Lenin Artieda suffered minor injuries in the blast, which happened in the newsroom of Ecuavisa TV in Guayaquil. Continue reading...

Labour urges UK home secretary to suspend all officers facing sexual assault claims, after damning Casey report

Investment banking roles expected to be worst hit at Credit Suisse in London

Distributor gives no reason for cancellation, but Chinese censors have targeted Pooh before due to Xi Jinping comparisonsThe screening of Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey, a British slasher film due to be released in Hong Kong this week, has been cancelled, its distributor said on Tuesday, without giving a reason for pulling it.VII Pillars Entertainment said on its Facebook page that it was with “great regret” that the scheduled release of the film on 23 March had been cancelled. It did not give further details. Continue reading...

Chain says customers will double rather then triple value of points when spending them from mid-JuneTesco has angered shoppers by announcing that it will be reducing the value of its popular Clubcard reward scheme from 14 June.The UK’s biggest retailer said that after that date shoppers will only be able to double the value of their Clubcard points – rather than triple them as now – when they spend them with one of its reward partners on a restaurant meal, day trip or cinema outing. Continue reading...

Andrew Haines says ‘warfare’ with workers is over but bosses need to ‘build the peace’The boss of Network Rail has compared the past year of train strikes to the Iraq war, saying rail leaders need to “build the peace” with workers in a way that British and US victors over Saddam Hussein failed to do.Andrew Haines, the chief executive of the body responsible for Britain’s railway infrastructure, said the “warfare” was over but the lessons of Iraq were “ringing in his ears”. Continue reading...

Chinese and Russian leaders to discuss Ukraine in formal talks after friendly dinner, while Fumio Kishida meets Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv

Kyiv claims cruise missiles hit in city of Dzhankoi, in attack Russian-installed official blames on drone

New report uncovers tragic scale of climate-led crisis and warns of up to 34,000 more deaths so far this yearA new report released by the Somalian government suggests that far more children died in the country last year due to the ongoing drought than previously realised.The study estimates that there were 43,000 excess deaths in 2022 in Somalia due to the deepening drought compared with similar droughts in 2017 and 2018. Continue reading...

DIY chain backs B&Q Local format as it reports 40% slide in pre-tax profits to £611mB&Q could open at least 50 small and medium-sized stores across the UK as it adapts to demand for more convenient local stores where goods ordered online can be picked up.The retailer said it had eight high street outlets – called B&Q Local – in London and was perfecting the format, considering how it could better sell kitchens and bathrooms there, before considering how many in total it could open across the UK. Continue reading...

Shutdown imposed as part of search for Amritpal Singh Sandhu, accused of disrupting communal harmonyEconomic life in the north Indian state of Punjab has been paralysed by an internet shutdown, affecting 30 million people, imposed as part of a huge manhunt for a Sikh preacher fighting for a separate Sikh state.Police have been searching for Amritpal Singh Sandhu, who is wanted for allegedly disrupting communal harmony, since Saturday. Continue reading...

Civil society groups, community leaders and academics say ‘ideologically led’ review of programme should be rejectedMore than 200 civil society organisations, community leaders and academics have called on the UK government to withdraw a controversial review of the Prevent programme, part of its counter-terrorism strategy.The Home Office accepted all 34 recommendations in the review from William Shawcross, a former chair of the Charity Commission who concluded that the Prevent programme should focus more on Islamist rather than far-right terrorism.Implementing Shawcross’s findings means endorsing ideologically led policy with no legal accountability or parliamentary oversight.Implementing Shawcross’s findings means supporting claims about increased threats of Islamic extremism without including data to back up these claims in the review.Continuing to implement the Prevent programme will lead to perpetuating further harms against children and vulnerable adults.The argument that Prevent should focus less on rightwing extremism and more on “‘Islamist” extremism is explicitly discriminatory. Continue reading...

Midlands city chosen to host head office for Great British Railways, beating five other locationsDerby is to become the new headquarters of Britain’s reformed railway, the government has confirmed.As exclusively revealed by the Guardian on Monday, the Midlands city has been chosen to host the head office for Great British Railways. Continue reading...

Saad ibrahim Almadi was arrested in 2021 for social media posts on Yemen and the killing of Jamal KhashoggiA US citizen sentenced to 19 years in a Saudi prison for social media posts criticising the kingdom’s rulers has been released, his son has said.Saad Ibrahim Almadi, a 72-year-old of Saudi origin, was arrested in 2021 for what his son, Ibrahim, described as “mild” Twitter posts on topics including the war in Yemen and the 2018 killing of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Continue reading...

Prime minister says trust in police has been ‘hugely damaged by things we’ve discovered over past year’The prime minister has failed to say if he believed his daughters could trust the Metropolitan police after a shocking report lambasted the force for its institutional racism, misogyny and homophobia.The publication of the report by Louise Casey, commissioned by the Met after one of its officers abducted, raped and murdered Sarah Everard in March 2021, has been called one of the “darkest days” in the force’s history. Continue reading...

Report shows 40% of 25- to 34-year-olds intend to rely on family support to buy a house while government measures not seen as crucial to achieving home ownership

Mother of teenager murdered in racist attack in 1993 says Casey report findings come as ‘no surprise’The mother of the murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence has said the Metropolitan police are “rotten to the core” after the publication of a damning report into the force’s culture.Dame Louise Casey’s report, commissioned in the wake of the murder of Sarah Everard, condemns Scotland Yard for its institutional racism, sexism and homophobia. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed.

The actor and Play School star hopes to redefine our image of the former prime minister, in a work that imagines the lead-up to her famous misogyny speech, 10 years after it happened

In today’s newsletter: The Casey report gives an in-depth look at the issues at the core of the capital’s police force

Human rights campaigners argue there is no difference between thwarted Saudi bid to sponsor Women’s World Cup and its rebel golf funding

Chris Minns defends promise to scrap public sector wages cap as party leaders scramble in final week of NSW election campaigning

Poet laureate celebrates a plum tree in poem commissioned by the National Trust for its blossom campaignThe poet laureate, Simon Armitage, has written a new poem which pays homage to spring, in celebration of World Poetry Day.Plum Tree Among the Skyscrapers is the first in a collection of poems inspired by blossom and commissioned by the National Trust. Its publication marks the beginning of the Trust’s annual blossom campaign, in which the charity will vow to bring blossom back to landscapes across the UK by planting 20m trees by 2030 to help tackle both the climate and nature crises. Continue reading...

Sadiq Khan promises to hold police force to account after report highlights institutional misogyny, racism and homophobia

David Littleproud says retailers should be permitted to sell nicotine e-cigarettes without a prescription to customers 18 and over

Solicitor, 71, had been charged under national security law and was released to be treated for lung cancerHong Kong police have arrested a veteran pro-democracy politician who was out on bail for medical treatment after spending more than a year in detention on a subversion charge.Albert Ho, 71, once led the city’s largest opposition group, the Democratic party, and runs his own law firm. Police handcuffed Ho and took him away from his home in a vehicle on Tuesday, a Reuters witness said. Continue reading...

Senior lawyer who carried out inquiry into Labour party’s culture says transparent systems needed to tackle issuesKeir Starmer has faced criticism for vowing to adopt a “zero-tolerance approach to antisemitism and racism” without having the transparent systems in place to tackle such issues.Martin Forde KC, the senior lawyer who carried out an inquiry into the party’s culture, said he has become “irritated” by the phrase, which the Labour leader used last month after the ECHR lifted the party out of two years of special measures over its past failings on antisemitism. Continue reading...

The singer’s ex is claiming a voice recording she provided him before he became famous has been used without her permissionBad Bunny’s ex–girlfriend is suing the superstar for at least $40m over a well-known voice recording she provided the singer before he became famous.Carliz De La Cruz Hernández, whose breathy “Bad Bunny, baby” recording was included in two of the artist’s songs, claimed in a lawsuit filed this month in a Puerto Rico court that her voice and the phrase she came up with are being used without her permission. Continue reading...

The Motherhood Group event hears that black women suffer effects of unconscious bias within systemUnconscious bias in the UK healthcare system is contributing to the stark racial disparity in maternal healthcare outcomes, a conference has heard.The Black Maternal Health Conference UK also heard that black women not being listened to by healthcare professionals was also a contributing factor. Continue reading...

Suella Braverman’s claims of ‘constructive’ talks regarding Strasbourg’s injunctions disputed by legal scholarsLegal experts have cast doubt on the UK’s claims of “possible reforms” to European court of human rights procedures that stopped an asylum seeker from being deported to Rwanda last year.During a two-day visit to the country’s capital, Kigali, Suella Braverman told a selected group of government-friendly papers that she was “encouraged” by the government’s “constructive” talks with Strasbourg to reform court injunctions. An ECHR injunction last June prevented an Iraqi national from being deported from the UK to the east African country. Continue reading...

The chain’s mutual model was once hailed as a template, but now it needs cash amid hefty lossesCould breaking the staff-ownership model be the answer for the owner of John Lewis and Waitrose, which is considering bringing in outside investment of up to £2bn as a way to secure its future after reporting hefty losses?The John Lewis Partnership has been owned by its employees since the 1920s, meaning they receive an annual bonus based on profits in a set-up that motivated staff and helped it expand into a stalwart of the British high street. Continue reading...

In final speech as leader, Scottish first minister says contest ‘is an unusual process for the SNP but it’s essential and it’s healthy’Nicola Sturgeon has claimed the crisis surrounding the Scottish National party’s “fractious” leadership battle is a necessary part of its renewal, in her final speech as party leader.Speaking at the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) in London, Sturgeon said the leadership contest sparked by her decision to resign was “proving to be a challenging and difficult process”, but denied it would cause longer-term damage to the SNP’s fortunes. Continue reading...

Police have arrested four men on suspicion of murder after Trust Junior Jordan Gangata was found injured on Sunday morningTributes have been paid to a “hardworking, funny and loyal” 17-year-old boy who was stabbed to death at a house party in Leeds.Police launched a murder investigation after Trust Junior Jordan Gangata, known as TJ, was found injured at a property in the Armley area of the city in the early hours of Sunday. Continue reading...

Tories could do better than expected in May elections as Sunak shakes off predecessor’s legacy, Robert Hayward predicts

Rail firm given six-month extension after pointing to improvements but Labour says decision is inexplicable

Members voted overwhelmingly in favour of the offer, worth 9% over two years, in deal that should bring worst of disruption to endMembers of the RMT union have voted to accept a pay offer from Network Rail.Thousands of rail workers including signalling staff voted by three to one in favour to accept the offer, a 9% pay increase over two years, in a referendum that closed on Monday. Continue reading...

Liberal and Labor MPs Bridget Archer and Alicia Payne unite in call for welfare boost