Publisher pays tribute to ‘genius’ who was an ‘inspirational leader’Peter Usborne, the founder of the children’s books publisher Usborne and the co-founder of Private Eye magazine, has died aged 85, the publisher has announced.He died “unexpectedly but peacefully” surrounded by his family this morning, the Bookseller reported. Continue reading...
by Léonie Chao-Fong (now); Martin Belam and Helen Su on (#6AAMH)
This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereDymtro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, has tweeted to criticise the fact that Russia will take over chairing the UN security council on 1 April. He writes:Russian UN security council presidency on 1 April is a bad joke. Russia has usurped its seat; it is waging a colonial war; its leader is a war criminal wanted by the ICC for kidnapping children. The world can’t be a safe place with Russia at UNSC. Continue reading...
Final evaluation of Unboxed science and arts festival finds it delivered on its economic objectivesAt a cost of £116.8m to the taxpayer, it was hoped that the Unboxed science and arts festival would bring the UK together in a post-Brexit love-fest and enhance our international reputation – to “showcase what makes our country great today”.The final evaluation has found that the festival, commissioned by Theresa May in 2018 and named a “festival of Brexit” by Jacob Rees-Mogg, brought together a fraction of the audiences initially hoped for. It nevertheless met later, radically downgraded predictions and delivered on its economic objectives. Continue reading...
Exclusive: Bosses of childcare firm part owned by PM’s wife were at No 11 reception hours after he was quizzed by MPs about linksBosses of the childcare firm at the centre of a Rishi Sunak conflict of interest row attended a Downing Street reception just hours after he was pressed by MPs over his links with the provider, the Guardian has learned.Koru Kids, which lists the prime minister’s wife, Akshata Murty as a shareholder and is expected to benefit from major changes announced in the budget, was understood to be present at a No 11 reception for the education sector on Wednesday evening. Continue reading...
US secretary of state Antony Blinken issues strongly worded statement after arrest of Evan GershkovichAntony Blinken, the US secretary of state, has condemned Russia’s arrest of the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, as Moscow was accused of engaging in “hostage taking” by arresting a high-profile journalist who could be used as leverage in a potential prisoner swap.“In the strongest possible terms, we condemn the Kremlin’s continued attempts to intimidate, repress and punish journalists and civil society voices,” Blinken said in a statement. Continue reading...
Executives helped Sergei Roldugin deposit millions of francs in Swiss accounts between 2014 and 2016Four bankers who helped Vladimir Putin’s close friend Sergei Roldugin move millions of francs through bank accounts in Zurich have been convicted of financial crimes in Switzerland.The four were found guilty on Thursday of failing to carry out proper checks on financial transactions involving Roldugin’s accounts with the Swiss branch of the Russian bank Gazprombank. Continue reading...
by Kiran Stacey Political correspondent on (#6AB8V)
Loophole meant mercenary group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin could sue journalistUK ministers have tightened up sanctions rules to avoid a repeat of a recent controversy in which lawyers acting for the head of the Wagner group obtained an exemption from curbs to sue a British journalist.The Treasury minister Joanna Penn announced on Thursday that the government would change the way it decides whether to grant licences for sanctioned individuals to use frozen money for legal cases. Continue reading...
by Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent on (#6AB8W)
Exclusive: End headline-grabbing policymaking on social justice, equality and poverty eradication, say charitiesSenior figures across civic Scotland have called on Humza Yousaf to bridge the delivery gap between progressive rhetoric and the reality of policy implementation that they say characterised the Sturgeon era.Speaking exclusively to the Guardian on and off the record, third sector leaders called for the new first minister to move away from headline-grabbing initiatives towards a systemic approach to policymaking on social justice, equality and poverty eradication. Continue reading...
The Hammersmith arts centre, which faces soaring energy bills and debt from its redevelopment, said it has struggled to rebuild revenue streams after the pandemicLondon’s Riverside Studios has begun to enter administration, citing “eye-watering” energy bills and the debt incurred by its recent redevelopment.The arts centre, situated on the Thames in west London, is marking its 45th anniversary of operating in Hammersmith but the board of the Riverside Trust charity said that it has filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators. Continue reading...
Founded by two translators – one American, one British – the Salt initiative will provide mentorships, funding and a south Asia-focused literary translation schoolA new project to help bring the “extraordinarily rich” literature of south Asia to English-speaking countries will launch this summer, it has been announced.The cross-continental South Asian Literature in Translation (Salt) project has been set up by the University of Chicago, in partnership with the American Literary Translators Association, English PEN, Words Without Borders and the British Council. The multi-year project will try to “strengthen each part of the publishing chain across the English-speaking world”, the University of Chicago has said. Continue reading...
This live blog has now closed, you can read more on this story hereStarmer says Labour would freeze council tax for next year if it were in power, he says. (See 9.13am.)This is similar to an approach pursued by the SNP, which for many years froze council tax in Scotland.1% of asylum claims from those arriving on small boats actually processed.1% of the fraud that was lost during Covid actually recovered. Continue reading...
Monarch says he wants to ‘renew special bond of friendship’ between countries, in speech delivered in English and GermanKing Charles said he wanted to “renew the special bond of friendship” between the UK and Germany, without mentioning the B-word that has caused the friendship to grow cold in recent years, as he addressed the Bundestag in Berlin on Thursday.The monarch’s speech in front of Germany’s federal parliament was the first by a non-elected head of state. It was pitched as a celebration of cultural commonalities and joint ventures past and present – from a shared love of music and comedy to energy and security cooperation – and an attempt to repair ties that have fractured since the Brexit vote seven years ago. Continue reading...
RCMP response condemned after gunman drove a fake police car around for more than 13 hours, evading capture and killing 22 peopleA cascade of failures within Canada’s federal police worsened the country’s deadliest mass shooting, a public inquiry has concluded, in a damning indictment that found the force has shown little interest in reforming in the years since.The Mass Casualty Commission, a joint provincial and federal inquiry, was investigating the 2020 shootings in Portapique Nova Scotia, in which a gunman driving a fake police car spent more than 13 hours evading capture and killing 22 people. Continue reading...
Ana Obregón dominated headlines in Spain and led to calls to regulate surrogacyA 68-year-old Spanish actor’s decision to have a child via a surrogate in the US has set off a political firestorm in Spain, prompting criticism from four government ministers as well as renewed calls to reconsider Spain’s longstanding ban on the practice.TV star Ana Obregón dominated headlines across Spain week after ¡Hola! Magazine published a photo of her holding a newborn baby outside a hospital in Miami. The magazine explained that her baby girl had been born using a surrogate, some three years after the actor lost her son and only child, Aless Lequio, to cancer. Continue reading...
Cashman shot girl dead after bursting into her house in 2022 while chasing another manThomas Cashman has been found guilty of murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel at her home in Liverpool last year.The 34-year-old was convicted by a jury at Manchester crown court of shooting dead Olivia and injuring her mother, Cheryl Korbel, when he burst into her home with two guns on 22 August 2022. Continue reading...
‘It’s quite frightening,’ says a tenant who lost her rent subsidy. As debate stalls over the housing future fund, she’s not the only one who’s frustrated
Ursula von der Leyen calls for ‘clear-eyed picture’ of risks as she prepares for Beijing tripThe European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has called on Europe to reassess its diplomatic and economic relations with China before a visit to Beijing next week with the French president, Emmanuel Macron.Europe needed to have “a clear-eyed picture on what the risks are”, she said in a wide-ranging speech in Brussels, noting that EU-China relations had become “more distant and more difficult” in recent years as Chinamoved into “a new era of security and control” and ramped up “policies of disinformation and economic and trade coercion”. Continue reading...
Evan Gershkovich could face up to 20 years in prison after allegedly ‘collecting classified information’Russian authorities have arrested a US journalist working in the country and accused him of espionage, a charge which could carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years.Russia’s FSB security service said Evan Gershkovich, a well-respected reporter from the Wall Street Journal, “was collecting classified information about the activities of one of the enterprises of the Russian military industrial complex”. Continue reading...
by Vikram Dodd Police and crime correspondent on (#6AAVJ)
CPS will consider potential murder charge over death of 24-year-old in Streatham, south LondonA Metropolitan police firearms officer has been referred to prosecutors to consider a potential murder charge for shooting dead Chris Kaba who was killed in September 2022 in south London.The Independent Office for Police Conduct announced a homicide investigation into the officer known only as NX121 shortly after the incident. Continue reading...
Painting created in 2010 for band who agreed to change their name bought for more than three times its estimateThe Banksy artwork Brace Yourself! has sold for $2,032,000 (£1,644,132), more than three times its original estimate, during an auction featuring a performance from the band that inspired the piece.The anonymous artist created the work in 2010 for the British band then known as Exit Through the Gift Shop, who shared the same name he wanted to use for his 2010 documentary film. Continue reading...
Songwriter behind psychedelic 1960s masterpiece A Whiter Shade of Pale had been receiving cancer treatment for two yearsKeith Reid, the lyricist for Procol Harum whose poetic vision on Whiter Shade of Pale made it a defining song of the 1960s, has died aged 76.He died in a London hospital, after receiving cancer treatment for two years. The band paid tribute to him on social media, writing: “His lyrics were one of a kind and helped to shape the music created by the band. His imaginative, surreal and multi-layered words were a joy to Procol fans and their complexity by design was a powerful addition the Procol Harum catalogue. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends.” Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#6AAM6)
Faith in bloc higher than that in UK parliament for first time in three decades of World Values SurveyPeople in Britain have more confidence in the EU than the UK parliament, reversing a state of affairs that has lasted for more than 30 years, research reveals.Since the UK voted for Brexit, the proportion of people declaring confidence in parliament has slumped by 10 percentage points to 22% while there has been a seven percentage point rise in confidence in the Brussels-based bloc, to 39%. Confidence in the UK government also fell from 2017 to 2021. Continue reading...
Despite MoD assurances, applicant and former British Council worker still being asked for Taliban-stamped papersAn Afghan who worked with the British Council and is applying to come to the UK has been told to retrieve documents from the Taliban or risk rejection, despite assurances earlier this month that such demands would end.The Ministry of Defence apologised on 18 March after an investigation found that applicants to the Afghan relocations and assistance policy (Arap) scheme were required to provide birth and marriage certificates in English and bearing stamps from Afghan government departments. Continue reading...
Guidance says strong population-level immunity due to infection and vaccination means boosters have less impactOnly high-risk groups should receive ongoing Covid-19 booster doses because strong population-level immunity means ongoing boosting of the general population offers little impact, the latest update from the World Health Organization (WHO) says.The vaccination guide, from WHO’s Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation, says each country needs to take into account its own epidemiological situation, stressing that its recommendations are for short-to-medium term planning and subject to change. Continue reading...
Sanderson shown photos of himself on vacation after ski collision, and doctor suggested any concussion suffered was ‘very mild’Gwyneth Paltrow’s attorneys called ski crash accuser Terry Sanderson back to the stand late on Wednesday in a final effort to eviscerate claims that he suffered an extensive brain injury that led to loss of joie de vivre and brain function as a result of the actress allegedly skiing into him on a Utah mountain slope.Under an intense grilling, Sanderson was shown photographs, culled from Facebook, showing the retired eye doctor taking frequent holiday trips around the world after the ski collision, including floating down the Amazon, visiting the Netherlands three times, Morocco twice, Thailand and other destinations. Continue reading...
Actor and former Miss World announced move to US at pinnacle of her fame in India eight years agoThe Indian actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas has spoken of how Bollywood’s enduring obsession with fair skin was one of the reasons she left the industry to try her luck in Hollywood eight years ago.Chopra, 40, is a former Miss World and was at the pinnacle of her fame in India when she abruptly announced the move to the US. Continue reading...
by Aamna Mohdin Community affairs correspondent on (#6A9KR)
UN experts lead calls for public and private bodies to take steps toward restorative justiceUN experts are leading calls for the British government and royal family to investigate their historical links to transatlantic slavery and take steps toward restorative justice.The Scott Trust, which owns the Guardian, apologised on Tuesday for the role the newspaper’s founders had in transatlantic slavery and announced a decade-long, multimillion-pound programme of restorative justice. Continue reading...
India’s patent office turns down bedaquiline extension to Johnson & Johnson, clearing the way for generic versionsPeople with drug-resistant tuberculosis in India could soon have access to critical medication at a far lower cost after the authorities rejected US pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson’s application to extend a patent.The firm wanted to extend its patent on bedaquiline, which expires in July, until 2027, which would have prevented cheaper generic versions reaching the market. Continue reading...
Harry says he was conditioned to accept family’s view that they should not dare take on UK newspaper industryPrince Harry has claimed members of the royal family struck a secret deal with newspapers not to sue them over phone hacking because it would “open a can of worms”.Harry alleged his own family hid information from him about press intrusion and he had been conditioned to accept his family’s view that they should not dare to take on the British newspaper industry. Continue reading...
Police use teargas and water cannon against hooded protesters on the margins in some citiesProtesters and police clashed on the edges of street demonstrations in France on Tuesday as hundreds of thousands of people took part in marches against Emmanuel Macron’s use of constitutional executive powers to push through an unpopular rise in the pension age to 64.While demonstrations in Paris and Nantes were peaceful, with the majority of demonstrators chanting and calling for the pension changes to be scrapped, on the margins in some cities, men in masks or hoods clashed with police. Continue reading...
Ex-Labour leader says he has ‘no intention of stopping the fight’ as Keir Starmer faces fierce criticism from leftJeremy Corbyn has given his strongest hint yet that he will stand as an independent candidate, saying he has “no intention of stopping the fight” to represent his north London constituents.The former party leader was on Tuesday formally blocked from standing for Labour at the next election, prompting leftwingers to fiercely criticise Keir Starmer’s “authoritarian” and “divisive” move. Continue reading...
Chris Heaton-Harris tells MPs MI5 has increased level from ‘substantial’, meaning an attack is highly likelyThe terrorism threat level in Northern Ireland has been increased from substantial to severe, meaning an attack is highly likely.In a written statement to MPs, the Northern Ireland secretary, Chris Heaton-Harris, said MI5 had increased the threat to the country from Northern Ireland-related terrorism and the public should remain vigilant but not be alarmed. Continue reading...
Former chief operating officer to be one of fewer than 10 women leading FTSE 100 companiesThe world’s biggest spirits maker, Diageo, has appointed Debra Crew as chief executive, one of few women to lead a FTSE 100 company.The company, which makes well-known brands including Johnnie Walker scotch whisky, Guinness and Baileys, announced that Sir Ivan Menezes would step down on 30 June after 10 years as chief executive. It decided to promote Crew from chief operating officer to the top job, effective from 1 July. Continue reading...
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