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Britain’s longest serving female MP was first elected to the Commons in 1974 and became the first woman to lead the Labour party in 1994Margaret Beckett, Britain’s first female foreign secretary and the first woman to lead the Labour party, is to retire at the next election after nearly four decades as MP for Derby South.The 79-year-old, who is also Britain’s longest serving female MP, was first elected to the House of Commons to represent Lincoln in 1974 when just 27 MPs were women. There are now 220. Continue reading...

Analysis: link between infections, hospitalisations and deaths has weakened but it has not been severedCovid infections are rising in England and have reached unprecedented levels in Scotland and Wales. It is a picture that, in months gone by, would have caused alarm.Yet with restrictions eased and the advice to stay at home if infected with coronavirus due to be lifted on 1 April, it would be easy to think the threat posed by Covid has been neutralised. Infections may rise, in other words, but our concern need not. Continue reading...

Liv Ullmann and Danny Glover also honoured at Governors Awards, on night when Hollywood lavishes praise on beloved stars for lifetime achievementsSamuel L Jackson grew up watching movies on Saturdays at the Liberty and the Grand, segregated movie theatres in Tennessee. Some of the early roles he got in Hollywood didn’t even have names: he was cast, he said, as “gang member number two’, ‘bum’, ‘hold-up man’, and, unforgettable, ‘Black guy’.” But over fifty years and 152 films later, Jackson has made himself one of America’s most enduring film stars, as well as the actor whose movies have earned “more than any other actor in history,” his friend and fellow star Denzel Washington said. Jackson’s box office total is estimated at $27bn.Despite this, Jackson, 73, had never won a single Oscar, not even for his celebrated performance as a hit man in Pulp Fiction. The Academy finally awarded him an honorary Oscar on Friday, as part of the annual Governors Awards, which mark lifetime achievement in film and in humanitarian efforts. Continue reading...

Public health authorities suggest Americans need to prepare to pivot back even as they tire of the forever pandemicThe Biden administration is facing a delicate balancing act between relaxing US Covid-19 precautions during the current lull in case numbers in the US and conveying the urgency of the possible next surge, experts say.Cases and hospitalizations have fallen sharply in recent weeks. The US is nearing the lowest Covid hospitalization rate of the entire pandemic, and case numbers are now at the lowest they have been in eight months, since July 2021. Continue reading...

Andrew Gee calls backlog of veteran’s compensation payments ‘a national disgrace’; WA teenager among 30 Covid deaths across the country. This blog is now closed

Persimmon chief received £2.6m package in 2021 with outgoing Taylor Wimpey boss gaining £2.8mPersimmon and Taylor Wimpey, Britain’s two biggest housebuilders, handed their chief executives bumper bonuses last year, when building bounced back amid a house price boom.Persimmon boss Dean Finch received a total pay and bonus package of £2.6m last year, the York-based builder’s annual report showed. That compared with £218,326 in 2020, although he only took over as boss in September of that year. Continue reading...

Liberals Marise Payne and Jim Molan take first and third spots with the Nationals’ Ross Cadell second

The climate crisis is not the only factor in erosion of the coastline, as a history project has shownMersea Island in Essex, which covers seven square miles, has beautiful scenery and rich history. In summer it is popular for holidays but is threatened by a combination of rising sea level and winter storms, which are changing its coastline.The climate crisis is not the only factor that has brought about unwanted erosion; human interventions are also adding to the damage. A project by the Coastal and Intertidal Zone Archaeological Network recording 60 years of memories of local people, plus documentary evidence of past industries, shows destruction of natural barriers such as saltmarsh and eelgrass meadows is a significant contributor to erosion. Continue reading...

A local partner of one British brand says his hopes are fading and risks deepening as stock dwindlesWestern brands have swiftly moved to shut down operations in Russia since the invasion of Ukraine, wiping well-known goods from the shelves. But what does it feel like for those trying to run businesses in the country?The Russian partner of one western brand shares their story. Continue reading...

US president to meet Polish counterpart as tour bolstering European efforts against Russian invasion continues

Scott Morrison claims minister did not ‘properly understand’ budget process

Australian prime minister defends level of support for Solomon Islands and rest of Pacific amid tensions over security dealThe Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, says there will be no diplomatic thaw in relations with China until it lifts a block on ministerial meetings.“So long as China continues to refuse to have dialogue with Australian ministers and the prime minister, I think that’s an entirely proportional response,” Morrison told reporters on Saturday regarding reports he declined to meet China’s new ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian. Continue reading...

Wiradjuri artist SJ Norman has won $35,000 prize for Cicatrix (All that was taken, all that remains), which saw him receive 147 wounds in 147 minutes

Woman, 21, dies after police called to a home unit in Crebert Street, MayfieldA woman is dead and a man in custody following an alleged domestic violence-related stabbing in Newcastle, police say.Officers were called to a home unit in Crebert Street, Mayfield, about 10.40pm on Friday in response to reports a man had broken into the flat. Continue reading...

Eric Boateng-Taylor was stopped by officers in Croydon who demanded to know why he was wearing a jacketA black entrepreneur was stopped and searched by police officers who said he was “not dressed for the climate” due to him wearing a coat in warm weather.Eric Boateng-Taylor was on his way to work when he was stopped by Metropolitan police officers in Croydon, south London, who demanded to know why he was wearing a jacket. Continue reading...

City council designates 7.6 metre installation by artist Bill Heine a protected landmarkThe 7.6 metre (25f) sculpture of a shark crashing through the roof of Magnus Hanson-Heine’s house in Oxfordshire is now a protected landmark – and he’s not happy about it.Hanson-Heine loves the installation, erected by his father and a local sculptor in 1986 as an anti-war, anti-nuclear protest that still remains relevant amid the invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading...

Simon Coveney evacuated after device driven to peace and reconciliation event venue in hijacked vanThe attempted attack on the Irish foreign minister, Simon Coveney, in Belfast was a hoax, possibly carried out by the loyalist paramilitary group, the UVF, the police have said.It halted a peace and reconciliation event in north Belfast, forcing Coveney to leave the stage and interrupting a funeral in a church in the same grounds as the venue. Continue reading...

Analysis: the Coalition’s week began with swagger and ended in a whimper after series of stumbles

Milk production is starting to fall as sharp rises in cost of fuel, feed, and fertiliser outstrip increases in farm-gate prices“Something has to give and if the milk price doesn’t give, then the producers will,” says Oxfordshire dairy farmer David Christensen in a stark assessment of the peril his industry is facing as soaring costs push farm finances into the red.Christensen, whose family business manages a herd of about 1,000 cows, says costs were already going up as a result of the upheaval caused by the pandemic and Brexit, but the war in Ukraine has “turbocharged inflation to levels the like of which I’ve never seen in 30 years of farming”. Continue reading...

Stash of messages from Clarence Thomas’s activist wife released to January 6 committee have raised conflict-of-interest concernsCalls have erupted for ethical conflict-of-interest rules on America’s top court after it was revealed that Ginni Thomas, wife of the supreme court justice Clarence Thomas, pressed Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.The Washington Post reported that it had obtained a stash of 29 text messages between Ginni Thomas and Mark Meadows, then Trump’s top White House aide, which were exchanged in the tumultuous days after the November 2020 election. In the texts, Thomas blatantly urged Meadows to do anything he could to subvert the democratic result so as to frustrate Joe Biden’s victory and keep Trump in power. Continue reading...

Hackney school says no members of staff were present during the search of a 15-year-old black girl by policeThe school in which a 15-year-old black girl experienced a traumatic strip search by police officers have confirmed that they were not aware that the incident had taken place, and that no members of staff were present.A statement by the Hackney school’s governing board said that “while the school was not aware that a strip search was taking place, we wholly accept that the child should not have been left in the situation that she was”. Continue reading...

Relatives of three victims have formally asked prosecutors in the Tuscan city to look afresh at potential leadsFamilies of victims of a serial killer who terrorised Florence in the 1970s and 80s are demanding a new investigation into one of Italy’s darkest unsolved mysteries, a lawyer has said.Relatives of three victims have formally asked prosecutors in the Tuscan city to look afresh at potential leads into the so-called “Monster of Florence”, believed to have murdered 16 people. Continue reading...

Preliminary hearing in Dawn Sturgess case is told Ukraine crisis has contributed to delaysThe family of a woman killed in the Wiltshire novichok poisonings have expressed concerns that the start of public inquiry hearings into her death is set to be delayed and that and the issue of possible failings by the authorities in protecting her may be held in private.Lawyers for the family of Dawn Sturgess said the current threat posed by Russia to the UK made it even more important that as much of the inquiry be heard in public as possible without compromising national security. Continue reading...

Volodymyr Zelenskiy confronts Hungarian PM during passionate address to EU leaders

Government promises legislation to force company to reverse move and pay crew minimum wageDowning Street has called for the chief executive of P&O Ferries to resign over the sacking of 800 workers, and pledged to push through legislation next week to force the company to reverse the move and pay its crew the minimum wage.The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, had earlier promised action after Peter Hebblethwaite’s performance in front of the transport and business committees, which he said was “brazen, breathtaking, and showed incredible arrogance”. Continue reading...

Grupa Granica claim activists simply gave humanitarian aid to family stranded in border forest amid deepening refugee crisisFour activists were detained in Poland on 23 March for aiding migrants crossing the Belarusian border. They currently face three months of pre-trial arrest.“When they helped refugees from Ukraine they were heroes, now for providing that same help in Podlasie, they are criminals,” said Grupa Granica, an organisation helping migrants and refugees, to which the detained activists belong. Continue reading...

Measure intended to reduce stress on survivors of rape and modern-day slavery to be used in more courtsMore survivors of rape and modern-day slavery in England and Wales will be able to give video evidence pre-recorded outside a live trial in a move ministers hope will boost confidence in the criminal justice system.Under the measure known as section 28, survivors can apply to the court to be cross-examined in front of a limited number of people, to reduce the stress of giving evidence. It will then be played during the live trial, removing the need for them to attend in person. Continue reading...

Difficulties in obtaining blood tests and paperwork when fleeing war mean some animals could spend four months in quarantine

Exclusive: Over-exploitation of fish stocks was supposed to end in 2020 under common fisheries policyLegal action is to be brought against all 27 EU countries over the setting of unsustainable fishing quotas for 2022, two years after a deadline to end overfishing.Under the EU’s common fisheries policy, over-exploitation of fish stocks was supposed to end in 2020 but more than 40% of all commercial stocks in EU waters were unsustainably fished last year according to official monitoring data. Continue reading...

State TV broadcasts Hollywood-style video starring leader in aviator shades and flanked by military officersSporting a shiny leather jacket and aviator shades, the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un has starred in a Hollywood-style video for Pyongyang’s latest missile launch.Under Kim, North Korea has sought to give its state media a makeover with digital effects, seeking more modern ways to tell its stories. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Michelle Mone promoted PPE Medpro for Covid contract in May 2020 – and again in OctoberLeaked emails suggest that the Conservative peer Michelle Mone lobbied a health minister on behalf of a company seeking Covid contracts – five months after the point at which her lawyers said she had stopped doing anything for the firm.The documents add to questions surrounding Lady Mone’s account of her involvement in PPE Medpro, which was awarded government contracts worth more than £200m to supply personal protective equipment early in the pandemic. Continue reading...

Overall February figure shows 0.3% decline despite rise in clothing and petrol sales

New draft guidance recommends midwives use one of four blood tests to help diagnose conditionPregnant women with suspected pre-eclampsia will now be offered a test on the NHS to detect the condition.Pre-eclampsia affects some women, usually during the second half of pregnancy or soon after their baby is born. Continue reading...

Jacqui Lambie says she did not regret supporting repeal of medevac laws; PM announces $58m funding for endometriosis care and treatment, and $81m for Medicare-supported genetic testing; new sanctions on Belarusian president and Russian propagandists; Peter Dutton says Australia has ‘fantastic’ relationship with Solomon Islands; nation records 26 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Citizen scientists helped Reading University analyse millions of rainfall records in first Covid lockdownA new driest year in British history has been found after a massive project in which thousands of volunteer citizen scientists helped unearth Victorian climate data.Millions of archived handwritten rainfall records dating back 130 years have now been transcribed and analysed, thanks to the work of volunteers during the first coronavirus lockdown. Continue reading...

Parents report high anxiety as ‘unaffordable’ fees exacerbate cost of living crisisThe crisis in the UK childcare sector has been laid bare by two major surveys, with campaigners saying young families and struggling providers are being ignored by ministers as the cost of living crisis spirals.Both surveys suggest childcare fees are increasing to an unmanageable level, with two-thirds of 27,000 parents reporting rising childcare costs in the past six months, and a similar percentage of providers confirming increases. Continue reading...

Ministers’ claims about visa scheme’s success ‘does not match reality on the ground’

One of Europe’s poorest nations has taken in 370,000 Ukrainian refugees so far, but as fighting intensifies president Maia Sandu has called for financial helpAfter crossing the border from Ukraine, Olga Salko spent her first days in Moldova in Talmaza, a place she calls a “beautiful village on a hill”. It was a far cry from the horror she left behind in her husband’s home town near Mykolaiv.In Talmaza, Salko stayed with an elderly woman who volunteered to host her along with her sister, Taiyana, and her three-year-old daughter, Sophia. Continue reading...

Detective tells inquest there were no legal grounds to stop Rowan Baxter taking his daughter in 2019

Shayla taken to hospital for assessment after being located in Stormlea after spending more than two days lost in bushlandA four-year-old girl who went missing in southern Tasmania has been found safe and well after spending more than two days in bushland.Police confirmed Shayla Phillips, 4, had been located in bushland near Halls Road, Stormlea, on Friday afternoon. Continue reading...

Cost of £1.2bn means only a few hundred likely to be fixed in next five yearsAn increasing number of Britain’s road bridges are crumbling, with more than 3,200 identified as being substandard with a £1.2bn repair cost, local authorities say.In the past year, more than 100 council-maintained bridges have been declared unfit for the heaviest vehicles, according to research by the RAC Foundation, with 17 bridges collapsing entirely and 37 partially in that time. Continue reading...

Committee highlights a lack of transparency surrounding academy finances in its report on the sectorThe government has failed to get a handle on excessive salaries paid to academy trust leaders, according to parliament’s spending watchdog, which also criticised the use of tens of millions of pounds in public money to “prop up” poorly managed trusts.According to a report by the Commons public accounts committee, the number of academy trusts paying at least one senior staff member more than £100,000 went up from 1,875 in 2019-20 to 2,245 the following year. Meanwhile, a promised review of high pay by the Department for Education has still not been published. Continue reading...

Authorities brace for more wild weather in areas still recovering from floods earlier in March

Legal advice organisation says people have been forced to return to Ukraine because of protracted delaysSome Ukrainian refugees have described being forced to return to Ukraine because of protracted delays in securing UK visas, while others are living in underground bomb shelters in Kyiv, dismayed by the long wait for visas to be processed.A month after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine 10 million people are believed to have left their homes, of whom 3.6 million are thought to have left for neighbouring countries, according to the United Nations high commissioner for refugees. Continue reading...

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Inquiry hears building approval submission for a private gaming room failed to mention a window allowing junket operator to receive cash from playersA senior casino manager has admitted “knowingly misleading” the New South Wales gaming regulator about how gambling junkets operated inside a private high-roller wagering room at The Star Sydney.Graeme Stevens, group compliance manager at Star Entertainment Group, resumed evidence on Friday at a royal commission-style inquiry into whether the gaming giant’s Sydney casino should keep its licence. Continue reading...

Independent senator says deal with New Zealand to resettle 450 people could have caused some to turn down US program

Chris Bowen says Labor wants to ensure system has integrity after whistleblower’s claims