New draft guidance recommends midwives use one of four blood tests to help diagnose conditionPregnant women with suspected pre-eclampsia will now be offered a test on the NHS to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...
by Betsy Joles in Chișinău, Moldova and Paula Eriza on (#5XG3R)
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...
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...
by Gwyn Topham Transport correspondent on (#5XG30)
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...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#5XG32)
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...
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...
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...
Police say plane was trying to land when incident happened at about 2pm on Thursday at Beccles airfieldA man has died after a light aircraft crashed at an airfield in north Suffolk.Police said the plane was attempting to land when the incident occurred at about 2pm on Thursday in the landing field at Beccles airfield. Continue reading...
Draft agreement circulating on social media suggests China could establish military base less than 2,000km from AustraliaAustralian officials are alarmed at Solomon Islands’ planned security deal with China with the defence minister, Peter Dutton, stating “we would be concerned clearly about any military base being established” less than 2,000km off the coast.Solomon Islands has signed a policing deal with China and will send a proposal for a broader security agreement covering the military to its cabinet for consideration. Continue reading...
Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi accused of being responsible for the torture of opposition figure in UAEFrench anti-terror prosecutors have opened a preliminary inquiry into torture and acts of barbarism allegedly committed by Emirati general Ahmed Nasser al-Raisi, according to judicial sources.. Raisi in November became president of Interpol.The inquiry follows a legal complaint by an NGO that accused Raisi of being responsible in his role as high-ranking official at the United Arab Emirates interior ministry for the torture of an opposition figure. Continue reading...
Masks will remain mandatory in health and care settings as cases rise across countryPeople in Wales will no longer be legally required to wear masks in shops and on public transport from Monday and the legal obligation to stay at home after a positive Covid test is to be scrapped.Mask wearing will still be mandatory in health and care settings, however, and businesses will have to continue to carry out coronavirus risk assessments and put “reasonable” mitigation measures in place. Continue reading...
Barclay has not yet paid any of the £100m due to Lady Hiroko Barclay and halved her monthly allowanceSir Frederick Barclay, who along with his twin brother was once one of the UK’s richest men, is relying on his nephews to fund his divorce battle after being evicted from his luxury flat, a court has heard.A high court hearing on Thursday heard that Barclay, 87, has not paid any of the £100m divorce order made almost a year ago and has halved the monthly allowance to his wife of 34 years, Lady Hiroko Barclay. Continue reading...
Dr Peter Schlesinger did not examine Porsche McGregor-Sims despite gynaecological issues, inquest toldAn NHS trust has apologised over the death of a 27-year-old events manager after a locum gynaecologist mistook aggressive cervical cancer for a hormonal or bowel problem.The family of Porsche McGregor-Sims, who died a day after being admitted to Queen Alexandra hospital in Portsmouth, told her inquest that she had felt she was not listened to and that the misdiagnosis had robbed them of a chance to say goodbye. Continue reading...
Northern Irish executive has not commissioned any services since terminations became legal in 2019The UK government is taking legal steps to override the Northern Ireland executive and directly instruct the nation’s health trusts to provide abortion services, saying it will “take the necessary powers” to directly commission services if urgent progress is not made.The secretary for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, set out the UK government’s legislative options in strong language on Thursday, after it became “increasingly clear” that the Northern Ireland Department of Health (NI DoH) will miss the end of March deadline to fully commission abortion services in the country. Continue reading...
Analysis: Clunky media appearances highlight an awkwardness with ordinary voters that was invisible during the pandemicOne of Gordon Brown’s few and oft-repeated jokes was that there are two kinds of chancellor: those who fail, and those who get out in time.Despite having served little more than two years in the job, Rishi Sunak may have missed the moment to quit – or move next door – while he was ahead, according to Thursday’s front pages at least. Continue reading...
Ho Hoang Hung set off with no navigation system after spending two years apart because of Covid restrictionsA Vietnamese man who tried to row 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) from Thailand to India to see his wife has been taken into custody after being rescued off the Thai coast.Ho Hoang Hung set off from the holiday island of Phuket in an inflatable rubber dinghy, equipped with water and instant noodles but no navigation system, planning to cross the Bay of Bengal not long before the start of cyclone season. Continue reading...
Competition and Markets Authority says deal could lead to higher costs for motorists in 121 areas of BritainFuel prices, already at record levels, could be pushed higher in 121 locations across the UK as a result of the £7bn takeover of Morrisons by a US private equity firm, the consumer watchdog has said.The Competition and Markets Authority opened an investigation in January into the supermarket chain’s takeover by Clayton, Dubilier & Rice (CD&R), examining matters including a potential lessening in competition between petrol forecourts. Continue reading...
by Haroon Siddique Legal affairs correspondent on (#5XF0H)
Sheikh Mohammed’s ex-wife Princess Haya granted responsibility for decisions on their children’s medical care and schoolingThe ruler of Dubai will have no face-to-face contact with his two children from his marriage to Princess Haya nor any substantive say in their upbringing, after a long-running court battle between the former couple and a series of damning judgments about his “abusive behaviour”.Concluding more than two and a half years of legal proceedings, which began when Haya fled to the UK with the children in April 2019, the president of the family division of the high court in England and Wales said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum had “consistently displayed coercive and controlling behaviour with respect to those members of his family who he regards as behaving contrary to his will”.Sheikh Mohammed orchestrated the abductions and confinement of two of his other children, Princess Latifa and Princess Shamsa – in the latter case from the streets of Cambridge – and subjected Haya to a campaign of “harassment and intimidation”.He hacked the phones of Haya and five of her associates, including two of her lawyers, using NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware while the couple were locked in court proceedings.His agents attempted to buy a £30m estate next door to Haya’s Berkshire home in a “very significant threat to her security”, while publicly denying they were doing so. Continue reading...
by David Conn, Paul Lewis and Rob Evans on (#5XEYD)
Exclusive: Tory peer Michelle Mone used private email addresses to contact Gove and another cabinet minister about PPE offerMichael Gove was secretly involved in the process through which a PPE company linked to the Tory peer Michelle Mone secured huge government contracts, according to newly released documents that show private emails being used for government business.The correspondence threatens to embroil Gove in the deepening controversy surrounding PPE Medpro, the company awarded government contracts worth £203m after it was referred to the “high-priority lane” for well connected companies. Continue reading...
Searchers have found one of the two dogs Shayla Phillips was last seen playing with in Stormlea, south-east of Hobart, but there is no sign of the girl
by Josh Taylor (now), Caitlin Cassidy (earlier) on (#5XED3)
Rex Patrick to reveal political intentions tomorrow after Nick Xenophon announces run for Senate; Japanese encephalitis declared disease of national significance; Liberals select candidate for Bennelong; fifth arrest this week over climate crisis protest; Morrison says having Putin at G20 ‘a step too far’; at least 35 Covid deaths recorded. This blog is now closed
Boris Johnson tries to persuade Indian PM to take a more robust approach to Russia over invasionA high-powered cross-party UK delegation to India led by the Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, and his deputy has been called off at the last minute in a sign of a growing rift over India’s refusal to distance itself from the Russian invasion of Ukraine.The 10-strong delegation has been in discussion with India since January and was planning to visit Delhi and Rajasthan, but the Indian high commission is understood to have raised objections at the last minute. Continue reading...
by Nadia Khomami Arts and culture correspondent on (#5XERM)
Themes of corruption and attitudes to poverty still resonate today, says Peter Flannery ahead of new Radio 4 adaptationIt’s regarded as one of the greatest British television dramas of all time, launching the early careers of its stars Daniel Craig, Christopher Eccleston, Gina McKee and Mark Strong.But while it was set in the mid-60s to 90s, the storylines of politics, corruption and class prevalent in Our Friends in the North are just as relevant today, its writer has said ahead of a new radio adaptation. Continue reading...
by Samantha Lock (now); Maanvi Singh, Adam Gabbatt,Ra on (#5XDDA)
Latest updates: Ukraine president says Thursday summits will reveal ‘who is a friend, who is a partner, and who betrayed us for money’; US says Ukraine has pushed Russian forces outside of Kyiv back
World news | The Guardian