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
Russia’s failure to score a quick victory has led to a grimmer phase of the war, and much still hangs in the balanceOn 24 February, shortly before dawn broke in Moscow, Vladimir Putin made the latest in a series of televised addresses. His previous appearances had contained increasingly ominous tirades about Ukraine. Now here was the culmination: the declaration of what the Russian president euphemistically called a “special military operation”.The goal, said Putin, was the “demilitarisation and denazification” of Ukraine. Continue reading...
Musician says he has checked into a rehabilitation centre and has been struggling with ‘anxiety and depression’Former Silverchair singer Daniel Johns has been charged with high-range drink driving after being involved in a car accident on Wednesday night.On Thursday, New South Wales police said that a 42-year-old man had been arrested after a crash in the state’s Hunter region at 10.30pm the previous evening.In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org. Continue reading...
Local heroes including screenwriter Jimmy McGovern and comedian Johnny Vegas will take stage at Shakespeare North Playhouse this summerA new Shakespearean theatre is to open in Merseyside this summer with a ceremony that celebrates “local heroes” including the builders who constructed it.The £30m Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescot, Knowsley, has a 470-seat theatre, the Cockpit, modelled on Inigo Jones’s cockpit-in-court design in 17th-century London. The site also has an outdoor performance garden, funded by Liverpudlian comedian Ken Dodd’s charitable foundation, and a small studio theatre, as well as exhibition and educational facilities. Continue reading...
Health department did not keep full records of meetings with healthcare firm Paterson lobbied for, NAO findsMatt Hancock, the former health secretary, failed to notify his officials about private messages he exchanged with disgraced Conservative MP Owen Paterson, a healthcare firm’s paid lobbyist, an official watchdog has disclosed.In a critical report, the National Audit Office (NAO) concluded that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) did not record properly why it awarded contracts worth nearly £500m to the healthcare firm, Randox. Continue reading...
Police commander also admits Met has problem with officers treating inner London children as ‘adults’Two of the five officers who were involved in the traumatic strip search of a 15-year-old black girl in her school in Hackney, London, have been removed from frontline duties, the Metropolitan police has confirmed.The admission came at a community meeting on Wednesday evening as anger over the treatment of the girl, known as Child Q, continues. The meeting was originally supposed to take place in person but had to be moved online after the police force could not find a venue. More than 250 people attended, with more wanting to but unable to join because of the meeting’s limit. Continue reading...
by Dan Sabbagh Defence and security editor on (#5XEHF)
Analysis: Russia is facing logistical constraints while Ukraine is reliant on supply from the westIt has been a month since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, and such has been the intensity of the first phase of the fighting that both sides in the conflict have increasingly depleted their stocks of ammunition and other military supplies.But while Ukraine is willing to claim that the Russian invaders have only three days of supplies left, while warning that its own troops are running out of anti-tank and anti-aircraft systems, the reality is hard to measure. Continue reading...
Comments at PMQs in contrast to Labour leader’s stand that ‘trans women are women’Campaigners have called for discussion of transgender rights to focus on respect, generosity and the elimination of prejudice after the prime minister stated that “basic facts of biology remain overwhelmingly important”.At Wednesday’s PMQs, Boris Johnson told MPs that “we must recognise when people want to make a transition in their lives that they should be treated with the maximum possible generosity and respect” but added “when it comes to distinguishing between man and woman, the basic facts of biology remain overwhelmingly important”. Continue reading...
by Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent on (#5XE8H)
Arturo McFields Yescas spoke out against the government he is representing in a verbal attack that was lauded by the USNicaragua’s ambassador to the Organization of American States has launched an extraordinary verbal attack on the authoritarian government he is employed to represent, castigating Daniel Ortega’s “indefensible” dictatorship for its assault on human rights and democracy.Arturo McFields Yescas spoke out during an online OAS session on Wednesday, in a startling declaration that spread quickly on social media and was commended by countries such as the US. Continue reading...
by Jessica Murray Midlands correspondent on (#5XE5X)
Chay Bowskill sentenced to 12 years in prison, increased from an original seven and a half yearsThe former boyfriend of a woman who was left with catastrophic brain injuries when she fell out of a van he had bundled her into has had his prison sentence increased.Chay Bowskill, of Syston, Leicestershire, bundled Angel Lynn into a van being driven by his friend Rocco Sansome as she tried to walk away from him after an argument in September 2020. She was found lying seriously injured in the carriageway of the A6 near Loughborough, and remains in hospital requiring round-the-clock care. Continue reading...
Most report minor breathing difficulties, says ambulance service after incident at aquatics centreTwenty-nine people were taken to hospital after a high quantity of chlorine gas was released in an accident on Wednesday at the aquatics centre at London’s Olympic park.Some of the injured included swimmers in a parent and toddler group who were in the children’s pool at the time of the incident, which was first reported by the centre just after 11am. Continue reading...
by Sally Weale Education correspondent on (#5XDX4)
Ruling says opposition to Tobias Rustat memorial at Jesus College chapel is based on ‘false narrative’A Cambridge college has been refused its application to remove a memorial to its 17th-century benefactor Tobias Rustat from the college chapel because of his links to the slave trade.Jesus College argued that the memorial, in a prominent position on the west wall of the Grade I-listed chapel, should be moved to another site in the college because its presence was having a negative impact on the mission and ministry of the church. Continue reading...
World No 1 Ash Barty has stunned the tennis world by announcing her retirement from the sport at the age of 25 during an emotional interview with Casey Dellacqua which she shared on Instagram. This is what she said
Staff who accept payouts are understood to have to sign non-disclosure agreementsFerry operator P&O has revealed it is paying £36.5m to cover compensation for the 800 seafarers it sacked without warning.It is understood staff who accept the payouts will be required to sign non-disclosure agreements requiring them not to disparage the company. Continue reading...
Rapper teams up with Arby’s and tells Rolling Stone it was inspired by McDonald’s underpaying him and his brother for I’m Lovin’ ItThe American rapper Pusha T has issued an extraordinary attack on McDonald’s, releasing a diss track with a rival fast-food chain, Arby’s.The 75-second song was inspired, the rapper told Rolling Stone, by resentment over what he claims is McDonald’s failure to pay him and his brother properly for their part in writing and performing the famous I’m Lovin’ It jingle. Continue reading...
More than a dozen injured as storm system heads towards Louisiana and MississippiMore than a dozen people were injured on Monday when tornadoes tore through parts of Texas and Oklahoma, damaging a school, homes and businesses.The same storm system was poised to move into Louisiana and Mississippi on Tuesday, carrying the risk of dangerous tornadoes and powerful winds. Continue reading...
by Kalyeena Makortoff and Simon Goodley on (#5XCTX)
Leaked documents raise questions over financial relations between relatives of billionaire ex-Arsenal shareholder Alisher UsmanovBillions of pounds linked to the Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov and his business empire appear to have been held in secret Swiss accounts belonging to his family, an analysis of leaked documents suggests.Usmanov’s 56-year-old sister, Saodat Narzieva, appears to have been the one-time beneficial owner of at least 27 secret corporate accounts at Credit Suisse, including one that held nearly 1.9bn Swiss francs (CHF) (£1.6bn). Usmanov is subject to EU sanctions. Continue reading...