MPs vetting peer’s appointment as chair of media regulator raise impartiality and business concerns• ‘If I am appointed,’ says the QC in line for charity commissioner. He will be (Opinion, Rupa Huq)Concerns are growing over the government’s plan to install Conservative peer Michael Grade as the next chair of media regulator Ofcom, amid questions over his impartiality and past business record.Grade faces a pre-appointment hearing in front of the Commons digital, culture, media and sport committee of MPs this week before finally being approved for the role. MPs on the committee are understood to have concerns about the 79-year-old’s suitability to oversee the regulator. Continue reading...

Lawyers and unions condemn scandal of international health workers forced to pay out if they quit their jobs early• Overseas nurses in the UK forced to pay out thousands if they want to quit jobsWhen Laura Sanchez was offered a job as a nurse in the NHS, it sounded like the opportunity of a lifetime.At home in the Philippines, she had seen Facebook ads similar to those on the site today, promising “an attractive relocation package” and inviting her to “Start your UK dream!” Continue reading...

Veteran cites death of Kimberley Kitching and ‘determined urgings’ from his children as reasons for his decision to step down

Scheme is an attempt by NSW government to revitalise city centre and compensate for February train shutdown

UN chief António Guterres calls for ‘restraint’ on all sides in seven-year conflictUN chief António Guterres on Saturday condemned an exchange of attacks between Yemen’s Houthi rebels and the Saudi-led coalition, calling for “restraint” on all sides in the seven-year conflict.“The secretary-general strongly condemns the recent escalation of the conflict in Yemen,” UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said in a statement Saturday. Continue reading...

Two dozen girls and women react to Taliban’s decision to shut secondary schools to girls across AfghanistanWomen and girls staged a protest near the Taliban’s ministry of education in Kabul on Saturday, calling on the group to reopen girls’ secondary schools in Afghanistan.The protesters chanted: “Education is our right – open the doors of girls’ schools!” as armed Taliban members looked on. They held banners that said: “Education is our fundamental right, not a political plan” as they marched for a short distance. They dispersed when Taliban fighters arrived at the scene later. Continue reading...

Unions and Labour criticise plan that is among suite of changes to be set out on MondaySchools in England will have to offer a minimum school week of 32.5 hours as part of a package of reforms aimed at raising standards, which Labour and unions have condemned as insufficient to support schools that have been left “battered and bruised” by the pandemic.

Five-year investigation to conclude mothers forced to suffer traumatic births because of targets for ‘normal’ birthsThree hundred babies died or were left brain-damaged due to inadequate care at an NHS trust, according to reports.

Judge dismisses plaintiffs’ claim over tweeted video, saying insults by rapper’s sister did not qualify as defamationThe rapper Cardi B has beaten a lawsuit filed against her by three beachgoers who claimed they had been defamed during an altercation over parking.A lawsuit filed in New York last year alleged that the singer’s sister, Hennessy Carolina, and Carolina’s girlfriend, Michelle Diaz, had blocked the plaintiffs in. Continue reading...

Police are searching for Kyle Darren Eglington, 32, who absconded from a court prisoner transit vanPolice are searching for a prisoner who escaped custody wearing just his underwear and socks.Kyle Darren Eglington, 32, absconded from a court prisoner transit van in Poole after assaulting security officers on Saturday morning, Dorset police said.

Boat dwellers stage demonstration about new moves by the Canal & River Trust to restrict mooring spacesHundreds of boaters converged in west London’s Little Venice area on Saturday to protest about what they say is a “cull” of a traditional way of life along the capital’s waterways.The boat dwellers staged a demonstration about new moves by the Canal & River Trust (CRT), a charity which manages the waterways in England and Wales, to restrict mooring spaces in some parts of the capital and to issue enforcement notices against some who officials say are mooring their boats in the wrong areas. The CRT began issuing enforcement notices in January of this year. Continue reading...

US president casts Ukraine war as continuation of long struggle for democracy against Russian brute forceVladimir Putin “cannot remain in power”, US president Joe Biden said in Warsaw on Saturday in a speech addressing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.However, a White House official said soon after the speech that Biden was not calling for regime change in Russia. Continue reading...

Fossil analysis is shedding new light on the origins of egg-laying mammals and their arrival on the continent

Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers asked for litigation to be brought to an end 15 years after scandal brokeThe publisher of the News of the World has failed in its attempt to force a deadline on potential victims of the phone-hacking scandal to make claims against it.Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN), which published the now defunct newspaper as well as the Sun, asked for litigation to be brought to an end 15 years after the scandal broke. Continue reading...

The threat of a bullet in the leg or having his fingernails ripped off was the ordeal faced by one manThe sun had barely risen the morning that the military turned up for Vijay*. Grabbing him from his home in a village in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka while his pregnant wife and baby lay asleep next to him, they blindfolded him and drove him deep into a jungle.For the next 12 hours, in a small dark shack away from prying eyes, they interrogated Vijay. Pliers were repeatedly brandished, with threats that his finger nails would be removed if he did not give the army officers the information they wanted. Continue reading...

Concern at growing role of private equity as councils struggle to meet spiralling costsThe 10 largest providers of children’s social care placements made more than £300m in profits last year, according to research that will fuel concerns over profiteering by private providers.As pressure mounts within government, regulators, councils and fosterers over the provision of care for the country’s most vulnerable children, analysis seen by the Observer reveals the growing role of private equity companies in many of the biggest suppliers of care home and fostering places. Continue reading...

Alone in his high-rise flat, Igor Mezencev has found hope through childhood recipes and helping to coordinate food supplies• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updatesBefore the war, Igor Mezencev loved to go into the forest with Ukraine’s best chefs, equipped with just four ingredients – salt, sugar, vinegar and oil – and try to cook high cuisine in the wild.Now, with his city, Kharkiv, under heavy bombardment, Mezencev is confined to his high-rise flat. But using whatever ingredients he can find, he has continued to cook and invent – baking bread from untoasted buckwheat groats, cooking on his balcony and revisiting childhood recipes. He says this has helped him to cope with the terror of the shelling and airstrikes. Continue reading...

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, says people of British capital stand ‘shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in its darkest hour’

Last week’s announcement that Putin’s forces were limiting operations to the Donbas and their mission was nearly complete is merely a shift in emphasis

US president risks wrath of Putin over pledge to provide ‘further defence cooperation’ during Poland visit

Residents ordered to leave homes as ash and steam sent hundreds of metres into skyThousands of people fled their homes near a Philippine volcano after an eruption sent ash and steam hundreds of metres into the sky.Taal volcano, which sits in a picturesque lake south of Manila, exploded with a “short-lived” burst at 7:22 am on Saturday, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in a statement. Continue reading...

Woman stabbed to death in Bethnal Green while her two children were at school described as ‘a lovely person’Neighbours have told of their shock and sadness after a woman was stabbed to death while her two children were at school.Those who knew the 40-year-old from Bethnal Green in east London said she was “a lovely person” and that she had lived in the area for a long time. Continue reading...

After a £6m renovation project, the pioneering designer’s farmhouse is reopening to the publicFor William Morris, the Oxfordshire village of Kelmscott was “heaven on earth”. An old farmhouse became a beloved rural retreat and inspiration for the pioneering designer, author, architectural conservationist and social reformer, widely regarded as the father of the arts and crafts movement.Now Kelmscott Manor, near Lechlade, is reopening to the public on 1 April following a £6m renovation project, preserving and enhancing it for future generations. Continue reading...

Leaders of Bahamas, Jamaica and Belize present as duke says ‘we respect your decisions about your future’

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