First figures available for Jacinda Ardern’s term in office reveal inadequate government response despite huge boost in fundingNew Zealand’s mental health system is “in crisis” and in worse shape now than four years ago, practitioners say – despite much-heralded government efforts to reform it and prioritise national wellbeing.A commitment to improving New Zealand’s mental health record has been at the heart of the progressive, Jacinda Ardern-led Labour government. The country has enduring challenges with mental health, including the highest rate of youth suicide in the developed world. When Ardern was leading her first election campaign in 2017, she made it a central election issue. Continue reading...

Accusations of violence, denied by all five people, could result in 16-20 years’ jail under laws that protect royal familyProsecutors in Thailand have indicted five pro-democracy activists on charges of attempting to harm the queen during a street demonstration in October last year, in which some protesters shouted slogans critical of the monarchy.Queen Suthida, the wife of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, was not in any evident danger in the incident, which occurred when a limousine carrying the queen and the king’s son, Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, passed through a small crowd of protesters mixed with supporters of the royal family. Continue reading...

Some people eat hot cross buns the right way and some people eat them the wrong way. Which side are you on? Tell us in the commentsNow that Easter is finally upon us, we can stop arguing about the correct time for hot cross buns to appear on bakery shelves and move on to the more contentious question of the correct way to eat them.The Guardian Australia newsroom is already divided over whether they should be microwaved or toasted … Continue reading...

Drugmaker said it found the problem at a production site in Baltimore and it wasn’t clear how many doses were lostJohnson & Johnson has said that a batch of its Covid-19 vaccines failed quality standards and can’t be used.The drugmaker didn’t say how many doses were lost, and it wasn’t clear how the problem would impact future deliveries. Continue reading...

Scientist recognised for her leadership in fight against Covid-19 says she accepts honour on behalf of all who helped tackle pandemicScientist Siouxsie Wiles has been named New Zealander of the Year for her leadership through the country’s Covid-19 response.Wiles was presented with the award at a gala dinner in Auckland on Wednesday night attended by 800 people: New Zealand’s pandemic success made manifest. Continue reading...

Diana to be among six women honoured as part of English Heritage’s scheme following public campaignDiana, Princess of Wales, is to be celebrated with a blue plaque in what would have been her 60th birthday year.English Heritage on Thursday announced its 2021 plaques for six women, who also include the anti-slavery campaigner Ellen Craft; Caroline Norton, who helped change Britain’s divorce laws; and the fashion designer Jean Muir. Continue reading...

P1 variant said to be partly driving cases in Brazil; French president extends measures in 19 French departments to rest of country

DRC taxi driver had been vaccinated but caught disease, then suffered a relapse and infected 91 othersA man in Africa who developed Ebola despite receiving a vaccine recovered but suffered a relapse nearly six months later that led to 91 new cases before he died. The case, outlined in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, adds to evidence that the deadly virus can lurk in the body long after symptoms end, and that survivors need monitoring for their own welfare and to prevent spread.Relapses such as this, from the 2018-2020 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, are thought to be rare. This is the first one clearly shown to have spawned a large cluster of new cases. Continue reading...

Oxford Brookes University student has not been seen by his family in west London for nine daysPolice investigating the disappearance of student Richard Okorogheye are conducting searches in Essex after a new confirmed sighting last placed him in the area.The Metropolitan police have released CCTV images of the 19-year-old in Loughton in the early hours of Tuesday 23 March. Continue reading...

Industry claims it was misled by Defra over post-Brexit position and will sue unless trade with Europe restarts soonThe environment secretary, George Eustice, is facing a threat of legal action from shellfish farmers over claims that the government has misled the industry over its post-Brexit arrangements with the EU.A solicitor representing 20 shellfish firms told the Guardian the government had shown “negligence and maladministration” and that a group action was being considered for compensation. Continue reading...

Cooler conditions forecast after temperatures rose above 20C across much of England and WalesAfter a spell of warm weather that brought the hottest March day in half a century, dramatically cooler conditions are forecast to spread across the UK over the next few days, making for a somewhat wintry-feeling Easter weekend.Temperatures across much of England and Wales climbed above 20C (68F) this week. There had been predictions of the record for the hottest March day possibly being smashed on Wednesday but several factors, including cloud in some places, prevented it, though a high of 24C was recorded in Weybourne, Norfolk. Continue reading...

Conflict of interest claims after it emerges that Colin Todd’s son now works for Kensington and Chelsea councilAn expert witness to the Grenfell Tower public inquiry tasked with assessing how the council landlord handled fire risk is embroiled in conflict of interest claims after it emerged that his son now works for the council as its head of fire safety.Colin Todd is advising the disaster inquiry on the adequacy of fire risk assessments carried out on the council block before the fire, which killed 72 people. His son, Keith Todd, works as director of fire safety for the tower’s owner, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC). Continue reading...

A man taking pictures of an erupting volcano in Iceland had to make a quick escape as lava flowed towards him.

Opposition leaders demand impeachment for what they say is president’s illegal attempt to co-opt the country’s armed forcesProminent leaders of Brazil’s opposition have called for president Jair Bolsonaro to be immediately removed from office to prevent his “coup-mongering, authoritarian delusions” becoming a reality.“We cannot be bystanders to this barbarism,” congressman Marcelo Freixo said on Wednesday as parliamentarians demanded Bolsonaro’s impeachment for what they called his illegal attempt to co-opt the armed forces. Continue reading...

Russian opposition leader says he has been denied medical care and subjected to sleep deprivationAlexei Navalny has gone on hunger strike after saying he was denied urgent medical treatment in prison.The Russian opposition leader has complained of a “sharp deterioration” in his health since his transfer to a prison colony in the Vladimir region to serve a two-and-a-half year sentence on embezzlement charges. The colony, which is 60 miles from Moscow, is notoriously strict and said to excel at isolating inmates from the outside world. Continue reading...

As March came to an end, the numbers came in: there had been 670,000 Covid-19 vaccinations in Australia. These numbers fall far short of the original 4m goal set by the Coalition and puts in doubt revised goals as well. In this episode of Full Story, we speak to a general practitioner about the problems he has seen in the rollout and reporter Christopher Knaus examines the systemic problemsRead more on Australia’s vaccination program: Continue reading...

Washington’s top diplomat in Canberra says the countries are discussing how they would respond to a range of scenarios including conflict in the Taiwan StraitThe United States and Australia are discussing how they would respond to a range of military scenarios including an outbreak of war in the Taiwan Strait, Washington’s top diplomat in Canberra has signalled.The US embassy’s chargé d’affaires, Michael Goldman, also expressed “enormous respect” for how Australia had stood up to China’s “economic coercion” over the past year, and said the Biden administration wanted to reassure Canberra and other allies “that we have their backs”. Continue reading...

Adored by Rihanna and Jay-Z, he finds his subjects in supermarket queues – and on the streets of LA’s toughest neighbourhoods. How has the artist found lockdown in a tiny Somerset village?“Other people look; Taylor sees.” That was Zadie Smith’s assessment of the American artist Henry Taylor. Thirty seconds into my Zoom call with him, I begin to understand what she meant, as he joyfully dissects the decor in my room. “Oh, you got a guitar back there?” he says. “What are you going to do, play me a song?” Then, noticing the slogan on my cap, he laughs and says: “I can’t be Free and Easy … peasy.” Suddenly, I’m wondering what else is in view.You might think this was an artist trying not so subtle unsettling tactics at the beginning of an interview. But Taylor is far too spontaneous for anything like that. A question about what he’s interested in at the moment prompts an answer that turns into a rapid-fire breakdown of his artistic worldview, and a glimpse into how his mind works. “I’m receptive, you know what I mean? I’m a sensitive individual. I respond to things. I’m empathetic. I don’t try to be hardcore, I don’t want to fake the funk. I just tried to keep it real, bro. If I want to sit down and paint you, I’ll paint you.” Continue reading...

Sandra Muller, who founded French version of #MeToo, succeeds in overturning conviction for defaming Eric BrionA French appeals court has overturned the defamation conviction of the woman behind France’s answer to the #MeToo movement, who was sued by the man she accused of sexual harassment.Sandra Muller, a French journalist, coined the viral hashtag #BalanceTonPorc (“expose your pig”) to describe the TV executive Éric Brion. Continue reading...

Green party says candidate Tareq Alaows, had ‘massive experiences of racism’ since announcing candidacyA Damascus-born Syrian man running to become the first refugee to enter the German parliament has withdrawn his candidacy, citing personal threats and security concerns.Tareq Alaows, 31, who fled conscription in Syria and arrived in Germany in 2015, was in January nominated as a Bundestag candidate for the Green party in the district of Oberhausen, in North Rhine-Westphalia. Continue reading...

‘I came upon them in an abandoned parking lot. Watching them was like reliving my own childhood’This was taken in 1981, in Brownsville, my neighbourhood in Brooklyn. I was 21 and my father, who photographed weddings and took portraits in our community, had been teaching me the science of speed and light, and how to capture decisive moments. When I came upon this scene in an abandoned parking lot, I felt something was coming on. They reminded me of myself as a child. Observing them was like reliving my own childhood. I took three frames, but it wasn’t until I got the film developed that I realised I had created something magical.This has become one of my most popular images. It’s housed in a number of renowned institutions in the US. It was used on the cover of Undun, the album by hip-hop band the Roots. It’s also the cover of one of my books, Seconds of My Life. A magical image is, for me, one that has a magnetism, that draws you in and holds your attention. You don’t need a caption. You can study it and draw your own conclusion. Continue reading...

This is about appealing to the Tory heartlands and ignoring the rest of the UK, writes John Cookson. The community I was once a member of – the EU – has been taken away from me, says Tim Shelton-JonesI find your editorial (29 March) on the “festival of Brexit” staggering. If we are celebrating Brexit, where does it put the majority of people in Northern Ireland and Scotland who voted against the economic disaster that they are now mired in? What exactly do they have to celebrate? This is about appealing to the Tory heartlands and ignoring the rest of the UK. The comparison with the Festival of Britain is ludicrous, since Brexit has created massive divisions throughout the UK, which wasting vast amounts of taxpayers money to celebrate will not assuage, only exacerbate.Since this government treats every expenditure as an opportunity to corruptly benefit its allies, donors and friends, we can expect that to be a prominent part of the Brexit celebrations. Renaming it the “Festival for the end of the United Kingdom” would be more appropriate.

Freed protesters and a journalist detained by the junta describe beatings and squalid conditionsReleased from detention in Myanmar, protesters and journalists have described beatings, squalid conditions and cruelty under the military dictatorship that is opposed by most of the population.Hnin, 23, was arrested along with 400 other young people in a haze of stun grenades and teargas in the commercial capital Yangon on 3 March for protesting against the military coup. Continue reading...

European commission’s latest move in long-running dispute draws defiant response from WarsawThe European commission has said it is taking Poland to the bloc’s highest court over a legal change it alleges undermines judges’ independence and prevents them applying EU law, drawing an instant and defiant response from Warsaw.In the latest salvo in a longstanding dispute over respect for the rule of law, Brussels said on Wednesday it was also asking the European court of justice (ECJ) to make an interim order suspending Poland’s 2019 law until its final judgment is delivered. Continue reading...

Italian navy captain arrested for allegedly handing over confidential documents for cashItaly has expelled two Russian officials after an Italian navy captain was arrested for allegedly passing confidential documents to one of them.Police said they had intervened “during a clandestine meeting” between the Italian and a Russian military official and “immediately after the transfer of a document by the Italian officer in exchange for a sum of money”. Continue reading...

UN security council set for emergency meeting as death toll from military crackdown passes 520Myanmar’s deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi appeared in good health during a video meeting with her lawyers, it has emerged.Details on the condition of the 75-year-old were disclosed as the US ordered non-essential embassy staff to leave the country after weeks of violence over a 1 February coup and fears mounted that the escalating violence was drawing in the country’s minority groups. Continue reading...

Ruling that face masks must be worn on beaches comes amid fears of fourth Covid wave

New guidance for England and Wales welcomed but critics say it fails to address perpetuation of rape myths and ‘contact at all costs’ approachThe family courts should prioritise the issue of coercive and controlling behaviour when considering disputes between parents in domestic abuse cases, court of appeal judges have advised.Three senior judges set out fresh guidance on how these sensitive cases should be approached as part of a 47-page judgment after hearing four linked appeals brought by mothers over child contact. Continue reading...

After coming out as a lesbian, aged 12, she suffered a horrendous attack at school. Now a successful actor, she is determined to help those wrestling with their identitiesRuby Rose spent much of her childhood travelling around Australia with her mother, an aspiring artist, trying to make ends meet. They were poor, but they were unstoppable, says Rose. Her mother had sold their TV, so there were no dreams of becoming the Hollywood action star she is now, nor the model, presenter, DJ, VJ and campaigner she has been over the years. When Rose was a child, she just wanted to write.“I wanted to write a book for kids that were my age. I just wanted to have a way to communicate and speak to kids like me, who didn’t have someone,” she says, over Zoom. “I was just this kid who had no friends, who was super unpopular, got bullied and beaten up at school, and was like: ‘I’m going to be a famous writer.’” Continue reading...

Nearly 5,000 refugees holed up in small Colombian town of Arauquita, having fled intense and continuing battlesLizeth Iturrieta, a journalist in the small town of La Victoria on Venezuela’s western border with Colombia, was woken by the rumble of armoured vehicles rolling past her home. Hours later the sounds of gunfire and explosions shook the walls, and she and her husband dived for cover.“Out of nowhere we were in the middle of a war zone,” Iturrieta said in a video call from a refugee camp on the Colombian side of the frontier. “After a day of hiding at home in absolute silence, we ran for our lives to the boat to Colombia. We almost fell into the river in the panic.” Continue reading...

John Sudworth’s relocation to Taiwan comes after Beijing decries corporation’s reporting of alleged human rights abuses in XinjiangBBC News said on Wednesday that one of its journalists in China had relocated to Taiwan, a move that comes amid Beijing’s criticism of the broadcaster’s reports on alleged human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang region.BBC News did not specify why John Sudworth had left Beijing. “John’s work has exposed truth the Chinese authorities did not want the world to know,” it said in a statement published on one of its official Twitter accounts. Continue reading...

Prosecutors allege Natasha Darcy, who has pleaded not guilty to murder, searched online for poisonous spiders, toxic plants and suicide methodsA NSW woman accused of sedating and gassing her wealthy partner in his bed denies murdering the grazier, insisting he killed himself.But, Natasha Beth Darcy’s numerous internet searches before his death in 2017 included the phrase “how to commit murder”, crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield said on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Activists have called for changes to intellectual property laws in an effort to speed the global vaccination project

Damon Albarn, Idles, Jorja Smith, Kano, Wolf Alice and Honey Dijon will also appear at Live at Worthy Farm, a ticketed virtual event on 22 MayThe organisers of Glastonbury have announced that Coldplay, Damon Albarn, Haim, Idles, Jorja Smith, Kano, Michael Kiwanuka and Wolf Alice will perform at Live at Worthy Farm, a ticketed live-stream event to be broadcast on 22 May.The five-hour film, directed by Grammy-nominated film-maker Paul Dugdale, will be presented as an uninterrupted production, tracing the arc of what festival co-organiser Emily Eavis called “one continuous wild night” at the festival, via festival landmarks including the Pyramid stage, the stone circle and the notorious south-east nightclubbing corner. Continue reading...

NSW records one positive case linked to Byron Bay hen’s party; Australia joins 13 countries to express concerns about China’s cooperation with WHO investigators. Follow live

Singer said that she was ‘embarrassed by the light’ in which Framing Britney Spears cast herBritney Spears said she “cried for two weeks” after watching part of a high-profile documentary that explored her career.Framing Britney Spears premiered in February and examined the pop superstar’s rise to the summit of the music industry, her treatment at the hands of the tabloid media, her involuntary commitment to a psychiatric ward in 2008, and the subsequent conservatorship (an “imposed power-of-attorney-on-steroids”) given to her father that has had him oversee her finances and personal affairs since 2008. Continue reading...

Female recruits to stop being given male underwear in a bid to up recruitmentThe Swiss armed forces is taking a big step to recruit more women – by no longer making female recruits wear men’s underwear.At present, all recruits are issued with “loose-fitting men’s underwear, often in larger sizes”, the BBC reported. In a trial set to begin in April, the Swiss army said women would be issued with two sets of female underwear – one for warmer months and one for colder months. Continue reading...

Actors unable to travel to Los Angeles had earlier been told a virtual appearance at the awards would not be allowedThe Academy will reportedly allow British nominees to take part in the Oscars from London, after earlier warning that appearing via Zoom was not an option.

Jacinda Ardern says the changes to wages and benefits will help support the most vulnerableNew Zealand is raising its minimum wage to $20 an hour and increasing the top tax rate for the country’s highest earners to 39%.The changes will be rolled out on Thursday, alongside small increases to unemployment and sickness benefits. The government estimates the minimum wage increase – a rise of $1.14 per hour – will affect up to 175,500 workers, and increase wages across the economy by $216m. Continue reading...

Palau is opening up to visitors from Taiwan under strict Covid-safe measures, but locals still have doubts

Here are the current coronavirus hotspots and case locations in Queensland and what to do if you’ve visited them

Juan Antonio ‘Tony’ Hernández was sentenced in Manhattan federal court and ordered to forfeit $138mThe brother of the Honduras president, Juan Orlando Hernández, has been sentenced by a US court to life in prison after he was convicted over what prosecutors described as “state-sponsored drug trafficking”.Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, a former Honduran congressman, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court by US district judge P Kevin Castel, who also ordered him to forfeit $138m. Continue reading...

Justin Welby appears to contradict assertion by Duchess of Sussex that she got married three days before royal weddingThe Archbishop of Canterbury has addressed for the first time the claim made by the Duchess of Sussex that she and Prince Harry got married three days before the royal wedding.During her tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, broadcast earlier this month, Meghan said the pair had the secret marriage ceremony with the archbishop, Justin Welby, in their “backyard”. Continue reading...

Spokesperson contradicts health secretary Matt Hancock’s claim that deal gives UK priority on deliveries

Company confirms name change on its US website but announcement is reportedly a stunt aimed at boosting new vehicleVolkswagen of America issued false statements this week saying it would change its brand name to “Voltswagen” as a way to stress its commitment to electric vehicles, only to reverse course on Tuesday and admit that the supposed name change was just a joke.Mark Gillies, a company spokesman, confirmed on Tuesday that the statement had been a pre-April Fool’s Day joke, after having insisted Monday that the release was legitimate and the name change accurate. Continue reading...

Wednesday: PM’s target of 4m vaccines by April falls 3.5m doses short. Plus: why we can’t stop watching small moments of screen magicGood morning. Australia is far behind in its planned vaccine rollout as experts warn outbreaks will keep occurring while the country remains unvaccinated. If your Easter plans have been thrown into disarray by Brisbane’s lockdown, treat yourself to a seafood feast instead – we’ve spoken to the experts about how to get the best sustainable underwater grub.Australia has missed Scott Morrison’s vaccine goal by 3.4m shots. Nearly 600,000 doses of the Covid vaccine have been administered, just 15% of the 4m dose target set by the PM by the end of March. The country has fallen well short due to international supply problems, natural disasters including the NSW floods, errors and booking issues. GPs are continuing to report significant delays in vaccine deliveries, forcing them to cancel bookings and undermining their ability to plan. Queensland’s tourism sector is expected to lose $35m by the end of Easter after 15 new cases triggered the latest shutdown over a peak holiday period, prompting holidaymakers to cancel “their bookings hand over fist”. Continue reading...

Collapse of Archegos has reportedly prompted SEC and FCA inquiries into Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Nomura and othersUK and US regulators are looking into whether global investment banks breached rules by holding group discussions shortly before launching a fire sale of nearly $20bn worth of assets belonging to the distressed hedge fund Archegos Capital Management, according to reports.The Securities Exchange Commission is said to have requested further information from major US banks Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley, as well as Japan’s Nomura and Swiss lender Credit Suisse about a meeting with Archegos founder Bill Hwang on Thursday. Continue reading...

My father, Raymon Anning, who has died aged 90 from pneumonia aged 90, was a police officer who rose through the ranks to become the last British commissioner of the Hong Kong police force, commanding more than 30,000 police officers.He was not particularly well educated, having left school at the age of 15, but Ray was always extremely ambitious. This was partly due to his desire to do better than his father, who was also a police officer. Continue reading...

Three Italians arrested for masterminding plan that saw two businessmen held captive by jihadist group for three years

Figure is many times higher than the five fatalities initially announced after 21 March disasterA stampede at a Tanzanian stadium crushed 45 people to death as mourners paid last respects to the late President John Magufuli, police said on Tuesday – many times more than the five fatalities initially announced after the disaster on 21 March.Police in the port city of Dar es Salaam, where the stampede occurred, attributed some of the deaths to people being starved of oxygen at the event due to overcrowding. Continue reading...