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Which? says some of the devices sold by Amazon, eBay and Wish were not legally fit to be soldAmazon, eBay and Wish have stopped stocking some monitors that let people keep track of their blood oxygen levels after an investigation found they were not fit to be sold.The online marketplaces removed a number of pulse oxygen testing devices known as oximeters from sale after being alerted to flaws identified by the consumer organisation Which? Continue reading...

Ukraine’s president again calls on Russia to negotiate while Emmanuel Macron is trying assemble a coalition to evacuate civilians from Mariupol

Deputy PM says proposals to replace the Human Rights Act will enable principle of free speech to be a legal ‘trump card’Dominic Raab has disclosed proposals to replace Labour’s Human Rights Act with a British bill of rights which he believes will enable the principle of free speech to become a legal “trump card”.Raab, the deputy prime minister and justice secretary, has argued that the plan will better protect the press in exposing wrongdoing and said he feared free speech was being “whittled away” by “wokery and political correctness”. Continue reading...

Metropolitan police say no arrests have been made and a crime scene remains in place at the addressA woman has been stabbed to death in east London while her children were at school.The alarm was raised at 4.06pm on Thursday after the 40-year-old failed to pick her children up from school, the Metropolitan police said in a statement. Continue reading...

Jason Kenney warns a far-right element could seize control in the coming weeks as United Conservatives hold leadership reviewAlberta’s premier has called fellow Conservatives “lunatics” who are “trying to take over the asylum” as a populist mutiny in his party foreshadows a bitter fight for the future of Canada’s Conservative movement.In a leaked recording of a meeting with caucus staff on Tuesday, Premier Jason Kenney warned a far-right element – skeptical of coronavirus measures and wedded to conspiracy theories – could seize control of the party in the coming weeks as the United Conservatives hold a leadership review. Continue reading...

Announcement marks turning point in the nearly 17-month war in the northern regionTigrayan rebels have agreed to a “cessation of hostilities”, marking a turning point in the nearly 17-month war in northern Ethiopia after the government’s announcement of an indefinite humanitarian truce a day earlier.The rebels said in a statement sent to AFP they were “committed to implementing a cessation of hostilities effective immediately” and urged Ethiopian authorities to hasten delivery of emergency aid into Tigray, where hundreds of thousands face starvation. Continue reading...

Half of all respondents say they had experienced homelessness exacerbated by language issues and other systemic barriers

State governments leave schools to decide on response as Covid outbreaks lead to widespread teacher shortages

There is little sense keeping refugees on island at great expense following New Zealand resettlement deal, human rights groups say

Analysis: Dominic Perrottet looks to the crossbench to help his minority government

ONS says one in 11 people in Scotland had coronavirus in week ending 20 March – country’s highest figure since survey beganThe number of coronavirus infections across the UK rose by an estimated 1m compared with the previous week, with figures in Scotland at a record high, data from the Office for National Statistics has revealed.According to the latest information from the ONS, based on swabs collected from randomly selected households, an estimated 9% of the population in Scotland had Covid in the week ending 20 March, about one in 11 people. The figure is the highest recorded by the survey since it began looking at the situation in Scotland in October 2020. Continue reading...

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claim responsibility for huge blaze days before F1 race is due to take placeA fire has erupted at an oil depot in Jeddah days ahead of a Formula One race in the Saudi city after what Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed was an attack by the group.The blaze – not immediately acknowledged by Saudi Arabia or its state-run oil company Saudi Aramco – was centred on the same fuel depot that the Houthis had attacked in recent days. Continue reading...

Ali Harbi Ali wanted police to shoot him dead but ‘intense situation’ caused him to drop knife, jury hearsThe man alleged to have murdered David Amess said he spoke to his own sister immediately after stabbing the MP 21 times and was so moved by her tears that he dropped his knife, allowing police to arrest him.Ali Harbi Ali, 26, is accused of the assassination of the veteran Conservative MP as Amess held a constituency surgery in an Essex church on 15 October 2021. Continue reading...

Calls for slavery reparations and Jamaica’s PM insisting country was ‘moving on’ signal sea change in relations between Royals and regionIt was supposed to be a visit to mark the Queen’s diamond jubilee – a chance to present the modern face of the British monarchy to a region where republican sentiment is on the rise.But it really didn’t turn out that way. Continue reading...

Mother of London toddler given 13 years for manslaughter and ex-partner life sentence after abuse culminated in murderA man who murdered his ex-girlfriend’s two-year-old son in south London has been jailed for life with a minimum term of 25 years after the couple’s horrific abuse was captured on secret recordings.Kyrell Matthews was left with 41 rib fractures and internal injuries by the time of his death in October 2019 after weeks of cruelty at the hands of Kemar Brown and Phylesia Shirley, the Old Bailey in London heard. Continue reading...

This blog has now closed, you can read more about the P&O Ferries row here

Councillors think party will not be punished for rising poverty and will take Sunderland from LabourConservative leaders insist they are on track for strong results in local elections across England, predicting they will seize control of one of Labour’s longest-held councils, despite many admitting more should be done to ease the “nightmare” of soaring bills.More than a million people are expected to be pushed into absolute poverty after Rishi Sunak’s mini-budget, which has attracted heavy criticism from experts and Tory backbenchers. Continue reading...

Secret, blanket policy to take mobiles and extract data from them judged unlawful on several frontsThe Home Office operated an unlawful, secret, blanket policy to seize almost 2,000 mobile phones from asylum seekers arriving in the UK on small boats and then downloaded data from these phones, the high court has ruled.The court found that the policy was unlawful on multiple fronts and breached the asylum seekers’ human rights. The judges ruled that there was no parliamentary authority for seizures and data extractions and that the legal power that Home Office officials thought they could use was the wrong one. Continue reading...

Dubai meeting in November revealed in departmental minutesThe UK transport secretary, Grant Shapps, met DP World boss Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem last November and told him that he was “aware of the issues at P&O Ferries” but recognised “you will need to make commercial decisions”, according to official minutes of the meeting.The revelation raises further questions about whether Shapps could have acted to head off the mass sackings last week at the Dubai-owned ferry operator. Continue reading...

A lack of teachers and school uniform issues blamed for school closures but confusion is a sign of differences in vision for Afghanistan’s futureEarlier this week, girls across Afghanistan arrived for lessons on the day secondary schools were due to open for them for the first time since the Taliban seized power. They were told to go home, and informed schools would remain shut indefinitely.As international outrage grew at the U-turn, the official Taliban response was confused and contradictory. The group blamed a lack of teachers on the closures and said they first needed to create an appropriate environment for girls to study, and decide on appropriate uniforms. Continue reading...

Contract to run Britain’s biggest commuter rail network comes a week after £23.5m fineTransport group Go-Ahead has been awarded a new contract to run Britain’s biggest commuter rail network – a week after being fined £23.5m for wrongly withholding £50m of taxpayers’ money on another franchise.Unions said it was a “sick joke” that the group’s Govia joint venture was given a three-year deal to continue running the Thameslink, Southern and Great Northern franchise, which served about a million passengers daily pre-Covid. Continue reading...

Ryan Gander recreates high street mainstay, with everything down to carpet tiles and plants made from glassYet another betting shop has appeared on one of Britain’s high streets, full of screwed-up betting slips, little pens, newspaper race cards and discarded sweet wrappers. A pile of unopened post suggests the place has been abandoned.So far, so depressing. But this bookie’s in Sunderland is different. Titled Ghost Shop, it is remarkable because everything down to the sticky carpet tiles, fire extinguishers and CCTV cameras has been made from glass. Continue reading...

Ed Sheeran and Camila Cabello are among the stars performing at the ITV-screened event, rushed together in just two weeks. The organisers explain how it was doneThe organiser of next week’s televised Concert for Ukraine has described the event as “comparable to Live Aid”.“The scale is obviously different – Live Aid was transatlantic,” said Guy Freeman, MD of the production company Livewire Pictures. “But it is comparable in terms of people coming together very quickly in the face of an emergency.” Continue reading...

The 5p-a-litre reduction announced in Rishi Sunak’s spring statement began at 6pm on 23 MarchLess than half of the fuel duty cut announced by Rishi Sunak has been passed on to drivers filling up at pumps, according to the AA.The 5p-a-litre reduction in fuel duty came into force at 6pm on Wednesday after the chancellor announced the measure in his spring statement amid the soaring cost of living. Continue reading...

Svyatoslav Vakarchuk plays on, travelling to the frontline, bomb shelters and stations filled with refugees

Garment worn by Colin Firth in 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice to go on show at Jane Austen’s HouseIt is one of the most famous scenes in British television history: Colin Firth’s Mr Darcy emerges dripping from a lake to bump into Jennifer Ehle’s Elizabeth Bennet, a significant turning point in their relationship.From Saturday, fans will be able to get a closeup view of the white shirt that Firth wore for the moment in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. The shirt is the centrepiece of an exhibition opening at Jane Austen’s House in Chawton, Hampshire. Continue reading...

Shares in Russia-focused firm fall after firm is caught in crosshairs of UK sanctions against Gazprombank

It’s thought the patient caught the potentially fatal viral disease in central AsiaA woman is receiving specialist treatment for Crimean-Congo haemorrhagic fever in London after travelling to central Asia, the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has said.The viral disease is usually transmitted by ticks and livestock animals in countries where it is endemic. It is only the third time a case has ever been identified in the UK. Continue reading...

Lei, who was detained in 2020, was arrested and charged with illegally supplying state secrets overseas – but her family have denied wrongdoing

Russia and Ukraine exchange prisoners in first swap of soldiers since invasion; 400,000 civilians forcibly taken to Russia

Campaigners write manifesto in broadest anti-war statement by Russian human rights supporters

Report singles out Chinese-government funded Confucius Institutes and recruitment drives encouraging Australian researchers to work with overseas universities

State media says Kim Jong-un directly guided the launch of the powerful new Hwasong-17 missileNorth Korea has confirmed that it tested a new, powerful type of intercontinental ballistic missile, marking an end to a self-imposed moratorium on long-range testing in place since 2017 and drawing international condemnation.State media said on Friday that leader Kim Jong-un had directly guided the test of the Hwasong-17 – a “new type” of intercontinental ballistic missile that is North Korea’s biggest to date. He said the North would continue to develop a “nuclear war deterrent” while preparing for a “long-standing confrontation” with the US. Continue reading...

UN warns up to 18 million could be in need of aid by September as food prices soar due to conflict, poor harvests and economic crisisThe number of people who are severely hungry in Sudan could double by September as a result of poor harvests, economic crisis, internal conflict and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the UN has warned.In a joint statement, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Food and Agricultural Organisation said more than 18 million people could face extreme hunger over the coming months, up from about 9 million currently in need of aid. Continue reading...

Analysts say unratified document which would allow China to base ships in the Pacific is a ‘wish list’ which reveals nation’s intent in ‘black and white’

Police had been criticised after reports that a ‘shipment of arms’ arrived in the country on a logging vessel from an unknown sourceA shipment of replica firearms by China to Solomon Islands police has caused concern as the Pacific nation grapples with security concerns sparked by its increasingly close relationship with Beijing.The police force had been criticised over the secrecy surrounding delivery of what a local media report called a “large shipment of arms” that arrived in the country on a logging vessel earlier this month from an unknown source. Continue reading...

PM warns Putin after Nato and G7 meetings as Zelenskiy pleads for western tanks and jets

Kremlin rolls out Sergei Shoigu for brief airing in response to media rumblings over his whereabouts

Blockaded region faces severe humanitarian crisis after 16 months of war, with UN estimating 5 million people in urgent need of foodEthiopia’s government has declared an immediate “humanitarian truce” with rebel Tigrayan forces to allow aid into the besieged northern region where millions are facing starvation.The government led by the prime minster, Abiy Ahmed, said the ceasefire declared on Thursday could “pave the way for the resolution of the conflict in northern Ethiopia without further bloodshed”, and analysts in the country expressed hopes that if it holds, the deal may eventually lead to a diplomatic resolution. Continue reading...

Onetime Tory candidate Orlando Fraser says he is no longer in party and ‘not a friend of the prime minister’The leading candidate to become the new chair of the Charity Commission has told MPs he will not allow the regulator to be dragged into media- and government-led “culture wars” – and would even intervene to defend a charity that he felt had been unfairly treated.Orlando Fraser, a onetime Tory parliamentary candidate with links to a rightwing thinktank, has been selected as the government’s choice to run the watchdog. On Thursday he defended himself against criticism that he was a political appointee, saying he was no longer in the Tory party or even a Conservative. Continue reading...

Government heads discuss how to increase support without provoking Russia into wider European war

Government and hauliers to meet over dispute causing food shortages in supermarkets and restaurantsThe Spanish government is meeting transport associations in a fresh attempt to end an enduring lorry strike over high fuel prices that has disrupted restaurant menus and led to food shortages in supermarkets.The action, which began last week, comes as surging energy costs are exacerbated by Russian’s invasion of Ukraine and consumer prices rise to their highest level in more than three decades. Continue reading...

Valérie Pécresse is trying to boost a flagging campaign that could split Les RépublicainsThe rightwing presidential candidate Valérie Pécresse has promised to rewrite the French constitution in order to fight crime and illegal immigration, as she tried to boost a flagging campaign that risks her party imploding if she fails to reach the final round next month.“I want to show that I’m ready to govern,” Pécresse told journalists in Paris, vowing to “restore order to the streets and to the public accounts”. Continue reading...

Orsk landing vessel destroyed as Russian soldiers accused of deceiving those hiding into leaving shelters

Choice of veteran broadcasting executive appears to bring chaotic recruitment saga to an endMichael Grade has been chosen as the government’s choice to oversee the media regulator, Ofcom, ending one of the more controversial and drawn-out government recruitment processes in recent British political history.The Conservative peer – who has held senior executive positions at the BBC, ITV and Channel 4 – will have to face a pre-appointment hearing in front of MPs but is likely to be approved to take the job, finally drawing the process to a close. Continue reading...

Parliamentary inquiry also calls for raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14