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Scientists fear NIH director will be even more absent and leave key issues unresolved as he takes interim CDC lead

Many of those attending the world's largest meeting on women's rights in New York this week are primed to defend the two key UN agencies that protect women and girls around the worldThousands of international delegates are gathering in New York this week for the world's largest meeting on women's rights. The United Nation's annual Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) is an opportunity for government ministers, UN officials, NGO representatives and activists to discuss the global state of gender equality and women's empowerment. This year, there will be a strong focus on ensuring and strengthening access to justice".But as senior UN figures urge countries to intensify their efforts to achieve gender equality, many of the delegates will be asking whether the UN is at risk of diluting its own commitment to women and girls. Continue reading...

Decision follows release of Epstein files that have disgraced her father, the former prince Andrew Mountbatten-WindsorPrincess Eugenie has stepped down as patron of the UK charity AntiSlavery International, the world's oldest human rights organisation.The decision follows the release by the US Department of Justice of millions of documents and emails relating to Jeffrey Epstein's role in sexual abuse and trafficking women around the world, which have disgraced her father, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. Continue reading...

Most residents of Canadian province wanted change for years; Trump's unneighbourly rhetoric helped seal the dealSince 1918, the clocks in Creston, a town in eastern British Columbia, ran an hour ahead of nearby communities for half the year. For the other six months, they slipped back into sync. Not because they town changed them but because its neighbours changed back and forth from daylight saving time.Creston was an outlier: a community that effectively created its own time zone. But when residents in most parts of the province shift their clocks forward on Sunday, they will be doing it for the last time - and permanently joining Creston for the first time in nearly 70 years. Continue reading...

Carlo Soracchi admits exploiting empathy of woman who had abusive father by claiming his father abused his sisterAn undercover police officer told grotesque and cruel" lies while emotionally manipulating two women he had deceived into long-term sexual relationships, the spycops public inquiry has heard.Carlo Soracchi admitted he sought to elicit the empathy of one of the women by claiming that his sister had been abused by his father. He also told her that his father had died when he was actually alive. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Campaigners urge Keir Starmer to back Philomena's Law' to protect payments for up to 13,000 survivors living in BritainSurvivors of Ireland's mother and baby homes have started to have benefits cut in Britain because they accepted compensation from the Irish government.The cuts to the means-tested benefits of survivors in Britain come as campaigners including the actors Siobhan McSweeney and Steve Coogan called on Keir Starmer to back a bill known as Philomena's Law, which would ringfence survivors' benefits. Continue reading...

Artefacts include souvenirs from 1972 Match of the Century' between Boris Spassky and Bobby FischerA vast collection of chess memorabilia, including souvenirs from the 1972 Match of the Century" and considered to be the largest and most important of its kind in private hands, is to be auctioned at Sotheby's in London next month.The collection belonged to the German grandmaster Lothar Schmid, whose passion for the sport extended way beyond the board. Continue reading...

Pauline Hanson says get over it' and fully backs David Farley, her party's candidate in Farrer byelection

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Entire Daly River town evacuated as Bureau of Meteorology warns river levels expected to rise in coming week

This live blog has now closed. Our live coverage continues hereThe Saudi defence minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, urged Iran on Saturday to avoid miscalculation" after missile and drone launches at the kingdom.Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said earlier in the day it had blocked repeated missile launches at an airbase housing US military personnel and drone attacks at a major oilfield.We stressed that such actions undermine regional security and stability and expressed hope that the Iranian side will exercise wisdom and avoid miscalculation. Continue reading...

Police arrest 16-year-old, 17-year-old and 18-year-old over savage' attack on 22-year-old man

Foreign minister, Constantinos Kombos, tells Guardian Iranian-made drone that hit airbase was launched from LebanonBritain is facing growing calls to withdraw its military bases from Cyprus as locals step up protests against facilities seen as a threat to their security after an unprecedented drone attack on RAF Akrotiri.Anger over the installations spilled on to the streets of Nicosia, the capital, as protesters chanting out with the bases of death" marched to the colonial-era presidential palace on Saturday amid fears of the Mediterranean nation being dragged into the wider Iran conflict. Continue reading...

Foreign minister says Australia not participating in offensive action against Iran' but may help protect other countries

Speaking outside the embassy, Your Party MP Zarah Sultana told protesters: we will not be ignored again'

Detectives are investigating if alleged surveillance of Jewish locations and individuals is linked to possible attacks on British soilCounter-terrorism detectives have been granted more time to question four men arrested on suspicion of spying for Iran on locations and individuals linked to the Jewish community.The suspects, one Iranian and three dual British-Iranian nationals, can now be held in custody until 13 March, the Metropolitan police said on Saturday. Continue reading...

Masoud Pezeshkian issues rare apology to neighbouring Gulf states for Iranian strikes as war enters eighth day

Explosion happened in pre-dawn hours at Dali nightclub in the province of Trujillo along Peru's northern coastA bombing at a nightclub in Peru has injured 33 people, including minors, authorities said Saturday.The explosion happened in the pre-dawn hours at the Dali nightclub in the province of Trujillo along Peru's northern coast, according to a statement from the local emergency operations center. Continue reading...

Exclusive: MoD-contracted workers assisting Ukrainians in a way no other nation has been willing to do', says ministerIn an unmarked and undisclosed location in western Ukraine, British and Ukrainian engineers work side by side to fix damaged military hardware, crawling under the chassis of artillery systems and pulling apart the insides of British-donated howitzers.Until now, the existence of this facility, along with three other similar sites inside Ukraine, has been kept quiet, buried in neutral language to avoid drawing too much attention to the sites, given the sensitivities of all military-linked work inside Ukraine. Continue reading...

As Masoud Pezeshkian tries to de-escalate conflict, hardliners urge installation of new supreme leader to marginalise the presidentThe surprise offer by the president of Iran, Masoud Pezeshkian, to not attack countries in the neighbourhood so long as their airspace and US bases within their territories are not used to attack Iran has provoked a storm inside the country as the military appeared to contradict him, if not outright overrule him.There were also calls for a new supreme leader to be installed as quickly as possible, as a means of marginalising the president. Attacks on facilities in Bahrain and elsewhere have continued, and there were unconfirmed reports that Bahrain had become the first Gulf country to fire back at Iran. Continue reading...

Report indicates that US intelligence officials question effectiveness of strikes to produce regime change in IranUS government reviews of the war in Iran show that the Trump administration may be ill-equipped for a regime-change war, according to reports.The Washington Post reported on Saturday morning that a classified intelligence review found that the war in Iran is unlikely to oust the Iranian establishment, despite the Trump administration's desire to continue its attacks. Continue reading...

B-1 Lancers arrive at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire after Starmer allows US to use UK as a base for defensive' action

Relatives call on institutions to help them find remains of ancestors who led fight against British colonisers in 1890sDescendants of freedom fighters executed and beheaded in southern Africa by colonial British forces have called on the Natural History Museum in London and the University of Cambridge to help them find their ancestors' looted skulls.Zimbabwean descendants of the first chimurenga heroes, who led an uprising against British colonisers in the 1890s, have long believed the museum and university hold several of the skulls. Continue reading...

Royal Navy readying HMS Prince of Wales so it can be quickly deployed if decision made to mobilise it to region

Commandos started digging up grave thought to be of famous IDF pilot, leading to gunfight followed by airstrikes

Defence minister urges serious politics' after Tory leader criticises prime minister's stance at spring conference

Call for urgent meeting comes after woman was assaulted by man who had been given her key card by hotel staffMore than 20 MPs have demanded an urgent meeting with the CEO of Travelodge after a woman was sexually assaulted by a man who had been given her room number and a key card by hotel staff.The MPs said the case of Kyran Smith, 29, who was jailed for seven-and-a-half years last month, raised deeply concerning" questions. He attacked the woman after a party in December 2022. Continue reading...

Hampshire business seems to have benefited from phoenixism', which costs the taxpayer about 800m a yearA UK recruitment business has been acquired out of administration for a third time in four years as part of a succession of deals that left some of the former management team in place and millions of pounds owed to the public purse.The chain of insolvencies appears to contain more examples of phoenixism - a process when companies are liquidated and directors are able to rise from the ashes with a new entity, free of debts. Continue reading...

Presenter who entertained children with his sharp-witted, furry puppet Agro Vation, remembered for his brash and unapologetic humour

Charities warn estates of victims who died before the scheme began are losing hundreds of thousands in financial loss paymentsFamilies of victims of the infected blood scandal have criticised the government for imposing a penalty for dying" in its compensation scheme, which has seen them lose out on hundreds of thousands of pounds.The scheme awards payouts to living victims and the families of those who have died after being infected with HIV or hepatitis as a result of being given contaminated blood products by the NHS. Continue reading...

School caretaker who killed 10-year-olds Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002 was reportedly assaulted with metal bar

Billy Bragg, Sarah Lucas and Kojo Koram among those encouraging people to share cultural artefactsFor some people it's a Morris Minor, for others, a beach windbreak, chicken tikka masala or Magna Carta.A new campaign is aiming to collect 50 objects that sum up Englishness in an effort to move the conversation away from reductive arguments over whether to hang a St George's flag or not. Continue reading...

In reality, US president's opposition to foreign entanglements had only ever been partial

Nusaybah Sattar and five relatives were kept off evacuation flight despite holding tickets and UK passports

Omission of presidents of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia, however, exposes failure of US president's theatrical' doctrine, say expertsDonald Trump will welcome the leaders of at least 10 Latin American countries to a palm-dotted golf resort in Miami on Saturday as the president continues his quest to transform the US's standing in the region and outmuscle China.Since returning to power last year, Trump has launched a dramatic - and at times deadly - crusade to, as the Pentagon chief, Pete Hegseth, put it, reclaim our back yard". Continue reading...

Andrew Hastie, Basil Zempilas and Warren Mundine were among the guests at the conservative convention, which focused on immigration and housing

Bank criticised for tone of spending summaries, with one user complaining to ombudsman over humiliating' use of dataWhen does lighthearted banter become inappropriate and humiliating?The digital bank Monzo has been accused of overstepping the mark by using the data it holds to tell one customer with a past eating disorder that she eats a lot of fast food, spends more than most" on Just Eat takeaways, and had banished her life goals thanks to her spending choices. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. Our live coverage of the Middle East crisis continues here

Washington says new measures not aimed at easing restrictions on Moscow and only affect supplies already in transitThe US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, said on Friday that his government was considering lifting sanctions on more Russian oil, a day after it temporarily authorised India to buy from Moscow as global oil prices surged.The US-Israel war on Iran and Tehran's retaliatory attacks across the Gulf region have upended the world's energy and transport sectors, virtually halting activity in the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's deplorable' alleged actions warrant his removal from the royal line of succession, Carney saysThe Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, has said Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should be removed from the royal line of succession for alleged actions he described as deplorable".Speaking to reporters in Tokyo, Carney said the actions that have caused the former prince to be stripped of his royal titles necessitate" his removal from the line of succession. Continue reading...

Thousands in Chicago honored civil rights champion' who stepped forward again and again', Obama saidAt the longtime civil rights activist's memorial celebration on Friday, the Rev Jesse Jackson was remembered as a champion" for the poor and the dispossessed" - as well as one of the most effective community and political organizers of our time".Such tributes came from past Democratic US presidents Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Joe Biden, along with former vice-president Kamala Harris, who received cheers and applause while they joined thousands of others in a Chicago church for a celebration of life for Jackson. Continue reading...

Jenny Ware says party is at crisis point' and cannot be competitive at election time unless it selects candidates who better reflect the makeup of Australia

Gillian Morand, 36, died in Bexley, south-east London in 2020 after which allegations against her husband emergedA man has been charged with manslaughter over the death of a woman in 2020, in a rare prosecution of alleged domestic abuse linked to suicide, police have said.Gillian Morand, 36, died in Bexley, south-east London, and an inquest concluded she had taken her own life. Continue reading...

US president again calls on Iranian people to overthrow government or face absolutely guaranteed death'

Foreign minister wants conversation' about closing UK military sites following British government not warning of impending attack on RAF Akrotiri

James Robinson, husband of Gloria De Piero, says police visited their home with a warrant but he has not been detained or questionedThe husband of former Labour MP Gloria De Piero has confirmed his home was searched on Wednesday as part of a police investigation into an alleged Chinese spying ring.James Robinson, a former aide to the ex-Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, issued a statement confirming the raid on the home he shares with his wife, but said he had not been detained or questioned by police. Continue reading...

Styles will perform new album in full at Co-op Live arena show, with tickets being traded for well above 20 face valueMore than 20,000 fans from all over the world flocked towards the Co-op Live arena in Manchester on Friday to watch Harry Styles perform his first concert in two and a half years - some waiting 48 hours for a place down the front.Styles will perform his new album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally in full, after its release earlier today. Anticipation for the show had been high since tickets went on sale for 20 in early February, which, barring a performance of the album's lead single Aperture at the Brit awards - which took place at the same arena a week earlier - will be Styles' first time on stage since closing out a tour in Italy in July 2023. It has been marketed as a homecoming show for the pop star, who was raised outside the city in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire. Continue reading...

Exclusive: senior party figures share data suggesting Green surge could leave Labour fourth place in capital in MaySenior Labour politicians across London have warned the government not to take progressive voters for granted, with concerns the party faces a political earthquake" in the capital in May after a surge in support for the Greens.They have been privately circulating new data that suggests Labour could drop from first to fourth place in London in the May elections - losing control of all but two of their councils - with the Greens soaring into first place to take nine. Continue reading...

Senator Richard Blumenthal alleges the ousted DHS secretary lied to Congress about the agency's contracts

Lord Chadlington introduced government to supplier in which he had financial interest in 2020The Conservative peer Peter Gummer has said he will leave the House of Lords after an investigation found he committed five breaches of standards over Covid PPE deals and failing to cooperate with previous inquiries.The Lords standards commissioner, Martin Jelley, also found that Gummer, whose peerage title is Lord Chadlington, did not act on his personal honour" by failing to cooperate with the previous investigations, which cleared him. Continue reading...