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Lawyers for Osama al-Hasani have ‘credible concerns’ he was targeted for his political views but his wife says she is ‘still hoping for a miracle’The wife of an Australian citizen who is to be extradited to Saudi Arabia says she “hopes a miracle will happen” after a Moroccan court approved his transfer.International lawyers acting for Osama al-Hasani, 42, have asked United Nations special rapporteurs to raise his case with Moroccan authorities, citing “credible concerns” that he was being targeted by the Saudi Arabian government for his political opinions. Continue reading...

Much has changed along the hundreds of miles of devastated coastline and the recovery is gathering pace

Social Mobility Commission says results show need for urgent action to stop gap growing even widerOver half of the public believes the coronavirus outbreak has driven greater social inequality in the UK over the past few months, according to a study by the government’s independent advisers.The Social Mobility Commission said its annual survey of public attitudes revealed 56% of adults believed social inequality had increased during the pandemic. A quarter said Covid had made no difference to inequality and 16% were unsure. Continue reading...

Turkish cases rise after curbs eased; France cases above 30,000 for first time in fortnight; nothing to suggest vaccination behind deaths in Austria, EMA says

Victor Obiols told he had wrong ‘profile’, the second case after Dutch writer resigned from same roleThe Catalan translator for the poem that American writer Amanda Gorman read at US president Joe Biden’s inauguration has said he has been removed from the job because he had the wrong “profile”.It was the second such case in Europe after Dutch writer Marieke Lucas Rijneveld resigned from the job of translating Gorman’s work following criticism that a black writer was not chosen. Continue reading...

John Magufuli, who has repeatedly dismissed coronavirus threat, is critically ill, says Tundu Lissu

Man arrested on suspicion of murder as part of investigation into 33-year-old’s disappearanceThe statement by police investigating Sarah Everard’s disappearance that a suspect has been arrested on suspicion of murder will come as a huge blow to friends and family who had hoped she would return home safely.Those close to the 33-year-old who went missing last Wednesday have been working relentlessly since she vanished to publicise her case, desperately calling for anyone with evidence to come forward. Continue reading...

Protests sparked by video clips of police officer beating man with iron baton for breaking Covid restrictions

Addressing the nation, Brazil’s former president left no doubt that his political fightback had begunBrazil’s former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has excoriated Jair Bolsonaro’s “moronic” and bungling response to the coronavirus pandemic, in a stirring and potentially historic address widely seen as the start of a bid to wrestle the presidency back from his far-right nemesis.The veteran leftist, who led Latin America’s top economy through some of the brightest years in its modern history, was catapulted back on to the frontline of Brazilian politics on Monday by the surprise decision to quash the corruption convictions that scuppered his bid to reclaim the presidency in 2018. On Tuesday a supreme court judge branded the anti-corruption operation that forced Lula from that year’s election “the greatest judicial scandal” in Brazilian history. Continue reading...

Boris Johnson tells Hassan Rouhani the British-Iranian dual national must be allowed home immediatelyBoris Johnson has told Iran’s president, Hassan Rouhani, in a phone call that the British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe must be allowed to return home to be with her family.“The prime minister raised the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other British-Iranian dual nationals detained in Iran and demanded their immediate release,” a statement from Johnson’s office said on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Move follows almost a decade of division, with no stable government since fall of Gaddafi in 2011Libya’s parliament has brushed aside allegations of corruption to endorse a new, unified government in which a woman was appointed as foreign minister for the first time.Libya has been unable to form a stable unified government since the fall of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, with divisions between the east and west of the country leading to fighting and institutionalised division. Continue reading...

Stuttering affects one in 20 children, yet is still stigmatized, something the documentary My Beautiful Stutter hopes to correctOne of the most moving scenes in My Beautiful Stutter, a documentary now streaming on Discovery+, involves just a microphone and an open stage. Many of the attendees at Camp Say in Hendersonville, North Carolina, a getaway for youth who stutter hosted by the New York-based organization the Stuttering Association for the Young, grew up feeling broken or confused, ostracized by a neurological disorder that tangles the flow of fluent speech. Some campers recite poetry, others get through just their name before breaking into tears, all afforded the space to speak rarely given in the non-stuttering world (what can take a non-stutterer a minute to read or say could take a person who stutters 10 times as long). Tears abound; the scene hums with the bottomless human desire, felt most acutely as a teenager, to be seen, heard, loved, accepted.Related: 'They become dangerous tools': the dark side of personality tests Continue reading...

Police searching property in Deal, Kent, after arrest of Met officer in his 40s over disappearanceThe police officer detained in connection with the disappearance of Sarah Everard has been arrested on suspicion of her murder.The officer was first arrested on Tuesday evening at an address in Kent on suspicion of kidnapping Everard. He serves in a unit guarding diplomatic premises. Continue reading...

Government must ‘justify the cost and ensure it represents value for money’, Kristina Keneally says of invitation dinner for 900The Department of Defence is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on events to celebrate the centenary of the air force – including an invitation-only dinner for 900 guests.Labor has raised questions about the price tag for the centenary dinner, calling on the government to “justify the cost and ensure it represents value for money”. Continue reading...

Demonstrators in North Okkalapa flee under fire, and junta units raid striking rail workers’ districtPolice in Myanmar have surrounded and arrested at least 200 students and civilians protesting against the military coup on the outskirts of Yangon, according to eyewitnesses, who said those detained were driven away in unmarked trucks.Video footage from North Okkalapa showed protesters fleeing under fire. At least one person was seriously wounded and was carried off. Continue reading...

High commissioner called in after India said debate represented ‘gross interference’ in its internal affairs

Jab has already been ordered or used in some EU countries, and Italy could start producing vaccine in July

Raymund Ribay Gutierrez’s taut drama shows a Filipino legal system more concerned with expediency than justice as a woman takes her violent husband to courtJustice is not delayed but could still be denied in this arresting Filipino movie, which tracks a case of domestic abuse with such conviction, it is often easy to forget it’s staged drama rather than documentary. The first half-hour is especially frantic and immersive as it begins with the assault in question. Hard-up Manila mother Joy (Max Eigenmann) is preparing supper for her young daughter, Angel, in their cramped, cluttered little apartment. Her husband Dante (Kristoffer King) returns home drunk. A violent argument quickly erupts, in which Joy is brutally beaten and Dante slashed on the arm with a knife. As the police and women’s protection services intervene, we’re pitched almost in real time through the Manila night: down streets, through homes, into and out of vehicles, through police stations and to a clinic, swept along by agile, up-close, handheld camerawork. Adding to the trauma, Joy and Dante are dealt with practically side by side throughout. Continue reading...

Good Morning Britain presenter says she disagreed with ex-host on many things, including his remarks on Duchess of SussexSusanna Reid has told viewers of the first edition of Good Morning Britain after the departure of Piers Morgan that they “disagreed on many things”, including his remarks on the Duchess of Sussex, and described him as an “outspoken, challenging, opinionated, disruptive broadcaster”.Reid said that Morgan, who is understood to have left after a clash with ITV executives because he refused to apologise for casting doubt on the veracity of Meghan’s comments about her thoughts of suicide, had “decided to leave the programme”. Continue reading...

The final port of call has become the courthouse as passengers accuse the cruise company of negligently sending them out to seaThe final stop on the Grand Princess Hawaii Cruise has turned out to be a federal courtroom in Los Angeles.The tropical island cruise that departed San Francisco in February 2020 became one of the United States’ first Covid-19 hotspots with a coronavirus outbreak aboard that forced 3,000 vacationers into a weeks-long quarantine and was eventually connected to at least 122 cases and 6 deaths. Continue reading...

Bloc agrees on need for action after Britain unilaterally extends grace period for checks on goods

The socialist-led country has little sex education, acute shortages of contraceptives and one of Latin America’s most restrictive lawsSofía was 20 years old and coming out of an emotionally abusive relationship when she found out she was pregnant.Her ex-boyfriend called her a “slut” for having conceived and claimed that he was not the father. Appealing to Sofía’s conservative family for help was not an option, since they had long warned that they would disown her if she ever got pregnant. Continue reading...

Convicted of killing a woman while drink-driving, Locane served her time and spent the next five years as a model citizen, facing up to her crime and trying to stop others from following in her footsteps. Then she was locked up again for the same offence …

Performing on the tips of the toes is part of the mystique of a female ballerina but male dancers devoted to the pointe technique want to be taken more seriously“I was always attracted to pointe shoes. They were like magic! I wondered: Why can only girls use them?” Iván Félix is a 24-year-old ballet dancer from Mexico who has been dancing en pointe for three years. “I think that many people look down on the men who dance in pointe shoes because they think it is very easy, or we do it because we cannot dance as a man in a traditional way,” adds Félix who dances for Les Ballets Eloelle in New York, a company in which all the roles – often comic – are played by men.Since the art of pointe work was popularised in 1823 by Amalia Brugnoli, the form has become part of the mystique of the female ballerina, while men use floorwork and execute incredible jumps and athletic movements. When male dancers have performed en pointe in the past, it has traditionally been for comedic effect, not to showcase skill. For example, men who portray Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream have to pair a giant donkey’s head with hoof-like movements in pointe shoes. Now, male ballet dancers en pointe want to be taken more seriously. Continue reading...

Two professors have sought an inquiry into whether the attorney general is a ‘fit and proper person’ to remain on the roll of legal practitionersThe Legal Practice Board of Western Australia has poured cold water on a bid by two legal ethics academics to start an investigation into the attorney general, Christian Porter.In an interview with Guardian Australia, the executive director of the board, Libby Fulham, questioned whether the academics had standing to bring a complaint or any “substantive evidence” of the allegation that Porter sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl in January 1988 when he was 17. Continue reading...

Audit office reveals Paul Fletcher’s apparent endorsement of acquisition later found to be $27m above land’s fair valueThe federal infrastructure minister, Paul Fletcher, told officials from his department that their decision to buy a parcel of land adjacent to the western Sydney airport – a controversial acquisition later eviscerated by the commonwealth auditor general – seemed “perfectly sensible to me”.Fletcher’s apparent endorsement of the purchase was revealed by staff from the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) at a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Holly Lynch calls for end to hounding of women in public life after letter praised by Harry

Analysis: being ‘ghosted’ by Meghan may be behind the harsh words that cost the presenter his Good Morning Britain job

Mio Sugita earns notoriety for accusations that women lie about sexual violence and LGBT community are ‘unproductive’Of all the candidates for Japan’s most sexist comment of the year, there seemed to be only one possible winner – Yoshiro Mori, the former head of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic organising committee, who was forced to resign last month after complaining that women “talked too much” during meetings.But even Mori was unable to compete with Mio Sugita, a conservative politician with a history of insulting women and members of the LGBT community. Continue reading...

Concealing candidates’ surnames in the ultra-competitive civil service exam would help to overcome caste prejudice, report urgesThe exam is considered to be the country’s toughest – about a million people sit it every year vying for only a thousand or so vacancies in India’s hallowed civil service. Now a report suggests that it would be much fairer if all the candidates’ surnames were kept secret throughout the application process, as about 90% of Indian surnames reveal a person’s caste.Candidates’ names are currently concealed, along with their religion, when they sit the written tests. But after the exam, the names of those who qualify for the final interview stage are used. And this, according to the report, scuppers the chances of Dalits, the lowest Hindu caste once called “untouchables”, because of the innate bias of interviewers. Continue reading...

Spending watchdog challenges ministers to justify the ‘staggering investment of taxpayers’ money’

Asia Pacific commander Philip Davidson says Beijing wants to take Washington’s world leadership role by 2050China could invade Taiwan within the next six years as Beijing accelerates its moves to supplant American military power in Asia, a top US commander has warned.Democratic and self-ruled Taiwan lives under constant threat of invasion by China, whose leaders view the island as part of their territory and which they have vowed to one day take back. Continue reading...

Some papers focus on the mild challenge to the Sussexes in palace statement, while others look at the privacy line, or claim support to strip couple of titlesThe newspaper front pages have feasted on the royal crisis for a second day with several splashes focusing on the Queen’s “recollections may vary” reaction to the Duke and Duchess of Sussexes’ suggestions of palace racism.The Telegraph goes with “Issue of race concerning, but recollections may vary, says Queen”, while the Times splash handles the crisis carefully, with a headline reading: “Queen says racism claim will be handled in private”. Continue reading...

Bajrang Dal hardliners in Madhya Pradesh threaten violence over plays ‘disrespectful to the Indian flag’Rightwing Hindu vigilante groups in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh have forced the cancellation of an annual theatre festival, after threatening violence over satirical plays they accused of being “anti-national”.The annual theatre festival organised by the Indian People’s Theatre Association in the small town of Chhatarpur became the object of abuse and violent threats by Bajrang Dal, a hardline Hindu group linked with the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party (BJP). Continue reading...

Caroline Wilson incurs wrath of Beijing for WeChat post described as full of ‘lecturer arrogance and ideological prejudice’Britain’s ambassador to China has been summoned for a dressing down by the authorities in Beijing over an “inappropriate” article she wrote defending recent international media coverage on the country, the foreign ministry said.Caroline Wilson’s article in Chinese was posted on the official WeChat account of the British embassy in Beijing last week, amid already tense relations between Britain and China over issues including Hong Kong, Xinjiang and the media. Continue reading...

China criticises ‘selective multilateralism’ as US, Australia, India and Japan discuss climate, the pandemic, security and tradeJoe Biden’s forthcoming meeting with the leaders of Australia, Japan and India signals Canberra doesn’t “stand alone” at a time of intense pressure from China, experts say.But while regional challenges are expected to be top of the agenda for the first leaders’ summit of the “Quad” countries later this week, the White House has also indicated the climate crisis will be part of the talks – reflecting the US president’s desire to ensure all countries lift their level of ambition. Continue reading...

MGM has replaced its roaring lion with a CGI double. The film studio has used a lion to introduce its films since it was founded in 1924, using five different animals before long-serving’Leo the Lion’ made his debut in 1957. The move to CGI comes after increases in video resolution and quality mark a significant change in quality since Leo was immortalised on celluloid 64 years ago. The new logo was set to be revealed with the latest James Bond film, but multiple delays to its release mean Leo’s digital doppelgänger will now be seen with upcoming films Dog and Respect Continue reading...

Foreign secretary accuses Brussels of falsely accusing UK of not sending vaccines abroad

Wednesday: Palace says issues of race raised by Harry and Meghan are ‘concerning’. Plus: study finds one in four women assaulted by male partnerGood morning! We’ve got a bit of everything today on Wednesday 10 March– an attempted spy recruitment, the government ignoring the disability royal commission, the Queen’s comments on the Meghan and Harry interview, and a “biting incident” at the White House.Buckingham Palace has broken its silence on explosive claims by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. A palace statement on behalf of the Queen said: “The whole family is saddened to learn the full extent of how challenging the last few years have been for Harry and Meghan. The issues raised, particularly that of race, are concerning.” Read the full statement here. Meghan Markle’s estranged father has also spoken out, saying he will continue speaking to the media until his daughter talks to him. The tell-all interview with Oprah hasn’t just rocked Buckingham Palace, it has also reignited talk of Australian independence. The former PM Malcom Turnbull has chimed in saying an Australian should be Australia’s head of state. The interview’s controversy in the UK media has led to more than 40,000 complaints against comments made by Good Morning Britain host Piers Morgan, who is stepping down from the show after storming off. Continue reading...

Legal challenge brought by Fair Play For Women group prompts change before census day on 21 MarchGuidance on the sex question in the UK census must be changed before the official day to complete it on 21 March, a high court judge has ruled.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) had issued new advice on how to answer the question “What is your sex?” on the survey this year, which read: “If you are considering how to answer, use the sex recorded on one of your legal documents such as a birth certificate, gender recognition certificate, or passport.” Continue reading...

Human rights groups indicate they will seek to take case to supreme court after appeal court judgment

First official snapshot comes after collapse of export volumes in first month of Brexit deal

Exclusive: union, health and aid groups plead with the Morrison government to support a WTO proposal to suspend vaccine patents during the pandemicInternational aid groups, health organisations and unions are pleading with the Morrison government to support a World Trade Organization proposal designed to allow developing countries to make and sell cheap copies of patented vaccines, to achieve a quicker end to the global pandemic.The WTO proposal would suspend Covid vaccine patents for successful jab formulas invented by pharmaceutical giants for the duration of the pandemic so poorer countries could acquire more affordable doses faster. Continue reading...

From alkaline waters to beauty elixirs, added oxygen and probiotics, many brands claim they have ‘enhanced’ water – but what do the experts think?Today, when I woke up, I made myself a cup of warm lemon water. After lunch I dropped a Berocca into a glass to power me through the afternoon haze. Running errands I considered treating myself to a Coke but opted instead for an expensive, vegetable-tasting water.H2O classic may be a prerequisite to all known forms of life, but countless brands insist they have found ways to “improve” water. From a business standpoint, it’s working. Industry researchers IbisWorld estimate Australia’s “functional beverage” industry is worth $445.6m; and as people become more health conscious, the growth of the sector is outpacing the economy overall. Continue reading...

Research has revealed the Top 10 most popular songs for mothers-to-be – and no, Salt-N-Pepa is not on thereName: Songs to give birth to.Age: Women have been giving birth since for ever, and presumably some have always chosen to do so to music. But this is about some recent research into the songs and artists most commonly listened to during labour. Continue reading...

HBO’s Covid Diaries NYC stitches together five documentary shorts by film-makers between 16-22, covering the dizzying, surreal first days of the pandemicThe middle of March 2021 will bring, for most Americans, a strange, surreal anniversary: the year mark of the horrifying realization – be it through a tweet, a cancellation, a diagnosis of a loved one or a celebrity, a lost job or gig – that the coronavirus was a very real threat that would implode the world as we knew it. For Aracelie Colón, then a 16-year-old high school junior in Manhattan, it was the email announcing a two-week closure from school. For fellow high school junior Shane Fleming, it was the positive diagnosis of a classmate and the closure of the Film Forum, where the movie buff caught a final feature showing on 14 March. For Arlet Guallpa, then 22, it was an ambulance outside her building in Washington Heights, fetching the first of many residents who would succumb to the virus.Related: 'They refused to act': inside a chilling documentary on Trump's bungled Covid-19 response Continue reading...

Thailand’s prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, finished his weekly news conference by spraying alcohol disinfectant on the front row of journalists. He walked away from lectern after evading a question about a possible cabinet reshuffle Continue reading...

Dunn’s mother says Anne Sacoolas must return to the UK to face justice over teenager’s deathA lawyer acting for Anne Sacoolas, the suspect in the death of 19-year-old motorcyclist Harry Dunn, has said her client is willing to undertake community service, make a financial contribution in Dunn’s memory and to meet the parents to help give them some peace.However, the lawyer said in a BBC interview that Sacoolas was not willing to return to the UK, where she is facing charges of death by dangerous driving, an offence that can lead to a jail sentence. Continue reading...

Moldova's recent presidential election ended up being a referendum on one of Europe's most pressing questions. With birth rates in steep decline and much of its remaining population leaving the country, the incumbent president, Igor Dodon, was desperately trying to reinstate faith in the traditional family structure and religious values. His opponent, Maia Sandu, was a 48-year-old unmarried woman with no children. But was the country ready for her? In this episode of Europe's baby bust, Leah Green and Ekaterina Ochagavia joined the campaign trail to find out

With How to Change Everything, the activist has written her first book for young people. She explains how she has been inspired by a new, very young generation of protesters