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Decision affecting millions born in early 1970s unlikely to come before general election next autumn

Prosecutors seek compensation for workers on a cattle ranch owned by the German carmaker between 1973 and 1987Brazil is threatening to take the German carmaker Volkswagen to court over allegations that it used slave labour on a vast ranch in the Amazon, after talks on compensating workers ended without agreement.Public prosecutors in Brazil are seeking compensation for men who they say were forced to work in “humiliating and degrading” conditions, with no clean water or sanitation, on the Fazenda Vale do Rio Cristalino cattle ranch, which was owned by the company in the northern Pará state, between 1973 and 1987. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Auditors have warned debt-burdened firm relies heavily on guarantees provided by ownersA Russian-owned British auction house that has been the target of calls for a boycott has lost tens of millions of pounds in recent years and has been left in a parlous financial position, new records show.Phillips is heavily reliant on guarantees provided by the two founders of a Russian luxury retail group and has seen its debts mount up. Continue reading...

Report calls for 32-hour working week pilot across health service without any reductions in payMoving towards a four-day working week across the NHS could help tackle burnout and stem the exodus of exhausted health workers, campaigners argue in a new report.The 4 Day Week Campaign, which recently oversaw a successful pilot involving more than 60 companies, is now urging public sector employers to experiment with a shorter working week. Continue reading...

Union says educators are in ‘minefield’ after thinktank says some schools don’t tell parents when child first questions identityTeaching leaders have called on ministers to provide guidance on how to support students who identify as transgender, saying they are “caught in the crossfire” between strongly held views.A thinktank said safeguarding principles were being “routinely disregarded in many secondary schools” when it came to gender identity, with some parents not told when their child first questioned their identity.In the UK, the youth suicide charity Papyrus can be contacted on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org, and in the UK and Ireland Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is at 988 or chat for support. You can also text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis text line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

Parole board in South Africa to decide if Paralympian who murdered his girlfriend can leave jailOscar Pistorius, the South African Paralympian convicted of murder, could leave prison within weeks if a parole board decides on Friday to release him halfway through a 13-year sentence for killing his girlfriend.The parole hearing will take place in a prison in the administrative capital of Pretoria and the decision is likely to be the final chapter in a harrowing story that attracted worldwide attention. Continue reading...

Preventive detention regime is disproportionate to the threat of terrorism and makes us a ‘harsher society’, report says

Foreign minister warns of ‘limits to what diplomacy can achieve’ in efforts to bring Assange home

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Independent Alex Greenwich does ‘not intend to engage’ with One Nation MP’s comment aimed at him, but others spring to his defence

‘I felt like I was being told, “This is not your special day”,’ says 18-year-old of graduation ceremonyStrict rules on hairstyles at schools in Japan have attracted criticism after a mixed-race teenager was separated from other students at their graduation ceremony because he had plaited his hair into cornrows to pay tribute to his Black heritage.The male student with cornrows, who has not been named, was made to sit alone at the back of the hall during a graduation ceremony at his school in Himeji, western Japan, and told not to stand and respond when his name was called out. Continue reading...

Mark Dreyfus gives clearest details yet of how voice to parliament will work as words to alter constitution presented

Aviation giants look to agricultural waste in bid to cut emissions but experts say it is no panacea

Man mistakenly seen wielding ‘firearm’ in Rouse Hill before police discovered a water pipe allegedly in the shape of an assault rifle

Exclusive: group says military is compromising children’s right to education with its campaign against militantsEgyptian forces have taken over 37 schools and transformed them into military bases while dozens more have been destroyed during a 10-year war with militants in Sinai, a rights group has found in an initial assessment.In a months-long investigation shared with the Guardian before its official release, the UK-based Sinai Foundation for Human Rights (SFHR) accused the Egyptian armed forces of compromising the right to education of children during its campaign against militants in north Sinai. Continue reading...

Shamsuzzaman Shams was taken from his home at 4am and accused of spreading ‘false news’ over article about cost of living crisisBangladesh police on Wednesday charged a reporter from a leading newspaper with producing “false news”, stoking fears about media freedom, after an article about high food prices went viral.Shamsuzzaman Shams was picked up from his home in the industrial town of Savar just outside Dhaka at about 4am by plainclothes police, according to his newspaper, Prothom Alo. Continue reading...

Billionaire claims commonwealth liable for WA law, which prevented him seeking compensation for rejected mining project

Avengers star was left in a critical condition after his snowplough crushed him, but says ‘I’d do it again’ to save his nephewJeremy Renner is set to give his first interview since he was critically injured in a snowplough accident in January, telling journalist Diane Sawyer he was “awake through every moment” when the seven-tonne machine crushed him.Jeremy Renner: The Diane Sawyer Interview – A Story of Terror, Survival and Triumph, will air in the US on ABC News on 6 April, ahead of the premiere of Renner’s new Disney+ series Rennervations. Continue reading...

Court rules whistleblowing laws do not protect acts committed while gathering evidence before speaking out as that would sanction ‘vigilante justice’

The Studio Ghibli adaptation, which is up for nine Olivier awards this weekend, will open in NovemberThe Barbican in London is to bring back the furry woodland spirits, mischievous soot sprites and grinning catbus of its smash hit My Neighbour Totoro. The adaptation of the much-loved Studio Ghibli animated film will return later this year after it broke records in 2022.The production, which received five-star reviews and is nominated in nine categories at the Olivier awards this weekend, will open on 21 November and run until 23 March. Continue reading...

Proposal for charge to stay overnight in commercially let accommodation will be put to SeneddThe Welsh government is to press ahead with plans for a visitor levy on tourists who stay in the country overnight.Legislation allowing local authorities to introduce a levy will be put to the Senedd, the Welsh parliament, within this government’s term. Some tourism organisations have criticised the plan, calling it a misguided “bed tax” that risks discouraging people from visiting. Continue reading...

Rebels say crossings should be stopped by end of 2023 while ministers are unhappy about camps in their constituenciesThe government has pledged to move asylum seekers into disused military bases with the minimum living conditions allowed under international law, but has come under pressure from ministers whose constituencies would host the camps.Rebel Conservative backbenchers warned that they expected Rishi Sunak’s pledge to stop small boat crossings to be fulfilled by the end of the year, a timetable rejected by Downing Street and one that could potentially lead to an internal split. Continue reading...

Former lawyer Emma Walters to face court next week after allegedly trying to acquire a firearm, police say

This Morning presenter provides written statement to trial of Timothy Schofield, 54, at Exeter crown courtPhillip Schofield’s brother told the This Morning host that he had watched pornography and taken part in sexual acts with a teenage boy, a court has heard.Timothy Schofield, 54, phoned the presenter “in an agitated and upset state” before admitting what he had done with the boy, Exeter crown court heard on Wednesday. Continue reading...

UN refugee agency representative warns that legislation could have ‘domino effect’ on other countries

Avon and Somerset police refer themselves to IOPC after fatal assault on 86-year-old in SomersetA man is being held in a secure mental health unit after an 86-year-old woman died in an attack at her cottage in a Somerset village.Avon and Somerset police have referred themselves to the police watchdog with regards to the action they took after a missing person report hours before the fatal assault. Continue reading...

MP Julian Knight, who has always denied any wrongdoing, says he is facing a ‘witch-hunt’, and that whips’ office ‘acted disgracefully’MP Julian Knight said he is facing a “witch-hunt” after his call for restoration of the Tory whip was rejected over “further complaints” made against him.The Conservative party said on Wednesday that it would not restore the whip to Knight after police dropped an investigation into an allegation of serious sexual assault against him. Continue reading...

Associated Newspapers lawyers argue key witness’s ‘retraction’ reason to dismiss phone hacking allegationsPrince Harry’s case against the owner of the Daily Mail depends on an alleged confession from an unreliable private investigator who has recanted his evidence, according to the publisher’s lawyers.The royal alleges that Associated Newspapers, the parent company of the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, made widespread use of illegal information-gathering tactics including phone hacking, landline interception and the blagging of personal information. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our Russia-Ukraine war coverage hereGlobal commodities trader Cargill has told Russia’s agriculture ministry that it will stop exporting Russian grain from the start of the next exporting season, which begins on 1 July, the ministry said on Wednesday.“The cessation of its export activities on the Russian market will not affect the volume of domestic grain shipments abroad. The company’s grain export assets will continue to operate regardless of who manages them,” the agriculture ministry said in a comment to Reuters. Continue reading...

David Redfern dragged Margaret Barnes downstairs by her ankles and kicked and stamped on her last JulyA man with anger issues has been found guilty of the murder of a confused 71-year-old woman who mistook his Welsh seaside home for a B&B and got into his bed.When David Redfern, 46, found Margaret Barnes in his room in July last year, he dragged her downstairs by her ankles and kicked and stamped on her, Caernarfon crown court heard. Continue reading...

City is cleaner, though not yet entirely clean, after three-week strike ends but union threatens more actionThe smell of spring is in the air in Paris. It makes a change from the stench of overflowing bins that had hung over the French capital for the last three weeks after refuse collectors went on strike and up to 10,000 metric tonnes of festering rubbish piled up on the streets.Hours after the CGT trade union announced it was suspending the industrial action and lifting a blockade of incinerators serving the city, much of the rubbish had gone. Continue reading...

Placing work near city’s cathedral a ‘mockery of Christianity’, say objectors – but artist says its message is ‘love and hope’A row has erupted in the cathedral city of Wakefield over a “disrespectful” Amazonian love god statue due to be installed as part of the city’s £1m art trail.The artist Jason Wilsher-Mills has been forced to defend his 1.9 metre (6ft 2in) bronze work after people said it was a “mockery of Christianity” being placed so close to Wakefield Cathedral, outside the entrance of the Ridings shopping centre. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more on this story hereEagle how the pay settlement for health workers will be funded.Hunt says, as with all pay settlements, departments fund them from the money they get in the spending review. But in exceptional circumstances they can speak to the Treasury about extra help.But we make a commitment that there will not be a degredation of frontline services for the public. Continue reading...

Scheduling makes Wales hearing look like ‘poorer relative’, say unions, while NI families say at least six weeks is needed

New first minister announces appointments as he seeks to move past divisive leadership contestScotland’s new first minister, Humza Yousaf, has revealed a majority-female cabinet, with half its members under the age of 40, as his attempts to unite the party stalled after a divisive leadership contest.Kate Forbes, whom Yousaf narrowly beat to secure the SNP leadership on Monday, confirmed on Tuesday evening she would be leaving the Scottish government rather than accept a cabinet demotion. Continue reading...

Protesters call for justice as blaze at detention facility in Ciudad Juárez highlights tough US immigration policiesA loud voice cut through the thick quiet of the night: “¡Justicia! ¡Justicia! ¡Justicia!” Frark Martín Pérez Pérez, 32, chanted angrily, and hundreds followed.Justice is what the crowd of about 400 migrants from Latin America gathered to protest about on Tuesday outside the migrant processing centre in Ciudad Juárez, a Mexican city on the US border, where at least 40 were killed in a fire on Monday night. Continue reading...

Planned visit to St Nikolai memorial in Hamburg contrasts with approach taken by his motherKing Charles will this week become the first British monarch to lay a wreath to the German victims of allied air raids in the second world war.The move is a departure from his mother’s handling of the historically sensitive subject on previous royal visits to the country. Continue reading...

Minister sets out plans to use old army bases and possibly ships to save money and dissuade people from coming to UK

Prime minister’s failure to raise wife’s childcare agency when questioned by MPs raises concern

Senior family judge hears charity’s urgent bid to have ‘world’s most vulnerable children’ declared wards of courtLawyers for the home secretary have disclosed to a family court that 66 unaccompanied asylum-seeking children remain missing from just one local authority – Brighton and Hove – after disappearing from a hotel.The number was revealed at an urgent hearing to address the fact that no agency has parental responsibility for the missing youngsters. Continue reading...

Exclusive: extensive consultations since idea was proposed 18 months ago have found it would not be commercially viablePlans to boost domestic tourism by introducing a rail pass for British staycationers have been axed, the Guardian can reveal.The idea was initially heralded by the government as a way to help struggling businesses get back on their feet as the final Covid restrictions were being lifted in the summer of 2021, but extensive consultations since have found it would not be commercially viable. Continue reading...

Council of Europe’s experts say bill is ‘step backwards’ in fight against modern slaveryEurope’s human rights watchdog has warned the UK government that its plans to curb the rights of trafficking victims in its illegal migration bill is a “significant step backwards” in the fight against human trafficking and modern slavery and demonstrates a lack of compliance with international law.In a highly unusual move, the Council of Europe’s group of experts on action against trafficking in human beings (Greta) have on Wednesday expressed deep concern about the bill and its lack of compliance with core elements of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings. Continue reading...

Allegations of attempted meddling by China put uncomfortable spotlight on publicity-shy CSISMost Canadians have no idea where the country’s spy agency is located, nor do they know much about its daily operations. This is not because the Canadian Security Intelligence Service operates in a particularly clandestine fashion, it’s because most Canadians don’t care.The CSIS, a civilian-run organisation based in a triangular structure of concrete and glass on the outskirts of Ottawa, lacks the intrigue of Britain’s MI5 and the notoriety of America’s Central Intelligence Agency. Continue reading...

John Nicolson’s tweets were assessed by parliament’s grievance scheme in six-month investigationA Scottish National party (SNP) MP has been cleared of bullying the former cabinet minister Nadine Dorries after a six-month investigation.John Nicolson, the SNP’s culture secretary, is understood to have been cleared after parliament’s Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) assessed a series of tweets he made about Dorries while she was culture secretary in Boris Johnson’s cabinet. Continue reading...

Pair appeared at PMQs while Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer attended funeral of Betty Boothroyd

Exclusive: Files reveal €117m in loans for Vitesse Arnhem originated with then owner of Chelsea, despite repeated denialsRoman Abramovich secretly funded the takeover of a Dutch top division football club and bankrolled it for years during the period that he also owned Chelsea, leaked documents appear to show.Two investigations by the Netherlands football association were unable to uncover any financial ties between Abramovich and the club, Vitesse Arnhem, and concluded that the Russian oligarch had no managerial influence on Vitesse. Both Vitesse under its then owners, and Chelsea under Abramovich, repeatedly denied the oligarch was involved in funding the Dutch club. Continue reading...

Bank wants to avoid repeat of situation that followed Kwasi Kwarteng’s calamitous mini-budget

Sergio Ermotti, who stepped down in 2020, will rejoin Swiss bank as it prepares to absorb troubled rivalThe Swiss bank UBS has announced the surprise return of Sergio Ermotti to oversee the takeover of its rival Credit Suisse, amid global concerns over the stability of the banking industry.Ermotti served as chief executive from 2011 until 2020, overseeing UBS’s recovery from the global financial crisis. He will take over again on 5 April, when his main task will be to implement the complex merger with Credit Suisse, which was forced through by Swiss financial regulators in an attempt to prevent a chaotic collapse. Continue reading...

Host of Blind Date and Blankety Blank described as someone who stuck up for the underdog – particularly if they were canine

Deputy prime minister confirms barge accommodation an option, as Jenrick announcement expected