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Meta says it removed ads for failing to state they were sponsored by an initiative of British American Tobacco Australia

Former US marine’s segregated, maximum security imprisonment is unjustified and causing severe psychological distress, wife says

The former chair of the supermarket chain was a big donor to Blair and Brown but cut off his support under CorbynKeir Starmer’s election war chest has been given an extraordinary boost after one of the biggest New Labour-era donors returned to the party fold with a £2m donation, the Observer can reveal.David Sainsbury, who was consistently one of the largest donors under the last Labour government before withdrawing his support, has now renewed his backing with his first multimillion-pound donation since 2016. Continue reading...

Figure has surged over the past 10 years with pressure growing for officers to be sacked on the spotShocking figures obtained by the Observer show roughly one in 100 police officers in England and Wales faced criminal charges, including for sexual offences, last year alone.An Observerinvestigation has found that the Police Federation, the staff association for police officers, received 1,387 claims for legal support from members facing criminal charges in 2022. Continue reading...

Son of missing Laurel Aldridge has announced on Facebook that his mother’s body has been foundPolice searching for Laurel Aldridge, sister-in-law of actor Mackenzie Crook, have found a body.Aldridge, 62, was reported missing from her home in the village of Walberton, near Arundel in West Sussex, on 14 February and was last seen at Slindon Cricket Club about two and a half miles away. Continue reading...

Comments from French president come after Joe Biden said it was ‘not rational’ for Beijing to be negotiating a peace deal

Vote largely peaceful in Africa’s largest economy but half of polling stations opened late due to technical issuesPolls have shut in Nigeria, after tens of millions cast their votes to decide a tight and unpredictable contest for the presidency and parliament of Africa’s most populous nation and its biggest economy.The opening of more than half of all polling stations was delayed by at least an hour with many others suffering problems with new voting technology, civil society groups said. There was some sporadic violence across the country, including a suspected attack by Islamic extremists and some disruption by hired thugs. Continue reading...

Email blunder sparks inquiry into New Issues Group’s ‘collaboration with Islamophobes’A secretive organisation accused of collaborating with far-right activists has been operating out of the House of Lords for more than a decade, a cache of leaked documents suggests.The organisation, called the New Issues Group (NIG), includes the former Ukip leader Malcolm Pearson and the Tory former deputy speaker of the House of Lords Baroness Cox. Continue reading...

The Story of Flanders, spanning 38,000 years of the region’s history, is funded by the nationalist government and is accused of stretching the truthIt is blockbuster TV, with Romans and Vikings, knights and Neanderthals, trains and the trenches of the first world war – and a hefty dose of political controversy.The Story of Flanders, a 10-part history series airing in Belgium’s northern region until March, has been a cultural landmark. But the apparently lavish funding from the region’s government, run by the separatist New Flemish Alliance (N-VA) party, which seeks to make Flanders independent from Belgium, has led to accusations of propaganda. Continue reading...

Around 2,000 inmates transferred on Friday as part of president’s crime crackdownEl Salvador’s government has moved thousands of suspected gang members to a newly opened “megaprison”, the latest step in a controversial crackdown on crime that has caused the Central American nation’s prison population to soar.“This will be their new home, where they won’t be able to do any more harm to the population,” the president, Nayib Bukele, wrote on Twitter. Continue reading...

Mother of Joanna Brown, who was bludgeoned to death by husband Robert, says she ‘fears for women’The family of a woman murdered by her husband, who is due to walk free later this year, has called on Dominic Raab to review his release.Robert Brown, a British Airways captain, bludgeoned his wife, Joanna, 46, to death with a claw hammer at their family home in Ascot, Berkshire, in October 2010. Continue reading...

Discovery comes after tugboat, believed to have crew of two, capsized while towing cruise shipDivers involved in an underwater search after a tugboat capsized have recovered two bodies.Police Scotland has confirmed the bodies of two men were recovered off Custom House Quay at about 1.40pm on Saturday. Continue reading...

Researchers have found a racial bias by match officials in the country’s top league, but say it could be linked to crowd pressureReferees in Italy’s top football league give more yellow and red cards to Black and darker-skinned players than to their light-skinned teammates, research shows.Officials in Serie A awarded an average of 20% more fouls per season against darker-skinned players from 2009 to 2019, with 11% more yellow cards and 16% more red cards. Continue reading...

Meeting between Charles and Ursula von de Leyen cancelled, reports say, as Varadkar says deal ‘inching towards conclusion’Rishi Sunak is facing criticism after reports that a meeting between King Charles and the president of the European Commission was cancelled days before the announcement of an expected deal on the Northern Ireland protocol.According to reports, there had been plans for an in-person meeting between the king and Ursula von der Leyen, as part of a trip to the UK to seal the deal on the Brexit trading arrangements. Continue reading...

Energy prices, Brexit and climate crisis mean growers lack confidence to plant crops, says NFU deputyShortages of some fresh fruit and vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers could be the “tip of the iceberg”, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has said.Certain products are hard to come by in UK supermarkets due to poor weather reducing the harvest in Europe and north Africa, Brexit rules and lower supplies from UK and Dutch producers hit by the jump in energy bills to heat glasshouses. Continue reading...

Police say man in his 20s died after car carrying three people went through railings into river in Bedminster areaA man in his 20s has died after a car entered a river in Bristol.Avon and Somerset police were called to York Road in the Bedminster area of the city at about 1.30am on Saturday. The force said a vehicle, with three people inside, had gone through railings and into the River Avon. Continue reading...

Conversation with Francis Bacon emerges amid the row over updating controversial language in the children’s author’s booksOne of Roald Dahl’s best-known characters was the Enormous Crocodile, “a horrid greedy grumptious brute” who “wants to eat something juicy and delicious”.Now a conversation the author had 40 years ago has come to light, revealing that he was so appalled by the idea that publishers might one day censor his work that he threatened to send the crocodile “to gobble them up”. Continue reading...

Dressed in open-necked shirt and jeans, premier joins 12,500 paraders on original route of Oxford StreetAmid the rainbow tulle, sequins and sparkles of Sydney’s 45th Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras parade emerged the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, in a simple open-necked shirt and jeans.Albanese is the first sitting prime minister to join the parade, which celebrates and continues to push for equality for the LGBTQIA+ community. Continue reading...

Arctic mammal that drew crowds in Hampshire, North Yorkshire and Northumberland is spotted 850 miles further northA walrus that drew crowds when spotted on the south and east coasts of England appears to have arrived in Iceland.The arctic mammal appeared in Hampshire in December before spending new year in Scarborough and then heading 70 miles further north to the Royal Northumberland Yacht Club in Blyth. Continue reading...

The tech giant is carrying adverts styled to look like real internet search results for women seeking pregnancy adviceWomen seeking online advice about abortions are being directed to pregnancy counselling services run by anti-abortion campaigners, an Observer investigation has found.Google adverts that are styled to look like real search results and appear above genuine listings are routinely being shown to people searching key terms relating to pregnancy and abortion. Continue reading...

Not too late for Jeremy Hunt to ‘end the political obsession of regulation, high taxes and interference with business’ in spring budgetFormer home secretary Priti Patel has called on the chancellor to reverse plans for a rise in corporation tax for big businesses.Jeremy Hunt is due to give his spring budget on 15 March, a day being targeted by transport and civil service unions for strikes, with corporation tax set to rise from 19% to 25% in April. Continue reading...

PM has been deeply involved in Northern Ireland protocol talks and must now face a possible Tory backlashRishi Sunak has found out the hard way what it is like to become embroiled in the cycle of the Brexit forever wars. Despite desperate attempts to keep his party in line, a row that plagued his predecessors is at risk of erupting again over a reworking of the Northern Ireland protocol which he hopes to announce next week.The wariness of some in government was betrayed by the foreign secretary, James Cleverly, who told a group of journalists at the start of the week – when momentum towards getting a deal on the protocol appeared to be stalling – that it would be announced at some point between “now and the end of time”. Continue reading...

About 3,000 tickets to be made available to people displaced by war so they can attend live shows in LiverpoolThousands of tickets for the Eurovision song contest are to be allocated to Ukrainians who have fled to the UK.The international music show will take place at the M&S Bank Arena Liverpool in May after the city was chosen to host the competition on behalf of the 2022 winner, Ukraine, which is unable to host the event after the Russian invasion. Continue reading...

Defence secretary Ben Wallace says much delayed project to build 589 of the vehicles has turned a cornerThe “troubled” £5.5bn programme to build the British army’s new Ajax fighting vehicle has turned a corner, the defence secretary has said.Better seat cushions and ear defenders are among improvements being hailed by Ben Wallace. Continue reading...

Developer amends Ralli Quays plans after criticism that right of way was being ‘sacrificed for private gain’A developer has scrapped plans to divert a 300-year-old riverside footpath through a hotel lobby after public outcry that a right of way was being “stolen” and “sacrificed for private gain”.Salford council came under huge public pressure last year after councillors granted planning permission to Legal & General (L&G) to close a towpath by the River Irwell to make way for an office complex and a 16-storey, 260-bed hotel. Continue reading...

The ethical label has become mainstream, and is thriving despite the rising cost of livingFairtrade tea, coffee and chocolate was once the mainstay of church hall fetes and upmarket delis but is now popping up in supermarket value ranges as the demand for affordable and sustainable groceries goes mainstream.Marks & Spencer, the Co-op and Waitrose are among the high street names whose budget ranges include the ethical label, making it possible for shoppers to make a “small switch” when shopping during Fairtrade Fortnight, which starts on Monday. Continue reading...

Only two of thousands of PFAS are regulated, while the EU is already contemplating stricter standards

Sydney Opera House among buildings lit up with Ukraine’s national colours amid vigils to mark year since Russia’s invasion. This blog is now closed

Hundreds of thousands of people expected to line the parade’s famous route, which last ran along the street in 2020 due to Covid

Ukrainian president shows steel and emotion in marathon press conference, as Joe Biden says having China as peacemaker is ‘just not rational’

Health minister Yvette D’Ath says state will introduce pill testing at mobile and fixed sites following success of trials in Canberra

Perth man, who worked for Rio Tinto, dead after altercation in South Kuta bar

The first Polish Leopard 2 tanks arrive in Ukraine and western allies step up assistance as the Russian invasion enters second year

Albanese government under pressure to move ambassador to Kyiv after shift to Poland at start of Russia’s invasion

Veteran presenter says BBC has brought forward his last show to beginning rather than end of MarchKen Bruce has suggested he has been forced to leave the BBC earlier than he intended with his final Radio 2 show scheduled for next week rather than at the end of March.The 71-year-old Scottish broadcasting veteran will present his final 9.30am-to-midday show on 3 March. Continue reading...

US secretary of state warns peace plan proposed by China draws ‘false equivalence’ by calling on both sides to stop fightingThe US has launched a fresh bid to win over abstaining and neutral states by urging them not to be fooled by Russian calls for a temporary or unconditional ceasefire in Ukraine, warning that a peace plan proposed by China drew “false equivalence” by calling on both sides to stop fighting.US secretary of state Antony Blinken was speaking at a highly charged meeting of the UN security council where he reminded his fellow diplomats that the Russian envoy only a year ago had dismissed his warnings that Moscow was about to launch an invasion of Ukraine. Continue reading...

Zelenskiy says some points in Chinese statement for peace ‘understandable’ while Kremlin adds Beijing’s involvement appreciated

Much of Portland, Oregon, also shut down due to icy roads and nearly a million buildings without power in MichiganA slow-moving winter storm intensified over California on Friday, triggering the first blizzard warning in parts of the Los Angeles area since 1989 and creating the extraordinary sight of snowflakes swirling around the iconic Hollywood sign.The National Weather Service warned of a “cold and dangerous winter storm” that would last through Saturday in California. Blizzard warnings were posted in the Sierra Nevada and southern California mountain ranges, where as much as 5ft (1.5 meters) of snow was expected. Continue reading...

Poland’s PM visits Kyiv as allies demonstrate support on first anniversary of invasionThe first Polish Leopard tanks have arrived in Ukraine, as western allies including the G7 and EU announced a range of further economic, military and financial sanctions against Russia, in a renewed effort to weaken Vladimir Putin’s war machine.Speaking on the first anniversary of the Russian invasion, Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, confirmed that four Leopard tanks had been delivered to Ukraine. “Poland and Europe stand by your side. We will definitely not leave you, we will support Ukraine until complete victory over Russia,” he said, standing alongside the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, during his visit to Kyiv. Continue reading...

Singer said he wanted to pay for scans elsewhere in the UK to help people get treatment more quicklyRod Stewart visited his local NHS hospital on Friday and paid for a day of scans for patients to help reduce waiting lists.The singer-songwriter, 78, said he wanted to “prove I’m not all mouth and trousers” and added he would like to pay for scans elsewhere in the UK. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more on this story hereForbes interrupted her maternity leave following the birth of her baby daughter last summer to run to be the next SNP leader.I want to lead Scotland into better days. I have a vested interest in achieving this, not least for the sake of my daughter’s future.Scotland needs a leader who is bold, brave and energised. My vision centres on delivering a strong growing economy that expands the tax base and reinvests in tackling poverty and making our public services sustainable.We need somebody competent, who voters trust, who speaks the truth, who has integrity and commitment … I’m the only candidate with a strong grip on the economy and our finances.If anything, can be said of me in the past week it is that I am willing to be honest and open, even at the cost of my leadership bid and my career. Continue reading...

Bola Ahmed Tinubu remains frontrunner for president but a new voice has captured the youth voteThe posters lining the roads of Lagos show the face of a smiling, bespectacled 70-year-old above a slogan promising renewed hope. Vote for Bola Ahmed Tinubu, pedestrians and drivers negotiating the chaos of the Nigerian commercial capital are told. Vote for peace, justice, unity.On Saturday, the 6 million inhabitants of Lagos who have collected their voting cards will have to decide whether Tinubu and his ruling All Progressives Congress might fulfil any of these promises. So too will another estimated 81 million voters among the 220 million inhabitants of Africa’s most populous country. Their collective decision will determine the result of Nigeria’s seventh presidential elections since the end of military rule in 1999. Continue reading...

President says start of Russian invasion was ‘longest day of our lives’ and urges allies to ‘respect promises’

Move would come after four months of intense negotiations and mark an end to two-year standoff with EU

Family pay tribute to man they described as ‘journalist to his bones’Sir Bernard Ingham, Margaret Thatcher’s press secretary, has died at the age of 90 after a short illness, his family has said.Ingham was a former journalist with the Guardian in the 1970s before going into communications for the government. He served as press secretary for Thatcher for almost her entire time in office. Continue reading...

TV presenter will take over in May when veteran Scottish broadcaster steps down after 31 yearsVernon Kay is returning to the BBC to replace Ken Bruce on his Radio 2 mid-morning weekday show, the broadcaster has confirmed.The 48-year-old TV presenter will take over in May to replace the Scottish broadcasting veteran, who announced last month he would be stepping down from presenting on Radio 2 after 31 years. Continue reading...

Move will increase pressure on larger RMT union to put similar offers to full vote by its membersMembers of the TSSA union have voted to accept pay offers made by train operating companies, ending their part in the long-running national rail dispute.In an online ballot, 80% of participating members in management grades and 60% in other grades voted in favour of deals worth 9% over two years. Turnout was 57%. Continue reading...

Candidate to become SNP leader and first minister also pledges to scrap gender recognition reform bill in campaign launch

Defenders of LTNs in Oxford report antisemitic and conspiracy-theory chanting at confrontations over traffic reduction measuresFar-right activists and other extremists are attempting to hijack local issues such as low-traffic schemes by linking them to conspiracy theories, campaigners have warned.It comes after Covid-19 protestors joined thousands demonstrating against Oxford’s Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTNs) scheme, one of the most ambitious in the country and the source of long-running local debate. Continue reading...

Ukraine fears Russia intends to mark anniversary of invasion with new attacks on key cities; western officials estimate Russia’s military casualties at nearly 200,000