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Catherine Holmes SC acknowledges role of social media in giving access to evidence while criticising other outlets for ‘patchy’ coverage

Test came as Washington and Seoul prepared to kick-off their largest joint military exercises in five years

Study shows French suppliers have more major export orders than Russia, while UK’s share has dwindledFrance is challenging Russia’s position as the world’s second biggest arms exporter behind the US, while Britain’s share of the global market has dwindled, an analysis has found.A steep increase in sales and future orders of arms to countries in Asia, Oceania and the Middle East over the last five years suggests French suppliers could surpass their Russian rivals within a decade. Continue reading...

Exclusive: letter from 11 bosses follows deaths of two Pret a Manger customers who suffered allergic reactionsThe bosses of 11 of the UK’s leading food businesses have written an open letter calling for clearer rules on food labelling after the deaths of two Pret a Manger customers who suffered allergic reactions.Pret is among the businesses that have signed the letter, organised by the foundation set up by the family of 15-year-old Londoner Natasha Ednan-Laperouse, who died after eating a baguette containing sesame seeds. Continue reading...

The PM’s determination to stay faithful to the ‘Indo-Pacific tilt’ is vague, while Russia is still the greatest threatThe refresh of the integrated review of defence and foreign policy comes only two years after the original, and if Labour were to win the election it may only last a similar amount of time. Nor would it have happened if it hadn’t been for Conservative chaos, as reopening the review was the brainchild of the short-lived Liz Truss.To be fair, the war in Ukraine has upended previous assumptions, but this is not really the path taken by Rishi Sunak. A large part of what is announced focuses on China and the emerging Australia, UK and US “Aukus” partnership to provide Canberra with nuclear powered submarines to give naval technological parity with Beijing. Continue reading...

UK PM warns China plans to ‘reshape the world order’ but stops short of reclassifying it as a threat to national securityRishi Sunak has warned that China’s plans to “reshape the world order” represent an era-defining challenge for Britain, but risked sparking a row with hawks in his own party by dismissing calls for Beijing to be categorised as a threat.As he flew to a summit designed to shift the balance of power in the Indo-Pacific region, the prime minister signalled a major refreshing of the UK’s national security strategy and uplift in defence spending. Continue reading...

PM says he is keen to invite US president to ‘celebrate’ peace in Northern Ireland but visit not yet confirmedRishi Sunak has revealed he will personally invite US president Joe Biden to visit Northern Ireland next month to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday agreement.In the biggest hint yet that the much-anticipated trip will go ahead, the prime minister told reporters on the plane to a summit in California that he hoped Biden would be able to make it. Continue reading...

PM to press ahead with planned increase from 19% to 25% despite some Tory MPs’ hostilityRishi Sunak has insisted the UK will be able to lure foreign companies despite a planned rise in corporation tax, suggesting he will face down critical Conservative MPs ahead of this week’s budget.Despite some Tory MPs’ hostility at the planned rise to corporation tax from 19% to 25%, Sunak stressed Britain would still have the lowest level of corporation tax in the G7, and added it would remain “a fantastic place to invest to grow a business”. Continue reading...

Combatant seen in graphic 12-second clip circulated on Telegram had initially been wrongly named Tymofiy Shadura

The unique service, commissioned by a French king and used only once by the British monarch in 1967, could fetch up to £442,000A unique set of porcelain dessert dishes and plates commissioned by France’s King Louis-Philippe I, and believed to have been used only once, for a visit by Queen Elizabeth II, is to be auctioned in Paris.The 98 pieces, embossed in gold and each painted with a picture of a different animal, were found in a dining room cupboard in the Chateau de Sassy in Normandy. They are expecteed to fetch nearly half a million pounds. Continue reading...

A quarter are regularly going without food and other essentials, a new Russell Group Students’ Unions study revealsOne in five students at Russell Group universities are considering dropping out because of the cost of living crisis, and a quarter are regularly going without food and other essentials, the Observer can reveal.In the largest study of its kind, new research by the Russell Group Students’ Unions – which represents 24 of Britain’s most elite higher education institutions, including Oxbridge, UCL and Edinburgh – for the first time lays bare the devastating impact soaring prices are having on all but the richest students. Continue reading...

UK defence ministry calls Bakhmut a ‘killing zone’; Russian shelling kills three Ukrainian civilians in Kherson, Ukrainian officials say; Russia lists World Wildlife Fund as a foreign agent Continue reading...

Senior US lawmaker confident Virginia Class nuclear vessels can be delivered and concerns about joint crewing are ‘overhyped’

Treasury says move will save four million households £45 a year on their energy billsPrepayment meter customers will no longer be charged more to receive their energy under reforms to be announced in the budget.The chancellor is to end the “prepayment premium” from July, saving more than four million households £45 a year on their energy bills, according to the Treasury. Continue reading...

Latest phase of Aukus scheme comes amid concerns about growing threat from ChinaRishi Sunak will fly to San Diego on Sunday to unveil plans for supplying Australia with nuclear-powered submarines under the Aukus scheme amid concerns about the growing threat from China.A major announcement 18 months in the making is expected when the UK prime minister meets his Australian counterpart, Anthony Albanese, and US president Joe Biden. Continue reading...

From Alan Sugar and Karren Brady to Richard Osman and Nadiya Hussain, there is nothing new about TV presenters writing about politicsGary Lineker’s suspension for expressing political views set off an avalanche of comparisons with other BBC stars who have not been similarly sanctioned for lacking impartiality.Some were obvious: Lord Sugar of The Apprentice, whose 18 years of firing people have been punctuated by political outbursts, from newspaper interviews calling on people to vote Conservative to tweeting a mocked-up image of Jeremy Corbyn sitting next to Adolf Hitler. Continue reading...

Attack by 29-year-old on woman, who was seriously injured, took place outside a leisure centreA 29-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of terrorism offences after a woman was stabbed outside a leisure centre in Cheltenham.The arrest is in relation to the attack on a woman at about 9.15pm outside a leisure centre in Tommy Taylors Lane, Cheltenham on Thursday, Gloucestershire constabulary said. Continue reading...

Councillor says continuing loss of land to the sea would damage local economy, which is heavily dependent on visitorsA councillor has warned that continued erosion of a Norfolk coastline could cause a dramatic decline in the local economy, after a seaside home was demolished.Several wooden properties, built on sand dunes at Hemsby, are perilously close to toppling into the sea due to coastal erosion. Continue reading...

Senior Tories condemn ‘sickening’ plans which would allow unaccompanied minors to be held, in U-turn on past legislationRishi Sunak’s plan to reduce small boat crossings will effectively reverse a ban on child detention implemented under David Cameron and open the door to an expansion of the practice, the Observer understands.With a potential Tory rebellion already brewing over the proposals, it has emerged that the Illegal Migration bill will allow the detention of families with children and even allows the deportation of unaccompanied children if it is deemed to be safe in their country of origin. Continue reading...

Thames Valley police investigating after substance squirted at eyes of 68-year-old who was out walking in WendoverA man and his dog suffered burns from an unknown liquid squirted at them during an assault in Buckinghamshire, Thames Valley police have said.A 68-year-old man who was walking his dog in Grenville Avenue, Wendover at about 6.30pm on Thursday was attacked by another male who squirted liquid from a container into his eyes. Continue reading...

UK Ministry of Defence says capture of city has become ‘highly challenging’ for the mercenary groupRussian forces have made progress in the frontline hotspot of Bakhmut, a key target of Moscow’s months-long campaign in eastern Ukraine that has resulted in many casualties, the Associated Press reported.Their assault , however, will be difficult to sustain without further harsh losses, UK military officials said in an assessment on Saturday. Continue reading...

West Midlands police officers called to Valesha’s nightclub in town centre just after 5am on SaturdayA man was stabbed to death at a nightclub in Walsall, West Midlands police have said.Officers were called to Valesha’s nightclub, also known as Colliseum, on Newport Street in the town centre just after 5am on Saturday after receiving reports that a 29-year-old had been stabbed. Continue reading...

Ofsted inspection process ‘isn’t working’, shadow education secretary tells headteachersA Labour government would create an annual review of safeguarding in schools as concerns about children’s safety and wellbeing are being “missed” due to “infrequent” Ofsted inspections, the shadow education secretary has said.Bridget Phillipson told the annual conference of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) in Birmingham that too many girls were being exposed to “intolerable language, images and behaviour”. Continue reading...

Worst snowfall is over for England as warmer air extends across UK from south-west, bringing cloud and rainTemperatures plunged to -15.2C in areas of the UK on Friday night as heavy snow brought treacherous conditions, but forecasters say there will be a respite from the cold weather.The Met Office had yellow warnings for snow and ice in place covering large swathes of the UK after Storm Larisa battered parts of the country with gales and blizzards. Continue reading...

Speaking ahead of voting opening on Monday, Stephen Flynn praises Yousaf’s childcare, independence and energy plansThe SNP’s Westminster leader, Stephen Flynn, has given his backing to Humza Yousaf to be Scotland’s next first minister, saying the Scottish health secretary can take the party to “new heights”.There are three candidates battling to be the next SNP leader and Scottish first minister. Continue reading...

Some of party’s MPs even believe they could narrowly win next election – but the odds remain stacked against themWhen Rishi Sunak took over, most Conservative MPs were in despair. Some even suggested the party did not deserve to be in power. “We need a reset,” one said at the time. “A period out of office to get our act together.”But almost five months on, Sunak has given them hope that they can avoid a total wipeout at the next election. Despite 13 years in office and all the problems the UK is facing, they now believe they could hang on, albeit with a significantly smaller majority. Continue reading...

Ex-director general says decision to suspend presenter for criticising government’s asylum policies is mistaken

We look at who might be the winners in the industry’s biggest industrial dispute in decadesAfter 23 days of national strikes, two years of talking and hundreds of thousands of cancelled trains, rail workers are contemplating a pay rise that barely catches the coat tails of inflation. The rail industry’s biggest industrial dispute in decades may be approaching its final chapter – but with little chance of a happy ending for anyone involved.The pain for passengers is not yet over – four more 24-hour strikes across 14 operators by train and station staff in the biggest rail union, the RMT, start next Thursday, 16 March. Continue reading...

Scenery, sandy beaches and solitude are key to the Ionian island’s appeal, according to the report, which put party-loving Mykonos in last placeKefalonia, the largest of the Ionian islands, with its emerald-coloured mountains, secluded coves and underground lakes, has been crowned the best Greek island by Which?.Abundant sandy beaches, scenery uninterrupted by high-rise buildings and access to much-sought-after solitude sealed the deal for the island, off the west coast of mainland Greece, in the consumer body’s annual survey. Which? asked more than 1,000 visitors to rate the 10 main Greek islands on factors including beaches, attractions, scenery and value for money. Continue reading...

NEU members had been due to strike for two days next week but will now consider Welsh government’s proposalTwo days of strike action by teachers in Wales next week have been called off after the Welsh government proposed a revised pay offer.Members of the National Education Union (NEU) were due to stop work on 15-16 March in a dispute over pay. Continue reading...

Yevgeny Prigozhin thanks Kremlin for ‘heroic’ production increase but says concerns about shortages remain

Ukraine endures the largest missile barrage in weeks; casualties mount in the battle for Bakhmut; a draft law in Georgia stirs anti-Russian sentiment

Powers had been doubled less than a year ago to tackle backlog in courts and cut prison overcrowdingSentencing powers for magistrates have been scaled back less than a year after they were doubled in an effort to tackle the courts backlog.In May, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) announced magistrates in England and Wales would be able to hand out jail sentences of up to a year for a single offence – up from the previous maximum of six months – as part of efforts to deal with the number of criminal cases waiting to be heard. Continue reading...

PM announces £500m package to stop people trying to cross Channel, after meeting Emmanuel Macron in ParisBritain will help fund a detention centre in northern France as part of a £500m package to stop refugees trying to cross the Channel, Rishi Sunak has said, amid continuing criticism of his plans to lock up and deport those arriving in small boats.After a meeting in Paris, Sunak and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said they had agreed joint funding for more French border patrols, including 500 additional officers and new drones. Continue reading...

Head of one Hertfordshire school in survey of 14- to 18-year-olds says it has led to rise in sexual abuseA major new survey of British schoolchildren’s attitudes to pornography has found significant numbers of young people aged between 14 and 18 are watching it frequently, with some becoming addicted to sexually explicit content.Teachers say they are being left to “pick up the pieces” from the damage pornography causes in schools, with the proliferation of adult material leading to warnings of sexually harmful behaviour among teenagers. Continue reading...

Chain forced to remove products from shelves after imported beef was falsely labelled as BritishBooths, the supermarket chain known as the “Waitrose of the north”, has confirmed that it is the retailer linked with a possible case of food fraud after imported beef was falsely labelled as British.The UK’s National Food Crime Unit (NFCU) is investigating the alleged fraud by the unnamed meat supplier. Booths confirmed that it removed the products from its shelves and stopped trading with the supplier as soon as it was alerted. Continue reading...

Broadcaster says children’s TV audiences have largely moved to YouTube and other streaming servicesITV is shutting down its CITV channel and shifting most of its children’s programmes to streaming-only, arguing that young people have largely given up on watching scheduled television.CITV will disappear as a standalone channel in the autumn, with all children’s content shifting to the streaming platform ITVX. The broadcaster said the channel was unprofitable and children’s TV audiences had collapsed in recent years because of a shift to YouTube and other streaming services. Continue reading...

In his letter, Panuelo openly canvassed the country switching its diplomatic recognition from Beijing to TaipeiChina is engaged in “political warfare” in the Pacific, the outgoing president of the Federated States of Micronesia has alleged in an excoriating letter, accusing Beijing officials of bribing elected officials in Micronesia, and even “direct threats against my personal safety”.Two months before his term as president expires, David Panuelo’s letter alleged China is preparing for conflict over the island of Taiwan, and that its goal in interfering in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) was to render the country neutral in any potential Pacific war. Continue reading...

Punch Bowl Inn at Hurst Green, said to have been haunted by highwayman, must be reconstructed using materials from rubbleA group of property developers have been ordered to rebuild a Grade II-listed pub that they demolished without permission.The historic Punch Bowl Inn at Hurst Green, Lancashire needs to be rebuilt brick by brick within a year, a judge has ruled. Continue reading...

ISW claim Wagner group is taking ‘tactical pause’ in Bakhmut; Grossi reappointed as UN nuclear watchdog chief; Pope says war driven by interests of several ‘empires’

Gunman, who is among the dead, is believed to have been a former member of the religious communityThe suspect in the shooting dead of seven people at a Jehovah’s Witness centre in Hamburg is reported to have been a former member of the church.The man, who was found dead at the scene, is believed to have been aged between 30 and 40 and to have used a handgun after forcing himself into the building close to the city centre. Continue reading...

Decision comes at time when US and mainland Europe are pushing forward with green tech spendingThe UK’s decision to delay the HS2 rail line will discourage British investment at a time when the US and mainland Europe are pushing forward with major spending on green technology, according to the chair of the National Infrastructure Commission.Sir John Armitt said the delay to HS2, a high-speed line that aims to increase British rail capacity, contrasted with the heavy investments by the US and EU on decarbonisation. Continue reading...

Buckingham Palace says ‘title will be held by Prince Edward for His Royal Highness’s lifetime’King Charles has conferred the title of Duke of Edinburgh on his youngest brother, the Earl of Wessex, on the occasion of his 59 birthday, honouring the wishes of the late Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.The title will be held for the lifetime of Prince Edward and means his son, Viscount Severn, now becomes Earl of Wessex. Continue reading...

Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal reportedly spent $4m to out priests who use hookup apps and notified bishops nationwideA conservative Catholic group based in Colorado spent millions to obtain data that identified priests using gay hookup and dating apps, later sharing the data with bishops nationwide.The project was carried out by conservative non-profit Catholic Laity and Clergy for Renewal, the Washington Post first reported. Continue reading...

Documents tabled by MP Andrew Wilkie claim to show church used jobkeeper funds to help purchase Melbourne’s Festival Hall

Channel crossings and Aukus pact will be central to talks that could also improve Britain’s standing with the EUThe attempt by Rishi Sunak and Emmanuel Macron to reset the Anglo-French relationship on Friday is not just important bilaterally, but also in terms of Britain’s relationship with the EU.The French president, a gatekeeper to improved relations, sees the British prime minister’s efforts to resolve the Northern Ireland trade issues as a signal Britain is in the hands of a fellow technocratic nationalist, and that its brush with populism may be over. Continue reading...

Two families dispute identity of soldier caught on camera calling ‘glory to Ukraine’ before being killed by Russian captorsThe graphic 12-second clip spread quickly across Ukraine. A Ukrainian prisoner of war, unarmed, is derided by his Russian captors, who are recording the scene. He calmly puffs on his cigarette, looks his tormentors in the face and says: “Glory to Ukraine.” Within an instant, multiple shots can be heard. He slumps dead to the ground.The video, allegedly posted to Telegram by Russian soldiers on Monday, has led to a war crimes investigation and, within Ukraine, a battle over the identity of a man hailed as a national hero and symbol of resistance. Continue reading...

Gulf of Carpentaria town’s elderly residents airlifted and supplies flown to nearby Indigenous community as rivers reach peak levels

Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau stand to benefit as White House warns of Beijing’s intent and ability to ‘reshape the international order’Alarmed by China’s success in wooing Pacific island nations, the Biden administration is proposing to spend billions from its federal budget to keep three of those countries in the US orbit.President Joe Biden’s spending plan, released on Thursday, includes more than $7.1bn in funding for the Marshall Islands, Micronesia and Palau. The money is included in the $63.1bn request for the state department and the US Agency for International Development. Continue reading...

Alternative für Deutschland leaders were among those lauding Sunak’s bill, while other EU figures raised doubts about its legalityEuropean far-right leaders have praised Rishi Sunak’s illegal immigration bill, after a senior EU official repeated her doubts about the legality of the plans.“Bravo,” wrote the Alternative für Deutschland party on social media. “Way to go! The current [British] government plans now to deny asylum to illegal immigrants and fly them out to Rwanda,” the party wrote on Facebook, saying Germany should follow this approach. “When will we finally have it?” Continue reading...