Exclusive: Film-maker Miriam Segal says article made her feel compelled to tell story of anti-Putin journalist murdered in 2006The Guardian’s obituary on Anna Politkovskaya, the anti-Putin journalist whose murder in 2006 shocked the world, has inspired a British film-maker to make a movie about her.As Miriam Segal reached the end of the article, she felt compelled to make a film about a seemingly “normal woman who literally couldn’t turn away”, who “braved the Chechen killing fields and put her own life in jeopardy to expose Russian state corruption”. Continue reading...
The 82-year-old broadcaster, That’s Life! presenter and founder of ChildLine says she remains ‘optimistic’Dame Esther Rantzen has said she is remaining “optimistic” after revealing she has been diagnosed with lung cancer.The 82-year-old broadcaster, longtime activist and founder of charities ChildLine and The Silver Line, confirmed the news on Sunday. Continue reading...
Coalition fears DfE may break pledges that only small percentage of qualifications will be replaced by T-levelsA coalition of former education ministers has attacked the UK government’s “disastrous” plan to scrap dozens of popular vocational qualifications and push students into taking its favoured new T-levels.David Blunkett, the former Labour education secretary, said he feared that widespread scrapping of qualifications such as BTecs from 2025 could backfire and pead to more 17 and 18-year-olds opting to take A-levels rather than the vital vocational qualifications the country needs. Continue reading...
by Josh Halliday North of England correspondent on (#68AAR)
Holly, 15, was fatally wounded in the market town of Hexham in north-east England on Friday afternoonA 16-year-old boy has been charged with the murder of a teenage girl who was stabbed to death in Northumberland.Holly Newton, 15, was wounded in the market town of Hexham at about 5.10pm on Friday and died later in hospital. Continue reading...
Minister says he wants to abolish ‘outdated, feudal’ system of home ownership by end of this parliamentMichael Gove has admitted that “faulty and ambiguous” government guidance was partly responsible for the Grenfell Tower tragedy. The UK housing secretary said lax regulation allowed cladding firms to “put people in danger in order to make a profit”.Gove’s remarks come more than five years after the tower block fire that killed 72 people. Continue reading...
Rishi Sunak fires Zahawi after he was found to have committed ‘serious breach’ of ministerial codeRishi Sunak has sacked the Conservative party chair, Nadhim Zahawi, after he was found to have breached the ministerial code by failing to declare the HMRC investigation into his tax affairs.An investigation by the prime minister’s ethics adviser, Sir Laurie Magnus, concluded that Zahawi had made a “serious breach” of the code by not telling officials he was under investigation by the tax body when he was appointed chancellor by Boris Johnson. Continue reading...
A motion-activated camera near Boulder contained a surprise for officials monitoring wildlife activitySelfie mania in wild beauty spots is definitely a thing – but this camera hog had no real idea what she was doing.When a curious bear stumbled upon a wildlife motion-activated camera near Boulder, Colorado, she ended up triggering hundreds of “selfies”, officials have said. Continue reading...
Solicitors accused of using lawsuits to stifle criticism of prominent figures include those acting for Nadhim ZahawiMinisters are under pressure to speed up action against the use of legal tactics by powerful figures to silence legitimate criticism. This comes after a surge in investigations into their use.The Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA) warned the profession against employing such tactics at the end of last year, but says their use has increased since then, and it is now examining 40 cases. Continue reading...
Giuseppe Graviano files for defamation against Gomorrah author over origin of nicknameA Sicilian mobster has asked a judge to order the seizure of all copies of a book by the author Roberto Saviano, who is living under police protection after he faced death threats for exposing mafia secrets.Giuseppe Graviano, who is serving a life sentence in a maximum security prison, filed a lawsuit for defamation last week against the author of books including Gomorrah, and Solo è il Coraggio (Lonely is the Courage), about the life of the judge Giovanni Falcone, who was killed by the mafia in 1992. Continue reading...
Teachers and parents voice fury over risk to life in England’s crumbling classrooms as DfE keeps survey details from public scrutinyMinisters sparked a furious row over the safety of thousands of dilapidated school buildings in England on Saturday night by abandoning the imminent publication of data showing those judged to be most at risk of collapse.Labour responded to the U-turn by saying it would use a rare parliamentary device to force publication of the documents about the perilous state of many schools across England, so that parents can judge whether it is safe to send their children to classes. Continue reading...
More than a million people have called out sick for the past three years, and CDC says long Covid probably a contributor tooFor many Americans it feels like everyone is out sick right now. But there is a good reason: work absences from illness are at an all-time annual high in the US and show few signs of relenting. And it’s not just acute illness and caregiving duties keeping workers away.About 1.5 million Americans missed work because of sickness in December. Each month, more than a million people have called out sick for the past three years. About 7% of Americans currently have long Covid, which can affect productivity and ability to work, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Continue reading...
by Philip Oltermann and Kate Connolly in Berlin on (#68A5Y)
Olaf Scholz was criticised for being slow to supply tanks but working with allies keeps chancellor’s public on sideGermany’s government is defiant, maintaining that its lockstep approach to weapons deliveries is the best way to support Ukraine, and the only way it can do so while keeping its domestic public on side. Allies of Chancellor Olaf Scholz accuse his critics of being “dedicated” to making him a scapegoat.The German leader faced mounting criticism last week from international and domestic partners over the protracted decision to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 battle tanks, which are made in Germany and required authorisation by Berlin for re-export from other countries. Continue reading...
Head of Anglican church in South Sudan said archbishop of Canterbury was ‘failing to defend biblical truth’Pope Francis and the archbishop of Canterbury will begin a historic joint visit to South Sudan on Friday against the backdrop of potential tensions over LGBTQ+ rights.The leaders of the global Roman Catholic and Anglican churches, whose numbers are growing in sub-Saharan Africa in contrast to the west, will be joined on their “pilgrimage of peace” by the leader of the Church of Scotland. Continue reading...
The man in his 30s, who was a detainee for five years, found in his cell at the Sydney centreAn immigration detainee from Iraq has died in a suspected suicide at the Villawood detention centre in Sydney.The Department of Home Affairs, which oversees immigration detention, confirmed the death of the man on Sunday. Continue reading...
Four people have been killed as authorities warn severe weather conditions will continue in New Zealand’s north islandHeavy rainfall continued to batter New Zealand’s north island, causing landslides, flash floods and knocking out roads, with the death toll rising to four after a person who had been missing was confirmed dead.Battered by rain since Friday, Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city of 1.6 million people, remained under a state of emergency on Sunday. The nation’s weather forecaster, MetService, warned of more severe weather on Sunday and Monday for the north island. Intense rainfall could also cause surface and flash flooding, it said. Continue reading...
EU president says Ukraine has unconditional support ahead of summit; Russian strike kills three people in a residential district of eastern UkraineThe European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said ahead of an EU-Ukraine summit next week that Ukraine had unconditional support from the bloc and needed to prevail against Russian attacks to defend European values. “We stand by Ukraine’s side without any ifs and buts. Ukraine is fighting for our shared values, it is fighting for the respect of international law and for the principles of democracy and that is why Ukraine has to win this war.”A Russian strike killed three people in a residential district of the eastern Ukrainian city of Kostiantynivka on Saturday, the regional governor said. Fourteen other people were wounded in the attack, which also damaged four apartment buildings and a hotel. According to Ukraine’s defence ministry, Russia carried out attacks on Konstantynivka with multiple rocket launchers.Russia accused the Ukrainian military of deliberately striking a hospital in a Russian-held area of eastern Ukraine on Saturday. It said a strike killed 14 people and wounded 24 patients and medical staff. The strike hit a hospital in the Russian-held settlement of Novoaidar and was carried out using a US-supplied Himars rocket launch system, the Russian defence ministry said. The claims could not be independently verified, AP reported.Kyiv and its western allies are engaged in “fast-track” talks on the possibility of equipping Ukraine with long-range missiles and military aircraft, a top aide to Ukraine’s president says, AP reported. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said Ukraine’s supporters in the west “understand how the war is developing” and the need to supply planes capable of providing cover for the armoured fighting vehicles that the United States and Germany have pledged.Ukraine said on Friday it would take its pilots about half a year to train for combat in western fighter jets such as US F-16s, as Kyiv steps up its campaign to secure fourth-generation warplanes. Ukraine got a huge boost this week when Germany and the United States announced plans to provide heavy tanks to Kyiv, which is now hoping the west will also provide long-range missiles and fighter jets.North Korea on Saturday denounced US pledges of battle tanks, claiming Washington was “further crossing the red line” to win hegemony by proxy war, Reuters quoted state media KCNA reporting. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, made the remarks in a statement, saying that North Korea will “stand in the same trench” as Russia against the United States.Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, will hold a meeting with Lynne Tracy, the new US ambassador to Moscow, early next week, the RIA news agency reported.Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Saturday redoubled his efforts to stop Russian athletes participating the 2024 Olympics, saying they would try to justify the war against Ukraine if allowed to compete. Zelenskiy said on Friday that Ukraine would launch an international campaign to keep Russia out of the summer games, which will be held in Paris. Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Friday that any attempt to squeeze Moscow out of international sport because of what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine was “doomed to fail”. Continue reading...
Benjamin Netanyahu announces punitive steps against Palestinians in response to attacks that killed seven IsraelisBenjamin Netanyahu has announced a series of punitive steps against Palestinians in response to a pair of shootings in Jerusalem that killed seven Israelis and badly wounded five others.The steps, announced late on Saturday, include new moves to “strengthen” Jewish settlements, the Israeli prime minister’s office said. Continue reading...
Champagne flows as former general defeats billionaire populist rival Andrej Babiš by largest margin in the country’s historyPetr Pavel, a retired general and former senior Nato commander, has swept to the Czech presidency after a landslide victory over the former prime minister Andrej Babiš in an election overshadowed by rows over the war between Russia and Ukraine.With nearly all the votes counted, returns showed Pavel prevailing by the emphatic margin of 58.3% to 41.68%, the largest ever recorded in a Czech presidential poll and reflecting an advantage of more than 958,000 votes nationwide. Continue reading...
Some people due to fly with regional airline had booked tickets just hours before firm collapsed“I got an email asking me to check in, and 10 minutes later they had gone into administration.”Andrew Gibbins was one of hundreds of passengers across the UK who have expressed frustration at regional airline Flybe, which abruptly announced its collapse on Saturday morning, telling any passengers expecting to travel with it not to go to the airport. Continue reading...
by Kevin Rawlinson (now); Joe Middleton and Adam Fult on (#689FD)
Information follows the Ukrainian army’s withdrawal from the nearby city of Soledar last weekBattlefield tanks are only half the battle. Beyond military might on the ground in Ukraine, the other critical confrontation in which the Kremlin has a superiority that must be challenged. The information war.Russia’s media space has reverted to a grotesque parody of the Soviet-era model. (In fact, it’s far worse, as in the latter Soviet years at least when most people knew they were being fed lies.) Television and the domestic press is utterly captured. Millions are fed a daily diet of Ukrainian “fascists”, western pederasts, and nuclear revenge on Anglo-Saxon civilisation.A new barrage of Russian shelling killed at least 10 Ukrainian civilians and wounded 20 others in a day, the Ukrainian president’s office has said. Towns and villages in the east and in the south that were within reach of the Russian artillery suffered most, regional officials said. Six people died in the Donetsk region, two in Kherson and two in the Kharkiv region, Associated Press quoted the officials as saying on Friday.A day earlier, Russian-fired missiles and self-propelled drones were reported to have hit deeper into Ukrainian territory, killing at least 11 people.Volodymyr Zelenskiy has described the situation on the frontline as “extremely acute”, particularly in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russia is stepping up its offensive. “The occupiers are not just storming our positions – they are deliberately and methodically destroying these towns and villages around them,” the Ukrainian president said, reporting major battles for Vuhledar and Bakhmut. Local Ukrainian officials reported heavy shelling in the north, north-east and east.Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, will hold a meeting with Lynne Tracy, the new US ambassador to Moscow, early next week, the RIA news agency reported today.Ukrainian troops were locked in “fierce” fighting with Russian forces for control of Vuhledar, a town south-west of Donetsk, on Friday. Both sides claimed success in the small administrative centre, a short distance from the strategic prize of the village of Pavlivka, Agence France-Presse reported. The Donetsk region’s Moscow-appointed leader, Denis Pushilin, was quoted by Russian news agencies as saying Vuhledar may soon become a “very important success for us”, while Kyiv said the town remained contested.Ukraine’s army claims to have killed 109 Russian soldiers and wounded another 188 in one day during fighting around Vuhledar. Serhii Cherevatyi, a spokesperson in the Ukrainian armed forces, said the death toll was recorded on Thursday, adding that “fierce fighting is ongoing”.Poland will send an additional 60 tanks to Ukraine on top of the 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks it has already pledged, the Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, has told CTV News.A total of 321 heavy tanks have been promised to Ukraine by several countries, Ukraine’s ambassador to France said on Friday. Vadym Omelchenko told French TV station BFM that “delivery terms vary for each case and we need this help as soon as possible”, while not specifying the number of tanks per country.Belgium announced an additional €94m ($102m/£82.5m) package in military aid for Ukraine in what the Belgian prime minister, Alexander De Croo, said was – including previous spending – the largest of its kind Belgium had ever given another country.Ukraine said it is setting up drone assault companies within its armed forces that will be equipped with Starlink satellite communications, as it presses ahead with an idea to build up an “army of drones”, Reuters reported. The army’s commander-in-chief, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, signed off on the creation of the units in a project that would involve several ministries and agencies, the general staff said.Ten regions of Ukraine are instituting emergency power outages due to a power shortage in the network after Thursday’s Russian attacks, Ukraine’s state broadcaster has reported. Repairs to damaged facilities are continuing.The European Union wants swift accountability for “horrific” crimes in Ukraine, EU justice ministers have said while meeting in Stockholm. But the member states differ over how to bring prosecutions, seek evidence or fund war damage repairs. Continue reading...
by Sophie Zeldin-O'Neill and Danya Hajjaji on (#689SB)
Mark Drakeford and his wife married in 1977 and have three childrenClare Drakeford, the wife of Wales’s first minister, Mark Drakeford, has died suddenly, the Welsh government announced on Saturday.A Welsh government spokesperson said: “It is with deep sadness that we confirm the sudden passing of Clare Drakeford, wife of the first minister. Continue reading...
Piece acquired by English painter in antiques shop in 1960s has been confirmed as lost work by Italian sculptorSometimes a hunch pays off, and when the English painter John Craxton recognised a work of genius for sale in a London antiques shop, he made very much the right call.Craxton parted with £250 for an unusual chandelier he suspected was by the great sculptor Alberto Giacometti. Now that chandelier, made in the late 1940s, may sell at Christie’s in a few weeks’ time for as much as £7m. Pieces by the revered Swiss artist are the most expensive sculptures to buy at auction, and his work regularly breaks saleroom records. Continue reading...
University had paid some postgraduate researchers less than minimum wageOne of England’s most prestigious universities has been forced to increase the pay of some of its PhD students after it was found to have paid them an annual sum that effectively meant they were getting below the national minimum wage.Durham University’s trade union branch said it was shocked to discover last September that PhD students teaching on the institution’s popular law course were being paid £15,000 a year. The University and College Union (UCU) said that this would make them among the lowest paid in the sector. Continue reading...
PM allegedly given advice about inquiry into minister’s taxes when he appointed him Tory party chairRishi Sunak was told there could be a reputational risk to the government from Nadhim Zahawi’s tax affairs when he appointed him as Conservative party chair in October, sources have told the Observer.During the period when the prime minister was drawing up his new cabinet, senior government officials gave him informal advice about the risks from an HMRC investigation that had been settled just months earlier, sources said. Continue reading...
Daniel Abed Khalife was charged on Friday over two incidents at RAF Stafford in BeaconsideA 21-year-old serving member of the British army accused of committing a “bomb hoax” and a terror offence at an RAF base has appeared in court.Daniel Abed Khalife, of Beacon Barracks, Beaconside, Stafford, had a brief preliminary hearing at Westminster magistrates court on Saturday. Continue reading...
Intricately carved stones that fell down drain at ancient pool uncovered by archaeologists in CarlisleTaking your valuables with you into a swimming pool is always a risk. The Romans should have paid better heed, judging from the quantity of gemstones recovered from the drain of one of their bathhouses.As many as 30 semi-precious stones have been discovered by archaeologists almost 2,000 years after their owners lost them at a site in modern-day Carlisle, just behind Hadrian’s Wall. Continue reading...
Stratford residents fear planned MSG Sphere concert hall will ruin their sleep with light pollutionEast London residents are being warned that light pollution from a controversial huge new concert venue – the MSG Sphere – will be “like a sun on Earth”. The message comes from neighbours of a Las Vegas version, more than 5,000 miles away.Plans for the new concert hall in Stratford took a step closer to realisation last week when the London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) approved plans for its advertising display covered with more than one million light emitting diodes that will show videos and adverts from dawn until late. Continue reading...
Organisation clarifies initial advice, which included term in list of phrases it thought could be dehumanisingThe Associated Press Stylebook, considered one of the most reliable guides to correct use of the English language for journalists, has apologised after producing a list of terms it thought could be dehumanising that included “the French”.The organisation tweeted advice not to use generic labels for groups of people who share a single common trait, giving as examples the poor, the mentally ill and the college-educated. It also included grouping together everyone from the European nation under the same banner. Continue reading...
Customers advised not to go to airport and to contact their booking agentThe regional airline Flybe has ceased trading and cancelled all its scheduled flights, leaving passengers stranded and hundreds of crew without jobs.The UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) announced that the company had gone into administration and urged those with booked Flybe flights not to travel to airports. Continue reading...
New government register shows how offshore jurisdictions used for ownership of nearly 200 properties including hotels and country estatesThe royal families of Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar own more than £1bn of UK property via offshore jurisdictions, such as Jersey and the British Virgin Islands, the Guardian can reveal.Nearly 200 properties, including hotels, London mansions and country estates, belong to a few small but super-rich dynasties, according to analysis of a new government register that reveals who is behind offshore companies that own UK property. Continue reading...
‘That ship has sailed,’ says disgraced former minister in wake of conviction of sitting MP Claudia WebbeThe disgraced former minister Keith Vaz has denied claims he plans to stand again as the MP for Leicester East after Labour officials imposed new controls upon candidate selection procedures in the city.Amid growing speculation that the former head of the home affairs select committee is poised to make a comeback after the conviction of the sitting MP Claudia Webbe for harassment, he told the Guardian: “That ship has sailed.” Continue reading...
Daniel Abed Khalife charged over incidents in Staffordshire in August 2021 and January 2023A 21-year-old member of the British army has been charged with terror and explosives offences over two incidents in Staffordshire in August 2021 and January this year, the Metropolitan police have said.Daniel Abed Khalife, of Beaconside, Stafford, is accused of eliciting or attempting to elicit information of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism in August 2021. Continue reading...
Four protesters found guilty of public nuisance after stopping traffic at Bishopsgate in October 2021A judge has warned four climate activists they could face a jail sentence after being found guilty of causing a public nuisance during an Insulate Britain protest.Judge Silas Reid spoke after a jury convicted the environmental protesters after a five-day trial at Inner London crown court. Continue reading...
Alleged actions of man, 74, were an attempt to force Spanish authorities ‘to abstain from supporting Ukraine’A 74-year-old Spanish man accused of sending six letter bombs and explosive devices to targets including the Ukrainian and US embassies and the office of the Spanish prime minister last year has been denied bail because of the risk that he could flee to Russia.Police in northern Spain arrested the man on Wednesday in connection with the devices, the remainder of which were sent to the defence minister, an airbase near Madrid, and a weapons company that manufactures the C90 rocket launchers that have been donated to Ukraine. Continue reading...
British Gas, E.ON and Scottish Power demand scrutiny of process by which rival acquired collapsed BulbOctopus has labelled its rivals “desperate” while British Gas has claimed the energy supplier benefited from “hugely advantageous” terms in landing a deal for Bulb, during a courtroom clash.In a court hearing in London on Friday, the energy firms traded blows in the fallout from Octopus’ deal to buy Bulb from a government-handled administration last October. Continue reading...
Leslie Allen recruited plotters but plan ‘failed spectacularly’ after jurors became suspiciousA drugs kingpin, a rogue juror, his mother, and a mechanic have been jailed for attempting to fix a trial.Boxing promoter Leslie Allen, 66, recruited a team of stooges to help him get off charges of having £150,000 of cannabis and cocaine and a pepper spray in 2018. Continue reading...
Police say investigation into deaths of two people after crush at London venue is ‘vast and complex’The Metropolitan police are conducting a “vast and complex” investigation into the deaths of two people after a crush at a south London music venue last month, which will probably result in criminal charges, an inquest heard on Friday.Speaking at the opening of the inquest at London Inner South coroner’s court into the deaths of Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, and Gaby Hutchinson, 23, DCI Nigel Penney, the Met’s senior investigating officer in the case, told the court: “It’s a vast and complicated process. It’s a huge investigation.” Continue reading...
Body of Olivia Perks, 21, was found in her room at Berkshire military school on 6 February 2019A young female army officer cadet was the victim of “gross sexual misconduct” by senior officers before she was found dead in her room at the prestigious Sandhurst academy, an inquest has been told.The body of Olivia Perks, 21, was discovered at the elite military training school in Berkshire on 6 February 2019. An earlier inquest hearing recorded her provisional cause of death as “asphyxia due to hanging”. Continue reading...
Data shows sharp decline in students from Italy, Germany and France with Brexit seen as primary deterrentThe number of EU students enrolling in British universities has more than halved since Brexit – with sharp declines in scholars from Italy, Germany and France, figures reveal.Brexit is seen as the primary deterrent, with home fees and student finance no longer available to EU students who do not already live in the UK with settled or pre-settled status. Continue reading...
Internet Watch Foundation reports rise in UK children aged seven to 10 manipulated into abusing themselves on cameraInternet predators have exploited a rise in online activity during lockdown to manipulate primary school age children into abusing themselves on camera, with reports of such imagery rising by more than 1,000% in the UK since 2019.The Internet Watch Foundation received reports of 63,050 webpages containing images and videos of children aged seven to 10 sexually abusing themselves on camera last year, an increase of just over 1,000% on the year before the coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading...
Platform will also use technology from ChatGPT’s artificial intelligence firm, Open AI, to ‘inform’ brainstormingBuzzFeed is reportedly planning to use artificial intelligence to personalize and enhance its online quizzes and content, the company announced to employees this week.Jonah Peretti, the chief executive, announced the efforts in an internal memo. Continue reading...
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