Disasters Emergency Committee chief says ‘things people give today might not be what is needed tomorrow’
More than £85m has been raised to provide aid in Ukraine, in an “absolutely incredible” show of support from the UK public.
But the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) has urged people to donate money rather than goods to help those affected by the conflict.
Continue reading...Prime minister says press reporting conflict will not be cowed after Sky News team ambushed near Kyiv
Boris Johnson has praised British journalists who were hit by bullets in Ukraine and said press reporting on the conflict “will not be intimidated or cowed”.
The prime minister commended the “astonishing” courage of the Sky News journalists, who he said were “putting themselves in terrifying and dangerous situations”.
Continue reading...Statistics watchdog wrote to the PM about ‘selective use of data’ after statement about number of people in work
Government officials were warned repeatedly about making misleading claims about job figures before the official statistics watchdog reprimanded Boris Johnson over the matter.
Ed Humpherson, the director general of the UK Statistics Authority (UKSA), said there had been “a series of informal discussions” before the regulator took the “unusual” step of issuing public rebukes to No 10 over the same issue twice last month.
Continue reading...Maddalena Casulana’s newly rediscovered songs will feature on BBC Radio 3 to mark International Women’s Day
Sixteenth-century madrigals written by an Italian Renaissance female composer are to be performed for the first time in 400 years after the discovery of missing parts of the original music.
Maddalena Casulana became the first female composer to publish her own music at a time when such creativity was far from encouraged in women. She believed that men were making a “futile error” in assuming that women could not compose as well as they could and she brought out three books of madrigals under her name between 1568 and 1583, although only one of those collections has survived complete.
Continue reading...Downdraft toppled 87-year-old on footpath near Derriford hospital helipad and injured one other woman
An 87-year-old woman has died after being blown over by a helicopter landing at a hospital, police have confirmed.
Devon and Cornwall police said two people were thought to have been injured as the helicopter landed at a helipad at Derriford hospital in Plymouth on Friday.
Continue reading...Website update advises Britons to ‘consider leaving by remaining commercial routes’
The UK government has urged British nationals in Russia whose presence is “not essential” to consider leaving the country amid the mounting crisis in Ukraine.
The Foreign Office said it had updated its travel advice to say that Britons who can should use the remaining commercial routes to leave Russia.
Continue reading...Vulnerable women face huge bills before giving birth, campaigners say
The health of pregnant migrant women and their unborn babies is being put at risk due to fears around NHS charging, with some trusts demanding upfront fees for maternity care or wrongly charging those who are exempt, it has been claimed.
Vulnerable migrant and asylum-seeking women with no recourse to public funds are frequently being issued huge bills ahead of giving birth or aggressively pursued for payments during their pregnancy against current guidance, maternity rights groups have warned.
Continue reading...Ukraine’s armed forces claim to have shot down a Russian military helicopter.
Its operative command released video of a missile hitting a low-flying helicopter, which crashed seconds later
Continue reading...Rio Jones, 18, charged with attempted murder as victim’s condition remains stable
An 18-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder after the shooting of a 15-year-old girl at a bus stop.
Rio Jones, has been charged with two counts of attempted murder, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, and possession of a controlled drug, Merseyside police said.
Continue reading...Surge of estate sales to big firms has driven up prices and increased elitism of land ownership, says report
A drive by wealthy companies to plant forests in the Scottish Highlands to offset their carbon emissions risks creating even greater inequalities in rural areas, a major report has warned.
The analysis says a surge of Highland estate sales to major corporations and cash-rich investors, such as Aviva, Standard Life and BrewDog, has driven up land prices sharply and increased the elitism and exclusivity of land ownership, while they aim to limit climate heating.
Continue reading...Analysis: police, social workers and other agencies missed chances to intervene in abuse, case review finds
With the awful fates of six-year-old Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and toddler Star Hobson still vivid in the memory, we have another terrible child killing: two-year-old Kyrell Matthews, who died after sustaining “blunt force trauma” over a period of weeks, according to a local safeguarding review, at the hands of his mother and her boyfriend.
Kyrell, of Thornton Heath, south London, died in October 2019. He had suffered 41 rib fractures, internal bleeding, and injuries and bruising to his liver and his penis. On Friday, his mother, Phylesia Shirley, 24, and her then partner Kemar Brown, 28, were found guilty, respectively, of manslaughter and murder.
Continue reading...The artist was in court for a dispute with two musicians who claim Shape Of You plagiarises parts of their song
Ed Sheeran has been accused of being a “magpie” who allegedly “borrows” ideas from other artists for his songs on the first day of a three-week copyright trial over his hit single Shape Of You.
Sheeran, 31, appeared at the high court on Friday for the dispute with two musicians who claim Shape Of You – the UK’s bestselling song of 2017 and the most streamed song in Spotify’s history – plagiarises parts of their earlier song Oh Why.
Continue reading...‘To be running around like a 65-year-old when you’re 95 catches up with you,’ says author Penny Junor
When the Queen tested positive for Covid at the age of 95, it made headlines around the world.
Buckingham Palace initially said she would carry on working but was soon forced to concede she needed rest and cancelled a series of virtual engagements.
Continue reading...Study of UK adults shows negative effects of alcohol consumption grow stronger with each additional drink
Cutting back on the final drink of the evening could substantially improve brain health, scientists have said.
A major study of more than 36,000 adults suggests that the negative effects of alcohol consumption grow stronger with each additional drink. So those who drink several units each day potentially have the most to gain by reducing their drinking.
Continue reading...An exhibit invites visitors to imagine how it may have felt to live on the brink of nuclear annihilation. I don’t want to
Monday
The nearest thing New York has to the Imperial War Museum in London is the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum, built on and around the USS Intrepid, a hulking great aircraft carrier parked at Pier 86 on the Hudson River. It is the obligation of every school age-child in greater New York to attend this museum at least once a year, and on the last day of mid-winter recess, we do.
Continue reading...Most academics back research boycott but ‘there is a case for maintaining ties’, says Oxford professor
Researchers at UK universities are bracing themselves for sanctions affecting science partnerships with Russia, including in climate science and space research, as the government seeks to isolate Vladimir Putin over the invasion of Ukraine.
Simon Marginson, a professor of higher education at the University of Oxford, said most academics would support a research boycott with heavy hearts and concerns for Russian colleagues.
Continue reading...Deputy PM defends response to invasion after criticism the government has acted too slowly over sanctions
Russian elites could have their property seized and handed over to Ukrainian refugees, the deputy prime minister has suggested.
Dominic Raab made the remarks as he defended the UK’s response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine and the prime minister, Boris Johnson, called for an emergency UN summit after a Russian attack on a nuclear power station in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Sewage works, airports and seaports among key infrastructure at risk, says intergovernmental report
The UK “is very much not adapted to climate change and not prepared”, according to a lead author of a report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
The study, published this week and approved by 195 countries, says the worldwide impacts of the climate crisis are more severe than predicted and there is only a narrow chance of securing “a liveable future for all”.
Continue reading...James Rutherford resigns from board of Evraz, steel and mining group in which Roman Abramovich has stake
The London Stock Exchange has suspended trading in more Russian companies, while an independent director resigned from the board of Evraz, the steel and mining group in which Roman Abramovich holds a 29% stake.
The LSE suspended trading in the remaining eight companies with strong links to Russia that were not included on a list of 27 companies suspended on Thursday.
Continue reading...Clive and Valerie Warrington were found with stab wounds at separate locations
Police have been granted extra time to question a man arrested on suspicion of the murders of a divorced couple in Gloucestershire.
Clive and Valerie Warrington were found by emergency services with stab wounds at separate locations on Wednesday.
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