Pedro Sánchez says urgent action needed to protect children from ‘digital wild west’, drawing anger from owner of X Spain has proposed a ban on social media use by teenagers as attitudes hardened in Europe against the technology, drawing personal insults against the prime minister from Elon Musk. The government is preparing a series of measures including a social media ban for under-16s, the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, said, promising to protect children from the “digital wild west” and hold tech companies responsible for hateful and harmful content. Continue reading...

Netflix film revisits evidence that led to Letby’s conviction and hears from expert who says his research was misused Shortly after Lucy Letby was sentenced to 15 whole-life terms for murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016 – a conviction that made her Britain’s worst ever child serial killer – Cheshire police agreed to give “unparalleled and exclusive access” to the makers of a Netflix film about the case. The finished documentary, The Investigation Of Lucy Letby, which is released on Wednesday, must be very different from what the producers envisaged when they first began work on the project, given the subsequent unexpected turns in the story. Since the two trials, the prosecution evidence and police handling of the case have faced criticism from an unprecedentedly large number of distinguished British and international medical experts. Led by the Canadian neonatologist, Dr Shoo Lee – who says again in the feature-length Netflix documentary that his research was misused to convict the nurse – many of the experts are convinced Letby is innocent, the victim of a catastrophic miscarriage of justice. Continue reading...

Rights group says growing authoritarianism and abuses in US, Russia and China threaten global rules-based order The world is in a “democratic recession” with almost three-quarters of the global population now living under autocratic rulers – levels not seen since the 1980s, according to a new report. The system underpinning human rights was “in peril”, said Philippe Bolopion, executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), with a growing authoritarian wave becoming “the challenge of a generation”, he said. Continue reading...

Report to tackle courts’ backlog also recommends new criminal justice adviser to oversee courts, prisons and policing A new post of prime minister’s criminal justice adviser and the widespread use of remote hearings are among the recommendations of a government-commissioned independent review on tackling the courts’ backlog in England and Wales. The second part of Sir Brian Leveson’s review – unlike the first part, which recommended slashing jury trials – focuses on efficiencies that can be achieved without legislation. Continue reading...

Department health, not Treasury, will foot the bill – with costs forecast to reach £9bn The cost of the government’s drug pricing deal with the Trump administration will come out of the NHS budget instead of the Treasury’s and could eventually reach £9bn a year, campaigners fear. Patrick Vallance, the science minister, has confirmed that the costs – initially an extra £1bn over three years– will be borne by the Department of Health and Social Care, which funds the NHS in England, and not the Treasury. Continue reading...

‘Mid-career’ females also being sidelined by rigid hiring processes, says City of London Corporation Women working in tech and financial services are at greater risk of losing their jobs to increased use of AI and automation than their male peers, according to a report that found experienced females were also being sidelined as a result of “rigid hiring processes”. “Mid-career” women – with at least five years’ experience – are being overlooked for digital roles in the tech and financial and professional services sectors, where they are traditionally underrepresented, according to the report by the City of London Corporation. Continue reading...

Data comes as government prepares to publish plans to overhaul Send system in England One in six autistic pupils have not been to school at all since the start of this academic year, according to a new survey which found that mental health issues were often behind high levels of school absence. Nearly half (45%) of the parents and children who responded to the UK-wide survey by the Ambitious About Autism charity said they felt “blamed” by the government for the absences. Continue reading...

Josh MacAlister issues warning as government launches £88m ‘call to arms’ to recruit 10,000 new foster carers Private providers of child social care in England will be pushed out of the system if they are found to be profiteering, the children’s minister has said. Josh MacAlister, who is in charge of overhauling the care system for children, also called for a fostering equivalent of the Homes for Ukraine scheme to provide homes for tens of thousands of children. Continue reading...

Billionaires and intellectuals attended events with the disgraced financier years after he served time for sex offense, files reveal Newly released emails and travel itineraries appear to show that for years after Jeffrey Epstein served time for procuring underage girls for prostitution, he continued to attend exclusive dinners alongside Silicon Valley’s most famous billionaires. The emails, part of a trove released by the Department of Justice on Friday, show that as late as 2018, Epstein was invited to or attended dinners alongside the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and Google vice-president and later Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer. Continue reading...

Watford hold Hull, Blackburn sink Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield United fight back to beat Oxford 3-1 Charlie Daniels praised Watford’s players for the way they secured a point and pushed for more in the goalless draw at the promotion-chasing Hull just days after Javi Gracia’s abrupt exit. The Spaniard ended his second spell at Vicarage Road on Sunday, having called for talks with the owner, Gino Pozzo, the previous day after overseeing a 2-0 home defeat against Swansea. Continue reading...

Craig Halkett’s first-half red card proved costly for the Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts as they lost 1-0 at St Mirren after a late header from Miguel Freckleton. The centre-back was dismissed in the 29th minute for denying the Saints debutant Jacob Devaney a goalscoring opportunity. It was the third time in five league games that Hearts had been reduced to 10 men. Unlike the previous two occasions, however, they were unable to grind out a result in Paisley as Freckleton’s 88th-minute header consigned them to a third defeat of the season. The result leaves Hearts six points ahead of Celtic and Rangers, both of whom play their games in hand on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Search and rescue operation involving boats, helicopter and divers under way off the eastern Aegean island of Chios A collision between a speedboat carrying migrants and a Greek coastguard patrol vessel off the eastern Aegean island of Chios has killed at least 14 people, the coastguard said. A search and rescue operation involving four patrol vessels, an air force helicopter and a private boat carrying divers was under way for potential missing passengers. Continue reading...

Sebastien Lai criticises ministers for not putting conditions on his father’s release during Beijing trip The British son of the jailed Hong Kong media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai has criticised the UK government for failing to place conditions on his father’s release during the prime minister’s visit to China last week. Speaking at a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, Sebastien Lai said his father’s incarceration was not only a humanitarian and national security issue, but an issue “where our values are being locked up” along with him. Continue reading...

Government to invest £2bn in NHS cancer services in England as figures show diagnosis made every 75 seconds in the UK Three in four cancer patients in England will beat cancer under government plans to raise survival rates, as figures reveal someone is now diagnosed every 75 seconds in the UK. Cancer is the country’s biggest killer, causing about one in four deaths, and survival rates lag behind several European countries, including Romania and Poland. Three-quarters of NHS hospital trusts are failing cancer patients, a Guardian analysis found last year, prompting experts to declare a “national emergency”. Continue reading...

Manchester City manager opens up on global conflicts UN reports UAE have backed Sudan paramilitary group Pep Guardiola has spoken out against killings across the world, including in Sudan, where a paramilitary group backed by the United Arab Emirates, which in effect owns Manchester City, is embroiled in a civil war that has cost more than 150,000 lives. Guardiola named Sudan when talking about conflicts where innocent people were dying. War crimes are said to have been carried out by both sides in the conflict. The vice‑president of the UAE, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, owns City, where Guardiola is the manager. Continue reading...

Attorney general Tish James says observers will monitor if Trump enforcement ‘remains within bounds of the law’ New York is creating a team of legal observers that will don purple vests to monitor and record the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement officers as they seek to detain and deport migrants, the state’s attorney general said on Tuesday. The announcement follows weeks of sometimes violent tumult in Minneapolis, where Donald Trump has deployed thousands of armed, masked agents as he tries to deport more migrants than any of his predecessors. Continue reading...

When the final whistle blew, you could sense the huge wave of relief that swept over this stadium. Arsenal may not have been at all convincing against a Chelsea side who caused them the occasional problem but Mikel Arteta will not care one bit. After four successive semi-final defeats, Arsenal are on their way to Wembley at last. After the drama of the first leg at Stamford Bridge that saw Liam Rosenior’s side travel to north London needing to overturn a 3-2 deficit, this was a much more cagey affair that was eventually settled in injury time by substitute Kai Havertz against his former club. Continue reading...

While most focused on competition issues, Josh Hawley accused Netflix of promoting trans content to children Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos faced tough questioning over whether the streamer is “overwhelmingly woke” or killing competition on Tuesday afternoon during a congressional hearing focused on its pending acquisition of the film and streaming assets of Warner Bros Discovery. The hearing was conducted by the Senate subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy, and consumer rights. Bruce Campbell, chief revenue and strategy officer for Warner Bros Discovery, also testified in the packed Senate hearing room. Continue reading...

Barn theatre, Cirencester Simon Nye brings back the characters from his hit TV series for a misconceived comedy set on millennium eve In a nervy theatre economy, with familiar material most likely to sell tickets, nights out often feel nostalgic for nights in. TV detectives including Morse, Barnaby and Rebus have been put on stage, as have sitcoms such as Some Mothers Do ’Ave ’Em, Only Fools and Horses and Yes, Prime Minister. As its sequel to that last show transfers to the West End, the Barn theatricalises another telly comedy: Simon Nye’s 90s peak-time powerhouse Men Behaving Badly – about manchild flat-sharers and the women who try to mature them – whose Christmas 1998 finale was watched by 13.9 million viewers. At Barn theatre, Cirencester, until 7 March Continue reading...

The US president’s celebration of the 1847 conquest draws fury from Mexican leaders over ‘imperialist tone’ A message from Donald Trump celebrating the 19th-century US invasion of its southern neighbour – and the subsequent loss of more than half its territory – has touched a historical nerve in Mexico, with some seeing it as a veiled threat for future incursions. Reacting to the US president’s statement, which described the invasion as “a legendary victory”, Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, said during her morning news conference on Tuesday: “We must always defend our sovereignty.” Continue reading...

Appropriations measure to let Democrats negotiate with White House and GOP leaders over Trump’s deportation efforts The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a funding measure that will end the partial government shutdown, while giving Democrats time to negotiate with the White House and Congress’s Republican leaders over restrictions on Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign. The Republican-controlled chamber approved the $1.2tn appropriations measure by a 217-214 vote, with all but 21 Republicans voting in favor and all but 21 Democrats against. Trump is expected to sign it, ending the shutdown that began after midnight last Friday, which halted many operations at departments including defense, health and human services, labor and transportation. Continue reading...

Thames Valley police says it will review allegation that Epstein trafficked woman to UK to have sex with Andrew at Royal Lodge British police are to review fresh allegations that Jeffrey Epstein provided Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor with a woman to have sex with at the Royal Lodge in 2010. The woman has claimed she spent the night at the then prince’s residence in Windsor, her US lawyer, Brad Edwards, said after the allegations surfaced over the weekend. The woman, who is not British, was in her 20s at the time, and was later given a tour of Buckingham Palace, it is further alleged. Continue reading...

Ranking points to be awarded at LIV events for first time Saudi-backed tour attacks ‘unprecedented restriction’ The Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Tour has hit out at what it regards as victimisation from those presiding over the sport’s world rankings process, despite seeing their wait of nearly four years for recognition by the system finally end. It was confirmed on Tuesday that those competing in LIV tournaments will receive official world golf ranking points but only when finishing in the top 10. A statement from the OWGR board said this “recognises there are a number of areas where LIV Golf does not meet the eligibility standards set out”. Continue reading...

Far-right leader’s appeal against block on her running for president in 2027 and a four-year sentence is in final stages French state prosecutors have asked appeal court judges to maintain a five-year election ban on the far-right leader Marine Le Pen for embezzlement of European parliament funds in a fake jobs scandal. If the judges decide to grant the request, Le Pen would probably not be able to run in France’s 2027 presidential election. Continue reading...

Linda Stevenson found unresponsive on 28 December after police responded to domestic dispute The ex-husband of former US first lady Jill Biden has been arrested and charged with the murder of his wife, officials said Tuesday. William Stevenson, 77, was taken into custody on Monday and is facing a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Linda Stevenson, according to a grand jury indictment filed in Delaware. Continue reading...