Bank of England chief warns of further interest rate hikes if firms raise prices – business live

Andrew Bailey appeals to businesses to avoid price rises because higher inflation ‘hurts least well-off in society’

Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor, has looked at consumer confidence and the wider economy.

Sentiment improved to a one-year high but remains gloomy by historic standards. The personal finance measure however remains low as inflation erodes take home pay and cost-of-living pressures persist.

Economic data, though still weak, has started to show incipient signs of improvement in the UK with house prices, retail sales, confidence and PMI figures picking up off the lows as the mini-budget chaos fades into the rear-view mirror and the Bank of England approaches the end of the rate hiking cycle. Inflation however remains a sticking point, having unexpectedly picked up again in February, going against recent months of improvement since October’s peak.

A small improvement in the overall index score this month masks continuing concerns among consumers about their personal financial situation. This measure best reflects the financial pulse of the nation and it remains weak, with the figure for the coming year down three to -21 and an unchanged score for the past 12 months of -26.

Forecasts that headline inflation will fall this year have proved premature, given Wednesday’s announcement of an unexpected increase. Wages are not keeping up with rising prices and the cost-of-living crisis remains a stark reality for most.

Russia-Ukraine war live: Bakhmut counteroffensive starts soon, says Ukrainian ground forces commander

Defending forces to ‘take advantage’ of Russians’ lost momentum, says Oleksandr Syrskyi

• What we know on day 394 of the invasion

The UK’s Ministry of Defence has issued its daily intelligence briefing on Ukraine, in which it suggests Russia has been training troops in Belarus for both practical and political reasons. It writes:

As of mid-March 2023, Russia had likely redeployed at least 1,000 troops who had been training at the Obuz-Lesnovsky training ground in south-western Belarus.

Although no new rotation of troops has been noted, Russia has highly likely left the tented camp in place, suggesting it is considering continuing the training programme.

Chess: Garry Kasparov calls April’s world title match ‘amputated event’

Kasparov says ‘the world championship match should include the strongest player on the planet, and this match [Ian Nepomniachtchi v Ding Liren] doesn’t’

Garry Kasparov, who held the world title from 1985 to 2000 and is regarded as Magnus Carlsen’s rival as the greatest player of all time, said next month’s Ian Nepomniachtchi v Ding Liren world title match “should include the strongest player on the planet, and this match doesn’t … It’s a kind of amputated event … The match between Nepo and Ding is a great show, but it’s not a world championship match.”

Comments on Kasparov’s assertion have been mostly negative, pointing out that the match is actually between the two highest rated players who are ready to participate, which Carlsen is not. There is also a direct recent precedent in the Vishy Anand v Boris Gelfand 2012 world title series, which took place at a time when Carlsen was already the world No 1, but had declined to take part in the qualifiers because he objected to the candidates being played as a knockout rather than an all-play-all.

Brokering peace in Ukraine would be good for Xi and China: is he adroit enough to pull it off? | Yu Jie

The war is a test of China’s ability to manage its interests. Putin, Zelenskiy, the EU, the global south: it’s trying to keep them all on side

The Moscow summit between the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, was described as a visit that may change the world order by many international media. Xi’s visit came at a time of great need for isolated Putin, but the rest of the world remains puzzled about precisely how far China will go in supporting Russia in its horrific war in Ukraine.

While China demonstrates a willingness to maintain the status quo in its relationship with its biggest nuclear neighbour, Xi has still not provided a straightforward answer on exactly what kind of support is on offer, beyond deepening bilateral trade ties and elusively worded further coordination in international affairs. Nor is there a clear next step for Beijing’s “peace plan” until a call between Xi and the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, takes place.

Dr Yu Jie is a senior research fellow on China in the Asia-Pacific Programme, Chatham House

The week in wildlife – in pictures

The best of this week’s wildlife photographs, including a rescued sloth, a baby nutria and a patient frog

Salah Elmur: ‘I named my exhibition after the man who used to come and collect the bills’

As his London show inspired by water and electricity opens in London, the Sudanese artist talks about the challenges his country faces and his optimism for the future

Since he was a child growing up beside the banks of the Blue Nile in Khartoum, Salah Elmur has been fascinated by water and electricity. “I don’t only mean the water that comes from taps at home, I mean water in the seas and rivers where beautiful women swim, I mean the rain, I mean fishing by fishermen, I mean water in dams and all the water in this planet …

“I even mean the towers of the water and their beauty and their different shapes standing in the middle of the cities here in Sudan, and the lines of the electricity and their stations,” says the 56-year-old artist, whose work based around these two elements forms the core of a joint exhibition that opened in London this month.

Humanly Possible by Sarah Bakewell review – the meaning of humanism

An skilful examination of seven centuries of thought that deftly combines philosophy, history and biography

“Man was formed of dust, slime and ashes … conceived from the itch of the flesh, in the … stench of lust, and worse yet, with the stain of sin.” So wrote Pope Innocent III in his 12th-century On the Misery of the Human Condition. In 1452 Giannozzo Manetti answered Innocent point by point in his own On the Dignity of Man. But as early as the 1300s, Italians were enthusiastically quoting Psalm 8: “Man is only a little lower than the angels.” The passion for finding, collecting and imitating ancient Greek and Roman texts had readjusted moral priorities – away from arduous obedience to supposedly God-given rules and towards celebrating and fostering human happiness. Increasingly, morality’s concern was to alleviate suffering, not to justify God for inflicting it.

To date the rise of “humanism” to the early Renaissance is, strictly speaking, anachronistic; there was no such term until the 19th century. But Humanly Possible traces a lineage, less of theories than of kindred spirits, over seven centuries in Europe. This runs from medieval umanisti (students of humanity), who remained Christian even while resurrecting “the flowering, perfumed, fruitful works of the pagan world spring” (as John of Salisbury called them), to today’s (more secular) self-declared humanists.

Trump’s indictment over hush money to a porn star would be poetic justice

Unfortunately, actual justice may prove to be far more elusive

You have to hand it to Stormy Daniels.

After all of Donald Trump’s well-documented malfeasance over the decades – his fake university and failed casino, his Covid denialism, his consorting with dictators, his blatant lies about election fraud, his incitement of a deadly riot – it has taken a hush money payment to a porn actress to create the most imminent threat that he’ll face criminal charges

Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture

‘Historic moment’ as El Salvador abortion case fuels hopes for expanded access across Latin America

Human rights court hears seriously ill woman denied procedure as advocates call for change in region with world’s most restrictive abortion laws

Human rights activists in Latin America hope that a historic court hearing over the case of a Salvadoran woman who was denied an abortion despite her high-risk pregnancy could open the way for El Salvador to decriminalize abortions – and set an important precedent across the region.

The inter-American court of human rights (IACHR) this week considered the historic case of the woman, known as Beatriz, who was prohibited from having an abortion in 2013, even though she was seriously ill and the foetus she was carrying would not have survived outside the uterus.

Shining a light on a stained glass artist – in pictures

Nathalie Hildegarde Liege is an stained glass artist, artisan and the owner of Couleurlive Limited, and has a studio in the heart of Shrewsbury. Nathalie studied fine art and worked at the Pompidou centre in Paris before deciding to change career to work in glass

Yellowjackets season two review – this wonderfully imaginative sequel is even better than last time

Juliette Lewis is sublime, Christina Ricci finds her perfect co-star and you’re constantly kept on your toes with parallel timelines and tons of creepy thrills. What a follow-up!

After the 2021 press tour for the slasher movie Halloween Kills, a video of Jamie Lee Curtis went viral, highlighting just how many times she uttered the word “trauma”. She was speaking about one of the most common problems with “elevated horror” – genuine suspense and terror being sidelined to give room to heavy-handed metaphors for trauma. What truly elevates Yellowjackets above most contemporary horror is that it provides space for the psychological impact of spending 19 months starving while your friends die around you, without forgoing nauseating gore, gruelling tension and acerbic wit.

There was so much to recommend the first season of Yellowjackets, a word-of-mouth hit that switched between the past and the present with two sets of cast members – one playing the younger characters, the other playing their more mature incarnations. It followed the 1996 plane crash of a high school football team, who ended up stranded in the wilderness and doomed to come of age battling the elements (and one another) before rescue. In the present, the survivors face blackmail, addiction, murder and PTSD. Supernatural elements continue to keep things ambiguous; it’s never entirely clear what was created by paranormal forces and what was the result of hallucinatory mushrooms or fractured psyches.

‘We are refugees now, even our cat’: a Kherson mother’s UK diary

Olha fled the Ukrainian city a year ago this week and has faced many challenges, including enrolling her children in school

• Read previous dispatch

I’m just an ordinary mother. My children went to school and enjoyed after-school clubs. Last February, I was preparing to shoot a short film about Kherson’s streets. A rehearsal was scheduled – but it never took place.

That was the day they bombed airports simultaneously across the country. Public transport stopped running from our city. The frontline ran straight to our city and a week later we found ourselves under occupation. One morning changed our lives, and that of every Ukrainian family, for ever.

Daughter of Danish-Bahraini rights activist offers to take his place in prison

Maryam al-Khawaja says she fears her father Abdulhadi’s health is deteriorating and condemns Denmark for inaction

Human rights activist Abdulhadi al-Khawaja’s health has suffered so much inside a Bahraini prison that his daughter Maryam has offered to trade places with him. She fears that without urgent action, her father will slowly die behind bars without being able to see his family.

“I don’t know how much longer my dad has. I spend every day dreading each time the phone rings, as it might be someone calling me to let me know my dad is no longer around,” said Maryam. “I know he has serious health issues and the authorities are using [lack of] access to proper treatment as a method of punishment. I don’t want to wait around for my dad to be released to us in a coffin. I can’t do that.”

Authorities raid Beijing offices of US Mintz Group detaining five Chinese staff

Company offering corporate due diligence services says it received no legal notice of a case against it

Chinese authorities have raided the office of a US firm in Beijing, shutting down its operations and detaining five Chinese staff, the company has said.

Mintz Group, which has offices in 18 cities around the world and offers corporate analysis and due diligence services, said it received no legal notice about the reasons for the unannounced raid.

Indie supergroup Boygenius: ‘Anything that starts a fire in you is the stuff of life’

Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker are three of the best – and most obsessed-over – songwriters today. Ahead of a debut album together, they explain why they go to group therapy

Earlier this year, the three members of Boygenius – Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus – signed up for a run of group therapy sessions. The year ahead was freighted with the band’s debut album release and extensive touring, and it seemed wise to guard against the dangers that had undone so many other bands before them. “Prophylactic therapy,” as Baker calls it.

As solo artists, Baker (27), Bridgers (28) and Dacus (27) inspire a level of devotion that borders on zealotry – drawing frenzied audiences, spawning memes and tabloid gossip. They are queer-identifying, vocal about issues from abortion to trans rights to colonialism, while their songwriting, which tends to be smart, introspective and somewhat melancholic, has handed each of them the peculiar charge of articulating the feelings of a generation.

A shopping guide to the best … pendant necklaces

Whether chunky, dazzling or elegant, pendants make a focal point for any outfit

Evil eye and smiley face pendant, £210, by Crystal Haze from matchesfashion.com

‘Like a war zone’: Congress hears of China’s abuses in Xinjiang ‘re-education camps’

Two women tell of witnessing or experiencing torture and brainwashing, as Republicans and Democrats vow to document ‘genocide’

Two women who say they experienced and escaped Chinese “re-education camps” have provided first-hand testimony to members of the US Congress, giving harrowing detail while imploring Americans not to look away from what the US has declared a continuing genocide of Muslim ethnic minorities.

Testifying before a special House committee at the beginning of Ramadan, Gulbahar Haitiwaji, a Uyghur woman, said that during her nearly three years in internment camps and police stations, prisoners were subjected to 11 hours of “brainwashing education” each day. It included singing patriotic songs and praising the Chinese government before and after meals.

Majority of trans adults are happier after transitioning, survey finds

Washington Post and KFF study found 78% of respondents said living as different gender from birth increased satisfaction in life

A large majority of transgender adults say that transitioning has made them more satisfied with their life, according to a new survey.

The survey conducted by the Washington Post and KFF is the largest nongovernmental survey of transgender adults that uses random samplings.

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones cagey on reported bid to lure NRL star Joseph Suaalii

• Reports Rugby Australia have made $1.6m offer for 2025
• 19-year-old was a schoolboy rugby star before moving to NRL

Wallabies coach Eddie Jones has dodged questions about Joseph Suaalii amid reports Rugby Australia has lured the rugby league star to the 15-man code from 2025 on a $1.6m contract.

An elite rugby talent in his junior years, Suaalii re-signed with the NRL’s Sydney Roosters through to 2024 earlier this month after starring for Samoa during last year’s Rugby League World Cup in England.

US strikes Iran-backed group in Syria after deadly attack on coalition base

A US contractor was killed when a suspected Iranian-made drone struck base in Syria’s north-east

The United States has carried out airstrikes on an Iran-backed group in Syria, after a US contractor was killed when a suspected Iranian-made drone attacked a coalition base in the country’s north-east.

Five US service members and one other US contractor were wounded in the attack on the coalition base on Thursday, the Pentagon said. Two of the wounded service members were treated on site, while three others and the injured contractor were transported to medical facilities in Iraq.

A team of vets, four ‘kumki’ and one tranquilliser dart: the plan to capture Kerala’s marauding elephant

Known as ‘Rice Tusker’ for his insatiable hunger, the 30-year-old pachyderm has been terrorising the Indian region for years

The trail of destruction left by an elephant in Kerala could finally come to an end on Sunday as a crack team of experts plan to capture him.

The team of 71 vets, forest officers and field workers have identified a specific spot among the wooded hills in Idukki district where Arikompan – which means the Rice Tusker, because of his love for rice – comes every couple of days to cool off in water.

Ed Sheeran: Eyes Closed review – the most unradical of reinventions

(Asylum/Atlantic)
Teaming with Taylor Swift’s recent producer, Aaron Dessner of the National, Sheeran strips things back – but only a little, and the chorus of this new single is as insistent as ever

Earlier this week, on a day when the former prime minister of the UK faced the House of Commons privileges committee in a hearing that could theoretically end his political career, one tabloid newspaper decided that the biggest story of the day was that Ed Sheeran no longer takes drugs (an admission he’d made during a lengthy interview with the US Rolling Stone magazine). That perhaps tells you something about said paper’s political allegiances and news values, but it also tells you something about Ed Sheeran: 12 years after his album + catapulted him into the mainstream consciousness in no uncertain terms – it ended up in the UK’s bestselling albums of the year chart for eight years in a row – he’s still an exceptionally big deal, big enough that a tabloid newspaper can just about get away with filleting a few quotes from a magazine feature and sticking them on the front page as a distraction tactic.

Times have changed, so have tastes – sweeping away a lot of the Sheeran-alikes that did good business in the wake of his initial success – but the definite article’s popularity seems almost impregnable. Carping voices, of which there are many whenever Sheeran’s name is mentioned, might point to the fact that his last album, =, didn’t sell as well in the US as its predecessors, but such things are very relative indeed: it went straight to No 1 there, sold 1.3m copies in 2021 alone and spawned five platinum or multi-platinum singles. Faced with failures that profitable, even the aforementioned carping voices might be forced to admit that Sheeran clearly has something the public want: a knack of writing songs that get under millions of skins, an innate understanding of mass taste, a formula for success.

Hong Kong department store removes artwork with hidden ‘political content’

Patrick Amadon, whose work flashed up names from pro-democracy protests, says it had to be taken down ‘to be a completed piece’

A Hong Kong department store took down a digital artwork that contained hidden references to jailed free-speech defenders, in an incident the artist says is evidence the of erosion of free speech by Chinese authorities.

Patrick Amadon’s No Rioters was put on display on a billboard at the huge Sogo Causeway Bay store as the city was promoting itself as a cultural hub following years of pandemic travel restrictions. Art Basel Hong Kong, a prominent art fair in Asia, began this week, alongside other art events.

Trafficked: the closed door – part 2 | podcast

Julia, a Ukrainian woman who escaped modern slavery in the UK, tells the journalist Annie Kelly about the years she was shipped between brothels

After seven months in the UK, Julia has not been able to pay off her debts to the traffickers or send any money to her daughter.

She tries to leave the hotel work, applying for other jobs, but is refused because she does not have any documents. She responds to an advert for a job that says no documents are required. It is for a brothel in Slough.

Utah bans under-18s from using social media unless parents consent

Governor signs law putting restrictions on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and other platforms, including requiring them not to get minors addicted

The governor of Utah, Spencer Cox, has signed sweeping social media legislation requiring explicit parental permissions for anyone under 18 to use platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook. He also signed a bill prohibiting social media companies from employing techniques that could cause minors to develop an “addiction” to the platforms.

The former is the first state law in the US prohibiting social media services from allowing access to minors without parental consent. The state’s Republican-controlled legislature passed both bills earlier this month, despite opposition from civil liberties groups.

‘City killer’ asteroid to pass harmlessly between Earth and moon

Rare close encounter will occur this weekend, when the space rock will be visible through binoculars and small telescopes

An asteroid big enough to wipe out a city will pass harmlessly between Earth and the moon’s orbit this weekend, missing both, while providing scientists a chance to study the object close up.

Asteroid flybys are common but Nasa said it was rare for one so big to come so close and that events like this occurred only about once a decade. Scientists estimate its size to be somewhere between 40 and 90 metres in diameter.

Russia-Ukraine war at a glance: what we know on day 394 of the invasion

Zelenskiy asks EU leaders for more long-range weapons; Medvedev says Moscow’s relations with the west are at an all-time low

• See all our Ukraine coverage

TikTok CEO grilled for over five hours on China, drugs and teen mental health

Shou Zi Chew attempts to play down concerns over data and privacy as lawmakers call for ban on Chinese-owned app

The chief executive of TikTok, Shou Zi Chew, was forced to defend his company’s relationship with China, as well as the protections for its youngest users, at a testy congressional hearing on Thursday that came amid a bipartisan push to ban the app entirely in the US over national security concerns.

The hearing marked the first ever appearance before US lawmakers by a TikTok chief executive, and a rare public outing for the 4o-year-old Chew, who has remained largely out of the limelight as the social network’s popularity soars. TikTok now boasts tens of millions of US users, but lawmakers have long held concerns over China’s control over the app, which Chew repeatedly tried to assuage throughout the hearing. “Let me state this unequivocally: ByteDance is not an agent of China or any other country,” Chew said in Thursday’s testimony.

Harry Kane completes cycle of England hotshots with goals record | Barney Ronay

Forward now sits at the top of a golden seam of main men after goal in Naples – and his mark of 54 goals will be difficult to beat

There was an agreeable note of pantomime when the moment came for Harry Kane. Goalscoring records don’t matter, perhaps, or shouldn’t matter, are just numbers in the book. And yet of course they do matter, not least in international football, with its sense of duty and history and ritual.

And somehow it always seemed likely Kane would get his chance to take that England record in this wonderful mini-epic of a qualifier, with England just about holding on to take a thrilling 2-1 victory.

Bayern Munich sack Julian Nagelsmann and prepare to appoint Thomas Tuchel

• German giants act swiftly after weekend defeat at Leverkusen
• Former Chelsea manager Tuchel set to take on Manchester City

The former Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel is in line to take over at Bayern Munich after Julian Nagelsmann was sacked by the Bavarian giants on Thursday night.

Nagelsmann, 35, has lost his job after a poor run of form which culminated in a 2-1 defeat at Bayer Leverkusen last Sunday which cost Bayern top spot in the Bundesliga going into the international break.

Bordeaux city hall set on fire amid nationwide protests against French pension changes

Largely peaceful protests are marred by outbreaks of violence as unions claim 3.5 million turned out, while authorities put number at just over 1 million

Emmanuel Macron felt the full force of French anger on Thursday as protesters gathered across the country to demonstrate their opposition to the pension age being raised from 62 to 64.

Unions claimed 3.5 million people turned out across the country, while the authorities suggested the figure was much lower, at just under 1.1 million.

BBC will not resume filming Top Gear series after Flintoff crash investigation

‘Judgment about how best to continue’ with motoring show will come after health and safety review

The BBC has said it will not resume filming the latest series of Top Gear after co-presenter former England cricket captain Andrew “Freddie” Flintoff was injured in a crash last year.

The broadcaster said there will be a health and safety review on the motoring show, which has been running in its current iteration for 21 years.

Lidia Thorpe’s treatment at anti-trans rally ‘disturbing and concerning’, Linda Burney says

Independent senator was pulled to the ground by Australian federal police in front of Parliament House

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The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, says an incident in which senator Lidia Thorpe was knocked to the ground, apparently by an Australian federal police officer, while protesting against an anti-trans rights rally was “disturbing and concerning”.

On Thursday Thorpe was pulled to the ground after she rushed towards a lectern at which anti-trans activist Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull was addressing a small crowd of supporters outside Australian Parliament House in Canberra.

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Key takeaways from TikTok hearing in Congress – and the uncertain road ahead

Lawmakers grilled the social media app’s CEO over its relationship with China and protections for young users

The first appearance in Congress for TikTok’s CEO Shou Zi Chew stretched more than five hours, with contentious questioning targeting the app’s relationship with China and protections for its youngest users.

Chew’s appearance comes at a pivotal time for TikTok, which is facing bipartisan fire after experiencing a meteoric rise in popularity in recent years. The company is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, raising concerns about China’s influence over the app – criticisms Chew repeatedly tried to resist throughout the hearing.

Inside Taiwan: Standing Up to China review – a gripping analysis of potential nuclear Armageddon

This documentary showcases Taiwanese citizens paying to train at private military camps, national service surging and the island stockpiling weapons. Will China really spark war?

The knife-maker of Kinmen island, Wu Tseng-dong, has an unusual business model. When he was a boy, in the 1950s, he witnessed explosive shells – launched from the Chinese mainland two miles away – falling on his birthplace. As he explains: “479,000 rounds were fired in 44 days. We lived in fear.” Little did Wu Tseng-dong know then, but the People’s Liberation Army was supplying him with the raw material for his future livelihood: today he makes knives from those shells to sell to tourists from the mainland.

Reporter Jane Corbin’s gripping analysis of rising tensions between the People’s Republic of China (capital: Beijing; leader: Xi Jinping; population: 1.4 billion) and the Republic of China (capital: Taipei; current leader: Tsai Ing-wen; population: 23 million) examines the possibility of history not just repeating itself, but of tensions escalating so far as to cause the return to geopolitical discourse of that quaint old term, nuclear Armageddon. In this scenario, Beijing bombards not just the little island of Kinmen (slightly bigger than Bute), but Taiwan itself (roughly the size of Switzerland), in order to reunify China. But it thereby embroils the US, provoking a worldwide conflict that would, so far as I understand it, depress global economic growth predictions even more than the coronavirus pandemic.

Families of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira decry ‘shameful’ trial delays

Poor internet and logistical problems frustrate hearing into killing of British journalist and Brazilian Indigenous expert

Activists and lawyers representing the families of Dom Phillips and Bruno Pereira have voiced frustration and anger after the preliminary court hearings of three of their alleged murderers had to be suspended because of poor internet and logistical problems at the high-security prisons where the defendants are being held.

Three of the suspected killers of the British journalist and Brazilian Indigenous specialist were scheduled to give evidence from behind bars this week during partly online hearings that are expected to pave the way for a jury trial, possibly in the second half of this year.

Premier League player on bail amid rape allegations investigated for third offence

• Player questioned again in February over new allegation
• Bail was recently extended until July

The Premier League footballer currently on bail amid two allegations of rape is being investigated for a third alleged sexual offence.

It has emerged that the player, whose bail was recently extended until July, was interviewed by the Metropolitan police last month. “In February 2023, the man was interviewed under caution for a sexual offence alleged to have taken place in Barnet in February 2022,” a statement from the force read. “This relates to a third victim and was reported to police in July 2022.” An investigation is understood to be ongoing.

Scores arrested on Israeli day of protest as parliament passes judicial changes

At least 75 people held across country on ‘day of disruption’ as Knesset approves law designed to protect Netanyahu

Israel’s two-month-old protest movement took to the streets for a “day of disruption” as the parliament passed the first part of the hardline government’s controversial judicial changes into law.

The legislation, designed to protect the position of the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, was approved early on Thursday, after a heated all-night debate, by 61 votes to 47 – the minimum majority required.

Police and pizza but no perp walk as New York waits for Trump indictment

A week that began with a bang fizzled out as grand jury unlikely to deliver verdict in hush money payment case until next week

Over the weekend Donald Trump set off an international maelstrom of media attention when he announced he would be “arrested on Tuesday”.

Like so many of Trump’s certain proclamations, it proved to be throughly wrong, and the grand jury weighing whether to charge Trump over payments to an adult film star is now unlikely to deliver its verdict until next week.

Partygate: Johnson should reject any finding that he broke rules, say allies

Former PM should refuse to accept outcome if privileges committee rules he knowingly misled MPs, say supporters

Boris Johnson should refuse to accept the outcome of the privileges committee investigation if it concludes that he intentionally misled the Commons over the Partygate scandal, his allies have said.

Some of the former prime minister’s supporters believe he should reject the cross-party group’s findings if they decide, based on written evidence and a fractious three-and-a-half-hour evidence session on Wednesday, that he broke strict parliamentary rules.

Russian accused of smuggling military tech escapes house arrest in Italy

Artem Uss broke electronic tag and went on run a day after court agreed to hand him over to US authorities

A Russian national accused of smuggling military technology has escaped house arrest a day after an Italian court agreed to hand him over to US authorities.

Italian authorities said Artem Uss, who was detained at Milan’s Malpensa airport on an international arrest warrant last October, broke his court-ordered electronic bracelet and left his house in Cascina Vione di Basiglio in the province of Milan.

World Athletics Council excludes transgender women from female events

• Ruling applies to athletes who have transitioned after puberty
• Levels of permitted plasma testosterone also reduced by half

World Athletics has voted to ban transgender women from elite female competitions if they have undergone male puberty, in a decision the governing body said had been taken to “protect the future of the female category”.

Speaking after the ruling, which comes into effect on 31 March, the World Athletics president, Seb Coe, accepted that the decision would be contentious but said his sport had been guided by the “overarching principle” of fairness, as well as the science around physical performance and male advantage.

The people of Northern Ireland want their assembly back. The DUP must not be allowed to block that | Simon Jenkins

A health and cost of living crisis is causing real problems that must be addressed. Democracy cannot be hamstrung any longer

Nothing in Boris Johnson’s post-Downing Street antics has been more cynical than his dodging from the privileges committee hearing on Wednesday to vote against Rishi Sunak’s Windsor framework. That reform was a hard-won attempt to rescue and reorder Johnson’s own hard-Brexit shambles. The least he could do was say thank you and shut up.

Fleeing to Northern Ireland’s extremist wilderness has long appealed to Britain’s political rejects. It offered a bunker to FE Smith and Enoch Powell. If Uxbridge now drops Johnson as its MP, Antrim will doubtless make him an offer, from whose cliffs he can rant and conspire against colleagues to his heart’s content. But the damage done by Brexit to the vexed politics of Northern Ireland does not end there. As its trade protocol sinks below the horizon, Churchill’s “dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone” are emerging once more in its place.

‘We are losing debates’: combustion engine row divides Germany’s coalition

Green party accuses FDP of gambling away country’s reputation after last-minute blocking of phase-out from 2035

A clash over climate protection measures is threatening to unravel Germany’s three-party governing alliance, after the Green party accused its liberal coalition partners of gambling away the country’s reputation by blocking a EU-wide phase-out of internal combustion engines in cars.

“You can’t have a coalition of progress where only one party is in charge of progress and the others try to stop the progress,” the country’s vice-chancellor and economy minister, Robert Habeck, said at a meeting of the Green party’s parliamentary group in Weimar on Tuesday.

Manchester United bid chaos leads to growing fears Glazers may not sell

• There is a concern Glazers are trying to create leverage for loan
• Elliott Management bid for ‘small amount of common equity’

Concerns are growing among some parties involved in the Manchester United sale that the Glazers might have “played them for months” - and instead of selling the club they would prefer to either push up the price to create leverage for a loan, or offload a minority stake to a hedge fund.

The latest plot twist came on a day where parties were told that the deadline for the second round of bidding would now be 4pm UK time on Friday - having been pushed back from Wednesday night - and US hedge fund Elliott Management confirmed that it had made an offer for United, but only for a “small amount of common equity”.

Is this the last hurrah for the Boris Johnson circus? Even Tory MPs really hope so | Katy Balls

Diehards remain, but most just don’t want a byelection that would propel the disgraced former PM back into the limelight

The four hours of evidence from Boris Johnson before the Commons privileges committee over Partygate held little in the way of surprises. With much of the witness testimony published in advance, there was no new smoking gun. Instead, there were plenty of tetchy exchanges as Johnson butted heads with the seven-strong committee of MPs. At times, it felt as though they were speaking past each other.

The reaction, too, was broadly as expected. The former prime minister’s detractors have been quick to seize on his comments as evidence of his reckless dishonesty and unsuitability for office. Meanwhile, Johnson’s most enthusiastic supporters offered a rather more optimistic interpretation – heralding the marathon session as a triumph for their man. Former cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg declared: “Boris is doing very well against the marsupials.” Other core Johnson MP backers joined in – tweeting their confidence that the former leader would be “exonerated”.

Dredge review – horrors lurk in the deep in this eldritch fishing game

PC, Xbox, PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch; Black Salt Games/Team17
Plumbing the depths of our fear of the ocean, this clever and compelling video game will suck you in for hours at a time

Heading out as the sun rises in a battered old fishing boat, everything seems peaceful. The vessel can’t go far, but there are mackerel and cod within easy reach of the port and its lighthouse; I’m warned not to stay out after dark as the rocks can be treacherous, looming suddenly out of the dark and crashing against the hull. After a couple of days, though, I catch something that’s … wrong, a mess of scales curled around a repulsively enormous single eye. The fishmonger’s face betrays a disturbing glee when I hand it over to him, then falls as he holds the oceanic aberration to his ear to hear its whispers. He shoves me from his shop before barring the door.

Dredge plumbs the depths of our instinctive fear of the ocean and the unseen things that waft around down there in the dark. It’s a clever, compelling fishing adventure game with an eldritch twist; you upgrade your boat, nets and rods, venture out further to catch different fish and encounter creatures in the night that make you want to drop the controller in disgust. Sometimes the overarching horror story feels barely there, as you go about your business selling your catch and saving for a hull expansion; other times, when you’re caught out in the dark miles from a dock and starting to see things, it feels oppressively present.

Henry Rollins: ‘I wouldn’t go back on stage with a band for anything’

The writer, actor and legendary punk musician answers your questions on working with William Shatner and Al Pacino, the joy of lifting weights and Leeds’ best onion bhajis

As a music obsessive, why have you stepped back from making it? The GingerNinja
I stopped processing ideas in terms of lyrics. One day, I woke up and thought: “I’m done.” My manager flipped out, but I’ve never looked back. I didn’t want to become a human jukebox playing old songs, so I filled the space the band took with films and TV and now my shows, my radio show and writing. At this point, I wouldn’t go back on stage with a band for anything.

Jingle Bells with William Shatner is a fantastic song. Are there any future music collaborations on the horizon? Shivermetimbersnow
Bill called and said: “Henry, I really want you to be on this song with me.” I said: “Bill, for you, anything.” We’d done a song before. He’s just fun to work with. It was the same with the Flaming Lips in 2009. They’re people I know, but, generally, I’ve hung up my shield and sword.

I’m a little over 50 and in a long-term situationship. How might I change the situation? Or leave? | Leading questions

It can be difficult to realise when to give up hope in a relationship, but at a certain point you might have to, writes advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith

I’m a little over 50 and have been in a long-term “situationship” with a man a little older than I am. Mostly it’s fine, and useful on a practical level, but I often find myself confused and hurt over emotional matters and not being included in his life outside of his house.

A recent birthday outing, which I was not invited to, has brought into focus how I am not his partner. He is old enough to be of a different generation to me and seems unable to discuss feelings, commitment or anything of that nature. When I try to say what I feel and need, this is met with silence, a change of subject or if I push, anger.

Rahul Gandhi found guilty of defaming Narendra Modi

Indian opposition leader accused of implying prime minister was a criminal in remark made in 2019

A court in India has found the opposition leader Rahul Gandhi guilty of defamation for a remark implying the country’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, was a criminal.

On Thursday, Gandhi, 52, was sentenced to two years in prison but was granted bail after his lawyers announced their intention to appeal.

Ron DeSantis forced into U-turn after calling Ukraine war ‘territorial dispute’

Likely Republican contender for White House says remark was ‘mischaracterised’ but calls Vladimir Putin a war criminal

Ron DeSantis has reversed his position on Ukraine, after facing widespread criticism for calling the Russian invasion a “territorial dispute”.

Speaking to Fox Nation in an interview to be broadcast in full on Thursday, the Florida governor and probable contender for the Republican presidential nomination said his “territorial dispute” remark had been “mischaracterised”.

‘I’m punished again and again’: father barred from UK fights to get home to his son

Case of Siyabonga Twala, who is stuck in Ankara, highlights justice system’s disproportionate impact on black men

It is raining heavily as Siyabonga Twala trudges down the steep pavement that leads from the British embassy in Ankara. In a soft Cheshire accent, he says: “I don’t mind when it rains, it feels like home, like.”

For almost three months, walking around Turkey’s capital has been the only way to keep his mind and body busy while wondering if he will ever come home to his British son and family.

Dining across the divide: ‘I thought I was going to meet an awful Tory – but it was wonderful, we swapped numbers’

One is centre-right, the other a socialist. They disagreed on Thatcherism and nuclear weapons, but will being part of the same LGTBQ+ community save the day?

James, 45, Billericay, Essex

Occupation Marketing consultant

My biggest regret: I had tickets to a secret Prince gig – but was too tired to go

My wife and I had young kids, and we would have had to consume our body weight in Red Bull to stay awake. I still wish we had

It all started with an email from my friend Matt: “Prince is playing a secret gig at Koko in Camden. Tickets on sale at 10am.” Attending a secret gig had always been top of my bucket list. I’d come close once, when I turned up late to a mid-90s club night to discover that Philly rap legends the Roots had just finished playing an impromptu set. I was gutted. So when I got Matt’s email, I knew what I had to do: get tickets for my wife and me, book a train to London from Birmingham, find a hotel, and wrangle a grandparent to look after our two kids, who were then four and seven months old. With that sorted, we could do a leisurely hop down to London and have a power nap in our hotel, before heading off to see Prince and party like it was … well … 2007.

That was the plan.

A beach mystery, a much-loved drummer and chatbots galore – take the Thursday quiz

Fifteen questions on general knowledge and topical trivia, plus a centenary celebration poem written by AI. How will you fare?

Today is the 100th edition of the Guardian Thursday quiz, and to honour this great event we asked ChatGPT to write a celebratory centenary poem about it. Here it is.

On Thursday’s eve, a challenge begins,
A quiz that’s tricky, full of twists and grins,
From politics to culture, and all in between,
The Guardian’s quiz, a true mental scene.

With a love for the game, and a mind that’s keen,
We’ll tackle the quiz, like a true trivia machine,
And as we finish, with a sigh of relief,
We’ll feel accomplished, and filled with belief.

Tech guru Jaron Lanier: ‘The danger isn’t that AI destroys us. It’s that it drives us insane’

The godfather of virtual reality has worked beside the web’s visionaries and power-brokers – but likes nothing more than to show the flaws of technology. He discusses how we can make AI work for us, how the internet takes away choice – and why he would ban TikTok

Jaron Lanier, the godfather of virtual reality and the sage of all things web, is nicknamed the Dismal Optimist. And there has never been a time we’ve needed his dismal optimism more. It’s hard to read an article or listen to a podcast these days without doomsayers telling us we’ve pushed our luck with artificial intelligence, our hubris is coming back to haunt us and robots are taking over the world. There are stories of chatbots becoming best friends, declaring their love, trying to disrupt stable marriages, and threatening chaos on a global scale.

Is AI really capable of outsmarting us and taking over the world? “OK! Well, your question makes no sense,” Lanier says in his gentle sing-song voice. “You’ve just used the set of terms that to me are fictions. I’m sorry to respond that way, but it’s ridiculous … it’s unreal.” This is the stuff of sci-fi movies such as The Matrix and Terminator, he says.

From Bush to Blix: what happened to the key figures in the Iraq war?

The ex-president is a painter, his VP an avid fly fisher, while Tony Blair has built a property empire. They appear unrepentant

US president who ordered invasion of Iraq has turned to painting

Why women are leading the Iranian protests – video

While the news of Mahsa Amini's death in police custody in September 2022 sparked protests across Iran, it is not the first time Iranian women and girls have been at the forefront of revolution. 

The significant gains for women's rights under the dictator Reza Shah Pahlavi all but disappeared in the 1979 Islamic revolution. But some of the powerful ways women are protesting now have their roots in Iran's rich history.

We explore how these cultural and historical contexts inform Iranian women's leading role in the current protests

Why Dominion is already the winner of the $1.6bn lawsuit against Fox News

Messages proving network hosts and executives knew what they were saying was false and ‘reckless’ are now on record forever

As Fox News continued to broadcast lies about Dominion voting systems and the 2020 election, Tucker Carlson, one of its star hosts used one word over and over to describe what the network was doing – “reckless”.

Those messages were the first pieces of evidence Justin Nelson, a lawyer representing Dominion, displayed on Tuesday as he began his argument for why a judge should rule the network defamed his client. “Reckless was a meaningful word” – in order to win the case, Nelson has to prove that Fox acted with “actual malice” – that its hosts, producers and executives knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard to the truth.

Drag, punk, horror! Blacklips Performance Cult – in pictures

Earthquakes! Nuclear waste! Thatcher impersonations! In the midst of New York’s Aids crisis, a cabal of artists, drag queens and punks formed an extraordinary theatre collective

Cargo ships powered by wind could help tackle climate crisis

Shipping produces much of the world’s greenhouse gases but new technology offers solutions to cut fuel use

Cars, trucks and planes get plenty of blame for helping drive the climate crisis, but shipping produces a large portion of the world’s greenhouse gases, as well as nitrogen oxides and sulphur pollution because ships largely use cheap heavy fuel oil.

It’s been a struggle to clean up the shipping industry but one solution is to use wind-powered ships. That may seem like going back to the days of the Cutty Sark, but new hi-tech wind-propulsion can be fitted to existing ships to cut fuel use, supplying between 10% and 90% of a ship’s power needs, depending on where on the ocean they are and which weather patterns they harness. Wind is free, blows harder at sea than on land and weather-routing software uses sophisticated algorithms to plot the fastest and most fuel-efficient voyage.

‘You’ve never eaten a banana?!’ 10 writers face their fiercest – and strangest – food fears

Whether it’s the smell, the texture or the emotional associations, something has kept our guinea pigs away from everyday dishes such as hard-boiled eggs and shepherd’s pie. How traumatic will those first mouthfuls be?

It’s not because they look phallic, OK? There is nothing Freudian or weird about the fact that I have spent my life recoiling at the sight of a banana. My banana aversion has nothing to do with me being gay. I like cucumbers! I like courgettes! I have no problem with phallic produce.

‘It took me a few days to work up the courage’ … Arwa with the dreaded fruit. Photograph: courtesy of Arwa Mahdawi

Trafficked: the trap – part one

The story of a Ukrainian woman who escaped modern slavery in the UK. Annie Kelly reports

Julia remembers the moment when a lorry driver pointed at a compartment behind his seat and told her to get in.

“He starts screaming at me ‘quickly go here’ and he looks at me and I remember I didn’t know what to think,” Julia tells journalist Annie Kelly, editor of the Rights and Freedom project.

Ramadan starts for Muslims around the world – in pictures

Around one quarter of the world’s population expected to observe the Islamic holy month and many will fast from sunrise to sunset

• When is Ramadan and who takes part in fasting?

UN warns of ‘draining humanity’s lifeblood’ amid worsening water scarcity

Secretary general urges countries to tackle ‘vampiric overconsumption’, water guzzling industries and climate crisis

The United Nations opened its first water conference in almost half a century in New York on Wednesday, with a plea for countries to work together to tackle overconsumption, water guzzling industries and the climate crisis – or else face more hunger, conflicts and forced migration due to worsening water scarcity.

A quarter of the world’s population still does not have access to safe drinking water while half lacks basic sanitation, and despite some progress in recent years, the climate crisis is making the situation worse.

Dieselgate: millions of ‘extremely’ polluting cars still on Europe’s roads, says report

The research group that first exposed the scandal say ‘it’s not over’ and that governments must act

Thirteen million diesel cars producing “extreme” levels of toxic air pollution are still on the roads in Europe and the UK, according to a report, seven years after the Dieselgate scandal first exploded.

The non-profit research group, the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), revealed in 2015 that many diesel cars were highly polluting, emitting far more nitrogen oxides on the road than in official testing. The scandal led to a more rigorous test being introduced in the EU in 2019.

Boris Johnson asked whether bottles of alcohol 'necessary for work event' – video

Questioned by the SNP MP Allan Dorans over a picture showing several bottles of alcohol at an event in Downing Street on 14 January 2021, when a strict Covid lockdown was in place, the former prime minister said it was 'customary to say farewell to people in this country with a toast' and that he had not seen 'any sign of drunkenness or excess'. Johnson was speaking during a lengthy evidence session of the privileges select committee

• Boris Johnson told during grilling by MPs that assurances he relied on during Partygate scandal were ‘flimsy’ – live
  
• Boris Johnson tries to draw Rishi Sunak into Partygate scandal
  

Decline of more than 500 species of marine life on Australian reefs ‘the tip of the iceberg’, study finds

Increasing ocean temperatures present ‘existential threat’ with knock-on effects for ecosystems and commercial fisheries, researchers say

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More than 500 common species of fish, seaweed, coral and invertebrates that live on reefs around Australia have declined in the past decade, a study has found, as experts warn “not all is well in the ocean”.

Global heating was likely the main driver of the falls, with marine heatwaves and a rise in ocean temperatures hitting species that live on rocky and coral reefs.

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Milošević finally stood trial at The Hague – and Vladimir Putin isn’t above the law either | Steve Crawshaw

An indictment doesn’t necessarily lead to an early trial, but the Russian leader should still be suffering sleepless nights

The announcement by the international criminal court (ICC) of an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin is historically significant. In some ways, it was always inevitable: this is Putin’s illegal war of aggression, after all. But few inside or outside Ukraine believed it would happen so soon.

There are obvious questions about the practicalities of delivering Putin to the court – how, where, when? (Answers: with difficulty; who knows; and not soon.) But the essential rationale is undeniable. Holding senior political and military leaders to account is exactly what the ICC was set up for, 25 years ago. If not Putin, who?

‘It’s half of what was shot at us’: Kharkiv’s Russian missile cemetery

Rows of munition debris lie at heart of Ukrainian efforts to build criminal cases against Russian commanders

• Russia-Ukraine war – latest news updates

During the first few months of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the cruise missiles fired by Moscow at its neighbour remained embedded for days at a time in the buildings and streets of the north-eastern province Kharkiv.

Then, one by one, officials working for Ukrainian prosecutors recovered, registered and catalogued them, before moving them to a fenced-off area in an industrial district of Kharkiv city that has become known as the “missile cemetery”. More than 1,000 explosives and the debris of rockets are lined up in rows, covering an area half the size of a football field.

900 hours at the piano! Designing Elton John’s final tour – in pictures

The UK leg of the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour begins on 23 March. Ray Winkler from the team behind the show’s stage design reveals the many years of planning for the pop legend’s big swan song

Switzerland’s national pride dealt heavy blow by the merger of its banking titans

‘A monster is born’, say local press, as Credit Suisse takeover by UBS creates bank twice the size of the Swiss economy

Outside Zurich central station, monsters snap at the feet of modern Switzerland’s founding father. The towering statue of the 19th-century industrialist Alfred Escher used to symbolise Switzerland’s calm and stability amid geopolitical storms: his back to the railway whose expansion he masterminded, his face turned to Paradeplatz square and the bank he created to finance his ventures.

But after days of turmoil that upended old certainties about the Alpine republic, it is the two snarling dragon gargoyles, restrained by chains, that ominously sum up the state of the nation.

‘I became their surrogate granddaughter!’: my life with Jewish retirees – in pictures

Photographer Naomi Harris was just 26 when she moved into a Florida hotel for senior citizens – and found a community defined by friendship, frugality and survival

‘Most are unaware’: film highlights Germany’s genocidal past in Namibia

Director hopes to educate Germans about ‘brutal’ colonial history of mass killings in early 20th century

It was one of the darkest eras in German history, and the first genocide of the 20th century: the mass killing of tens of thousands of people in German South West Africa after a rebellion against colonial rule by the Herero and Nama tribes.

More than 100 years later, a feature film about the violence perpetrated by Germany in what is now Namibia explores that brutal colonial past for the first time. Its director hopes Measures of Men will bring the calamitous episode to the attention of ordinary Germans.

Britain’s biggest police force is racist, sexist, and homophobic - can it change? – podcast

A landmark report into the Metropolitan police says discrimination is ‘baked in’ and trust in the force has plummeted. Is it worth trying to fix?

It’s been called one of the darkest days in the Metropolitan police force’s history. The Casey report into the force has finally been published – and it is scathing. The Met, created in 1829, was judged to be not only institutionally racist – as found by the Macpherson report back in 1999 – but also institutionally sexist and homophobic too, according to the report.

In more than 300 damning pages, the report details how women and girls have been let down, the “toxic” culture of specialist firearms unit and why public trust is in tatters. Casey outlines how violence against women has been de-prioritised and discrimination is “baked in” to the system.

French government survives no-confidence votes amid protests – video

The French government has survived two votes of no confidence but Emmanuel Macron continues to face protests and strikes over his decision to use executive powers to push through an unpopular rise in the pension age. Although the prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, avoided having to instantly resign, the president remains under pressure to break his silence and shore up the government amid growing anger in the streets. Opposition politicians in parliament accused him of arrogance, denying democracy and failing to learn from the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) anti-government protest movement four years ago

• The headline of this article was amended on 21 March 2023 to clarify that it is the French government that survived the no-confidence votes, not Emmanuel Macron as an earlier version said.

• French government survives no-confidence votes amid protests
  
• French government faces no-confidence votes over Macron pension plans
  

'What is that?': mysterious streaks of light seen in California sky – video

St Patrick's Day revellers were surprised by mysterious streaks of light in the sky on Friday night, with footage posted to social media showing the eerie sight in the Sacramento area. Astronomer Jonathan McDowell told the Associated Press he was 99.9% confident the streaks of light were from burning space debris 

Difficult periods: why are so many of us suffering in silence?

With prejudice, lack of education and shame still surrounding menstruation, Catriona Harvey-Jenner explores how society can remove the taboos

“Too graphic.” “Unnecessary.” “Degrading.” These were just some of the words littered among the 798 complaints received by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) in 2022 for the #periodsomnia advert from the intimate hygiene brand Bodyform.

The perceived issue? It depicted period blood on the sheets. But who’s going to tell these grumblers that this is *whispers* … normal? And actually, some people’s periods are a lot harder going.

Bladder leakage? You’re not alone – here’s what to do

It’s time to ditch the shame around urinary incontinence – a condition that affects millions. Here, we share a few simple ways to help tackle it

In recent years, stigma and discrimination around conditions such as mental health and the menopause, for example, have thankfully lessened. But for conditions such as urinary incontinence, shame and embarrassment are still pervasive, with many finding the topic taboo and difficult to talk about. With millions of people in the UK experiencing incontinence issues – it’s estimated at around 14 million in total, including men, women and children, and 400 million globally – it’s important we’re able to open up the conversation and seek practical solutions and treatment, instead of resigning ourselves to go through it in silence.

Living with lymphedema: ‘There’s a real lack of knowledge about it’

Catherine Renton was diagnosed with the lymphatic system condition seven years ago. Here, she shares her journey

I was diagnosed with lymphedema in 2016 at the age of 34, a rare side effect of inflammatory arthritis that causes joint swelling, stiffness, skin redness and pain. I was already struggling with arm and hand movement from arthritis when, one day, I noticed my left arm was noticeably bigger than my right arm. I sought medical help, worried that this wasn’t just excess fluid under my skin but something more serious. Thankfully, an examination and tests ruled out anything sinister, but I wasn’t aware of how much of an impact lymphedema would have on my life.

I naively thought the swelling in my arm and discomfort was temporary or that treatment would be simple, but I was wrong. I’d been given very little information about the condition, so I made an appointment with my GP to determine the next steps. When I was told that lymphedema could not be cured, only treated, I was in shock. The damage to my lymphatic system, which removes excess fluid from the body, was permanent and could get worse, possibly affecting other body parts in the future.

From periods to pain: five shame-free conversations to have now

Too many common health issues are still seen as ‘taboo’, but suffering in silence is getting us nowhere. Tracy Ramsden explores how having more open conversations can lead to happier lives

When was the last time you talked about incontinence with friends? Or discussed heavy periods with your partner? We’re guessing not recently. Because despite making some positive steps towards supporting our wellbeing, such as speaking more openly about mental health, there are still a number of everyday health issues not being discussed.

Wetting yourself when you laugh, or bleeding through your clothes during a period may not casually come up in conversation, but it’s only by sharing experiences of hidden health conditions that we can truly future-proof our wellbeing. In 2022, Essity – a global hygiene and health company with leading period and intimate care brands such as Bodyform and Modibodi, incontinence brand TENA and compression therapy brand JOBST – conducted a survey, which highlighted how far we still have to go when it comes to talking about trickier matters. Here, we take a look at the results that show why now is the time to get honest.

Tell us: have you been affected by Cyclone Gabrielle in New Zealand?

As New Zealand declares a national state of emergency for only the third time in its history, we want to hear how you have been affected

Cyclone Gabrielle has caused devastation across New Zealand’s North Island. A national state of emergency has been declared, floods have trapped people on roofs and landslides have destroyed homes.

We would like to hear from you if you have been affected by the disaster, and are in a safe place to communicate. Please do not take any unnecessary risks in order to contact us. We would particularly like to hear from those who are in or in contact with those in the areas that appear worst-affected: Northland, Tolaga Bay, Gisborne/Tairāwhiti, west Auckland and Coromandel, but also those affected throughout the country.

How will you remember Pelé?

The three-time World Cup winner has died in Brazil at the age of 82. What is his legacy and what did he mean to you?

Pelé, the only footballer in history to have won three World Cups, has died in hospital in São Paulo at the age of 82. He became a star in 1958, when he scored twice in the World Cup final at the age of 17, and he went on to become an icon of the game, perhaps its greatest ever player. What are your memories of Pelé the man and Pelé the footballer?

Iranians: share your views on the protests following Mahsa Amini’s death

We’d like to hear from people in Iran how they feel about the protests following the death of Mahsa Amini in custody

We’d like to hear how Iranians feel about the protests taking place in Iran after Mahsa Amini’s death in custody in Tehran.

Whether you have witnessed street protests directly or just want to share your views on the situation in Iran, we’re interested to hear from you.

Russians: tell us what you think about Putin’s escalation of war in Ukraine

We would like to hear views and opinions from Russians at this stage of the Russia-Ukraine war

Russia has announced a partial mobilisation in a major escalation that places the country’s people and economy on a wartime footing.

With president Vladimir Putin also threatening nuclear retaliation, we would like to hear from Russians about how ordinary people are reacting to the latest developments in the war on Ukraine.