The Guardian - March 04, 2025

In this issue

March 04, 2025

Ministers to tackle crisis over school special needs

Labour is preparing to overhaul special educational needs provision in English schools as councils raise the alarm over debts running into hundreds of millions of pounds pushing many of them to the brink of bankruptcy.

3 mins

US rift with Ukraine grows as Europe seeks ceasefire

Zelenskyy's comments on truce being 'far away' leave Trump outraged

5 mins

Send deficits Councils at risk of financial collapse as costs rise

The alarming details of the special educational needs financial crisis in English local authorities are buried deep in internal council papers but the reality of the situation is crystal clear to those close to it. \"It's a ticking timebomb,\" one town hall boss told the Guardian. \"It's what keeps me awake at night.\"

2 mins

AI to enforce trial of car-sharing lane on notorious Paris ring road

Authorities in Paris will use artificial intelligence to enforce a new car-sharing lane during rush hour on its notorious ring road as part of efforts to reduce congestion and pollution on one of Europe's busiest motorways.

1 min

Midlife crisis? Youngest years are toughest now, says report

The midlife crisis has been a feature of Western society for more than half a century: fast cars, impulsive decisions and peak misery between the age of 40 and 50. But all that is changing, according to experts.

2 mins

Two people killed and several are injured after car driven into crowds in Mannheim

A car was yesterday rammed into crowds in the centre of the German city of Mannheim, killing two people and injuring several others, casting a shadow over regional carnival festivities.

3 mins

Four out of five school leaders report abuse from parents

Four in five UK school leaders say they have suffered abuse from pupils' parents in the past year, according to a poll that found they had been spat at, trolled on social media and even physically attacked.

1 min

More than half of adults will be overweight by 2050, study says

More than half of adults and a third of children and young people worldwide will be overweight or obese by 2050 which will pose an \"unparalleled threat\" of early death, disease and enormous strain on healthcare systems, a report warns.

2 mins

Starmer: West Must Keep Arming Kyiv To Put Pressure On Moscow

Western countries must keep military aid flowing to Ukraine, Keir Starmer has warned, amid reports that the US president, Donald Trump, is considering stopping US support to Kyiv altogether.

2 mins

Diplomacy Mandelson's comments not UK policy, says minister

Peter Mandelson has been rebuffed for saying Volodymyr Zelenskyy should be more supportive of US peace efforts and that Ukraine should unilaterally call a ceasefire, with a UK defence minister saying this was \"not government policy\".

1 min

Polling Just 4% of Americans back Russia, survey finds

Only 4% of Americans back Russia after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, according to a poll taken before Donald Trump's diplomatic meltdown in the Oval Office on Friday during his meeting with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but a large minority of 44% said they did not support Ukraine either.

1 min

Kherson Russians trying to cross key river before peace talks start, says governor

Russian forces are repeatedly trying to seize a foothold across the Dnipro River in Ukraine, dispatching troops on high-casualty missions to gain territory for future peace negotiations, according to the Ukrainian governor of the Kherson region in the country's south.

3 mins

UK and France at odds on using $350bn Moscow assets to arm Ukraine

Tensions have surfaced between France and the UK over whether $350bn (£275bn) of frozen Russian assets can be seized and then offered to the US to buy US defence equipment, so binding America closer to the defence of Europe.

3 mins

Wałęsa condemns Trump

The former Polish president and Nobel peace prize winner Lech Wałęsa has signed a letter to Donald Trump expressing \"horror and distaste\" at his argument with Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the White House last week.

2 mins

PM's diplomatic moves mark a clear end to post-Brexit era of active EU antagonism

Britain is back. That was the concise verdict of Éléonore Caroit, the vice-chair of the French national assembly's foreign affairs committee. And the optics of Sunday's crisis talks on Ukraine bore this out, with Keir Starmer at the very centre of the leaders' joint photo.

2 mins

Parents to get two weeks of leave after a miscarriage

Parents in Britain will be granted a right to bereavement leave after suffering a miscarriage as part of Labour's reforms of workers' rights, the Guardian can disclose.

1 min

Inquiry hears man was hit with stun gun three times

A man who drowned in the Thames was shot three times with a stun gun by police moments before he fell from Chelsea Bridge, an inquest has heard.

2 mins

Hated by an establishment who saw being popular as almost sinful

In 1992, Jack Vettriano's painting The Singing Butler was rejected by the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.

2 mins

Popular Scottish artist Jack Vettriano discovered dead in France at age of 73

The self-taught Scottish painter Jack Vettriano, who became hugely popular despite being shunned by critics, has been found dead at his apartment in Nice in the south of France, his publicist has said.

2 mins

'Big Toilet Project' seeks parents' help to improve potty training methods

Storybooks about potties, underpants featuring superheroes, rewards for doing a wee: toilet training is a rite of passage for any child.

2 mins

Prada edging towards deal with Capri to buy Versace for £1.2bn

Prada is in talks to buy the Versace fashion brand from the US investor Capri Holdings for a price that could reach nearly €1.5bn (£1.2bn/$1.57bn).

1 min

Swab test for womb cancer could help thousands avoid painful procedure

A new swab test could help hundreds of thousands of women a year in the UK who may have womb cancer avoid an often painful invasive procedure to detect the disease.

2 mins

Worst Channel migrant tragedy was 'predictable', inquiry hears

An inquiry into the biggest ever loss of life in a migrant dinghy in the Channel has heard that it was \"entirely predictable\" that a catastrophic event involving mass casualties would occur.

2 mins

Fashion: More subplots on the red carpet than on screen

Anora is a fairytale about holding on to humanity in a cold and ruthless world, clinging to romance in a climate of porn, and staying true to your values in a transactional culture.

2 mins

Anora makes Oscars history as low-budget film dominates awards

The low-budget comedy Anora has triumphed at this year's Oscars - winning five, including best picture and best actress - while Adrien Brody took home his second for best actor.

3 mins

A satisfying night ripe with metaphors about wealth, power and being wooed by Russians

So, as Conan O'Brien pointed out, the most Oscars went to a film about someone standing up to a Russian, and maybe recent events mean we have to probe its political metaphor even further.

2 mins

Minister said NHS might use Dyson ventilators to 'help marketing abroad'

A minister told a senior official that ventilators might need to be bought from Sir James Dyson \"so that he can then market [them] internationally\" as \"being used in UK hospitals\" after the businessman spoke to Boris Johnson, the Covid inquiry has heard.

2 mins

There's a magic' Cleanup at UK's deepest canal lock

It is said that an imitation Rolex watch was once found during the spring clean of the UK's deepest canal lock.

2 mins

Theatre review An enterprising female-centric exploration of emancipation

Adapting a novel is rarely straightforward, and the playwright Nicola Werenowska takes a particularly enterprising stab at it in her version of the DH Lawrence classic.

1 min

Tories fight abolition of hereditary peers in effort to stall Lords overhaul

Labour's plan to replace the upper house was scaled back to scrapping hereditaries - but even that is proving difficult

5 mins

Lebanon Hezbollah reeling from war's toll on militias and support base

Crowds of people gathered last week in the ruined town square of Aitaroun, south Lebanon, to attend the mass burial of 95 people – one of the largest funerals held in the country since the start of the Hezbollah-Israel war.

3 mins

Israel preparing 'hell plan' to press Hamas over terms of Gaza ceasefire, reports say

The Israeli government is reportedly planning to ratchet up its blockade on Gaza as part of what it has called a \"hell plan\" to press Hamas into further hostage releases without a troop withdrawal from the Palestinian territory.

2 mins

Iran Vice-president resigns to dent reformist hopes of lifting economic sanctions

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's most prominent reformist, has resigned from the government, saying he had been instructed to do so by an unnamed senior official.

3 mins

Art detective cracks case of masterpiece that vanished in 70s

A \"spectacular\" stolen Flemish masterpiece has been rediscovered at a provincial Dutch museum thanks to the efforts of an art detective and an antiques magazine.

1 min

Asylum seekers are being pushed back at EU borders, says top human rights official

Europe's most senior human rights official has said there is evidence of asylum seekers being forcibly expelled at EU borders as he urged mainstream politicians not to concede to populists on migration.

2 mins

Spain's Rewilding of Iberian Lynx at Risk After Lobbying by Farmers

Only last year it was hailed as a major conservation success story: the Iberian lynx, which had been close to extinction, had sprung back to life thanks to a decades-long effort to expand the population.

1 min

Republicans Bolstered by Trump Orders Bring in Wave of Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation

Republicans across the US have been pushing a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ measures targeting same-sex marriages with the aim of ultimately overturning the Supreme Court decision making it a federally protected right.

3 mins

Democrats invite sacked federal workers to watch Trump address

Workers fired in Donald Trump's mass purge of the federal government will attend his address to a joint session of Congress today at the invitation of Democrats who want to display the human costs of the president's radical policies.

1 min

UN human rights chief voices deep concern at US direction

The UN human rights chief has warned of a \"fundamental shift\" in the US and sounded the alarm over the growing power of \"unelected tech oligarchs\" in a stinging rebuke of Washington just weeks into Donald Trump's presidency.

1 min

New Zealand 'green fairy' has cannabis operation shut down

The alleged medicinal cannabis operation of one of New Zealand's most renowned \"green fairies\" has been shut down by police, prompting an outpouring of support from people who rely on such products to ease their pain.

1 min

Brazil's Missing Oscars Glory Inspires Fresh Calls for Justice

Before the Oscars ceremony, Brazil's Fernanda Torres - star of Walter Salles's dictatorship-era movie I'm Still Here - had warned her compatriots not to get into a \"World Cup fever\" over the Academy Awards.

3 mins

European carmakers given extra time to meet green targets

European carmakers are to be given two extra years to meet this year's pollution target, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has said, in a further rollback of her green deal climate policies.

1 min

Fixing railway problems will take years, says minister

Passengers may lose patience with the government before it can make the changes needed to fix the railway, the rail minister Peter Hendy conceded, as he promised that action was coming after \"years of torpor\".

1 min

Staley did not mislead FCA about Epstein, lawyers say

Images received by the former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley from the child sexual abuse offender Jeffrey Epstein were of \"mature women\" and ultimately \"innocuous\", his lawyers have argued, as they try to discredit claims that the former banking boss lied about the depth of the two men's relationship.

2 mins

Arms firms Shares soar as Europe faces future without US protection

Share prices in European weapons companies have soared with investors anticipating significantly higher spending after the UK and France led an effort to form and enforce a peace deal for Ukraine.

2 mins

Case for the defence As sector spending boom looms, are UK firms ready?

As sector spending boom looms, are UK firms ready?

5 mins

Who loves ya, baby? Chelsea fans grapple with the cold art of omission by Boehly's apprentice regime

One thing I've learned about the British press is they exaggerate a lot and leave stuff out.

4 mins

There's a high chance that I'd be in danger if I go to Saudi

The big interview Cindy Ngamba The LGBTQ+ Olympic medallist makes her pro debut on an all-female card this week but is disappointed by the Saudi stranglehold on her sport

6 mins

McColgan hits out at online abuse of daughter Eilish

The Olympic silver medallist Liz McColgan has hit out at the \"demeaning and abusive comments\" received on social media by her daughter, Eilish, the reigning Commonwealth Games 10,000m champion.

1 min

Millwall anger at 'suggestion Roberts set out to hurt Mateta'

Millwall have condemned the \"character assassination\" of Liam Roberts, as they await a possible extended ban for the goalkeeper's challenge on Crystal Palace's Jean-Philippe Mateta in their FA Cup tie.

1 min

WSL decision-makers risk putting self-interest above all with vote

On Friday, a shareholder meeting of the Women's Professional Leagues Ltd took place to discuss the future of the women's professional game.

4 mins

Is Amorim the problem? Ratcliffe wouldn't know

Manchester United's FA Cup exit leaves the competition wide open and the club without a domestic target

3 mins

Forest progress after Sels foils Ipswich in shootout

As has been the case for much of the season, Matz Sels proved himself one of the best goalkeepers in the country, saving Jack Taylor's penalty in the shootout to send Nottingham Forest into the FA Cup quarter-finals.

2 mins

Arteta rallies battered Arsenal for dangerous encounter with PSV

With their attacking injury crisis ending title hopes, the Gunners must find a way to win for salvation in Europe

3 mins

FA backs Mitre Cup ball after Guardiola gripe

The FA Cup ball criticised by the Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, \"delivers against all of the testing requirements\", the Football Association has said.

1 min

Blatter and Platini restate innocence in fraud case

Sepp Blatter, the former president of Fifa, and Michel Platini, the former president of Uefa, have restated their innocence in relation to allegations of fraud.

1 min

Villa ready for 'revenge' on Brugge with season in balance

John McGinn has said Aston Villa are eyeing \"sporting revenge\" against Club Brugge in their Champions League last-16 first leg and believes Villa can achieve \"something special\" if they solve their inconsistencies.

2 mins

United could end London office lease as cuts continue

Manchester United are exploring an early termination from a 10-year lease agreement at their London offices in Kensington in the latest cost-cutting measure proposed by Sir Jim Ratcliffe.

2 mins

Timber calls on Arsenal to 'change the narrative'

Jurriën Timber has said Arsenal have an opportunity to \"change the narrative\" of their season against PSV Eindhoven and believes they have the motivation to reach the Champions League quarter-finals for a second successive season.

1 min

Waiting game Fifa considers moving Women's Club World Cup beyond 2026

Fifa's new 16-team Women's Club World Cup could be delayed beyond its previously proposed 2026 launch, the Guardian has learned.

1 min

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