Defends

Helen Cammock says her comments blaming wartime leader for Bengal famine were intended to create ‘dialogue’ A Turner prize-winning artist accused of telling a “barefaced lie” about Winston Churchill in a video piece installed at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) has defended her work, saying it was intended to create a “dialogue” about figures in the gallery’s collection.Helen Cammock’s 40-minute moving image piece called Persistence has been at the centre of a row about the role Churchill played in the Bengal famine of 1943. Continue reading...

Kate Dearden says reforms such as enhanced sick pay simply bring UK into line with other big economiesLabour’s radical workers’ rights reforms have simply put the UK on a “level playing field” with other big economies, the employment minister, Kate Dearden, has said.The government’s Employment Rights Act became law last year, with specific provisions being implemented this year and next. Continue reading...

• The European Central Bank (ECB) has raised interest rates by 0.25%, marking the first increase in three years. • President Christine Lagarde defended the decision, citing inflation pressures driven by the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. • The move comes amid warnings of stagflation in the Eurozone, with critics arguing that higher rates could hinder critical investments in clean energy.

• NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman defended the decision to utilize an all-male crew for the upcoming Artemis III mission on Wednesday. • The decision has sparked public backlash, with Isaacman noting that reactions to the lack of female astronauts have ranged from "disappointment to outrage." • The controversy is highlighted by the irony of the program being named after Artemis, the Greek goddess of the moon and hunt.

Treasury minister Lucy Rigby says the government has the right to alter terms of existing agreementsMinisters have rejected accusations that recent changes to student loans were unfair, arguing they are so heavily subsidised that the government has the right to alter their terms.Pressure has been intensifying on the UK government to reform the student loans system but the chief secretary to the Treasury, Lucy Rigby, told MPs on Wednesday that less than half of young people go to university, and the government had to bear in mind “fairness to taxpayers as a whole”. Continue reading...

PM says predecessor misunderstands government’s successes and ‘very different’ situation compared with 1997Keir Starmer has dismissed Tony’s Blair’s argument that his government is on the wrong track, saying he is implementing the policies needed for today, not the very different situation faced by Blair in 1997.“You won’t be surprised to know that I don’t agree with much that Tony says about what the government is doing,” Starmer said during a visit to an apprentice training centre in west London. Continue reading...

The Amazon founder has denied any personal involvement in the film, which failed to recoup its budget on releaseJeff Bezos has defended Amazon’s controversial Melania documentary as “a good business decision” while denying any personal involvement.The Amazon founder and executive chairman was asked about the film during an interview on CNBC this week. The film, which followed the first lady in the period before Donald Trump’s second inauguration, was purchased by the company for $40m with Melania herself making a reported $28m. Amazon also spent around $35m on marketing. Continue reading...

Darren Jones says there are good reasons not to disclose certain details and next batch will be released next monthUK politics live – latest updatesA senior minister has defended the government’s decision to withhold information relating to the appointment of Peter Mandelson as Washington ambassador from a powerful parliamentary committee.Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the prime minister, told the Commons on Tuesday there were good reasons not to disclose certain information, adding that the next tranche of documents would not be published until next month. Continue reading...

Humpback stranded on sandbank was unlikely to survive, experts had said, recommending it be left to die in peaceGerman authorities have defended their decision to allow a risky rescue attempt of a stranded whale to go ahead, despite experts warning it was “inadvisable” because the animal was hurt and unlikely to survive.The saga of the whale, known as Timmy, had gripped Germany since the beached humpback was spotted stranded on Timmendorfer beach, a sandbank in shallow waters near the coast, nearly two months ago. Continue reading...

Agency says FBI director ‘followed all applicable ethical guidelines’ in giving out personalized bourbon bottlesThe FBI said that agency director Kash Patel “followed all applicable ethical guidelines” after a report in the Atlantic alleged that he distributed customized bourbon whiskey bottles as gifts.In an article published on Wednesday, the Atlantic described Patel as travelling with a stock of “personalized branded bourbon” that he allegedly hands out frequently to people around him. Continue reading...

Residents south of the refinery in Corio warned to shelter inside due to smokeGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNationals leader Matt Canavan defended the Coalition’s planned crack down on immigrations as “fair and reasonable” and that migrants would understand the policy.Asked on 7.30 last night how Australia’s migrant communities would see the plan, Canavan referred to the “rigour” of the naturalisation process his Italian grandparents went through in the 1950s and his own publicised Section 44 high court citizenship saga (which he said ultimately proved him to be a “dinky-di Aussie”). He said:It’s fair and reasonable that we set high standards to join the club of Australians and I’m sure migrants here today want to see that …We have a Government that has put its head in the sand now and has not listened to the Australian people that clearly want change.I think we should discriminate on values …We shouldn’t discriminate on colour, religion, sexuality, gender, but surely … we should discriminate on people who don’t support democracy, who profess support for terrorism or violence, who don’t believe in equality between male and female genders. People who have those views I don’t want them in our country.I’ll comment that the Robert Frost line in that poem was delivered in irony.But we’ll return to that another day along with many other questions, thank you for joining us … Continue reading...

Vice-president effectively tells Leo to stay in his lane after the pope criticized the White House over the Iran warJD Vance has weighed into Donald Trump’s feud with Pope Leo, effectively telling the pontiff to stay in his lane after the head of the Catholic church criticized the White House over the Iran war.“It would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on in the Catholic church and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,” the vice-president said in an interview on Fox News on Monday night. Continue reading...

Luba Grigorovitch, one of four MPs promoted to Jacinta Allan’s cabinet, says she has ‘no regrets’ over friendship with former CFMEU bossLuba Grigorovitch, one of four Victorian Labor MPs promoted to cabinet, says she has “no regrets” about her past friendship with disgraced construction union leader John Setka, despite the opposition labelling her appointment “appalling”.The Victorian Labor caucus met on Tuesday and voted to elevate Grigorovitch, the member for Kororoit, along with Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke, Eureka MP Michaela Settle and Box Hill MP Paul Hamer, to cabinet. Continue reading...

PM rejects claim plan is integration with EU ‘by stealth’, saying changes will happen only if parliament passes lawUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has defended plans for the UK to align more closely with some EU rules without parliamentary votes, saying a closer relationship with Europe “is in the UK’s best interest”, particularly given the international turmoil over the Iran war.Speaking to the BBC after the Guardian revealed that ministers were planning to use so-called Henry VIII powers to dynamically align with EU rules by default, Starmer argued that, nearly 10 years after the Brexit referendum, it was time to “look forward”. Continue reading...

The former Little House on the Prairie star said husband was ‘last person in world who would hurt a child’Melissa Gilbert has staunchly defended her husband and fellow actor Timothy Busfield in her first interview since New Mexico prosecutors charged him with child sexual abuse in early February.In part of a conversation scheduled to be broadcast on Monday on Good Morning America but circulated in advance as a preview, Gilbert told ABC host George Stephanopoulos that she believed the Emmy winner whom she married in 2013 to be “the last person in the world who would hurt a child”. Continue reading...

• Trump's AI adviser David Sacks defended the decision to allow UAE access to powerful American semiconductor technology, calling it a turning point for establishing US tech dominance globally. • The UAE's $1.4 trillion investment and economic framework with the US, announced last year, continues as planned with accelerated deployment and funding in AI, energy, advanced manufacturing, and critical infrastructure. • Trump's 2025 visit to the UAE resulted in plans for a 5GW UAE-US AI Campus, a major joint infrastructure initiative.

Greg Bovino says Trump’s immigration crackdown hasn’t gone far enough in exit interview with the New York TimesAs his retirement looms, Gregory Bovino, the US border patrol’s former commander-at-large, has contended that efforts to curb illegal immigration by Donald Trump’s administration have not gone far enough – showing no remorse over federal agents’ killings of two US citizens in Minneapolis in January.“I wish I’d caught even more illegal aliens,” he told the New York Times on Tuesday in an exit interview, during which he also referred to the Republican president as “the Trumpster” and acknowledged his retirement at the end of March was not entirely voluntary. Continue reading...

Producers say alleged victim of grooming was ready to tell his story and show raises urgent issues around online safetyChannel 5 has defended its controversial drama about the downfall of Huw Edwards, saying it raises the “urgent” issue of grooming and online safety and gives voice to his alleged victim, who worked with the programme to tell his side of the story so “no one who has been silenced feels they are alone”.Starring Martin Clunes as the disgraced former BBC newsreader, the drama charts the claim of a relationship and texts between Edwards and a vulnerable young man who was at the centre of a scandal reported by the Sun in 2023, which alleged the presenter made payments to a 17-year-old for sexually explicit images.Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards will air at 9pm on 24 March on Channel 5. Continue reading...