Top story: Peace talks to resume online
Hello, it’s Friday morning and you’ll have to make do with me, Warren Murray.
Peace negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv are expected to resume by video today amid fresh efforts to get civilians out of Mariupol, where a corridor for aid and evacuations is supposed to open this morning. The Ukrainian negotiator David Arakhamia said talks would focus on a peace framework Kyiv presented in Istanbul this week. Vladimir Putin has meanwhile tried to up the diplomatic stakes with a decree requiring foreign buyers to pay in roubles for Russian gas – a demand Germany, France and the UK have rejected. In reality, the money will just be exchanged into roubles by the Russian central bank once payments are received.
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has warned that Russia is preparing for “powerful strikes” in the Donbas region. He dismissed the withdrawal of Russian forces near Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy as tactical, which was backed by Pentagon assessments. The UK’s ministry of defence said Russia was pulling forces out of Georgia to reinforce its invasion of Ukraine, “indicative of the unexpected losses it has sustained during the invasion”. There is mounting western scepticism about Russia’s intentions in peace talks, with no real sign of the partial military pullback in northern Ukraine it had promised as a goodwill gesture.
The UN atomic watchdog is investigating Ukrainian claims that Russian soldiers occupying Chernobyl nuclear power station left after receiving high doses of radiation. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said it could not confirm the claims by Ukrainian state power company Energoatom and was seeking an independent assessment. Australia is to send Bushmaster armoured vehicles to Ukraine following an address to MPs by Zelenskiy. EU and Chinese leaders will meet for a first summit in two years on Friday with Brussels keen for assurances from Beijing that it will neither supply Russia with arms nor help Moscow circumvent western sanctions. Coverage of the war in Ukraine continues at our live blog.
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‘Conversion’ practices debacle – Boris Johnson appeared to beat a hasty retreat last night after revelations that ministers would not outlaw “conversion” practices. “Conversion” attempts to change or suppress a person’s sexuality or gender identity; Johnson and his predecessor, Theresa May, promised to make it illegal. But an ITV report based on a Downing Street briefing paper said the government would drop new legislation and try to use existing laws instead. Uproar followed the ITV report, after which the journalist Paul Brand, who broke the story, quoted a senior government source as saying legislation would in fact be brought forward. In a move unlikely to end the controversy, Brand reported the legislation would cover “only gay conversion therapy, not trans”. It comes as young LGBTQ+ people in the UK face a “hidden epidemic” of humiliation, ostracism and public outing by close family members, according to a study.
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Pancreas that you wear – Hundreds of adults and children with type 1 diabetes in England have been fitted with an artificial pancreas in a world-first trial on the NHS. The device worn next to the body monitors blood glucose levels and automatically adjusts insulin delivery via a pump. The technology can eliminate finger-prick tests to check blood sugar levels and prevent hypoglycaemic and hyperglycaemia attacks.
Children are particularly at risk of dangerously low blood sugar levels (hypoglycaemia) and high ones (hyperglycaemia), which can damage the body or even lead to death. Although most of the NHS’s estimated £10bn annual spending on diabetes treatment goes on type 2 diabetes, it is also hoped the devices will help cut costs by ensuring less need for interventions for type 1 cases.
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Iran tank debt inquiry – MPs are to examine why ministers delayed paying a £400m debt to Iran even though they knew the payment was likely to lead to the release of British-Iranian detainees. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Anoosheh Ashoori were freed a fortnight ago and returned to the UK. The debt had been an upfront payment in 1971 to the UK by the Iranian government under the Shah of Iran for more than 1,700 Chieftain tanks. Only 175 were delivered due to the overthrow of the Shah in 1979.
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Even if you’ve had it – Covid-19 vaccines provide significant extra protection for people who have already been infected, especially against severe disease, according to two new studies that address one of the outstanding questions from the pandemic. The first study, conducted in Brazil, found that four vaccines – CoronaVac, Oxford/AstraZeneca, Janssen and Pfizer/BioNTech – provide extra protection against symptomatic reinfection and severe outcomes such as hospitalisation and death in people who had previously caught coronavirus. The second study, from Sweden, found that vaccination against Covid-19 provided additional protection to those who had had Covid before, for at least nine months.
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Sport
England manager Gareth Southgate believes they can win the “ultimate prize” in Qatar, as the countdown continues to a World Cup like no other with Friday’s draw in Doha. A dispute over the legacy of staging the tournament in Qatar broke out on the floor of the Fifa Congress on Thursday, with the president of the Norwegian Football Federation calling for stronger action. The president of cycling’s governing body has held emergency talks with other international sports federations about creating tougher new rules for the participation of trans women in elite women’s sport “within months”. England will play Australia in the Women’s World Cup final after a maiden hundred from Danni Wyatt and six for 36 from Sophie Ecclestone handed South Africa a 137-run defeat at Christchurch.
The former Arsenal player Jill Roord set Wolfsburg on course for a 2-0 Women’s Champions League win as the Gunners were knocked out of the competition 3-1 on aggregate. Proposals to restructure the board of Yorkshire and enable the county to host international cricket again this summer have been overwhelmingly approved by members. The former world darts champion Ted Hankey has been charged with sexual assault. And Rangers have withdrawn from the Sydney Super Cup in Australia where they were due to face rivals Celtic in November for the first Old Firm derby outside Scotland. And unseeded Naomi Osaka defeated Belinda Bencic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the Miami Open semi-finals to reach a championship match for the first time since the 2021 Australian Open.
Business
Shanghai, China’s biggest city and financial powerhouse, has extended the Covid lockdown imposed on millions of residents earlier this week as the country’s strict zero-Covid policies threaten to derail the economy. Figures out today show that factory activity slumped at a rate not seen since the dramatic shutdowns of March 2020 and economists have slashed their forecasts for growth, with probably knock-on effects for the region and the world. European markets are set to sell off sharply this morning with the FTSE100 looking at a drop of 0.8%. The pound is $1.313 and €1.186.
The papers
The Guardian’s lead story today is “Millions rush to minimise energy bills on eve of Bleak Friday” – prices are due to go up today. Our front-page picture lead is the plight of Mariupol – a little Ukrainian girl is shown at the Polish border. The splash in the Times is “Don’t back down, Ukraine” which it represents as the UK government’s position, saying officials are concerned the US, France and Germany might push Volodymyr Zelenskiy into conceding too much for the sake of peace. The Financial Times has “Biden orders record oil stockpile release in effort to quell fuel costs”.
“April cruel day” is what the Mirror says as “worst attack on living standards starts today”. The i channels “Anger at Sunak as the cost of living crisis hits home” while the Metro says “Energy firms meter fiasco” after websites broke down when people tried to lock in pre-exorbitance rates. “Pain in the gas” – the Sun puts Vladimir Putin in the hotseat over the situation.
The Express has “House prices surge £33,000 in a year” which it presents as a “boom”, which we suppose it might be, if you were able to afford one, in order to be able to sell it. The Telegraph and the Mail are on common ground with reports on a high court case involving Prince Andrew.
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