Markus Andrews

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreThe Taliban issued a message on International Women’s Day, saying Afghan women live in security with their rights protected, even as the U.N. condemned ongoing employment and education bans.Since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021, they have barred education for women and girls beyond sixth grade, most employment, and many public spaces. Last August, the Vice and Virtue Ministry published laws that ban women’s voices and bare faces outside the home.The Taliban’s chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid released a statement on his official X account, without specifically mentioning International Women’s Day, which is celebrated on March 8.He said the dignity, honor, and legal rights of women were a priority for the Islamic emirate, the term used by the Taliban to describe their government.Afghan women lived in security, both physically and psychologically, he added.“In accordance with Islamic law and the culture and traditions of Afghan society, the fundamental rights of Afghan women have been secured. However, it should not be forgotten that the rights of Afghan women are being discussed within an Islamic and Afghan society, which has clear differences from Western societies and their culture,” said Mujahid.Also Saturday, the U.N. renewed its call for the Taliban to lift the bans.“The erasure of women and girls from public life cannot be ignored,” said Roza Otunbayeva, the head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. “We remain committed to investing in their resilience and leadership, as they are key to Afghanistan’s future.”Alison Davidian, special representative for U.N. Women Afghanistan, said the world could not accept a future for Afghan women that would never be tolerated elsewhere.“Our response to their erasure is a test of our commitment to women and girls everywhere,” said Davidian. “We must stand with Afghan women as if our own lives depend on it — because they do.”The Taliban remain isolated from the West — and without international recognition as the country’s official government — because of their restrictions on women and girls.On Friday in Paris, UNESCO hosted a high-level conference on women and girls in Afghanistan. Participants included Hamida Aman, the founder of the women-only station Radio Begum, Fawzia Khoofi, a parliamentarian from the former Western-backed government, and rights experts including Richard Bennett, who is barred from entering Afghanistan.In an apparent dig at the event, the spokesman for the Vice and Virtue Ministry Saif ul-Islam Khyber said recent international conferences held under the name of women’s rights exposed the hypocrisy of certain organizations and European Union foundations. More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreReform UK has launched a probe into one of its MPs over allegations of “serious bullying” and “targeting of female staff”. Nigel Farage’s right-wing party announced the investigation into Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe just 24 hours after he publicly criticised his boss. The party also revealed it has reported Mr Lowe to the police, claiming he had made threats of physical violence against party chairman Zia Yusuf on at least two occasions. In a joint statement, chairman Zia Yusuf and chief whip Lee Anderson said: “It is with regret that we feel obligated to disclose that the party received complaints from two female employees about serious bullying in the offices of the Member of Parliament for Great Yarmouth, Rupert Lowe. Reform UK MP Rupert Lowe questioned Nigel Farage’s leadership skills (Jordan Pettitt/PA) More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreDonald Trump has been accused of “insulting” the UK by claiming it would not come to America’s aid – despite British soldiers fighting alongside the US in Iraq and Afghanistan. The row erupted after the US President suggested he would not defend Nato countries that did not meet military spending targets, saying: “I think it’s common sense, right? If they don’t pay, I’m not going to defend them.” He added that his “biggest problem” with Nato was whether they would defend the US if called to do so.Trump has piled pressure on Nato allies to ramp up defence spending More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreComputer scientist Dr Craig Wright is to be given a court order stopping him from bringing future legal action after using the courts to “terrorise his perceived enemies”, the High Court has heard.The Australian began claiming he was Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonym attributed to the person widely credited with establishing Bitcoin, in 2016 and asserted intellectual property rights over the cryptocurrency.He brought legal proceedings against those who challenged his claims and was himself sued by the non-profit cryptocurrency group Crypto Open Patent Alliance (Copa) last year.After a trial in London, a judge ruled in March last year that Dr Wright was not Satoshi and that he had “lied extensively” during the trial, also barring him from launching or threatening further legal action related to Bitcoin through a court order.In December, he was sentenced to 12 months in jail, suspended for two years, for contempt of court after issuing a new claim for more than £900 billion related to Bitcoin.At a High Court hearing on Friday, Copa asked a judge to issue a civil restraint order (CRO), which stops Dr Wright from reapplying to the High Court and all county courts for three years.Jonathan Hough KC, for Copa, said in written submissions that Dr Wright had used the English legal system to “terrorise his perceived enemies”.Mr Hough also asked for Dr Wright’s case to be referred to the Attorney General to extend the order beyond the three-year limit.He said: “First, Dr Wright has brought a large number of baseless legal actions, founded on lies and backed up with copious forgeries.“Secondly, in those actions he has claimed huge sums against a large number of individuals and companies, causing them serious distress, inconvenience and cost.“Thirdly, his actions have taken up very significant court resources, running to nearly 100 court days in this jurisdiction.”Mr Hough continued: “The undisputed consequence of his claims has been significant disruption to innovation in an important industry.“There is a clear and serious risk of him repeating his campaign of litigation in one form or another.”Dr Wright did not attend the hearing or contest the application.Mr Justice Mellor granted the CRO and the referral to the Attorney General, adding that he will give full written reasons at a later date. More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.Your support makes all the difference.Read moreReducing smartphone harms in law relies on a “process”, not one “big bang” event, a Labour MP has said.Josh MacAlister warned that children are “moving less, smiling less, learning less” as a result of increased smartphone and social media use, including in the classroom.He introduced the Protection of Children (Digital Safety and Data Protection) Bill for its second reading in the Commons on Friday, which if passed would instruct UK chief medical officers to publish advice for parents on the use of smartphones and social media by children.It would also compel ministers to say within a year whether they plan to raise the age at which children can consent for their data to be shared without parental permission.Mr MacAlister had originally planned for his private member’s Bill to include a ban on smartphones in school classrooms and playgrounds, but this was dropped so his draft new law could “secure explicit Government backing”.The MP for Whitehaven and Workington told the Commons he began his career as a teacher in 2009 when “there was the odd phone in the classroom, the odd instance of a child being bullied through their device”.He said: “Neither I nor any other teacher at the time could have imagined the impact these devices would come to play in childhood.”Mr MacAlister told MPs that the average 12-year-old spends 21 hours a week on their smartphone, “that’s the equivalent of four full days of school teaching per week”, and added: “This is a fundamental rewiring of childhood itself and it’s happened in little over a decade.“Children are spending less time outside, less time reading, less time exercising, exploring, meeting people, communicating in person – all the things that make childhood special and the things that are necessary for healthy childhood development.“Instead, many children now spend their time captured by addictive social media and smartphone use, often sat alone doomscrolling, being bombarded by unrealistic representations of life, communication through asynchronous large group chats rather than through looking at facial expressions, eye contact, body language, learning to interact – moving less, smiling less, learning less.”He continued: “This rewiring of childhood has only one winner – the balance sheets of social media companies.”Mr MacAlister referred to laws abroad which limit children’s smartphone use, including in the US state of Utah where app stores must verify users’ ages and get parental consent for minors to download apps to their devices, and Australia, which introduced a smartphone ban in its public schools last year.The MP described a “stark difference” in the conversations which MPs are having, compared with discussions in public among parents and children, adding: “The public are well ahead of politicians on this issue.”Sir Ashley Fox, the Conservative MP for Bridgwater, intervened in Mr MacAlister’s speech and said: “Nothing he has said so far requires legislation.“The Bill he’s brought today could all be achieved by a minister just deciding to ask the chief medical officer to produce a report or the minister to produce a plan.“What has happened to the legislative action that was clearly in earlier drafts in his legislation?”Mr MacAlister later addressed Sir Ashley’s point in his speech, when he said: “This Bill has been drafted to secure explicit Government backing.“It’s been written to achieve change rather than just highlight the issue.“That is why the Bill before us is narrower than where I started when this campaign began six months ago.”He went on to say: “We must act on excessive screen time today in the same way we acted on smoking back then, and like debates that were had on smoking and car seatbelts, it took a process of legislation rather than one ‘big bang’ event.“That’s why starting today with these initial steps and then following them through with major action soon will be so important.” More