Netflix film revisits evidence that led to Letby’s conviction and hears from expert who says his research was misused

Shortly after Lucy Letby was sentenced to 15 whole-life terms for murdering seven infants and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016 – a conviction that made her Britain’s worst ever child serial killer – Cheshire police agreed to give “unparalleled and exclusive access” to the makers of a Netflix film about the case.

The finished documentary, The Investigation Of Lucy Letby, which is released on Wednesday, must be very different from what the producers envisaged when they first began work on the project, given the subsequent unexpected turns in the story. Since the two trials, the prosecution evidence and police handling of the case have faced criticism from an unprecedentedly large number of distinguished British and international medical experts. Led by the Canadian neonatologist, Dr Shoo Lee – who says again in the feature-length Netflix documentary that his research was misused to convict the nurse – many of the experts are convinced Letby is innocent, the victim of a catastrophic miscarriage of justice.

Rights group says growing authoritarianism and abuses in US, Russia and China threaten global rules-based order

The world is in a “democratic recession” with almost three-quarters of the global population now living under autocratic rulers – levels not seen since the 1980s, according to a new report.

The system underpinning human rights was “in peril”, said Philippe Bolopion, executive director of Human Rights Watch (HRW), with a growing authoritarian wave becoming “the challenge of a generation”, he said.

‘Mid-career’ females also being sidelined by rigid hiring processes, says City of London Corporation

Women working in tech and financial services are at greater risk of losing their jobs to increased use of AI and automation than their male peers, according to a report that found experienced females were also being sidelined as a result of “rigid hiring processes”.

“Mid-career” women – with at least five years’ experience – are being overlooked for digital roles in the tech and financial and professional services sectors, where they are traditionally underrepresented, according to the report by the City of London Corporation.

Data comes as government prepares to publish plans to overhaul Send system in England

One in six autistic pupils have not been to school at all since the start of this academic year, according to a new survey which found that mental health issues were often behind high levels of school absence.

Nearly half (45%) of the parents and children who responded to the UK-wide survey by the Ambitious About Autism charity said they felt “blamed” by the government for the absences.

Billionaires and intellectuals attended events with the disgraced financier years after he served time for sex offense, files reveal

Newly released emails and travel itineraries appear to show that for years after Jeffrey Epstein served time for procuring underage girls for prostitution, he continued to attend exclusive dinners alongside Silicon Valley’s most famous billionaires.

The emails, part of a trove released by the Department of Justice on Friday, show that as late as 2018, Epstein was invited to or attended dinners alongside the likes of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Twitter co-founder Evan Williams, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, and Google vice-president and later Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.

Conservancy sees nonnative species as major threat to local biodiversity, while residents rally to preserve local identity

California wildlife officials moved forward last week with a plan to eradicate a mule deer herd from Santa Catalina Island: extermination.

The plan has long pitted locals from the island off the coast of Los Angeles against the Catalina Island Conservancy, an environmental non-profit that manages 88% of the island’s terrain. The conservancy sees mule deer, which are not native to the island, as a major threat to local biodiversity, water quality and fire resilience.

Search and rescue operation involving boats, helicopter and divers under way off the eastern Aegean island of Chios

A collision between a speedboat carrying migrants and a Greek coastguard patrol vessel off the eastern Aegean island of Chios has killed at least 14 people, the coastguard said.

A search and rescue operation involving four patrol vessels, an air force helicopter and a private boat carrying divers was under way for potential missing passengers.

Sebastien Lai criticises ministers for not putting conditions on his father’s release during Beijing trip

The British son of the jailed Hong Kong media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai has criticised the UK government for failing to place conditions on his father’s release during the prime minister’s visit to China last week.

Speaking at a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday, Sebastien Lai said his father’s incarceration was not only a humanitarian and national security issue, but an issue “where our values are being locked up” along with him.

When the final whistle blew, a huge wave of relief swept over this stadium. Arsenal may not have been at all convincing against a Chelsea side who caused them the occasional problem but Mikel Arteta will not care one bit. After four successive semi-final defeats, Arsenal are on their way to Wembley. At last.

After the drama of the first leg at Stamford Bridge that saw Liam Rosenior’s side travel to north London needing to overturn a 3-2 deficit, this was a much more cagey affair that was eventually settled in stoppage time by Kai Havertz’s breakaway goal against his former club. Arsenal had seemed content to keep Chelsea at arm’s length for most of the evening and rarely looked like extending their advantage until then.

• Manchester City manager opens up on global conflicts

• UN reports UAE have backed Sudan paramilitary group

Pep Guardiola has spoken out against killings across the world, including in Sudan, where a paramilitary group backed by the United Arab Emirates, which in effect owns Manchester City, is embroiled in a civil war that has cost more than 150,000 lives.

Guardiola named Sudan when talking about conflicts where innocent people were dying. War crimes are said to have been carried out by both sides in the conflict. The vice‑president of the UAE, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, owns City, where Guardiola is the manager.

Attorney general Letitia James says observers will monitor if Trump enforcement ‘remains within bounds of the law’

New York is creating a team of legal observers that will don purple vests to monitor and record the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement officers as they seek to detain and deport migrants, the state’s attorney general said on Tuesday.

The announcement follows weeks of sometimes violent tumult in Minneapolis, where Donald Trump has deployed thousands of armed, masked agents as he tries to deport more migrants than any of his predecessors.

While most focused on competition issues, Josh Hawley accused Netflix of promoting trans content to children

Netflix co-chief executive Ted Sarandos faced tough questioning over whether the streamer is “overwhelmingly woke” or killing competition on Tuesday afternoon during a congressional hearing focused on its pending acquisition of the film and streaming assets of Warner Bros Discovery.

The hearing was conducted by the Senate subcommittee on antitrust, competition policy, and consumer rights. Bruce Campbell, chief revenue and strategy officer for Warner Bros Discovery, also testified in the packed Senate hearing room.

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Chelsea, meanwhile, are looking to bottle up the centre of the pitch – just as Manchester United did when they visited the Emirates. Offensively, they’ll try and get the ball into Delap and play off him, with Joao Pedro probably just off him, likewise Enzo Fernandez, both roaming and daring defenders to follow them. Otherwise, though, I don’t imagine they’d mind 0-0 with 20 to go, so will look to be solid, absorb pressure and take whatever comes their way, rather than push the pace from the outset.

So where is the game? Arsenal will look to get at Chelsea in wide areas with Madueke likely to be important. I’d probably have played White, with Timber on the left, now that you don’t ask, to increase the threat, and I’ve been enjoying Martinelli off the bench this season, but he starts ahead of Troassard. Otherwise, look for Eze to slide passes down the sides of the outside centre-backs for Gyokeres, who might find space behind the wing-backs, while I’d also expect rampaging third-man runs from Rice.

Appropriations measure will let Democrats negotiate with White House and GOP leaders over mass deportation efforts

Donald Trump on Tuesday signed legislation to end a government shutdown hours after it was approved by the House of Representatives, as top Democrats warned they will block further funding to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) if their demands for restrictions on Trump’s mass deportation campaign are not addressed.

The Republican-controlled House approved the $1.2tn appropriations measure by a narrow 217-214 vote, with all but 21 Republicans voting in favor and all but 21 Democrats against. The president signed it later in the afternoon at the White House, bringing to an end the shutdown that began after midnight last Friday, which had halted many operations at departments including defense, health and human services, labor and transportation.

• Ranking points to be awarded at LIV events for first time

• Saudi-backed tour attacks ‘unprecedented restriction’

The Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf Tour has hit out at what it regards as victimisation from those presiding over the sport’s world rankings process, despite seeing their wait of nearly four years for recognition by the system finally end.

It was confirmed on Tuesday that those competing in LIV tournaments will receive official world golf ranking points but only when finishing in the top 10. A statement from the OWGR board said this “recognises there are a number of areas where LIV Golf does not meet the eligibility standards set out”.

Far-right leader was barred for five years after being found guilty of extensive fake jobs scam at European parliament

French state prosecutors have asked appeal court judges to maintain a five-year election ban on the far-right leader Marine Le Pen for embezzlement of European parliament funds in a fake jobs scandal.

If the judges decide to grant the request, Le Pen would probably not be able to run in France’s 2027 presidential election.

Linda Stevenson found unresponsive on 28 December after police responded to domestic dispute

The ex-husband of former US first lady Jill Biden has been arrested and charged with the murder of his wife, officials said on Tuesday.

William Stevenson, 77, was taken into custody on Monday and is facing a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Linda Stevenson, according to a grand jury indictment filed in Delaware.

Merger with loss-making xAI looks to some investors more like a bailout than a rocket trip to the future

• Elon Musk merges SpaceX with xAI at $1.25tn valuation

To Elon Musk’s fanclub, there is nothing to see apart from more evidence of the great man’s visionary genius. SpaceX, the rocket firm, is buying xAI, the artificial intelligence developer, and the combination of these two Musk-controlled entities is being valued at $1.25tn (£910bn). Feel the positive vibes ahead of a stock market debut due in June! The most valuable private company in history! The largest ever transaction!

Or, as Musk described it, he is creating “the most ambitious, vertically integrated innovation engine on (and off) Earth, with AI, rockets, space-based internet, direct-to-mobile device communications and the world’s foremost real-time information and free-speech platform”.

Shahed-139 said to have approached USS Abraham Lincoln ‘with unclear intent’ in lead-up to expected US-Iran talks on Tehran’s nuclear programme

The US military says it shot down an Iranian drone that “aggressively” approached the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier in the Arabian Sea.

The Iranian Shahed-139 drone was flying toward the carrier “with unclear intent” when an F-35 fighter jet shot it down, US Central Command said on Tuesday.

Smithsonian’s National Zoo invites public to vote for name for female calf born to mother Nhi Linh

For the first time in almost 25 years, an Asian elephant has been born at the Smithsonian National Zoo in Washington DC.

The 308lb (140kg) female calf was born at 1.15am on 2 February to 12-year-old mother Nhi Linh and 44-year-old father Spike, the zoo announced in a statement.

A small number of Palestinians from Gaza have started crossing into Egypt for medical treatment after Israel allowed a limited reopening of the Rafah border crossing. It had been largely closed since Israeli troops seized it in May 2024, cutting off a critical lifeline for those in Gaza. Around 20,000 Palestinians needing medical care hope to leave Gaza using the crossing, but only a handful have been allowed through so far. The reopening of Rafah is seen as a key step in the US-brokered ceasefire agreement as it moves into its second phase. Lucy Hough speaks to chief Middle East correspondent Emma Graham-Harrison

Unbroken: In Pursuit of Freedom for Palestine is a collection of writings by the Palestinian political leader, who has been held in Israeli prisons since 2002

A collection of writings by the imprisoned Palestinian political leader Marwan Barghouti will be published in November, bringing together prison letters, interviews, personal material and documents from the last three decades of Barghouti’s political life and incarceration.

As deadly attacks on Gaza continue despite a nominal ceasefire, the 66-year-old is seen by many as the best hope for a leader of any future Palestinian state.

Mandelson tried to explain as everyone from Harriet Harman to Robert Jenrick lined up to condemn him

Last week, Peter Mandelson was giving his comeback interview to the Times, scheduled to be published later this month. He posed for cosy pics with the dog as he explained how hard done by he had been and how much the country could benefit from his largesse and expertise.

Late on Sunday night, that interview was crowbarred into a hastily rearranged one to take in Mandy’s sudden resignation from the Labour party after seemingly more revelations of Peter taking money in the recently released Epstein files. Mandelson appeared to take it in his stride.

In case brought by Prince Harry and others, Daniel Portley-Hanks says he received about $1m for work for Associated Newspapers Ltd

A US-based private detective bought a large house in California and had $150,000 in savings “almost entirely” from work he did for the publisher of the Daily Mail, the high court has heard.

Daniel Portley-Hanks, also known as “Detective Danno”, said he received about $1m for work carried out for the Mail on Sunday, another title published by Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL).