Prosecution of three high-ranking Syrian officials to be tried in absentia could pave way for president’s case

At midnight on 3 November 2013, five Syrian officials dragged arts and humanities student Patrick Dabbagh from his home in the Mezzeh district of Damascus.

The following day, at the same hour, the same men, including a representative of the Syrian air force’s intelligence unit, returned with a dozen soldiers to arrest the 20-year-old’s father Mazzen.

At least two children have already been killed while working in Mar-Jac Poultry plants in the US south over the last year

A poultry plant in Jasper, Alabama, has been accused of hiring minors and could be shut down for 30 days, according to a newly released US Department of Labor lawsuit.

Mar-Jac Poultry, the largest employer in Walker county, is accused of violating federal labor laws when it hired four minors as young as 16 who were allegedly discovered working overnight at the company’s slaughterhouse.

Hospice patient Lynne Cottignies welcomes proposals to make it legal to help eligible people end their lives. Many others have serious concerns

Lynne Cottignies has been planning her funeral. A wicker coffin and a church service with Ave Maria and All Things Bright and Beautiful, followed by a wake at the Royal Jersey golf club where she was lady captain a few years ago. Later, close friends and family will scatter her ashes on a beach near her Jersey home, a spot where they have enjoyed happy sunset barbecues.

Between now and then, Cottignies, 71, faces the prospect of increasing and potentially unbearable pain as the cancer that started in her breast spreads. “I’ve had a lot of different chemo treatments, and just about every side-effect possible. But now time’s up. I’m too weak for anything else.”

Israel complains of ‘obscene exploitation’ of genocide convention and asks judges to throw out bid to halt Rafah offensive

Israel on Friday attacked South Africa’s case against it in the international court of justice as an “obscene exploitation” of the genocide convention, claiming it aimed not to protect Palestinian civilians but to defend Hamas militants.

Israel’s representatives told the court their country was fighting a war of self-defence it “did not want and did not start”. They said Israel had made “extraordinary” efforts to protect civilians, and had complied with orders from the court to let more aid into Gaza.

Robberies, shootings, extortion and rapes have surged since the Rwandan-backed M23 militia cut off the eastern Congolese capital

In broad daylight on 16 April, three armed and uniformed men held up a city centre mobile phone shop.

Threatening staff, they helped themselves to about £700 worth of goods, before making off on a motorbike, disappearing into the busy streets of Goma, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A protester shouting 'liars' briefly interrupted a hearing at the UN’s top court on Friday as a co-agent for Israel was defending the military operation in Gaza. Another Israeli representative, Gilad Noam, told the international court of justice that South Africa's case 'makes a mockery of the heinous charge of genocide'

• Israel-Gaza war – live updates

My own traumatic experience shows why we must push back against those who try to chip away at our freedom of choice

As the criminal justice bill stumbles through parliament this week – beset by delays and controversies, and picking up amendments as it goes – another woman, Sophie Harvey, is on trial for an alleged illegal abortion, after taking pills to end her pregnancy when she was past the 24-week legal threshold. She was just 19 at the time. She faces a sentence of up to life in prison.

Anyone who cares about women’s rights should be alarmed not just by this trial, but by two new amendments to the bill put forward, targeting abortion in England and Wales. The first, from Caroline Ansell, a Conservative MP, aims to reduce the abortion limit to 22 weeks. The other, tabled by Liam Fox, another Conservative, would stop women’s choice over whether to abort a pregnancy where Down’s syndrome looks likely, up to birth. Currently, she can choose to do so for the entirety of her pregnancy, under ground E of the Abortion Act, which allows for termination if there is “substantial risk that if the child were born it would suffer from such physical or mental abnormalities as to be seriously handicapped”.

Moves to legalise euthanasia are gathering pace and public opinion in many countries is now in favour of reform

• Dutch woman, 29, granted euthanasia approval on grounds of mental suffering

The case of Zoraya ter Beek comes at a time when moves to legalise assisted dying are picking up pace across Europe. Seven European countries have already legalised euthanasia and courts in Italy and Germany have ruled in its favour. A bill to allow people to request assistance in dying will go before the French parliament on May 27. Ireland is also considering legislation, and a bill has been tabled in the Scottish parliament.

The issue triggers passionate arguments on both sides, but there is little doubt that public opinion in many European countries now supports people with terminal illnesses having some control over the timing and manner of their death.

My friend Katherine Gieve, who has died aged 74 of lymphoma, was a solicitor who specialised in family justice and children’s law. Her calm, compassionate empathy with her clients, combined with great legal skill and professionalism, propelled her to become one of the UK’s top family lawyers.

Voted the industry’s family law partner of the year in 2012, she was one of the country’s leading legal advocates for children in particularly difficult cases, including in the landmark conjoined twin case in 2000. Failure to separate the twins, Jodie and Mary, would have meant the death of both – but separation would kill the weaker one, a course of action that their parents felt unable to authorise. After a three-month legal battle the operation took place, saving the life of the stronger twin, Jodie, whom Katherine had been chosen to represent.

Exclusive: Labour mayor argues only ‘fundamental rewiring’ of political system can prevent more ‘colossal’ state failures

The final report of the infected blood inquiry must not only deliver justice but act as a catalyst to prevent such “colossal” state failures happening again, Andy Burnham has said.

The mayor of Greater Manchester, a long-time advocate for victims of the scandal, said a “fundamental rewiring of the political system” was needed as too many people were being harmed and then waiting decades for justice.

Ruling on map prevents yet another new one from being drawn, and boosts Democrats’ chances of gaining control of US House

The US supreme court on Wednesday ordered Louisiana to hold congressional elections in 2024 using a House map with a second mostly Black district, despite a lower-court ruling that called the map an illegal racial gerrymander.

The order allows the use of a map that has majority Black populations in two of the state’s six congressional districts, potentially boosting Democrats’ chances of gaining control of the closely divided House of Representatives in the 2024 elections.

A Belfast court ruling exposes quite how far the prime minister has wandered from the pragmatic governing ethos he once espoused

The Windsor framework was Rishi Sunak’s first significant achievement as prime minister and will probably turn out to be the last. A deal to settle problems with the way that Boris Johnson’s Brexit withdrawal agreement applied to Northern Ireland was achieved by rejecting the former prime minister’s maverick, confrontational approach and embracing instead an ethos of diplomatic pragmatism.

But no sooner had Mr Sunak demonstrated the merit in honouring international treaties than he abandoned that method with regard to immigration policy. His pledge to “stop the boats” ferrying refugees across the Channel produced acts of parliament that defy the European convention on human rights, which happens also to be integral to the Good Friday agreement underpinning peace in Northern Ireland.

‘Common sense minister’ denies plan to Channel 4 News despite saying earlier this week that lanyards should be a ‘standard design’

Labour says the Ministry of Justice’s decision to delay court hearings because of prison overcrowing (see 10.39am) shows that people are “less safe” under the Tories. That’s a very convenient retort to Rishi Sunak, because only two days ago he gave a major speech arguing that security was a key reason why his party deserved to win the election.

In a statement, Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, said:

The Tories continue to make major and unprecedented changes to the justice system without so much as a word to the public. It’s completely unacceptable and the public will be alarmed at this latest panic measures.

The government is stalling justice and leaving victims in limbo because of the mess they have created. This comes days after they hid from the public that they’re now letting criminals out of jail earlier than ever before.

The government is completely failing [on knife crime]. We’ve had an 80% increase since 2015 and rises all around the country. That’s the first point.

On stop and search, that is intelligence lead and evidence-based and is a really important tool. We’ve had, for example, the Inspectorate of Constabulary, an independent organisation, looking at this saying that what’s essential is that it is done in that targeted way.

Emergency measures mean some suspects will be released on bail and not sent to a cell as trials postponed

Hundreds of court hearings have been postponed at the last minute after ministers introduced emergency measures to deal with overcrowded prisons.

Operation Early Dawn, triggered on Wednesday, means some suspects will be released on bail, rather than sent to a cell, because their trial will be put off. Suspects’ first appearances before magistrates after they have been charged with a crime are also likely to be affected.

Physician-assisted suicide is incompatible with doctors’ duty to patients as spelled out in the GMC's guidance, writes Dr James Haslam

I write in response to Dr Jagat Aulakh’s letter (A form of assisted dying already happens in hospitals, 8 May). It must be made clear that withholding or withdrawing futile treatments is not and never has been assisted dying. Stopping – or not starting – treatments that are not wanted, are not working or are not worthwhile is good medicine and the law of the land. Whereas “assisted dying” is the modern euphemism for physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia, both forms of medicalised killing.

The General Medical Council’s Good Medical Practice guidance states: “Patients must be able to trust medical professionals with their lives and health. To justify that trust [doctors] must make the care of patients [their] first concern.” Assisted suicide and euthanasia is incompatible with such a duty. How can patients trust professionals who facilitate their killing?

Ramya Nagesh, who wrote a book on sleepwalking and the law, said she had post-Covid fatigue and sleep disorder

A barrister who wrote a book on sleepwalking and who fell asleep during a coroner’s inquest has been cleared of all professional misconduct charges.

Ramya Nagesh, a member of commercial chambers in Gray’s Inn Square in London, was accused by the Bar Standards Board (BSB) of harming the public’s trust in the profession after falling asleep during a virtual hearing.

Exclusive: Government hopes proposed law will encourage people to come forward to police without fear of legal action

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Victims of sexual assault and harassment will be immune to defamation lawsuits for reporting crimes to Victorian police under new legislation, over concerns the threat of legal action was having a “chilling effect” on people coming forward.

The state government is set to introduce the justice legislation amendment (integrity, defamation and other matters) bill on Wednesday, which will also make it easier to gather evidence in family violence matters.

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Tribunal heard Ramya Nagesh, who was appearing remotely on behalf of nurse witness, fell asleep after eating baked potato

A barrister who wrote a book on sleepwalking is facing a disciplinary tribunal after allegedly falling asleep during a coroner’s inquest.

Ramya Nagesh, a member of commercial chambers in Gray’s Inn Square in London, has been accused by the Bar standards board (BSB) of professional misconduct after falling asleep during a virtual hearing, missing her client giving evidence, the Daily Telegraph first reported.

The star of Silent Witness and The Normal Heart was ‘the popular kid’ until an autoimmune condition turned her life upside down. She talks about her lonely childhood, her flourishing career and the battle she can’t abandon

It’s a tense time for Liz Carr. “You should be in our house at the moment!” she says. Better Off Dead?, her documentary on assisted dying, is soon to air on BBC One. She is making the case against. “You’re probably thinking that, looking like me, I’d be campaigning for the choice to ask a doctor to put me out of my misery,” she deadpans near the start of the film.

Carr has wanted to make this programme for years. In 2011, after the documentary Terry Pratchett: Choosing to Die featured the assisted death of a 71-year-old man with motor neurone disease, she wrote to the BBC to say that it was its duty to present the alternative view.

The are so many people involved, and so many things that can go wrong, so above all else … stay cool

Unless you have chosen a new-build home, buying a property will usually involve a chain. In Scotland, many of the problems that can cause a chain to collapse may not be such an issue because the legal process means lots of things are fixed from the outset. In England and Wales, however, it is a different matter, and buyers can withdraw without consequence at any point before exchange of contracts. This can make being in a chain very stressful.