The BBC outlines why it cannot join the social media boycott but pledges to continue to work hard to tackle abuse and expose and challenge racism.

Robb family had written to Robert Jenrick asking for help with repairs to flat in Manchester tower block

Ministers have urged a family facing a devastating bill as part of the building safety crisis to contact the Samaritans if they want help with “feelings of distress or despair”.

In a move that sparked “disbelief” in the leaseholder involved, Jamie Robb, the response from an aide to the housing secretary, Robert Jenrick, to a plea for help with fire remediation works included the phone number for the suicide prevention service. It recommended its “free, anonymous, confidential and non-judgemental support”.

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Analysis: Boris Johnson’s fiancee has no official role, but has helped shape the personnel and vision of the PM’s office

“She’s buying gold wallpaper,” Boris Johnson is said to have told panicked aides last February of his fiancee Carrie Symonds’ interior decorating plans for their No 11 flat. The costs far exceeded the £30,000 allowance for prime ministers, and apparent attempts last year to cover them by other means – Conservative party funds, a charitable trust and Tory donors – seem to have failed.

As well as Dominic Cummings’ diatribe over the “unethical, foolish and possibly illegal” refurbishment spending saga, Helen MacNamara, the Cabinet Office’s director general of propriety and ethics, was also reported to be strongly opposed.

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Norman Fowler, health secretary under Thatcher, says ‘let’s have an inquiry and let’s do it now’

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The Lord Speaker, Norman Fowler, has said a public inquiry into how the Covid pandemic was handled by the government should be set up “as soon as possible” and should not be delayed.

Lord Fowler, who was a cabinet minister under Margaret Thatcher for 11 years and is a former Conservative party chair, said: “I would support those saying we need an inquiry into … whether there was a delay in lockdown because if there was we need to know why.”

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The longer the wait, the greater the danger that the next unexpected health crisis will be mishandled

It is time for a public inquiry. The coronavirus crisis has been an extraordinary period for the UK, and the toll substantial. More than 127,000 people have died, children have lost years of education, and we have seen the largest drop in GDP since consistent records began more than half a century ago.

There have been myriad other harms to individual livelihoods, and to wellbeing. Much of this flows from decisions made in Whitehall. While the government has done some things well – the vaccine programme is an undisputed success so far – there are sincere, legitimate questions about many of its other choices.

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The tech giant faces a huge fine and may be forced to make changes to the App Store.

With denim returning to our wardrobes, the jury is out as to which cut of jeans will win out. Make the ‘anything goes’ moment work for you by looking to vintage inspiration for these 10 styles

In fashion, one thing’s for sure – the era of sweatpants is over, and denim is back. It’s also pretty clear that skinny jeans, the style that has refused to die for 20 years, are finally, waning from fashion’s pole position, thanks to gen Z relentlessly roasting milllenials over their trouser choice. And that is where the certainties end.

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In the deadliest days of its outbreak, a country that has prided itself on good relations with almost everyone has found itself largely friendless.

Families living near Brooklyn Center protests suffer as chemicals enter their homes and kids face a ‘battlefield experience’

As police used teargas and flash-bangs on protesters outside the Brooklyn Center police department, young children listened, terrified, from their homes directly across the street.

Among them were two 11-year-old girls with autism, which makes them intensely sensitive to loud noises, their older sister, Jamiya Crayton, said.

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The president has personally moved to repair partnerships, presenting himself as the anti-Trump, but some fear compromises have felt like business as usual

The most striking aspect of Joe Biden’s first 100 days in foreign policy is the change of style. With his emphasis on consultation with allies and partners, he is presenting himself on the world stage as the anti-Trump.

Related: Biden’s world: how key countries have reacted to the president’s first 100 days

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Culture minister says country is facing up to ‘historic and moral responsibility’ by returning artefacts to Nigeria

Germany is to become the first country to hand back the Benin bronzes looted by British soldiers in the late 19th century, after the culture minister, Monika Grütters, announced it would start returning a “substantial” part of the artefacts held in its museums to Nigeria from next year.

“We face up to our historic and moral responsibility to shine a light and work on Germany’s historic past,” Grütters said after museum experts and political leaders struck an agreement at a summit on Thursday.

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Three claimants in their 20s say their rights to life have been breached because of inadequate roadmap to solve emergency

The UK is being taken to court by three young people who claim their human rights are being breached by the government’s failure to act decisively on the climate crisis.

Adetola Stephanie Onamade, Marina Tricks and Jerry Amokwandoh, all students in their early 20s, will on Saturday ask for a judicial review of government actions to cut national carbon emissions.

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Sam Blum

If you blinked, you might have missed European soccer’s latest surrender to big money. But that doesn’t mean it’s all over…

The post The Rise and Collapse of Europe’s Soccer Super League appeared first on The Nation.

Jeet Heer

Why did it take a sexual assault scandal to raise red flags about a deeply flawed biography?

The post Philip Roth and His Defensive Fans Are Their Own Worst Enemies appeared first on The Nation.

Protesters are taking to the streets of Colombia demonstrating against the government's mishandling of the pandemic, and its proposal to raise taxes at a time of deep economic pain.

The death toll in the pandemic continues to rise in India. Dozens of people have died in a stampede in Israel. Examining Kamala Harris's role in these first 100 days of the Biden administration.

Elie Mystal, The Nation

The Chauvin verdict seemed like a victory. Then came the racist reaction to the verdict—and the murder of Ma’Khia Bryant.

The post White Supremacy Never Takes a Day Off appeared first on The Nation.

Alexis Grenell

Sexual assault victims face an impossible burden of proof. We know enough to demand that the governor step down.

The post Just Because Cuomo Deserves Due Process Doesn’t Mean He Shouldn’t Resign appeared first on The Nation.

A customer asked me to make a replica out of her cat’s fur when it died. She took the knitted cat to bed and slept well for the first time since her loss

I was born in the former Soviet Union, where my mother taught me to knit when I was very young. It was a skill every Russian woman had when I was growing up, because clothes were in short supply. After moving to Boston, Massachusetts, in the 1990s, I quickly fell out of the habit: why knit a cardigan you could easily pick up for $20 in a store?

It was adopting a cat that led to me taking it up again. I had always thought of myself as a dog person, but when I was offered a beautiful ragdoll cat called Mittens, I couldn’t resist him. Ragdolls have soft, silky coats, and Mittens loved to be brushed. His hair was so beautiful that rather than throw away the loose strands that came away in the brush, I started collecting them. Eventually, I had enough to fill a shoebox. That’s when I wondered if it might be any good as yarn.

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Remote learning has made it harder for school staff to pick up on clues that students lack permanent housing. New federal funding is meant to help re-establish contact

Portia and her two boys were living at the St Ambrose Family Shelter in Dorchester, Massachusetts, located in an old Catholic church, when the pandemic hit.

To protect her family from the virus, she moved in with her mother in a one-bedroom apartment. But with a baby brother in the same room and unreliable wifi, 13-year-old Quentin began to struggle in school. Then the landlord threatened to evict them, calling the arrangement a fire hazard.

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