Exclusive: Research shows extent to which schools are struggling to provide qualified teachers for every class

Hundreds of thousands of pupils in England and Wales are being educated “on the cheap” by low-paid teaching assistants (TAs) covering lessons for teachers who are off sick or have quit, according to new research.

A desperate teacher recruitment crisis, compounded by inadequate funding, means schools across the country are struggling to put a qualified teacher at the front of every class, unions say.

Monarch to resume public-facing engagements after palace says doctors ‘very encouraged’ by his progress

King Charles, who is being treated for cancer, is to return to public duties, with doctors pleased and “very encouraged” by his progress and “positive” about his continued recovery, Buckingham Palace has said.

Charles, who announced in early February he had been diagnosed with an unspecified form of cancer, will continue treatment while resuming some public-facing engagements, though he will not undertake a full summer programme.

Top UN demining official outlines scale of devastation as Egypt officials fly into Israel in attempt to revive ceasefire talks

Israel’s war in Gaza has created 37m tonnes of debris, much of it laced with unexploded bombs, which could take more than a decade to remove, a top UN demining official said.

Nearly seven months into the war, there is an average 300kg of rubble a square metre of land in Gaza, Pehr Lodhammar, the former United Nationals Mine Action Service chief for Iraq, told a news conference.

Singer had appealed 2022 conviction by a Chicago jury stating Illinois’s shorter statute of limitations applied to his case

The singer R Kelly was correctly sentenced to 20 years in prison on child sexual abuse convictions in Chicago, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday.

Jurors in 2022 convicted the Grammy award-winning R&B singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, on three charges of producing child sexual abuse images and three charges of enticement of minors for sex.

Federal transportation agency finds Tesla’s claims about feature don’t match their findings and opens second investigation

US auto-safety regulators said on Friday that their investigation into Tesla’s Autopilot had identified at least 13 fatal crashes in which the feature had been involved. The investigation also found the electric carmaker’s claims did not match up with reality.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) disclosed on Friday that during its three-year Autopilot safety investigation, which it launched in August 2021, it identified at least 13 Tesla crashes involving one or more death, and many more involving serious injuries, in which “foreseeable driver misuse of the system played an apparent role”.

Following David Pecker’s testimony, Rhona Graff was called to the witness stand, to comment on Trump and the adult film actor

• Trump on Trial: What we learned from David Pecker’s testimony

The former tabloid publisher David Pecker’s testimony in Donald Trump’s criminal trial on Friday presented a granular look into a hush-money scheme which prosecutors allege was meant to sway the 2016 election in the real estate mogul’s favor.

But when Trump’s longtime assistant, Rhona Graff, was called to the witness stand, her testimony humanized the trial, reminding the courtroom that at its core, these proceedings center on an adult film actor named Stormy Daniels – as well as a man who is either flawed or fraudulent.

Judge coroner highlights failings that contributed to three victims being killed by Khairi Saadallah in 2020

The deaths of three people during a terror attack in Reading were avoidable, an inquest has determined.

A judge coroner sitting at the Old Bailey on Friday said failings in intelligence sharing and in providing psychiatric care contributed to the failure to prevent the attack that took the lives of James Furlong, Dr David Wails and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett in June 2020.

Campaign Against Antisemitism, led by Gideon Falter, cites safety fears and promises more protests to come

Campaign Against Antisemitism has cancelled its planned counter-protest against a pro-Palestinian march through central London on Saturday.

The group, led by Gideon Falter, had said it wanted to use the “walk together” initiative to support its view that the area around the planned pro-Palestinian march was not safe for Jewish people.

Tower Hamlets criticised by its own mayor for taking down murals, while Redbridge reviews artwork after complaints

Council authorities have moved to take down pro-Palestine murals in east London, while another is being reviewed after complaints were made by pro-Israel lawyers.

The latter, which depicts four journalists standing against a backdrop of ruins and under the words “Heroes of Palestine”, went up last month in Redbridge, east London, as local authorities came under pressure over similar murals.

Oscar winner reveals she would enjoy fans using her given name despite using Emma professionally

Her films have racked up more than $1bn at the box office and she has won two Oscars under her stage name, but Emma Stone says she would now prefer to be called by her given name: Emily.

In a joint interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Nathan Fielder, her co-star in the surreal TV show The Curse, revealed that actors and crew members she worked with called her Emily.