THE BIG STORIES
Surge in sexist abuse from boys in Scottish schools | Quake toll emerges | Trump is ‘pissed off’ at Putin

📣 Research showing a surge in abuse by sexist boys against female teachers and fellow pupils in Scotland’s schools led the Sunday Post yesterday, and continues to make waves today. Its findings are shocking: 37% of female teachers face verbal abuse several times a week (compared to 18% of men) and 18% of women teachers say they face physical violence several times a week (6% of men). Campaigners think online influencers such as Andrew Tate, and the “incel” culture, are to blame. (Sunday Post) (Daily Record) (Herald)

• Andrew Tate is facing a lawsuit from an ex-girlfriend in the US, who accuses the influencer of sexual assault and battery. Lawyers representing Tate, who also faces criminal investigations and other claims in UK and Romania, have denied the allegations. (NBC News)

📣 Only now are we learning the true horror of Friday’s quake in Myanmar, closer to the epicentre. The “smell of death” permeates the city, with 1,600 known to have died and countless numbers buried under rubble. (AP)

• The scale of devastation in central Myanmar is “unlike anything rescue workers or medics have seen before”. (The Guardian)

• The quake struck during Friday prayers: more than 700 Muslims died in some 60 damaged and destroyed mosques in Mandalay. (AP)

• It was an anxious return to office buildings in Bangkok this morning: workers in some skyscrapers ran out when they heard cracking noises. The city’s governor has urged residents not to panic. (BBC)

📣 Donald Trump said he was “very angry” and “pissed off” with Vladimir Putin after the Russian President questioned the credibility of his Ukrainian counterpart, saying the comments were “not going in the right location”. (NBC News) (BBC)

IDEAS
Catching up: five pieces of thought-provoking commentary, from geopolitics to personal finance

🗣️ Azeem Azhar is the super-smart chronicler of the AI revolution in his Exponential View newsletter. Sir Niall Ferguson is the Glasgow-born economic historian. Put the two together for an hour… and you get an fascinating (if slightly alarming) analysis of Trumpism, and what might happen next. The preoccupation in the Oval Office, says Ferguson, is not about American strength: it’s about the weakness of the US position. And the hour is not all doom and gloom: Ferguson is careful to point out a positive route through the international chaos we can all see to a more prosperous and peaceful world. But that’s only one potential route. (Exponential View)

🗣️We lost an hour’s sleep yesterday: Ruth Ogden, a professor of the psychology of time, wrote in the Guardian of how that “falling back” has a negative impact on women, especially mothers. Both the changes of the clock, in autumn and spring, have negative effects: the former on mental health, the latter in car accidents and heart attacks. “Impositions of time, such as clock changes and lockdowns, illustrate how modern life puts us at the mercy of the ticking of a clock. It is the invisible hand of power that forces us to do things, often without our realising,” she wrote. (Guardian)

🗣️Matthew Syed decried the devaluing of the concept of “harm” after two people had their home raided, before being taken to a police station for eight hours’ questioning, because they’d criticised their child’s school on social media. He tied it to the 13,200 “non-crime hate incidents” recorded in a 12-month period, and saw “a symptom of a disease that is eating our societies alive… we have lost sight of the wisdom that a bit of suffering, stress and criticism is part of the human condition and doesn’t require intervention by the police, the state or anything else beyond our own inner resilience.” (The Times £)

🗣️ Euan McColm reflected on the £585,000 fine for the University of Sussex after Dr Kathleen Stock was “hounded out of her position as a professor of philosophy by activists after she dared speak in lectures about the reality of biological sex.” Management at some Scottish Universities are lucky, he wrote, the Office of Students - which imposed the fine - has no power north of the border. “Across the public sector, we’re witnessing the costly effect of giving inexperienced people responsibilities for which they are supremely unqualified,” he concludes. (Scotland on Sunday)

🗣️Contactless payments are ruining your finances, says money coach Talia Loderick. From 1-Click on Amazon to Apple payments on your phone (near miraculous!) it’s never been easier to be parted from your money. But “if you’re someone who struggles with overspending or problem spending, friction is your friend,” says Loderick. “Creating practical, physical barriers to spending helps when willpower runs low and the temptation to spend is high by preventing or at least slowing down your ability to purchase,” she says. (Independent)

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 The BBC spends two days in the UK’s first drug injection room in Glasgow, having been given exclusive access: they witness medical emergencies which, in another context, workers say would have killed drug users. (BBC)

📣 It now costs £77,000 a year to house a prisoner in Scotland, according to new figures in the Herald today. The title also reports that each new prisoner place created by the new, bigger Barlinnie prison will cost £2.79m. (The Herald has the exclusive)

📣 The chairman of the North Sea Transition Taskforce says creating a North Sea “renewables powerhouse” should be a “national mission” for the UK. It also calls for the UK government to scrap the energy profit levy before the current 2030 deadline and commit to a more “proportionate” tax system. (Scotsman) (Times)

AROUND THE UK

📣 The UK Government wants to lead a “global crackdown” on illegal immigration, it will announce today at a summit on the problem in London. Keir Starmer wants to create a task force to track gang activity and the supply of small boats. (Daily Mail)

📣 The former Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has been condemned by the Bishop of Newcastle for saying he would forgive serial abuser John Smyth if he was alive. (Independent)

📣 Does Harry’s royal brand have any sort of future? That’s the question being posed by the Daily Mail after the chair of the charity he founded (and recently bailed on) said the organisation lost its sponsors and donors after he left the UK. (Sky News interview) (Daily Mail on Harry’s future)

AROUND THE WORLD

🌎 Donald Trump said he’s “not joking” about trying to serve a third term: the clearest indication yet he wants to break the constitutional barrier to serving more than two terms, in place since 1951. It was another line from that NBC interview mentioned earlier… (NBC News)

🌎 There’s wild weather in the US at the moment: it might be late March but freezing rain was downing trees and power lines across Michigan and Wisconsin, while Tennessee was facing tornado warnings, high winds and two-inch hail. (AP)

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

💰The chairman of the North Sea Transition Taskforce says creating a North Sea “renewables powerhouse” should be a “national mission” for the UK. It also calls for the UK government to scrap the energy profit levy before the current 2030 deadline and commit to a more “proportionate” tax system. (Scotsman) (Times)

💰 Germany’s surge in spending has driven up borrowing costs across the Eurozone: that could make it harder for other European nations to increase their defence spending. (FT £)

💰 The owner of the Six by Nico restaurant chain has blamed Rachel Reeves’ decisions to raise minimum wages and national insurance for its decision to lay off its customer service department. Disgruntled former employees have taken to social media to vent. (The Times £)

SPORT

⚽️ Manchester City are favourites for the FA Cup after coming from behind to beat Bournemouth on TV yesterday. But, as Phil McNulty observes, there’s a little bit of the romance of the cup left in the rest of the draw: City play Nottingham Forest, who last got to the final in 1991 and haven’t won the trophy since 1959. Aston Villa have gone even longer - 1957 - since lifting the cup. Crystal Palace have made the final twice, and never won. (BBC - 🎥this link also has the weekend cup highlights, including some spectacular goals).

⚽️ Dundee United got a 1-0 win away at Ross County in what was uniformly described as “not a classic”. At least there were goals aplenty the previous day: Aberdeen, Celtic, Hibs, St Mirren and Rangers all scored three or more on their way to wins. 🎥 Highlights from the BBC (scroll for all the Scottish Premiership games)