The Duchess of Cambridge called Antigua last Tuesday to congratulate Jasmine Harrison after she became the youngest woman to row the Atlantic solo.

Image source, Atlantic Campaigns/Penny Bird

The conversation, between the duchess and the 21-year-old from Thirsk, North Yorkshire, has been released today to mark International Women's Day.

The duchess told Jasmine she was "such an inspiration to lots of young women".

The journey from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua took 70 days, three hours and 48 minutes.

The duchess said she "couldn't get her head round" the time Jasmine spent at sea.

Sarah Sanderson
Political Reporter East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire

The Hull West and Hessle MP has announced she's standing down as the Shadow Minister for Further Education and Universities.

Emma Hardy was appointed last year after Sir Keir Starmer was elected as Labour leader.

She says she wants to focus further on her constituency work.

It is "frustrating" that coronavirus case rates Barnsley are not coming down as fast as elsewhere, according to the borough's director of public health.

Image source, Roger K Moore/Geograph

The borough had 148.7 cases per 100,000 people in the seven days to 4 March. That is a drop of 11% on the previous week, however it is still the second highest rate in England.

Julia Burrows, director of public health, said they were working hard to try and get case rates down.

"Our cases rates are often a reflection of our population – high-density households, a large number of people who have to leave their homes to work in factories and warehouses, an older population, and people living with long term health conditions," she added.

Ms Burrows also said they were seeing fewer deaths and fewer people in hospital due to the impact of lockdown and the vaccination programme.

BBC Radio Bradford

Bradford-based supermarket Morrisons has pledged to be completely supplied by "net zero" carbon emissions British farms by 2030.

Image source, The Academy PR / Morrisons

If it achieves the target, the company will be five years ahead of the rest of the market.

Morrisons believes the first products to reach net zero carbon status will be eggs - and that could happen as early as 2022.

Work will start this month in collaboration with a selection of meat and produce farmers to create net zero carbon farm "models".

Sophie Throup, head of agriculture at Morrisons, said: "The government has set targets to be net zero by 2050, but we wanted to help show our farmers how we could get there more quickly, by 2030.

"It is such an important thing to get right and we need to be able to work together to get this problem tackled and looked into."

Children across Yorkshire have returned to school today for the first time in two months as part of the first stage of lockdown easing in England.

Image source, Danny Lawson/PA Wire

These pupils returned to the Outwood Academy in Doncaster.

Across the country, voluntary covid tests have been introduced with school staff helping students perform them - but school leaders have warned that getting parental consent has been the biggest difficulty.

Image source, Danny Lawson/PA Wire

Image source, Danny Lawson/PA Wire

And face masks are expected to be worn in secondary school classrooms, where social distancing is not possible, at least for the remaining weeks of this term.

Image source, Danny Lawson/ PA Wire

A memorial bench dedicated to a Manchester Arena terror attack victim has been destroyed in an arson attack in South Yorkshire.

Image source, Ben Miskell

The seat, in memory of Kelly Brewster, from Sheffield was torched on Saturday evening in the city, the fire service said.

Ms Brewster, 32, was among 22 people killed in the 2017 suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert.

Councillor Ben Miskell (pictured with the destroyed bench), who represents the Arbourthorne area where the bench was located, said he was "outraged".

"I felt angry that people would have the audacity to burn a bench that meant so much to people in our community," he added.

The fire, which spread to a nearby community centre, was reported to South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service shortly after 17:30 on Saturday.

Three crews tackled the flames for an hour.

Mr Miskell said those behind the attack "should be ashamed of themselves".

A South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said: "Our investigation as to the cause of the fire is completed and it was found to have been started deliberately."

She said any further investigations into the incident would be handled by the police.

South Yorkshire Police has been approached for a comment.

A large fire at a derelict school in in Leeds at the weekend is being treated as arson, police have confirmed.

At its height, 40 firefighters tackled the blaze at the derelict Elmete Wood school in Roundhay on Saturday night.

The school catered for children with educational and behavioural issues until it closed in 2016.

West Yorkshire Police said the blaze, which began at about 18:00, was found by fire investigators to have been started deliberately inside the building and was now being investigated as arson.

James Entwistle, of West Yorkshire Police, said the site had been a target for vandalism and graffiti since it closed, with youths seen around the site just before the fire.

“Although the former school building is derelict, this was a major fire which required a significant emergency services response to deal with the situation and which presented potential risks to nearby residents," he said.

"The building has been left completely gutted and unsafe."

Police have warned people to stay away from the dangerous site and said anyone with information should contact police on 101 or anonymously via Crimestoppers.

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Plans have been unveiled to stop rush hour gridlock and improve safety for pedestrians on a busy Hull road.

Image source, Hull City Council

Plans for Holderness Road include a new filter lane for traffic turning right into Kingston Shopping Centre and McDonalds (artist's impression pictured) and a new pedestrian crossing at the junction with Sculcoates Lane.

Hull City Council said motorists regularly have to wait to turn right into Kingston Shopping Centre causing blockages and gridlock, with commuters leaving the city in the evening rush hour.

The new works - planned for this summer - will alleviate the gridlock, the council added.

Other changes include new cycle lanes so traffic turning right to Southcoates Lane can keep its own lane, plus a "refresh" of existing cycle lanes.

There is also currently no safe crossing for pedestrians at the Holderness Road junction with Mount Pleasant at Sculcoates Lane, the authority said.

A woman has been jailed for seven years for slashing another woman’s face with a penknife in Sheffield.

Image source, South Yorkshire Police

Emma Capper (pictured), 37, of the Quality Hotel in Chapeltown, forced her way into a flat on Victoria Street at around 21:00 on 9 December last year, where her victim was visiting friends.

Det Con Helen Critchley, from South Yorkshire Police, said: "Capper knew her victim was at the [flat] that day when she barged her way in and launched a brutal assault.

"Hitting her victim in the face and slashing her with a penknife and leaving a huge wound on the side of her head.

"The victim's friends watched horrified as they raised the alarm with the building’s security guard and called an ambulance.”

Det Con Critchley said Capper and her victim had mutual friends but there was "no apparent catalyst" for the attack and although she told police her victim had stolen her phone and started the fight, there was no evidence to support that.

Capper pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing and was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court on Friday.

Ms Critchley said: "Capper is a violent and nasty individual who left her victim with significant facial injuries that night. I hope this substantial custodial sentence is reassuring to the victim and the wider community."

BBC Radio Bradford

Police in Cheshire are appealing for people in Bradford to help find a man with links to the city who's been missing from Crewe since last month.

Image source, Cheshire Police

Josef Skrdlant, 51, who is also known as Pepik, went missing after going for a walk from his home in Crewe more than two weeks ago.

Cheshire Police say he has recently lived in Birmingham and he has links to Bradford.

He is originally from the Czech Republic and speaks little English, officers said.

A Czech translation of the appeal has been posted online., external

Det Insp Claire Jesson, of Crewe Local Policing Unit, said: "It is completely out of character for Josef to not make contact with his family or return home. He has never been reported as missing to the police before.

"We have been conducting searches for him since he was reported as missing. So far, the extensive efforts of our officers has been to no avail."

Anyone with information or footage that may help officers find Mr Skrdlant is being asked to contact Cheshire Constabulary,, external quoting IML 922551.

A 23-year-old man appears in court charged with murder following the death of Mark Wolsey.

Visiting restrictions at two East Yorkshire hospitals have been eased from today as Covid-19 infection rates fall.

Image source, Google

One named visitor will be able to visit a relative or friend at Hull Royal Infirmary (pictured) and Cottingham's Castle Hill Hospital by booking a slot of up to an hour with the ward sister or charge nurse.

That visitor must be the same person for the duration of the patient's stay in hospital and can't be swapped between different family members or friends, according to Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Chief Nurse Beverley Geary says: "We understand how difficult it has been for people not to be able to see their loved ones.

"We thank people for understanding the safety of our patients has been - and continues to be - our priority during the pandemic."

Visiting arrangements for children’s wards, intensive care units and maternity services remain unchanged and people attending A&E must attend alone, the trust adds.

Investigations are continuing after a man was seriously injured in an unprovoked attack at a North Yorkshire nature reserve at the weekend.

Police said the man was visiting Sherburn Willows Nature Reserve, Sherburn in Elmet, at about 16:45 on Saturday when he was attacked.

He was taken to hospital with serious injuries, officers said, with the suspects still outstanding.

Anyone who witnessed the attack is being asked to contact North Yorkshire Police.

Police in Sheffield are appealing for witnesses after two men were shot in Sheffield on Friday.

Image source, Google Maps

Officers were called to Ashpool Close in Woodhouse at about 22:40 to reports of a shooting found.

They found two men with injuries consistent with a shotgun discharge, according to South Yorkshire Police.

Both men were taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries and no arrests have been made as yet, police added.

Anyone with information about the incident, or with CCTV or dash camera footage from around the time of the incident, is being asked to contact the South Yorkshire force.

BBC Radio Bradford

A van whose driver was seen fly-tipping at least six times in and around Bradford has been crushed and recycled.

Image source, Bradford Council

Bradford Council enforcement officers seized the vehicle in January using powers which came info force in 2015.

In these circumstances, owners have 15 days to claim their vehicle before councils can sell them on, putting the funds towards tackling environmental crime.

On this occasion, however, the van was deemed worthless and unroadworthy, so it was scrapped.

Councillor Sarah Ferriby (pictured with the remains of the van) said: “It was a pity we couldn’t make some value out of the vehicle, but having it crushed like this means it can’t ever be used again to dump rubbish on Bradford’s streets.

“We will do everything we can to track down those people who have been making money out of damaging our environment and to make them pay for their crimes."

A man has been charged with the murder of a 48-year-old man who died at a flat in Harrogate.

Image source, North Yorkshire Police

Mark Wolsey (pictured), from Harrogate, was discovered with serious injuries in Mayfield Grove at 22:00 on Friday and was pronounced dead at the scene.

A 23-year-old man, also from the town, was arrested at the scene and is due to appear at York Magistrates' Court later today.

Police said patrols have taken place in the area to reassure residents.

BBC Weather

Outbreaks of showery rain will linger for much of the day today, although they should gradually ease as the day draws on.

It will be dull too, with overcast skies. Gentle to moderate winds.

This evening and tonight will remain dry with patchy cloud, but also some extensive clear spells in places.

A gentle to moderate south-westerly wind:

Local Democracy Reporting Service

Schools will become the coronavirus front line this week as the effect of pupils’ return on infections will determine further lockdown easing, East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s public health boss says.

Image source, Danny Lawson/PA Wire

Andy Kingdom, the council's director of public health, said he and other officials would be watching infection rates and trends “like a hawk” to see whether the return fuels outbreaks.

Mr Kingdom added he expected infections to rise as more people mix, but the degree to which coronavirus transmits to the elderly and clinically vulnerable would be the key test.

It comes as pupils in the East Riding and across the country prepare to return to classrooms on today.

The move is the first in the government’s roadmap out of lockdown and Mr Kingdom said its consequences would be the litmus test for whether to proceed with further easing.

He said: “Monday will be the first test, and we’re hoping children and their parents will lead the way.

“Care homes were the battlefield of the pandemic for a long time, but now parents and children will be on the front line.

“The problem is the signal this sends out, there could be the assumption that this is all over and it’s just a matter of moving through a series of dates of easing."

Mr Kingdom added "it's not a straight line": "When pupils go back to school there will be more social interaction and that means more infections and potentially more deaths.

"If people don’t stick to the rules as they have been doing then that can push the numbers up quickly," he said.