With their serene poses, beautiful curves and arms often enfolding pregnant bellies, these figurines celebrate the miracle of fertility. Sadly, I saw them during protests about violence against women

Tall, thin, small, wide, or shaped like a violin. Lying down, standing up, arms folded or looking up to the stars. Male, female, intersex or abstracted. Alone or in groups, drinking, or playing music. All these descriptions came to mind last week when I came into contact with some of the earliest known Greek figurine sculptures, known as Cycladic art.

Marble white – although originally painted – the Cycladic figures date from the Neolithic to early Bronze Age, around 5300–2300BC. They were sculpted in cultures based in the circular cluster of islands in the Aegean Sea known as the Cyclades. What began as pebble-shaped figurines grew into a great variety of shapes and sizes, sometimes with coiled hair and eyes drawn atop little wedge noses, and occasionally playing instruments.

The reporter who covered the trial for the Observer recalls the twists and turns of the double murder trial – and how the jury reached its verdict with astonishing speed

When the jury sent word they would deliver their verdict in the OJ Simpson double murder trial, the rest of America was caught by surprise, myself included. It had taken four hours to rule on nine months of evidence as to whether one of the country’s most famous black men had killed his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her young friend, Ronald Goldman.

It felt far too quick. The televised case in 1995 had been an astonishing spectacle, its twists and turns drawing vast numbers of viewers from the nation’s daytime soaps.

Thirty years after I covered the ‘trial of the century’, its themes of race, misogyny, policing and celebrity still affect and define the nation

It wasn’t the Kennedy assassination, but I remember exactly where I was on 3 October 1995 when a Los Angeles jury delivered its verdict in the OJ Simpson trial. A novice US correspondent for this newspaper, I was hunched over a primitive laptop, ready to press send on the piece that I had already drafted, confidently explaining to UK readers why the jurors had convicted an American sporting legend of double murder and the likely impact of their decision. The button I had to press was “delete”.

The adrenaline-fuelled hour as I scrambled to write an entirely new commentary on the “shock acquittal” was repeated in newsrooms across the US and around the world. As it turned out, the verdict was not a shock to everyone – but we’ll get to that.

The 1994 murders of Simpson’s ex and her friend Ron Goldman are inextricable from society’s failure of domestic abuse victims

OJ Simpson is dead, and Nicole Brown should still be alive. Simpson, the longtime batterer and stalker of Nicole Brown Simpson, and the man who all but confessed to her gruesome stabbing murder in June of 1994, died on Wednesday of cancer. He passed at his home in Las Vegas, “surrounded by his children and grandchildren”, according to a statement issued by his family. He was 76.

Simpson died in bed, receiving medical care to make him comfortable, at the end of his natural life. He had reached old age; we can infer that when he took his last breaths, he was surrounded by well wishes and love. His was a very different death from the one he allegedly inflicted on his former wife, Nicole Brown, and her friend Ron Goldman. They did not die in bed; they probably died screaming. And for Nicole, at least, her death was the culmination of a years-long campaign of terrorism that OJ had waged against her since they met; it was the moment their whole relationship had been leading to.

Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist

The father of Michaela Hall, the charity worker killed by her partner after he was wrongly assessed as only ‘medium risk’ says lessons must be learned

A serial violent offender who previously tried to strangle his partner was free to murder her after being wrongly assessed as “medium risk” by the ­probation service.

When Lee Kendall killed ­charity worker Michaela Hall on 31 May 2021, police had received 34 pieces of ­intelligence about his domestic abuse against her and he had almost 50 ­convictions, relating to 100 offences.

Crime crackdown plan also gives victims of rape and sexual assault the right to specialist support throughout justice process

Six police forces will be given powers to charge domestic abuser suspects without the involvement of the Crown Prosecution Service as part of a series of Labour proposals to solve more crimes announced on Thursday.

A future Keir Starmer government would also give victims in domestic abuse, rape and sexual assault cases the right to have specialist support advisers throughout the criminal justice process and beside them in court.

The statute, which can lead to reproductive coercion in a state that has banned abortion, has recently gained nationwide attention

At six months pregnant, H decided enough was enough. She had endured years of abuse from her husband and had recently discovered he was also physically violent towards her child. She contacted an attorney to help her get a divorce.

But she was stopped short. Her lawyer told her that she could not finalize a divorce in Missouri because she was pregnant. “I just absolutely felt defeated,” she said. H returned to the house she shared with her abuser, sleeping in her child’s room on the floor and continuing to face violence. On the night before she gave birth, she slept in the most secure room in the house: on the tile floor in the basement, with the family’s dogs.

Project finds police recorded 93 suspected domestic abuse-related suicides in a year – one every four days

Campaigners for women’s rights in the UK are calling for more mental health support for domestic abuse victims after police recorded 93 suspected abuse-related suicides in a year.

A report found 242 domestic abuse-related deaths were recorded between April 2022 and March 2023, of which 93 were suspected suicides, 80 were intimate partner homicides, 31 were adult family homicides, 23 were unexpected deaths, 11 were child deaths, and four others were deaths involving individuals living together who were not family members or intimate partners.

Findings from survey of UK practitioners may explain why many more women than men suffer from a range of conditions

Abuse and violence suffered by women and girls is the main reason they are much more likely than men and boys to develop mental ill health, Britain’s psychiatrists say.

Experiencing such behaviour can trigger very serious mental health problems in women and girls, including suicidal thoughts and psychosis, according to the Royal College of Psychiatrists.

In the UK, call the national domestic abuse helpline on 0808 2000 247, or visit Women’s Aid . In the US, the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org .