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Rights commission inquiry focused on south-east of country found drones targeted gathering points and critical infrastructure

Former Labour leader will make onscreen cameo as Wizard of Oz-lington' in drag production of Wicked WitchesHe has spent a whole career dealing with booing and hissing in the House of Commons. But now in the run-up to Christmas, the former Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn will bring that experience to bear as he appears in pantomime at a north London theatre.The Islington North MP, who sits as an independent, will perform as the Wizard of Oz-lington" in a drag production of Wicked Witches. The venue said he would make an onscreen cameo. Continue reading...

The 4,000-capacity Eutopia is independently owned and run by clubland veterans - and despite being on the city's eastern fringe, clubbers say they're prepared to trekBetween redevelopment, inflation, licensing and noise complaints, keeping a nightclub afloat in London can be tricky: earlier this month Corsica Studios in Elephant and Castle joined the more than 50% of UK clubs which have been lost since 2013.Given that context, this weekend's opening of Eutopia, a 4,000-person independently owned nightclub and cultural venue in a former haulage warehouse in Barking, feels worth celebrating. But music fans who have been burned by the recurrent loss of the capital's best dancefloors, from Plastic People to Printworks, might also be sceptical. Is Eutopia here to stay, or another false dawn? And are people really going to trek out to the very eastern edge of the city, 12 miles from the West End, to go to a club across a river from a sewage treatment works? Continue reading...

Exclusive: All-party parliamentary group on black health found 27% not offered any treatment after diagnosisBlack women in the UK who experience symptoms caused by fibroids are facing delays, poor care and dismissal by healthcare professionals according to a parliamentary report.Published by the all-party parliamentary group on black health, the report included a survey of more than 500 women regarding their experience of uterine fibroids, with more than 70% of respondents being Black British. Continue reading...

Queensland checking all 172 schools sitting exam with pupils expected to claim special consideration after studying the wrong Roman emperor

Barracks in Inverness and East Sussex will house about 900 men as government aims to end use of hotelsHundreds of people seeking asylum in the UK will be moved to military sites as the government aims to end the use of hotels to house them.The Home Office confirmed that two barracks - Cameron barracks in Inverness and Crowborough training camp in East Sussex - would be used to house about 900 men temporarily. Officials are working to identify more sites. Continue reading...

Move comes after parent successfully challenged LNP's previous ban on new patients under 18 accessing hormone treatments for gender dysphoria

Extracts of planned changes to the EPBC Act prompt anger' from conservation organisations that fear nature protection will be weakened

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NSW police allege water and gas mains were cut at first hospital in Sutherland before gas main switched off at nearby facility

In today's newsletter: Rising numbers of prisoners released by accident are laying bare systemic failings in England and Wales, from overworked staff to issues with probationGood morning. Maybe the most gobsmacking detail about the accidental release of Hadush Kebatu from HMP Chelmsford was this, from a delivery driver who was delivering equipment to the prison as he left: Kebatu, who was serving a sentence for sexual assault and was due to be deported, appeared baffled as he walked free, and lingered outside the gates for an hour and a half before heading away. They [the officers] were basically sending him away, saying, Go, you've been released, you go,'" the driver told Sky News. He kept scratching his head and saying, Where do I go, where do I go?'"On its face, that might look like incompetence. But the fiasco of Kebatu's release may point to much bigger issues in the prison system. Yesterday, the justice secretary, David Lammy blamed human error" - while the Prison Officers' Association (POA) called the suspension of a single officer unjust".Hurrican Melissa | Jamaicans have started to take shelter from Hurricane Melissa as the category 5 storm neared the coast amid warnings of catastrophic flooding, landslides and extensive infrastructure damage. The slow-moving giant is set to make landfall early on Tuesday.Climate crisis | Humanity has failed to limit global heating to 1.5C and must change course immediately, the secretary general of the UN has warned. In his only interview before next month's Cop30 climate summit, Antonio Guterres acknowledged it is now inevitable" that humanity will overshoot the target.Reform UK | Nigel Farage has defended remarks made by a Reform MP who said seeing adverts full of black and Asian people drives her mad". The Reform UK leader said if he felt Sarah Pochin's words were deliberately and genuinely racist", he would have taken action" against her.Sudan | Fears grew for hundreds of thousands of civilians trapped in El Fasher after the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces said it had captured the city, which it has been besieging for more than a year in Sudan's civil war.Ministry of Defence | At least 49 family members and colleagues of Afghans affected by the MoD's mass data breach have been killed, according to research submitted to a parliamentary committee. Continue reading...

UK tax agency apologises after flagging people as having emigrated, often when they return via different routesParents who went from Liverpool to Amsterdam with their autistic children are among thousands who have had their child benefit wrongly stopped as part of a crackdown on benefit fraud, it has emerged.The error by HM Revenue and Customs emerged 48 hours after the Guardian and the Detail reported on hundreds of families in Northern Ireland who had child benefit stopped after they returned home from holiday via Dublin airport, leaving HMRC with the impression they had taken a one-way ticket out of the country and were fraudulently collecting child benefit. Continue reading...

Deal between federal government and Nauru expected to last 30 years and apply to around 350 people released under high court's NZYQ ruling

Reduction comes from energy generated from windfarms and lower cost of gas owing to lower demandWind power has cut at least 104bn from energy costs in the UK since 2010, a study has found.Users of gas have been among the biggest beneficiaries, the research suggested. Continue reading...

Prosecutor tells Victorian court of abuse afflicted by Lachlan Young, after judge holds a minute's silence for McGuire

Michele Bullock plays down concerns about rising joblessness as economists pencil in February for next reduction in borrowing costs

Board was found covered in barnacles and mussels in Raglan, nearly 18 months after it was lost during a boat trip near TasmaniaA surfboard lost off Australia's coast nearly 18 months ago has washed up on one of New Zealand's most famed surf beaches, thousands of kilometres from where it was last seen.New Zealand-based French surfer Alvaro Bon was kite surfing in Raglan on the North Island's west coast on 15 October, when his kite caught in the water and he began drifting out to sea. Continue reading...

Education secretary promises clear timelines' are in place to permanently remove crumbling concreteAll schools in England that received grant funding to pay for the removal of reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) should be free of it by the end of this parliament, the education secretary has pledged.Setting out a new timeline for dealing with the crumbling concrete crisis in schools, Bridget Phillipson said: We inherited a crumbling education estate, but I won't let that be our legacy. Continue reading...

Peers say woeful' record on prosecutions has led to a low-risk, high-reward' criminal cultureOrganised crime groups in the UK are making millions every year from illegally dumping and burning rubbish, peers have told ministers, after an inquiry found a lack of enforcement made it a low-risk, high-reward" criminal enterprise.Criminality is endemic in the waste sector," a Lords committee told the government on Tuesday, after it found at least 38m tonnes of waste was illegally managed every year, leading to serious environmental, economic and social consequences". Continue reading...

Deputy PM tells MPs party must pick clearer fights that show its values after byelection slumpDavid Lammy has urged Labour MPs to see the party's defeat in the Caerphilly byelection as a moment of reflection, arguing progressive governments around the world have recovered from worse to win big".The deputy prime minister pointed to Canada's Liberals, Norway's Labour party and Australia's Labor party as examples of centre-left groups that roared back" from midterm slumps to secure significant victories. Continue reading...

Defence minister says Xi Jinping should note resolve to stay the course by global democratic alliance, including AustraliaDefeating Russia's invasion of Ukraine is critical to restraining China in the Indo-Pacific, Finland's defence minister has said, warning Europe and democratic partners, including Australia, face a fight of global consequences.Antti Hakkanen praised Donald Trump's decision to impose sanctions on two Russian oil companies last week, calling the move a major sign of resolve by the US president against Vladimir Putin's three-year long war. Continue reading...

Consultation over future pathway with employees as smelter struggles with high power prices

Customers urged not to go to domestic airline's airports as customers and staff offered train travel on suitable routesThe UK domestic airline Eastern Airways has suspended operations and all of its flights have been cancelled.Customers of the airline, which operated regional services from airports across the UK, are urged not to go to the airport as flights will not be operating, the UK Civil Aviation Authority said. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Red Cross acts as neutral intermediary' to recover hostages' remains in areas under Israeli controlThe International Committee of the Red Cross has accompanied members of Hamas inside areas of Gaza still under the control of the Israeli military to facilitate the search for the bodies of Israeli hostages, as the Palestinian militant group delivered the remains of another captive.Under the US-brokered ceasefire, which took effect on 10 October, Hamas is required to return the remains of all Israeli hostages as soon as possible. In exchange, Israel has agreed to hand over 15 Palestinian bodies for each Israeli. Continue reading...

Protester asks whether monarch pressed police to cover up' for his brother as pressure grows on palace to take further actionKing Charles was heckled by a protester who asked whether he had asked the police to cover up" for his scandal-ridden brother, as pressure mounts on the monarchy to take further action against Prince Andrew.During a visit to Litchfield Cathedral today, a man in the crowd asked the king a string of questions, including: How long have you known about Andrew and Epstein?" Continue reading...

That's the highest number recorded by the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses since they began tracking deaths 10 years ago

Julia Wandelt, 24, says McCann family were misled' about missing girl's case by police, who are still abusing cases'An alleged stalker who claimed to be Madeleine McCann has told a court she has sympathy" for the missing girl's family and never" meant any harm.Julia Wandelt, a 24-year-old Polish national, claimed the McCann family had been misled" about Madeleine's case by police, who were still abusing cases". Continue reading...

Case had been due to go to trial after judge ruled 2022's The Lost King, which Coogan co-wrote, portrayed Richard Taylor as smug and patronising'Steve Coogan has said his film about the discovery of the remains of Richard III was the story I wanted to tell, and I am happy I did" after he and two production companies agreed to pay substantial damages" to settle a high court libel claim over the film's portrayal of a university academic.Richard Taylor, deputy registrar at the University of Leicester at the time of the find, sued Coogan, his production company Baby Cow, and Pathe Productions for libel over his portrayal in the 2022 film The Lost King, which follows the amateur historian Philippa Langley and her search for the king's skeleton. Continue reading...

Trial is latest phase in legal battle against false claim that French first lady is a man named Jean-Michel TrogneuxTen people have gone on trial in Paris charged with online harassment of Brigitte Macron - the latest phase of a legal battle on both sides of the Atlantic against the false claim that the French first lady is a man named Jean-Michel Trogneux.The president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife filed a defamation lawsuit in the US at the end of July, in connection with a rumour amplified and repeated online that Brigitte Macron was born a man. Continue reading...

Man at centre of abandoned spy case has said he reported to Chinese company with clients that wanted to develop trading links with UK'Christopher Berry, the man at the heart of a controversial and now-abandoned Chinese espionage case, appeared to be aware that he was supplying information to a non-commercial client, according to messages seen by the Guardian.In August 2022, Berry sent a voice note saying that they want me to work for them directly instead of going through the company". Continue reading...

Climate scientists have long warned that warming oceans are making explosive storm development more common

Voters appear to have responded to idea that US president's generosity' would evaporate if Milei failed to winThe dollar always talks in the end," Donald Trump wrote in his 1987 bestseller The Art of the Deal.Javier Milei's surprise triumph in Argentina's midterm elections - after Trump bailed him out with 40bn of them - suggests there may be some truth to that assertion. Continue reading...

Price increases of as much as 40% will make sport exclusive privilege of the wealthy, says AssoutentiCompletely unjustified" prices rises for ski passes in Italy this winter mean the sport is at risk of becoming the exclusive privilege of the wealthy, the president of an Italian consumers' association has warned.From the Alps and the Dolomites in the north to the slopes of the central Italian region of Abruzzo, prices are poised to rise by as much as 40% compared with 2021, according to a report compiled by the watchdog, Assoutenti. Continue reading...

Six in 10 practitioners say loss of rehabilitation space in hospitals is harming chances of patients recoveringStroke patients and others in need of intense physiotherapy are facing declining care because of inadequate space and equipment in hospitals, a survey shows.The Chartered Society of Physiotherapists found that four in 10 NHS physiotherapy staff have lost or are expected to lose dedicated rehabilitation space. Continue reading...

Robert Ford, subject of an unofficial complaint', and Bill Barrett, suspended after leaked meeting, removed via emailTwo suspended Reform UK councillors from Kent have been expelled from the party over a misconduct allegation and after the Guardian published a leaked video which revealed tensions among its county council ranks.Robert Ford and Bill Barrett were removed from the party via an email from Reform HQ on Monday, which said they had undermined" the interests of the party and brought it into disrepute". Continue reading...

Inspector general of taxation and ombudsman, Ruth Owen, says she is receiving an increasing number' of complaints about tax office

Drummer played on Bitches Brew and other landmark recordings, as well as making numerous albums as a bandleaderJack DeJohnette, the jazz drummer celebrated as one of the genre's true greats - who worked with stars including Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins and Charles Lloyd - has died aged 83. A press representative for ECM, the record label that released many of his recordings, confirmed the news though no cause of death was given.Able to bring dynamic, highly musical playing to open-minded free jazz, R&B-leaning instrumental grooves and everything in between, DeJohnette is perhaps best known as the drummer in Davis's fusion period, contributing to albums such as Bitches Brew, Jack Johnson and On the Corner. He was also celebrated as a regular sideman and bandleader on elegant, progressive fusion releases from ECM in the 1980s. Continue reading...

Suspect, 32, apprehended in Birmingham after urgent appeal by police over alleged incident on SaturdayA man has been arrested on suspicion of rape after police believe a woman was the victim of a racially aggravated attack.West Midlands police were called to the Park Hall area of Walsall just after 7.15pm on Saturday after a woman was reported to be distressed in the street. Continue reading...

Storm could intensify further, threatening to cause catastrophic flooding in northern CaribbeanHurricane Melissa strengthened into a powerful category 5 hurricane on Monday, threatening days of catastrophic winds and rain in the northern Caribbean, while Jamaica's government ordered mandatory evacuations for vulnerable areas across the country including in the capital, Kingston.Jamaican officials had earlier urged those in low-lying and flood-prone areas to seek refuge as Melissa rapidly climbs up the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale. Continue reading...

Publisher last week reported jump in revenue in academic and professional arm thanks to AI licensing deal

Lehrmann, who is on bail and yet to formally enter a plea, is accused of raping a woman twice in Queensland in 2021

Wires brought down across greater Brisbane and Werribee resident tells ABC Radio of partner lifted and dropped' by huge wind

Beck Smith manages Queensland farm alone with help of three-year-old border collie Duke, winner of the 2025 Cobber Challenge

Commons committee describes successive governments' failures to manage hotel use, contracts, spending and safeguardingThe Home Office has squandered billions of pounds on asylum accommodation due to long-term mismanagement of a failed, chaotic and expensive" system, according to a report published by a powerful parliamentary committee.The Commons cross-party home affairs committee report, published on Monday, highlights the previous and current governments' failures to manage the mix of hotels, large sites such as the Wethersfield former military base in Essex, and shared housing. Continue reading...

One man arrested at Charles de Gaulle airport and another just outside Paris, officials confirmFrench police have arrested two suspects believed to have helped steal crown jewels worth an estimated 88m (76m) from the Louvre museum in Paris, officials have said, a week after one of the country's most spectacular heists in decades.The Paris public prosecutor confirmed media reports on Sunday that one man had been detained at about 10pm (8pm UK time) on Saturday at the capital's Charles de Gaulle airport by officers from the armed robberies and serious burglaries squad. Continue reading...

Health secretary hardens Labour line after Sarah Pochin said advertising doesn't reflect your average white family'Wes Streeting has accused the Reform UK MP Sarah Pochin of making racist" remarks after she said seeing adverts full of black and Asian people drives her mad".The health secretary said Pochin was only sorry she's been caught and called out", adding she had said the quiet bit loud" as he warned of a return to 1970s, 1980s-style racism". Continue reading...

Analysts say president's war on Russia's fossil fuel revenues is a chance to bring peace to Ukraine and profit to USDonald Trump's stated mission to broker peace in Ukraine could come down to this simple question: can the US president convince the world to stop buying Russia's fossil fuels?Last week, Trump imposed sanctions on Russia's two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, in an effort to damage Moscow's ability to fund its war machine. Continue reading...

Experts see move as Trump's latest attempt to shift power of the purse away from Congress and into executive branchBy ordering that US military personnel receive paychecks even though the government is shut down, Donald Trump is seeing to the needs of a politically untouchable constituency that has been caught up in the congressional logjam over federal spending.But experts who spoke to the Guardian warn that he is doing so in a way that is almost certainly illegal and, if left unchecked, bodes ill for Congress's constitutional authority to control government spending. Some fear it could set the stage for the president to unilaterally fund other contentious decisions in the future, such as the deployment of the military on US soil. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story hereLucy Powell has paid tribute to former Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, saying she has some big shoes to fill", as she took to the stage to celebrate her win.Powell spoke about how division and hate" has increased. She said the desire for change is palpable". Continue reading...