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Sydney is gearing up for a massive, global party — but it’s also an important reminder of the work still to be done on LGBTQ+ rights

Assad regime still insists on handling all aid shipments to war-torn and quake-ravaged country that has been all but cut off from helpThe US has temporarily eased its sanctions on Syria in a bid to speed up aid deliveries to the country’s north-west, where almost no humanitarian assistance has arrived despite the deaths of thousands in this week’s earthquake.The tremor that has killed nearly 23,000 people there and in neighboring Turkey added to the devastation suffered in Syria’s north, which was already badly damaged by the civil war and is now mostly under opposition control, with Bashar al-Assad’s government present only in some areas. Continue reading...

No one hurt in ‘unplanned’ explosion of 250kg device found in Norfolk town, police sayA 250kg second world war bomb has exploded unexpectedly in Great Yarmouth, police have said.Emergency services and agencies declared a major incident following the discovery of the large unexploded device at a river crossing in the Norfolk town on Tuesday, and had been working to disarm it. Continue reading...

This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our Russia-Ukraine war coverage hereThe latest inteligence briefing on the situation in Ukraine from the UK’s Ministry of Defence suggests that “Russian forces have likely made tactical gains in two key sectors” since 7 February. It states:On the northern outskirts of the Donbas town of Bakhmut, Wagner Group forces have pushed 2-3km further west, controlling countryside near the M-03 main route into the town. Russian forces increasingly dominate the northern approaches to Bakhmut.To the south, Russian units have made advances around the western edge of the town of Vuhledar, where they re-launched offensive operations in late January 2023.At 4am, the enemy launched rocket attacks on the city of Kharkiv and the region with S-300 missiles. Critical and infrastructure facilities were targeted. Fires broke out, which the rescuers managed to quickly put out. However, some areas of the city remain without electricity. Specialists are working to eliminate the consequences of the impact. Fortunately, there were no casualties. Continue reading...

Oscar-nominated film-maker died on Friday at a London hospital after a short illness, his family saidFilm director Hugh Hudson, who directed best picture Oscar winner Chariots of Fire, has died aged 86 following a short illness.A statement released on behalf of his family said: “Hugh Hudson, 86, beloved husband and father, died at Charing Cross hospital on 10 February after a short illness.” Continue reading...

Five released on bail conditions including county ban after black girl assaulted outside Thomas Knyvett college in AshfordFive suspects arrested in connection with what police say was a racially motivated attack on a 15-year-old black girl have been banned from Surrey, while officers have urged a further teenage suspect to turn herself in.The attack, which took place outside Thomas Knyvett college in Ashford, has sent shock waves through the community and led to demands for an inquiry by MPs. Continue reading...

Exclusive: plan for one- and two-year-olds would cost billions and is among options being looked atThe Treasury is considering a proposal to massively expand free childcare to one- and two-year-olds in England in a move that would cost billions at the spring budget.Department for Education officials have submitted a plan for a free 30-hours-a-week entitlement for working parents of children aged nine months to three years, after being asked to work up options by the Treasury. Continue reading...

Sam Grigg, 36, forced 23-year-old woman to believe she was about to be raped during ‘10 minutes of terror’A former Metropolitan police officer has been jailed for four years after restraining his flatmate with duct tape, forcing her to believe she was about to be raped.Sam Grigg, 36, who was sacked from the Met last month after being charged, previously pleaded guilty at Kingston crown court to false imprisonment and assault against the 23-year-old. Continue reading...

One of Spain’s most prolific auteurs continued to work until the end – his last film, Walls Can Talk, was released last weekVeteran Spanish film-maker Carlos Saura, director of award-winning films such as Peppermint Frappé, ¡Ay Carmela! and Tango, has died aged 91, the day before he was due to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Goyas, Spain’s version of the Oscars.Spain’s Academy of Cinematographic Arts and Sciences, the body that hands out the Goya awards, confirmed his death on social media, saying: “Saura, one of the essential film-makers in the history of Spanish cinema, has died at home today at the age of 91, surrounded by his loved ones. His final film, Walls Can Talk, came out last week and demonstrated his tireless activity and his love for his work until the very last moment.” Continue reading...

Police concluded no one else was involved in injury of Raheem Bailey, 11, at school in AbertilleryPolice have dropped an investigation into an alleged assault of an 11-year-old boy who lost a finger and received an outpouring of support from sports stars last year.Raheem Bailey, a pupil at Abertillery learning community in south Wales, was attacked and beaten by a group of children on 17 May 2022, according to his mother, Shantal, who said he was pushed to the ground and repeatedly kicked. Continue reading...

This blog has now closed, you can read more on this story hereGordon Brown, the former Labour PM, has urged the UK and Scottish governments to work together to make cities like Glasgow realise their economic “superpower” potential.In a speech to a conference on Friday jointly organised by Our Scottish Future, a thinktank set up by Brown, and the Glasgow Chambers of Commerce, Brown said the two governments should commit to making Glasgow a global centre for precision medicine. He said:As a country, we are divided on so many things, whether it’s culture or whether it’s about how to respond to the present inflationary crisis.We are divided on the constitutional question, but we can all unite around the mission to make Glasgow and Scotland one of the big centres for a new cluster that could change the lives of millions medically, but also create some of the best new jobs of the future. Continue reading...

Attendance rates remain lower than before the start of the coronavirus pandemic, research findsA third of 15-year-olds have been persistently absent from classrooms in England during the current school year, according to research that shows absence rates remain stubbornly higher than before the coronavirus pandemic.The analysis of attendance rates at more than 7,000 state schools in England found that 14- and 15-year-olds – pupils in years 9 and 10 – have been worst affected, closely followed by those in year 11. Continue reading...

Dr Peter Dupont, who refused to approve kidney transplant, said ‘wealth disparity’ between alleged victim and accused created cause for concernA London doctor who refused to approve a kidney transplant of an alleged victim of organ trafficking said he was worried that the man was being “financially coerced” into the donation, the Old Bailey has heard.Dr Peter Dupont, a kidney specialist at the Royal Free hospital, was giving evidence at the trial of a Nigerian senator, Ike Ekweremadu, 60, his wife Beatrice, 56, daughter Sonia, 25, and Dr Obinna Obeta, 51, who are accused of conspiring to arrange or facilitate the travel of the young man to Britain with a view to his exploitation. Continue reading...

Determination to get donations to stricken areas is galvanising people haunted by fears for family and friends

Union boss Mick Lynch says message from members was ‘loud and clear’, as TSSA prepares to put offer to voteThe RMT union has rejected “dreadful” pay offers from Network Rail and train operators, prolonging the long-running dispute on the railway.The union’s general secretary, Mick Lynch, said it had consulted in-depth with its 40,000 rail members, and the “loud and clear” message was to reject the offers. Continue reading...

Rescue teams say death tolls will continue to rise if UN does not speed up ‘overly cautious’ delivery of aid into rebel-held region

An all-female team will be at the controls for the military flyover before the football game for the first timeFor the first time, an all-female team will be at the controls this year for the traditional military flyover beforethe Super Bowl, the apex of the football year.The trailblazing moment at the sport showcase event will commemorate 50 years of female US navy aviators. Continue reading...

Tatian Brandão and Raquel Moreira, originally from Portugal, died on holiday close to the Grand CanyonTributes have been paid to two “‘kind and talented” NHS nurses who died in a car crash while visiting the Grand Canyon.Tatiana Brandão, 30, and Raquel Moreira, 28, were said to have been killed instantly when their vehicle collided with a bus at the entrance to the US landmark. Continue reading...

Former Russian TV editor, who was under house arrest, described her journey across Europe last OctoberMarina Ovsyannikova, the former Russian state TV editor who famously interrupted a live news broadcast to protest against the start of the Ukraine war, has described her “chaotic” escape from house arrest in Moscow and how she fled across Europe to seek asylum in France.“I didn’t want to emigrate until the very last moment,” Ovsyannikova said at a Paris press conference with the journalists’ organisation Reporters without Borders. “Russia is still my country, even if war criminals have power there. But I had no choice – it was either prison or exile. I’m very grateful to France, a free country, to have welcomed me.” Continue reading...

Politician from governing FDP says skilled foreign workers are being put off by unwieldy bureaucratic GermanEnglish should become a second official language at administrative offices in Germany, one of the country’s governing parties has argued, saying unwieldy bureaucratic German is proving too much of a deterrent for much-needed skilled workers from abroad.The three-party government of the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, in which the FDP is a junior coalition partner, last autumn unveiled its own version of a “green card” – called Chancenkarte or “opportunity card” – designed to address a critical shortage of skilled labour. Continue reading...

Funding pledged for cameras, drones and watchtowers, in move criticised by aid agencies and LuxembourgEU leaders have agreed to toughen up border controls to keep out people trying to enter, with more funds pledged for cameras, drones and watchtowers at the bloc’s external borders.The decision was published in the early hours of Friday after the 27 leaders met to discuss tighter control of the EU’s external frontier, in response to the highest number of people filing asylum applications since 2016. Continue reading...

Boston Conservatory at Berklee students able to take dance class taught by a Rockette on their meticulously precise techniqueRhapsody Stiggers has been dancing since she was two, but the 20-year-old college junior has never taken a dance class quite as challenging as the one she’s in now.She is one of 38 students at the Boston Conservatory at Berklee enrolled in the first for-credit college dance class taught by the Radio City Rockettes, the precision dance team famous for its annual high-kicking Christmas Spectacular show in New York, seen by more than 69 million people since 1933. Continue reading...

Government’s new commitment to remove devices made by Hikvision and Dahua from buildings sweeps 2021 advice aside

Labour inspectors say Javier Marcos’s shop assistant job ad discriminated on grounds of both sex and ageA Barcelona shopkeeper has been fined €7,501 (£6,600) for placing an advertisement for a shop assistant stating that the applicant should be “a woman over 40”.Javier Marcos, who runs a small curtain-making business in the Fort Pienc area of the city, said he wanted to replace his only female employee, who is retiring, with someone with a similar profile. Continue reading...

Humanitarian groups urge foreign secretary to issue correction to a recent report, amid fears it could provide cover for repression in the Gulf stateThe British foreign secretary, James Cleverly, has been urged by humanitarian organisations to issue a correction over a “misleading” Foreign Office (FCDO) report on Bahrain, as they say it represents a “dangerous whitewash” on human rights that risks emboldening abusers in the Gulf state.A letter to the foreign secretary, signed by Human Rights Watch (HRW), Reprieve and the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (Bird), said the report is “fraught with inaccuracies” and amounts to disinformation that could be used as propaganda by the government of Bahrain. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Estranged parent, 67, suggests account of neglect, drinking and abuse by stepfather probably aimed at reducing rape sentenceThe mother of the rapist Metropolitan police officer David Carrick has said it is possible he overplayed his childhood trauma to reduce his sentence.Carrick, 48, pleaded guilty to 85 serious offences including 48 rapes against 12 women. He was given 36 life sentences at Southwark crown court on Tuesday and will spend at least the next 30 years in prison for his 17-year crime spree. Continue reading...

Police search Marc Tarabella’s safe deposit box and offices as part of anti-corruption investigationA second MEP has been arrested as part of a criminal investigation into alleged bribery, corruption and money laundering at the European parliament.Marc Tarabella of Belgium was taken in for questioning after police arrived at his home at about 6am on Friday, according to Belgian press reports. Tarabella has previously declared his innocence. Continue reading...

Ashley Dalton retains constituency for Labour after resignation of Rosie Cooper last autumnLabour has retained the West Lancashire constituency in a byelection called after its MP, Rosie Cooper, resigned last autumn.Ashley Dalton, a part-time charity worker, won with 14,068 votes. Her comfortable win, securing a 10.2% swing from the Tories, marks Labour’s third byelection victory since Rishi Sunak became prime minister. Continue reading...

FBU raised concerns at meeting discussing review that found service to be institutionally misogynistLondon fire brigade is reviewing its relationship with the Freemasons after concerns were raised by the Fire Brigades Union, the Guardian has learned.The concerns were raised at a recent London assembly meeting to discuss a damning independent review that found LFB to be institutionally racist and misogynist. Continue reading...

Subsidence has caused flooding, while hillsides are at risk of landslip, which mean roads may need to be rerouted and people rehomedMore than 17,000 people are now known to have died after the huge earthquake in Turkey and Syria and the focus right now is on supporting survivors.But there are wider geological implications to the quake that may have consequences in the longer term slowly coming into focus. In the coastal city of İskenderun, there appears to have been significant subsidence, which has resulted in flooding, while the quake has left many hillsides around the country at a serious risk of landslip. This may result in roads and pipelines having to be rerouted and communities rehomed. Continue reading...

Apparent violation of countries’ airspace comes as Kremlin launches major missile and drone attack

Bodies are piled up in stadiums or car parks for identification; coffins are being brought in and mass graves dug

Ukraine accuses Russia of sending cruise missiles over Moldovan and Romanian airspace; missile attacks strike critical infrastructure in Ukraine againRussia-Ukraine war – live news updates Continue reading...

‘Historic’ clampdown on tourist excesses aims to make life more bearable for local residentsSmoking cannabis on the street in Amsterdam’s red light district will soon be illegal, the city council has announced, as part of a range of bylaws designed to deter tourist excesses and make life more bearable for despairing locals.With more than 18 million visitors thronging its narrow 17th-century streets last year, Amsterdam’s residents have long complained that the busiest parts of the city centre, including De Wallen – the red light district – were becoming unliveable. Continue reading...

BEIS also asks firms how many warrants to forcefully enter people’s homes they have applied forAll energy suppliers have promised the UK government that they will end the installation of prepayment meters in the homes of vulnerable customers, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has said.The department said it had also asked all suppliers to set out how they were supporting their customers, how many warrants to forcefully enter people’s homes they had applied for and how they would make up for any wrongdoing. Continue reading...

Joana Partyka admitted painting company logo on to the masterpiece Down on His Luck in protest at Burrup Peninsula development

Villagers gather with placards in St Michael’s on Wyre, Lancashire, as police extend search down River WyreThe friends Nicola Bulley will gather for another roadside appeal two weeks on from her disappearance.Residents of the Lancashire village of St Michael’s on Wyre and the surrounding area are to stand in the road with banners and placards featuring Bulley’s photograph with a plea to “bring Nikki home”. Continue reading...

Hari Budha Magar, a former Gurkha, hopes to be first ever double above-the-knee amputee to scale mountainA former Gurkha who lost both of his legs serving with the British army in Afghanistan hopes to become the first double above-the-knee (DAK) amputee to scale Everest this summer.Hari Budha Magar, who was “suicidal” after being medically discharged from the Royal Gurkha Regiment in 2010, is working with an all-Nepali team to attempt to conquer the world’s highest mountain in May. Continue reading...

Free TV Australia has rejected calls for further restrictions, telling inquiry the current regime is poorly understood by the community

Agriculture minister has referred serious allegations of misconduct at the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority to police

Steven Miles said a magistrate’s decision to release children locked in Townsville watch house was ‘a media stunt’

Great uncle will look after baby whose mother died in the wreckage of their home, as teenager pulled alive from house in Turkey, days after quake

Turkey says it is working to open two more border crossings; girl and father pulled alive from rubble in Antakya

Members of the public will be able to apply for tickets to Windsor Castle event via BBC website from FridayA national ballot is being held for 10,000 free tickets for the coronation concert at Windsor Castle, the BBC has announced.The live televised concert will be held on 7 May, the day after the coronation of King Charles III, as part of a weekend of celebrations to mark the event. Continue reading...

Some of the over 1,450 people brought by AG Recruitment owed thousands to unlicensed brokersA British recruitment agency that brought Indonesian farmworkers to the UK who had debts of thousands of pounds to foreign brokers has lost its licence as a seasonal worker sponsor.More than 1,450 Indonesians were brought to Britain last year by AG Recruitment to pick berries and other fruits to supply British supermarkets. Continue reading...

Homeless charity Crisis say rise in repossessions shows ‘devastating impact’ of the cost of living crisis on rentersRental evictions have surged by 98% in a year, official figures show, with a charity saying this showed the “devastating impact” of the cost of living crisis on renters.Repossessions by landlords hit 5,409 between 1 October and 31 December last year, which was almost double the number in the same period in 2021, according to new Ministry of Justice figures for England and Wales. Continue reading...

Erkin Tuniyaz, who allegedly played a central role in Uyghur persecution, will controversially visit the UKA lawyer representing a Kazakh man who has alleged severe human rights violations perpetrated by the Chinese state has requested permission from the attorney general to prosecute a Xinjiang governor expected to arrive in the UK on Sunday.On Wednesday, the Foreign Office shocked cross-party opponents of the Chinese treatment of Uyghur people and other Turkic groups who called it “incomprehensible” that Xinjiang governor, Erkin Tuniyaz – who has been sanctioned by the US – is planning to visit the UK next week. Continue reading...

Pierre Ny St-Amand charged with first degree murder after two children died and six were injured in incidentPolice have charged a bus driver with first-degree murder after he drove his vehicle at a high speed into a daycare center north of Montreal, killing two children, injuring six and leaving authorities searching for a motive.Witnesses say that after Wednesday’s crash, the 51-year-old driver, identified as Pierre Ny St-Amand, stepped out of the bus, stripped off his clothes and started screaming. Continue reading...

Latest figures from ONS show racial disparity among murder victims has worsened over last decadeBlack people in England and Wales are four times as likely to be murdered as white people, according to new figures published by the Office for National Statistics.There were 39.7 black murder victims for every million people in England and Wales in the three years ending March 2022 – more than four times the 8.9 white victims, the figures show. Continue reading...

Consumer goods group says it faces higher costs and denies it is making ‘windfall profits’Unilever, the company behind brands including Marmite and Dove soap, has warned it will continue increasing prices for consumers this year but denied it was making “windfall profits” during the cost of living crisis.The London-headquartered company said on Thursday that while the level of inflation had likely peaked, prices had continued to rise, albeit at a slower pace compared with a year earlier. It would mean that Unilever would continue increasing prices for consumers in the first half of the year, even if it meant shoppers bought fewer items as a result. Continue reading...