Redefinition of sex as ‘biological sex’ in Equality Act would enable single-sex restrictions against trans peopleKemi Badenoch is considering changing the Equality Act to allow organisations to bar trans women from single-sex spaces and events, including hospital wards and sports.The change by the equalities secretary would redefine sex in the 2010 act to specifically refer to legal protections for “biological sex” – the sex assigned at birth. Continue reading...

Provider said most problems were resolved but customers reported continuing glitches with internet, phone and TVThousands of Virgin Media customers across the UK experienced widespread internet, telephone and TV outages throughout Tuesday.Downdetector, which tracks outages, said around 50,000 people had reported problems with their services at one point, with the glitch first noticed by some customers shortly after 1am BST. Continue reading...

Recognising work in fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama, the $175,000 awards aim to free writers to work without financial pressuresBooker prize-shortlisted author Percival Everett and Iñupiaq-Inuit poet dg nanouk okpik are among the recipients of this year’s Windham-Campbell prizes.The prizes are awarded to eight writers each year for literary achievement across four categories – fiction, nonfiction, poetry and drama. Each recipient receives $175,000 (£140,000); this is up $10,000 from last year. Continue reading...

Baroque music and performing arts group performed Pergolesi’s lyrical sequence Stabat Mater combined with pole and dance actsA French priest has received death threats after a sold-out pole dance performance that the local paper called “sexy” was held in his church.Daniel Boessenbacher, the priest at the Protestant Saint-Guillaume church in Strasbourg, eastern France, told AFP he had alerted police to the threats after receiving two anonymous letters. Continue reading...

Judge says Sean Hogg, 17 when he committed the crime and now 21, would have been jailed if he had been over 25Campaigners and politicians have expressed outrage after a man who raped a 13-year-old girl in a Scottish park when he was 17 was not given a jail sentence.Sean Hogg, now 21, was given a 270-hour community payback order when he was sentenced at the high court in Glasgow on Monday. Continue reading...

Immigration minister fined more than £1,600 for breaking limit on M1 after appearing on Any Questions? last yearThe government minister Robert Jenrick has been banned from driving for six months and fined more than £1,600 after being caught driving almost 30mph over the speed limit last year.The Conservative MP for Newark was recorded driving 68mph in a temporary 40mph zone on the M1 in Northamptonshire on 5 August 2022. Jenrick pleaded guilty to the offence in February and said in a letter to the court that he “sincerely apologised” for the incident. Continue reading...

Shareholders lash out during final AGM as boss apologises for crisis that led to takeover of lender by UBSFurious Credit Suisse investors at its final ever annual meeting blocked executive pay plans and called for board members to be “put behind bars”, as the Swiss lender’s chair said he was “truly sorry” over the bank’s demise.Shareholders used most of the nearly five-hour annual general meeting in Zurich – the last in the 167-year-old bank’s history – to voice fury over poor management, hitting out at excessive pay for “incompetent and greedy” bankers who they said took too many risks and endangered Switzerland’s economic prosperity. Continue reading...

Latest updates: environment secretary says ‘there is no way you can stop pollution overnight’ as ministers attempt to clean up rivers and seasYoung people could be disfranchised in the local elections next month because of inadequate attempts by the government to make them aware of new voter ID rules, according to the Electoral Reform Society.The new policy means people must be registered to vote and take a form of photo ID to the polling station on 4 May. Continue reading...

Officials decided to shut down decrepit building last year amid concerns that the air in the mansion was no longer safe to breatheSo many dead mice were trapped behind the sagging walls and heaped in the basement of the Canadian prime minister’s official residence that officials decided shut down the the decrepit building last year amid concerns that the air in the mansion was no longer safe tobreathe, according to newly released documents.The limestone-clad house at 24 Sussex Drive, perched on a cliff above the Ottawa River, is the country’s most symbolically important and politically fraught plots of real estate. Continue reading...

Three years after Jeremy Corbyn left a sleeping bag behind, the leader of the opposition’s office is full of ‘bright, energetic, hungry people’Keir Starmer’s team had a few moments to reminisce about the past three years at their regular morning meeting on Tuesday, with one senior aide recalling when their winning leadership team first walked into the leader of the opposition’s office.It had only just been vacated by Jeremy Corbyn’s team and in one room, there were assorted revolutionary flags including one from the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. In the next room there was a large bin full to the brim with shredded documents spilling on to the floor. In Corbyn’s office was a sleeping bag. “You could not have pictured a more symbolic scene,” they said. Continue reading...

Central bank decides against £8.5m fine due to collapsed firm’s ‘limited resources’The Bank of England has issued a public reprimand against the Greensill-linked Wyelands Bank after discovering “wide-ranging significant regulatory failings” at the lender, which is owned by Sanjeev Gupta, boss of the troubled Liberty Steel.Wyelands, which was Greensill Capital’s biggest client before the scandal-hit firm collapsed in early 2021, was found to have breached a series of rules including falling short on governance and risk controls, reporting its capital position incorrectly and failing to retain messages sent on WhatsApp between 2016 and 2020. Continue reading...

Kyle Bevan guilty of murder with Sinead James found to have caused or allowed death of her daughterA woman and her partner have been found guilty over the death of a two-year-old girl who was fatally attacked at her home in Wales.Lola James died in hospital four days after suffering “catastrophic” brain injuries in the early hours of 17 July 2020. Continue reading...

Delegates at union’s annual conference approve further industrial action over pay and school funding

Contradictions over missions in Syria and Iraq deepens concern over Britain’s ‘perfect’ precision warIt sounded like accountability. Pressed about the UK’s implausibly spotless record in its bombing campaign against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq, the British government admitted in May 2018 that its military had killed one civilian in eastern Syria two months earlier.But the strike the then defence secretary, Gavin Williamson, described to parliament was not logged in the records of civilian casualties kept by its allies in the international coalition flying bombers and drones over Syria and Iraq. Continue reading...

Kim Thornden-Edwards says it may be good to tackle issues of masculinity and power from a male perspectiveThe probation service needs more men to help bring a male perspective to cases involving violent offenders, including cases of domestic abuse, the head of the service in England and Wales has said.In her first interview since taking up the role of chief probation officer in February, Kim Thornden-Edwards told BBC News that the service also needed more older people with life experiences, including those who had been on probation themselves. Continue reading...

Aunt of murdered lawyer Zara Aleena says criminals should receive longer sentences if they refuse to face families or victimsDominic Raab has been urged to fast-track plans to force criminals to attend their sentencing after the murderer of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel refused to leave his cell to be sentenced on Monday.The aunt of Zara Aleena, who was murdered while walking home in June 2022, said allowing convicted criminals to avoid facing the court meant the “convict actually exercises their bit of power”. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed.

Former NRL player pleaded not guilty to two counts of sexual intercourse without consent over incident in Newcastle in 2018

Global heating has been seen as the cause for these damaging storms, which are expected to increase significantly this centuryA spate of devastating tornadoes that have recently ripped through parts of the eastern and southern US states could portend the sort of damage that will become more commonplace due to changes wrought by global heating, scientists have warned.More than 50 people have died from the tornadoes and thunderstorms in the past two weeks, with the latest powerful storm system wreaking havoc in states including Alabama, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee and Arkansas on Friday. One man survived by hiding in his bathtub, while a separate storm caused a tiger to escape a zoo. Continue reading...

Exclusive: court of appeal ruling into disciplinary procedures may mean sacked officers need to be reinstated or compensated

Swedish police pressing ahead with removal of Kathleen Poole, 74, due to incomplete post-Brexit paperworkThe family of a woman with Alzheimer’s who is threatened with deportation from Sweden have vowed to do anything they can to stop her removal because of a promise they made to their children.Kathleen Poole, 74, is facing forced removal from Sweden, her home for 18 years, after immigration authorities rejected an application by her family to stay in the country post-Brexit on the grounds her paperwork was incomplete. Continue reading...

Former New Zealand prime minister will push initiative she created in wake of 2019 terrorist attackFormer New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern will take on a new role working alongside international governments and social media companies to target extremism and terrorist content online.Prime minister Chris Hipkins announced on Tuesday evening that he had appointed Ardern as special envoy for the Christchurch Call, a newly created position. Continue reading...

Home affairs minister announces the launch of a new series of exercises to respond to attacks on critical infrastructureAustralia must prepare for a “dystopian future” in which increasingly digitally connected cities may be “held hostage through interference in everything from traffic lights to surgery schedules”, a senior minister has warned.Clare O’Neil said the Medicare, Optus and Latitude data breaches were only the “tip of the iceberg” in the cyber threats Australia faced in the years ahead. Continue reading...

Building that closed after disaster off Cornish coast in which 16 people lost their lives granted Grade II-listed statusWeather-battered oilskins still hang on the boathouse drying rack; the tools in the mechanic’s workshop are carefully ordered as if ready to be used at any moment; and the service boards recording decades of gallant rescues retain their polished finish.Forty-two years after the Penlee lifeboat disaster, in which 16 people died including the eight Royal National Lifeboat Institution crew members, the old rescue station at Penlee Point looks much as it did in 1981 and is now to be preserved for the nation. Continue reading...

ACT supreme court considers whether to publish sentencing remarks about former official jailed for disclosure of confidential information

Losing more nurses from workforce already facing shortages and burnout could reduce quality of patient care, union organiser saysThousands of New Zealand nurses are registering to work in Australia in pursuit of better pay and conditions, amid staffing shortages and industrial action in their home country.Almost 5,000 New Zealand nurses have registered to practise in Australia since August, a spokesperson from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) and the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia confirmed on Tuesday. While not every nurse who registers will make the move, they make up about 8% of the approximately 65,000 nurses registered in New Zealand. Continue reading...

The torso of alleged murder victim Geoffrey McLean was discovered at a vacant block at Salisbury South in October

Prohibition of Chinese social media app follows similar bans in other western countries

Novelist compares UK to Hungary in Radio Times interview, while Ken Bruce criticises handling of Radio 2 exitThe BBC is “under threat, politically,” the novelist Ian McEwan has said, as he compared sections of the Conservative party to the populist right in Hungary.The author of Amsterdam, On Chesil Beach and Atonement recently collaborated with the BBC Symphony Orchestra for an evening of words and music at the Barbican. The event came as the BBC’s classical music performing groups faced “catastrophic” cuts, and the corporation’s high-profile presenters including Gary Lineker clashed with the government over its policies. Continue reading...

The Bibby Stockholm is said to have more than 220 bedrooms and facilities including a gym and barThe Home Office is poised to reveal a barge as its first offshore accommodation for asylum seekers, the Guardian understands.The Bibby Stockholm has been used “all over Europe” to accommodate asylum seekers, according to sources close to the Barbados Maritime ship registry, which oversees the use of this vessel. It currently has a gym, a well-furnished bar and more than 220 en-suite bedrooms over three decks. Continue reading...

Figures show usage has barely shifted in a year, despite rising food poverty in UKThe government has missed its target to increase the take-up of NHS healthy food vouchers aimed at vulnerable parents of young children, it has emerged, despite soaring grocery prices and rising food poverty.The latest figures show that take-up of the ill-starred Healthy Start scheme, designed to help pregnant women and parents of under-fours in low-income families pay for fruit, vegetables, milk, and baby milk powder, has barely shifted in a year. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed. You can read the full report here:

Petteri Orpo’s NCP pushes party of predecessor Sanna Marin into third place in tight electionFinland’s probable new conservative prime minister, Petteri Orpo, will this week start exploring coalition options after a narrow election win that shifted the Nordic country’s politics to the right and pushed the party of his predecessor Sanna Marin, a star of Europe’s left, into third place.Final results showed Orpo’s National Conservative party (NCP), which campaigned on a platform of reining in public spending, won 48 seats in the 200-seat parliament, with the far-right, anti-immigration Finns party (PS) getting 46 and Marin’s Social Democrats (SDP) 43. Continue reading...

Exclusive: More than a dozen women raise concerns about different men – with one woman alleging she was raped at staff partyMore than a dozen women claim to have been victims of various forms of sexual misconduct by senior figures at the Confederation of British Industry, including one who alleges she was raped at a staff party on a boat on the River Thames.The women, who all work at the CBI or worked there in recent years, approached the Guardian with fresh concerns about what they describe as a toxic culture at Britain’s most influential business lobbying organisation.An attempted sexual assault by a manager at the same staff boat party in 2019.A senior manager sending explicit images to junior female staff over several years.Other senior managers behaving unprofessionally and inappropriately towards much younger female colleagues: alleged instances include a former board member touching a female employee’s bottom and making what was seen as a sexualised remark to another woman in earshot of several colleagues.A manager propositioning women after they felt he pushed them to drink more alcohol, while they were already drunk.Widespread use of cocaine at official CBI events. Continue reading...

Apo Whang-Od appears on front of Philippine edition and is credited with keeping batok form of art aliveAn Indigenous tattooist in the Philippines credited with helping to keep alive a form of the art known as batok has become the oldest Vogue cover star after appearing in the Philippine edition of the magazine at the age of 106.Apo Whang-Od, who is from Buscalan, a remote, mountainous village in the Kalinga province of the northern Philippines, began tattooing at 16. Once described as the last remaining mambabatok, or traditional Kalinga tattooist, she has since inspired a new generation to learn batok, said Vogue. Batok involves tapping the tattoo into the skin by hand, using a thorn, which is dipped in soot and natural dye, and is attached to a bamboo stick. Continue reading...

In city where they make up 14.8% of the population, Black people occupy just 4.6% of top public positions, analysis finds

Sir Peter Wanless welcomes creation of taskforce but says ‘there must be a focus on more than just race’

Opposition leader blames state division for result, while Victorian MPs say lack of distinct policy direction hindered candidate

Only 18 of 382 councils have minimum gender representation parity, say equality charitiesThe vast majority (95%) of local authorities across the UK are dominated by men, while only just over a third of local councillors are women, according to figures that highlight the gender disparities of local government.The analysis, conducted by the Fawcett Society and Democracy Club in the run-up to local elections in May, reveal only 18 of 382 councils have the minimum gender representation parity. Continue reading...

Palaszczuk government accepts report into law that enabled Brisbane’s Citipointe Christian College to warn teachers they could be fired for being openly homosexual

Report says significantly fewer dwellings will be completed over the next few years, even as the number of new households continues to increase

Jurors on Monday handed down mixed verdicts, convicting Leifer of 18 offences against two students, and acquitting her of nine charges

Palestinian women are fighting back, despite personal losses and scarcity of opportunities in the conservative territoryRouzan al-Najjar, a paramedic from the Gaza Strip, knew that her work saving lives during the 2018 protests on the frontier with Israel challenged assumptions in the highly conservative Palestinian territory about the role of women.“Being a medic is not only a job for a man,” the 21-year-old said in an interview shortly before she was shot and killed by an Israeli sniper. Continue reading...

Pair of suspected ‘illegals’ are thought to have been a married couple living separate lives in Brazil and GreeceHalfway through a trip to Malaysia in January, Gerhard Daniel Campos Wittich stopped messaging his girlfriend back home in Rio de Janeiro and she promptly launched a frantic search for her missing partner.A Brazilian of Austrian heritage, Campos Wittich ran a series of 3D printing companies in Rio that made, among other things, novelty resin sculptures for the Brazilian military and sausage dog key chains. Continue reading...

The machine in the northern prefecture of Akita sells locally killed wild bear captured by huntersJapan has added to its large and eclectic pool of vending machines with one a new model that sells fresh bear meat – and which has proved an unlikely hit.The machine, in the northern prefecture of Akita, has attracted a steady stream of customers since it was installed at the end of last year, according to media reports. Continue reading...

Federal Nationals leader’s comments come as Latham announces he is on leave until NSW upper house results are finalised

Consumer group finds Australia’s best-performing bog rolls come at a high price – but the worst-ranked does too

Vladlen Tatarsky, who had over 560,000 followers on Telegram, dies in explosion that injures about 30 people

Pre-budget funding announcement follows a groundswell of support for cultural institutions after decades of budget cuts