Home owners can choose between paying ongoing tax or an upfront stamp duty for properties worth up to $1.5mFirst home buyers in New South Wales will now be able to choose between paying an annual land tax or an upfront stamp duty on their property after Dominic Perrottet’s signature tax reform was passed in parliament.The legislation, which passed on Thursday, covers all properties bought by first home buyers worth up to $1.5m.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Exclusive: former government insider said it was believed serious breach ‘could have only come from Gavin’Penny Mordaunt was forced to deal with a security leak during her time as defence secretary that the department believed came from her predecessor, Gavin Williamson, amid fears the information put “our people’s lives at risk”.Three sources told the Guardian that the breach was deemed so serious that Mordaunt was prepared to seek a D notice to warn any media considering publishing the information that it risked endangering Britain’s national security. Continue reading...

Trussell Trust figures reveal one in five referrals to its centres were from households where someone workedNurses, shop assistants and youth workers are among large numbers of people in low-paid jobs forced for the first time to accept charity food parcels to stay afloat as the cost of living crisis transforms the profile of the typical UK food bank user.Research by the Trussell Trust, Britain’s largest food bank network, found one in in five people referred to its 1,300 food bank centres in the summer were from households where someone worked. It also reported 145,000 families had used its food banks for the first time in recent months, an increase of 40%. Continue reading...

Media companies complain over the ‘incorrect’ way two female Victorian reporters were described in an AFR article

Integrity bill likely to be legislated before end of 2022 despite crossbench and Coalition disagreements on some issues

State audit office report shows a 57% rise in youth supervision orders for domestic violence offencesAn increasing number of Queensland young people on supervision orders has been recorded, with a report identifying a lack of support for children exposed to domestic violence.The state is failing to act proactively on the “intergenerational transmission of violence” and there are few services available to children and adolescents, the Queensland Audit Office (QAO) said in a new report.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Australian Federal Police warn public it is a criminal offence to seek out the data posted by a Russian ransomware group

Most extensive IR legislation in two decades now moves to the Senate where independent David Pocock is the swing vote

US president points to problems in Vladimir Putin’s war machine but Ukraine president warns there is ‘always resistance from the enemy’Russia’s troop withdrawal from Kherson showed its military faces “real problems”, US president Joe Biden has said, as his Ukrainian counterpart urged caution and warned his forces that a fight still lay ahead.In an announcement televised on Wednesday, the Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, ordered his troops to withdraw from the west bank of the Dnipro River in the face of Ukrainian attacks. General Sergei Surovikin, is in overall command of Russia’s war operations, called it a “very difficult decision” but conceded that, “Kherson cannot be fully supplied and function”. Continue reading...

Bureau of Meteorology forecasts storms likely to produce damaging winds, hailstones and heavy rain

Jair Bolsonaro frequently raised doubts about integrity of election in the run-up to his loss to Luiz Inácio Lula da SilvaA much-awaited report by Brazil’s Defence Ministry has failed to indicate recent ballots were fraudulent, scuppering the far-right’s hopes of delegitimising the election of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.The military sent the 63-page report to Brazil’s electoral authorities late on Wednesday after days of speculation that it would back claims by extremist president Jair Bolsonaro that the election was tainted. Continue reading...

Other audience members shushed heckler and 12-year-old Malakai M Bayoh received ‘wild applause’ for performance in Handel’s AlcinaA heckler has been banned for life from the Royal Opera House after shouting “rubbish” at a 12-year-old actor during a production of Handel’s opera Alcina.The incident occurred while Malakai M Bayoh was singing his lines at the opening night of the opera on Tuesday. Continue reading...

First, demonise the Labor leader and deify the opponent. If all else fails, focus on crime, particularly gang crime and, best of all, race-based gang crime …This is how I imagine a recent news conference unfolded inside Victoria’s most popular newspaper, the Herald Sun. The state was embarking on an election campaign so there were all sorts of important issues for the senior editorial staff to discuss, including debt, law reform and renationalising the state’s electricity grid.“Anyone got any ideas?” asked the editor. “Sure,” said a senior reporter, “I’ve got a hot tip about a cyclist colliding with a car driven by the then opposition leader’s wife nearly 10 years ago which has been thoroughly investigated and where no wrongdoing was found.” Continue reading...

Move will be widely seen as significant blow to Vladimir Putin weeks after he announced the ‘forever’ annexation of KhersonUkraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, is in Cambodia today, meeting prime minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace in Phnom Penh. Kuleba wrote on Twitter: “We focused on bilateral cooperation and global food security. I also congratulated prime minister Sen on Happy Cambodian Independence Day.”Eastern European countries are preparing to reopen reception centres and are restocking food supplies in anticipation of a possible fresh surge in Ukrainian refugees as winter looms and Russia targets Ukraine’s power grid and heating plants. Continue reading...

From M&S to Tesco, festive advertisers have plumped for themes echoing strong family or community valuesJohn Lewis has swept aside the fake snow, the celebrities and even the cute pets for a back to basics Christmas ad which raises awareness of young people in care.The department store’s annual campaign, a TV moment that has kickstarted the festive season in the UK for more than a decade, focuses this year on a middle-aged man’s efforts to prepare for the arrival of a new foster daughter – Ellie – by trying to share her passion for skateboarding. Continue reading...

Many sites have been saved but King Arthur’s Great Halls and 12th-century Malmesbury Abbey remain vulnerableKing Arthur’s Great Halls in Tintagel, a 12th-century Benedictine abbey and a steam-powered Victorian pumping station are among 175 heritage sites deemed at risk this year.Meanwhile 233 sites have been removed from Historic England’s annual “heritage at risk” register. Many have been saved as a result of rescue efforts by volunteers, community groups, charities and local councils, with £8.6m in repair grants awarded by Historic England, the public body that looks after the historic environment. Continue reading...

The drop follows two years of growth, although property professionals recorded some regional variationHouse prices stalled last month after more than two years of growth as a sharp rise in mortgage rates fuelled caution among buyers, according to Britain’s official surveyors body.The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) also predicted that rents will be 4% higher in a year’s time due to an imbalance between strong tenant demand and the supply of homes to let. Continue reading...

Taraneh Alidoosti posted image on her Instagram account in support of protests sweeping the countryOne of Iran’s most prominent actors posted an image of herself on social media on Wednesday without the headscarf mandatory for women in the Islamic republic.Taraneh Alidoosti’s apparent act of defiance comes as weeks of protests have rocked the country since the death of Mahsa Amini. The 22-year-old Kurdish Iranian woman died in mid-September after being arrested by the morality police in Tehran for allegedly flouting the country’s strict dress rules for women. Continue reading...

Former health secretary crawls through dark tunnels in Beastly Burrows first trialIn the run-up to Matt Hancock’s appearance on I’m a Celebrity, it was widely speculated that he would be subjected to all the most gruesome challenges. In that respect, his first episode did not fail to deliver.The hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly – and probably much of the nation – could barely contain their delight as the former health secretary was forced to crawl through tiny, dark tunnels where he was showered with bugs and sludge.I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here! continues on Thursday at 9pm on ITV and ITV Hub. Continue reading...

Retiring planning minister Rob Stokes says poker machine gambling has turned clubs into ‘brutal, unwelcoming junk spaces’ and ‘enslaved’ people

Lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles alleges actor, then 35, ‘coerced sexual contact’ with 14-year-old ‘on multiple occasions’A woman has filed a lawsuit against Warren Beatty, alleging that the actor coerced her into sex in 1973 when he was 35 and she was 14 and 15.The suit, filed on Monday in Los Angeles superior court by Kristina Hirsch, does not list Beatty, now 85, by name but clearly references him. The defendant is referred to as “a renowned and well-known actor and producer” who was nominated for an academy award for his role as Clyde in 1967’s Bonnie and Clyde.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 802 9999. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...

President says China in an ‘unstable and uncertain’ security situation amid tensions over TaiwanXi Jinping has told the People’s Liberation Army to “focus all its energy on fighting” in preparation for war, a Chinese Communist party mouthpiece has reported.Pictures of Xi, who recently secured a third term as party leader, in his army uniform during a visit to a command centre featured prominently on the front page of the People’s Daily on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Assistant coroner says it was likely the tube became obstructed when Jasmine Hill’s bed was rotatedA teenager died shortly after routine surgery when a breathing tube became blocked, possibly when it was squashed by the wheels of her recovery bed, a coroner has concluded.Jasmine Hill, 17, suffered a fatal cardiac arrest shortly after undergoing a procedure on her neck at Gloucestershire Royal hospital. Continue reading...

Disputes over pay and conditions are widespread, with workers across the country participating in industrial actionA winter of strike action over pay and conditions looms across sectors and services ranging from the NHS to transport.Ballots are taking place in a range of sectors while talks in some areas have come too late to avoid disruption. In other cases, agreement over new deals appears to have more conclusively brought industrial action to an end. Continue reading...

Images released by Israeli Holocaust memorial show Hitler’s regime clearly orchestrating 1938 atrocityHarrowing, previously unseen images from 1938’s Kristallnacht pogrom against German and Austrian Jews have surfaced in a photograph collection donated to Israel’s Yad Vashem memorial, the organisation said on Wednesday.One shows a crowd of smiling, well-dressed middle-aged German men and women standing casually as a Nazi officer smashes a storefront window. In another, brownshirts carry heaps of Jewish books, presumably for burning. Another image shows a Nazi officer splashing petrol on the pews of a synagogue before it is set alight. Continue reading...

Mamlye, 27, is one of about 40 people driven out of asylum centre last week and left to fend for themselves

Brief clashes with police as thousands march in Athens in latest labour action in EuropeA general strike has brought Greece to a standstill, with tens of thousands of people taking to the streets to demand higher wages in the face of surging inflation.In the second 24-hour strike this year, protesters marched on the Athens parliament, where there were brief clashes, as they called for an end to layoffs and pay cuts in a nation still recovering from a near decade-long debt crisis. Continue reading...

Communications minister says proposed changes could ‘save lives’ but Greens voice concerns about possible data misuse

Sole occupants killed after the two aircraft crashed in a paddock near Gympie in ‘tragic incident’, police sayThe sole occupants of two aircraft have died after colliding mid-air and crashing into a paddock at Kybong, near Gympie, Queensland police have said.Emergency crews responded to the incident involving a glider and another light aircraft at Kybong, near Gympie, at about 3pm on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Pat Anderson and Prof Megan Davis urge Labor to not waste momentum and call on the media to ‘rise to this occasion’

RMT’s 24-hour walkout will slow capital to a crawl, with buses expected to be extremely busy and roads congestedA strike on London Underground will halt virtually all tube services and slow much of the capital to a crawl on Thursday, in the ongoing dispute over jobs and pensions.Some London Overground and Docklands Light Railway services may also be affected by the 24-hour walkout by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT) union, while buses are expected to be extremely busy and roads congested. Elizabeth Line trains will run as normal. Continue reading...

Home affairs committee members say site is still engulfed in crisis despite government assurancesManston processing centre is still engulfed in a crisis despite government reassurances, a committee of MPs who visited the site has said.Families of people seeking refuge in the UK are still sleeping on mats for weeks on end, the home affairs select committee (HASC) discovered. Continue reading...

Hardline parliamentarians insist only response to recent unrest is for violent protesters to be executedThe Iranian leadership is resisting growing demands from clerics and some reformist politicians to stage a new referendum on Iran’s constitution as hardline parliamentarians meanwhile insist the only response to the recent unrest sweeping the country is for violent protesters to be executed.The power struggle among the country’s rulers appears to leave the government sending out mixed messages on how to respond to the protests, but in practice the security forces have gone ahead with a severe crackdown and arrested nearly 10,000 people, including 60 journalists. Continue reading...

Health visitor tells court she reported black mould to housing officers months before Awaab Ishak died of respiratory failureA health visitor wrote to housing officials expressing concern about conditions in a rented flat months before a two-year-old died after his exposure to mould.An inquest in Rochdale is investigating the death of toddler Awaab Ishak who lived with his mother and father in a one-bedroom housing estate flat managed by Rochdale Boroughwide Housing (RBH). Continue reading...

European diplomats say Charles Michel video referring to Russia’s ‘illegal’ and ‘brutal’ invasion was withdrawn from trade fairChinese authorities dropped a trade fair speech by the European Council president, Charles Michel, that was critical of Russia’s war in Ukraine, diplomats have said.The recorded message by Michel was meant to be one of several from world leaders and heads of international bodies played at the opening on Friday last week of China’s International Import Expo in Shanghai. Three European diplomats said Michel’s speech, which was to have been heavily critical of Russia’s “illegal” war in Ukraine, had been removed, according to Reuters, which first reported the incident. Continue reading...

Family and former colleagues pay tribute to ‘brilliant actor’ who played character from 1985 until 1996Bill Treacher, who played Arthur Fowler in EastEnders, has died aged 92.The veteran actor was one of the BBC soap’s original cast members and appeared from 1985 until 1996. Continue reading...

Guardia Civil first to be convicted after alleging video showed a Moroccan migrant raping a womanA police officer who deliberately posted a misleading video clip of a sexual assault to try to stir up hatred against migrant children has become the first person in Spain to be handed a jail sentence for using social media to publish and spread fake news.A court in Barcelona on Tuesday convicted the Guardia Civil officer of an offence against fundamental rights and public freedoms and sentenced him to 15 months in prison and a fine of €1,620 (£1,410). Continue reading...

Liverpool mayor welcomes contract for addition to fleet amid criticism boat will be built in the NetherlandsThey are older than the Gerry and the Pacemakers song that made them world famous, but now the Mersey ferries have been granted an addition to the fleet – 60 years after the last one was built.A new, more environmentally friendly ferry is being built to add to the current fleet and an older one will be refurbished, as part of a raft of funding to regenerate parts of the River Mersey. Continue reading...

Condé Nast files complaint in Manhattan federal court after rappers allegedly use trademark without permissionThe rappers Drake and 21 Savage have been sued by Condé Nast, the publisher of Vogue magazine, for allegedly using the Vogue name without permission to promote their new album, Her Loss.Condé Nast claimed the musicians’ promotional campaign, including to their more than 135 million social media followers, was built “entirely” on the unauthorised use of Vogue trademarks and false representations that they would appear on Vogue’s next cover, and with the “love and support” of the magazine’s longtime editor-in-chief, Anna Wintour. Continue reading...

Standoff over rescue ship in Catania is first test of migration policy under Giorgia MeloniItaly’s new far-right government has enacted its controversial new anti-migration plan, which provides for the pushback of mostly male asylum seekers of adult age rescued in the central Mediterranean who Rome does not deem qualified for international protection.The move has sparked a row in the country and has provoked the protests of jurists, lawyers and charities who consider it a breach of international law on rescue at sea. Continue reading...

Broadcaster of Iran International TV says police told two of its staff of ‘imminent, credible risk’ to lifeBritish-Iranian journalists based in the UK have been warned by police of imminent and credible death threats from Iran, prompting a call from the House of Commons for the UK to proscribe Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as a terrorist group.Volant Media, the London-based broadcaster of Iran International TV, said two of its journalists had been notified by the Metropolitan police that the threats “represent an imminent, credible and significant risk to their lives and those of their families”. Continue reading...

Large number of concrete blocks being constructed to hinder military vehicles in key locations, UK says

Retired bishop made cardinal by pope confessed to ‘reprehensible’ acts with 14-year-old girl in 1980sFrench prosecutors have opened an inquiry into child abuse by a cardinal after he confessed publicly to “reprehensible” acts with a 14-year-old girl in the 1980s.Jean-Pierre Ricard, a retired bishop made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2016, was named among 11 senior clergymen who face sexual abuse allegations in an announcement by the French Catholic Church on Monday. Continue reading...

Bipolar Commission says more specialist training needed to reduce average 9.5-year wait to get diagnosisRoutine screening for bipolar disorder should be ingrained into the NHS, alongside specialist training to help identify the condition and reduce the average 9.5-year wait to get a diagnosis, experts say.A report by the Bipolar Commission, which brings together academics and other experts in the field, also recommended appointing a national director of mood disorders to ensure everyone has access to a 12-week psychoeducation course, and a specialist doctor to oversee their prescriptions and on-going care. Continue reading...

ABF warns of ‘challenging’ market but no further price rises planned for coming months at PrimarkPrimark’s owner is expecting to take a combined hit from inflation of £2bn this year and next as it warned a weak consumer backdrop would also pose a challenge in the coming months.Associated British Foods said it had “encountered the most challenging economic conditions for many years with sharply rising and broadly based inflation”, with prices at Primark up by about 8% for autumn . Continue reading...

Legal bill grows by $248,000 in three months amid ongoing pursuit of secrecy

Equivalent of 12 cans of mid-strength beer can be carried in Pormpuraaw, leaving just five ‘dry’ communities

Linda Burney says government will propose changes to modernise the century-old act before the end of the year

Ex-ambassador John Casson warns hunger striker’s situation at crucial stage after PM meets Egyptian leaderThe release of Alaa Abd el-Fattah, the detained British-Egyptian pro-democracy activist who is on hunger strike, has become the defining issue for British-Egyptian relations, the former British ambassador to Egypt John Casson has warned.His comments came as Abd el-Fattah’s aunt, the novelist Ahdaf Soueif, said there was a danger the British “are allowing themselves to be fobbed off with the excuses they have been given since last December when we started asking for consular visits”. Continue reading...

Stephen Kinnock says identity scheme would help to reassure public ‘we have control of borders’