After coming out as a lesbian, aged 12, she suffered a horrendous attack at school. Now a successful actor, she is determined to help those wrestling with their identitiesRuby Rose spent much of her childhood travelling around Australia with her mother, an aspiring artist, trying to make ends meet. They were poor, but they were unstoppable, says Rose. Her mother had sold their TV, so there were no dreams of becoming the Hollywood action star she is now, nor the model, presenter, DJ, VJ and campaigner she has been over the years. When Rose was a child, she just wanted to write.“I wanted to write a book for kids that were my age. I just wanted to have a way to communicate and speak to kids like me, who didn’t have someone,” she says, over Zoom. “I was just this kid who had no friends, who was super unpopular, got bullied and beaten up at school, and was like: ‘I’m going to be a famous writer.’” Continue reading...

Nearly 5,000 refugees holed up in small Colombian town of Arauquita, having fled intense and continuing battlesLizeth Iturrieta, a journalist in the small town of La Victoria on Venezuela’s western border with Colombia, was woken by the rumble of armoured vehicles rolling past her home. Hours later the sounds of gunfire and explosions shook the walls, and she and her husband dived for cover.“Out of nowhere we were in the middle of a war zone,” Iturrieta said in a video call from a refugee camp on the Colombian side of the frontier. “After a day of hiding at home in absolute silence, we ran for our lives to the boat to Colombia. We almost fell into the river in the panic.” Continue reading...

John Sudworth’s relocation to Taiwan comes after Beijing decries corporation’s reporting of alleged human rights abuses in XinjiangBBC News said on Wednesday that one of its journalists in China had relocated to Taiwan, a move that comes amid Beijing’s criticism of the broadcaster’s reports on alleged human rights abuses against Uighur Muslims in Xinjiang region.BBC News did not specify why John Sudworth had left Beijing. “John’s work has exposed truth the Chinese authorities did not want the world to know,” it said in a statement published on one of its official Twitter accounts. Continue reading...

Prosecutors allege Natasha Darcy, who has pleaded not guilty to murder, searched online for poisonous spiders, toxic plants and suicide methodsA NSW woman accused of sedating and gassing her wealthy partner in his bed denies murdering the grazier, insisting he killed himself.But, Natasha Beth Darcy’s numerous internet searches before his death in 2017 included the phrase “how to commit murder”, crown prosecutor Brett Hatfield said on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Activists have called for changes to intellectual property laws in an effort to speed the global vaccination project

Damon Albarn, Idles, Jorja Smith, Kano, Wolf Alice and Honey Dijon will also appear at Live at Worthy Farm, a ticketed virtual event on 22 MayThe organisers of Glastonbury have announced that Coldplay, Damon Albarn, Haim, Idles, Jorja Smith, Kano, Michael Kiwanuka and Wolf Alice will perform at Live at Worthy Farm, a ticketed live-stream event to be broadcast on 22 May.The five-hour film, directed by Grammy-nominated film-maker Paul Dugdale, will be presented as an uninterrupted production, tracing the arc of what festival co-organiser Emily Eavis called “one continuous wild night” at the festival, via festival landmarks including the Pyramid stage, the stone circle and the notorious south-east nightclubbing corner. Continue reading...

NSW records one positive case linked to Byron Bay hen’s party; Australia joins 13 countries to express concerns about China’s cooperation with WHO investigators. Follow live

Singer said that she was ‘embarrassed by the light’ in which Framing Britney Spears cast herBritney Spears said she “cried for two weeks” after watching part of a high-profile documentary that explored her career.Framing Britney Spears premiered in February and examined the pop superstar’s rise to the summit of the music industry, her treatment at the hands of the tabloid media, her involuntary commitment to a psychiatric ward in 2008, and the subsequent conservatorship (an “imposed power-of-attorney-on-steroids”) given to her father that has had him oversee her finances and personal affairs since 2008. Continue reading...

Female recruits to stop being given male underwear in a bid to up recruitmentThe Swiss armed forces is taking a big step to recruit more women – by no longer making female recruits wear men’s underwear.At present, all recruits are issued with “loose-fitting men’s underwear, often in larger sizes”, the BBC reported. In a trial set to begin in April, the Swiss army said women would be issued with two sets of female underwear – one for warmer months and one for colder months. Continue reading...

Actors unable to travel to Los Angeles had earlier been told a virtual appearance at the awards would not be allowedThe Academy will reportedly allow British nominees to take part in the Oscars from London, after earlier warning that appearing via Zoom was not an option.

Jacinda Ardern says the changes to wages and benefits will help support the most vulnerableNew Zealand is raising its minimum wage to $20 an hour and increasing the top tax rate for the country’s highest earners to 39%.The changes will be rolled out on Thursday, alongside small increases to unemployment and sickness benefits. The government estimates the minimum wage increase – a rise of $1.14 per hour – will affect up to 175,500 workers, and increase wages across the economy by $216m. Continue reading...

Palau is opening up to visitors from Taiwan under strict Covid-safe measures, but locals still have doubts

Here are the current coronavirus hotspots and case locations in Queensland and what to do if you’ve visited them

Juan Antonio ‘Tony’ Hernández was sentenced in Manhattan federal court and ordered to forfeit $138mThe brother of the Honduras president, Juan Orlando Hernández, has been sentenced by a US court to life in prison after he was convicted over what prosecutors described as “state-sponsored drug trafficking”.Juan Antonio “Tony” Hernández, a former Honduran congressman, was sentenced in Manhattan federal court by US district judge P Kevin Castel, who also ordered him to forfeit $138m. Continue reading...

Justin Welby appears to contradict assertion by Duchess of Sussex that she got married three days before royal weddingThe Archbishop of Canterbury has addressed for the first time the claim made by the Duchess of Sussex that she and Prince Harry got married three days before the royal wedding.During her tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, broadcast earlier this month, Meghan said the pair had the secret marriage ceremony with the archbishop, Justin Welby, in their “backyard”. Continue reading...

Spokesperson contradicts health secretary Matt Hancock’s claim that deal gives UK priority on deliveries

Company confirms name change on its US website but announcement is reportedly a stunt aimed at boosting new vehicleVolkswagen of America issued false statements this week saying it would change its brand name to “Voltswagen” as a way to stress its commitment to electric vehicles, only to reverse course on Tuesday and admit that the supposed name change was just a joke.Mark Gillies, a company spokesman, confirmed on Tuesday that the statement had been a pre-April Fool’s Day joke, after having insisted Monday that the release was legitimate and the name change accurate. Continue reading...

Wednesday: PM’s target of 4m vaccines by April falls 3.5m doses short. Plus: why we can’t stop watching small moments of screen magicGood morning. Australia is far behind in its planned vaccine rollout as experts warn outbreaks will keep occurring while the country remains unvaccinated. If your Easter plans have been thrown into disarray by Brisbane’s lockdown, treat yourself to a seafood feast instead – we’ve spoken to the experts about how to get the best sustainable underwater grub.Australia has missed Scott Morrison’s vaccine goal by 3.4m shots. Nearly 600,000 doses of the Covid vaccine have been administered, just 15% of the 4m dose target set by the PM by the end of March. The country has fallen well short due to international supply problems, natural disasters including the NSW floods, errors and booking issues. GPs are continuing to report significant delays in vaccine deliveries, forcing them to cancel bookings and undermining their ability to plan. Queensland’s tourism sector is expected to lose $35m by the end of Easter after 15 new cases triggered the latest shutdown over a peak holiday period, prompting holidaymakers to cancel “their bookings hand over fist”. Continue reading...

Collapse of Archegos has reportedly prompted SEC and FCA inquiries into Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, Nomura and othersUK and US regulators are looking into whether global investment banks breached rules by holding group discussions shortly before launching a fire sale of nearly $20bn worth of assets belonging to the distressed hedge fund Archegos Capital Management, according to reports.The Securities Exchange Commission is said to have requested further information from major US banks Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo and Morgan Stanley, as well as Japan’s Nomura and Swiss lender Credit Suisse about a meeting with Archegos founder Bill Hwang on Thursday. Continue reading...

My father, Raymon Anning, who has died aged 90 from pneumonia aged 90, was a police officer who rose through the ranks to become the last British commissioner of the Hong Kong police force, commanding more than 30,000 police officers.He was not particularly well educated, having left school at the age of 15, but Ray was always extremely ambitious. This was partly due to his desire to do better than his father, who was also a police officer. Continue reading...

Three Italians arrested for masterminding plan that saw two businessmen held captive by jihadist group for three years

Figure is many times higher than the five fatalities initially announced after 21 March disasterA stampede at a Tanzanian stadium crushed 45 people to death as mourners paid last respects to the late President John Magufuli, police said on Tuesday – many times more than the five fatalities initially announced after the disaster on 21 March.Police in the port city of Dar es Salaam, where the stampede occurred, attributed some of the deaths to people being starved of oxygen at the event due to overcrowding. Continue reading...

UN group of experts deeply disturbed by connections between Wagner Group and violence since electionRussian mercenaries from the Wagner group, a private military contractor, have committed human rights abuses in the Central African Republic while fighting alongside government forces, according to a group of independent UN experts.The UN working group said it was “deeply disturbed” by the connections between Russian mercenaries and a series of violent attacks that have taken place in the CAR since elections in December. Continue reading...

Analysis: campaigners say women’s trust in police undermined by watchdog’s conclusions

Soldiers, three vehicles and 17 guns released after Mexican officials agreed to economic reparations and legal proceedingsFifteen Mexican troops were held for hours by angry villagers in a remote border zone and held captive for hours after one of the soldiers shot and killed a Guatemalan citizen at a checkpoint.The Mexican defense secretary, Luis Cresencio Sandoval, said on Tuesday that the events stemmed from “an erroneous reaction on the part of military personnel” who fired on a vehicle reversing away from a checkpoint on Monday. Continue reading...

The government has broken its promises and handed them to the opposition on a golden platterAs the first majority government in New Zealand’s MMP history, with an extraordinarily popular prime minister, many have urged Labour to spend its “political capital.” This is the buffer that enables popular governments to take bold actions that might lose them some voters, while retaining most of their solid support in a metaphorical bank.Last week Labour spent some of its political capital. In a surprise announcement it said it would extend the brightline test (taxing any financial gain made on the sale of an investment property) from five to ten years and remove mortgage interest as a rental property tax deduction, as part of a suite of housing policy and funding changes. Continue reading...

Many readers say last week’s announcement will have little impact on their – or their children’s – ability to buy a houseLast week we asked Guardian readers about the government’s attempt to rein in New Zealand’s runaway house prices. We heard from investors and renters, first-home buyers and retirees. While some readers – including investors – were supportive, many felt the policy changes didn’t go far enough.Some pointed out that beefed-up grants to first-home buyers would make little impact in markets such as Wellington and Auckland, with young people still despairing of ever getting a foot on the housing ladder. Many said that the effect on renters had been overlooked, arguing in favour of German-style rent control. Others said they were afraid for their children’s future, while some wrote that they feared they would never be able to afford children. Continue reading...

More warm weather predicted before mercury dips in time for Easter weekendThe UK recorded its warmest March day in 53 years on Tuesday as temperatures rose above 24C, with the Met Office predicting they could get close to the all-time record on Wednesday.The mercury peaked at 24.5C at Kew Gardens in west London on Tuesday – slightly below the UK’s hottest March temperature of 25.6C in Cambridgeshire in 1968. Continue reading...

Review of terror legislation finds three-quarters of those detained in 2019 were black, Asian or mixed racePolice in Northern Ireland are stopping and detaining a disproportionate number of black, Asian and mixed race travellers under anti-terrorism laws, according to newly disclosed data.More than a third of those stopped and three-quarters of those detained in 2019 were not white, said a report by Jonathan Hall QC, who conducted an independent review of the UK’s terrorism legislation. Continue reading...

Murders of two volunteers and a nurse come one day after relaunch of national vaccination campaignTwo female volunteers and a nurse working door to door to vaccinate children against polio were shot dead by gunmen in two separate incidents in the Afghan city of Jalalabad on Tuesday.On the same day, government officials confirmed that an explosion had rocked Jalalabad’s health ministry headquarters but no casualties were reported. Continue reading...

Latest updates: ONS figures show there were 150,116 deaths by 19 March; chief investigator of the UK trial of the drug hopes for approval by end of April

Philip Bisatt and Fran Postlethwaite hope that Andy Burnham’s move to end the deregulation of bus services in Greater Manchester will be adopted by other transport authoritiesIt is good to read that bus deregulation is to end in Greater Manchester, 35 years after being introduced by the 1985 Transport Act (Greater Manchester bus services to be brought under public control, 25 March).Bus deregulation has arguably been one of the worst legacies of the Thatcher years. A policy adopted in virtually no other western democracy, which managed simultaneously to deprive most of the country of evening and Sunday services, prevent integration between buses and trains, and widen regional disparities (since buses were never deregulated in London, or indeed, Northern Ireland). Continue reading...

Reduction comes despite direct appeals from senior UN figures that situation is worse than everThe UK has slashed its funding of the Syrian refugee programme by a third at a major United Nations donor conference despite direct appeals from the UN that the plight of Syrian refugees have grown worse than ever during the 10-year civil war.The UK offer of at least £205m was made by the foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, and compares with a donation of £300m at the same conference last year. The UK eventually provided £400m last year, so in the event there is no additional UK funding later in the year the British aid cut will be almost 50%. Continue reading...

Measures are passed to increase Beijing’s control of city, including vetting of election candidatesChina has passed sweeping changes to Hong Kong’s electoral system that tighten Beijing’s grip on the city, while leaving a facade of democratic structures in place.Beijing has amended Hong Kong’s Basic Law, or constitution, to almost halve the proportion of directly elected representatives in the city’s legislature, which already had limited powers, and require all candidates to be vetted for political loyalty. Continue reading...

People joked it could be nuclear code but real explanation is every social media manager’s nightmare

Government official hints China standing in way of publication, as protesters insist ‘Iran is not for sale’Iran’s ministers are being pressed by critics in the country to reveal details of a 25-year strategic partnership deal signed with China at the weekend, following accusations that Iran has sold its sovereignty.Many analysts say the agreement is largely aspirational, but the secrecy surrounding the final version has provided a useful stick for the regime’s critics. Continue reading...

Banned firm Top Glove also supplied NHS hospitals, prompting calls for guarantees on PPE sourcesTop Glove, the world’s largest manufacturer of rubber gloves, has been banned from exporting its products from Malaysia to the United States after the US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) made a finding that its products are made using forced and indentured labour.Rubber medical gloves from a Malaysian manufacturer will be seized if they enter the US due to “conclusive evidence” they are being made by workers under conditions of modern slavery, the CBP said. Continue reading...

From laying patios to dealing with squeaky floorboards, readers share what they have learned

Report says officers weren’t heavy-handed at Clapham Common event, but confidence in Met sufferedA report on the Metropolitan police’s handling of a vigil for Sarah Everard has concluded that officers acted appropriately.The report from the official policing inspectorate was ordered by the home secretary, Priti Patel, after widespread outrage at the scenes of officers grappling with mourners at the vigil on Clapham Common, south London, on Saturday 13 March. Continue reading...

Fuller account of operation reveals how nature and logistics aligned to unblock the Suez canalIn the end the difference was made by two high-powered tugboats and a force even greater: a tide that swelled to its highest point in months with the full moon, and then powerfully ebbed, helping to free the Ever Given.The week-long operation in the Suez Canal had struggled to make progress and looked as though it might stretch for weeks until Sunday, when nature and logistics aligned, according to the boss of the Dutch salvaging unit that helped run the operation, who has given the fullest account of the mission so far to news outlets in the Netherlands. Continue reading...

Meal delivery service says initial public offering will value company at £7.6bn not £8.8bnThe flotation of Deliveroo on Wednesday will value the company at £7.6bn after concerns over workers’ rights and volatile stock markets chipped more than £1bn off the top-end valuation.Last week, the meal delivery service said its initial public offering could value the company at as much as £8.8bn. However, on Tuesday the company confirmed its shares had been priced at £3.90, which is the bottom of the range it had set out. Continue reading...

We knew leaving the EU would weaken us. Now we can see it will limit the ability of the government to rein in big techWhat do lipstick, cravats, gold chains and poker chips have in common? The answer is that they are among a host of items that the US is threatening to impose punitive import tariffs on if the UK proceeds with its plan to implement a tax on big tech. The new duties are intended to raise $325m – the amount the US government believes the exchequer will raise from the 2% tax on revenues of tech firms.In some respects, this is just part of the merry-go-round in international trade (though actual merry-go-rounds have also been slapped with new tariffs) as countries ruthlessly pursue their national interests. But it matters because it reveals Britain’s newfound weakness in international trade from outside the EU – and how that weakness may limit the ability of the government to curb the power of big tech. Continue reading...

Islamabad high court orders government to fill vacant post at head of National Commission for Human RightsThe prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan, and his government have been accused of trying to “sabotage” the country’s independent human rights watchdog to prevent accountability for mounting abuses and oppression.Legislators, activists and lawyers told the Guardian that Khan’s government “punished” and immobilised Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Rights (NCHR) over reports that it had produced into human rights abuses and torture carried out by the military, which plays a powerful role in running the country. Continue reading...

Thomas McCann sentenced after killing in which he dumped dismembered body in country park

The recent BFI Flare festival of LGBTIQ+ films showcased a raft of transgender titles from a powerful family drama to a devastating documentary about a jazz musician. They bear witness to a complicated but optimistic new futureThe scenery and production design of Cowboys make you sit up and take notice from the off. They feel like signals that this is not just another trans tearjerker but a film with much bolder ambition and complexity.The plot revolves around dad Troy and 11-year-old Joe, who run away from their problems together into the Montana wilderness, with but the flimsiest of plans. We are given context via flashbacks: Troy’s struggle to “be a good man” and Joe’s to “be a girl”. The interweaving works well yet results in a lack of time spent up in the mountains, getting to know present-day father and son. Continue reading...

Demonstrators and first-aiders say officers’ use of shields during Friday’s protest caused injuriesProtesters and first-aiders have claimed police officers used their shields to injure scores of people during the last “kill the bill” protest in Bristol.First-aiders treated at least five people with lacerations to their heads that they claimed were consistent with the edges of rectangular riot shields. Continue reading...

James Marape receives AstraZeneca Covid vaccine at Port Morseby football stadium to help combat misinformationPapua New Guinea has begun its rollout of the Covid vaccine with the first doses of the AstraZeneca shots supplied by Australia administered to health workers, senior statesmen and elected officials, including the prime minister, James Marape.Marape said on Tuesday that “vaccination is not compulsory but will be made optionally available for Papua New Guineans who chose to be vaccinated”. Continue reading...

New memoir claims the actor has faced ill-treatment at the hands of doctors, the film industry and her own grandfatherSharon Stone had her breasts augmented without her consent during reconstructive surgery, the actor has claimed.Stone says she woke from a 2001 operation to reconstruct her breasts following the removal of benign tumours to find they had increased in size, because the doctor felt she “would look better with bigger, ‘better’ boobs”. Continue reading...

Two cases in one hospital ‘obviously raises concerns’, doctors’ union says, as it is revealed most at-risk health workers didn’t have masks properly fitted

For the purists, there is Felicity Cloake’s failsafe recipe. But if you want to buck tradition, how about chocolate, cherry bakewell or Marmite?People get awfully territorial about hot cross buns. If you have ever trailed around a supermarket with a hot cross bun purist at Easter, you’ll know what I mean. They’ll spot a bun that dares deviate even slightly from the tried and true hot cross bun blueprint – maybe it’ll have cranberries in it or, God forbid, chocolate – and they’ll act as if they’ve been slapped in the face.But, like it or not, the hot cross bun has moved on. It now exists on a spectrum that encompasses a multitude of styles, ingredients and tastes. Here are 10 recipes for very good hot cross bun variations. RIP my mentions. Continue reading...