Anthony Albanese also draws on John Curtin’s post-war recovery mantra and party thrashes out approach to free trade agreementsLabor has bolstered its foreign policy platform by condemning China’s human rights violations in the region and pledging to recognise the Palestinian state as a “priority” if the ALP forms government.After a “robust debate” on foreign policy on the first day of the ALP national conference, party delegates also thrashed out an agreement over how it would deal with free trade agreements in opposition, killing off a push by the Electrical Trades Union to harden Labor’s stance. Continue reading...

Three suspects reportedly said they were part of team specialising in stealing collectible setsFrench police say they are building a case against an international gang of toy thieves specialising in stealing Lego – and they have warned specialist shops and even parents to be aware of a global trade in the bricks.The alert comes after officers arrested three people – a woman and two men – in the process of stealing boxes of Lego from a toy shop in Yvelines, outside Paris, last June. Under questioning, the suspects, all from Poland, reportedly admitted they were part of a team specialising in stealing Lego sought by collectors. Continue reading...

Following the Atlanta shootings, the K-pop group shared their experiences of discrimination and called for respect and solidarityThe K-pop group BTS has condemned anti-Asian racism in the wake of growing incidents of violence and discrimination against Asian people.The vastly influential seven-piece paid tribute to the eight victims of the recent shootings at three Atlanta massage parlours, who included six Asian women. “We feel grief and anger,” they wrote in a statement published on social media. Continue reading...

Crystal White has accused the Liberal MP of taking a photo of her while she was bent over exposing her underwearA formal complaint against federal Liberal MP Andrew Laming has been lodged by a 29-year-old woman regarding an allegedly inappropriate photograph, Queensland police have confirmed.The alleged incident, first reported by the Nine Network on Saturday, contributed to Laming announcing he would not contest the next election. The member for Bowman has denied committing an offence and defended his decision to take the photo as a “humorous” depiction of a woman hard at work. Continue reading...

Kenyan novelist’s The Perfect Nine is first work written in an indigenous African language to be longlistedNgũgĩ wa Thiong’o has become the first writer to be nominated for the International Booker prize as both author and translator of the same book, and the first nominee writing in an indigenous African language.The 83-year-old Kenyan and perennial Nobel favourite is among 13 authors nominated for the award for best translated fiction, a £50,000 prize split evenly between author and translator. Thiong’o is nominated as writer and translator of The Perfect Nine, a novel-in-verse described by the judges as “a magisterial and poetic tale about women’s place in a society of gods”, and written in the Bantu language Gikuyu. Continue reading...

The standup on representation, Matt Hancock, her new travel show and why she loves NorwichA Great British, Female, Gay, Disabled, Covid-Compliant Adventure was the original name for Rosie Jones’s new travel show. “But,” says its host, “we thought that when you’ve got a presenter who speaks slowly, introducing that would take all bloody day.” She also might have called it Stereotypically Shit Places, another phrase bandied about in today’s Zoom chat. “The idea,” she says, “was to visit places where the local people would go: ‘Why have you come to Whitby for your holiday?!’” In the end, Channel 4 settled on Trip Hazard: My Great British Adventure. The four-part series, about comedian-of-the-moment Jones “going to shit places and making the most of it”, premieres this spring.Related: The Guide: Staying In – sign up for our home entertainment tips Continue reading...

Jess Phillips says government has not taken issue seriously, five years after committee’s reportSexual violence is endemic in schools and the government must launch an inquiry to establish how widespread it is, the shadow minister for domestic violence has said.Jess Phillips said the issue had been pointed out to the government five years ago, it had been a “problem for a very long time” and ministers had “dropped the ball”. Continue reading...

Queensland outbreak rises to 15 cases of the highly contagious UK variant, as Brisbane embarks on first day of three-day lockdown; NSW on high alert after cases partied in Byron Bay. Follow all the latest developments

Tom Dare’s hilarious podcast celebrates what he calls a ‘really gay’ scene – and has tackled its homophobiaBack in November, the Hell Bent for Metal podcast (HBFM) put out their first episode, called Gay Satanic Love Songs. If you’re worried that they played their trump card too early, this was followed by an edition entitled BDSM Gear and Black Metal, and another named Horny German Werewolves.It quickly became clear what you were getting: it’s gay, it’s about heavy metal, and it’s very, very funny. As a gay rock fan, HBFM founder and co-host Tom Dare’s hope was to be visible to other LGBTQ+ lovers of heavy music, and to offer a queer perspective that he felt was missing from a scene that is still affected by homophobia. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Years of rising prices, pay freeze and high private rents has prevented many from saving for depositLow-paid key workers on the frontline of the Covid-19 pandemic would not be able to afford to buy the average priced home in 98% of Great Britain, an exclusive Guardian analysis has found.Years of rising prices have put homeownership out of reach of many key workers, who have also experienced pay freezes and had to channel their wages into paying high private rents, rather than being able to save for a deposit. Continue reading...

Australian Labor party gathers online to endorse slimmed-down election platform and debate industrial relations, trade and foreign affairs. Follow all the latest updates, live

HBO documentary The Last Cruise revisits, through footage recorded by passengers and crew, the early-pandemic horror of the Diamond Princess cruise disasterBefore the shutdowns and eerie images of a barren Times Square, before the bungled US federal response to a virus that has since killed 549,000 Americans and nearly 2.8m people worldwide, before most people even had a date they could loosely observe as a pandemic anniversary this past month, there was the Diamond Princess.The cruise ship departed from Yokohama, Japan on 20 January 2020 for a roundtrip tour of southeast Asia. On board was an 80-year-old passenger from Hong Kong who had recently visited Shenzen, Guangdong Province, China. At the time, there were only four confirmed cases of the then-unnamed Covid-19 virus outside mainland China; within two weeks, the ship would be stalled in the Japanese harbor under quarantine as the largest coronavirus outbreak outside Wuhan – 712 people, 14 of whom would die. Continue reading...

Analysis: Buhari’s deputy wants to create jobs, feed pupils and cut red tape. Is he too high-profile for his critics?The role of vice-president is one that John Adams, the first person in the US to hold the position, called “the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived”.Nigeria’s Patience Jonathan captured the situation in her sarcastic response to a journalist who asked about her husband, Goodluck Jonathan, when he was vice-president. She said: “He is in his office reading newspapers.” Continue reading...

Just 39% of children or young adults in care have applications to remain in UK after BrexitThousands of children of EU citizens who have been taken into care may become “undocumented” adults with no right to work, rent a home or receive benefits, a charity has warned.The Children’s Society has found that just 39% of children in care, or young adults who have recently left care, have had applications to remain in the country after Brexit made on their behalf. It says this is “unacceptable” and that councils across the UK need to work urgently to identify EU citizens in their care. Continue reading...

How is it that those with the power to inflict most harm are blind to the consequences of their actions?It is a truism to say that everyone knows violence when they see it, but if one thing has become clear in the past decade, it is that the most prevalent, insidious forms of violence are those that cannot be seen. Consider, for example, a photograph from January 2017. A group of identical-looking white men in dark suits looked on as their president signed an executive order banning US state funding to groups anywhere in the world offering abortion or abortion counselling.The passing of the “global gag rule” effectively launched the Trump presidency. (It was scrapped by Joe Biden soon after his inauguaration a few weeks ago.) The ruling meant an increase in deaths by illegal abortion for thousands of women throughout the developing world. Its effects have been as cruel as they are precise. No non-governmental organisation (NGO) in receipt of US funds could henceforth accept non-US support, or lobby governments across the world, on behalf of the right to abortion. A run of abortion bans followed in conservative Republican-held US states. In November 2019, Ohio introduced to the state legislature a bill which included the requirement that in cases of ectopic pregnancy, doctors must reimplant the embryo into the woman’s uterus or face a charge of “abortion murder”. (Ectopic pregnancy can be fatal to the mother and no such procedure exists in medical science.) Continue reading...

Directors pay for fruit and snack bundles for juniors as workers at other firms get bonuses and PelotonsBosses at Goldman Sachs have been sending sympathy snack boxes to overworked junior London bankers in response to complaints over “inhumane” 100-hour weeks that have affected their physical and mental health.The one-off hampers, full of fruit and snacks, are understood to have been paid for by managing directors out of their own pockets, since Goldman has not offered any company-wide gifts or additional bonuses after a leaked report revealed concerns about poor working conditions earlier this month. Continue reading...

Calls for ethnic minority forces to help those standing up to the ‘unfair oppression’ of the military as casualties mountMyanmar protesters have held overnight candle-lit vigils and launched a civil disobedience campaign of hurling garbage on to streets after an advocacy group said security forces had killed more than 500 people since the 1 February coup.Out of 14 civilians killed in Myanmar on Monday, the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) said at least eight were in the South Dagon district of Yangon. Continue reading...

Thousands face not having a valid permit after lack of deal between UK and France and flood of applicationsThousands of British citizens in France have been left without a valid driving licence, or face losing theirs within months, because of bureaucratic overload and the failure of the two countries’ governments to sign a post-Brexit reciprocal agreement.“I’d say there are 3,000 who are seriously worried – for whom this has really become nightmarish,” said Kim Cranstoun, who moved permanently to France three years ago and whose Facebook group for Britons affected has more than 6,000 members. Continue reading...

Government says it will no longer fund risky mission to retrieve 29 bodies from site of New Zealand’s worst mining disasterFamilies of the men who died in one of New Zealand’s worst mining disasters have expressed their heartbreak that the government has ended funding to re-enter the mine, leaving the remains of their loved ones trapped inside.Twenty-nine men were killed when an explosion ripped through the Pike river mine on the west coast in November 2010. Their bodies have not been recovered, and remain in the mine. Continue reading...

More than a week after torrential rain hit New South Wales, communities are working to clean up what is left behind Continue reading...

Nineteen-year-old, who has sickle cell disease, left his home on 22 March, saying he was going to visit a friendA London mother is seeking help to find her son who has been missing for over a week.

Joint letter signed by Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and others warns ‘nobody is safe until everyone is safe’

Redfern bar shakes like the hull of a ship as devoted community comes back together after year apartOver the past year, various members of the Redfern Shanty Club found different ways to cope. Robert Boddington, with his thespian’s voice and easy stage patter, gathered a few friends and tried to sing in public places, “just turning up in the dead of night and quietly singing away”. Robin Howard says he got “the shakes”. Emma Norton, a train driver with a soaring Celtic voice, says: “I sang to myself a lot, I guess.”On Monday night, as restrictions in Sydney were almost completely lifted – with relaxed caps on capacity in bars, and no limits on singing – this devoted and joyous community finally returned to their favourite weekly ritual. Continue reading...

Number of patients in intensive care in France near to numbers reached in autumn 2020; state leader pushes back after Merkel criticism of inaction

Thursday: MP’s former branch secretary says she is surprised complaints ‘didn’t happen sooner’. Plus: joy as the giant Ever Given refloatedGood morning. Scott Morrison has reshuffled the cabinet to elevate a female “perspective” but the government is still dealing with complaints about the Queensland MP Andrew Laming. There are concerns for Brisbane businesses facing a snap lockdown coinciding with the end of jobkeeper. The trial for George Floyd’s alleged murderer has begun and cargo is finally flowing again through the Suez Canal.Andrew Laming’s former branch secretary Suzi Foster says she is surprised it has taken so long for complaints against the MP to be made public, given his history of making constituents “uncomfortable”. The comments come as Laming defended his online behaviour as being “re-invented into harassment”. Foster says concerns had been raised about Laming’s “erratic” behaviour from 2016. “What has been alleged doesn’t surprise me. I’m just surprised it didn’t happen sooner,” she said. Laming has taken a month’s paid leave to undertake courses in “empathy and appropriate communication” but experts have warned there’s no quick fix for improving empathy. Continue reading...

George Floyd's family and attorneys gathered outside the heavily-barricaded court house before former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin went on trial Monday.'They can't sweep this under the rug,' said Philonise Floyd, George Floyd's brother, to reporters. Philonise and other speakers spoke about the video that showed Chauvin's knee on Floyd's neck that would be brought as evidence during the trial

Ernesto Araújo’s resignation ends the most calamitous chapter in the history of the country’s diplomacy, critics sayJair Bolsonaro’s ultraconservative foreign minister has resigned after a rebellion from diplomats and lawmakers who accused him of demolishing Brazil’s international reputation and putting Brazilian lives at risk by vandalizing relations with China and the US during the coronavirus pandemic.Ernesto Araújo, a 53-year-old career diplomat famed for his bashing of Xi Jinping’s China and devotion to Donald Trump, tendered his resignation on Monday, ending what critics call the most calamitous chapter in the history of Brazilian diplomacy. Continue reading...

Analysis: the trial over the killing of George Floyd may be a bellwether for racial justice, but the prosecution will focus on one man’s actionsFor all the many thousands of protests around the world, the global reckoning on racism and policing prompted by the killing of George Floyd last May, prosecutors were clear that their case in the murder trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin would be centered around a period of time lasting less than 10 minutes.Nine minutes and 29 seconds. The total time that Chauvin held his knee to George Floyd’s neck, leaving him “pancaked”, in the words of prosecutor Jerry Blackwell, between the ground and Chauvin’s body, gradually asphyxiating him to death. Continue reading...

China and Canada have clashed repeatedly in recent months over Beijing’s treatment of its Uighur minorityA Chinese diplomat has dismissed Canada’s prime minister Justin Trudeau as a “boy” in a social media attack marking a new low in the fractured relationship between the two countries.China and Canada have clashed repeatedly in recent months, and last week the two countries imposed sanctions on each other in a growing row over Beijing’s treatment of its Uighur minority. Continue reading...

Councillor would become city’s first black leader and first female mayor if she wins vote

Salvage teams and strong tides help to refloat vessel that had blocked key trading arterySalvage teams succeeded on Monday in freeing a massive container ship that had been stuck in the Suez canal for the past seven days, blocking billions of dollars’ worth of cargo from crossing one of the world’s busiest marine waterways.Insurers, the shipping industry and the thousands of businesses reliant on container goods were still counting the cost of the accident as traffic resumed in the evening with more than 367 vessels, carrying a vast range of items from crude oil to cattle, waiting to cross. Continue reading...

Dr Rochelle Walensky, the CDC director, notes new US cases are now at about 70,000 a day

Stuck container ship triggered people with fear of ships and sea wreckage and megalophobia, the fear of large objectsWhen Grace Gibson was texted a picture of the giant container ship Ever Given stuck in the Suez canal, she clenched.The image – of the gargantuan vessel wedged sideways into the canal – and the lone excavator working to free it – struck most as absurd. Against the massive underbelly of the ship, the equipment looked tiny. But for Gibson, a 26-year old Angeleno, it immediately evoked discomfort. Continue reading...

Masters of Foxhounds Association launches inquiry as police examine activities of Quorn Hunt members

At least seven people are dead and up to 60 unaccounted for after an ambush by Islamist militants on a convoy in northern Mozambique on Friday.On Wednesday, the insurgents had targeted the northern town of Palma, where many foreign contractors work for a multibillion-dollar liquified natural gas project run by the French energy company Total, attacking local people and hotels sheltering foreign workers

Analysis: experts split on whether easy access to porn has fuelled sexual harassment, abuse and assault among young peopleThe harrowing reports of sexism and assaults in schools detailed on the everyonesinvited.uk website has fuelled concerns of a “rape culture” in educational settings.The disclosures have raised concerns that easy access to pornography is part of the problem. Continue reading...

Jobkeeper was announced at the start of the Covid pandemic as a lifeline to stop employers losing staff due to the economic losses of the crisis. Now that jobkeeper has ended, economist Richard Denniss joins the podcast to explain how its removal will affect AustraliansYou can read more from Richard Denniss here Continue reading...

Results show increase in self-diagnosis accuracy after participants searched for advice onlineThat throbbing headache just won’t go away and your mind is racing about what may be wrong. But Googling your symptoms may not be as ill-advised as previously thought.Although some doctors often advise against turning to the internet before making the trudge up to the clinic, a new study suggests that using online resources to research symptoms may not be harmful after all – and could even lead to modest improvements in diagnosis. Continue reading...

Attack on port town of Palma has forced hundreds of people to flee amid fierce fightingThe Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an attack on a town in northern Mozambique last week that forced hundreds of foreign contractors to flee amid fierce fighting.Local police and soldiers were reported to have secured control of most of Palma on Monday, after hundreds of Islamist insurgents who overran the small port last week withdrew to surrounding forests and fields leaving a trail of devastation. Continue reading...

EU rules post-Brexit limit UK nationals to maximum 90-day stay per 180 days

Marc Feren Claude Biart was betrayed by failing to hide his distinctive tattoos in the clip

Singer experienced psychotic episode in May 2019 after she thought concert had gone badlyA young and talented singer was found dead in hospital after suffering a severe mental health episode following a concert, which she thought had gone badly, an inquest heard.Mina Topley-Bird, 24, the daughter of the trip hop musician Tricky and vocalist Martina Topley-Bird, was discovered dead at West Park hospital, Darlington, in May 2019, days after performing with her band in Newcastle upon Tyne. Continue reading...

Singer collaborated with streetwear label MSCHF to create the shoes, will be limited to 666 pairs, retail at $1,018 and contain ‘one drop of human blood’Nike has denied involvement in an announcement by the singer Lil Nas X that he will release custom-made “Satan shoes”, sneakers which contain a drop of human blood.The singer collaborated with streetwear label MSCHF to create the shoes, which are modified Nike Air Max 97s and feature a pentagram pendant and a reference to a Bible verse, Luke 10:18 – “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven”. Continue reading...

Caffeine is a stimulant, protein helps muscle recovery, and thousands of people are posting online about combining the two for a sludgy beige take on breakfast

US and EU lead international condemnation of violence against protesters by junta on SaturdayWashington has announced the immediate suspension of all US trade engagement with Myanmar until the return of a democratically elected government, a day after the president, Joe Biden, condemned the killing of peaceful protesters as “outrageous”.The move comes as the US and EU led international condemnation of the violence perpetrated by the junta in Myanmar on Saturday, when more than 100 people – including several children – died in the bloodiest day since the military coup two months ago. Continue reading...

Landlords showed ‘staggering lack of concern’ by failing to order checks after being warned about dangerous cladding

Tearful scenes in Birmingham park as couples and grandparents and grandchildren meet for first time in months

The vastly popular Colombian singer is challenging outdated views of women in Latin pop – but her naive racial politics have sparked controversyI catch Colombian singer Karol G in a rare moment of calm, while she is in a car on her way to a hotel. She has just landed in New York to film a music video, but home is Miami, she clarifies, the engine humming in the background. “I love it there because there are so many Latinos!”Born Carolina Giraldo Navarro in Medellín, Karol G, 30, is one of Latin America’s biggest pop stars, an expressive performer who uses beautiful hooks for lyrics that explore female desire and sexual agency – a rarity in the male-dominated Latin music scene, where, she says, women have historically been treated like “products”. Continue reading...

Islamist militants attacked the town of Palma last week, and dozens are still missing after a hotel siege and convoy attackThe first that people in the Mozambican city of Palma knew of the attack by Islamist militants was the sound of gunfire that erupted at 4pm on Wednesday afternoon.A focus of natural gas development in the Indian Ocean, the town, located close to the border with Tanzania, was under sustained attack from two directions by the Isis-affiliated al-Shabaab group, who have mounted a campaign of escalating terror in the northern Cabo Delgado region. The group does not have any known connection to Somalia’s jihadists of that name, and have been active in Cabo Delgado since 2017, but their attacks have become much more frequent and deadly over the past year. Continue reading...

Chancellor complains her government does not yet have power to impose national lockdown