Danish director Malou Reymann tells the story of a father transitioning to female with almost too much empathyDanish director Malou Reymann makes her debut feature with this gentle, open-hearted drama based on her own childhood experience of her dad transitioning to female. The story is told from the perspective of 11-year-old Emma (Kaya Toft Loholt). But Reymann turns the dial on the empathy machine up to 11 – balancing the feelings of all her characters so evenly and with such generosity that in the end I did feel that the niceness of her film left it a bit pale dramatically.Related: Disclosure: behind Laverne Cox's Netflix documentary on trans representation Continue reading...

MUA says it will suspend industrial action until a Fair Work hearing in late October, a move the company claims was forced by public opinionTalks between the maritime union and Patrick Terminals have failed to seal a pay deal but the union has agreed to suspend all industrial action until later in October.After two days of conciliation, the Maritime Union of Australia has decided to suspend its actions until the Fair Work Commission can hear the company’s bid to permanently terminate the actions on 26 and 27 October. Continue reading...

The US chain’s sandwiches do not meet definition of bread or a staple food, Supreme Court rules in tax caseThe Irish Supreme court has ruled that the bread served at Subway – a US sandwich food chain with branches in more than 100 countries – cannot be defined as bread.Under Ireland’s Value-Added Tax Act of 1972 it cannot even be defined as a staple food, according to the Irish Independent, because it contains too much sugar. Continue reading...

David Irvine says the government could do a better job explaining the benefits of foreign investment amid community concernsThe Morrison government needs to do a better job of explaining the benefits of foreign investment because of underlying community concerns “that foreigners are buying up the farm, they’re taking over”, a senior adviser to the government has said.David Irvine, the former Asio spy agency chief who now heads the foreign investment review board (Firb), clashed with the outspoken Liberal National party MP George Christensen, who is chairing a trade inquiry and using it to campaign for Australia to reduce its economic dependence on China. Continue reading...

Human rights campaigners warn reinstating capital punishment ‘would be a huge step backwards’, as attack on young woman reignites debateThe brutal killing of a young woman has reignited a debate in Tunisia over capital punishment, with the country’s president suggesting an end to a decades-old moratorium on the death penalty.President Kais Saied told a meeting of the country’s national security council on Monday that “murder deserves the death penalty” and urged the security forces to redouble their efforts in countering what he characterised as a nationwide increase in crime. Continue reading...

The national security law brought brutality to the streets of the city I love. Yet I believe we can regain our freedom

Female musicians say abuse by gurus has been an open secret for years in a culture where ‘toxic and old-fashioned patriarchy’ holds swayOne of India’s most venerated cultural traditions – the centuries-old guru-shishya (disciple) method of learning classical music and dance – has been hit by allegations of sexual abuse.A group of 90 female classical musicians issued a statement in September, alleging sexual abuse and exploitation of female disciples by their gurus. They described a “fear-driven culture of silence” that forced women to submit to the sexual demands of their gurus for fear of having to end their careers. Continue reading...

At least 12 died in Australia’s offshore detention network, while thousands of others suffered mental illness and self harmA Downing Street plan to consider emulating Australia’s offshore detention system for asylum seekers risks creating a fresh “human rights disaster”, experts familiar with the immigration policy have said.On Wednesday, the Guardian reported that documents from the Foreign Office revealed Downing St had sought its advice on “negotiating an offshore asylum processing facility similar to the Australian model in Papua New Guinea and Nauru”. Continue reading...

Telephone intercepts reveal Daryl Maguire encouraged a property investor to attend a Liberal fundraiser featuring premier Gladys BerejiklianThe former New South Wales Liberal MP Daryl Maguire would have earned more than $690,000 for helping to “grease the wheels” in a lucrative sale of land near the Western Sydney airport, a corruption inquiry has heard.Telephone intercepts also reveal that Maguire encouraged a property investor, William Luong, to attend a Liberal fundraiser featuring the premier, Gladys Berejiklian, despite Luong’s concerns that he was classified as a property developer and was not allowed to attend. Continue reading...

Coronavirus tracking measures handing ‘unchecked powers’ to authoritarian regimes, activists warn

Trading called off on Thursday amid uncertainty over when the issue would be resolvedTrading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange was suspended on Thursday because of a problem in the system for relaying market information.The Tokyo Stock Exchange said trading would not resume for the rest of the day. It was unclear when it would be resolved and the system would be operating again. Continue reading...

The PM reveals Kiwis won’t need to complete a two-week quarantine as Victoria records two more deaths and 15 new Covid cases

The email addresses belonging to at least 1,800 Australian citizens were accidentally disclosed in a message about interest-free loansThe private email addresses of at least 1,800 vulnerable Australian travellers stranded overseas have been accidentally revealed by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.The addresses were included in an email sent to multiple recipients before midday on Wednesday by the Covid-19 consular operations section of Dfat. Continue reading...

Public accounts committee writes to PM backing watchdog’s call for budget to deliver 48 audits a yearScott Morrison has been urged by members of his own government to restore funding to the auditor general, who has warned he will conduct fewer audits without a budget rescue package.Guardian Australia understands the Coalition-controlled joint committee of public accounts and audit has written to the prime minister backing the auditor general’s call for more funding to deliver 48 performance audits a year. Continue reading...

Five staff from Spotless among nine workers who tested positive at hotels being used to isolate those who cannot isolate at home

Last year fierce clashes broke out between protesters and police on 1 October, but the introduction of harsh security laws has largely stifled dissentThousands of riot police were stationed across Hong Kong on Thursday to stamp out any large democracy rallies as the financial hub marked China’s National Day under the shadow of a growing crackdown on dissent.The People’s Republic of China celebrates its founding on 1 October with a holiday and carefully choreographed festivities. Continue reading...

PM says Matt Kean is ‘out of step with his own government’, adding ‘if you are not for gas, you are not for manufacturing jobs’Scott Morrison has rebuked the New South Wales energy and environment minister Matt Kean for describing the controversial Narrabri coal seam gas development as a “gamble”, declaring Kean is out of step with the premier and the state’s own policy.The prime minister on Thursday used an interview on the Sydney radio station 2GB to tell Kean, the NSW Liberal frontbencher and a vocal advocate for renewable energy, to pull his head in, declaring “if you are not for gas, you are not for manufacturing jobs”. Continue reading...

Beijing’s national security law has prompted the exit of people from all walks of life in fear they or their children are at riskJoe Kwong* loves Hong Kong. But he knows he has to leave.A university-educated construction worker in his 30s, he is just one of many Hongkongers who have uprooted their lives in recent months – or are now planning to – because of fears over the rapid demise of the rule of law and civil liberties. Hong Kong’s descent into effective Chinese control has been swift, and was cemented in June by the introduction of the national security law, which prohibits acts of secession, subversion, terrorism, and collusion with foreign forces. Continue reading...

Scott Morrison will outline the Coalition’s manufacturing reboot during a budget scene-setter at the National Press Club. Follow live

With a crowded election cycle, non-committal politicians and a pandemic to worry about, public support for a yes vote in the referendum is erodingIt is believed to be the first country in the world to put the legalisation of recreational cannabis to a national public vote. But amid a pandemic, an election concentrated almost entirely on the Covid-19 crisis, and a simultaneous vote on euthanasia, New Zealand’s upcoming marijuana referendum has not captivated the mainstream public attention that it might have in an ordinary year.New Zealand would join Canada and Uruguay on the list of countries legalising the sale and use of cannabis for adults if more than half of voters approved it – but public backing for the measure has eroded in polling during 2020, reversing growing support in recent years. In a debate plagued by claims of misinformation from both sides – and taking place during an overcrowded election cycle – some politicians have shied away from the matter altogether, fearing they will end up on the wrong side of a divisive topic. Continue reading...

Government and company Tepco ordered to pay some damages for 2011 event, but ruling could spur further claimsA Japanese court has found the government and Tepco, the operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, negligent for failing to take measures to prevent the 2011 nuclear disaster, and ordered them to pay 1bn yen ($9.5m) in damages to thousands of residents for their lost livelihoods.The ruling on Wednesday by Sendai high court could open up the government to further damage claims because thousands of other residents evacuated as reactors at the coastal power station overheated and released a radioactive cloud, following the devastating tsunami. While some people have returned home, areas close to the plant are still off limits. Continue reading...

York region police announced 29 arrests and seized millions in assets connected to gambling den operating while legal casinos shutteredPolice in Canada have charged dozens of people and seized millions in assets after discovering that a sprawling mansion north of Toronto was thriving as a underground gambling den while legal casinos were shuttered due to the coronavirus lockdown.York region police announced 74 charges on Wednesday connected to a months-long investigation into illegal gambling operations in Ontario. As well as making 29 arrests, police seized more than $10m in assets, firearms, cash and high-end liquor. Continue reading...

Salman Abedi also visited a terrorist in jail twice and regularly travelled to Libya, the inquiry was toldThe Manchester Arena suicide bomber was identified associating with six separate MI5 “subjects of interest”, visited a terrorist twice in jails and regularly travelled to war-torn Libya, a public inquiry heard.Intelligence on Salman Abedi came in to MI5 for six years and right up to the months before he blew himself up with a homemade bomb packed with shrapnel, murdering 22 bystanders and injuring hundreds more in the foyer of the arena at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017. Continue reading...

Migrants have been left to sleep rough or taken to an already-full facility, agency claimsBosnian authorities have started emptying UN-run migrant camps in town centres, moving hundreds of people to a crowded, remote facility that is not equipped for winter conditions — or just leaving them to fend for themselves in the woods.Some 10,000 transient migrants and refugees are stuck in the small Balkan country, and already face a chronic lack of accommodation. At least one in four live outside organised facilities. Continue reading...

Thursday: President told white extremist group to ‘stand back and stand by’ during debate ‘shitshow’. Plus: join the Jimmy Barnes Zoom book clubGood morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 1 October. Continue reading...

Numbers from No 10 briefing show latest restrictions have either yet to take effect or do not go far enough

Khan and GLA staff will boycott event in protest over human rights issues in the countryThe mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has joined the mayors of New York, Los Angeles and Paris in refusing to attend or send a representative to a major international summit this week hosted by Saudi Arabia as part of its chairmanship of the G20.Campaign groups had called on mayors around the world not to attend the three-day Urban 20 summit (U20), which began in Riyadh on Wednesday, in protest at the plight of political prisoners in Saudi Arabia. Continue reading...

Sunday’s vote could lay the foundations for the birth of a new nation in the Pacific after surprising support emerged in 2018 referendum

Syrians on the ground are believed to be contractors working for Turkish security companiesAt least three Syrian opposition fighters have been killed in skirmishes in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Guardian has learned, confirming earlier reports of foreign involvement in the battle between Armenian and Azerbaijan over the territory and increasing fears it may spiral into a wider regional conflict.As fierce combat between Armenian and Azerbaijani forces stretched into a fourth day, the presence of Syrians on the ground – believed to be contractors working for Turkish security companies – signalled a new frontier for Ankara’s increasingly assertive foreign policy. Continue reading...

Department accused of ‘just paying lip service’ after Priti Patel promises wide reformVictims of the Windrush scandal have responded with scepticism to the publication of a Home Office “comprehensive improvement plan” promising “a fairer, more compassionate” department – pointing to similar previous pledges that have yet to materialise.The author of a report into the scandal’s causes also reacted with frustration that the government is not moving fast enough to implement all of her recommendations, despite a promise from the home secretary, Priti Patel, in June that they would be adopted in full. Continue reading...

News updates: PM promises more frequent press conferences on Covid situation; MPs vote by 330 to 24 to renew Coronavirus Act

The immigration points system is one thing, but the latest imported idea is far more controversial

People without a specific severe impairment who want to access disability payment are being forced to first do 1.5 years of job searchNearly 14,000 people have now been forced to do 18 months of job search and survive on $40-a-day jobseeker benefits before they were finally granted the disability pension.Under Gillard government-era changes aimed at reducing the welfare spend and increasing workforce participation, people without a specific severe impairment who want to access the disability payment must complete up to 18 months of job search within three years. Continue reading...

Joyce Echaquan is seen grimacing as nurses call her ‘stupid as hell’, renewing calls for country to confront systemic racismA shocking video showing hospital staff in Canada taunting a dying Indigenous woman has left a community in mourning and renewed calls for the country to confront the realities of systemic racism.Joyce Echaquan, a 37-year-old Atikamekw woman, arrived at a hospital in the Quebec city of Joliette on Monday, complaining of stomach pain. Continue reading...

Directors were invited to demonstration of a newly developed test-and-trace system

Flemish Liberal Alexander De Croo sworn in as PM as country passes milestone of 10,000 Covid deaths

Pope Francis reportedly declined to meet Mike Pompeo during his visit this week, citing closeness of US presidential electionA top Vatican official has accused Donald Trump’s administration of exploiting Pope Francis in the final stages of the US presidential election campaign.The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, spoke at a conference on religious freedom on Wednesday organised by the US embassy to the Holy See during his visit to Italy. Continue reading...

Extradition hearing told spying operation at Ecuador embassy included plot to take baby’s nappyPlans to poison or kidnap Julian Assange from the Ecuadorian embassy were discussed between sources in US intelligence and a private security firm that spied extensively on the WikiLeaks co-founder, a court has been told.Details of the alleged spying operation against Assange and anyone who visited him at the embassy were laid out on Wednesday at his extradition case, in evidence by a former employee of a Spanish security company, UC Global. Continue reading...

Increased loss of ice could trigger sea level rise of up to 10cm by end of centuryGreenland’s ice is starting to melt faster than at any time in the past 12,000 years, research has shown, which will raise sea levels and could have a marked impact on ocean currents.New measurements show the rate of melting matches any in the geological record for the Holocene period – defined as the period since the last ice age – and is likely to accelerate, according to a paper published in the journal Nature. Continue reading...

Cardinal returned to Vatican on Wednesday despite Australia’s Covid travel ban on ‘official Vatican government business’Cardinal George Pell returned to Rome from Australia on Wednesday for the first time since being jailed – and then acquitted – on child sexual abuse charges.The 79-year-old, wearing a face mask, briefly lifted his hand towards a crowd of waiting journalists at Rome’s Fiumicino airport, but said nothing before climbing into a waiting car. Continue reading...

Council surveyor tasked with overseeing refurbishment tells inquiry his department was ‘swamped’ with workThe council department responsible for checking the safety of the Grenfell Tower refurbishment was “swamped” with work as austerity-driven cuts slashed staff numbers and the key surveyor was left handling 130 projects at once, the public inquiry in the disaster has heard.John Hoban, senior building control surveyor at the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, said councillors had signed off substantial cuts to the building control department piling work on the remaining staff. Continue reading...

Court clears 32 men of inciting clashes that led to destruction of site by Hindu rioters in 1992A special court has acquitted all senior figures in India’s ruling party of their role in the demolition of the Babri mosque by Hindu rioters, in a further court victory for the Hindu nationalist government over the bitterly disputed holy site.All 32 men, including the former deputy prime minister LK Advani, three leaders from the ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) and a sitting BJP politician, were cleared of inciting the violence in 1992 that led to a 16th-century mosque in the city of Ayodhya being torn down by an armed Hindu nationalist mob. Continue reading...

The ‘Hong Kong 12’ - arrested for allegedly trying to flee to Taiwan - have become the latest flashpoint for protestersThe family of a Hong Kong activist detained in China after allegedly attempting to flee to Taiwan by speedboat say they have had no communication from him and are relying on a piece of paper from Chinese authorities as confirmation of his whereabouts.Andy Li was among 12 people caught by Chinese coastguards on 23 August. He had been arrested earlier that month under Hong Kong’s newly introduced national security law, after which the authorities had confiscated his passport before releasing him on bail. Continue reading...

Voters back measure amid reports of growing poverty linked to Covid-19 pandemic

Country will be giving 10m doses of Sputnik V a month by December, says head of fund backing vaccine

New Zealand's prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has admitted to using cannabis 'a long time ago', in a heated televised debate with the opposition leader, Judith Collins.Speaking during the 90-minute debate on Newshub, the Labour leader and incumbent PM chose not to disclose how she would vote in the forthcoming cannabis referendum, drawing ire from her opponent, the National party leader

Tom Vaughan-Lawlor excels in this bleak Dublin-set drama about a closeted gay man whose life is unravellingPeter Mackie Burns’s painful, unhappy drama packs a hard punch; you must steel yourself for the emotional blows. Tom Vaughan-Lawlor is excellent as 46-year-old Colm, a Dublin man who looks like a working-class success: nice house, office job at a dockyard, lovely wife and teenage kids. But Colm is secretly gay, and living with the shame for so long has scraped his insides out. There’s nothing left of him: he is drinking heavily, barely functioning, pushing away his concerned wife Claire (Monica Dolan, bringing real emotional depth to the smallish role). Continue reading...

Penalties issued by police will have to be dealt with by already backlogged courts

With infection numbers rising, Europe is relying on pandemic measures that have scarcely changed since the Black Death in the 14th century Continue reading...

Described as ‘a message of love and solidarity’ and with signatories including Jeanette Winterson and Malorie Blackman, it comes days after a host of prominent literary names signed a letter defending JK RowlingDays after a host of prominent literary names signed a letter defending JK Rowling “against hate”, more than 200 writers, publishers and journalists including Jeanette Winterson, Malorie Blackman and Joanne Harris have put their names to another stating their support for transgender and non-binary people.The letter, which is described as “a message of love and solidarity for the trans and non-binary community”, was pulled together by acclaimed writers Kiran Millwood Hargrave and Daisy Johnson. With signatories also including Juno Dawson, Elizabeth Day, Max Porter, Nikesh Shukla, Sara Collins, Irenosen Okojie, Mary Jean Chan, Naoise Dolan, Olivia Sudjic, Sharlene Teo and Patrick Ness, it states that “non-binary lives are valid, trans women are women, trans men are men, trans rights are human rights”. Continue reading...