NSW premier calls allegation ‘extremely offensive’ and dares Labor to repeat it outside parliament, as Icac continues to grill her former lover Daryl Maguire

Police say they lack resources to prevent people travelling from hotspots elsewhere in UK

Leader says she will resign if not re-elected but polls show Labour 15 points aheadJacinda Ardern has dominated the final leaders’ debate before New Zealand goes to the polls on Saturday, appearing confident and prime ministerial as she took on a subdued Judith Collins.In a surprise admission, Ardern said if she was not re-elected, she would resign as Labour leader. Continue reading...

Those with ‘reasonable excuse’, such as children in care, will face no time limit, says Home OfficeThe government is to fast-track legislation it believes will stop vulnerable EU citizens becoming Windrush-type victims of Brexit, it has emerged.Under new secondary legislation, vulnerable citizens already lawfully living in the country, such as children in care and homeless people, may be able to apply for settled status years after the 30 June 2021 deadline. Continue reading...

Former NSW Liberal MP appears in Icac hearing that could decide the premier’s future. This blog is now closed

It’s been a torrid question time for the New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, with Labor’s Jodi McKay asking if the electorate could continue to trust Berejiklian as premier. McKay questioned Berejiklian’s inconsistent claims, but Berejiklian refused to address the specifics of the question, simply replying that she had not done anything wrong. “I never have and I never will,” she said

Students from a small community traditionally known for weaving are beating the odds to gain coveted university places

Maguire grilled about ‘on again off again’ relationship with NSW premier on second day of evidence to corruption commission hearingFormer Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire sought “guidance” from Gladys Berejiklian over the $1.5m personal debt he was seeking to pay off through a number of business deals now at the centre of a corruption investigation.But Maguire told the independent commission against corruption he couldn’t recall how much he told the New South Wales premier, with whom he had been in a secret “on again off again” relationship for several years, other than confirming the couple had discussed “general problems I was having in life”. Continue reading...

Autonomous machines capable of deadly force are increasingly prevalent in modern warfare, despite numerous ethical concerns. Is there anything we can do to halt the advance of the killer robots?The video is stark. Two menacing men stand next to a white van in a field, holding remote controls. They open the van’s back doors, and the whining sound of quadcopter drones crescendos. They flip a switch, and the drones swarm out like bats from a cave. In a few seconds, we cut to a college classroom. The killer robots flood in through windows and vents. The students scream in terror, trapped inside, as the drones attack with deadly force. The lesson that the film, Slaughterbots, is trying to impart is clear: tiny killer robots are either here or a small technological advance away. Terrorists could easily deploy them. And existing defences are weak or nonexistent.Some military experts argued that Slaughterbots – which was made by the Future of Life Institute, an organisation researching existential threats to humanity – sensationalised a serious problem, stoking fear where calm reflection was required. But when it comes to the future of war, the line between science fiction and industrial fact is often blurry. The US air force has predicted a future in which “Swat teams will send mechanical insects equipped with video cameras to creep inside a building during a hostage standoff”. One “microsystems collaborative” has already released Octoroach, an “extremely small robot with a camera and radio transmitter that can cover up to 100 metres on the ground”. It is only one of many “biomimetic”, or nature-imitating, weapons that are on the horizon. Continue reading...

Angus Houston calls for a ‘circuit breaker’ as Australian coal reportedly becomes the latest target of Chinese authoritiesChina is Australia’s partner, not an enemy, the former Australian defence chief Angus Houston has declared, as he accused some politicians of engaging in “loose talk” that had helped drive the relationship between Canberra and Beijing to “a very low point”.As BHP revealed some Chinese customers had recently deferred coal purchases from the mining giant, Houston warned of the impact of ill-disciplined public comments and called for a “reset” of the relationship. Continue reading...

Winston Peters has rebuked a coronavirus sceptic at an election campaign event in Tauranga. New Zealand’s deputy prime minister was answering questions from an audience on Tuesday when the unidentified man asked: ‘Where is your evidence that there is a virus that causes this disease?’‘Here’s someone who gets up and says “the Earth is flat”,’ Peters responded. ‘Sorry sunshine, wrong place.’ New Zealanders go to the polls on Saturday 17 October

Veterinarian says the deer was suffering multiple injuries and could not be savedA second wild deer, which has likely roamed around the Sydney CBD for more than a week, has been euthanised after sustaining injuries while dodging traffic and running through the city on Thursday morning.Commuters in central Sydney were warned to watch out for a deer running across the inbound lanes on the Anzac Bridge in Pyrmont about 5.25am. Police attempted to capture the animal but it escaped, and reinforcements from the RSPCA were called in. Continue reading...

Judith Collins says she would not want New Zealand to emulate Tasmania economically and says it was ‘much nicer before the Green party took over’New Zealand opposition leader Judith Collins has taken aim at Tasmania, calling it Australia’s “poor cousin” during a penultimate day of election campaigning.In another off-script moment in her struggling campaign, the leader of the centre-right National party sledged Australia’s smallest state on Thursday, saying she wouldn’t want New Zealand to be like it. Continue reading...

Investors scramble to buy shares in Big Hit Entertainment amid speculation that the boy band members could be allowed to defer military serviceThe management company behind the popular South Korean boy band BTS has scored a huge hit on the country’s stock market after its shares doubled on their first day of trading.Investors scrambled to buy into the success story of Big Hit Entertainment amid speculation that the South Korean government could allow K-pop and other celebrities to defer their military service, citing their huge contribution to the country’s economy and international reputation. Continue reading...

‘What have they got to hide?’ asks Labor after government accidentally releases talking points on Commonwealth Integrity CommissionThe Morrison government had legislation to create a federal anti-corruption body ready before the Covid-19 pandemic but has still failed to introduce it to parliament.Talking points from the prime minister’s office, released on Thursday, instruct Coalition MPs to recommit to create a Commonwealth Integrity Commission and to promise it will come “as soon as possible” after Covid-19 recovery efforts. Continue reading...

Walking improves health and cuts pollution but most cities still dominated by cars, says reportThe world’s most walkable cities include London, Paris, Bogotá and Hong Kong, according to a report. The UK capital outranks almost 1,000 cities around the world on citizens’ proximity to car-free spaces, schools and healthcare, and the overall shortness of journeys.Researchers at the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) said making cities walkable was vital to improve health, cut climate-heating transport emissions and build stronger local communities and economies. However, they said very few cities overall gave pedestrians priority and were dominated by cars. The report found US cities ranked particularly low for walkability due to urban sprawl. Continue reading...

Church that was hotbed of 18th century radicals is one of 181 sites no longer endangeredA once damp and leaky meeting house known as the “birthplace of feminism” is one of 181 historic sites facing a brighter future after being taken off England’s 2020 Heritage at Risk Register.The building in Newington Green, London, has been a remarkable hotbed of dissent for more than 300 years and counted Mary Wollstonecraft, who wrote A Vindication of the Rights of Woman (1792), as a member of its congregation. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Penny Wong hints Labor will seek amendments as universities fear the laws would have a chilling effect on research collaborationLabor has fired a warning shot to the Morrison government over its planned foreign veto laws, accusing the Coalition of trying to give “unprecedented power” to the foreign affairs minister without adequate oversight.In a toughening of the opposition’s position on the proposed powers to scrap certain international agreements, Labor’s Senate leader, Penny Wong, told Guardian Australia the government had rushed out the proposal “to grab a headline” without planning for how the law would work in practice. Continue reading...

Police investigate damage to Daniel Andrews’ electorate office overnight as NSW authorities issue warning about south-west Sydney cluster. Follow liveFollow our global coronavirus live blogFull Australian Covid stats; Covid restrictions state by stateNSW cases map; Vic cases mapNSW hotspots list; Vic hotspots listSign up for Guardian Australia’s coronavirus email11.05pm BSTSenior NSW ministers are circling the wagons around premier Gladys Berejiklian.NSW transport minister, Andrew Constance, was on Channel Nine’s Today Show this morning and said Berejiklian was in for another “tough day”.Today is a tough day. There is no denial of that and we will move on from there. But she is a great person, a great leader.I am not nervous because I know Glad has done nothing wrong. She is an incredible leader.She has been dragged into this. Not of her making. Very innocently, I mean, she was in a close personal relationship with him. She didn’t know the extent of his activities like we all didn’t.She is the best premier in Australia. We have seen a one-in-100-year Covid pandemic. She has handled that magnificently.This Icac investigation is into Daryl Maguire, it’s not into Gladys Berejiklian. She is not a person of interest. There is no allegation made by Icac against her, that she has breached any statute or any ministerial code.10.53pm BSTDid you know that today is global handwashing day? It’s true. It’s not just one day of 2020: global handwashing year.Says ChildFund Australia’s chief executive, Margaret Sheehan:While we await the development of a safe vaccine, washing our hands with soap and water is one of the most important tools we have at our disposal to keep ourselves safe from Covid-19. Continue reading...

Germany among others bringing in new restrictions, and daily records set in Poland and Croatia

France will impose a nightly curfew on almost one-third of the country's 67 million people to tackle a resurgence in coronavirus cases, but a new national lockdown is not envisaged, Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday. The French president announced the curfew, which will take effect from Saturday and run each night from 9pm to 6am the following morning, shortly after the government declared a new public health state of emergency.

Thursday: NSW premier survives no-confidence vote as corruption inquiry hears former MP tried to ‘monetise’ his position. Plus: how to cover South Australia’s most famous wine regions in four daysGood morning, this is Richard Parkin bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Thursday 15 October. Continue reading...

Decision expected on whether to extend tier 3 rules to Greater Manchester and Lancashire

The ‘yes’ campaign has Jacinda Ardern’s support but opponents say they believe New Zealand’s most vulnerable will be at riskOn Saturday, New Zealanders will be asked to vote yes or no on whether Kiwis enduring “unbearable suffering that cannot be eased” have a legal right to end their life.For Matt Vickers, the former husband of lawyer and euthanasia campaigner Lecretia Seales, the vote can’t come soon enough. Continue reading...

Former Blue Peter presenter says tabloid press had made him out to be an ‘aggressive, sexual monster’The former Blue Peter presenter John Leslie told a court that claims he had grabbed a woman’s breasts at a Christmas party were “crazy” and “ludicrous”.Giving evidence at his trial at Southwark crown court, Leslie said in the years preceding the alleged incident he had been made out as an “aggressive, sexual monster” by the tabloid media. Continue reading...

People call for reforms to monarchy and resignation of prime minister during king’s visitThai pro-democracy protesters chanted “my taxes” and raised a symbolic three-finger salute at a passing royal motorcade in a historic show of defiance against the country’s monarchy.Thousands of people took to the streets of Bangkok on Wednesday to call for democratic reforms, including curbs on the power and wealth of the monarchy. Royalist supporters mounted counterprotests, saying they had assembled to welcome King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who is attending a ceremony in Bangkok to mark the end of Buddhist Lent. Continue reading...

Blauel filed case against singer after details of their marriage featured in his memoir and Rocketman biopicSir Elton John and his ex-wife, Renate Blauel, have settled a legal case brought after details of the marriage were featured in the singer’s memoir and biopic.Blauel had sued John for allegedly breaching an agreement the pair signed after their divorce in 1988 which, her lawyers said, prevented either of them discussing the marriage or reasons for their separation. Continue reading...

Montreal’s underworld is the focus for this meaty flick about a crime boss aiming to set up a money-spinning project in the old countryThis unexpectedly absorbing gangster movie is based on a non-fiction book of the same name by André Cédilot and André Noël that delved into Montreal’s organised crime world. Set in the 1990s but with flashbacks to the 80s, the film revolves around Francesco “Frank” Paterno (a silky Sergio Castellitto), an affable local godfather whose great ambition is to build a bridge back in the old country between Sicily and the Italian mainland, and thoroughly skim off all the money such a massive project will produce. To bankroll it, he has all sorts of funds squirrelled away in offshore accounts, but slippery accountants are skimming off the top, and there’s major trouble brewing between his son and chosen successor Giaco (Donny Falsetti) and upcoming capo Vince Gamache (Marc-André Grondin). The son of a tailor (Gilbert Sicotte) who has served the Paterno family for years, Vince tries to raise his stature in the organisation by importing drugs from Venezuela via a most horrific method. Meanwhile, Giaco’s brother Pat (Michael Ricci) gets engaged to Vince’s savvy sister Sofie (Mylène Mackay), a steel-nerved character in her own right underneath all that blow-dried hair and huge gold hoop earrings. Continue reading...

Priti Patel’s department must swiftly prove its commitment to reform, says Wendy WilliamsThe Home Office has failed to make adequate progress in reviewing its hostile environment policies and must swiftly prove that it is not merely paying “lip service” to the idea of reform, the author of a damning report into the Windrush scandal has told MPs.Wendy Williams, whose Lessons Learned review into the causes of the immigration scandal was published earlier this year, said the department risked losing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for change. She also voiced surprise that only 168 people had received compensation two and a half years after the government first apologised for mistakenly misclassifying thousands of legal British residents as illegal immigrants. Continue reading...

Giuseppe Piraino and 12 others give testimony against 20 alleged extortionistsA Sicilian businessman secretly filmed an alleged extortionist and resisted his requests for money by showing him a photo of two anti-mafia heroes killed by Cosa Nostra.The businessman, a building contractor named Giuseppe Piraino, is one of 13 alleged mafia racket victims who has spoken out to report alleged mafia extortionists. Continue reading...

Reggae star and presidential hopeful says soldiers and police seized cash and election materialsSecurity forces in Uganda have raided the offices of Bobi Wine, the reggae star and prominent opposition leader, as tensions rise in the east African country months ahead of presidential elections in January.Soldiers and police officers invaded the headquarters of the National Unity Platform (NUP) in Kamwokya, a suburb of the Kampala, the capital, in the late morning on Wednesday. They seized cash, posters, banners and quantities of red berets, Wine’s signature headgear and a “symbol of resistance” which the government says is illegal. Continue reading...

Controversial scheme which quarantines up to 80% of a welfare recipient’s payments will become permanent across four trial sitesWelfare recipients on the cashless debit card say they feel a sense of “hopelessness” after the federal government announced plans to make the scheme permanent across four trial sites.The decision in this month’s federal budget comes as the most recent figures show a provision to allow cardholders to exit the scheme has only approved one in four applications. Continue reading...

UK records 137 Covid deaths with more than 4,000 patients in hospital; people from high-Covid areas of England to be banned from going to Wales; Northern Ireland tightens restrictions

UK negotiator to tell Boris Johnson that two more weeks of talks could lead to breakthroughBoris Johnson will be advised by his chief negotiator that a trade deal with the EU is still possible should the prime minister ditch his deadline and continue to negotiate with Brussels as tentative signs of a compromise on fisheries emerged.David Frost, who has been in talks with the EU team led by Michel Barnier this week, will inform the prime minister that a further two weeks, at least, of daily talks could result in the remaining gaps being bridged. Continue reading...

Rebound comes as Chinese economy recovers from effects of Covid-19 lockdown measures

Dutch heath minister says change is needed to help terminally ill childrenThe Dutch government will permit doctors to euthanise terminally ill children aged between one and 12 after months of debate within the ruling coalition.The country’s health minister, Hugo de Jonge, said a change in regulations was necessary to help “a small group of terminally ill children who agonise with no hope, and unbearable suffering”. Continue reading...

Palestinian homes are still being demolished and illegal settlements expanded. That’s why tomorrow I’ll be voting against the agreement in the KnessetTomorrow, the Israeli parliament will be voting on the agreement to normalise relations with the United Arab Emirates. A large majority will approve a hugely favourable step towards the Israeli government’s goals: perpetuating its systematic violations of international law and of the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights. Those parliamentarians who believe in justice and equality are going to vote against this agreement. I’m afraid, though, that we are a tiny minority.This week, we were given copies of the agreement, which I read in the three languages (Arabic, Hebrew and English) and figured out a few things. First of all, those who wrote it in different languages tailored it to their audiences. While in English and Hebrew, they repeated the word “normalisation” several times, it is not even mentioned in Arabic. This is a business deal that merely establishes diplomatic relations, and not a peace agreement. The word “annexation” (of occupied Palestinian territory) is not even mentioned. Continue reading...

Ken McCullum also singles out Iran, and says threat from far right is ‘sadly rising’MI5’s new boss has said the spy threats posed by China and Russia to the UK are “growing in severity and complexity” while the terror threat from Isis and the far right “persists at scale”.Giving his first speech as the domestic spy agency’s director general, Ken McCullum focused on risks from hostile states, including undermining “the integrity of UK research” on a coronavirus vaccine. Continue reading...

Visit Essex makes light of television narrative to focus on nature reserves and seal watchingThink Essex. Think white stilettos, boy racers, fake tans, tracksuits? Now Essex, weary of this stereotypical image, is putting the record straight – with tongue firmly in cheek.A new promotional ThisisEssex film aims to recast the narrative spawned in popular culture through the reality show The Only Way is Essex (Towie), Harry Enfield’s “Loadsamoney”, Birds of a Feather sitcom characters Sharon and Tracey and Ian Dury’s hit Billericay Dickie. Continue reading...

Leaders of violent far-right group, including former MPs, shown no leniency by judgesThe neo-Nazi leaders of Golden Dawn have been sentenced to 13 years in prison by a court in Athens, at the end of a historic hearing likened to the Nuremberg trials after the second world war.The violent Greek neo-fascist group was officially laid to rest as its disgraced former MPs were shown almost no remorse by a three-member panel of judges. Continue reading...

World leaders call for halt to fighting that has killed more than 500 people in 17 daysRussia has made a fresh appeal to Armenia and Azerbaijan to respect a badly fraying ceasefire in the breakaway South Caucasus region of Nagorno-Karabakh with both sides blaming each other for new attacks, including on civilians.The truce was supposed to come into force last Saturday but appears to be failing, with the defence ministry in Nagorno-Karabakh – a territory inside Azerbaijan but governed by ethnic Armenians – accusing Azeri forces of launching artillery and rocket attacks in several areas, and claiming to have shot down an Azeri Su-25 fighter jet, though Azerbaijan denies this. Continue reading...

Alexandra Greenway, 23, died because she was unable to access treatment in time, says motherThe mother of a transgender woman found dead at her flat in Bristol has told an inquest that her daughter and other people with mental health issues had died because they are unable to access the talking therapy they needed.A month before she apparently took her own life, Alexandra Greenway, 23, was escorted to a psychiatric hospital for her own safety by police after what they believed was a suicide attempt. Continue reading...

Trainees and graduates will teach in primary schools amid record infections in Russia

Once-uncool rubber shoe’s comeback strategy includes Justin Bieber collaborationFrom collaborations with Justin Bieber to Bad Bunny and Post Malone, the frequently mocked Crocs may finally be cool.“I wear Crocs all the time, so designing my own pair came naturally,” Bieber told WWD about his much-hyped collaboration with the brand, which was released on Tuesday. “With these Crocs, I just focused on making something cool that I wanted to wear.” Continue reading...

Casting misses chance to give north African actors a higher profile, prolonging the debate over Hollywood’s colonisation of ethnicityCleopatra is once again getting the big screen treatment, this time courtesy of Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins and the DC heroine herself, Gal Gadot. But even with a female director, and female screenwriter in Laeta Kalogridis on board, the casting of an Israeli actor with Ashkenazi Jewish heritage as the legendary Queen of Egypt has led to a not unfounded debate about Hollywood whitewashing.In recent years historians, such as Hilke Thuer of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, have questioned the long-held belief that Cleopatra VII was white. Scholars agree that there’s no doubt that Cleo was Macedonian-Greek on her father Ptolemy XII’s side, potentially Persian or Syrian too, but because the ethnic origin of her mother remains unverified it has strengthened the idea that the Egyptian ruler was of mixed heritage. “The mother of Cleopatra has been suggested to have been from the family of the priests of Memphis,” Betsy M Bryan, Alexander Badawy professor of Egyptian art and archaeology at Johns Hopkins University, told Newsweek. “If this were the case, then Cleopatra could have been at least 50% Egyptian in origin.” Continue reading...

Paris-based thinktank warns no deal would leave UK economy 6.5% smaller

West Midlands mayor among those calling for targeted job support scheme as new Covid restrictions come into force

Professor Simon Rice, whose students are working on reforming protest laws, pushed to the ground by police and fined $1,000 as students protest against job lossesA University of Sydney law professor, who was observing a student protest on Wednesday as part of research into protest law, was thrown to the ground by police, then arrested and fined.Prof Simon Rice said he was not participating in the protest and was trying to move past it when he was pushed to the ground by police with “disproportionate force”. Continue reading...

Shadow treasurer says Labor has not reached a view on the government’s third round of income tax cutsThe shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has declared it is “unnerving” that Scott Morrison is barnstorming Queensland upbraiding Labor for policy positions the party took to the election in 2019 in the middle of Australia’s first recession in 30 years.With the prime minister limbering up for a fresh partisan fight over income tax cuts, blasting Labor in Queensland electorates that swung to the Coalition in the 2019 campaign, Chalmers said Morrison was the “most political prime minister that I have seen and the circumstances demand something better”. Continue reading...

Mass bleaching events triggered by record-breaking water temperatures have the most impact on coral depletionCorals on the Great Barrier Reef have more than halved over the past 25 years, according to a study that prompted scientists to again warn the world-famous landmark will become unrecognisable without a sharp reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.Researchers from the Townsville-based ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies assessed coral communities and size between 1995 and 2017 and found the number of small, medium and large corals had fallen more than 50%. Continue reading...