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Payment platforms demand services remove NSFW content after open letter from Australian anti-porn group Collective Shout, triggering accusations of censorship

Exclusive: Federation head says in response that former SBS newsreader's attempt to strike out case is without foundation and should be rejected'

NSW Labor MP Anthony D'Adam rejects premier's claim march would cause chaos and says it should take place in two to three weeks'Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, has said a pro-Palestine protest involving a march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge would be a powerful symbol" and should go ahead at some point if the community sentiment is significant enough".A New South Wales Labor MP has also rejected the premier's claim a march across the bridge would cause chaos and urged police to facilitate the demonstration within two to three weeks". Continue reading...

One insurer spent $85,000 of public money to fight $5,000 knee surgery claim, says Unions NSW

CPI figures released on Wednesday will determine whether millions of mortgaged Australians will get a rate cut next month, economists say

More than 50 flights axed and 20 delayed as Silent Crow hacking group apparently claims responsibility

Man housed at hotel targeted in protests writes letter urging people not to resort to harmful stereotypesAsylum seekers housed in an Essex hotel that has been the target of protests and far-right incitement for two weeks have told the Guardian how the Bell hotel, where they had previously felt safe, has been transformed since demonstrations began.In a letter sent to the Guardian one of the men living in the hotel, Nabil, who said he had previously been attacked while out walking, called to be treated with understanding and fairness" and for people not to resort to harmful stereotypes. Nabil's name has been changed.Warm greetings,

Refreshing northerly airmass to bring abrupt end to extreme heat, offering respite for residents and firefightersAfter enduring a relentless stretch of searing temperatures, relief is finally in sight for south-east Europe. The Balkans, which have been scorched by a brutal heatwave over recent weeks, have seen daily maximum temperatures soar, culminating in a peak on Saturday with widespread temperatures of 40C (104F) and above across Albania, Serbia, Bulgaria and neighbouring regions.Turkey also suffered, with a scorching 50.5C (122.9F) recorded in Silopi on Friday, the country's all-time highest maximum temperature. Now these places are set to experience a dramatic cooldown as a refreshing northerly airmass is moving in, bringing an abrupt end to the extreme heat and offering much-needed respite. Continue reading...

Labor MP Basem Abdo urges government to make historic commitment' to international law and human rights in his first speech to parliament

Senate votes to establish inquiry after aged care minister rejects calls to bring forward additional 20,000 home care packages

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Major parties mulling options ahead of state parliament returning next week. Ward, the MP for Kiama, has yet to reveal if he will appeal Friday's verdicts

Samuel Rowe, who was returning from allotment, seeking to overturn caution for possession of offensive weaponA man who had returned home from his allotment with a trug of vegetables and gardening tools strapped to his belt was arrested by armed police, after a member of the public said they had seen a man wearing khaki clothing and in possession of a knife".Samuel Rowe, 35, who works as a technical manager at a theatre, had come back from his allotment in Manchester earlier this month and decided to trim his hedge with one of his tools, a Japanese garden sickle, when police turned up on his doorstep. Continue reading...

Analysis finds swift release of information helps to debunk inflammatory falsehoods on social mediaDebunking" efforts involving police forces, community leaders and local councillors should be deployed to counter misinformation in the wake of serious incidents such as the Southport murders, according to a new analysis.Trust in the UK government and law enforcement is so low that attempts to curb online falsehoods need to be backed up by other sources, said experts at the Centre for Emerging Technology and Security (Cetas). Continue reading...

Exclusive: Lobbyists meet with ministers, and host a darts night with Labour advisers and MPs' staffGambling lobbyists are staging a summer charm offensive designed to stop ministers from raising taxes on the sector, the Guardian has learned, including meeting with Treasury insiders and hosting a darts evening with Labour special advisers and MPs' staff.The Treasury is considering whether to simplify the various rates of duty applied to gambling products, a measure that the 11.5bn-a-year sector fears would increase its overall tax bill. Continue reading...

Sydney-based activists Palestine Action Group argue the bridge should be temporarily closed to help stop a genocide' in Gaza

Joe Outlaw, who climbed on to a prison roof, is using the mental toll of indeterminate detention as a legal defenceThe trial of an alleged escapee who spent hours on the roof of a high-security prison in his underpants is set to be the first time the stress caused by indeterminate sentences can be used as a legal defence.Joe Outlaw is due to stand trial on Monday for climbing on to the roof of HMP Frankland in Durham in June 2023 in protest at the imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentence he and others are serving. Continue reading...

Judith Collins also said the controversial electoral law reform could disenfranchise MoriNew Zealand's prime minister Christopher Luxon has defended his government's plans to overhaul its electoral laws, despite warnings from his own attorney general the changes could breach human rights law and disenfranchise more than 100,000 voters.The right-wing government last week announced its plan to shake up electoral laws it said were outdated and unsustainable", including closing voter enrolment 13 days before election day, reinstating a total ban on prisoner voting and prohibiting anyone from providing free food, drink or entertainment within 100 metres of a voting station. Continue reading...

The celebrity croc wrangler was charged with three counts of attempting to pervert the course of justice after 2022 crashThe Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright has pleaded not guilty to attempting to pervert the course of justice more than three years after a fatal helicopter crash.The celebrity crocodile wrangler was charged after the crash that killed his co-star Chris Willow" Wilson in February 2022. Continue reading...

The Guardian's south Asia correspondent, Hannah Ellis-Petersen, and the Tibet activist Lhadon Tethong discuss the battle between Buddhist monks and the Chinese state over the successor to the Dalai LamaBefore long, Tibetan Buddhism will enter an unknown world - one without its current Dalai Lama. He has been the leader since he was chosen as a toddler more than 80 years ago. But the Dalai Lama is now 90, and talking openly about the process to pick his successor.Much has changed, however, since he was discovered by senior Buddhist monks in a village in north-west Tibet in 1937. Most pertinently, the Chinese invasion of Tibet in the 1950s and the subsequent exile of the region's Buddhist leadership to India in the decades since. Continue reading...

The Moscow-Pyongyang flights operated by Russia's Nordwind Airlines will initially operate only once a monthDirect flights from Moscow to North Korea have begun this week, amid a strengthening of ties between the two nations and a decline in options for Russian tourists travelling abroad.The first Moscow-Pyongyang flight, operated by Russia's Nordwind Airlines, took off on Sunday, according to the Sheremetyevo airport's website, and landed in the North Korean capital about eight hours later. Continue reading...

Prime ministers of two countries to attend talks in Malaysia on Monday, following Trump threat on Saturday to pause trade deals unless fighting stoppedDonald Trump has said he believed both Thailand and Cambodia wanted to settle their differences after he told the leaders of both countries that he would not conclude trade deals with them unless they ended their fighting.On Monday, Thai and Cambodian leaders will meet in Malaysia for talks to end hostilities, a spokesperson for the Thai prime minister's office said on Sunday. The deadly border dispute, now in its fourth day, has killed at least 35 people and displaced more than 218,000. Continue reading...

A child prodigy in mathematics who graduated Harvard at just 19, his darkly prophetic and cynical show tunes won him a cult following in the 50s and 60sTom Lehrer, the acclaimed humorist and pianist whose satirical songs made him one of America's favorite prophets of doom before he retreated to academia, has died, US media reported on Sunday. He was 97.The singer-songwriter died on Saturday at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, his friend David Herder said, according to the New York Times. Continue reading...

Lords doing bidding of bad bosses', says TUC, amid growing campaign by business leaders to water down Labour's plansConservative and Liberal Democrat peers have been accused of trying to block stronger rights for millions of workers amid a growing campaign by business leaders to water down Labour's zero-hours contract plans.In a blow for the government, the Lords last week voted to curtail the manifesto promise to give workers a right to a guaranteed hours contract and day-one protections against unfair dismissal. Continue reading...

Regional passenger train carrying about 100 people derails near Riedlingen, leaving more people seriously injuredThree people were killed and several others injured when a regional passenger train derailed in a wooded area in southwestern Germany on Sunday, police said.About 100 passengers were onboard the train when the accident occurred at about 6.10 pm local time near the town of Riedlingen in Baden-Wuerttemberg state. Continue reading...

Keir Starmer leads tributes to England women's team along with figures including King Charles and Prince William

Regional passenger train carrying about 100 people derails near Riedlingen, leaving more people seriously injuredThree people were killed and several others injured when a regional passenger train derailed in a wooded area in southwestern Germany on Sunday, police said.About 100 passengers were onboard the train when the accident occurred at about 6.10 pm local time near the town of Riedlingen in Baden-Wuerttemberg state. Continue reading...

Prime minister expected to press Donald Trump to take tougher stance towards Israel when they meet in ScotlandKeir Starmer will recall his cabinet from their summer break for an emergency meeting on the Gaza crisis this week as cross-party MPs warned his talks with Donald Trump provided a critical juncture in helping to resolve the conflict.Amid growing international horror over the situation on the ground in Gaza, he will urge the US president to take a tougher stance towards Israel and will push for ceasefire talks to resume, when they meet in Scotland on Monday. Continue reading...

Protests at Bell hotel in Epping for fifth time on Sunday as others demonstrated in Norfolk and LondonHundreds of people gathered outside a hotel in Epping on Sunday for the fifth time to demonstrate over the premises being used to house asylum seekers, as protests spread to other hotels over the weekend.A large police presence containing officers from multiple forces restricted contact between anti- and pro-immigrant protesters, with Essex police saying restrictions were necessary after what it described as repeated serious disruption, violence and harm to the community since the first demonstration took place on 13 July. Continue reading...

WHO calls for urgent, sustained efforts to flood the Gaza Strip with food after Israeli military announces pause in activityAt least 13 Palestinians, including two children, have been killed this morning after Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza, medical sources have told Wafa, the Palestinian news agency.Wafa reports that six civilians were killed near an aid distribution centre to the southwest of Khan Younis, six more Palestinians were killed near an aid distribution center on the outskirts of Rafah and one other person was killed in a similar attack in central Gaza. We have not yet been able to indepdnently verifiy this information. Continue reading...

PM will be hoping to convince Trump to push Netanyahu to revive peace talks when UK and US leaders meet on MondayMoments after Air Force One touched down at Prestwick on Friday for a trip in which politics will take as big a billing as golf, Donald Trump was asked about his relationship with Keir Starmer.I like your prime minister. He's slightly more liberal than I am, as you've probably heard. But he's a good man," the US president told reporters. At a time when the UK wants Trump's ear on numerous weighty issues, his response to questions about the special relationship" will have given Downing Street some reassurance. Continue reading...

Israeli military says 10-hour tactical pauses' in certain areas will allow increase in flow of aid to territoryPalestinians in Gaza have reacted with wariness after Israel began a limited, daily pause in fighting in three populated areas of Gaza to allow what Benjamin Netanyahu described as a minimal" amount of aid into the territory.Scores of Palestinians have died of starvation in recent weeks in a crisis attributed by humanitarian organisations and the UN to Israel's blockade of almost all aid into the territory. The World Food Programme (WFP) said 90,000 women and children were in urgent need of treatment for malnutrition and that one in three people were going without food for days. Continue reading...

BMA chiefs overruled their negotiators because pay demands were not met, sources sayWes Streeting thought he had struck a deal with resident doctors to stop a five-day strike in England, only for the British Medical Association to then reject it, sources have claimed.The health secretary believed he had secured a verbal agreement with the co-chairs of the BMA's resident doctors committee for a deal that involved progress on tackling five non-pay issues. Continue reading...

Department says no redundancies as a result but sources believe jobs will go in push to cut posts and overhaul railwaysHundreds of civil servants are being transferred from the Department for Transport to the state-owned rail operator as the government looks to cut Whitehall posts and overhaul the railways.Ministers have been pushing to find savings from across the civil service, but a government spokesperson denied there would be immediate redundancies in what bosses told staff was a critical phase" of the creation of Great British Railways (GBR). Continue reading...

Czech firefighters and Italian aircraft join rescue effort in Greece, and firefighter among those killed in TurkeyThousands of people in Greece and Turkey have been forced to evacuate homes as firefighters in the countries battled to contain wildfires fanned by strong winds and searing heat.As temperatures in south-eastern Europe exceeded 40C for a seventh straight day, the Greek prime minister praised rescue workers for waging a titanic battle" to bring blazes under control. Continue reading...

Both sides launch fresh attacks but Thai and Cambodian leaders said to be meeting in Malaysia on Monday for talksThai and Cambodian leaders will meet in Malaysia on Monday for talks to end hostilities, a spokesperson for the Thai prime minister's office said, after pressure from the US president, Donald Trump, to end a deadly border dispute, now in its fourth day.Jirayu Huangsap said the acting prime minister, Phumtham Wechayachai, would attend Monday's talks in response to an invitation from the Malaysian prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, to discuss peace efforts in the region". Continue reading...

Anthony Albanese's government enters its first full week of federal parliament under pressure from outside and inside its ranks

Open letter urges Labor to reverse JRG scheme, introduced by Coalition in 2021, as cost of humanities degrees reaches more than $50,000

Exclusive: Labor Friends of Palestine to move three urgency resolutions' at weekend conference, but PM maintains no immediate plans for the move

Amanda Donaghey provided DNA to officials in Ahmedabad but wrong remains were flown to the UKThe mother of one of the British victims of the Air India crash says her family is heartbroken" after the wrong remains were sent home in his casket.Air India's London-bound Boeing 787 Dreamliner crashed into a medical college hostel seconds after taking off from Ahmedabad on 12 June, killing 241 people onboard. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Near-mint condition preprint copy features 36 portraits of stars including John Lennon and Mick JaggerDavid Bailey's Box of Pin-Ups of 1965 was a defining portrait of the swinging 60s, immortalising some of the most fashionable stars of the era, from John Lennon and Mick Jagger to Jean Shrimpton and Susan Murray.Now the original proof copy of this landmark portfolio of 36 portraits by one of Britain's foremost photographers has come to light for the first time. It is the personal working proof copy of David Hillman, the influential graphic designer who went on to give the Guardian a groundbreaking redesign in 1988. Continue reading...

Centre for Women's Justice says the criminalisation of women for their abusive partners' actions is shocking'Survivors of coercive control are being unfairly criminalised in England and punished by a justice system that should be protecting them, research has found.A report from the Centre for Women's Justice (CWJ) drew on the experiences of seven women who were criminalised because of their abusive partners. They include a police officer who was convicted of misconduct in public office and lost her job after her controlling ex-boyfriend, also a police officer, coerced her into giving him her password into the police computer system, and a woman who was prosecuted for theft and fraud after her abusive and controlling partner used her bank account and phone number to sell stolen caravans. Continue reading...

Modified images of minors appear on social media account allegedly owned by 17-year-oldPolice in eastern Spain are investigating a 17-year-old boy on suspicion of using artificial intelligence to create and share fake nude images of his female schoolmates that he intended to sell online.Guardia Civil officers in the Ribera Alta area of Valencia began investigating in December last year after a female student reported the creation of a social media account in her name that featured an AI-generated video. Continue reading...

No 10 sources say PM is horrified' by crisis and hopes to convince US to help end unspeakable suffering'Keir Starmer will personally press Donald Trump to revive ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas when they meet on Monday amid growing international alarm over the starvation crisis in Gaza.The prime minister is expected to ask the US president, who is on a four-day break in Scotland, to push for a resumption of peace talks after the US and Israel withdrew their negotiation teams from Qatar. Continue reading...

Thongxay Nilakout, who shot Birte Pfleger's parents in 1994, is among eight convicted criminals who were deportedThe daughter of a woman murdered by a man from Laos who is among those controversially deported from the US to South Sudan has spoken out about her family's pain but also to decry the lack of rights afforded to those who were expelled to countries other than their own.Birte Pfleger lives in Los Angeles and was a history student at Cal State University in Long Beach when her parents came to visit her from their native Germany in 1994 and ended up shot by Thongxay Nilakout during a robbery while on a sightseeing trip. Pfleger's mother, Gisela, was killed and her father, Klaus, wounded. Continue reading...

Ecotricity founder was part of new-age convoy heading to Stonehenge in 1985 when more than 500 people were arrestedThe entrepreneur Dale Vince has called for the recently announced inquiry into violent police clashes at the Orgreave miners' strike to be extended to cover a similar aggressive clash with new age travellers heading for Stonehenge the following year.Vince, who was involved in the Wiltshire clash, known as the Battle of the Beanfield, said the truth of both incidents had been covered up by police. He said he believed both episodes were part of a plan by the then prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, to smash" the miners and travellers, who she considered to be enemies of the state". Continue reading...

Intelligence team could track social media and flag early signs of civil unrest in response to renewed demonstrationsA national police unit will monitor social media for signs of anti-migrant disorder amid fears of a repeat of last summer's riots across England.Detectives from across the country will flag up the early signs of civil unrest under a beefed-up National Police Coordination Centre (NPoCC) in Westminster. Continue reading...

One of Britain's oldest and most prestigious universities is reviewing whether to launch divestment drive and drop antisemitism definitionThe University of Edinburgh is considering whether to unadopt an internationally recognised definition of antisemitism that critics say inhibits freedom of speech on the subject of Israel and Palestine.Edinburgh, one of Britain's oldest and most prestigious universities, is also considering whether to divest from companies accused of enabling alleged human rights violations by Israel. Continue reading...

Google to host major event featuring popular YouTubers inside Parliament House as PM downplays tech giant's legal threat

While Palestinians starve and global opinion hardens, judgment from international court may not come until 2027 - or laterWhile Palestinians in Gaza die in ever-increasing numbers from starvation each day and a growing number of legal scholars, aid officials and politicians have begun describing Israel's actions as genocide, a definitive ruling on the question by the world's top court will be a long time coming.Experts on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said a judgment on whether Israel is committing genocide in Gaza is unlikely before the end of 2027 at the earliest, amid warnings that the international community should not use the court's glacial proceedings as an excuse to put off action to stop the killing. Continue reading...