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US national security spokesperson says talks in Cairo constructive and moving in right direction'

In the 1800s, Luiz Gama defied fate to become Brazil's first Black lawyer. Nearly a century and a half later, Portela's parade puts his struggle center stageBorn in 1830 to a trafficked African woman who escaped enslavement and led uprisings, Luiz Gama defied fate and the Brazilian empire to become the country's first Black lawyer and a leading abolitionist.When he was 10 his father, a Portuguese nobleman, illegally sold him into slavery to pay off gambling debts. Gama regained his freedom as a young adult and having learnt to read, became a writer, intellectual and self-taught lawyer. He founded newspapers defending abolition and used the law to help free more than 500 enslaved people before Brazil finally abolished slavery in 1888, six years after he died. Continue reading...

Farmers across Europe demand higher prices and looser environmental rulesA tractor blockade has seriously disrupted operations at the Belgian port of Antwerp, Europe's second largest, authorities said, as angry farmers continued their protests in half a dozen European countries on Tuesday.No freight can be delivered or picked up, as trucks are halted, while employees are only being allowed in after a long wait," said Stephan Vanfraechem, director of the association of port operators Alfaport. Continue reading...

Former Tory leader, recently parachuted into foreign secretary role, questioned by peersHere is my colleague Geneva Abdul's report on the reaction this morning to Labour pulling its support from its Rochdale byelection candidate:Labour's decision to withdraw support for its candidate at the Rochdale byelection in the wake of controversial comments about the 7 October Hamas attacks has been shambolic", the senior lawyer who compiled a report on the party's culture has said. Continue reading...

Budgets expected to increase further amid deteriorating security landscape' triggered by invasion of UkraineGlobal defence spending increased by 9% to a record $2.2tn during 2023 driven by heightened geopolitical tensions caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, according to an annual assessment by a military thinktank.The International Institute of Strategic Studies added that it expected budgets to increase further in 2024 as the war continued into a third year and international uncertainty spread across the Middle East in the wake of the Israel-Gaza war. Continue reading...

Ukrainian president says bill envisaging $61bn in aid brings a 'just peace' closer, but it still faces opposition in the SenateThe Democratic-led US Senate has voted to pass a $95.34bn aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.The bill appears to face long odds of getting to the floor in the House, where the Republican speaker, Mike Johnson, criticised it for lacking conservative provisions to stem a record flow of migrants across the US-Mexico border. Continue reading...

Country says Israel's decision to extend operations could mean a further breach of rights of PalestiniansThe UN humanitarian office has not received any communication from Israel of a plan to evacuate Gaza's Rafah area either alone or jointly and would not participate in any forced evacuation even if it did, a spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday."We have not received any official communication from Israeli officials," Jens Laerke, spokesperson for OCHA said in response to Reuters questions about Rafah plans. "Regardless, the UN does not participate in forced, non-voluntary evacuations. There is no plan at this time to facilitate the evacuation of civilians," he said. Continue reading...

Correspondent Ismail Abu Omar and photojournalist Ahmad Matar allegedly targeted by IDF

Demonstrations expected to continue in several countries as European parliament will hold exchange with stakeholdersHere are the latest images from the farmers' protest in Antwerp.Farmers staged a protest in Sofia today, calling for the resignation of Bulgaria's minister for agriculture, Kiril Vatev. Continue reading...

With Labour withdrawing support for its candidate, the vote has been blown wide open

Plan includes consultation with community-controlled organisations to reduce number of Indigenous children in out-of-home care

Boss of Rijksmuseum makes plea over artwork taken from Leerdam in August 2020 before new showThe director general of the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has appealed for the return of a stolen Frans Hals painting as he prepares to open a major exhibition devoted to the Dutch master without the amazing" 15m artwork.Two Laughing Boys with a Mug of Beer was stolen from the Museum Hofje van Mevrouw van Aerden in the Dutch town of Leerdam in August 2020. Unlike a Van Gogh painting believed to have been taken by the same gang and recovered last year, the Hals appears to have vanished into the criminal world. Continue reading...

In taking alternative direction to likes of US and UK, group has played a role in shifting perspectives on the conflictWhen the UN agency for Palestinian refugees became embroiled in a scandal last month, Britain and Germany quickly froze their funding, and other countries on the continent soon followed. But instead of joining the pack, Spain and Portugal decided to go in the opposite direction. They responded with promises to up their funding.For years, but especially in the past few months, they have been part of a grouping of countries across Europe that have consistently sought to strike a different note when it comes to conflict in the Middle East. Others include Ireland, which has called for a review of the EU's trade ties with Israel, and Slovenia, which said it expected Israel to swiftly implement provisional measures ordered by the international court of justice in a case looking into allegations of genocide. Continue reading...

Lithuanian minister also among those accused of destroying Soviet monuments', as Tallinn fears Russian military buildup

Cameron urged to raise human rights and security concerns in first meeting with Wang Yi since Sunak made him foreign secretaryDavid Cameron is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, this weekend for the first time since becoming British foreign secretary.The Foreign Office has pencilled in a meeting between Cameron and Wang at the Munich security conference, according to two government sources. Continue reading...

Commissioner finds three debates in which 50,000 shares might reasonably' have been thought to influence Duguid's actionsThe Conservative MP David Duguid failed to declare his wife's 50,000 shareholding in BP while speaking in debates about windfall taxes on the oil and gas industry, the parliamentary commissioner has found.The parliamentary commissioner for standards carried out an investigation into the MP for Banff and Buchan and former Scotland Office minister after the Guardian revealed Duguid's wife's shareholdings. Continue reading...

Driver arrested in Knaresborough after he called 999 and was found to be three times over the legal limitA man has been arrested in Knaresborough after reporting himself to police for drink-driving.North Yorkshire police said they received a call shortly before midday on Monday from a man who said he was drink-driving and doesn't know what he is doing". Continue reading...

Martin Forde says storm over Rochdale byelection candidate raises new questions over disparity in treatment' of Labour MPs

Authorities working to get Victorians back online as quickly as possible', state's energy minister says

Police charge 28-year-old over alleged criminal cell plan to murder members of Sydney rap groupA third member of an alleged criminal cell allegedly hired to kill gang rivals is being held by police.Police believe the group is behind multiple contract kidnappings and a plan to target Sydney-based drill rap group OneFour. Continue reading...

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Court also hears the Australian's Janet Albrechtsen gave Walter Sofronoff Lehrmann's contact details while he was examining prosecution

Former Project presenter cross-examined in legal dispute over payment of more than $700,000 in legal costs in Bruce Lehrmann defamation case

Police name husbands as suspects in separate deaths of women, two of whom were pregnantThe deaths of three women in one week, all allegedly murdered by their husbands, has caused outrage in Somalia and sparked days of protests over the country's femicide rates.Police have named the suspects in all three killings, which took place in the first week of February, as the dead women's husbands. Two of the victims were pregnant. Even in a country where - after more than three decades of conflict - death and violence are part of everyday life, there have been demonstrations in the capital, Mogadishu, with protesters holding up placards showing photos of Lul Abdi Aziz Jazirain her hospital bed. The 28-year-old had been doused with petrol and set alight. She suffered severe burns and survived in agony for seven days after being attacked.Naima Said Salah is a writer with all-female media team Bilan in Somalia. It is funded by the European Union through the UN Development Programme and hosted by Dalsan Media Group in Mogadishu Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: A year since Nicola Sturgeon's resignation, the SNP's new leader has been trying to navigate a series of scandals and a threat from Labour ahead of the next general election Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning.It has been almost a year since Nicola Sturgeon let Scotland know she was standing down as first minister. After eight years, she was out of energy and stamina, she said, and could no longer do the job. The shock resignation sent the SNP into turmoil, and triggered the party's first leadership election in two decades. The 12 months since have been challenging for the SNP's new leader, Humza Yousaf. He was no amateur coming into the job, having spent 11 years in various ministerial roles, including health secretary during the pandemic, but the past year has been particularly fraught.Labour | The Labour party has withdrawn its support for Azhar Ali, its candidate for this month's Rochdale byelection, in the wake of controversial comments he made about the 7 October attacks. Ali suggested Israel had deliberately relaxed security after warnings of an imminent threat. The party cannot replace Ali because the deadline has passed so he will remain as a Labour candidate on the ballot paper, but if elected he will not hold the party whip and will sit as an independent MP.Israel-Gaza war | Joe Biden has added his voice to growing international calls for Israel to drop plans for an all-out military assault on the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, after a ferocious hostage rescue operation that killed dozens of Palestinians.Health | Researchers have taken a major step towards a blood test that can predict the risk of dementia more than a decade before the condition is formally diagnosed in patients.Horizon scandal | The former Post Office boss Paula Vennells gave Fujitsu a bonus contract in 2013 to take over an archive of branch data, despite warnings such a move would destroy evidence that might clear operators, whistleblowers have said.Crime | Police officers from the Devon and Cornwall force accused of subjecting seven women to abuse including rapes, beatings, and psychological torment were allegedly protected by their force, with two appointed to roles protecting women from assault and harm. Continue reading...

Ammonium nitrate found leaking on to road at Bloomsbury, causing evacuations and closure of Bruce Highway in both directions

Sajid Javid had wanted review process for international students who believed their visas had been wrongly cancelled

Price says the number of exhibitions focused on black artists has set a new standard' for representation in the UKThe British art world can no longer ignore or marginalise black artists, according to the sculptor Thomas J Price, who believes black British culture is finally being absorbed into the mainstream.Price said the large number of exhibitions featuring black British artists - such as Entangled Pasts, Life Between Islands, Get Up, Stand Up Now and In the Black Fantastic - had set a new standard" for representation, triggered by the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.The Time Is Always Now: Artists Reframe the Black Figure is at the National Portrait Gallery in London from 22 February to 19 Mayy Continue reading...

Fire warnings issued to communities in the Wimmera as hot weather leads to first catastrophic fire danger rating since black summer

Auditor general's report says ATO workers suspected to be among more than 57,000 people who tried to claim false GST refunds

PM announces funding for jobs, communications and justice as damning report finds only four of 19 areas on track for improvement and four getting worse

President's resignation shines light on gap between government's behaviour and rhetoric as country prepares for local and European electionsA scandal rocking Hungarian politics is exposing Viktor Orban's vulnerabilities and testing his opposition as the country prepares for local and European elections in June.The Hungarian prime minister has been spending a significant amount of time travelling the globe in a quest to build up an international brand as a conservative figure dedicated to promoting traditional values. Continue reading...

Ex-SAS soldier is appealing court ruling that dismissed his defamation case against Sydney Morning Herald, the Age and the Canberra Times over war crimes reports

Anthony Andolfo sentenced to seven days in prison after scaling 55-storey building in Melbourne's CBD without any safety equipmentA French national who scaled the side of a Melbourne skyscraper without any safety gear has claimed he wasn't seeking fame or social media followers.Anthony Andolfo, 30, was on Tuesday sentenced in Melbourne magistrates court to seven days in jail, reckoned as time served, after pleading guilty over the 6 February incident. Continue reading...

The presidential office denies that Joko Widodo has interfered in the upcoming voteIndonesian President Joko Widodo is facing mounting criticism over alleged interference in the country's looming elections, as the country prepares to hold the world's biggest single day vote.More than 200 million people are eligible to vote in Indonesia's elections on Wednesday, in which the country's next president will be selected, as well as future executive and legislative representatives at all administrative levels. Continue reading...

Company to establish pop-ups before Melbourne and Sydney shows as new tickets go on sale

NSW Productivity Commission says exodus of people aged 30 to 40 highlights need for greater density, particularly in inner suburbs

Government plans to deliver SMRs lack clarity' say environmental committee, and will likely fail to meet clean-energy goal of 2035MPs have warned that a planned fleet of small nuclear reactors are unlikely to contribute to hitting a key target in decarbonising Britain's electricity generation, as the government opened talks to buy a site in Wales for a new power station.The Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) said that ministers' approach to developing factory-built nuclear power plants lacks clarity" and their role in hitting a goal of moving the grid to clean energy by 2035 was unclear. Continue reading...

Measures would include making it easier to get planning permission to build on derelict sites in urban areasRishi Sunak will announce a series of proposed changes to the planning system on Tuesday to encourage developers to build more homes, in a move designed to boost development in urban areas even while housebuilding slumps nationally.The prime minister and Michael Gove, the housing secretary, will announce a consultation into a package of measures aimed at making it easier for developers to get permission to build on derelict sites in England's 20 biggest towns and cities. Continue reading...

Bullet hole found in Inderjit Singh Gosal's house, reigniting fears of an apparent campaign of violence targeting Sikh separatistsThe house of a Sikh activist in Canada has been hit by gunfire, in the second such incident this month, reigniting fears of an apparent transnational campaign of violence and intimidation targeting Sikh separatists.A construction crew found a bullet hole in a window of an unfinished house in the city Brampton, Ontario, on Monday, according to the the US-based group Sikhs for Justice. Continue reading...

Politicians say Palestinians sheltering in the southern city in Gaza have nowhere else to goJoe Biden has added his voice to growing international calls for Israel to drop plans for an all-out military assault on the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, after a ferocious hostage rescue operation that killed dozens of Palestinians.Speaking after talks with Jordan's King Abdullah at the White House on Monday, the US president said: A major military operation in Rafah should not proceed without a credible plan for ensuring the safety and support of more than one million people sheltering there. Continue reading...

Party no longer campaigning for Azhar Ali, who suggested Israel had allowed 7 October attack to happenLabour has withdrawn its support for Azhar Ali, its candidate for this month's Rochdale byelection, in the wake of controversial comments he made about the 7 October attacks on Israel.The Rochdale byelection - to be held on 29 February - will no longer feature an officially sanctioned Labour candidate. Continue reading...

PM tells live audience deportation scheme is necessary deterrent and says he is working for long-term changeRishi Sunak has said he is absolutely committed" to his Rwanda policy during a one-hour Q&A session on GB News in which he insisted he understands the country's frustrations after 14 years of Conservative-led government.The prime minister told voters that the Rwanda deportations scheme was necessary as a deterrent" to channel crossings. Continue reading...

A social media sensation for her chronicling of the war, the 22-year-old tells Bankstown Poetry Slam about life under bombardment in Gaza

Pressure grows on Israel to avoid what UN human rights chief called further atrocity crimes' as reports say 74 people were killed in Rafah airstrikes

Parents in disbelief after students at Montreal's Westwood junior high found their art for purchase on mugs, phone cases and clothesA Canadian teacher is under fire for allegedly using his personal website to sell nearly 100 pieces of art created by students, prompting disbelief and anger from parents.Students at Montreal's Westwood junior high school made the chance discovery last night after searching out their art teacher's website. On it they found their own art, available for purchase on coffee mugs, mobile phone cases and clothing. Continue reading...

Polish PM Donald Tusk says all for one, and one for all' in thinly veiled riposte to Republican frontrunnerEuropean leaders have called for greater unity and military cooperation across the continent in response to comments from Donald Trump that threatened to undermine the basis of Nato.Donald Tusk, Poland's prime minister, said on a visit to Paris on Monday that there was no alternative" to the EU and the transatlantic alliance before a summit in which he discussed deepening defence relationships with the French president, Emmanuel Macron. Continue reading...

Body of Lifei Huang, 22, recovered on Sunday morning after being reported missing on 4 FebruaryThe body of a 22-year-old hiker has been recovered from the mountains in southern California following an intense week-long search in challenging winter conditions, authorities said on Sunday.Lifei Huang disappeared on 4 February after going hiking alone in the Mount Baldy area of the San Gabriel mountains, just as an atmospheric river was set to drench the region. The historic storm covered the mountains in snow and the harrowing weather and avalanche risks hindered search efforts. Continue reading...

Government efforts to auction Amadea, vessel allegedly owned by Suleiman Kerimov, challenged by ex-head of Russian oil companyThe US government has said it is spending more than $7m a year to maintain a superyacht it seized from a sanctioned Russian oligarch, and urged a judge to let it auction the vessel before a dispute over its ownership is resolved.Authorities in Fiji seized the 348ft (106-meter), $300m Amadea in May 2022, pursuant to a US warrant alleging it was owned by Suleiman Kerimov, a multibillionaire sanctioned by the US treasury department in 2014 and 2018 in response to Russia's activities in Syria and Ukraine. Continue reading...

Double child rapist and murderer will face fresh parole hearing after appealThe mother of one of Colin Pitchfork's victims has expressed her anger after the rapist and murderer won an appeal for a fresh parole hearing to determine whether he should be released from prison.Pitchfork was jailed for life with a minimum term of 30 years in 1988, later reduced to 28 years, for raping and strangling Lynda Mann and Dawn Ashworth, both 15, in 1983 and 1986 respectively. Continue reading...