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Councillor Mohamad Hussein says his decision was made in line with my religious beliefs'. Follow today's news live

Tim Pallas' comments come after government delayed Melbourne Airport rail project by four yearsThe battle over a rail line to Melbourne's airport has escalated, with Victoria's treasurer threatening to consider building a train station at Avalon Airport if the four-year stoush continues.Tim Pallas told reporters on Wednesday he was no longer playing games" with the operators of Melbourne Airport, after delaying the long-awaited project by at least four years in the state budget. Continue reading...

British actor who played Kevan Lannister in hit fantasy series diagnosed with cancer five months agoThe British actor Ian Gelder, who played Kevan Lannister in the hit fantasy series Game of Thrones, has died aged 74.During a career spanning decades, he was a familiar face on screen with roles in Torchwood, His Dark Materials, Doctor Who, Snatch, and The Bill. Continue reading...

Exclusive: 1,871 possible trafficking or modern slavery victims left open to exploitation after falling out of UK system, FoI data revealsHundreds of children identified as potential victims of trafficking are being abandoned by the Home Office and left vulnerable to exploitation, new data reveals.Released following a freedom of information (FoI) request, figures show that in 2022, 1,871 children identified as possible victims of trafficking or modern slavery dropped off the UK government system conceived to support them once they turned 18. Continue reading...

Steve Christou claims ban has overwhelming' community support despite petition opposing the ban gaining almost 10,000 signatures in less than 24 hours

Increase in cases reflects changing mood across continent towards Chinese threats, say expertsAs China's president, Xi Jinping, arrived in Serbia for the second leg of his European tour, authorities across the continent were grappling with a wave of allegations about Chinese spying.On Tuesday, meanwhile, the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, revealed that a malign actor" had compromised British military payroll records, with reports pointing the finger at China. Continue reading...

In today's newsletter: As an assault on a key route for aid is underway, we look at how the humanitarian crisis will unfold and the prospects for a ceasefire Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. Israel has threatened to expand its military operation in Rafah after it seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing - which was the key remaining land route to get desperately needed aid into Gaza, where millions of people are suffering an escalating humanitarian crisis.The Israeli military said it had taken operational control" of the border with Egypt in a precise and limited operation", but gave notice that it will soon be followed by an extreme force" ground offensive that the UN warns could lead to the slaughter of civilians". The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has begun dropping flyers on relief camps in Rafah, ordering Palestinians - many of whom have already fled the conflict, sometimes several times - to immediately evacuate.Israel-Gaza war | Joe Biden's administration paused a shipment of weapons to Israel last week in opposition to apparent moves by the Israelis to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, a senior administration official has said. Israel has launched a major military offensive against Hamas forces in Gaza's southernmost city, seizing control of a key border crossing and cutting off most aid a day before indirect talks on a ceasefire deal are due to restart.US | Donald Trump's criminal trial entered a new stage on Tuesday with testimony from Stormy Daniels, an adult film star at the center of his hush-money scandal. Daniels told jurors that she had a sexual liaison with Trump in 2006 that left her nervous and ashamed.Scotland | The new Scottish National party leader John Swinney will become Scotland's seventh first minister after winning the backing of MSPs. Swinney won the vote eight days after Humza Yousaf announced his departure.Health | The Cass review absolutely" did not set an unfairly high bar for evidence, its author has said, as she addressed significant misinformation" about her assessment of healthcare provision for gender-questioning young people in England and Wales.Garrick Club | The men-only Garrick Club in London has finally voted to allow women to become members, 193 years after it first opened its doors. 562 members (59.98%) voted in favour and 375 (40.02%) against, in a private meeting where several hundred members spent two hours debating whether to permit women to join. Continue reading...

Explicit image allegedly sent to 19-year-old by NSW police officer Glen Coleman who was handling her sex-crime complaint, jury hears

Kim Ki-nam was known as the North Korean Goebbels' in the South due to his role as head of propaganda departmentKim Ki-nam, the propaganda chief who served all three generations of North Korean leaders and cemented their political legitimacy, has died, official media have said.Kim Ki-nam died on Tuesday aged 94 from multiple organ failure, official KCNA news agency reported. Continue reading...

Gaza solidarity encampment claims property destroyed, items stolen and students threatened and harassed

Lawyers for Ben Cohen provide police with evidence of social media users on X and other platforms falsely linking him to Bondi Junction stabbings

Exclusive: Litigation such as that spearheaded by Alan Bates could become harder if advice from senior figure at Labour peer's Global Counsel given effectThe advisory firm founded by Peter Mandelson has worked for a campaign that critics say would stifle mass lawsuits such as that taken recently by post office operators against the Post Office.The Labour peer, who has advised Keir Starmer, serves as president of Global Counsel, a strategic advisory company that he established and part owns. Continue reading...

Paintings identified as fake using cutting-edge technology are tip of the iceberg' specialist Dr Carina Popovici saysA Monet" and a Renoir" are among up to 40 fake paintings that are being offered for sale on eBay, according to research by a leading expert.Dr Carina Popovici, a specialist in authenticating artwork, said she applied cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technology to pictures advertised on the online platform and was shocked to discover that many had a high probability" of being not authentic". Continue reading...

Severe thunderstorms bring hail and structural damage, with tornadoes hitting cities including Kalamazoo and Battle CreekTornadoes that hit Michigan on Tuesday evening ripped the roof off a FedEx building in Portage, partially collapsing the structure and trapping 50 people inside, Kalamazoo county authorities said. Elsewhere in the state, thousands of residents are without power and face a deluge of hail and tornado warnings amid severe thunderstorms.TAKE COVER NOW," the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids warned in a post directed at Portage residents on their Facebook page. Continue reading...

Brett Andrew Button had all 10 manslaughter charges withdrawn and admitted to dangerous driving charges over the June 2023 crash

Students have set up encampments in universities across continent as they call for ceasefire in Israel-Gaza war

The hairless cats live on average for just 6.8 years, while a Burmese could survive to be 14, according to researchThey may sound ancient but you should avoid a sphynx cat if you want a pet to grow old with, research suggests.Experts have revealed how many years on average domestic cats in the UK have left to live based on their current age. Continue reading...

Treasury committee says debanking' and use of personal guarantees for loans is putting small businesses at riskUnfair banking practices and damaging" financial regulators are harming small businesses and putting innovation and growth at risk, parliament's Treasury committee has warned.

The parents of Callum and Jake Robinson travelled to Mexico to identify the bodies of their children

Jury hears from adult film star on 13th day of ex-president's criminal trial in New York

Group includes 11 US citizens, including five minors, but tens of thousands of people remained detained five years after defeat of ISThe United States has repatriated two dozen western citizens, half of them Americans, from Islamic State prison camps in north-eastern Syria where tens of thousands have languished.The operation is the largest ever of US citizens and comes as rights groups warn of dire conditions in the camps still in use some five years after the ultra-violent extremist movement lost its last territory in Syria. Continue reading...

Javier Ortiz, accused of false arrests, harassment and doxxing, is now member of group reportedly becoming combat-ready militiaA former Florida police captain with a long history of civilian complaints, including false arrests and harassment, has joined the state's state guard under governor Ron DeSantis.Javier Ortiz, 44, joined the Florida state guard in February, the Miami Herald first reported. Ortiz's enrollment comes months after being reinstated by the Miami police department, after he was initially dismissed for slew of conduct complaints. Continue reading...

Animals were strolling through the backyard of a house when they decided to take a bit of a swim in the poolAs southern California warms up this month, everyone is looking to soak up the sun while staying cool - even the bears.A family of bears in Monrovia, about 30 minutes from Los Angeles, took a stroll through a backyard on Monday afternoon, exploring their surroundings and investigating a pool. Video captured by the home's occupant Rick Martinez showed a bear and her cubs roaming the property and scratching a tree. At one point the adult bear hopped into the pool and went for a swim while two tiny cubs watched on curiously. Continue reading...

Issue was not existence of men-only clubs but uniqueness of Garrick's powerful membership list casting unflattering spotlight on British establishment

At least 361 injured and 131 missing in southern part of country from what governor called his state's biggest climate catastrophe'The death toll from what authorities call the worst climate disaster ever to strike southern Brazil has risen to 90, after ferocious rain flooded huge stretches of Rio Grande do Sul state, displacing more than 155,000 people and forcing the closure of the main airport in the country's fifth biggest city.Photographs of the Porto Alegre airport, one of Brazil's busiest, showed its main terminal had been completely inundated and a cargo plane parked in an expanse of water next to a pair of semi-submerged boarding stairs. Continue reading...

President warned of surge of antisemitism' amid Israel military's deadly attacks that have killed more than 34,000 people in GazaJoe Biden warned against a ferocious surge of antisemitism in America" at a Holocaust event Tuesday, as student protests against Israel's military strikes on Gaza and the resulting humanitarian crisis continued to roil campuses across the US.Addressing a bipartisan Holocaust remembrance event at the US Capitol, the president reasserted his ironclad" commitment to the security of Israel and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state ... even when we disagree". Hatred towards Jews didn't end with the Holocaust, he said - it was brought to life on October 7 2023" when Hamas unleashed its attack on Israel killing 1,200 people. Continue reading...

Payroll data at risk includes names, bank details and addresses of current and former force members, government sources suggestAn estimated 270,000 payroll records belonging to nearly all members of Britain's armed forces have been exposed to Chinese hackers in a breach at a third-party contractor that was discovered a few days ago.The data at risk includes names and bank details for full-time military personnel, part-time reservists, including at least one MP, and veterans who left after January 2018. It was managed by a private contractor, SSCL. Continue reading...

New York City mayor makes comment as ex-president could face temporary incarceration if he again violates gag order

For each of the five studied abortion restrictions, risk of intimate partner homicide increased by 3.4% in new studyA new study finds abortion restrictions may be associated with increased rates of intimate partner homicide among reproductive-aged women and girls.Notably, the study looks at the period before the US supreme court overturned the national right to abortion in 2022, when states could restrict - but not outlaw - abortion. Fourteen states have since banned the procedure. Continue reading...

Mothin Ali has not been suspended from city council despite proclaiming Allahu Akbar' and other remarks causing offenceA Green party councillor at the centre of an antisemitism row has apologised for the upset caused" by his remarks but hit back at Islamophobic" attacks against him.The Green party has launched an investigation into Mothin Ali, who was elected to Leeds city council last week, but has declined to suspend him. Continue reading...

Cloud 3 used at height of his stardom may beat estimate and become most expensive of late musician's guitarsOne of Prince's guitars used by the late musician on stage at the height of his stardom in the 80s and 90s is being auctioned later this month.The Cloud 3 guitar, which Prince wielded during tours such as Purple Rain, Parade, Sign of the Times, Lovesexy, and Diamonds and Pearls, is estimated to fetch between $400,000 (320,000) and $600,000 and could become the most expensive Prince guitar sold at auction. Continue reading...

Dmitry Khoroshev named as having a senior role' in the group allegedly behind 18% of reported Australian ransomware attacks in 2022-23An alleged leader of international ransomware group LockBit has been hit with financial sanctions and banned from travelling to Australia.The Australian government named Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev, a Russian citizen, as having a senior leadership role" in a criminal group that supplied a global network of hackers with the tools and infrastructure to carry out online attacks. Continue reading...

With fuel dwindling for aid trucks and main entry points to south of Gaza closed, residents wonder how they will survive

Shadow chancellor and London mayor admit party's local election losses were linked to its response to Middle East conflictTwo of Labour's most senior figures have admitted the party has lost the trust of some voters over its response to the Israel-Gaza conflict and will have to engage and listen" to win them back.Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, expressed her regret over people who couldn't bring themselves" to back Labour at last week's local elections, while London mayor Sadiq Khan said the whole party had to regain lost trust. Continue reading...

Andrew Mitchell says military action on city will not eradicate Hamas and priority is to secure a permanent ceasefire

Chinese president hails two countries' friendship before his arrival, after visiting Pyrenees with MacronChinese flags adorned highways as Serbia got ready to give a home-from-home welcome to Xi Jinping, in contrasting to tensions on the first leg of the Chinese president's six-day European tour over a potential trade war with the EU.Xi prepared for his arrival in Belgrade on Tuesday night by hitting out against Nato for its 1999 bombing of the Chinese embassy in the Serbian capital, in which three Chinese journalists were killed. Continue reading...

Sympathetic interviewer suggests rogue editor was responsible for career-torpedoing story in new bookAsked if a story about killing a dog and a goat as well as a false claim to have met Kim Jong-un could have been put in her book by an editor acting as a liberal plant", the South Dakota governor and Republican vice-presidential hopeful Kristi Noem seemed to realise such a claim would be too outlandish even for her.The buck always stops with me," Noem told Newsmax. I take my own full responsibility. I wrote this book." Continue reading...

Peter Hebblethwaite appears in front of MPs two years after saying lowest-paid agency worker would earn 5.15 an hourThe boss of P&O Ferries has been asked if he is a pirate" who appears to be robbing staff blind" - as he confirmed to MPs that the group's seafarers had been receiving pay rates even lower than he had previously told parliament.Peter Hebblethwaite previously appeared in front of a joint transport and business committee in March 2022 to respond to P&O Ferries sacking 786 staff and replacing them with low-paid agency workers. Continue reading...

Israel says it is beginning mission to take out' Hamas brigades in city, as aid officials say flow of supplies through crossing has halted

Audiobooks are fast becoming a major route to market for consumers of books', the trade body saysThe number of UK audiobook downloads increased by 17% between 2022 and 2023, according to new data from the Publishers Association (PA).Revenue from audiobooks rose 24% across the same period to 206m in 2023, reflecting an increase in the number of audiobook downloads from 50m to 59m, the trade body said. Continue reading...

Boy aged five months who was taken to hospital after incident on Thursday died on SundayA baby who suffered a cardiac arrest at Legoland Windsor Resort has died, police have said.The five-month-old was seriously injured on Thursday in what Thames Valley police have called a neglect incident". The child died in hospital on Sunday. A 27-year-old woman from Essex was arrested on suspicion of neglect shortly after the incident. Continue reading...

Ally to take part in exercises alongside Russia; Ukraine says it has exposed network of agents run by MoscowRussia and Ukraine have accused each other at the global chemical weapons watchdog in The Hague of using banned toxins on the battlefield, the organisation said on Tuesday.The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said that the accusations were insufficiently substantiated" but added that the situation remains volatile and extremely concerning regarding the possible re-emergence of use of toxic chemicals as weapons." Continue reading...

Disgraced biotech company founder is now due to be released in August 2032, two years and four months before original dateElizabeth Holmes, the disgraced former chief executive of the blood-testing company Theranos, has had her federal prison sentence shortened again, new records show.The 40-year-old Holmes is now scheduled for release on 16 August 2032 from a federal women's prison camp in Bryan, Texas, according to the US Bureau of Prisons website. Continue reading...

Dr Hilary Cass defends gender identity services report against significant misinformation' at health committeeThe Cass review absolutely" did not set an unfairly high bar for evidence, its author has said, as she addressed significant misinformation" about her assessment of healthcare provision for gender-questioning young people in England and Wales.Giving evidence to the Scottish parliament's health committee on Tuesday morning, Dr Hilary Cass said she believed Scotland could benefit from the more holistic approach recommended in her review, commissioned by NHS England. Continue reading...

Russian president claims mandate for Ukraine invasion and correctness of the country's course'

Meeting on Tuesday evening will debate the issue after new legal analysis of 193-year-old rulebookThe men-only Garrick Club will vote on Tuesday evening on whether female members should be allowed to join, after decades of controversy over the London club's refusal to admit women.Members will meet at a Covent Garden venue at 5pm to debate the issue. They will then vote on a resolution inviting them to confirm that a new legal analysis of the Garrick's 193-year-old rulebook suggests there is actually nothing in it preventing women from joining already. Continue reading...

Firms fined millions after London Capital & Finance's 2019 crash wiped out customers' savingsBig four" accountancy firms PricewaterhouseCoopers and EY have been fined a combined 9.3m for a series of failures in auditing the accounts of London Capital & Finance, the collapsed mini-bond firm that wiped out the investments of thousands of savers.It concludes a near four-year investigation by the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) into how auditors breached their duties while reviewing the firm's finances in the years leading up to its demise in 2019. Continue reading...

New track Hind's Hall backs Columbia University protesters and characterises Israel as a state that's gotta rely on an apartheid system'Chart-topping US rapper Macklemore has released a new track, Hind's Hall, which gives robust support to Palestine as well as those protesting at US universities against Israel's activity in Gaza.Hind's Hall is named after the Columbia University building, renamed from Hamilton Hall by occupying student protesters to reference Hind Rajab, a six-year-old child killed in Gaza. Continue reading...

Time has run out for any charges after woman said really angry' man shouted at her to pull over and showed IDA woman who described her terror at being harassed on a motorway by a man posing as a police officer has been told there can be no criminal investigation because forces failed to act in time.The woman said she was driving on her own on the M1 in March 2023 when a really angry" man in an unmarked car began shouting at her to pull over, showing what looked like a police ID, the BBC reported. Continue reading...

Independent ACT senator says review committee was provided with solutions to fix fatally flawed' system but failed to offer any substantial improvements