Frontier Touring announces new tickets to Swift's five Australian shows will be released at 10am on Friday, with a ticket resale market launching in two weeksMore tickets to Taylor Swift's Melbourne and Sydney shows are going on sale on Friday, with Ticketek also announcing a date for the highly anticipated resale of tickets.Swift's Eras tour broke Australian records earlier this year in June, when more than four million people tried to snap up about 450,000 tickets for the five concerts, to take place in Melbourne on 16 and 17 February, and Sydney on 23-25 February 2024. Continue reading...
Case of Elnaz Hajtamiri, taken from Ontario home by three men with police equipment in January 2022, had stumped investigatorsThe ex-boyfriend of a Canadian woman who was abducted by fake police officers has been charged with first-degree murder, marking the latest twist in a high-profile kidnapping case that had appeared to stump investigators for nearly two years.Elnaz Hajtamiri was dragged from a property in an Ontario beach community on 12 January 2022 by three men with police equipment who forced their way into the home and hauled her barefoot through the snow to a waiting vehicle. Continue reading...
Majority of migrants rescued in Matehuala were from Central and South America and included 34 childrenAuthorities have found 123 people from Central and South America trapped in a trailer in the central Mexican state of San Luis Potosi, the country's immigration agency said on Thursday.Officials from the state attorney general's office found the people in Matehuala, a city on the border of Nuevo Leon, on Wednesday after a local reported hearing cries for help from a locked trailer box. Continue reading...
by Patrick Butler Social policy editor on (#6G8HV)
Orlando Fraser promises crackdown on squeamish' charities turning down donations on moral groundsThe head of England's charity regulator has promised to crack down on squeamish" charity boards who reject large cash donations from corporations or wealthy philanthropists on moral grounds.Orlando Fraser, the chair of the Charity Commission, said the regulator may intervene where trustees have rejected or returned donations simply because their personal worldviews or preferences" were incompatible with those of the donor. Continue reading...
Tory allies claim she is reflecting the views of a silent majority' who are too often ignored at WestminsterGetting rid of Suella Braverman, if you are Rishi Sunak, is not as easy as it might first appear.The home secretary has already handed the prime minister several opportunities, none of which have been taken up. Continue reading...
At freedom of information tribunal, Guardian says it has not been publicly explained how such data might be useful to attackersThe Home Office should publicly reveal the cost to the taxpayer of providing security to the royal family, a barrister representing the Guardian has told a tribunal.The news organisation has brought a legal case arguing that disclosure of the figure would enable a more informed public discussion about the costs and benefits of the monarchy. Continue reading...
by Sam Jones in Madrid and Lili Bayer in Brussels on (#6G8EJ)
The architect of the illegal Catalonian 2017 referendum has signed an unlikely deal to support Spains's socialists back into government in return for amnestyDespite the fast-moving, wildly unpredictable and frequently improbable turns Spanish politics has taken of late, very few pundits could have predicted the scenes that played out in Belgium on Thursday.A little after 2pm, a 60-year-old Catalan politician and fugitive from Spanish justice addressed a packed conference at the Brussels press club. As reporters brimmed with questions that would go unanswered, Carles Puigdemont appeared to be relishing his moment. Continue reading...
Opposition leaders accuse first minister and deputy of misleading Holyrood after they are forced to retract statements about message requestsHumza Yousaf has apologised for shortcomings" with the release of government WhatsApp messages, as he faced new secrecy allegations over legal advice and private emails written during the Covid crisis.The first minister apologised unreservedly" on Thursday after the UK Covid inquiry challenged the accuracy of parliamentary statements made last week by him and his deputy, Shona Robison, about its requests for access to WhatsApp messages. Continue reading...
by Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent on (#6G8AH)
Inequalities between rich and poor areas and white and black communities widening, according to child mortality dataBlack babies in England are almost three times more likely to die than white babies after death rates surged in the last year, according to figures that have led to warnings that racism, poverty and pressure on the NHS must be tackled to prevent future fatalities.The death rate for white infants has stayed steady at about three per 1,000 live births since 2020, but for black and black British babies it has risen from just under six to almost nine per 1,000, according to figures from the National Child Mortality Database, which gathers standardised data on the circumstances of children's deaths. Infant death rates in the poorest neighbourhood rose to double those in the richest areas, where death rates fell. Continue reading...
PM's WhatsApp messages show he felt odd' to bash the cops' having only seen footage of some argy bargy'Boris Johnson said it felt odd" to bash" Metropolitan police officers who had interrupted the Sarah Everard vigil as all he had seen is footage of some argy bargy".The prime minister's WhatsApp messages from March 2021 were shown during the Covid inquiry as Priti Patel gave evidence. Continue reading...
Increase in discrimination, vandalism, graffiti and abusive behaviour since outbreak of Israel-Hamas warSchools across England are struggling with the emotional turmoil set off by the terrorist attacks on Israel last month and the impact on students, parents and teachers.Specialist organisations such as the Community Security Trust and Tell Mama say they are seeing a big increase in reports of antisemitism and Islamophobia involving schools and pupils since the 7 October attacks and Israel's invasion of Gaza. Continue reading...
Home secretary accuses force of being biased against rightwing protesters and favouring groups such as Palestine Solidarity CampaignAlistair Carmichael (Lib Dem) says every day 6,000 crimes go unsolved. If the home secretary does not have confidence in the police, or thinks she could do a better job, she should say so, he says.Diana Johnson (Lab), chair of the home affairs committee, says her committee backs the idea of operational independence for the police. It is a concept that goes back to 1885. If the government wants to change that, it should be debated in parliament, she says. Continue reading...
Jozef Puska faces mandatory life sentence after Ashling Murphy was murdered in January 2022A man has been found guilty of killing a primary school teacher last year, in a case that shocked Ireland.Ashling Murphy, 23, a popular local teacher and musician, was murdered as she jogged along a canal near Tullamore, central Ireland, in January 2022. Continue reading...
Chapman is first Black songwriter to win the award, after a 2023 Luke Combs's version helped the song gain newfound popularityTracy Chapman has become the first Black songwriter to win the Country Music Awards' song of the year - 35 years after the relevant number was a hit for her.It was 1988 when Chapman's dulcet tones and guitar plucks emanated from seemingly every speaker with her smash Fast Car. On Wednesday night in Nashville, during the CMA's ceremony, it won a top award, Rolling Stone first reported. The annual award ceremony is one of the largest celebrations of country music. Continue reading...
Backing for socialist government hinged on proposed amnesty for activists involved in 2017 attempt to separate Catalonia from SpainToday we live in a democracy worse than yesterday," the conservative People's party deputy secretary Miguel Tellado wrote following news of an agreement between the socialists and Junts.Spain's socialist party and Catalan separatist party Junts have confirmed that they have reached a deal for Junts to support a Socialist-led government, Reuters reported. Continue reading...
Blue Lagoon temporarily closes as spate of earthquakes prompt fears of volcanic eruptionOne of Iceland's most popular tourist attractions has closed after the Reykjanes peninsula was hit by about 1,000 earthquakes in 24 hours, a seismic swarm" that has prompted fears of an imminent volcanic eruption.The Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa south-west of Rejkjavik, announced it would close its doors on Thursday for a week after a particularly powerful earthquake hit just after midnight followed by about 800 smaller quakes. Continue reading...
Accused, 14, blows kiss to his parents during brief appearance on charges of murder and possession of a knifeA 14-year-old boy accused of stabbing another teenager to death in Leeds blew a kiss to his parents as he made his first court appearance on Thursday.Alfie Lewis, 15, was attacked in the upmarket Horsforth suburb on Tuesday afternoon as children were leaving two nearby schools. Continue reading...
McOnie - who choreographed Jesus Christ Superstar, On the Town and Carousel - takes over from Tim SheaderRegent's Park Open Air theatre in London has appointed Drew McOnie as its new artistic director, in a rare case of a choreographer being given the top job at a major British theatre. McOnie will replace Tim Sheader who has cemented the outdoor theatre's reputation for musicals and takes over at the Donmar Warehouse in the new year.McOnie is no stranger to Regent's Park, having choreographed its hit 2016 revival of Jesus Christ Superstar, which had two sold-out seasons at the theatre, transferred to the Barbican and toured the UK and the US. He directed and choreographed On the Town there in 2017 and choreographed Carousel in 2021. Continue reading...
After finding that the Friends actor wanted Efron to play him in a film, the latter, who had already played a younger Perry in 17 Again, expressed his agreementZac Efron said he would be honoured" to play Matthew Perry in a film that the Friends actor had been planning before his death on 29 October.In an interview with Sirius XM in 2022, Perry said that he had asked Efron to play the lead role in a film that Perry had written and planned to direct, but that Efron had said no". The project was mentioned again in the wake of Perry's death by the actor's friend Athenna Crosby, who told People magazine that Perry's movie was a biopic and that he wanted Zac Efron, who's played him already to play him again because he said he did such a good job". Continue reading...
UK's 43 police forces have all referred domestic abuse victims to Home Office in last three years, finds watchdogVictims of domestic abuse across the UK are being reported to immigration officials when they turn to the police for help, according to data published by an independent watchdog.The UK's 43 police forces have all referred victims or survivors of abuse to immigration enforcement in the last three years, prompting urgent calls for a reform of the system. Continue reading...
In today's newsletter: Alongside Moldova, Ukraine is officially on the path to EU accession - what does that mean for the future of both countries and the continent? Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First EditionGood morning. Ukraine has been hoping for EU membership for decades, but the prospect of it actually happening only became likely after Russia's invasion posed an existential threat to Europe for the first time since the second world war. Weeks after the war erupted in February last year, Ukraine and Moldova applied for membership of the EU; in June they were both granted candidate status.After waiting just under 18 months, the European Commission announced yesterday that it was recommending that formal talks begin on Moldova and Ukraine joining the European Union.Conservatives | Suella Braverman has launched a full-throated attack on policing double standards" after the head of the Metropolitan police gave the go-ahead for a pro-Palestine march on Saturday, Armistice Day.Israel-Hamas war | The US, for the second time in recent weeks, has carried out strikes against a weapons storage facility in eastern Syria that the Pentagon said was used by Iran's Revolutionary Guards and affiliated groups, as fears grow that the Gaza war could spread in the region.Strikes | The RMT union has reached a possible deal with train operators to resolve their long-running national rail dispute, allaying fears of a repeat of last year's Christmas strikes.Environment | Japan has gained another island to add to its already impressive collection, after an undersea volcanic eruption 1,200km south of Tokyo created a new landmass.US news | Hollywood actors are set to end their nearly four-month strike, the Sag-Aftra union announced on Wednesday, bringing to a close a historic work stoppage that had brought the film and television industry to a standstill for months. Continue reading...
UK and Taiwan sign trade agreement they hailed as a first in fostering bilateral trade between Taiwan and EuropeChina's government has accused the UK of using trade cooperation as an excuse" to enhance its ties with Taiwan, after the announcement of a bilateral trade talks agreement.On Wednesday Taiwan's representative to the UK, Kelly Hsieh, and his British counterpart based in Taipei, John Dennis, signed an enhanced trade partnership (ETP). The agreement paves the way for future talks on green energy, digital trade and investment, among other trade-based issues. The UK is Taiwan's third-biggest trading partner in Europe and 21st largest overall. Continue reading...
by Amy Remeikis, Daisy Dumas and Sarah Basford Canale on (#6G7R4)
Communications minister Michelle Rowland says it is critical' to examine Wednesday's blackout that impacted nearly 10 million Australians, given no network is immune'
Eighty-five years after the brutal prelude' to Nazi crimes, the emphasis falls on contemplating its influence on the present dayIt has long been the most delicate day in the German calendar, 9 November. It brings a balancing act of remembrance for the state-sanctioned murderous devastation of the Nazi pogroms across the country in 1938, and, 51 years later, the overnight collapse of the most famous barrier in the world, the Berlin Wall.Both had international repercussions which are still felt today. The former dominates the nation's collective memory. Continue reading...
by Helen Sullivan (now); Léonie Chao-Fong and Martin on (#6G6YS)
More than 33,550 cases of diarrhoea reported since mid-October, most among children under five, says WHO; US launches airstrike in response to attacks on bases housing US troops as Syrian state media reports strikes in south by Israel
One Nation leader, who is also being sued by Faruqi for similar comments she made in a tweet, said she would take the Greens senator to the airport and put you on a plane'
Optus customers left without phone and internet could be looking to switch to rival carriers like Telstra or Vodafone for better deals or savings, and may be about to seek refunds, though it's not straightforward
City editor Anna Isaac, political editor Pippa Crerar and columnist Marina Hyde honoured at ceremony in LondonThe Guardian has won three awards at the Society of Editors' Media Freedom Awards at a ceremony in London.Anna Isaac, the Guardian's city editor, was named the Media Freedom Awards National Journalist of the Year and was praised by the judges for her stories exposing a culture of sexual misconduct at the Confederation of British Industry. Continue reading...
Unverified footage from state media shows captured soldiers swearing allegiance to Russia as part of new battalionRussia is sending Ukrainian prisoners of war to the frontlines of their homeland to fight on Moscow's side in the war, the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti has reported.Video from RIA Novosti released on Tuesday showed the Ukrainians swearing allegiance to Russia, holding rifles and dressed in military fatigues to fight in a battalion named for medieval nobleman Bogdan Khmelnitsky, seen as a national hero in Russia for bringing parts of Ukraine under Moscow's control in the 15th century. Continue reading...
World news | The Guardian