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Activists decry ruling by top court as a travesty of justice' after two men sought to strike down colonial-era lawsA top court in St Vincent and the Grenadines has upheld laws that criminalize gay sex, in a blow to activists who have long decried the violence the LGBTQ+ community has faced on the conservative Caribbean archipelago.The ruling on Friday by St Vincent's high court stems from a 2019 case filed by two gay men from St Vincent who live in the UK and US. They sought to strike down colonial-era laws that call for 10 years in prison for anal intercourse and five years for gross indecency" with another person of the same sex. Continue reading...

Florida deputy Jesse Hernandez resigned after opening fire when he thought sound of acorn hitting police cruiser was shot from gunA Florida sheriff's deputy mistook the sound of an acorn hitting his patrol cruiser for a gunshot and fired multiple times at the SUV where a handcuffed Black man was sitting in the backseat, officials said.The man, who was being questioned about stealing his girlfriend's car, was not injured during the 12 November shooting. He was taken into custody but released without being charged. The officer who initiated the shooting resigned. Continue reading...

Gun rights group and ex-leader Wayne LaPierre accused of being caught with their hands in the cookie jar' over lavish spendingA New York state jury on Friday began its deliberations in the civil corruption trial of the National Rifle Association and its former long-serving leader Wayne LaPierre.Jurors started deliberating a day after a lawyer with the New York attorney general's office said Friday that the NRA and LaPierre were caught with their hands in the cookie jar", summarizing accusations that the gun rights group's executives wildly misspent millions of dollars on private flights, vacations and other lavish perks. Continue reading...

The Wayfarers Chapel, designed by eldest son of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, was completed in 1951 and hosted star weddingsThe Wayfarers Chapel, a glass-walled, mid-century marvel that sits beneath a canopy of redwoods in Los Angeles, has closed indefinitely due to accelerated land movement" in the area.Known locally as the glass church", the building was designed by architect Lloyd Wright and designated a national historic landmark just two months ago. But the structure sits on the Palos Verdes peninsula, which is prone to landslides. Cracks had begun to appear in the structure, and several panes of glass had broken in recent months. Continue reading...

Russian opposition leader's death described as political assassination attributable to president

Ex-president favors ban with exceptions for rape, incest and to save mother's life, NYT says, but won't discuss until after primaryDonald Trump likes the idea of a national ban on abortion past 16 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for rape, incest and to save the life of the mother, the New York Times reported on Friday morning.Trump has veered away from taking a firm stance on abortion during his presidential campaign. He has taken credit for the US supreme court's 2022 overturning of Roe v Wade, since he appointed three of the justices who took part in that decision, but he has also suggested that Republicans who take extreme stances on abortion lose elections. Continue reading...

Viktor Orban under pressure as turmoil continues a week after the presidential pardon was revealedTens of thousands of people protested in Budapest on Friday at the biggest rally against Viktor Orban's government for years, after a sexual abuse case pardon by President Katalin Novak caused public uproar and led to her resignation.The conservative Hungarian prime minister, who has been in power since 2010, has sought to defuse the week-long scandal that brought down two of his key political allies, the president and the former justice minister, Judit Varga, but it has continued to dominate domestic media. Continue reading...

Vice-president tells Munich gathering that the US is committed to defend democratic values at home and abroad'Speaking in Munich today, the Nato secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, said that if we want a lasting peace, we must continue to provide Ukraine with weapons and ammunition."He addressed Nato's push to invest more in defence.This requires expanding our transatlantic industrial base to increase deliveries to Ukraine and refill our own stocks. And shifting from slow peacetime to the high tempo of conflict - to produce more at a higher speed.This will help Ukraine, it will make Nato stronger, and it will provide more highly-skilled manufacturing jobs, including here in Bavaria, where Patriot missiles will be built at a new facility. Continue reading...

Wife of Alexei Navalny addresses hushed crowd of politicians and vows Putin will be brought to justiceA geopolitical conference turned deeply personal in Munich on Friday as senior officials from around the globe heard first-hand from Alexei Navalny's wife hours after news broke of his reported death.Yulia Navalnaya was in Germany for the Munich security conference, which brings together national leaders, foreign minister and experts, when Russia's prison service said Navalny had died in jail. Continue reading...

Amina Noor travelled from north London with the child to Kenya where the procedure was carried out in 2006A woman who was found guilty of handing over a three-year-old British girl for female genital mutilation (FGM) during a trip to Kenya has been jailed for seven years.Amina Noor, 40, was convicted last year of assisting a Kenyan woman to carry out the procedure overseas in 2006. The conviction was the first for assisting in such harm under the Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003. Continue reading...

Company claimed its chatbot was responsible for its own actions' when giving wrong information about bereavement fareCanada's largest airline has been ordered to pay compensation after its chatbot gave a customer inaccurate information, misleading him into buying a full-price ticket.Air Canada came under further criticism for later attempting to distance itself from the error by claiming that the bot was responsible for its own actions". Continue reading...

Loudest voices urge further tack to right after Reform UK gains but moderates argue general election can only be won on centre groundFor Reform UK to win 13% of the vote in a byelection is a long way from the heady days of Ukip taking 60% in Clacton in 2014.However, that share of the vote was still a shock for the Conservatives on Friday morning, given that Reform is a newer party without the draw of Nigel Farage as leader or the rallying cause of Brexit behind it. Continue reading...

Belgian arm will be put into insolvency, with more than 460 jobs at risk across two countriesThe Body Shop's mainland European businesses have begun shutting down, with the German stores put into administration and its Belgian staff told they will be next, placing more than 460 jobs at risk across the two countries.The closures come after Aurelius, the German restructuring specialist that bought The Body Shop last year, put the ethical beauty chain's main UK business into administration this week. Continue reading...

Putin critic remained defiant despite facing years of abuse including 2020 attempt on his life

Six people taken to hospital after boat arrived at Newhaven ferry portTwo men have been arrested and six people taken to hospital after they were found in the back of a lorry that was onboard a ferry in an East Sussex port, police have said.One of the men was arrested on suspicion of facilitating illegal entry to the UK and the other for illegally entering the UK. Both were being held in custody. Continue reading...

Monitoring group releases evidence of work that appears intended to house Palestinians in event of Israeli assault on city

High commissioner for refugees says people crossing the border would be the nail in the coffin' for any peace process

PM insists he can cut taxes in a recession and says Conservatives' plan is working' despite heavy losses in Kingswood and Wellingborough

Alexander Smirnov falsely said executives linked to energy firm Burisma paid Joe and Hunter Biden $5m each in 2015 and 2016, prosecutors sayAn FBI informant has been charged with lying to his handler about ties between Joe Biden, his son Hunter and a Ukrainian energy company.Alexander Smirnov falsely told FBI agents in June 2020 that executives associated with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma paid Hunter and Joe Biden $5m each in 2015 and 2016, prosecutors said on Thursday. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Letters from immigration watchdog set out official warning over conditions at Wethersfield site

Christian Bruckner is charged with three counts of rape and two counts of sexual abuse of childrenChristian Bruckner, the main suspect in the disappearance of the UK toddler Madeleine McCann, has appeared in court in Germany over sexual assault and rape charges in separate cases.The 47-year-old appeared in court in Braunschweig, northern Germany, amid a flurry of media and public interest. The opening of the trial, where tight security was in place, was delayed by the sheer number of people trying to gain access to the courtroom. Continue reading...

The Wellingborough byelection was the Labour leader's fourth mammoth turnaround, as the Tories suffered a record fallThe Wellingborough byelection is one for the record books. The fall in the Conservative share of the vote - an enormous 37.6 percentage points - was the worst the party has ever suffered in a byelection.The previous record, established in Liverpool Wavertree in 1935, had stood for nearly 90 years, but the swing of 28.5 percentage points from Conservative to Labour was the second-highest since the 1930s, after Tony Blair's triumph in Dudley West in 1994. It came on the heels of other Labour gains in the last year with monster-sized swings of more than 20 points: Selby and Ainsty, Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire. Thatcher and Blair in opposition managed two such gains each; Starmer has notched up four. Continue reading...

Duke of Sussex, who flew to UK to see his father, said in US interview he was grateful for time with familyKing Charles's illness could reunify the royal family, Prince Harry has suggested, after flying in from the US to see his father following his cancer diagnosis.In an interview with a US television station on Friday, the Duke of Sussex discussed his relationship with his relatives, which has been strained to breaking point in recent years. Continue reading...

Aslef said train company's handout to women was insulting gimmick', while TSSA called it dismissive' and belittlingA gift bag designed for menopausal women working at Avanti West Coast containing a fan and a jelly baby has been denounced as demeaning" and an insulting gimmick" by rail unions.The pack included a fan for hot sweats, a jelly baby sweet in case you feel like biting someone's head off", a tissue if you're feeling a bit emotional" and a paperclip to help you keep it all together". Continue reading...

The once-in-a-lifetime show has finally come to Australia. For the millions who couldn't get tickets, might a slightly chaotic blog be the next best thing? We'll find out. But fair warning: setlist spoilers

Row centres on religious cohesion charity's appointment of trustee with links to Muslim Council of BritainA charity that has worked for 37 years for greater cohesion between different UK faith communities is expected to close down next week after the government signalled it will scrap its funding.The Inter Faith Network (IFN) is due to close after Michael Gove, the communities secretary, said he was minded to withdraw" 155,000 of provisional funding over concerns about a trustee connected to the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB). Continue reading...

Husam Zomlot says family members who died while sheltering in the city include seven-year-old twins and 15-month-oldThe Palestinian ambassador to the UK has said that eight of his relatives who were sheltering in the southern Gaza town of Rafah have been killed in an Israeli strike.

Rosemarie Castoro's Trap a Zoid, last shown in Manhattan half a century ago, being restaged as part of retrospectiveA sculpture described by the artist as a painting you can walk in", which was only exhibited once almost half a century ago on the tip of Manhattan island, has reappeared on a north Wales beach.Rather than having a backdrop of skyscrapers as it did in 1978, Rosemarie Castoro's Trap a Zoid has been set up on a beach in Llandudno in front of the Great Orme, a headland perhaps best known for its wild goats which headed into the town during the first lockdown. Continue reading...

Environment minister says authorities are testing mulch in the area but any issues would be resolved before pop star's sold out shows at Accor Stadium

Tories want swing to right to lure back disillusioned voters after Starmer's wins in Kingswood and WellingboroughThe records continue to fall for Labour.The result in the Wellingborough byelection, where the party achieved a 28.5% swing from the Conservatives, was the biggest Labour victory over the Tories since 1994 and the second biggest since the war. Continue reading...

Pre-tax figure of 6.2bn comes as bank confirms Paul Thwaite will take over permanently as CEO

Court documents reveal details of emotional call with Beverley McGarvey in which Wilkinson blamed network for failing to stop bad press

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Gen Kitchen takes seat for party for first time since 2001 general election to temper fears after testing weekLabour has scored its largest swing in a byelection since 1994 after overturning a majority of more than 18,000 in Wellingborough, bolstering predictions that the party is on course for a landslide victory at the next general election.Labour's candidate, Gen Kitchen, won with 13,844 votes, beating the Conservatives' Helen Harrison who received 7,408 votes in the largest swing from the Tories to Labour since 1994 and second-largest since the second world war. It was Labour's fifth byelection gain from the Conservatives overall in this parliament. The party also gained a Tory seat in Kingswood, dealing a double blow to an embattled Conservative party that has lost 10 byelections in a single parliament, more than any government since the 1960s. Continue reading...

DWP briefing says jobcentres should no longer issue signposting slips' over concerns about data privacyJobcentre officials have been ordered to stop referring penniless benefit claimants to food banks because it breaches data privacy law, in a move charities have warned will cause delays in crisis help for thousands of hungry households.For years the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has allowed jobcentres to issue DWP-designed signposting slips", which allow claimants to access local food banks, many of which will not give out food parcels without a formal referral. Continue reading...

London judges to decide whether WikiLeaks founder, who could face life in prison in US, has reached end of road in British courtsIn a matter of days Julian Assange will find out if he has exhausted all potential challenges through the British courts to being extradited to the US, where he could spend the rest of his life in prison.The two-day hearing is scheduled to take place in London on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, as he seeks leave to appeal against his extradition for publishing thousands of classified military and diplomatic documents. Continue reading...

City's largest housing associations call for 15bn a year to be invested after 76% fall in homes being builtHousebuilding in London is grinding to a halt", housing associations have warned the government, with the number of affordable homes being built plummeting by three-quarters in the last 12 months.In a letter to the housing secretary, Michael Gove, the G15, which represents the capital's 11 largest housing associations, said his policies did not go far enough to increase supply and called for an injection of billions of pounds into an affordable homes building programme. Continue reading...

Number of homes lost set to rise as premier Jacinta Allan announces payments for thousands expected to be without power for more than a week

Quiz organisers were taken by 15-year-old Emily's enthusiasm and when she didn't win they decided to reward her anyway

Candidate in 2022 federal election facing up to 12 months' prison if found guilty of knowingly providing false or misleading informationA Liberal National party candidate in the last federal election has faced court accused of providing false information about his residential address to the electoral commission.Vivian Rakesh Lobo was issued a summons to appear in Brisbane magistrates court on Friday after a federal police investigation followed a referral from the Australian Electoral Commission.Sign up for Guardian Australia's free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

Body of 28-year-old recovered from state's north-west, with more heavy rain forecast for Brisbane

Blow for Rishi Sunak as former Lewisham mayor Damien Egan elected in South Gloucestershire seatLabour has overturned an 11,000-plus Tory majority to win the byelection in the South Gloucestershire constituency of Kingswood.Damien Egan, who resigned as the mayor of Lewisham in south-east London to contest the seat even though it is being abolished at the next general election, is celebrating victory after a professional and energetic Labour campaign. He won with 11,1176 votes, to 8,675 for his nearest rival, the Conservatives' Sam Bromiley, a majority of 2,501. Labour won on a swing in the share of the vote of 16.4 percentage points - some way above the 11.4 point swing needed. Continue reading...

Surging prices reached $1,630 for a one-way Qantas business ticket from Sydney after airline added 64 extra flights to cope with increase in traffic for Eras tour

The 78-year-old says the demand for $307 came out of the blue and caused sleepless nights'

The 44-year-old called emergency services to say his wife had died at their Woodhill farm

The Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands and Palau say Congress needs to approve fresh support announced by Joe BidenLeaders of Pacific Island countries allied with the US have become increasingly anxious about the US congressional budget impasse that has delayed approval of vital new funding packages and warned that China is actively seeking to shift their allegiances.The Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), the Marshall Islands (RMI) and Palau agreed to new 20-year funding programs with the United States last year under which Washington provides economic assistance, while gaining exclusive military access to strategic swaths of the Pacific. Continue reading...

Psychotherapist tells inquest she was told no hospital' after expressing concern for Jarrad Antonovich, who died later that night

Violin-shaped Hofner vanished around the time the Beatles split up but has now resurfaced after a global appealA guitar bought by Paul McCartney for 30 in 1961 has been returned to the former Beatle after a global search to find the stolen Hofner bass.The distinctively shaped instrument, bought by McCartney before his rise to stardom and reportedly his favourite, was last seen around the time the Beatles were recording their final album to be released, Let It Be. Continue reading...

High court rules Barnsley council does not have right to force man to take DNA test to determine parentage of sonA man who mixed his sperm with his father's to help get his partner pregnant will not be forced to take a paternity test, the high court has ruled.The man, identified as PQ as he cannot be named for legal reasons, and his partner (JK) had experienced fertility problems and were not able to afford IVF treatment, the court heard at a hearing last month. Continue reading...

Russian president says Biden is more predictable', in remarks likely to be attempt to make mischief in US electionVladimir Putin has said he would prefer a Joe Biden presidency to a Donald Trump one and mocked the former Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson for a lack of sharp questions" during their interview at the Kremlin last week.Asked by a Russian state journalist on Wednesday to choose between Biden and Trump, Putin said without hesitation that the current US president was more experienced, predictable, an old-school politician", but added: We will work with any US president who the American people have confidence in." Continue reading...