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Tenants Queensland says data could be collected about owners, their holdings and renting intentions

Hinds says in open letter to PM that proposed laws on unsolved murders would ‘cut off any prospect of justice’One of the stars of Kenneth Branagh’s movie Belfast has written to Liz Truss urging her to scrap controversial legislation about unsolved murders during the Northern Ireland Troubles.In an open letter to the prime minister, Belfast-born Ciarán Hinds told her the proposed laws would “permanently cut off any prospect of justice for the families and loved ones of those killed during the Troubles”. Continue reading...

NAO to examine £120m Unboxed project after MPs call it an ‘irresponsible use of public money’It was Jacob Rees-Mogg who christened it a festival of Brexit – a moniker that might well have cursed it from the beginning.Announced by Theresa May in the aftermath of Britain’s referendum on EU membership, and supposedly inspired by the 1851 Great Exhibition and 1951’s Festival of Britain, the then prime minister heralded a programme of events to be held this year to “showcase what makes our country great today”. Continue reading...

Japan removes strict Covid-19 travel curbs, fuelling hopes a tourist boom will reinvigorate the economyJapan has fully opened its doors to visitors after more than two years of pandemic isolation.On Tuesday, the country reinstated visa-free travel to dozens of countries, ending some of world’s strictest Covid-19 border controls. Japan has also lifted the 50,000-person entry cap and ended the requirement for tourists to travel as part of tour groups, Kyodo news agency reported. Continue reading...

Unrelated incidents at two airports caused major disruptions for passengers

Bureau of Meteorology predicts ‘significant rain event’, with the heaviest falls expected Thursday

North Queensland Cowboys forward was charged after allegedly assaulting a woman known to him

Media regulator and privacy watchdog announce new probes into telco as ACCC reveals it is being flooded with complaints about Optus-related scams

Former senator Rex Patrick launched federal court action last year over OAIC’s slow freedom of information request review process

Boss says bank is putting aside more money for potential defaults linked to cost of living crisisThe boss of Santander UK says the bank is putting aside more money for potential defaults linked to the cost of living crisis after seeing a pickup in customers falling behind on mortgage and loan payments.Mike Regnier told the Guardian that he was keeping a close eye on the “strain and pressure” facing customers as a result of the cost of living crisis, which has made it harder for some households to keep up with rising food and energy bills and financial commitments such as home loans. Continue reading...

Files on Russian intelligence officer and ‘lady-killer’ Eugene Ivanov littered with reports of drunkennessEugene Ivanov, the Russian spy at the centre of the 1963 Profumo scandal, was a philandering alcoholic whose weakness for women and drink M15 hoped to exploit to get him to defect, but who ended up toppling the Macmillan government by chance, according to newly released intelligence files.He arrived at the Russian embassy in London as assistant naval attache in 1960 but M15 suspected he was an intelligence officer, partly because he didn’t seem to know much about ships and also he carried an umbrella. Continue reading...

Jas Athwal, leader of Redbridge council, wins hustings vote by 499 to 361 after constituency triggered reselectionThe former shadow minister Sam Tarry has been deselected as an MP by local Labour party members amid a bitter row in the Ilford South constituency.Tarry, a former senior trade union official who helped organise Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership campaign, lost the chance to contest the seat at the next election. Continue reading...

Man in custody after members of public stabbed while trying to stop phone robbery near Liverpool Street stationA 25-year-old man has been arrested after three people were stabbed as members of the public tried to intervene in a phone robbery in central London.The suspect was arrested by detectives investigating a number of serious offences connected with the attempted robbery and knife attack in Bishopsgate last Thursday, said temporary DCI Colin Bishop, of City of London police’s major crime team. Continue reading...

Stefan Sylvestre, who was acting on orders from Piper’s ex-boyfriend, was released from prison in 2018, but has breached licence conditionsPolice are searching for a man, jailed for an acid attack on the model and campaigner Katie Piper, who is believed to have left the country.The Metropolitan police said their inquiries indicated that Stefan Sylvestre left the UK on 2 August. The force said it was notified last month that the 34-year-old had been recalled to prison after breaching his licence conditions. His last known address was in north London. Continue reading...

Streaming services on standby as review expected to recommend changes to the number of games broadcast on free-to-air television

Biden deplores Putin’s ‘utter brutality’ while Guterres ‘deeply shocked’ by Russia’s most widespread air strikes since start of invasion

British spy agency director to say in rare public address that Ukraine is ‘turning the tide’ against RussiaVladimir Putin has made strategic errors in his pursuit of the war in Ukraine partly because there are so few restraints on his leadership, the head of the British spy agency GCHQ will say in a speech on Tuesday.Russia’s soldiers are running out of supplies and munitions and initial gains made by Moscow are being reversed, Jeremy Fleming is expected to add in a rare public address. Continue reading...

Alexander O’Connor is alleged to have assaulted a woman over the course of two days in JuneThe musician Rex Orange County, aka Alexander O’Connor, has been charged with six counts of sexually assaulting a woman, the Sun has reported.On 1 June, the 24-year-old allegedly assaulted the woman twice in London’s West End and then four times the next day, including once in a taxi and on three instances at his home in Notting Hill. The woman is reputedly over the age of 16. Continue reading...

Kyiv presses military and diplomatic wishlist as French president sees ‘profound change in nature of this war’Volodymyr Zelenskiy will address G7 leaders on Tuesday to demand a significant increase in their military and diplomatic support after the biggest Russian missile attack on Ukrainian cities since the start of the war.The French president, Emmanuel Macron, described the attack, in which cruise missiles and armed drones rained down on parks, playgrounds, power stations and other civilian targets, as “a profound change in the nature of this war”. Continue reading...

The Bahraini activist who is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in anti-government protests was chosen to share the PEN Pinter prize by Malorie BlackmanThe academic, activist and blogger Abduljalil al-Singace from Bahrain has been named this year’s international writer of courage by Malorie Blackman. Al-Singace is serving a life sentence in prison for his role in Bahrain’s 2011 anti-government protests.The award is part of the PEN Pinter prize, which goes to an author deemed to have fulfilled Harold Pinter’s aspiration to “define the real truth of our lives and our societies”. This year’s PEN Pinter winner was Blackman, the first children’s writer to be awarded the prize. She chose al-Singace as the international writer of courage, an award for an author who has been persecuted for speaking out about their beliefs, with whom she will share her prize. Continue reading...

Jack Sepple, 23, killed Ashley Wadsworth, 19, after becoming angered by her decision to return homeA man who stabbed his 19-year-old girlfriend to death in a “brutal and cowardly attack” after being angered by her decision to return home to Canada has been handed a life sentence.Jack Sepple, 23, killed Ashley Wadsworth at the one-bedroom flat they shared in Chelmsford, Essex, on 1 February. Continue reading...

Death of Anthony Bird was unsolved for 41 years until John Paul, 61, allegedly told police he had ‘battered him’A 61-year-old accused of killing a part-time barman more than 40 years ago walked into a police station to confess to murder, a court has heard.Anthony Bird, 42, was found dead at his flat in west London on 6 June 1980, naked and with his wrists bound, the Old Bailey heard. His death remained unsolved for 41 years, until John Paul allegedly told police he had “battered him” with a lump of wood. Continue reading...

Scotland’s first minister leaves question of how independence will be delivered hanging in the airIt was a cleverly crafted speech from Nicola Sturgeon, by far the UK’s longest-serving party leader; she used bright splashes of colour, judicious notes of caution, and delivered it with conviction.Yet what was equally noticeable was what she did not say. For all the optimism and confidence-building Sturgeon offered around the case for independence, there was much less clarity and certainty about how it might be delivered. Her speech left that question, the biggest question of all, hanging in the air. Continue reading...

Series of missiles shatter several months of calm but normal life quickly returns amid the destruction

Any use of Italy’s publicly owned art to sell merchandise requires permission and payment of a feeItaly’s Uffizi Galleries are suing the French fashion house Jean Paul Gaultier for damages that could exceed €100,000 (£88,000) after the company’s allegedly unauthorised use of images of Botticelli’s Renaissance masterpiece The Birth of Venus to adorn a range of clothing products, including T-shirts, leggings and bodices.The matter came to light earlier this year after the Uffizi in Florence was notified of the garments being advertised by Jean Paul Gaultier on its website and social media. Continue reading...

Nurse is accused of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder another 10 between June 2015 and June 2016A nurse murdered seven babies and attempted to kill 10 others by poisoning them on a hospital neonatal unit where she was a “constant malevolent presence”, a court has heard.Lucy Letby, 32, fatally injected newborns with insulin, air or milk during night shifts when she knew their parents would not be present, a jury was told. Continue reading...

First minister promises ‘steady hand on tiller’ while offering reassurance to those opposed to UK exitFollow the latest developments – politics liveNicola Sturgeon has told the Scottish National party’s annual conference that “we are the independence generation”, while reassuring those who will never be persuaded of the merits of leaving the UK that “whatever happens in future, Scotland belongs to you as much as it does to us”.Addressing delegates in Aberdeen at the party’s first in-person conference since the pandemic, she promised Scotland “a steady and compassionate hand on the tiller” through the cost of living crisis. Continue reading...

Alla Pugacheva, whose husband has been declared a ‘foreign agent’, denounced invasion three weeks ago

Spokesperson says ‘no plans’ to reclassify drug despite claims that home secretary supports moveDowning Street has distanced itself from reports that Suella Braverman wished to reclassify marijuana as a class A drug amid sniping from parliamentary colleagues that the home secretary was failing to fall into line with government policies.The prime minister’s spokesperson said on Monday that there were “no plans” to change the drug from class B, despite several reports claiming that those close to the home secretary said she supported the move. Continue reading...

Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad was subjected to force by IDF soldiers at a West Bank checkpointIsrael says it has reached a settlement with the family of a Palestinian-American man who died after soldiers used force to detain him, in a rare case of compensation for a Palestinian claim of wrongdoing by Israeli forces.Omar Abdalmajeed As’ad, 78, was detained at a checkpoint in Jiljilya in the occupied West Bank in January and “apprehended after resisting a check”, according to an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) statement. He was handcuffed, gagged and blindfolded for between 20 minutes and an hour, and found by locals after the soldiers left. Continue reading...

Members of Criminal Bar Association accept government pay rise of 15% on legal aid fees for most crown casesCriminal barristers have voted to accept the government’s pay deal on legal aid fees and end their indefinite strike.The offer by the justice secretary, Brandon Lewis, included a 15% increase in legal aid fees to “the vast majority of cases currently in the crown court”, £3m of funding for case preparation and £4m for prerecorded cross-examinations of vulnerable victims and witnesses. Continue reading...

The most important lesson from that decade is not to waste the moment of a prospective Labour governmentOn Wednesday, Liz Truss arrived on stage at her party conference to M People’s Moving On Up. In some ways, it was an apt choice, its final stanza saying more or less exactly what the speech said:Moving, moving, moving

H5N1 strain, first detected in Europe, has spread rapidly across the country, and with no vaccine available, options are limitedEver year during the fall migration season, 5.4 million waterfowl descend on California, as birds from Canada and Alaska make their way south on an aerial transnational highway known as the Pacific Flyway.This year, the arrival of the birds also brings concern. A new avian influenza is circulating, and that means trouble for domestic chickens, wild birds and even mammals. Continue reading...

Move comes in response to violent suppression of protests over death of Mahsa Amini in police custodyBritain has announced sanctions against Iran’s morality police in its entirety as well as its national chief and the head of its Tehran division in response to the violent suppression of protests since the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody.The morality police have been responsible for the street patrols forcing women to wear hijab and attend re-education classes on modesty and chastity. Amini was stopped by the morality police over her clothing while walking in a park in Tehran and taken into detention. Continue reading...

Moscow launches wave of strikes across country in response to Saturday’s attack on bridge linking Russia and Crimea

Letby, 32, entered not guilty pleas at Manchester court to seven counts of murder and 15 of attempted murderA nurse has pleaded not guilty to murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others in a hospital neo-natal ward in Chester.Lucy Letby, 32, is accused of killing or attempting to kill 17 babies at the Countess of Chester hospital between June 2015 and June 2016. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Internal report at nurses’ union finds male-dominated governing body ‘not fit for purpose’A damning inquiry into the Royal College of Nursing, the world’s biggest nurses’ union, has exposed bullying, misogyny and a sexual culture where women are at risk of “alcohol and power-related exploitation”.A 77-page internal report by Bruce Carr KC, leaked to the Guardian, lays bare how the RCN’s senior leadership has been “riddled with division, dysfunction and distrust” and condemns the male-dominated governing body, known as council, as “not fit for purpose”.that it is “clear that congress is seen by many as an opportunity to engage in sexual activity, which will carry with it a substantial risk that a line will be crossed so as to become exploitative … All the more so where there is a power imbalance between the individuals involved and all the more so where large amounts of alcohol are consumed”.There is a “culture in which the ‘congress wife’ (or husband) is a term in common usage and is reflective of a prevalence of extramarital sexual relationships”, which encourages others to expect “to have the opportunity [to] engage in similar behaviour”.An elected official had informed him that people’s “moral compass” would fall away at conference. The individual said he had been “approached in a way by females, over a few years, and basically – how can I put it – offering it to you on a plate, if you like: it’s there for you, because they perceive you as having power”.A council member told Carr that on joining the body they had been told that “students need to be on their guard really and are quite vulnerable and I can see what they meant by it”. A second said there was “abuse, grooming, preying” in a “boozy sexualised culture”.Outside conference, Carr said he had also heard allegations of sexual harassment in the RCN and that he noted “that they do to some extent support the impression that there is a culture of some senior individuals seeking to take advantage of subordinates and engaging in unwanted sexual behaviours”. Continue reading...

Britons finding it easier to manage budgets and monitor spending using notes and coinsThe Post Office handled a record of almost £3.5bn in cash for customers in August, against a backdrop of bank branch closures and the cost of living crisis.The £3.45bn in cash crossing Post Office counters in August was the highest total since it began recording volumes it handles through its 11,500 local branches five years ago. August is traditionally a quieter month for cash transactions at its branches. Continue reading...

Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who becomes shortest serving PM in Malaysian history, hopes to win stronger mandate for his partyMalaysia’s prime minister, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, has called for an early election, hoping to win a stronger mandate for his party and stabilise the rocky political landscape that has plagued the country over the last four years.The ruling party’s rush for an election comes as the economy, still recovering from the Covid pandemic, has begun to feel the pinch of rising costs and a global slowdown. Continue reading...

About 250 whales beached on remote Chatham Islands just days after another stranding involving similar number of mammals

Former Tory chancellor also calls on Kwasi Kwarteng to speed up release of OBR forecastsLiz Truss must increase benefits in line with inflation rather than earnings, the former chancellor Sajid Javid has said, as the prime minister faces increasing Conservative pressure to relent over the issue.Victoria Prentis, the work and pensions minister, insisted no decision had been made, while seeming to hint she would prefer the more generous settlement. Continue reading...

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Ten winners will be given advice on how to create safe cycling infrastructure as well as head off vocal criticsCities around the world will have the chance to compete for $1m (£902,000) in funding as well as expertise to build new cycling infrastructure under a plan launched by the charitable foundation set up by Mike Bloomberg, who as New York mayor pioneered new bike lanes in the city.Under the scheme, launched on Monday by Bloomberg Philanthropies, 10 cities will be awarded up to $1m each to create safe cycling routes, and will also be given help designing the schemes and on engaging with residents and potential opposition. Continue reading...

Scientist Alicia Quartermain concerned evidence may have been omitted from criminal casesDNA evidence may have been omitted from criminal cases in Queensland because some samples weren’t tested thoroughly, with closer scrutiny of examples from sexual assault cases showing “usable” profiles, an inquiry has heard.The probe, led by former judge Walter Sofronoff, is examining the state-run lab’s 2018 decision to stop testing samples that contained tiny amounts of DNA. Continue reading...

Recently re-elected Krišjānis Kariņš argues potential wave of Russians fleeing mobilisation poses security riskLatvia’s prime minister, Krišjānis Kariņš, has called on EU leaders to stop all tourist visas for Russians, reigniting the debate about further tightening sanctions against Vladimir Putin’s Russia.Speaking to the Guardian, Kariņš rejected the idea that allowing Russians seeking to evade the draft to enter the EU would be a way to weaken the Kremlin’s armed forces. He said it was understandable that many men would not wish “to go and fight and likely die in Ukraine” and this could trigger a “potential huge immigration wave coming from Russia”, but contended that posed a security risk to Europe. “I think the political dissenters have mostly already left. Then there will be economic opportunists, many, many other reasons and people with unknown loyalties.” Continue reading...

The longest-serving executive producer of 60 Minutes, ‘didn’t care about political correctness’, colleagues say

Attack that left 37 dead was carried out by former police officer dismissed from the force for methamphetamine possessionThe Thai prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, has ordered a clampdown on drugs, including an emphasis on rehabilitation, following the mass shooting and stabbing at a nursery in north-eastern Thailand that left 37 people dead, mostly young children.The unprecedented attack has shaken Thailand, where mass killings are rare, and prompted calls for a tougher stance on drugs. It was carried out by a former police officer, identified by police as Panya Khamrab, who had been dismissed from the force for methamphetamine possession. Continue reading...

Artist, academic and psychologist Debra Keenahan tells disability royal commission she is harassed by strangers once a month

Experts say the progressive vote is disillusioned with incremental changes brought in by Ardern Labour governmentLate in the campaign period of Auckland’s mayoral election came a spate of strange, oddly specific, billboard vandalism. As the race in New Zealand’s most populous city wound to its conclusion, boardings for Efeso Collins, an independent progressive candidate and mayoral frontrunner, were plasteredwith red “Labour” party logos.Compared with the moustaches and monobrows that typically bedeck election billboards, it seemed an innocuous choice for vandals. But Collins’ campaign said it was an act of politicised sabotage. “None of our allies or volunteers have been doing it,” a spokesperson told The Spinoff. “We believe it’s an attack tactic.” Continue reading...

Legitimacy of court-appointed ‘experts’ to come under review after mother loses custody appealOne of Britain’s most senior judges is to examine issues relating to the regulation of court-appointed experts who provide evidence about child welfare in private custody hearings – and, in particular, where “parental alienation” is a feature.Sir Andrew McFarlane, the president of the family division of the high court, will oversee an appeal later this month brought by a mother who challenged the qualifications of a court-appointed expert who found she had “alienated” her children from their father. Continue reading...