ABS warned Albanese government that excluding LGBTQ+ questions risked the success of census

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Australian Bureau of Statistics also told MP Andrew Leigh not including questions on sexual orientation and gender would do ‘damage’

The Albanese government was warned that excluding questions on sexual orientation and gender identity from the census could increase feelings of exclusion in the LGBTQ+ community and even risk the success of the data collection exercise, newly released documents reveal.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics raised concerns in ministerial submissions about strong public criticism to scrapping the proposed questions, potential “damage” to relationships with LGBTQ+ expert groups advising on the census and limitations in the quality of data the census collects.

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NSW nurses and midwives announce strike – as it happened

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Australia’s ‘sex report card’ released

The latest Australian Study of Health and Relationships was revealed at a conference in Sydney this week held by the International Union Against Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Rent assistance went up by $25 and … average rents have gone up by more than $100. What might look like a big percentage increase is, frankly, fuck all, and that’s one of the reasons that this is so upsetting.

When CRA is indexed, the amount of rent that you have to pay before you get any rent assistance increases. So the proportion of your rent, where you qualify for it, reduces if you aren’t receiving the maximum payment.

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Why Putin’s Attempt to Rewire Global Trade Is Faltering, in Charts and Maps – The Wall Street Journal

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  1. Why Putin’s Attempt to Rewire Global Trade Is Faltering, in Charts and Maps  The Wall Street Journal
  2. Vladimir Putin's Pivot to China is Backfiring  Newsweek
  3. Why China's sinking economy could backfire on Vladimir Putin  ABC News
  4. China-Russia trade inches up as US sanctions and payment issues strain growth  South China Morning Post
  5. Yuan Shortages Latest Headache for Russian Economy  Geopoliticalmonitor.com
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‘You basically have free hot water’: how Cyprus became a world leader in solar heating

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The country, which has more 300 days of sunshine a year, has embraced rooftop systems that harness the sun’s energy

The Thriamvos company truck pulls up at noon outside the four-storey building in the heart of Nicosia.

It’s the third rooftop installation of a solar-powered water heating system that Petros Mihali and his assistant, Soteris, have made in the Cypriot capital since their working day began at 7am.

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Reform can learn from Lib Dems on ground campaigning, says Richard Tice

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Party’s aim is to build base of local councillors and activists, deputy leader says before conference

Reform UK plans to mimic the Liberal Democrats in building up a national base of councillors and activists to try to expand its support, the party’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, has said before its annual conference.

While the mood in Birmingham will be celebratory, with Tice joining Nigel Farage as two of the five Reform MPs elected on 4 July, there could also be some internal dissent over a planned new party constitution, with one senior party figure saying it would allow Farage to act as an “absolute dictator”.

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‘He could be here more’: Clacton split over Nigel Farage’s first months as MP

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Many remain positive about their high-profile politician but others complain that he ‘got his seat and disappeared’

It happened sometime on Monday morning, locals think, though no one seems to know exactly when. But as staff in the shops on Old Road in Clacton stepped out of work for lunch, they spotted that the billboard on the corner of Crossfield Road had been ripped to ribbons.

Plenty had approved of the poster, placed there by the political campaign group Led By Donkeys, drawing attention to the huge scale of the local MP Nigel Farage’s earnings outside politics. A photo of the billboard posted on X by the group has 24,000 likes.

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‘They want total control’: how Russia is forcing Sami people to hide their identity

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The ministry of justice has added 55 Indigenous organisations to a list of terrorists and extremists, leading many to leave for Nordic countries

Sami people in Russia are being forced to hide their identity and live “outside the law” for fear of imprisonment and persecution, leading figures from the community have warned, after the government labelled dozens of Indigenous organisations terrorists and extremists.

In July, Russia’s ministry of justice added 55 Indigenous organisations to a list of terrorists and extremists, meaning that representatives of the groups – and anyone who takes part, cooperates or communicates with them – risk being sentenced to years in prison.

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Revealed: Russia anticipated Kursk incursion months in advance, seized papers show

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Exclusive: Documents contain months of warnings about possible Ukrainian advance and also reveal concerns about morale

Russia’s military command had anticipated Ukraine’s incursion into its Kursk region and had been making plans to prevent it for several months, according to a cache of documents that the Ukrainian army said it had seized from abandoned Russian positions in the region.

The disclosure makes the disarray among Russian forces after Ukraine’s attack in early August all the more embarrassing. The documents, shared with the Guardian, also reveal Russian concerns about morale in the ranks in Kursk, which intensified after the suicide of a soldier at the front who had reportedly been in a “prolonged state of depression due to his service in the Russian army”.

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Ministers and union leaders to hold crunch talks over workers’ rights plans

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Exclusive: government is hoping to avert a potentially damaging row at Labour conference

Trade union leaders will meet senior ministers on Saturday for crunch talks on the government’s workers’ rights package, as the government looks to head off a potentially damaging row at Labour conference.

General secretaries from the 11 unions affiliated to Labour will meet Angela Rayner, the deputy prime minister, and Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, on the eve of conference to thrash out details of the package, sources have told the Guardian.

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Labour has ‘big hill to climb’ to win next Scottish election, says Ian Murray

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Scotland secretary says Labour must show it deserves power in Holyrood by delivering on promises to electorate

Labour faces big challenges to win the next Scottish election because of the “dire” economic situation and the country’s volatile electorate, the Scotland secretary has said.

Ian Murray said the Labour government and the wider party had to accept they had “a big hill to climb” to regain power in Holyrood in elections scheduled for May 2026.

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Oprah hosts star-studded sit-down with Kamala Harris: ‘Hope is making a comeback’

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Julia Roberts and Chris Rock tune in as vice-president attacks Trump on abortion and pledges to sign border bill

Kamala Harris sat down with Oprah Winfrey on Thursday for a “virtual rally” that included a wide ranging sit-down interview, during which Harris attacked her opponent’s stance on reproductive rights and pledged to sign a border security bill thwarted by Senate Republicans, but largely kept her guard up with the legendary television interviewer.

The event, helmed by one of the all-time masters of the television talkshow, was filled with celebrity cameos and heart-wrenching personal stories. It was live-streamed from Michigan, a key battleground state.

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Man fights for life after allegedly being shot twice in rural NSW home invasion

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Police say victim, 46, was at home in Hillston, near Griffith, when he was shot in the abdomen by an intruder on Friday morning

A man is fighting for life in hospital after allegedly being shot twice in the abdomen when a group of intruders entered his home in a small town in rural New South Wales.

Police alleged the 46-year-old man was inside a home in Burns Street in Hillston, about 100km north-west of Griffith in the state’s Riverina region, when three people – one armed with a gun – came inside the house about 2.30am Friday.

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Trump bemoans lack of support from Jewish voters and blames ‘Democrat curse’

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In disjointed Washington speech, nominee tells audience low numbers are because of ‘the Democrat curse on you’

Donald Trump has complained bitterly to Jewish donors that a majority of Jews vote against him in US presidential elections, suggesting that the Democratic party has a “curse on you”.

The Republican presidential candidate made the remarks during a speech on Thursday at the Israeli-American Council national summit in Washington, where he used hyperbolic language to warn that victory for his opponent Kamala Harris would result in Israel being wiped off the map.

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How Lebanon’s pagers and walkie-talkies became deadly weapons – podcast

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On Tuesday, dozens of people were killed when electronic pagers blew up. The next day walkie-talkies exploded. What was the goal of the attacks? William Christou reports

On Tuesday, William Christou, a journalist reporting from Beirut for the Guardian, began hearing about simultaneous explosions across the city. Then videos began to emerge of small blasts in shops, cars and people’s homes. The death toll began to rise. Then came the extraordinary reason: electronic pagers, used by members of Hezbollah to communicate, had blown up, wounding their owners and whoever was nearby.

Israel was blamed by its critics and supporters alike and questions multiplied: how could such an attack have been carried out, and why now? Israel and Hezbollah have been trading attacks over the Lebanese border since the beginning of the war on Gaza, but this operation took everyone by surprise. Then came more deadly explosions – this time walkie-talkies blew up.

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Covid origins: Genetic ghosts suggest pandemic started in market – BBC.com

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  1. Covid origins: Genetic ghosts suggest pandemic started in market  BBC.com
  2. New research points to raccoon dogs in Wuhan market as pandemic trigger. It's controversial  NPR
  3. New analysis of samples from Wuhan animal market supports its role as a central site of early spread of Covid-19  CNN
  4. Scientists again link covid pandemic origin to Wuhan market animals  The Washington Post
  5. Evidence points to Wuhan market as source of covid-19 outbreak  New Scientist
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Flood-hit central Europe will get billions in EU aid, von der Leyen promises – Reuters

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  1. Flood-hit central Europe will get billions in EU aid, von der Leyen promises  Reuters
  2. 1,000 Evacuated As Waters Rise In Northern Italy  The Weather Channel
  3. Flooding in Central Europe blamed for 24 deaths as EU promises $11 billion in emergency repair funding  CBS News
  4. Flooding in Europe Is a ‘Clear Reminder’ of the Threat of Extreme Weather  The New York Times
  5. Clean-up starts after devastating floods hit Italy's Emilia-Romagna  Yahoo! Voices
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