Single sex toilets must exclude transgender people, says EHRC 21. May 2026 (20:33) Updated code of practice covering England, Wales and Scotland also relates to changing rooms and follows supreme court rulingWhat is the updated EHRC code of practice about and how does it apply?Single-sex toilets and changing rooms in England, Wales and Scotland must exclude transgender men and women, according to a new code of practice from the equalities watchdog.But the long-awaited guidance also says that businesses and service providers have to offer practical alternatives such as gender-neutral toilets for people who do not wish to use services for their biological sex. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Democrats belatedly publish 2024 presidential election autopsy report 21. May 2026 (20:29) DNC chair Ken Martin apologizes for initial bid to block release of report on the party’s disastrous election defeatThe Democrats have belatedly published a postmortem on the party’s disastrous 2024 election defeat, after an initial decision to withhold the document triggered an angry backlash.Ken Martin, chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), released the report – which fails to mention Gaza or Joe Biden’s age – accompanied by an apology to party members angered by his initial decision to keep the analysis of Kamala Harris’s loss to Donald Trump and defeat in both houses of Congress under wraps. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Sadiq Khan sparks row with Met after blocking £50m AI deal with Palantir 21. May 2026 (20:07) Exclusive: Scotland Yard criticises London mayor’s decision as disappointing and warns it could hit policing Sadiq Khan has blocked a £50m Metropolitan police deal with the controversial US tech company Palantir, sparking a bitter row between the London mayor and Scotland Yard.After the UK’s largest police force had agreed to use Palantir’s AI technology to automate intelligence analysis in criminal investigations, Khan intervened, citing “serious concerns” about how the deal had been struck. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Italian police stop party attended by Mick Jagger over music ban 21. May 2026 (19:58) Music is banned on Wednesdays on island of Stromboli where Rolling Stones frontman was celebrating wrapping a filmPolice on an Italian island stopped a party attended by Mick Jagger – because music is banned on Wednesdays.The Rolling Stones frontman was on Stromboli, the volcanic island among Sicily’s Aeolian archipelago, for the production of Three Incestuous Sisters, a film by the Italian director Alice Rohrwacher in which he stars. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Senior civil servants to get bonuses for first time to reward ‘doers, not talkers’ 21. May 2026 (19:54) Highest-ranking staff will get 2.5% pay rise with bonuses for top performers in plan to ‘rewire’ civil serviceSenior civil servants will get bonuses for exceptional performance for the first time under a new system that Darren Jones, the Cabinet Office minister, said would reward the “doers, not the talkers”.Jones, who is also chief secretary to the prime minister, said most civil servants would get a 3.5% pay rise but senior staff would have a base increase of 2.5%, with 1% held back for bonuses for the highest-performing officials. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US supreme court dismisses Alabama’s bid to execute intellectually disabled man 21. May 2026 (19:54) Court throws out state’s challenge to judicial finding that inmate convicted of murder is ineligible for death penaltyThe US supreme court on Thursday threw out a challenge by the state of Alabama to a judicial finding that a death row inmate convicted of a 1997 murder is intellectually disabled and thus ineligible under the US constitution for the death penalty.In this highly unusual move, and in a single-sentence, unsigned order, the court dismissed Alabama’s petition for review in Hamm v Smith without deciding it, effectively undoing its earlier decision to take up an appeal by state officials to the method used by a lower court to determine that Joseph Clifton Smith was intellectually disabled and therefore could not be executed. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Ebola: US ban on travellers from DRC, Uganda or South Sudan ‘not the solution’ 21. May 2026 (19:41) Africa CDC says restrictions could increase public health risks and highlight ‘deeper structural injustice’ in global healthA US travel ban for people coming from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda or South Sudan in response to the Ebola outbreak could make the situation worse, critics have said.The outbreak was declared a public health emergency of international concern on Sunday and continues to spread, with a new case reported in the DRC’s South Kivu province, an area under the control of armed rebel groups. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Cubans outraged at US charges against Raúl Castro but view military strikes as serious possibility 21. May 2026 (18:15) It’s a nerve-racking time for Havana neighbours of top Cuban officials as fears of US attack growA new question in being asked in Havana as people digest the news that the US has brought criminal charges against Cuba’s 94-year-old former president, Raúl Castro: who’s your neighbour?If you happen to live near a senior figure in Cuba’s government or armed forces, others suck their teeth in an expression of concerned sympathy. For the first time, US military strikes on the island are being considered a serious possibility. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Oil markets nearing ‘red zone’ as Iran crisis continues, warns IEA chief 21. May 2026 (18:10) Surging demand, low reserves and reduced Middle East exports predicted to cause global crunch by AugustOil markets will enter the “red zone” by July and August as stocks dwindle before the summer travel season amid a shortage of fresh oil exports from the Middle East, the executive director of the International Energy Agency warned on Thursday.Fatih Birol added that the most important solution to the Iran war energy shock was a full and unconditional reopening of the strait of Hormuz. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
The far-right Israeli minister taunting detained Gaza activists – The Latest 21. May 2026 (17:49) Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has triggered global outrage after sharing footage of himself taunting bound activists who had been detained as they tried to sail to Gaza with aid. The video has been widely condemned by world leaders, including the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and by Israeli politicians, among them the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s chief Middle East correspondent, Emma Graham-Harrison – watch on YouTube Continue reading...(The Guardian)
