LGBTQ+ pop-up in former Sydney church ordered by landlord to cancel events after religious protest 14. July 2026 (08:23) Landlord of deconsecrated building sends notice of breach to Divine Playhouse, claiming it ‘insulted and mocked’ beliefs of Christian AustraliansFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA deconsecrated Sydney church newly transformed into an LGBTQ+ venue has had to cancel events and been ordered to stop “engaging in offensive trade” by its landlord after religious groups protested against its opening night.Divine Playhouse opened last Wednesday with the intention of being a safe and inclusive space for artists to work and connect with audiences, its organiser said. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘We are dying little by little here’: asylum seekers at mercy of Home Office hotel closures 14. July 2026 (08:00) Legal challenges launched over accommodation ‘adequacy’ as UK government closes more asylum hotelsHuda and her two children aged 10 and 12 had been living in two rooms in a London hotel for six months when they were told with just a few days’ notice they would be moved. The 41-year-old engineering graduate from Tunisia fled death threats from extended family and is waiting for an asylum application to be processed.The Home Office had decided that Staycity, the hotel the family was staying in, would be closed as part of a government pledge that asylum seekers would be moved out of hotels and into military barracks or other forms of shared housing. The move followed protests by anti-migrant activists, with many arguing hotels were too luxurious to accommodate asylum seekers.Some names have been changed. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Ed Husic says weakening copyright to benefit AI companies would betray Labor party’s ethos 14. July 2026 (07:40) Labor MP says ‘a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work’ was a founding principle of the ALP as media union calls for tougher new rules on AI use of creative workFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Labor MP Ed Husic says any moves to water down copyright law to benefit AI companies would be “going against the ethos” of the party and undermining the principle of “a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work”.Husic also urged his colleagues to place stricter rules on the big tech firms or be “doomed to failure”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Teenager left with life-threatening injuries after alleged stabbing at Brisbane school 14. July 2026 (07:14) Queensland police arrest a 16-year-old boy after an alleged altercation with a 17-year-old boy at Islamic College of BrisbaneFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA teenager has been left with life-threatening injuries after being allegedly stabbed by another student at a Brisbane high school.The alleged altercation took place at the Islamic College of Brisbane in Karawatha, south of Brisbane, at about 11.45am on Tuesday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Bangkok bar fire: death toll reaches 30 as police investigate negligence as ‘primary theory’ 14. July 2026 (07:06) Bar owner in Thailand offers ‘deepest apologies for this tragic incident’ as police investigate whether exits were either blocked or hard to accessThe Bangkok pub that has become the scene of the city’s deadliest blaze in 17 years has said it will cooperate with an investigation into alleged negligence, as the death toll rose to 30.The local district office said on Tuesday that three more people died after the devastating fire that broke out in the early hours of Monday. An initial assessment by disaster officials found that an electrical short circuit in an air conditioner located in the ceiling caused the fire. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK’s alcohol-free beer boom threatened by regulations, trade body warns 14. July 2026 (07:00) BBPA wants content definition for beer to be considered alcohol free to be changed from 0.05% to 0.5%Pubs and brewers are being prevented from capitalising on Britons’ record-breaking thirst for alcohol-free beer because of over-strict regulation, a trade body has warned.More than 64m pints of low- and no-alcohol beer is forecast to be sold over the summer, an increase of 8m compared with 2025, the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA) said, citing the figures as proof that the category is “not just a fad”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
North Sea oil industry urges Burnham to approve new drilling in UK waters 14. July 2026 (07:00) Lobby appeals to prospective PM’s reindustrialisation agenda as it pushes for Rosebank and Jackdaw approvalThe UK’s North Sea oil industry has made a last-ditch attempt to curry favour with the Labour government by appealing to Andy Burnham’s reindustrialisation agenda just days before he is expected to become Britain’s next prime minister.Industry lobbyists have written to more than 400 Labour MPs to call on the government’s new leaders to allow more oil and gas drilling in UK waters to support homegrown energy and show “a commitment to UK manufacturing, industrial capability and the skilled workforce that has powered the nation for generations”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Universities not doing enough to deal with protests and ‘highly personal’ attacks, antisemitism royal commission hears 14. July 2026 (06:56) Royal commission into antisemitism hears professor whose office was occupied by protesters did not know at time whether it was a ‘terrorist attack’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA Jewish professor has told the royal commission into antisemitism the University of Melbourne needs to show it doesn’t “tolerate misbehaviour” after the expulsion of two pro-Palestine student activists who occupied his office was overturned.Steven Prawer, a professor of physics, said on Tuesday that he had not known at the time whether it was a “terrorist attack”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Sale of multimillion-dollar T rex skeleton is big headache for scientists 14. July 2026 (06:00) Palaeontologists warn before auction at Sotheby’s in New York that super-rich collectors are harming researchWith its dagger-like teeth, bone-crushing bite and behemothic size, the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex ruled western North America during the late Cretaceous period. Now its fossilised remains are about to dominate the auction house, with a price tag to terrify punters.On Tuesday, one of the largest and most complete T rex skeletons discovered to date is to be auctioned by Sotheby’s in New York with an estimated sale price of $20m-$30m (£15m-£22.4m). Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Sweden prides itself on equality – so why is its political gender gap growing? 14. July 2026 (06:00) As general election looms, survey shows twice as many men as women support far-right Sweden DemocratsOne is led by Sweden’s first female prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, and has promised smaller school-class sizes, more housing and free dental care for young people. The other, led by Jimmie Åkesson, has neo-Nazi roots and has pledged to lower taxes, improve public safety and treat “anti-Swedishness” as a hate crime.In the run-up to Sweden’s general election in September, the Social Democrats and the Sweden Democrats are placed first and second respectively in the polls, and between them are expected to scoop up more than 50% of the vote. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
