Parliament

• Iraakse wetgevers hebben donderdag een nieuwe regering goedgekeurd onder leiding van zakenman Ali al-Zaidi, waarmee een einde komt aan maandenlange impasse in Bagdad. • Het mediakantoor van de premier verklaarde dat het parlement vertrouwen heeft gegeven aan het kabinet-Zaidi, terwijl het staatnieuwsagentschap INA meldde dat een absolute meerderheid 14 ministeriële nominaties steunde. • Zaidi, die met 40 jaar wordt beschreven als de jongste premier van Irak, werd op 27 april gekozen na toenemende druk om een stabiel bestuur te herstellen.

De burgemeester van Greater Manchester probeert zijn aanhangers gerust te stellen nadat potentiële zetels voor hem niet zijn gerealiseerd

Ceremonieel evenement markeert het begin van een nieuw parlementair jaar en schetst het regeringsbeleid en voorgestelde wetgeving UK politics live – laatste updates Lees verder...

De vragenset van dinsdag leek meer geschikt voor prime time; vol met schandalige beschuldigingen, alleen lijkt de cast veel minder sympathiek Volg onze liveblog over Australië voor de laatste updates Ontvang onze breaking news-e-mail, gratis app of dagelijkse nieuwspodcast Het vragenuur in het parlement van Queensland is geen kijkcijferhit. Nielsen publiceert geen kijkcijfers over de livestream vanuit George Street in Brisbane, maar men kan zich voorstellen dat het aantal kiezers dat op een doordeweekse ochtend afstemt om onze staatspolitici zichzelf laten geselen relatief laag is: een handvol politiek-nerds en de incidentele journalist die liever vanuit huis werkt. Lees verder...

• He Ting Ru, parlementslid voor de Workers' Party, benadrukte tijdens een parlementaire motie over de AI-transitie dat Singapore een van de meest kwetsbare economieën is voor verstoringen door AI. • Zij drong aan op de erkenning van ongemakkelijke realiteiten die verder gaan dan de geprezen infrastructuur en initiatieven voor bijscholing van het land. • De aanpak van Singapore, aangehaald door BCG, Kristalina Georgieva van het IMF en anderen, richt zich op het aanpakken van AI-kansen en -risico's door middel van omscholing van werknemers.

• Davis, 32, werd woensdag gearresteerd en aangeklaagd voor het aanzetten tot haat en het zaaien van angst. • De arrestatie volgt nadat de politie werd bekritiseerd tijdens een koninklijke commissie naar antisemitisme. • De prominente neo-nazi Joel Davis is aangeklaagd voor vermeende haatspraak na een protest van het National Socialist Network voor het parlement van New South Wales.

Mijnbouwbedrijf kan geen beroep gaan tegen aansprakelijkheid voor daminstorting in 2015 in Brazilië. Volg het nieuws van vandaag live Ontvang onze breaking news-e-mail, gratis app of dagelijkse nieuwspodcast Goedemorgen en welkom bij onze live nieuwsblog. Ik ben Martin Farrer met de belangrijkste verhalen van de afgelopen nacht, daarna neemt Nick Visser het over voor de hoofdactie. Een man is door de politie in New South Wales beschuldigd van een vermeende overtreding wegens haatzaaien in verband met een protest van een neonazigroep buiten het parlement van NSW in november vorig jaar. Meer informatie volgt. Lees verder...

Chris Minns’ chief of staff launched legal action to avoid giving evidence. Since the court ruled in his favour, others are doing the sameFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastWitnesses are refusing to appear before New South Wales parliamentary inquiries due to a recent court ruling, in a move labelled as having a “completely unacceptable” impact on public interest investigations.In December, the NSW court of appeal ruled that provisions of the Parliamentary Evidence Act allowing for arrest warrants were invalid on the basis that they impaired the court’s institutional integrity. Continue reading...

Exclusive: A Senate committee considering the illegal tobacco trade in Australia hears closed-session evidence from cigarette manufacturersGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAnti-smoking campaigners have accused the Coalition of secretly giving tobacco giants access to a parliamentary inquiry, a move they say undermines more than 15 years of precedent to protect public health.On Monday, representatives from tobacco company Philip Morris appeared before a Senate committee considering the illegal tobacco trade in Australia. Continue reading...

PM will face Kemi Badenoch and other MPs at final PMQs of the 2024-26 parliamentary sessionGood morning. Originally Keir Starmer was hoping that there would not be a need for a PMQs today, but we have got one, and it will definitely be the last of the 2024-26 parliamentary session. It will be a chance for Starmer to reflect on all the legislation passed.There is some relief that the government won the vote on Kemi Badenoch’s call for Starmer to be referred to the privileges committee with ease. Here is our overnight story by Pippa Crerar, Ben Quinn and Jessica Elgot. Continue reading...

In today’s newsletter: As Labour braces for heavy local election losses, senior figures ​are signalling unease and​ morale ​is sinking​, can the prime minister hang on?Good morning. Keir Starmer is on thin ice. The prime minister survived a bruising Tuesday in the Commons as MPs continued to scrutinise his account of the decision to appoint Peter Mandelson as US ambassador. Almost all Labour MPs backed Starmer in a key vote on whether he should face an inquiry into whether he misled parliament.But in Westminster there is a growing feeling that the Labour leader is on borrowed time. Next week’s local and parliamentary elections, which Starmer will face as one of the most unpopular prime ministers since records began, is likely to see public dissatisfaction crystallise. “He’s in last chance saloon,” one minister said after last night’s vote.US | King Charles has extolled the importance of Britain’s “special relationship” with the US in a speech to Congress that made pointed reference to the importance of Nato, the defence of Ukraine and the climate crisis.Middle East | Britain is facing a £35bn economic hit and the risk of a recession this year as the fallout from the Iran war adds to the pressure on Keir Starmer’s government, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) has warned.Oil | The UAE has quit the Opec oil cartel after 60 years of membership, in a heavy blow to the group and its de facto leader, Saudi Arabia, as global energy markets contend with the biggest supply crisis in history.UK news | The chair of NatWest was forced to defend the bank against accusations of “climate backtracking” at a chaotic annual shareholder meeting, which was temporarily suspended owing to singing protesters.Women’s rights | Fifa has given permission for Afghan Women United – a squad composed of refugees scattered around the world in Australia, the Middle East and Europe – to represent Afghanistan in official competitions without requiring the approval of the Taliban, which banned the team. Continue reading...

Eight EU members continue to include force or violence in their definitions in national criminal codesThe European parliament has called on the EU to draw up a standardised consent-based definition of rape, in what legislators described as a crucial step towards addressing the patchwork of laws, some of them insufficient, that currently exist across the bloc.On Tuesday, 447 of the parliament’s 720 MEPs voted to approve a report calling for a common definition of rape, centred on “only yes means yes,” prompting a loud round of applause in the chamber in Strasbourg. Continue reading...

Wiltshire town councillor Andrew Edwards has ‘a big collection’ and was visible throughout livestreamed proceedingsIt was blockbuster viewing for politicos across the country: the livestreamed grilling of Olly Robbins. While the sacked Foreign Office civil servant was billed as the star of the show, for many he was upstaged by a well-dressed man wearing a cravat.“I’ve got a big collection,” said Andrew Edwards, the scene stealer in question. Continue reading...

Labour MPs are reportedly urging colleagues to demand Burnham’s return in order to position him as Starmer’s eventual successorIf Keir Starmer is looking for a saviour to keep him in No 10 after the May elections and the scandal of the Mandelson saga, there is an unlikely figure in the north-west who might help him – temporarily.It has been the week where the prime minister seemed at his most isolated. But Labour MPs told the Guardian they were urging colleagues not to depose Starmer next month, and were instead preparing to demand that Andy Burnham return to parliament in order to succeed him before the next general election. Continue reading...

Sacked civil servant acknowledges ‘debate’ about release of documents after question about alleged ‘cover-up’Olly Robbins responded to a question about an alleged “cover-up” on Tuesday by confirming that government officials had considered withholding Peter Mandelson’s secretive vetting documents from parliament.Robbins, who was sacked by Keir Starmer as the Foreign Office’s top civil servant last week, appeared to confirm a report in the Guardian that senior officials were debating whether to withhold from parliament sensitive documents that revealed the vetting agency did not believe Mandelson should get clearance. Continue reading...

Ministers hope tobacco and vapes bill, which will become law next week, will create a ‘smoke-free generation’A bill banning anyone born after 2008 from buying tobacco in the UK has completed its progress through parliament in a move that ministers hope will create a “smoke-free generation”.Under the tobacco and vapes bill anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 will never be able to be legally sold tobacco across the UK, in an effort to save lives and reduce the burden on the NHS. Continue reading...

Jose Ramos-Horta urged by opposition to explain diplomatic passport given to businessman behind resort project, who denies any involvement with organised crimeTimor-Leste’s opposition has questioned how foreign investors in a proposed cryptocurrency resort obtained prime beachfront real estate in the country’s capital, and has called on the president to explain why he issued a diplomatic passport to a Chinese businessman involved in the project.Speaking in parliament in Dili on Monday, Fretilin opposition party MP Florentino Ximenes da Costa “Sinarai” raised concerns about the proposed AB Digital Technology Resort, which was the subject of a months-long investigation by the Guardian and Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP). Continue reading...

Legislation will expunge convictions and end prosecution of women who terminate their pregnanciesLegislation to pardon women who have been convicted of illegal abortions has passed its final parliamentary hurdle, paving the way for a landmark change in the law.The amendment to the crime and policing bill, which will also expunge the police records of those arrested and investigated over illegal abortions, was considered in the House of Lords during a phase of parliamentary ping-pong, where a bill passes back and forth between the Lords and Commons. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Opinions split on ‘unprecedented’ release of files, despite demand for ‘all papers’ related to ex-US ambassador’s appointmentSenior government officials have been considering whether to withhold from parliament sensitive documents that show Peter Mandelson had failed security vetting before he assumed the role of US ambassador, the Guardian can reveal.Any such decision could amount to an extraordinary breach of a parliamentary vote which ordered the release of “all papers” relevant to Mandelson’s appointment. Continue reading...

London mayor also says his party should make clear manifesto commitment on full membership in next parliamentGood morning. Shortly before the general election in 2024, Keir Starmer said he did not think the UK would rejoin the EU in his lifetime. (He is now 63.) At the time he was loath to say anything that implied the Brexit vote was a mistake. More recently, Labour has been happy to talk about the economic damage done by the leave vote, and ministers want a closer relationship with the EU, but ruling out a customs union or single market membership remain firm red lines for Labour. And even more pro-EU parties, like the Liberal Democrats, are a bit vague about when full rejoining might be an option (not least because the last thing the Brussels probably wants is another half-decade of Brexit negotiations hell).But today Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, is trying to shift the debate into a different space. In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, he has said not just that rejoining would be good in principle (which is about as far as most pro-European Labour MPs are willing to go), but that Labour should commit to rejoining in its next election manifesto.I see on a daily basis the damage Brexit has done to not just London, but Londoners, the damage economically, socially and culturally. And I’m quite clear in terms of what needs to happen, which is I do think we should join the European Union …So I think there should be a five-stage process in relation to this. Continue reading...

Reform MP made Valentine’s Day clips for platform despite previous warning about commercial filmingNewly unearthed Nigel Farage videos reveal support for rioter, neo-Nazi event and far-right slogansThe Reform UK MP Lee Anderson has used his parliamentary office to record paid-for personalised messaging videos, in a possible breach of rules that prohibit the commercial use of the Palace of Westminster.Anderson, who had already been warned about commercial filming in Westminster, sold two videos filmed from what he called the “beating heart of democracy in Westminster” in early February 2025. Continue reading...

MSPs reject bill after concerted campaign to block it and despite amendments intended to placate criticsThe Scottish parliament has voted against legalising assisted dying after critics and religious groups led a concerted campaign to block the measures.MSPs voted 69 to 57 to reject the proposals in a late night vote on Tuesday, despite a series of last-minute amendments designed to placate critics of the private member’s bill. Continue reading...

Prime minister Jonas Gahr Støre says connections have been proved between those in ‘trusted and central positions’ and late sex offenderThe Norwegian parliament has voted unanimously to appoint an independent investigative commission to look into connections between its foreign office and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Speaking before the vote on Tuesday, the prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, paid tribute to Epstein’s victims and said that the files released by the US Department of Justice had clearly shown “it is possible to buy and abuse influence if you are rich enough”. Continue reading...

Report reveals the Howard-era settings are helping fuel intergenerational inequality in Australia’s housing marketFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLabor has given one of its strongest signals yet the capital gains tax discount will be reworked in the May budget, with a parliamentary inquiry finding the Howard-era settings are helping fuel intergenerational inequality in Australia’s housing market.A Greens-led parliamentary inquiry said the 50% discount “skewed the ownership of housing away from owner-occupiers and towards investors”. Continue reading...

New legislation will require schools to use Mandarin by default, taking priority over minority ethnic languages such as Tibetan, Uyghur and MongolianChina’s National People’s Congress (NPC), the state legislature, will vote on Thursday on a suite of new laws agreed at this year’s annual two sessions gathering, including a piece of legislation that will diminish the role of minority ethnic languages in the education system.NPC delegates are expected to approve a new ethnic unity law, along with a new environmental code and the 15th five-year plan, the economic planning document for 2026-2030. Delegates have spent the last week debating Beijing’s proposed bills, which they are all but certain to approve. The NPC, which is often described as a rubber-stamp parliament, has never rejected an item on its agenda. Continue reading...