Author: The Guardian

Students and teachers will be able to speak freely about sexual orientation and gender identity in Florida classrooms as long as it is not part of the instruction, according to a settlement reached Monday by state education officials and civil rights attorneys. Don’t say gay”.The settlement clarifies what Florida classrooms are allowed to do after passing a law two years ago banning the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades. Opponents say the law has left people confused about whether teachers can identify themselves as LGBTQ+ or if they can put rainbow stickers in their classrooms.Other states…

The international Red Cross movement is under pressure to take action against the Russian Red Cross (RRC) over close links between the group and the Kremlin’s war and propaganda machine.The evidence includes the RRC president’s central role in a pro-Putin “patriotic” organisation, senior RRC staff who speak of the impossibility of peace with “Ukrainian Nazis”, and RRC participation in military training for children.There are also allegations, revealed in leaked Kremlin documents obtained by the Estonian publication Delfi and shared with a consortium of outlets including the Guardian, that the Kremlin plans to replace the work of the international Red Cross…

Australia’s two-time world surfing champion Taylor Wright spent her off-season pulling out all the stops to put her in top shape to win Olympic gold later this year, undergoing “life-changing” surgery to remove seven screws into her head.After reaching her first World Surf League quarter-finals in Portugal this year, Wright revealed she had suffered from respiratory problems throughout her surfing career as her narrow airways made it difficult for her to get oxygen.The 29-year-old, one of four surfers to represent Australia at the 2024 Olympics, sought expert advice at the end of last season and was told he would need…

Eric Carmen, the frontman of the powerpop band Raspberries and singer of solo hits including All By Myself, Never Gonna Fall in Love Again and Hungry Eyes, has died aged 74.Carmen’s wife, Amy, announced his death on his official website. No cause of death was given.“It is with tremendous sadness that we share the heartbreaking news of the passing of Eric Carmen,” she wrote. “Our sweet, loving and talented Eric passed away in his sleep, over the weekend. It brought him great joy to know that, for decades, his music touched so many and will be his lasting legacy. Please…

An Auckland-bound flight suddenly plunged in the sky, leaving passengers bleeding and dozens hospitalized and “feeling like there had just been an earthquake,” cockpit voice and flight data recorders are collecting.LATAM Airlines flight LA800 took off from Sydney at 11.35am on Monday, carrying 263 passengers and nine cabin crew members, bound for Auckland. The airline said that for about two-thirds of the three-hour flight, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner – which is eight years old, according to flight tracking data – “experienced Strong shock.”The Chilean airline said the incident occurred after a “technical issue” and that it was continuing to investigate…

A US delegation on religious freedom said Monday it cut short its visit to Saudi Arabia after one of its members was asked to remove his Jewish head covering, or kippah.The United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) said its delegation was near Riyadh visiting Diriyah, a historic town and Unesco world heritage site, when the commission’s chair, the Orthodox rabbi Abraham Cooper, “refused their requests that he remove his religious head covering”.Cooper said in a statement: “No one should be denied access to a heritage site, especially one intended to highlight unity and progress, simply for existing as…

Apacino said he was following instructions from Oscar producers not to name any of the other best picture nominees when announcing Oppenheimer as the winner in the show’s biggest category.The Oscar-winning actor was the final host on Sunday night when he announced Oppenheimer as the best picture winner but, in keeping with tradition, did not reveal the full list of nominees.”I just want to clarify that I did not intentionally omit them, but the producers chose not to have them mentioned again because they were highlighted individually throughout the awards show,” Pacino said in a statement Monday afternoon. ” “I…

Russian troops’ advance in Ukraine “has been stopped”, according to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, with the situation along the front at its best in three months. Zelenskiy, in an interview with France’s BFM television, said Ukraine had improved its strategic position despite shortages of weaponry, but suggested the situation could change without new supplies. It comes after Russia captured Avdiivka and then advanced into nearby villages. In the past week, Ukraine’s military has been saying that Russian forces are no longer advancing and Ukrainian troops have improved their position. Zelenskiy noted Ukrainian shootdowns of Russian warplanes and sinking of targets in the…

U.S. House Republicans released a report on Monday that they said contradicted sensational committee testimony on January 6, in which a former aide to Donald Trump said he was told that as Congress As the attack unfolded, the then-President was so eager to join his supporters at the Capitol that he tried to stop him by grabbing the steering wheel of his car.”…the testimony of four White House staffers directly contradicted the statements made by Cassidy Hutchinson and the Select Committee in the final report,” the House Management Oversight Subcommittee wrote in its report on the committee’s Jan. 6 investigation.…

Donald Trump’s new leadership team at the Republican National Committee started the process of ousting scores of staffers on Monday night, clearing out its ranks as they prepare to bring the committee under the wing of the Trump 2024 presidential campaign, sources familiar with the matter said.The RNC is expected to cull about 60 people across the political, data and communications departments. At least five members of the senior staff will be let go and some third-party contracts may also be cancelled. One source familiar with the situation described it as an “absolute bloodbath”.In ousting large swathes of the RNC,…