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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Kris Swales

Afternoon Update: religious sect members guilty of killing girl; economists tip rate cut; and Melania’s official portrait

Elizabeth Struhs was not given insulin and died as a result
Eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs was not given insulin and died as a result. Photograph: BBC

Members of a Toowoomba religious sect have been found guilty of killing eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs by withholding her insulin in 2022.

Justice Martin Burns found Elizabeth’s father, mother, brother Zachary and 11 other adult members of the group, known as the Saints, guilty of manslaughter. The sect members knew Elizabeth was a type 1 diabetic who required insulin to live, the court heard, but it was deliberately withdrawn as a result of their religious faith.

Top news

In pictures

The returning first lady’s official portrait has dropped. Morwenna Ferrier writes that Régine Mahaux’s “corporate black-and-white shoot is reminiscent of The Apprentice or House of Cards”.

What they said …

***

“I commit to telling the truth from this podium every single day.”

Karoline Leavitt, Donald Trump’s chief press secretary, set the tone for what is to come at the US president’s first media briefing. Leavitt staunchly defended new freezes on federal grants and loans, and invited “new media voices” that could take the briefing room to TikTok.

In numbers

Australia’s underlying inflation rate has fallen to a three-year low of 3.2%, the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows. The Betashares chief economist, David Bassanese, who correctly forecast the inflation figures, backed the Reserve Bank to “cut baby cut” interest rates in response.

Before bed read

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said the Louvre would relocate the Mona Lisa to a private viewing room. Why? To finally fix the crowds. But “crowds give life to the Paris museum”, writes Jonathan Jones, and the Louvre’s most famous artwork is a “silent mystery at the heart of the hubbub”.

Daily word game

Today’s starter word is: PATH. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.

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