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Sex workers in Belgium have been granted full employment rights, including maternity pay, sick days and pensions. The new law, which came into force on Sunday, puts them on a par with those in other professions in a legal breakthrough some supporters are calling a "revolution". Sex workers can now sign employment contracts and have been granted fundamental rights including being able to refuse clients, choose their practices, and stop an act at any moment.Belgium decriminalised sex work in 2022, and while countries such as Germany and the Netherlands have legalised sex work, none have implemented labour protections as comprehensive as Belgium's.The legislation establishes rules on working hours, pay and safety measures, as well as granting sex workers access to health insurance, paid leave...

Gerard Hutch, the alleged head of a major criminal gang in Dublin, has failed to win a seat in Ireland's general election.Mr Hutch, known as The Monk, came fifth in the four-seat Dublin Central constituency, where Sinn Fein leader Mary Lou McDonald topped the poll. Mr Hutch, 61, is on bail for an alleged money laundering charge in Lanzarote. Officials there did not immediately respond to Sky News' questions about the next stages in his case.Mr Hutch's campaign also did not accept Sky News' request to interview him before the counting started.There were scenes of pandemonium when he appeared at the Dublin count centre at the end of his unsuccessful bid to be elected to the Irish parliament. It had been thought he wouldn't attend the count centre when it had become clear he had failed in his...

A British man has died after being found at the bottom of a lift shaft while on holiday in Turkey.Tyler Kerry, 20, a labourer from Basildon in Essex, was found on Friday at the hotel he was staying at in Antalya. His uncle, Alex Price, said his nephew was discovered at 7am local time (4am UK time)."I got a phone call from my sister and she just said that Tyler had been found in the lift shaft at the hotel," Mr Price said."An ambulance team were attending to him but unfortunately they weren't able to resuscitate him, and he was pronounced dead at the scene." Mr Price said the family was "in the dark about what's happened" but were being supported by a consular official and a representative from holiday company TUI.He said Mr Kerry was a "lovely young man" and that he and his girlfriend Moll...

First preference vote shares in Ireland's election suggest that Fianna Fail and Fine Gael are poised to continue their coalition, with Sinn Fein recording its first decline in support in 35 years. Since the foundation of the Irish state, at least one of Fianna Fail or Fine Gael has consistently been in power, and early results indicate this is unlikely to change. However, their combined vote share has declined for the fourth consecutive general election and is now at a record low. The main opposition has performed even worse. At the 2020 election, Sinn Fein benefited most from the drop in support for Fine Gael and Fianna Fail, topping the poll for the first time with 24.5% of first-preference votes. Four years on, despite being in opposition to a relatively unpopular go...