More than 300 signatories call for a ‘far more’ decisive response to the war in Gaza and recognition of Palestine More than 300 former European diplomats and ex-officials have written to EU leaders urging a “far more” decisive response to the war in Gaza, including a full suspension of the bloc’s cooperation agreement with Israel. Published soon after the opening of the UN general assembly in New York, the letter from the 312 signatories also called on all EU member states to recognise the state of Palestine, joining 147 countries that have already done so. France, Belgium, the UK, Canada and Australia, among others, are expected to signal recognition of a Palestinian state later this month at the UN. Continue reading...

In an address delivered before the person who killed Kirk had even been identified, Donald Trump blamed ‘the radical left’ for the shooting A UK offshoot of a US conservative group set up by Charlie Kirk is to hold a vigil in London after he was shot dead, reports the PA news agency. Turning Point UK has said its activists will gather on Friday evening by the Montgomery statue in Whitehall and called on others to “join us in remembering Charlie”. It’s absolutely shocking, we’re heartbroken over here in the UK. My thoughts this evening are with the loved ones of Charlie Kirk. It is heartbreaking that a young family has been robbed of a father and a husband. Political violence has no place in our societies. Our thoughts and condolences are with his family. An atrocious murder, a deep wound for democracy and for those who believe in freedom. My condolences to his family, to his loved ones, and to the American conservative community. Continue reading...

People attempting to obtain vaccine report major hurdles amid new limitations brought in by Trump health secretary The first deployment of updated Covid shots under the Trump administration has been plagued by access issues and misinformation amid confusion and chaos at US health agencies. People attempting to get the vaccines say they have struggled to understand eligibility requirements, book appointments, process insurance claims, battle misinformation from pharmacists and obtain prescriptions from their doctors in some states. Such hurdles will disproportionately affect people of color and low-income people, experts say. Continue reading...

Like an infectious disease, it efficiently finds more and more victims. It’s not picky about who they are Once unleashed, political violence comes for everyone. It doesn’t know what side of the aisle you’re on or what your ideology might be, who your allies are or what your vision for the future includes. It doesn’t know what brand of media you consume or how many ardent followers you have. Margaret Sullivan is a Guardian US columnist writing on media, politics and culture Continue reading...

Secretary-General of the OECD and former Coalition finance minister Mathias Cormann suggests Australians keep an open mind to nuclear power, saying there isn't "anything inherently partisan" about the energy source.

Tasmania Police are reviewing Facebook comments made in response to a Labor post on a pro-greyhound racing page, after the state's racing minister was subjected to slurs and threats.

The trial for Lamar Ahchee, who is accused of being involved in drug smuggling in Bali, is underway.

Deputy State Coroner Rebecca Hosking found a nine-month-old baby girl died suddenly and unnaturally from blunt force head injuries in 2018.

Queensland supreme court judge says Irving ‘fought for some 30 years to have the state recognise the wrong that occurred, without any apology’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Terry Irving spent 1,671 days in prison for a crime he did not commit. On Thursday, Queensland’s supreme court decided he was owed $130,000 in compensation for an ordeal that has consumed his life for more than three decades – years fighting from prison to clear his name, and 28 more seeking vindication. Continue reading...

Andy McDonald, a shadow cabinet minister under Jeremy Corbyn and under Starmer until 2021, said Peter Mandelson ‘should go immediately’ Good morning. Keir Starmer knew that Peter Mandelson had had a long and close friendship with Jeffrey Epstein when he appointed him ambassador to Washingon. He also knew that Mandelson has been a scandal magnet for most of his career. But he was not appointing him archbishop of Canterbury. He calculated that Mandelson would be the right person to forge a good relationship with the immoral plutocrat narcissist now running America (also an old friend of Epstein’s), and by all accounts Mandelson has done this very successfully. But, as Rowena Mason reports in her overnight story, Starmer is now under pressure to ditch the ambassador because new revelations about his relationship with Epstein have made it increasingly hard to defend – not least because Mandelson continued to support him in private even after he was facing charges for child sex offences. [Mandelson] should go immediately. His position is completely and utterly untenable and him staying on in post is causing the government and the Labour party further damage. I’m afraid if he doesn’t do the right thing and resign today then the prime minister should sack him … Angela Rayner did the right thing. She was under pressure for an inadvertent failure to pay tax. This is of a completely different scale. This speaks about morality and judgement, and Peter Mandelson’s position just is totally untenable, and he needs to act and take responsibility for his failures and withdraw from the political scene immediately. It’s 100%. People have got their heads in their hands over this and I haven’t spoken to anybody who is offering any glimmer of support for Peter Mandelson. It is widespread revulsion that we, by association, being in the same party, are being brought under the microscope for something that he has done. He’s got to take responsibility for his actions and bring this to a close. There’s got to be a moral compass. There are women who have been so fundamentally damaged by the behaviour of Epstein and his associates, and, in honour of them, we’ve got to put down a marker and say this is wholly and utterly unacceptable. And the consequences that flow from somebody having to fall on their sword will be the consequences, and we will deal with it. Continue reading...

NSW man John G Whaley is granted bail after pleading not guilty to a number of charges related to threats he allegedly made on Facebook against a senior constable.

Machinations over who will replace Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price on the Coalition frontbench are already underway, with the party's right warning it would be "incendiary" if the position was handed to someone from the left.

A man whose car was swept away by floodwater, killing a five-year-old boy, has told a court driving across the flooded causeway was the worst decision of his life.

A "bubble curtain" is set for activation as part of South Australia's fight against the ongoing algal bloom, as the state government defends its handling of health advice.

A Tasmanian coroner has released his findings from an investigation into 177 human specimens held in the collection of a university museum without the consent or knowledge of families.

E Jean Carroll won her case, but in Trumpland the only sex offences that matter are committed by paedophiles with links to Democrats On Monday, Donald Trump appeared in two, unrelated stories involving the sexual abuse of women. The first was a ruling by the US federal court of appeals, upholding an earlier judgment in which the president was found liable for $83.3m in damages for defaming the writer E Jean Carroll – a woman whom, it was ruled in civil court in 2023, had been sexually abused by Trump. On the same day, Trump’s alleged contribution to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s “birthday book” was shared by Democrats on social media in the form of a lewd drawing the president denied having made. The E Jean Carroll news caused no public inconvenience for Trump; the Epstein story went up like a mushroom cloud in what has become the most politically dangerous episode of his presidency. What, exactly, is the difference then between the sexual abuse of E Jean Carroll, for which Trump has been found liable in a civil court, and the trafficking and abuse of victims by Epstein, in which there is no direct evidence of Trump’s involvement? For that matter, why does Trump’s record of gross references to grabbing women “by the pussy” and calling them “fat” and “ugly” elicit barely a shrug from supporters, while his friendship with Epstein, a man referred to in the press, variously, as the “billionaire paedophile”, the “paeodophile financier”, and, surely coming down the pike at some point, the “hell-based paedophile money manager”, has triggered not only fury among the Maga faithful but accusations of a Trump cover-up? Emma Brockes is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Robert Karl Huber has been sentenced to 12 years in prison over the death of his partner Lindy Lucena in Ballina in 2023.

Shooting of conservative activist Kirk in Utah still an active investigation, say authorities, as Donald Trump vows to find everyone ‘who contributed to this atrocity’ Charlie Kirk shooting: latest updates Authorities in the US were still searching on Thursday for a suspect in the shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, hours after the close ally of Donald Trump was killed at a Utah university, sparking condemnation from both sides of politics and grave threats from the president. “This shooting is still an active investigation,” the Utah department of public safety said in a statement, adding it was working with the FBI and local police departments. Continue reading...

Legislative council voted down a bill that was introduced to comply with an order from the city’s top court Human rights groups have accused the Hong Kong government of failing to provide the “bare minimum” of rights to same-sex couples after it rejected a bill that was introduced to comply with an order by the city’s top court. The city’s unicameral legislative council (LegCo), on Wednesday rejected the bill by a vote of 71-14 after the second reading, following months of debate in the city between opponents who said it threatened family values and advocates who said the government was out of line with the majority of residents who supported same-sex relationships. Continue reading...

The Jacinta Nampijinpa Price saga is a chink in Sussan Ley's armour and at the very least has handed Labor a helluva lot of material for their 2028 election campaign.

A long-awaited overhaul to WA's public transport system, allowing users to pay with their phones and bank cards, is slated to rollout across the entire network by the end of the year.

It has been revealed that police were tracking a stolen car that hit two school boys outside St Edmunds College, but were unable to find a way to safely stop the driver before the crash.

The trial against a South Australian man accused of murder has been vacated after a jury member allegedly googled information, a court has heard.

Who is running the government’s ‘growth school’ for civil servants? The answer surpassed my worst fears Forgive me if I’ve got this wrong, but I seem to recall the country voting the Tories out last year. Part of the reason, if I remember correctly, was their staggering incompetence and insouciance, epitomised by Liz Truss’s mini-budget. That catastrophe was, like Truss’s political career, formed and steered by the neoliberal junktanks of Tufton Street. But now I begin to doubt my recollections. We booted them out through the front door, right? Yet they still appear to be in the house. Perhaps they came round the back. After taking an interest in the Department for Business and Trade’s “growth school” speaker sessions for civil servants, I sent a freedom of information request. Given that Keir Starmer, like Truss, has placed his growth “mission” at the centre of policy, and that this department is responsible for delivering it, the instruction given to its officials is crucial to the economic and political direction the country takes. George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist The Guardian’s climate assembly with George Monbiot and special guests On 16 September, join George Monbiot, Mikaela Loach, Emma Pinchbeck and Zack Polanski as they discuss the forces driving the big climate pushback, with a welcome from Katharine Viner and special address from Feargal Sharkey Continue reading...

Criminal proceedings against a Vanuatu farm worker accused of cutting off another man's leg with a circular saw have "languished" for more than three years, a court has heard.

Coalition leader apologises to Indian community for hurt caused NT senator’s comments about migration Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A senior Liberal insists “knives are not being sharpened” for leader Sussan Ley despite a messy dispute over immigration and the demotion of Northern Territory senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. Ley sought to calm the situation in Hobart on Thursday, apologising to Indian Australians and acknowledging Price’s inflammatory comments about Indian migrants had left them hurt and distressed. Continue reading...

A central Queensland massage therapist has been charged with more than 60 sexual assault offences after a public appeal for information by police.

The crowd that gathers in Amsterdam is exuberant. Pornography use is more common than ever, so earnings for many here are through the roof. But there is trouble afoot, from AI to chronic illness … Brittany Andrews, a cheerful American porn star, cuts to the chase in her workshop on how to succeed in the adult industry. “Do you think about how much money you’re going to make before you make a clip? Do you know what stuff sells the best? Or do you just follow your creative spark?” she asks. She points to a young Ukrainian model in a gold sequined bra and denim shorts. “I’m starting with you, girlfriend!” Continue reading...

Optimists cling to a faith in the old alliance, but the best we can achieve is an amicable divorce Is the transatlantic rupture temporary or structural? Is Donald Trump the cause of the rift, or is the US president only a symptom of underlying trends? Optimists latch on to the hope that the stability we have lost can be restored post-Trump. Having spent the past few days in Washington, I doubt it. Even in recent history, things were not quite so bad for the transatlantic relationship. The current tensions make the first Trump administration look like a walk in the park for Europeans. It is one thing to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal, which Trump did in his first term. It is quite another to bomb Iran and give Israel the green light for its war against the regime. Nathalie Tocci is a Guardian Europe columnist Continue reading...

Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Some images from the wild weather across Sydney and NSW Australia raises travel advice level for Nepal as Nepalese Australians express grief over unrest Continue reading...

Former AFL umpire Michael Pell and three others were allegedly involved in a $300,000 illegal Brownlow Medal betting scheme.

Over 1 million files were found on the man's devices, with about 550,000 identified as unique images.

Resignation follows tumultuous period marked by redundancies, proposed course closures and allegations of a toxic work culture Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The vice-chancellor of the Australian National University (ANU) has tendered her resignation after a tumultuous two years at the institution, marked by redundancies, proposed course closures, and allegations of a toxic work culture. Chancellor Julie Bishop confirmed Prof Genevieve Bell had resigned on Thursday morning. Multiple sources said Bell advised the council of her decision on Wednesday evening, with Provost Rebekah Brown to be interim vice chancellor until a replacement is found. Continue reading...

The fallout in the Liberal party over Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s inflammatory comments about Indian migrants has now culminated in her sacking from the shadow ministry by Sussan Ley. In the lead-up to this decision by the opposition leader, Victorian senator Jane Hume described it as a situation that ‘escalated well out of control’. Hume speaks to chief political correspondent Tom McIlroy about the need for her party to rebuild the trust of mainstream Australia – and why she thinks this was eroded during the election campaign Read more: Continue reading...

Stuart Smith resigned on Thursday morning and apologised for WhatsApp messages contained in the Liberal party headquarters staff group chat Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The director of the Victorian Liberals, Stuart Smith, has resigned after leaked messages were published in which he ridiculed the party’s women’s council and upper house MP Bev McArthur. Smith resigned on Thursday morning and apologised for the WhatsApp messages, contained in the Liberal party headquarters staff group chat, which were published by the Australian on Wednesday night. Continue reading...

Police allege the 59-year-old West Australian man communicated with minors and others on social media in order to engage in sexual activity.

Wildlife Victoria and Hume City Council are among those calling for mandatory wildlife crash reporting in Victoria, after two women die trying to help an injured animal.

An ALP victory would be significant for Chris Minns, too, demonstrating that the premier’s pragmatic, populist and transactional politics is working Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Byelections often have a simple story and, beyond that, a broader political message. The top line of Saturday’s Kiama byelection on the New South Wales south coast will be who replaces the convicted rapist Gareth Ward as the local MP in Macquarie Street. Continue reading...

Plywood decoy can also be used as flying bomb; Zelenskyy calls for Europe air shield and blasts allies for ‘statements but lack of action’. What we know on day 1,296 Continue reading...

Police allege a 55-year-old central Queensland woman took over the financial accounts of two people over a five-year period.

As a close-knit regional NSW community reels in the wake of a fatal dog attack, the state government is finalising the first review of its dog ownership laws in more than 20 years.

And are we part of the problem? See more of Fiona Katauskas’s cartoons here Continue reading...

Basil Zempilas writes to the Indian Society of WA in a bid to smooth over damage caused by comments from federal colleague Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, as she prepares to speak at an event at one of the society's venues.

Stuart Smith has apologised for the comments he made on a WhatsApp group, and says his resignation is in the "best interests of the party".

SA Premier Peter Malinauskas meets with the sovereign on an official visit to the United Kingdom, during which he also signs an agreement with nuclear reactor manufacturer Rolls-Royce regarding the AUKUS submarine agreement.

The traditional owners of Juukan Gorge have celebrated 10 years of native title determination and shared plans to safeguard heritage sites.

James Murdoch, Elisabeth Murdoch and Prudence MacLeod say they are "pleased" to have reached an agreement to settle litigation over the Murdoch family trust, saying the issue is "now behind them".

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley apologises for Jacinta Nampijinpa Price's remarks that "hurt" Indian Australians eight days after they were first made.

Shooting of the commentator comes as a series of events show a rising level of violence related to political dissent Charlie Kirk shooting – follow the latest updates Explainer: What we know so far The shooting of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk at an event in Utah marks another example of ongoing political violence in the US, now a feature of American life. Donald Trump confirmed on Wednesday that Kirk had died, saying: “No one understood or had the Heart of the Youth in the United States of America better than Charlie.” Continue reading...

Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani calls for Benjamin Netanyahu to be ‘brought to justice’ Qatar’s prime minister has said that Benjamin Netanyahu “killed any hope” for the remaining hostages in Gaza following Israel’s extraordinary strike on Hamas negotiators in Doha on Tuesday. In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim al-Thani called the deadly strike in the Qatari capital an act of “state terror”. Israel’s attack the previous day killed six members of Hamas who were negotiating a ceasefire deal brokered by the US and other Gulf countries. Continue reading...

Melbourne-based company Ansell has confirmed it investigated allegations at a Malaysian factory and identified issues that do not meet labour standards.

Anthony Albanese has long argued being serious on climate change is the "entry fee" for credibility in the Pacific.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told business leaders this week he was open to reforming the tax to boost investment in a "fair and affordable" way, but there is no agreement on a clear way forward.

Shocking allegations of suspected embezzlement at the fertility industry's peak body have been revealed just days before Australia's health ministers meet to decide the future of how the organisation self-regulates the IVF sector.

The Israeli military said it had struck military camps, the headquarters of the Houthi military "propaganda" department, and a fuel storage site.

The attempt to assassinate Hamas negotiators in the capital of a US ally was the act of a rogue government uninterested in peace “Why does the PM insist on blowing up any deal that comes close?” despaired the mother of a hostage held in Gaza, following Israel’s airstrike in Qatar on Tuesday. For anyone who doubted Benjamin Netanyahu’s commitment to the forever war he unleashed after 7 October, the attempt to wipe out Hamas’s ceasefire negotiation team in Doha offered grim confirmation that peace – and the return of Israeli hostages – is low on Mr Netanyahu’s list of current priorities. Just how close Hamas’s leadership was to endorsing ceasefire proposals backed by Donald Trump – which were being discussed in the capital of an established US ally – is unclear. However, Mr Netanyahu’s strike has ensured that its negotiators will not agree to sit round a table again anytime soon. Israel swiftly stated that the attack was in response to the Hamas-claimed shooting in Jerusalem on Monday, in which six people died. But it also occurred as the Israeli military ordered the complete evacuation of Gaza City, ahead of a full-scale invasion that will bring further death and destruction to a starving, traumatised population. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

UK’s ambassador to US urged financier to ‘fight for early release’ after charges of procuring child for prostitution The British ambassador to the US, Peter Mandelson, told Jeffrey Epstein to “fight for early release” and wrote: “Your friends stay with you and love you,” when the disgraced financier was facing charges of procuring a child for prostitution, according to leaked emails. The emails, first published by the Sun after circulating in Washington DC, will put further pressure on Lord Mandelson after he admitted on Tuesday that more “very embarrassing” details of his friendship with Epstein were likely to emerge but insisted he had never seen any “wrongdoing”. Continue reading...

The prince has been in the UK for the past week amid speculation of a meeting with his father.

The UK ambassador, fondly referred to as ‘Petie’ by the late financier and sex offender, stayed in contact with Epstein well after allegations about him came to light Mandelson: more ‘very embarrassing details of Epstein friendship to come Ever greater detail is emerging about Peter Mandelson’s closeness to Jeffrey Epstein, not least in a US court document listing a series of emails in which the late financier and sex offender refers to Lord Mandelson fondly as “Petie”. The contact spans 2009 to 2011, after Epstein was convicted of child sex offences. There is, however, other evidence that the pair’s closeness was well established by then. Continue reading...

Germany and Italy may have legitimate fears of escalation but this was no accident – it was a violation of Nato territory By sending a barrage of drones into Polish airspace, Russia is testing Nato’s military response and Europe’s political resolve to stand behind Ukraine with arms and security guarantees in the event of escalation. The timing can hardly have been a coincidence. Less than a week ago, a 26-nation “coalition of the willing” led by France and the UK announced an agreement on a “reassurance force”, intended to help guarantee Ukraine’s security after any ceasefire in Russia’s relentless war of aggression. Vladimir Putin has stepped up the nightly bombardment of Ukraine in defiance of Donald Trump’s efforts to broker a peace deal, and rejected any presence of European forces on the ground. Paul Taylor is a senior visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre Continue reading...

Kremlin’s war in Ukraine has spilled over into Nato country – but whether to create fear or test response, aim is unclear Whatever Donald Trump discussed with Vladimir Putin in Alaska last month, the outcome has only been a stepped increase in Russian aggression that has now forced Nato’s military into action. On Tuesday night 19 Russian drones entered the country’s airspace, according to the prime minister, Donald Tusk – a number that cannot be easily explained away as accidental. Until that point, Russia’s war in Ukraine had not spilled over in a notable way to a Nato country. Though the drone incursion cannot be described as militarily significant (only one house has been reported damaged so far) the Polish incident is qualitatively different from anything that has happened since February 2022. Continue reading...

Lecornu, 39, now faces difficult task of gaining enough support from divided parliament to pass a budget The new French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, promised a “profound break” with past politics as he took over on Wednesday from the unpopular centrist François Bayrou, who was ousted this week over a proposed budget squeeze. Lecornu, 39, who said “humility” was the key approach, now faces the difficult task of gaining enough support from France’s divided parliament to pass a budget if he is to avoid being swiftly ousted in the same way as Bayrou, and before him, the rightwing Michel Barnier, who only lasted three months. Continue reading...

Students, health workers and the children of gilets jaunes protesters among those at ‘Block Everything’ rallies At 7am on the eastern edge of the busy Paris ring road at Montreuil, Jess, a 35-year-old hospital neurologist, had joined protesters attempting to stop traffic in order to show her anger at the French government. “Inequality is rife in France and this is the only way to be heard,” she said. Pushed back with teargas by riot police, Jess, who asked for her real name not to be published, said she was scared by police tactics, but felt it was crucial to be on the streets. Continue reading...

The US president is reportedly pushing the European Union to tax Indian and Chinese goods at higher rates because of their reliance on Russian oil.

Israel's strike in Doha, aimed at killing the political leaders of Hamas, has been widely condemned.

Issa al-Hasan, 27, who contacted Islamic State handler prior to attack, acted out of ‘treacherous and base motives’ A Syrian man has been sentenced to life imprisonment for a 2024 stabbing attack in western Germany in which three people were killed and 10 others injured. Issa al-Hasan, 27, who arrived in Germany as a refugee after travelling through Turkey and the Balkans in 2022 and had been a member of the Islamic State militant group, had acted out of “treacherous and base motives”, the court in Düsseldorf said. Continue reading...

Musician Brian Eno and artist Malak Mattar, key figures in next week’s Together for Palestine concert, explain why artists are putting fears of a backlash aside and uniting in the call for action A red carpet event, especially one to promote the new Downton Abbey film, is not typically a place for radical political statements. But at the film’s premiere in London earlier this month, that movie’s star, Hugh Bonneville, spoke out about Gaza. “Before I talk about the fluff and loveliness of our wonderful film, what’s about to happen in Gaza City is absolutely indefensible,” he announced to a visibly shocked showbiz reporter. “The international community must do more to bring it to an end.” Bonneville’s words may have been surprising for some, but they’re actually part of a larger pattern of actors, musicians, artists and cultural figures who feel increasingly moved to speak out. This week hundreds of actors – including Olivia Colman, Aimee Lou Wood and Mark Ruffalo – signed a pledge promising not to work with Israeli film institutions they say are “implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people”. From the Eurovision winner JJ using his victory to criticise Israel to footballer Mohamed Salah lambasting UEFA for announcing the death of Suleiman Obeid, the “Palestinian Pele”, without saying that he was killed in an Israeli attack, there is a sense that if people don’t use their platforms to speak out now, they may bitterly regret it later. Continue reading...

French police have used water canons and tear gas to break up "Block Everything" protests across the country, to demonstrate against President Emmanuel Macron, proposed budget cuts and the entire political class.

Many of 1 million residents say they will not leave as they do not believe al-Mawasi humanitarian zone is safe The Israeli military has killed at least 41 people in Gaza, including 12 aid seekers, over the last 24 hours as it continued to order the population of Gaza City to evacuate ahead of its planned offensive. The evacuation orders were accompanied by intensified Israeli bombing of the city, the Israeli military interspersing orders with announcements of high-rise towers they had bombed. Continue reading...

President’s visit at US Open tennis final caused delays PGA of America’s priority is delivering ‘seamless’ event Ryder Cup organisers have asked that Donald Trump does not arrive for the opening tee shots at Bethpage this month, with fears of security chaos similar to the scenes that caused a delay to the start of the US Open tennis men’s singles final on Sunday. Whether the message is heeded at the White House remains to be seen. While Ryder Cup officials have no issue with the US president arriving at the New York course as planned on the first day, they believe logistically it would be far easier if Trump attends for lunch and the Friday afternoon session. Continue reading...

From The Simpsons mauling George HW Bush to South Park’s current head-to-head with Trump, animations are no stranger to political battles. But sometimes, things get far, far more brutal It shouldn’t really be a surprise that South Park has become “the most important TV show of the Trump 2.0 era”. Trey Parker and Matt Stone have spent decades taking any potshot they like at whoever they choose, from Saddam Hussein to Guitar Hero to – thanks to their inexplicable 2001 live-action sitcom That’s My Bush! – other sitting presidents. But by using every episode in its latest series to focus their fury solely at the current US administration, hitting Trump with a combination of policy rebuttals and dick jokes (and daring him to sue them in the process), this is the strongest sense yet that Parker and Stone are out for nothing less than full regime change. Continue reading...

Survey puts Democratic nominee at 43% and independent Andrew Cuomo at 28%, in line with recent polling Zohran Mamdani continues to hold a commanding lead in the race for New York City mayor, with a new poll released on Wednesday showing the Democratic nominee 15 points ahead of former governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent candidate. The new poll, conducted by Emerson College Polling/PIX11/The Hill, shows Mamdani with 43% support among New York City registered voters, compared with 28% for Cuomo, who is running as an independent after losing the Democratic primary to Mamdani in June. Continue reading...

Several raise concerns that disclosing their donors exposes them to political attack but others warn not doing so can prompt legitimate questions about influence Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Australia’s biggest thinktanks are deeply divided on whether disclosing their financial backers is in the public interest, with several raising concerns that efforts to keep them secret may be undermining trust in the sector. Three influential policy groups that together receive almost $20m in donations a year refuse to reveal their key donors, including those whose commercial interests may overlap with their public advocacy campaigns. Continue reading...

The Liberal MP bought the product, which profits when the ASX 200 falls, in early 2020, his register of interests shows, but an analysis and experts say it has been a poor investment Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Tim Wilson has a long-held bet against the national sharemarket. The Liberal MP’s register of interests, disclosed in August after his tight victory for the seat of Goldstein at the federal election, shows Wilson has a leveraged investment that profits when the benchmark ASX 200 falls. Continue reading...

After leaving the New York Times, she turned her Substack into a unshakeable pro-Israel voice. Now as Paramount eyes acquisition of her company, Weiss is poised to become Trump’s ally among media elites Last month, federal regulators approved the long-anticipated merger of Skydance Media and Paramount Global, positioning David Ellison – the founder of Skydance and the son of megabillionaire Larry Ellison – as one of the most powerful figures in US media. Paramount Skydance Corporation, as it is now officially known, is one of a small handful of American media conglomerates, with Paramount Pictures, cable networks such as Comedy Central and MTV, and CBS all under its umbrella. CBS, in turn, runs one of the major US news operations, with nightly news viewership in the millions and 60 Minutes still being the most watched news program on network television. The implications of the merger are far-reaching and were already being felt ahead of its final approval. In July, Paramount agreed to pay Donald Trump $16m to settle a lawsuit over a 60 Minutes segment the president disapproved of, and a few weeks later, CBS controversially cancelled The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, which many observers speculated was at least partly about jettisoning an outspoken critic of Trump in anticipation of the deal. Continue reading...

With yet another prime minister sworn in, and protests spreading, is the crisis spawning a new grassroots uprising? Plus, Russia’s Polish provocation • Don’t get This is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up here One in, one out. On Monday night, “Bye-bye Bayrou” parties were held around France as François Bayrou, the now ex-prime minister of France, was ejected in a landslide parliamentary confidence vote against his plans for austerity. Bayrou, the third French PM to resign in a year, had lasted just nine months. His predecessor, Michel Barnier, was toppled after just three. Twenty-four hours after the government’s collapse, the revolving door was opened again and Emmanuel Macron appointed a successor: the 39-year-old defence minister and one of the president’s closest allies, Sébasian Lecornu. This was an uncharacteristically swift attempt by Macron to fill the vacuum and quell a mood of insurrection in the country. But it may not be enough. Continue reading...

In 107 Days, the former vice-president breaks on certain points from her typically loyal public stance US politics live – latest updates Kamala Harris calls Joe Biden’s decision to seek re-election in 2024 “recklessness” in her new memoir and questions the former president’s judgment while revealing her own frustrations about being marginalized within the administration. In passages published by the Atlantic on Wednesday from 107 Days, her memoir chronicling her presidential campaign, Harris breaks on certain points from her typically loyal public stance. Continue reading...

The Guardian’s reporter in Gaza describes the dilemma facing her family and others, many hungry, penniless and without transport The ninth of September is my sister Enas’s birthday, so we were happy this morning, drinking coffee as a family and telling jokes, until we saw the leaflets dropping down telling us to evacuate. So now, instead of preparing biscuits and cakes to celebrate, we are packing for another displacement. The Israeli army’s plan to occupy Gaza City sent me back to memories of the early days of the war: the tension, the terror and the psychological pressure. I am afraid the cycle of displacement will repeat itself again. Continue reading...

Texas A&M also removes two senior administrators from roles after student’s video sparked Republican pressure A children’s literature professor at Texas A&M was fired on Tuesday after a video showing a student objecting to course material about gender identity and sexuality went viral. Both the dean of the school’s college of arts and science and the head of department were also removed from their roles, the university president, Mark Welsh III, said in a statement. Continue reading...

Choi Mal-ja’s appeal gained momentum after #MeToo movement inspired her to seek justice A court in South Korea has acquitted a woman convicted six decades ago for biting off part of a man’s tongue during an alleged sexual assault, after she challenged the ruling, inspired by the country’s #MeToo movement. Choi Mal-ja was 19 in 1964 when she was attacked by a 21-year-old man in the southern town of Gimhae. He pinned her to the ground and repeatedly forced his tongue into her mouth, at one point blocking her nose to stop her from breathing, according to court records. Continue reading...

Young Nepalis led a mass protest in Kathmandu on Monday and have paid for it with bullet wounds or their lives The whiteboard listing the names of patients at a hospital in central Kathmandu tells the story of a protest gone badly wrong. Beside each name is written their ages; 18, 22, 20, 18, 23. The list goes on. By Wednesday morning there were still scores of Nepal’s young being treated for gunshot wounds and injuries sustained when police opened fire on protesters in Kathmandu on Monday. Continue reading...

Commission president cites illegal West Bank settlement plans, Gaza and attempts to ‘undermine two-state solution’ The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, has called for a suspension of trade with Israel, as she spoke of Europe’s “painful” inability to respond to the war on Gaza and ensuing humanitarian disaster. In her most extended condemnation yet of the Israeli government, von der Leyen criticised plans for illegal settlements that would split the occupied West Bank in half, as well as incitement of violence by extremist Israeli ministers, as a “clear attempt to undermine the two-state solution”. Continue reading...

Rashid Masharawi, who produced the anthology of 22 short films that was Palestine’s official entry to the Academy Awards, has remarkable optimism about the future of Gaza Being a Palestinian under Israeli occupation will not help someone make a good film, according to Rashid Masharawi, but a good film-maker will help Palestine. With his anthology film From Ground Zero (in Arabic: From Zero Distance) he attempts to do just that by bridging the space between the Palestinians in Gaza who have endured a campaign of annihilation behind closed doors to those around the world watching as an incomprehensibly vast tragedy unfolds in real time. Continue reading...

Vancouver’s Drug User Liberation Front believes we shouldn’t blame users for the ills of capitalism: if so many people are self-medicating, why not give them the clean stuff? On 12 August 2017, I ran from the car that James Alex Fields, a white supremacist, plowed into a crowd of anti-racist organizers in Charlottesville, Virginia. Other peoples’ blood splattered on me. I lost my friends in the crowd and panicked. I thought I might die. A month later, I woke up on a work trip in a hotel room alone in Oakland, California, with my hands trembling, and an unshakeable feeling that I was being chased by a pack of wild animals. I was having a mental breakdown. Continue reading...

44,000 immigrants, 1,700 flights, 100 days: a Guardian investigation of leaked flight data and government detention data reveals the inhumane journey of immigrants shuttled around and outside the US The Trump administration is shuttling immigrants around the US in irregular and unprecedented ways, according to the findings of a Guardian investigation, effectively vanishing people into a “purgatory” that denies them constitutionally-protected rights. A review of leaked flight records and passenger manifests from Global Crossing Airlines (GlobalX), the charter company that operates the majority of deportation flights for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice), has provided a rare look at the winding journeys of more than 44,000 immigrants detained or deported by the Trump administration. Continue reading...

The deployment of troops has led to arrests for low-level crime, indiscriminate detention and a rise in racial profiling In the 30 days since Donald Trump took control of Washington DC’s police department and deployed national guard troops, the city has seen the indiscriminate detention of immigrants, the rise of racial profiling and the arrests of large numbers of people for low-level crimes. The US president claimed the takeover, which began on 11 August, was necessary because of violent crime in the country’s capital, especially after the attempted carjacking and assault of a former Doge staffer. “Our capital city has been overtaken by violent gangs and bloodthirsty criminals, roving mobs of wild youth, drugged-out maniacs and homeless people,” he said during a news conference at the White House at the time. Continue reading...

Extensive meetings in 2022 between Lewis, then vice-chair of AP, and Johnson were not disclosed in transparency records The publisher of the Washington Post, Will Lewis, is facing fresh questions over his independence after a cache of leaked files revealed he gave extensive support to Boris Johnson as a secret political adviser when Johnson was prime minister. The files shed light on how the media executive, who at the time was vice-chair of the Associated Press news agency, worked behind the scenes with Johnson as his premiership was engulfed by a series of scandals. Continue reading...

British PM’s meeting with Isaac Herzog in London could not come at a more difficult time, with little chance of the two men finding common ground A meeting between Keir Starmer and the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, in London on Wednesday could not come at a more difficult time for either leader, and far from easing British-Israeli relations, the encounter risks setting them back yet further. Once the meeting was in the diary there was a faint hope within Downing Street that the two men would at least listen to each other about their competing visions for Israel’s future, including a two-state solution to the Palestinian conflict, a vision Herzog once shared. Continue reading...

South Korean woman Choi Mal-ja has had a 60-year-old conviction overturned for defending herself against sexual violence.

Ben Bergquam was with Ice agents during a raid on Sunday and yelled at protesters that they were ‘the enemy within’ A rightwing influencer accompanied officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) in Chicago on Sunday as the agency ramps up arrests in the city. Ice agents arrested four people on the city’s south-west side. Ben Bergquam, the rightwing internet personality, was with agents, filming and making content as well as getting into altercations with local residents along the way, according to a video the Guardian viewed on X. In the video, he appears to be in the car with Ice agents and nearby as they arrest people; later on he yells at a group of Chicagoans who are gathered to prevent Ice operations that they are “the enemy within”. Continue reading...

Trump officials continue to insist that suggestive note and drawing were not work of the president Trump calls release of suggestive note ‘a dead issue’ Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of US politics amid the ongoing furore over links between Donald Trump and Jeffrey Epstein, as the White House said it would support a forensic analysis of the signature on a letter purportedly given by the president to the convicted sex offender. White House officials on Tuesday doubled down on their assertion that a sexually suggestive letter carrying what appeared to be Trump’s signature that was included in a birthday book for Epstein had not been signed by the president. President Trump said on Tuesday his administration is continuing negotiations to address trade barriers with India and that he would talk to prime minister Narendra Modi, in a sign of a reset after weeks of diplomatic friction. Trump, in a marked shift of tone, said he looked forward to speaking to Modi in the “upcoming weeks” and expressed optimism that they could finalize a trade deal. Trump, however, has urged EU officials to hit China and India with tariffs of up to 100% as part of a strategy to pressure Russian president Vladimir Putin, according to a U.S. official and an EU diplomat. A federal judge has ruled that Federal Reserve board member Lisa Cook can stay in her post while suing Donald Trump over his unprecedented bid to fire her. Cook is legally challenging the US president after he sought to remove her, citing unconfirmed allegations of mortgage fraud, amid an extraordinary campaign by his administration to strengthen its control over the US central bank. Trump said on Tuesday Israel’s decision to strike Qatar was made by prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and not by the Republican leader who added that a unilateral attack on Qatar does not serve American or Israeli interests. Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike in Qatar on Tuesday, escalating its military action in the Middle East. Trump had dinner Tuesday night at a seafood restaurant near the White House, promoting his deployment of the National Guard and federalizing the police force in an effort to crack down on crime in the nation’s capital. His motorcade made the short distance to Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab on 15th Street in the northwestern quadrant of the city following weeks of the president boasting about mobilizing federal authorities and the military that he says have made Washington “a safe zone.” Poland shot down drones that entered its airspace on Wednesday, the first time a member of Nato is known to have fired shots during Russia’s war in Ukraine. South Carolina GOP representative Joe Wilson posted on X: “This is an act of war, and we are grateful to NATO allies for their swift response to war criminal Putin’s continued unprovoked aggression against free and productive nations.” The justice department on Tuesday charged a man accused of fatally stabbing a Ukrainian refugee on a North Carolina commuter train last month with a federal crime that could carry the death penalty. The Trump administration says the killing shows how local leaders, judges and policies in Democratic-led cities are failing to protect their residents from violent crime. The US supreme court on Tuesday temporarily halted a lower court’s order that the Trump administration spend nearly $5bn in congressionally appropriated foreign aid money that it is seeking to cancel. The order from the conservative chief justice, John Roberts, comes amid legal wrangling over Donald Trump’s moves to aggressively downsize US support of global development and emergency response, which has resulted in the dismantling of USAID. Continue reading...

Price’s refusal to endorse Sussan Ley’s leadership on Wednesday was a deliberate provocation that left the opposition leader no choice Report: Ley dumps Nampijinpa Price from shadow ministry over refusal to back leadership or apologise over migrants comments Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast For much of her short career in Canberra, the usual rules of political gravity have appeared not to apply to Jacinta Nampijinpa Price. A firebrand, outspoken and unapologetic about almost everything, she went from a first-term backbencher from the Northern Territory to a member of the shadow cabinet in less than a term. Easily the most prominent opponent of the Indigenous voice to parliament, Price used the referendum campaign to build her political brand exponentially. Tom McIlroy is Guardian Australia’s chief political correspondent. Continue reading...

The acting mayor of the Gold Coast warns that efforts to replicate Brisbane's bus network may be abandoned before they even begin a week after the state government scrapped a light rail plan for the city's south.

Comments about Indian migrants were one thing, but refusing to back in her leader made it impossible for her to stay.

Women allegedly sexually assaulted by former Roebuck Bay Hotel manager Stewart Buchell have told a Broome court of his alleged predatory behaviour.

While the number of passports and licences declared lost in the post only represents a very small proportion of the millions sent each year, identity theft experts have described the figures as "concerning".

Labour’s massive election victory already feels long ago. The PM needs to build a new electoral alliance – and quickly Sign up for our new weekly newsletter Matters of Opinion, where our columnists and writers will reflect on what they’ve been debating, thinking about, reading and more Keir Starmer doesn’t see himself as the leader of a coalition government. With 399 MPs and a working majority of 156, why should he? One reason is that those numbers mark a high tide of anti-Tory feeling that receded as soon as Rishi Sunak’s rotten administration was swept away. Voters from diverse places with disparate grievances embraced Starmer’s promise of change, often uncertain what it meant in practice. They needed reasons to be glad of the choice they had made and haven’t found them. Support for the government has tanked as a result. Rafael Behr is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

‘Abrupt shift’ in policy since Trump took office will have major consequences for climate crisis, forecast says A jump in greenhouse gas pollution in the US helped push global emissions higher in the first half of this year. This could be an omen of what’s to come, with Donald Trump’s pro-fossil fuel agenda set to significantly slow down the emissions cuts required to avoid disastrous climate impacts, a new forecast has found. The “most abrupt shift in energy and climate policy in recent memory” that has occurred since Trump re-entered the White House will have profound consequences for the global climate crisis by slowing the pace of US emissions cuts by as much as half the rate achieved over the past two decades, the Rhodium Group forecast states. Continue reading...

In the past we would just deodorise our armpits, but now a huge wave of products are aimed at our most intimate areas. Do these serve a need – or just encourage paranoia? Earlier this year, the deodorant brand Sure launched a product to be used on “ta-tas”, “trotters”, and “marbles” (AKA breasts, feet and testicles). “Whatever you call them, wherever you smell”, Sure Whole Body deodorant can help, a playful TV advert promised. It’s not a completely new concept: many of us will remember the intense whiff of a liberally applied “body spray” – the deodorant-cum-fragrances brought out by brands such as Lynx, Charlie and Impulse that were popular in the 00s. But specific deodorants for body parts other than the armpits weren’t really a thing until 2018, when an American obstetrics and gynaecology doctor founded Lume Whole Body Deodorant, after repeatedly seeing patients who were worried about odour “below the belt”. Sold as a roll-on, cream, spray or wipes, it can apparently be used on “pits, underboobs, belly buttons, butt cracks, vulvas, balls, feet and more!” On its website, it has more than 200,000 five-star reviews – and now the mainstream deodorant brands are following suit. Continue reading...

Sebastien Lecornu appointment comes as France prepares for protests and strikes over the prospect of spending cuts Emmanuel Macron appoints his third prime minister in a year Here are some images from the protests coming in today via the newswires: According to the Associated Press (AP), the interior minister announced nearly 200 arrests in the first hours of the planned day of nationwide protests in France. Although falling short of its self-declared intention to ‘block everything’, the protest movement that started online and gathered steam over the summer caused widespread hotspots of disruption, defying an exceptional deployment of 80,000 police who broke up barricades and swiftly made arrests, reports the AP. Interior minister Bruno Retailleau said a bus was set on fire in the western city of Rennes and that damage to a power line blocked trains on a line in the south-west. He alleged that protesters were attempting to create “a climate of insurrection”. Continue reading...

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has been dumped from the coalition frontbench after refusing to apologise for comments about Indian migrants.

A study will work with Indigenous researchers who will map cultural assets and integrate traditional healing to improve outcomes in remote centres.

The owners of the Olive Downs mine in central Queensland have been ordered to pay cattle breeder James Gorman almost $53 million.

Report into Steve Kinmond alleged he failed to maintain ‘proper’ boundaries and had created conflict of interest risks. Kinmond denies the allegations Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The man tasked with protecting millions of children has been dismissed from his job after a scathing inquiry found he oversaw an “inept” complaints process and did not declare potential conflicts of interest. Steve Kinmond, the New South Wales children’s guardian, has been removed from his position after a report deemed the Office of the Children’s Guardian (OCG) “not a psychologically safe workplace”. Continue reading...

In effort to end Russia’s war in Ukraine, US president proposes tariffs of up to 100% targeting Putin allies and trade partners Donald Trump has asked the EU to impose tariffs of up to 100% on India and China as part of an effort to force the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to end the war in Ukraine, according to reports. The US president made the demand during a meeting between US and EU officials discussing options to increase economic pressure on Russia on Tuesday, according to the Financial Times, BBC and Bloomberg, who cited multiple sources familiar with the discussions. Continue reading...

Peter Moiler is found guilty in a Perth court of setting fire to his estranged wife Kirsten, who required months of hospital treatment for severe burns.

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles said the Ghost Shark fleet would complement, not replace, the AUKUS alliance.

US president says fifth-grade student forced to read aloud My Shadow Is Pink, a book about a boy who loves ‘things not for boys’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast An Australian children’s author has fired back after Donald Trump singled out his book as promoting “radical gender ideology”. The US president appeared onstage with a school student, who said he was forced to read My Shadow is Pink by the Australian author and illustrator Scott Stuart. Continue reading...

Country Liberal senator tells reporters she ‘won’t be silenced’ on what she claims is the problem of ‘mass migration in our country’ Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Jacinta Nampijinpa Price has again refused to apologise for comments about Indian migrants or express confidence in Sussan Ley’s leadership, escalating a damaging internal war that has engulfed the party. The Country Liberal senator fronted reporters on Wednesday following days of calls from inside and outside the party for her to apologise for suggesting the federal government’s migration program favoured Indians to win Labor votes. Continue reading...

With sophisticated US air defence systems deployed in the region, questions are being raised about how Israel managed to carry out air strikes in Qatar's capital, Doha.

In a short press conference in Perth, the firebrand senator vows she "won't be silenced" on migration and says Sussan Ley's position is a matter for the Liberal party room.

An alleged murder victim was "angry" and intoxicated when he borrowed a baseball bat from a friend prior to being fatally stabbed, a trial in Launceston Supreme Court has heard.

The government is still racing to expand ties with Pacific nations — particularly the current governments in Fiji and Papua New Guinea — despite a diplomatic setback with Vanuatu.

More evidence of dysfunction in the Canberra Liberals has been revealed, with two backbenchers iced out of party room decision-making.

Economics expert criticises last-minute cancellation of report that would shed light on cost-of-living and housing crises Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast An attempt by the Australian Bureau of Statistics to cut costs and corners led to the “shocking” and last-minute cancellation of a key survey that would have cast light on how households have navigated the cost of living crisis. Newly released ABS briefing documents to Andrew Leigh, the assistant minister for Treasury, reveal how the Canberra-based agency scrambled but ultimately failed to salvage its long-awaited survey on income and housing for 2023-4, which had been due for release in July. Continue reading...

The eight-month old boy was found dead after not being given food or water for days while Andrew Campbell and the boy's mother were on a drug binge.

Protesters say they are demonstrating because of government corruption, wealth disparity, and a lack of economic opportunities for Nepal's youth.

Police charge the alleged mastermind and an accomplice who they say orchestrated and carried out a series antisemetic attacks across Sydney this year.

Mark Andrew Orford, 53, is charged with two historical assaults and of being a public officer using information to secure a benefit, dating back to 2022.

Abducted children and those from occupied territories are turning up in Russia’s military-style training camps, with fears that some are already on the frontline Last summer, Sonya*, aged 17 at the time, had endured more than two years of a difficult life under Russian occupation in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. Her foster mother agreed that she needed a break. Growing up under forced assimilation had been scary, Sonya says, and her Russian-controlled school had offered to take her to a holiday camp in Crimea, a balmy peninsula once famed for being the spa of the Soviet Union. Continue reading...

The notion of remigration was abstract, but the right is dragging it towards respectability. If the goal is homogeneous whiteness, they should say it Do they come for you at dawn or dusk? In the dead of night, or at family dinnertime? Will they come with masks and shields, or will they be kindly and sheepishly apologetic? Will they accept a cup of tea and a biscuit if offered? Will there will be bags already packed by the door, protocols prepped and drilled, a list of numbers to call? Will you go quietly and with dignity, or in a mess of curse words and screaming limbs? Perhaps right now this all feels a little fantastical and far-fetched. Perhaps it feels hard to imagine the great wave of remigration lapping up on the pristine middle-class doorsteps of Stroud or Stoke Newington. We can still have a chuckle about it. Maybe there’ll be a nice fat relocation cheque. A free one-way holiday on the British government. Always wanted to visit China at this time of year, and so on. Jonathan Liew is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Tunnel workers on the country's largest renewable energy project have accepted a 8.5 per cent pay increase and improvements to working conditions.

The incident involving Navya Nair highlights a common concern facing many visitors to Australia — what can be brought in without the risk of breaching strict biosecurity laws?

The extra-large autonomous undersea vehicles (XL-AUV) have a ‘very long range’, can be deployed from warships or launched off the coast Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Australian government has committed $1.7bn to acquire a fleet of “dozens” – the exact number is classified – of Ghost Shark submarines for the Royal Australian Navy. Continue reading...

The former Liberal Party staffer is seeking a full and unredacted copy of a forensic download of the complainant's mobile phone, as lawyers in the case continue wrangling over documents and recordings.

Steve Kinmond has been removed from office after an independent investigation found he intervened in a "working with children check" while failing to declare a conflict of interest.

Nathalie May Matthews outlines allegations of a ‘sustained pattern’ of abuse and manipulation in application for AVO, but the NSW MP denies the claims Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Former federal Labor leader turned firebrand independent MP Mark Latham has been accused of denigrating his ex-partner online after she accused him of abuse. Nathalie May Matthews has outlined allegations of a “sustained pattern” of abuse and manipulation in an application for a restraining order against him. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) Lifeline on 13 11 14 Continue reading...

The White House is caught between supporting Israel’s war against Hamas and patching up relations with a key US ally in the region Full report: Israel launches airstrikes against top Hamas members in Qatar for Gaza ceasefire talks In the aftermath of Israeli airstrikes targeting Hamas negotiators in the heart of Qatar’s capital Doha, the White House appeared sidelined from halting a conflict that Donald Trump has claimed only he could mediate. As details of the diplomatic flurry before Tuesday’s extraordinary strike were revealed, it was claimed that the White House had little say in how Israel opened its latest front in its war against Hamas – this one on a US ally hosting negotiations days after Trump had claimed he was close to reaching a deal. Continue reading...

The SA government says 473 children have been treated at the Women's and Children's Hospital since 2023, for road trauma related injuries. For Kai Archer, the injuries he sustained in an accident two years ago are still having an impact.

Organisers of the Global Sumud Flotilla say one of its boats was hit by a drone strike in waters off a Tunisian port, in what the group claims was the second attack on its vessels in as many days.

Police vision shows the moments after an alleged gangland assassin failed in his attempt to take out a Sydney crime boss.

Victoria Police admitted they failed to stop an attack on Camp Sovereignty last month because they did not know it was happening. More officers will be deployed in Melbourne this weekend for planned protests.

A 30-year-old man pleads guilty to killing an award-winning novelist after ploughing into her with his car while driving at high speed along a city street.

The military operation comes hours after Poland's military said it scrambled its own and NATO allied air defences to shoot down Russian drones that crossed into the country's airspace from Ukraine.

Global Sumud Flotilla says all passengers and crew unharmed after second alleged attack in as many days International aid initiative Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) has said one of its boats was attacked by a drone at Tunisia’s Sidi Bou Said port, the second such reported strike in two days. The GSF, which is seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza using civilian boats, said in a statement early on Wednesday all passengers and crew were unharmed and that no structural damage had been caused. Continue reading...

Israel's actions have completely exposed the lack of influence that the United States now has on developments in the Middle East.

Trump, who was friends with Epstein before becoming president but had a falling out with the former financier, has denied giving him a letter. Key US politics stories from 9 September 2025 The White House has said it would support a forensic analysis of the signature on a letter purportedly given by Donald Trump to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein that Trump’s aides say is not the president’s. Trump, who was friends with Epstein before becoming president but had a falling out with the former financier years before his death, has denied giving him a letter that appears in a birthday book for Epstein with the sketch of a woman’s body and a note about secrets. Continue reading...

Less than a year after its announcement, the Department of Defence quietly scraps a procurement promising to scale up production at Thales Australia's north-east Victorian facility.

Warplanes scrambled after warning from Ukraine; Poland to seal border over Russian and Belarus’s ‘very aggressive’ Zapad war games. What we know on day 1,295 Warplanes were scrambled early on Wednesday after Ukraine’s air force warned that Russian drones had entered Nato-member Poland’s airspace. “Polish and allied aircraft are operating in our airspace, while ground-based air defence and radar reconnaissance systems have been brought to the highest state of readiness,” Poland’s operational command said. The Ukrainian air force said drones were heading west and threatening the city of Zamosc in Poland. Ukrainian media reported that one was heading towards the western Polish city of Rzeszow, and said airports were being temporarily closed. Poland will close its border with Belarus on Thursday as a result of the “very aggressive” Zapad military exercises taking place in Belarus involving Russia, Donald Tusk has announced. The Polish prime minister said it was also a response to a growing number of provocations from Russia and Belarus. Separately, Poland’s president, Karol Nawrocki, warned that “we do not trust Vladimir Putin’s good intentions.” Nawrocki continued: “While waiting, of course, for a long-term peace, permanent peace, which is necessary to our regions, we believe that Vladimir Putin is ready to also invade other countries.” The US Democratic senator Richard Blumenthal challenged Congress and Donald Trump to adopt a bipartisan bill imposing “scorching” secondary sanctions on countries buying Russian oil like China, India and Brazil. The long-proposed bill is co-sponsored by Lindsey Graham, a Republican senator. “I believe the president should be supportive,” Blumenthal told NPR on Tuesday. “The time has come for action. The president’s been mocked and played by Putin, and I think the president ought to be furious that Putin has stalled and stonewalled in this way. And about this bill, there are 85 co-sponsors, evenly divided – Democrat and Republican – which I think shows the level of support in the Congress for these kinds of sanctions.” Trump said on Sunday he was ready to impose further sanctions targeting Russia, but appears now to be stipulating that the EU must do so at the same time. The EU has already enacted 18 rounds of sanctions and is preparing a 19th round, which it has said should include more secondary sanctions targeting countries helping Moscow. A US official told Agence France-Presse that on Tuesday Trump raised with European representatives the possibility of tariffs of between 50% and 100% on Russian oil customers. Officials also discussed the issue of immobilised Russian government money as the EU sanctions envoy, David O’Sullivan, led a delegation to Washington. Trump dialled in for discussions on Tuesday alongside Ukraine’s prime minister, a US official said. Also involved in talks were Trump’s treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, and officials from the US trade representative’s office and state department. A Russian strike killed 24 elderly people collecting their pensions on Tuesday, Ukrainian officials said. “A brutally savage Russian airstrike with an aerial bomb on the rural settlement of Yarova in the Donetsk region,” said the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. “Directly on people. Ordinary civilians. At the very moment when pensions were being disbursed.” Prosecutors announced a war crime investigation. The Ukrainian military said the Russians had dropped a glide bomb – a heavy bomb fitted with wings so it can fly rather than falling straight down. There was no immediate comment from Moscow or the Kremlin. Ukraine’s air defences were responding to a Russian drone attack on Kyiv early on Wednesday, the military administration of the Ukrainian capital posted online. Members of the European parliament in Strasbourg have accidentally passed a motion criticising the EU for a failed “militaristic strategy” in Ukraine. The amendment from an MEP from Germany’s radical left was nodded through by party floor chiefs who later admitted making a mistake – delighting populist groupings like Italy’s Putin-friendly Five Star Movement. Continue reading...

It feels like no matter how long we’ve been here, we’re just not enough Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Being an Indian immigrant in Australia is exhausting. The irony that many of us are here because our parents, or their parents, chose this country in their quest for a “better life”, after our own country was decimated by British colonialism, is not lost on me. My own ancestors were shipped from India by the British to Fiji to work as indentured labourers – ostensibly slaves – on Australian-operated sugar farms in the late 1800s. Multiple generations later, after enduring political and social exclusion in Fiji and being subject to racist rhetoric and political violence, my parents worked insanely hard to find a pathway to Australia, so that their children could escape the cycles of poverty and entrenched disadvantage that they lived through. Continue reading...

Recreational fishers and commercial guides fear being locked out of some of Western Australia's most pristine waters under plans to protect the globally significant Exmouth Gulf.

Cheap ultra-processed food behind rise in overweight children, with one in 10 now obese globally, says Unicef More children around the world are obese than underweight for the first time, according to a UN report that warns ultra-processed junk food is overwhelming childhood diets. There are 188 million teenagers and school-age children with obesity – one in 10 – Unicef said, affecting health and development and bringing a risk of life-threatening diseases. Continue reading...

Typically full of brio and swagger, the White House is scrambling because Trump is behaving so out of character It took Trump chronicler Maggie Haberman to cut to the chase: if Trump didn’t sign the birthday card or other documents released by Jeffrey Epstein’s estate, the reporter asked in a quiet yet insistent tone, what’s the working theory as to why he’s in there? “The president has one of the most famous signatures in the world,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, replied on Tuesday. “The president did not write that letter. He did not sign those documents.” Continue reading...

In State of the State speech, governor hails California’s resilience and criticizes federal government’s ‘onslaught’ California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, used his State of the State address on Tuesday to celebrate California’s achievements on its 175th anniversary of statehood but also to criticize Donald Trump for “targeting our state” as it battled wildfires this year, accusing the president of a “relentless, unhinged California obsession”. The Democratic governor delivered his annual message in the form of a letter to the state legislature, and a video, instead of an address. Newsom, widely seen as a potential presidential contender for 2028, also criticized the president and his policies for bringing chaos and disruption to California, without mentioning Trump by name. Continue reading...

Anti-government protests erupt into deadly violence, with Nepalese youth venting their frustration over a political system they accuse of corruption.

A WA government department says the state’s new firearms laws are causing headaches for a program which responds to reports of injured and suffering animals on the roadside.

Nationals leader joins chorus calling for senator to apologise for comments about Indian immigrants. Follow today’s news live Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Two days after the eSafety commissioner issued a notice to a UK company behind a “nudify” deepfake AI app, Meta announced it has issued cease and desist notices to 46 companies attempting to advertise similar products on its platforms. Meta, which is already suing one such company to try to prevent it advertising on Facebook and Instagram, announced on Wednesday cease and desist notices have been sent to 46 companies attempting to advertise nudify apps on their platforms. Meta said it has removed over 5,000 ads and 96 ad accounts linked to those companies, and blocked links to more than a dozen apps and websites offering nudify services. I know what they are capable of, and not a single one of them is doing everything they can to stop the most heinous of abuse to children, being tortured and raped, and this imagery being perpetuated online. Continue reading...

A new information resource for Australians travelling abroad will be launched today, a move inspired by the deaths of teenagers Holly Bowles and Bianca Jones due to methanol poisoning in Laos last year. Follow live.

A lower court earlier ruled president exceeded his authority when enacting tariffs under law meant for emergencies The US supreme court agreed on Tuesday to decide the legality of Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, setting up a major test of one of the Republican president’s boldest assertions of executive power that has been central to his economic and trade agenda. The justices took up the justice department’s appeal of a lower court’s ruling that Trump overstepped his authority in imposing most of his tariffs under a federal law meant for emergencies. The court swiftly acted after the administration last week asked it to review the case, which involves trillions of dollars in customs duties over the next decade. Continue reading...

Friends Gem and Renata have saved money buying a home together with their respective families in Wollongong, and say the pay-off goes much further.

Elizabeth Tsurkov, who entered Iraq to do research for Princeton, had gone missing in Iraq in early 2023 Israeli-Russian academic and Princeton student Elizabeth Tsurkov has been released after being kidnapped by Kata’ib Hezbollah and spending more than two years in captivity, Donald Trump said in a post on social media. “I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton Student, whose sister is an American Citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months. I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up. HAMAS, RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, NOW!” the US president wrote in a TruthSocial post on Tuesday. Continue reading...

US southern-style restaurant chain was met with outrage for changing branding to more minimalist style Cracker Barrel announced on Tuesday that it’s suspending plans to remodel its restaurants just weeks after reversing a logo change that ignited a political firestorm. The 56-year-old restaurant chain, known for southern-style cooking and country-store aesthetic, faced intense backlash last month after unveiling a rebranding effort aimed at modernizing its image. The company rolled out a new minimalist logo and plans for more contemporary interiors, and it updated menu items. Continue reading...

A legislated medical defence for drivers using medically prescribed cannabis was recommended by last year's drug summit. Independent MP Alex Greenwich, who takes medical cannabis, is pushing for reform.

While most Australians with a mortgage have been benefiting from the Reserve Bank cutting rates this year, not everyone is celebrating.

Krishna Istha has made a habit of turning to performance to solve a problem. So when they needed help to find a sperm donor, the solution was obvious.

Music and art therapists will be able to bill NDIS participants at the same rate as counsellors, after a review found the therapies could be effective in the right circumstances.

A man who sexually abused a young girl in foster care is seeking to quash his conviction in the High Court.

The swiftly-made Israeli statement saying there was no US role in the strike, claiming this was a "wholly independent" action, brings to mind the old adage "never believe anything until it is officially denied".

The government has released the first batch of maps revealing what a high-density future could look like for Melbourne residents.

The Home Guarantee Scheme expansion will see income limits withdrawn and property price thresholds increased from October 1.

Hamas says six were killed but its leadership survived the attack, which the US says ‘does not advance Israel or America’s goals’ Middle East crisis – live updates Israel has launched a strike on Hamas officials meeting in Qatar’s capital, Doha, reportedly including the group’s chief ceasefire negotiator, in an attack the White House said “does not advance Israel or America’s goals”. Hamas said six people had been killed, including the son of its exiled Gaza chief, Khalil al-Hayya. It said its top leadership, including the negotiations team, had survived. Continue reading...

Office is part-funded by public duty costs allowance, which should only be used to support public work of former PMs Boris Johnson is under mounting pressure to explain how his private office complies with rules over taxpayer subsidies after further revelations about how his staff appear to be overseeing his global commercial operations. A leak of data from the Office of Boris Johnson appears to show all three of his staff helping Johnson’s business and profit-making ventures. Secretly lobbied the UAE for a billion-dollar private venture in a potential breach of ethics rules. His work as a “principal adviser” for Bia Advisory, a “climate finance solutions” firm seeking backing from Abu Dhabi’s $300bn investment fund, involved courting a top Emirati official Johnson hosted in No 10 when he was prime minister. Approached Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of X, on behalf of Evgeny Lebedev. The Evening Standard owner, whom Johnson made a peer, was seeking a business relationship between his newspaper and Musk, who bankrolled Donald Trump’s ascent to the White House. Secured contracts with a combined total of more than £850,000 in separate deals with GB News and Associated Newspapers, the owner of the Daily Mail. GB News suggested some of the information was incorrect but confirmed an ongoing arrangement with Johnson. Earned more than £5m from less than two years of paid speeches, for some of which he charged $350,000 (£259,000). The 34 speeches include a conference leadership in Delhi, a blockchain symposium in Singapore and a bizarre turn as the headline act at the 50th birthday party of a German pharmaceuticals company boss. Continue reading...

Administration says it would support an expert review of signature to determine whether it was Trump who signed it White House officials on Tuesday doubled down on their assertion that a sexually suggestive letter carrying what appeared to be Donald Trump’s signature that was included in a birthday book for convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein had not been signed by the president. The letter, and its drawing of a naked woman’s torso around an imagined conversation between Trump and Epstein, was part of a batch of documents released by the House oversight committee in response to a subpoena after its existence was first reported in July by the Wall Street Journal. Continue reading...

For Aboriginal people, it has been centuries in the making. As Victoria tables legislation for the country's first treaty with First Nations people, Indigenous leaders are urging other states and territories to follow suit.

The Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, is in crisis control after senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price falsely claimed that Labor is letting in large numbers of Indian migrants to bolster its own vote. Price now faces growing calls from colleagues and the community to apologise, but the saga has once again exposed deeper problems within the party. Nour Haydar speaks with political reporter Dan Jervis-Bardy about the fallout from the senator’s comments and how the Liberal party continues to alienate migrant voters You can subscribe for free to Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast Full Story on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Read more: Continue reading...

Four other supreme court justices to cast their votes in coming days, with verdict expected by Thursday or Friday ‘He’s always on the attack’: the Brazilian judge prosecuting Bolsonaro inspires both love and hate Jair Bolsonaro led a criminal organization that sought to plunge Brazil back into dictatorship with a murderous power grab involving special forces assassins and a massive disinformation campaign, the supreme court judge presiding over the former president’s trial has claimed as he voted for Bolsonaro’s conviction. Alexandre de Moraes announced his decision on Tuesday as the trial of Bolsonaro and seven alleged co-conspirators – including four senior members of the military and the former head of Brazil’s answer to MI6 – entered its final stretch. Continue reading...

Judge says sufficient evidence of intent wasn’t given against those who signed files claiming Trump won 2020 election A judge in Michigan dismissed the felony charges against a slate of electors who falsely signed on to documents claiming Donald Trump won the 2020 election in the latest blow to efforts to hold the president and his allies accountable for attempting to overturn the results of the White House race he lost to Joe Biden. Sixteen people were initially charged with eight felonies each related to forgery and conspiracy by the Democratic attorney general, Dana Nessel, in 2023, though one of them had his charges dropped after he agreed to cooperate with the prosecution. The fake electors in Michigan will not go to trial. Continue reading...

Leaked files show former PM made 34 paid appearances in less than two years and reveal details of his disclosures Boris Johnson earned more than £5m from less than two years of paid speeches after standing down as prime minister, leaked files suggest. Transcripts and itineraries demonstrate the globe-trotting nature of the former prime minister’s new life as a public speaker. He made 34 paid appearances between leaving office in September 2022 and May 2024, according to a file in the leak. Continue reading...

Talking about the welfare bill in front of the cameras, the Conservative leader rages against her inner futility The sign behind the podium read: “The Rt Hon Kemi Badenoch MP, leader of HM opposition.” It felt like a reminder. Not just to the handful of Conservative loyalists who had bothered to turn up for the speech at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in London. But to Kemi herself. Badenoch and her party are on the verge of an existential breakdown. Every week they seem to slide further and further into irrelevance. The question is no longer whether the Tories can present themselves as a credible government in waiting in four years’ time; it’s whether they will have become extinct by then. And whatever happens, Kemi will almost certainly not still be around as leader. Continue reading...

Figures including Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the UK ambassador to US, Peter Mandelson, apparently contributed Democratic politicians have released a 238-page scrapbook given to Jeffrey Epstein as a present on his 50th birthday, with contributions attributed to high-profile figures including Donald Trump, Bill Clinton and the current UK ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson. Much of the book seems to be a collection of flattering and celebratory letters – often highly sexualised – from people who knew Epstein. They include photos of him embracing women in bikinis whose faces were redacted, and others showing scenes featuring wild animals having sex. Continue reading...

Whatever happened between the pair, questions about their relationship are not going away. This enigma is ageing like raw milk You have to keep this hush-hush, OK? I have top-secret information to share. You know Donald Trump has been reluctant to release the Epstein files? Well, it’s not because there’s anything nefarious going on. Trump may be an adjudicated sexual predator accused of sexual misconduct by at least 27 women (all of which he denies), who publicly boasted in 2002 about how his “terrific” pal Jeffrey Epstein liked women “on the younger side”, but you shouldn’t read too much into all that. Nor should you overanalyse a Wall Street Journal report claiming White House officials told Trump in May that his name appeared multiple times in the files. Or that House Democrats have now released a sexually suggestive letter and drawing sent to Epstein in 2003 for his birthday that appears to show Trump’s signature, the same note the president has denied writing. Nor should you worry yourself with the photo that has been released showing Epstein holding a novelty check signed by Trump with the suggestion that Epstein “sold” him a woman for $22,500. No, the real reason Trump is being weird about Epstein is … drum roll, please … because the president may or may not have been covertly operating as an FBI informant and investigating the disgraced financier. Continue reading...

Five-month investigation reveals how four members of one family were shot and killed in a single day and highlights a pattern in which Israeli troops target unarmed civilians Daniel Raab shows no hesitation as he watches footage of 19-year-old Salem Doghmosh crumpling to the ground beside his brother in a street in northern Gaza. “That was my first elimination,” he says. The video, shot by a drone, lasts just a few seconds. The Palestinian teenager appears to be unarmed when he is shot in the head. Continue reading...

Late-night hosts discuss speculation over Trump’s health, his rebranding of the Pentagon and his alleged lewd birthday letter to Epstein Late-night hosts react to speculation over Donald Trump’s health and the newly released screenshot of Trump’s alleged lewd birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein. Continue reading...

Economic modelling reveals the effects of eliminating migration for a decade on growth, the workforce and the budget Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Think closing our borders would fix the housing crisis? Think again. Eliminating migration for the coming decade would actually leave property prices 2.3% higher by the mid-2030s, according to economic modelling by KPMG; and there are other negative economic consequences too. Continue reading...

Under the plan, the state government will seize planning controls for the designated areas – near train and tram stops – from local councils Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Affluent Melbourne suburbs such as Hampton, Hawthorn and Kew could be rezoned to allow apartment towers of up to 16 storeys, according to new draft maps released by the Victorian government. The premier, Jacinta Allan, and the planning minister, Sonya Kilkenny, will on Wednesday release the maps showing proposed heights and boundaries for 25 of the government’s 50 activity centres, which were first announced in October 2024. Continue reading...

One flagpole flying Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Palestinian flags remains following standoff between transport workers and local Aboriginal people Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Queensland transport officials will meet Aboriginal groups this week to resolve a standoff over unauthorised flagpoles flying the Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Palestinian flags on the popular tourist island of Minjerribah (North Stradbroke Island). Workers from the Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR), flanked by police, tried to remove the two flagpoles on 31 August – the same day as the March for Australia rallies – but were only partly successful after protesters formed a barricade around the second pole. Continue reading...

The party’s grassroots campaigners urge leadership to ignore business warnings about cost of setting ‘ambitious’ target Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Labor’s grassroots environmental action network wants the Albanese government to adopt a 2035 emissions reduction target of at least 70% as a show of global climate action leadership, countering warnings from big business about the cost of such a goal. In her first interview as the new co-convener of Labor Environment Action Network (Lean), Louise Crawford also said she had faith the government would finally deliver long-awaited reforms to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) after plans collapsed in the previous term. Continue reading...

Independent senator claims there was ‘no faith’ in leadership of Genevieve Bell or Julie Bishop among university staff Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast David Pocock has called on the federal government to urgently intervene into the leadership crisis at the Australian National University as pressure mounts on the chancellor and vice-chancellor to resign. It comes after the independent senator told ABC earlier on Tuesday he hoped to see “some change in leadership at the top” of ANU, following a tumultuous year including redundancies, proposed course closures and allegations of a toxic work culture. Continue reading...

Trump’s view of the prerogatives of husbands towards their wives mirror his own sense of his entitlements as president towards his abused country Speaking at a Christian museum on Monday, Donald Trump claimed, falsely, that his deployment of national guard troops to invade the nation’s capital has eliminated crime in Washington. He complained, however, that domestic violence was being counted in the crime statistics, which he claimed meant that the influence of his policy was not being seen as significant enough. “They said, ‘Crime’s down 87%,’” the president claimed, not explaining who “they” were. “I said, no, no, no. It’s more than 87%, virtually nothing. And much lesser things, things that take place in the home they call crime. You know, they’ll do anything they can to find something. If a man has a little fight with the wife, they say this was a crime. See? So now I can’t claim 100%, but we are. We are a safe city.” If Trump wanted to endorse domestic violence decriminalization, he may take some comfort in the status quo: as it is, about 24% of adult American women have been the victims of “severe physical violence” by an intimate partner, according to the National Domestic Violence Hotline; the Centers for Disease Control, meanwhile, puts the proportion of women who have experienced “contact sexual violence, physical violence, or stalking by an intimate partner” at 41%. and many of those incidents are not reported or not prosecuted – meaning that the perpetrators are free, and that their assaults have not been treated as fully “criminal”. Moira Donegan is a Guardian US columnist Continue reading...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a guided bomb had struck the village about 24 km from the city of Sloviansk.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says a guided bomb struck the village about 24 kilometres from the city of Sloviansk.

Qatar says it is investigating the strikes while Hamas sources claim their negotiating team survived the attack. Follow live.

ICC hearing takes place in absence of Ugandan rebel leader accused of murder, rape, torture and sexual slavery An international criminal court hearing into charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against the Ugandan fugitive rebel leader Joseph Kony has begun with accounts of atrocities allegedly committed by his Lord’s Resistance Army. The ICC’s first in-absentia hearing will confirm charges but cannot progress to a trial in Kony’s absence. The warlord faces 39 counts, including murder, rape, sexual slavery, enslavement and torture, allegedly committed in northern Uganda between July 2002 and December 2005. Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report Continue reading...

Loughborough university and ONS study of 1 million schoolchildren reveals risks increase with longer absence School absences “significantly contribute” to children’s mental ill health, according to research backed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that shows the risks increase the longer a child is absent. “Our research shows that the more times a child is absent from school, the greater the probability that they will experience mental ill health,” the authors, from Loughborough university and the ONS, concluded. Continue reading...

Greens welcome Minns government’s ‘bare-minimum’ changes but say more work is needed to restore faith in the sector Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Large childcare providers found in breach of safety directives will face $500,000 fines – a 900% increase – under new laws to be introduced by New South Wales parliament on Wednesday. The proposed legislation will grant greater powers to the early childhood regulator to suspend educators and revoke quality ratings in a suite of measures addressing grave concerns about safety in the sector. Continue reading...

Former PM’s private office forwarded business proposal from peer to owner of X in June 2024, leaked files suggest Boris Johnson contacted Elon Musk on behalf of the Evening Standard owner, Evgeny Lebedev, as part of an attempt to get the US tech billionaire to support the ailing newspaper, leaked files suggest. Johnson’s private office, which is taxpayer-subsidised, emailed an executive close to Musk in June 2024, forwarding a business proposal from Lord Lebedev. Continue reading...

President and convicted sex offender appear in birthday scrapbook photo with check signed by ‘DJ Trump’ US politics live – latest updates A scrapbook for Jeffrey Epstein’s 50th birthday released on Monday contains a photo of him holding a novelty check signed by Donald Trump with the suggestion that Epstein “sold” him a woman for $22,500, shedding further light on the longtime relationship between the president and the convicted sex offender. The photo shows Epstein and Joel Pashcow, a longtime member of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort, and a third figure, apparently a woman, whose face is redacted. They are holding a novelty check over a handwritten caption, apparently from Paschow, reading: “Jeffrey showing early talents with money + women! Sells ‘fully depreciated’ [redaction] to Donald Trump for $22,500.” Continue reading...

The Israeli military and security services have announced a strike on "senior leadership" of Hamas.

Jonathan Braun of New York faces up to five years after he was arrested and charged in connection to recent crimes A convicted New York drug dealer whose federal prison sentence was commuted by Donald Trump during Trump’s first presidency has been found guilty of violating the terms of his release after being arrested and charged in connection with several recent crimes. Jonathan Braun now faces up to five years in prison during a sentencing hearing tentatively scheduled for 9 October. Continue reading...

Prime minister hands in resignation after thousands of protesters gather to celebrate ousting and plan day of action Bayrou to resign – latest updates The French prime minister, François Bayrou, has handed in his resignation after losing a confidence vote that has plunged France into government collapse and political crisis. Emmanuel Macron has said he will appoint a new prime minister in the coming days, who would then have to form a new government. This will be the third French prime minister in a year, whose first task will be the major challenge of agreeing a budget among a divided parliament. Continue reading...

Confronting the historic trauma of forced assimilation, a wave of artists are rejuvenating hyper-diverse Indigenous cultures in the kinds of festivals that were once forbidden On a sunny, breezy August afternoon in Mani-Utenam, a reservation on the Quebec coast for the Innu people, a powwow ceremony is under way. Two sets of drummers beat out a steady rhythm while chanting in tandem, as dancers sway in their traditional, colourful regalia, ringing with the sound of small bells attached to their clothing. It is part of Innu Nikamu, one of the largest Indigenous festivals in North America, but this joyful performance is taking place on troubled ground. This was once the site of a residential school where children were taken away from their families to force them to assimilate to western culture and forget their heritage. Active from the 1800s, such schools were run by the Canadian state and the Catholic church, who would inflict severe punishments on children who spoke their Indigenous languages and practised their customs. Beyond the thousands of traumatised survivors, 3,200 children are documented to have died (unmarked graves have also been discovered), and in 2022, Pope Francis made a “penitential pilgrimage” to Canada to atone on behalf of the church. Continue reading...

Figure calculated by Oil Change International has more than doubled since 2017 but is likely a vast understatement The US currently subsidizes the fossil-fuel industry to the tune of nearly $31bn per year, according to a new analysis. That figure, calculated by the environmental campaign group Oil Change International, has more than doubled since 2017. And it is likely a vast understatement, due to the difficulty of quantifying the financial gains from some government supports, and to a lack of transparency and reliable data from government sources, the group says. Continue reading...

He promised to break the mould, but with his hubristic disdain for left and right – and for voters – the president has entrenched instability In his 2016 manifesto Revolution, the then-presidential candidate, Emmanuel Macron, accused France’s “fossilised political apparatus” of dangerously paving the way for Marine Le Pen’s rise to power. “The political class and the media are a band of sleepwalkers who refuse to see what is coming their way,” he wrote, “so we see the same faces and we hear the same speeches.” He pledged to throw away the old playbook and gather behind him “progressive reformers who believe that the destiny of France is to embrace modernity.” The fresh face of pro-EU liberalism swept to power the following year on a promise of radical change to bring France into the 21st century. Jules Darmanin is a French journalist Continue reading...

Seven boss handed bill by federal court after backing the disgraced former soldier in action against Nine Newspapers Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Seven West Media’s chair, Kerry Stokes, has been ordered to pay $13.5m in legal costs to companies who were unsuccessfully sued for defamation by disgraced former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith. On Tuesday, a federal court registrar ordered that Australian Capital Equity Pty Ltd (ACE), Stokes’ private company, pay costs fixed at almost $13.3m, and a further $225,000 in relation to the costs assessment, bringing the total bill to $13.5m. Continue reading...

Experts say millions in corporate funding and concealment of donors’ identities raises key conflict-of-interest concerns The World Health Organization Foundation took an increasing amount of dark money from corporate donors during the three years after its 2020 inception, research has shown, raising concerns among some experts and campaigners that big business is playing a larger role shaping the institution’s policies. Through the end of 2023, the last year for which records were available, the foundation had taken about $83m in corporate donations, and concealed the identity of donors for about 60% of the sum, a new report into the issue states. Continue reading...

Eldest son has the succession Rupert craved after agreeing a payout to his siblings far higher than previously offered As a keen rock climber, Lachlan Murdoch knows a thing or two about the importance of clinging on to perilous terrain. After the toughest ascent of his life – rising to the top of his father’s business empire – he has finally ensured that his place at its summit is assured. The deal Rupert Murdoch’s eldest son has struck with his oldest siblings Prudence, Elisabeth and James will mean they give up their shares in the family business, handing Lachlan the long-term control that he and his father craved. Continue reading...

Gordon Brown calls for change to rules as he and other ex-leaders say they do not use allowance for commercial work Three former prime ministers have said they do not use a taxpayer subsidy for their private office for any commercial work after the Guardian revealed Boris Johnson appears have done so. One of them, Gordon Brown, said that rules should now be changed to require former prime ministers to publicly declare their business interests. He said there should be a crackdown on the jobs taken by former ministers. Continue reading...

Groth and wife Brittany are suing a News Corp paper for defamation and breach of privacy over incorrect claims of inappropriate relationship Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Herald Sun failed to seek a response from Brittany Groth, the wife of Sam Groth, the Victorian Liberals deputy leader and former tennis star, before wrongly outing her as a victim of child sexual assault who was preyed upon by her now-husband when he was her coach, the couple allege in federal court documents. The Herald and Weekly Times, along with reporter Stephen Drill, who wrote the articles, and his editor Sam Weir, are being sued in the federal court by Brittany Groth, in the first test of a new statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy, and by Sam Groth for defamation. Continue reading...

Three men who pleaded guilty to a pair of vicious assaults on a rival gang member in a NSW prison are set to be sentenced later this month.

Higgins has been ordered to pay 80 per cent of her former boss's legal costs, which are yet to be determined.

Lawyer argues university’s move to fire Dr Eric Descheemaeker breached Fair Work Act and freedom of academic expression policy Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A law professor at the centre of a leaked email controversy says the University of Melbourne attempted to expel him over his political expression after it unearthed allegedly racist emails which included references to First Nations people. Dr Eric Descheemaeker launched legal action against Australia’s top-ranked university over his proposed dismissal earlier this year, alleging he was suspended over his political opinion. Continue reading...

The faded resorts and coastal towns of Tendring in Essex offer few job opportunities but many of its 20-somethings are set on finding their way in an area with one of England’s oldest populations Share your experiences of living in a coastal town Photographs by Polly Braden The village where 22-year-old Millicent has lived all her whole life is often her most closely guarded secret – at least until first impressions have been established. “It’s almost like a superpower,” she says. “I wait until people are comfortable with me, and then I’ll do the big reveal.” It doesn’t matter where she goes, the story is always the same. “I’ll go to meet new friends and at some point I’ll tell them I’m from Jaywick,” says Millicent. “And it’s as if they go through the five stages of grief. They’ll say: ‘Oh, you’re not … oh, I’m so sorry’.” Kyle, Matt and Finn at Jaywick’s Martello Tower, now an arts site Continue reading...

I’ll acknowledge young people in love, anyone in hi-vis and a dad who seems to be pulling his weight. The rest of the time, I have a face like thunder I just smiled at a middle-aged woman on a pushbike, and she looked at me as if to say, “do we know each other?”, and I thought, good point, we don’t know each other, why am I smiling? That was a straight solidarity smile – you are on a bike, I also have a bike. I wouldn’t just smile willy-nilly at anyone the same age as me, they would have to be doing something that not all of us do: vaping; cycling; whistling. I’ll always smile at a baby in a pram, but I won’t smile at the mum, because I remember how much I used to hate it when people assumed that, just because I had a baby, it meant I was nice. You’ve already lost so much identity, so fast. I will, however, smile at a dad, because if he’s pushing a pram, he’s pulling his weight. I know that walking to the nursery is the absolute bare minimum and doesn’t tell you anything about the distribution of household chores. I can’t help it! I was born in the 70s. Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

White House officials seek to discredit note and claim Donald Trump signature is false US immigration officers are ramping up immigration sweeps in Los Angeles again after the supreme court reversed a temporary restraining order that banned the Trump administration from stopping people solely based on their race, language or job. In a post on Twitter/X, Greg Bovino, the head of US border patrol in Los Angeles, called the temporary restraining order “very poorly” written and “the worst” he’s ever seen. He also said that border patrol would be starting operations back up again today. House Democrats fought to bring this sickening letter into the light while Trump and MAGA mouthpieces assured us it did not exist. Trump even sued the Wall Street Journal for reporting on it! We can’t trust a word MAGA says. Release the full Epstein file NOW! Continue reading...