Farage’s plan for equal pay legislation may cost female workers money, say unions 16. June 2026 (17:23) General secretary of TUC calls Reform proposal ‘a smokescreen for slashing women’s rights’UK politics live – latest updatesA law proposed by Nigel Farage to “strengthen women’s rights” could cost female workers money by removing equal pay for work of equal value, unions have said.A proposal, made by Reform UK days before the Makerfield byelection, to introduce a Women and Motherhood Protection Act that it says will restore equality before the law has been described as “shameless and deceptive”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
SpaceX to buy AI coding firm Anysphere for $60bn and passes Amazon valuation 16. June 2026 (17:12) Elon Musk firm adds startup behind Cursor app to its portfolio with xAI and reaches $2.8tn market capitalisationElon Musk’s SpaceX is buying the startup behind the AI-powered coding app Cursor for $60bn (£44bn) and has moved ahead of Amazon in valuation days after its stock market debut.The company has agreed to buy Anysphere, which has capitalised on AI’s success as a coding technology. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Finally, an interest rate reprieve – but a ceasefire in the Middle East doesn’t have the RBA popping champagne yet 16. June 2026 (17:00) Governor Michele Bullock delivers a strong message after the Reserve Bank holds the cash rate at 4.35%, ending a run of three risesRBA interest rates: Reserve Bank holds official cash rate at 4.35%Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIt will take more than a ceasefire in the Middle East to prevent the Reserve Bank from hiking interest rates again.That was the strong message from the RBA governor, Michele Bullock, after the central bank held its cash rate at 4.35%, putting an end to a run of three increases. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Kenyan student Sheila Chebii fell 15 floors to her death while working at a Sydney hotel. Her family want answers 16. June 2026 (17:00) A month after the tragedy, mystery surrounds the death of the ‘cheerful’ 25-year-old who came to Australia to pursue her dreamsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIt was meant to be Sheila Chebii’s last shift as a housekeeper.For weeks, the 25-year-old international student had stripped linen, made beds and refilled towels in the rooms of a luxury high-rise hotel above central Sydney. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
ATO outsource call centre workers paid 40% less than public service peers, Fair Work submission claims 16. June 2026 (17:00) Ahead of ‘same job, same pay’ hearings, former call centre worker Nathan Brunne says pay gap is structural and widens at senior levelsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastWorkers at the Australian Taxation Office’s outsource call centres are paid up to 40% less than their public service counterparts on the same phone lines, according to submissions lodged ahead of landmark “same job, same pay” hearings.The pay gap, detailed by Nathan Brunne, a former worker on the ATO phone lines employed by the private equity-backed Probe Operations, widens at more senior call centre roles, with team leaders at outsource operators paid about $31 an hour compared with more than $52 at the tax office. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Police failed to act on repeated warnings about a violent man before he killed a toddler. But that’s not the most shocking thing about this case 16. June 2026 (17:00) The Mason Lee case was not an anomaly. Queensland’s police and coronial systems work as designed – and that’s the core of the current crisisNine months before the death of the toddler Mason Jet Lee, a woman called police to warn them about the boy’s killer, William Andrew O’Sullivan. They placed a flag on his file labelling the woman’s claims “vexatious”. But that’s not the most shocking part of this story.Police already had evidence O’Sullivan was suicidal and homicidal. Months earlier they’d gone with him to a hospital, seeking mental health treatment, and while there he threatened to “skin” the woman and kill children. But that’s also not the most alarming thing. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
One Nation’s health policies based on misconceptions and may cost the taxpayer, experts warn 16. June 2026 (17:00) Former Howard-era adviser says Pauline Hanson’s party is channelling Donald Trump’s health agendaGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMedical experts have blasted One Nation’s health policies, saying they do not make sense, are based on misconceptions and could cost taxpayers more money while leaving vulnerable Australians without access to care.The party has promised to withdraw Australia from the World Health Organization and to scrap regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration, rolling its “essential functions” into the health department. It has also proposed adding photo ID to Medicare cards. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
One-year-old killed and another person injured after Mississippi police shot at car 16. June 2026 (16:59) Child was fatally shot and his mother’s friend is wounded after Senatobia police responded to shoplifting callA one-year-old boy is dead and another person wounded after a northern Mississippi police officer shot at a vehicle while responding to a shoplifting call, according to authorities and the child’s grandfather.Kohen Wiley, the slain child, was in the car at the center of the shooting on Sunday alongside his mother and her friend, said Marquell Bridges, a local community advocate who is helping the family find legal representation. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK social media ban could cut lifeline for disabled children, campaigners warn 16. June 2026 (16:48) Activists say blanket ban could prevent teenagers from finding peers and role models with similar conditionsDisability activists have said banning under-16s from social media risks cutting off a “lifeline for friendship” for disabled children and could push them into social isolation by preventing them from making connections online.Charities and high-profile figures in disability advocacy said they were concerned that a blanket ban on social media would disproportionately affect teenagers who may not be able to meet people easily in real life or find peers with similar conditions. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US lawmakers fight Trump cuts to $386m ocean monitoring program: ‘supreme stupidity’ 16. June 2026 (16:48) Lisa Murkowski, a Republican senator, joins Democrats in bid to stop dismantling of Ocean Observatories InitiativeUS politics live – latest updatesA group of Democratic senators and one Republican, as well as two Democratic House committees, sent letters on Monday to the National Science Foundation asking it to reverse course on its plan to dismantle a sprawling ocean monitoring network, with House lawmakers going further and accusing the agency of acting illegally.The Ocean Observatories Initiative is a network of more than 900 ocean sensors built at a cost of $386m. Over the last decade it has tracked ocean circulation, marine ecosystems, climate change and extreme weather, producing data freely available to the public and informing more than 500 scientific publications. The project was slated to run another 15 to 20 years. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
