Budget 2026 live updates: PM says opposition ‘reduced to a farce’ as government targeted over CGT; CBA shares fall 10% as bank stocks slide pred 2 urama in 27 minutami Follow today’s news liveSee all our Australia budget 2026 coverageGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia to send military plane to strait of Hormuz reopening missionAustralia will join an international mission to reopen the strait of Hormuz, with plans to contribute a hi-tech surveillance plane to the effort.Our intention is to contribute Australia’s world-leading E-7A Wedgetail aircraft to this defensive effort.While this platform [the Wedgetail] is already doing work in the region, providing this capability would make a valuable contribution to the multinational mission and efforts to secure freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz.We want to see this conflict end, the strait of Hormuz open and freedom of navigation resume. The longer this conflict goes on the more significant the impact on Australia will be. Our government is doing all we can to shield Australians from the impacts. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Police drop charges against Palestinian Australian protester arrested at Isaac Herzog rally as more set to be withdrawn pred 2 urama in 32 minutami Move comes as police review charges against protesters from Sydney rally made under now-defunct public assembly lawFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPolice have withdrawn their first charges against a protester from Sydney’s anti-Isaac Herzog rally just hours after confirming any charges laid under a now-defunct law would be dropped.Eyad Shadid, a 25-year-old Palestinian Australian man, was arrested near where a group of Muslim men were praying when they were grabbed by police officers. A police prosecutor told Downing centre local court on Wednesday they were withdrawing the two charges that were later laid against Shadid, which included refusing to comply with a police direction and resisting or hindering an officer. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Experts believe breakthrough in US fentanyl crisis may have started in China pred 3 urami in 22 minutami US overdose deaths have plunged, but experts warn the ‘supply shock’ from Chinese precursors may only be a temporary fixAs Donald Trump travels to Beijing this week, fentanyl – and China’s role in its supply chain – remains an enduring point of acrimony in bilateral relations.At a UN meeting in March, the US again accused China of failing to stop its chemical industry selling the precursors required to make the potent synthetic opioid, while China suggested the US was shifting the blame for its domestic drug problem. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Targeted promotions ‘influential’ in luring Melbourne man who gambled $895,000 back to betting apps, inquest hears pred 3 urami in 33 minutami Inquest hears Kyle Hudson, who died aged 22, withdrew from betting accounts multiple times but received more than 300 inducementsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA young Melbourne man who took his own life after gambling more than $895,000 over four years was repeatedly drawn back to online betting platforms by targeted inducements, an inquest has heard.Coroner Paul Lawrie is investigating the circumstances and likely contributing factors to the death of Kyle Hudson, 22, including whether betting companies like Sportsbet, Entain and bet365 accurately assessed his risk of gambling-related harm. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Rush hour on Air Force one as Melania director Brett Ratner joins Trump China trip pred 3 urami in 36 minutami Filmmaker who was long on the outer in Hollywood over #MeToo allegations will scout locations for Rush Hour 4, according to spokeswomanBrett Ratner, the director behind the Rush Hour movies and a documentary on Melania Trump, is accompanying Donald Trump to China for his summit with Xi Jinping.Trump is due to hold talks with the Chinese leader on Thursday and Friday over pressing economic and geopolitical issues, including Iran and Taiwan. The US president was accompanied on Air Force One by CEOs and top executives from major US tech and finance firms, including Apple’s Tim Cook, Tesla’s Elon Musk and BlackRock’s Larry Fink. Ratner was among the groups as well. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
One Nation senator Malcolm Roberts again fails to rule out Bondi beach terror attack being ‘false flag’ pred 3 urami in 56 minutami Queenslander under pressure after YouTube interview where he said he was ‘not ruling it out’ but ‘I don’t have the facts yet’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOne Nation senator Malcolm Roberts has caused further confusion in comments about the Bondi beach antisemitic terror attack, clarifying that he thought it was an “absurd proposition” to call the shooting a “false flag” but standing by his claim that he didn’t have “data” to rule it out.Roberts, Pauline Hanson’s fellow senator from Queensland, was interviewed on a YouTube channel, with the clip posted earlier this month. At one point in the 23-minute clip, social media creator Lisa Jane Spencer asked “do you think that Bondi was a false flag?” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Labour-supporting unions predict Starmer will not lead party into next election pred 4 urami in 22 minutami Exclusive: Leaked draft statement says party ‘cannot continue on its current path’ under PMKeir Starmer will not lead his party into the next general election, Labour-supporting unions have predicted, in an intervention that threatens to further destabilise the prime minister after a damaging few days.The 11 Labour-affiliated unions – which include Unite, Unison and the GMB – are expected to issue a joint statement on Wednesday saying “at some stage” the party will have to put a plan in place to elect a new leader. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Chelsea flower show garden designers clash over use of AI pred 4 urami in 22 minutami Horticulturalists express alarm after award-winning Matt Keightley launches app that can automate designsWith glasses of champagne sipped among the peonies, Chelsea flower show is generally a friendly and genteel occasion. But this year, the secateurs have been drawn as gardeners clash over the use of AI in designing the exhibits.Matt Keightley, an award-winning designer who has created gardens for figures including Prince Harry, is using artificial intelligence to design his garden for the prestigious show, held at the Royal Hospital gardens in Chelsea, London, next week. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Blatant disregard for rights’: concern grows over Gabon’s social media clampdown pred 5 urami in 22 minutami Activists claim use of laws to curtail internet freedoms part of well-documented history of cracking down on dissentWhen Gabon’s media regulator indefinitely suspended major social media platforms in February, citing security concerns during anti-government protests, it became the talk of town – literally.Within weeks of the announcement, use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) to bypass the restrictions surged in the central African country. When gendarmerie began stopping young men at road checkpoints in the capital Libreville and other urban centres to confiscate mobile phones with VPNs installed or detain the owners, warnings spread by word of mouth. Activists and opposition members said their accounts were also suspended due to efforts of state officials. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Inquest into death of Clare Nowland after Tasering by NSW police aims to answer ‘outstanding questions’ pred 5 urami in 41 minutami Coroner will examine 95-year-old’s death and look at dementia training for aged care staff, police and ambulance officersGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThree years after police fatally Tasered an aged care resident, an inquest could save lives by improving training for first responders dealing with aggressive dementia patients.Then-senior constable Kristian James Samuel White fired his Taser at 95-year-old Clare Nowland after being called to Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma in southern New South Wales on 17 May 2023. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
