World News Hub

Weather tracker: Cold spells in Greece and Turkey, and storms in Bangladesh

The Guardian • 4 months ago

High winds have hit the South Aegean and heavy rain has fallen in Turkey, but Central Europe has felt summer heatGreece and Turkey have found themselves in the grip of a late-season cold spell this weekend. Conditions will persist over the next few days as an area of low pressure situated over Turkey is pulling in colder, moisture-laden air from the north-east via the Black Sea; this meteorologica...

Australia’s property investor borrowing rises at fastest rate in a decade – despite interest rate rises

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Owner-occupier mortgage growth slowed under growing costs while investor loans grew by $42bn in the year to March, a 9.6% increaseFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastProperty investor borrowing rose at its fastest rate in a decade in March, according to the Reserve Bank, despite higher interest rates and speculation about...

Australia’s property investor borrowing rises at fastest rate in a decade - despite interest rate rises

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Owner-occupier mortgage growth slowed under growing costs while investor loans grew by $42bn in the year to March, a 9.6% increaseGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastProperty investor borrowing rose at its fastest rate in a decade in March, according to the Reserve Bank, despite higher interest rates and speculation about property tax changes.Owner-occupier loan growth slowe...

Thousands of Just Eat couriers launch legal action to improve workers’ rights

The Guardian • 4 months ago

More than 7,000 join employment tribunal that will include claims for minimum wage and holiday pay More than 7,000 Just Eat couriers are taking legal action against the food delivery company in an attempt to gain better employment rights including the minimum wage and holiday pay.The employment tribunal, which begins on Tuesday and is set to run until 2 June, will determine if the couriers are cla...

One in four humanities students in Australia to take more than 25 years to pay off student loans, Treasury finds

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Job-ready graduates program will also leave almost two-thirds of humanities and creative arts students with debts exceeding $50,000Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOne in four humanities students will take more than 25 years to fully repay their student loans because of Morrison government changes to university fees, newly public Treasury modelling reveals.The job ready g...

Albanese won’t bring in a gas export tax next week – but he’ll struggle to hold off pressure forever

The Guardian • 4 months ago

The PM is clearly not prepared to risk backlash from Asian energy trading partners during a fuel crisis – but his government will face domestic challenges if it doesn’t move eventuallyGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwo separate events on Monday – one in rain-soaked Canberra, the other in sunny Gladstone – neatly explain why the federal government won’t pursue a new gas ...

One in four humanities students in Australia to take more than 25 years to pay off student loans, treasury finds

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Job ready graduates program will also leave almost two-thirds of humanities and creative arts students with debts exceeding $50,000Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOne in four humanities students will take more than 25 years to fully repay their student loans because of Morrison government changes to university fees, newly public Treasury modelling reveals.The job ready g...

Shipping firms question safety in strait of Hormuz despite Trump plan

The Guardian • 4 months ago

President says US navy will ‘guide’ stranded ships out of waterway but report says warship was hit by IranMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe world’s shipping industry has questioned if vessels will be able to travel safely to and from the Gulf after Donald Trump announced his latest plan to open the strait of Hormuz.The US president wrote on Monday that the navy would “guide” stranded ships out ...

Austria expels three Russian embassy staff after ‘forest of antennae’ discovered

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Austrian foreign minister says Russian diplomatic mission in Vienna was being used for illicit collection of dataAustria has expelled three Russian embassy staff on suspicion of spying after determining that a “forest of antennae” on the diplomatic mission in Vienna, Europe’s espionage capital since the cold war, was being be used for illicit data collection.“It is unacceptable that diplomatic imm...

Austria expels three Russian embassy staff on suspicion of spying

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Austrian foreign minister says ‘forest of antennae’ at mission in Vienna being used for illicit collection of dataAustria has expelled three Russian embassy staff on suspicion of spying after determining that a “forest of antennae” on the diplomatic mission in Vienna, Europe’s espionage capital since the cold war, was being be used for illicit data collection.“It is unacceptable that diplomatic im...

Europe must face up to ‘tensions’ with Donald Trump, Keir Starmer says

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Comments at European Political Community summit come as Britain seeks to join EU’s loan scheme for UkraineUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has acknowledged that tensions are high between Donald Trump and Europe as he attends a summit of the European Political Community dominated by the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran.With European leaders concerned over the US president’s waning interes...

Louisiana Republicans eliminate elected office won by Democratic exoneree

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Future of Calvin Duncan’s position as the clerk of New Orleans’ criminal district courthouse remains unclearLouisiana Republicans eliminated an elected position days before a Democratic exoneree who overwhelmingly won the New Orleans-based post was set to take office on Monday.A temporary restraining order did allow the exoneree, Calvin Duncan, to take office as scheduled Monday as the clerk of Ne...

Marco Rubio to meet pope this week after Trump’s broadside against Leo

The Guardian • 4 months ago

US secretary of state’s two-day visit reportedly intended to thaw Washington’s frosty relations with Vatican and ItalyThe US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, will meet Pope Leo on Thursday, weeks after Donald Trump’s unprecedented broadside against the pontiff.Rubio will meet the first US-born pope privately in the Vatican’s apostolic palace at 11.30am (10.30 GMT), the Holy See’s press office conf...

NSW to criminalise secret GPS tracking after report highlighting number of devices bought by DV offenders

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Chris Minns says technology has been ‘weaponised against women, and our laws have not kept pace’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAfter their marriage of 25 years deteriorated and his wife expressed a desire to leave, a man in regional New South Wales bought a GPS tracking device from an auto parts retailer.He used it to monitor her movements for the month, and up to at le...

Man produces sperm from testicular tissue frozen as a child in breakthrough trial

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Exclusive: Sperm re-transplant offers hope that boys left infertile by chemotherapy could have biological children one dayIn a groundbreaking fertility trial, a man whose testicular tissue was frozen before he underwent chemotherapy as a child to be re-transplanted 16 years later has been able to produce sperm.It is the first time a transplant of cryopreserved prepubertal testicular tissue has bee...

Vine video-sharing app is back – and battling AI slop

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey backs launch of Vine reboot, Divine, where content must be made by a humanAs a pioneer of the short-form video format, Vine has been credited as one of the most influential – if short-lived – social media platforms.The app, which allowed users to record a looping six seconds of video, boomed in popularity after its launch in 2013, creating a plethora of viral comedy ...

Driver injured after truck was struck by United plane landing at Newark airport

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Delivery truck driver emerged with minor injuries after underside of jet hit tractor trailer in New Jersey on SundayThe driver of a delivery truck emerged with only minor injuries after his tractor trailer was struck by a passenger jet landing in New Jersey’s busy Newark airport on Sunday afternoon, officials said.New Jersey state police said a landing tire and the underside of a United Airlines ...

Kirsty, 11, seeks more Kirstys to help raise money for brain tumour research

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Kent schoolgirl tracks down 10,000 namesakes as part of campaign – but non-Kirstys are welcome to donate tooCalling all Kirstys! A schoolgirl from Tunbridge Wells in Kent is seeking people who share her name to help raise money for research into paediatric brain tumours like the one for which she is being treated.Kirsty Waugh, who turns 12 on Monday, has already persuaded more than 10,000 Kirstys,...

Reform government could cause Truss-style chaos, says renewables industry

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Lobbyist Tara Singh says stripping projects of subsidy contracts would undermine investor confidence in UKBritain could be beset by levels of economic chaos last seen under Liz Truss if a Reform UK government were to fulfil its promise to strip renewable energy projects of subsidy contracts, according to the industry’s chief lobbyist.The anti-renewables policy put forward by Nigel Farage’s populis...

First Thing: Trump says US navy will ‘guide’ trapped ships through strait of Hormuz

The Guardian • 4 months ago

US president’s post follows flurry of mixed signals including concern Tehran had not ‘paid big enough price’. Plus, could Santa Marta climate talks mark ground zero in push to ditch fossil fuels?Good morning.Donald Trump has announced this morning that the US will “guide” ships trapped in the Gulf by the Iran war through the strait of Hormuz, and claimed his representatives were having “very posit...

Europe must face up to ‘tensions’ with Trump, Keir Starmer says

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Comments at European Political Community summit come as Britain seeks to join EU’s loan scheme for UkraineUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has acknowledged that “tensions” between Donald Trump and Europe are high as he attends a summit of the European Political Community dominated by the conflicts in Ukraine and Iran.With European leaders concerned over the US president’s waning inter...

At least 13 hurt in shooting at Oklahoma campground party

The Guardian • 4 months ago

No arrests made, police say, and site of shooting – a heavily wooded area – is slowing search for evidence and suspectAt least 13 people were hurt in a mass shooting during a party at a campground in Oklahoma on Sunday night, authorities said.The shooting took place at Spring Creek Park on Arcadia Lake about 15 miles north-east of downtown Oklahoma City, when gunfire erupted during a gathering of ...

Iran executes three men in relation to January anti-regime protests

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Hangings are latest wave of near-daily killings as authorities seek to instil fear in Iranian societyMiddle East crisis – live updatesIran has executed three men charged in connection with political protests this January, authorities said, the latest in a wave of hangings against the backdrop of the war against the US and Israel.Iranian authorities have carried out executions on a near-daily basis...

Jeremy Bamber banned from communicating with media from prison

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Bamber, 65, has long used press interviews to campaign against convictions for murder of five family membersJeremy Bamber, who has served more than 40 years in prison for murdering five members of his family, has been banned from communicating with the media.Bamber was convicted in 1986 by a 10-2 majority of shooting his adoptive mother and father, his sister and her six-year-old twins at the pare...

Labor extends EV tax break to encourage cheaper vehicles amid soaring fuel prices

The Guardian • 4 months ago

As the cost of the scheme blows out, the government has announced the full discount will be retained for another year, after which it will only apply to EVs costing less than $75,000Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLabor has opted to retain its electric vehicle discount in full for another year, as Australians rush to buy EVs amid soaring fuel costs linked to the Iran war...