World News Hub

Coles adds 20c to the price of milk as war in the Middle East pushes up Australian grocery costs

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Farmers have been calling for higher prices for weeks, amid soaring diesel and fertiliser costs and limited supplyGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastColes has increased home-brand milk prices by up to 20c a litre, with Woolworths set to follow as war in the Middle East starts to hit Australian grocery costs.The price rise will support the company’s bottom line against press...

EU close to signing off on critical €90bn loan for Ukraine after months of vetoing from Hungary – Europe live

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Member states meet this morning to discuss loan after longstanding disagreement between Kyiv and outgoing Hungarian PM Viktor OrbánAfter four months of very public disagreements between Ukraine and Hungary, today could be the day when the EU finally signs off (for the second time) on the critical €90bn loan for Kyiv.Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed yesterday that the Druzhba pipel...

Starmer to face MPs for first time since Olly Robbins’ Mandelson evidence – UK politics live

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Former cabinet secretary Mark Sedwill has called for Robbins to be reinstated at the Foreign Office after his evidence to MPsGood morning. Keir Starmer faces PMQs today with the Peter Mandelson vetting row still dominating the Westminster agenda and – in the view of most observers familiar with the views of Labour MPs – the wagons of doom circling in, ever closer, on the Starmer premiership. In an...

Australia news live: gas lobby spends millions on anti-tax ads; ex-NSW public servant engaged in corrupt conduct, ICAC finds

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Follow live updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFarmers promised more fertiliser importsAustralian farmers are being promised more fertiliser imports under a deal struck between the federal government and two major companies, aimed at securing supplies in response to a global bottleneck, AAP reports.We’ve always said through this generational reform process that we’d ...

‘An element of exploitation’: the world of TikTok child skincare influencers

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Experts say regulation of child influencers sits in a legal grey area as children promote products on social media#ToddlerSkincare: the ‘dark and exploitative’ world of children’s beauty videos on TikTokIn a TikTok video a young girl – her age anywhere between 10 and 15 – sits unboxing package after package of products she says were sent to her by skincare brands. She calls it a “PR haul”.In anoth...

Channel Seven’s Spotlight digging for dirt on clean energy ignores fundamental facts and basic journalistic standards | Temperature Check

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Program portrayed efforts to wean Australia off fossil fuels as morally bankrupt, trashing rainforests and enslaving Australia to ChinaGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastChildren sieve mud, workers drop down claustrophobic hand-cut mine shafts, men grimace while others carve out rock with chisels in bare feet to recover cobalt “for our renewable green dream”.These were the ...

UK inflation rises to 3.3% amid soaring fuel prices driven by Iran war

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Annual March rate adds to pressure on household finances and follows warnings of slowdown to UK economyUK inflation rose by 3.3% in March amid the surge in fuel prices for motorists triggered by the Iran war.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the consumer prices index increased last month from 3% in February, adding to pressure on household finances already battered by a co...

The Deb actor in feud with Rebel Wilson signed $150,000 record deal, court told

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Wilson is being sued for defamation by Charlotte MacInnes over social media posts alleging a sexual harassment complaintFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAn actor accusing Rebel Wilson of damaging her career secured a $150,000 record deal with a publicist representing international superstars amid the feud with Wilson.C...

El Salvador holds mass trial for 486 alleged members of notorious MS-13 gang

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Human rights groups have warned that the collective prosecutions violate due process and block defendants from accessing legal counselA Salvadoran court on Tuesday began a collective trial of 486 alleged gang members, in one of the biggest mass trials under president Nayib Bukele’s crackdown on gang violence through controversial emergency powers.Prosecutors say the charges against alleged members...

Middle East crisis live: Trump extends ceasefire but blockade continues; Iran attacks container ship off Oman

The Guardian • 4 months ago

US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent says Iran’s Kharg Island storage facilities will be full and their ‘fragile’ oil wells shut in mere days because of the blockadeTrump announces extension of Iran ceasefire until ‘discussion concluded’One person was killed and two others wounded in an Israeli drone strike overnight on the outskirts of al-Jbour in Lebanon’s western Bekaa Valley, Lebanese state new...

Woolworths’ ‘Prices Dropped’ rules intended to prevent ‘gaming’ the promotional system, executive tells court

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Senior manager at supermarket giant gives evidence on day two of case brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer CommissionFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA senior Woolworths executive has defended relaxing rules designed to protect shoppers from misleading discounts by preventing the supermarket or suppliers ...

At least 160,000 to be cut from NDIS amid concerns vulnerable people will be left without care

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Announcing a major overhaul of the scheme, health minister Mark Butler said it was costing ‘too much and is growing too fast’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAt least 160,000 people are expected to be removed from the national disability insurance scheme by 2030, as the Albanese government looks to claw back savings by...

UK could face ‘hacktivist attacks at scale’, says head of security agency

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Officials warn a conflict situation could cause disruption similar to recent major ransomware incidentsThe UK could face “hacktivist attacks at scale” if it becomes embroiled in a conflict and the impact could be similar to recent high-profile ransomware incidents, according to the head of the country’s online security agency.Richard Horne, chief executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NC...

Robbins response to ‘cover-up’ question reveals debate over Mandelson vetting file

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Sacked civil servant acknowledges discussion over release of documents in key committee hearingUK politics live: latest news updatesOlly Robbins responded to a question about an alleged “cover-up” on Tuesday by confirming that government officials had considered withholding Peter Mandelson’s secretive vetting documents from parliament.Robbins, who was sacked by Keir Starmer as the Foreign Office’s...

Robbins says officials considered withholding Mandelson vetting files from parliament

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Sacked civil servant acknowledges ‘debate’ about release of documents after question about alleged ‘cover-up’Olly Robbins responded to a question about an alleged “cover-up” on Tuesday by confirming that government officials had considered withholding Peter Mandelson’s secretive vetting documents from parliament.Robbins, who was sacked by Keir Starmer as the Foreign Office’s top civil servant last...

Heatwaves, floods and wildfires pose rising threat to democracy, report finds

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Research shows natural hazards linked to climate crisis disrupted 23 elections in 18 countries in 2024Democracy is under mounting threat from the climate crisis, with new analysis documenting how elections are increasingly shaped not only by political forces but also by floods, wildfires and extreme weather.At least 94 elections and referendums across 52 countries have been disrupted by climate-re...

Australia news live: independent candidate for Farrer says Coalition preferencing One Nation ‘not for the good of our community’

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Follow live updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFarmers promised more fertiliser importsAustralian farmers are being promised more fertiliser imports under a deal struck between the federal government and two major companies, aimed at securing supplies in response to a global bottleneck, AAP reports.We’ve always said through this generational reform process that we’d ...

At least 160,000 people to be removed from NDIS as Labor unveils ‘unavoidable and urgent’ cuts

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Federal health minister Mark Butler announces major changes and says scheme is costing ‘too much and is growing too fast’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAt least 160,000 people are expected to be removed from the National Disability Insurance Scheme by 2030, as the Albanese government looks to claw back savings by cha...

Millions in India stripped of vote before critical state election, as government seeks to ‘purify’ electoral roll

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Experts say Muslims and other minorities have been disproportionately deleted from the electoral roll ahead of the West Bengal elections this weekMillions of people in the Indian state of West Bengal have been stripped of their vote ahead of a critical state election this week, after a controversial electoral revision described by critics as a “bloodless political genocide” and mass disenfranchise...

‘Significant failures’ led two NSW foster children to be placed with serial killer, review finds

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Two staff suspended after damning review finds department was warned last December that triple murderer Regina Arthurell was living in the homeFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwo staff members in the New South Wales Department of Communities and Justice have been suspended following a review into why two foster childr...

Temporary accommodation linked to deaths of 104 children in England in six years

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Calls for ‘urgent, sustained action’ over rising number of children who do not have permanent homeLiving in temporary accommodation has contributed to the deaths of 104 children in England in the past six years, 76 of whom were under the age of one, according to data.Statistics also show there were 64 stillbirths and 27 neonatal deaths involving mothers living in temporary accommodation (TA) in th...

Israel’s death penalty law could spell suspension from rights body role, says chief

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Not using capital punishment ‘really a requirement’ for Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly, says presidentIsrael’s observer status at the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly could be suspended over the country’s new law mandating the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of some offences, the president of the body has said.Petra Bayr, an Austrian Social Democrat and president of ...

Pollen season in UK and mainland Europe extended by climate breakdown

The Guardian • 4 months ago

Research finds global heating has already lengthened the pollen season in addition to worsening heatwaves and droughtsClimate breakdown has extended the pollen season in the UK and mainland Europe by between one and two weeks since the 1990s, a study has found, adding itchy eyes and runny noses to the harm wrought by fossil fuel pollution.The finding may be less dramatic than the floods and wildfi...

Middle East crisis live: Trump extends ceasefire but US and Iran at loggerheads over port blockade

The Guardian • 4 months ago

US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent says Iran’s Kharg Island storage facilities will be full and their ‘fragile’ oil wells shut in mere days because of the blockade; oil prices rise amid ongoing uncertaintyTrump announces extension of Iran ceasefire until ‘discussion concluded’Shares have been mixed in early trading across Asia, while oil prices have eased on hopes the US and Iran may resume talks...

Rental platform unnecessarily collected the data of millions of Australians, privacy commissioner finds

The Guardian • 4 months ago

2Apply’s over-collection of personal information adds to the power of the real estate industry in the competitive rental market, Carly Kind saysFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAn online rental platform has been urged to stop collecting users’ personal information after the Australian privacy commissioner found the gat...