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The Kangaroos overcame a first-half scare to lead the Cook Islands 28-6 at the break in their Rugby League World Cup match at Queensland Country Bank Stadium in Townsville, scoring five tries after briefly trailing 6-4.
Two British nationals have been charged in connection with an alleged plot to assist Iran's intelligence service as part of the investigation into a suspected terror incident near RAF Fairford, a base in southwest England used by US bombers for strikes on Iran. One 24-year-old man faces a charge of engaging in conduct likely to materially assist a foreign intelligence service, which police say is believed to be Iran, while a dual British-Iranian national, also 24, has been charged with entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the UK.
The Education Review Office says 199 schools need help for the sake of their students, with its 2026 annual report warning that too many schools remain of concern for too long and do not achieve sustained improvement despite receiving support.
The bomb squad has surrounded a house in Numurkah, Victoria, following reports of a shooting and the discovery of an explosive device.
A senior commander in Sudan's Rapid Support Forces (RSF) says he has defected, alleging the paramilitary group is run as a family project by relatives of its leader, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo.
An investigation by Geneva-based private firm AURORAH GeoSignal Intelligence found a pattern of Russian government and military satellites observing areas of Saudi Arabia targeted in Houthi attacks. The findings, revealed by the Associated Press, covered 40 missile and drone attacks between July 1 and October 19 and showed satellites observing the targeted areas both before and after the attacks.
The United States, South Korea and Japan have reiterated their longstanding call for North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons, issuing a joint call for “complete denuclearisation” on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Atlanta on Thursday.
Storm warnings are in place for multiple capital cities across Australia’s east and south-east as a severe weather front sweeps across the country. A cold front meets warm, humid air, with thunderstorms, possible damaging winds and possible flash flooding in some areas forecast from Saturday afternoon into Sunday.
Arson offences in Victoria have surged by nearly 75 per cent since a decade low in 2021, according to data obtained by this masthead, while firebombings have become an everyday weapon of intimidation. Stonnington recorded a 385 per cent increase in arson attacks over the past decade, and a firefighting source said police sometimes issue advance pre-warnings to firefighters that a target somewhere in their service area could soon be hit.
Powerhouse Parramatta has held its first dry run, with about 3,000 arrivals expected as families and friends of workers, subcontractors and staff were invited to the institution ahead of its November 7 opening. Interim chief executive Abbie Galvin said the dress rehearsal was critical to putting the building through its paces and resolving any problems before the public arrives.
Australia will resume day five of the third and final Test at Newlands needing 288 runs for victory, with the series on the line and Marnus Labuschagne under pressure after falling for a five-ball duck in the first innings.
Two Chinese nationals have been sentenced to 30 months in prison in the United States after admitting they tried to recruit US military service members to spy for China. The Department of Justice said Liren “Ryan” Lai and Yuance Chen each received 30 months and three years of supervised release; court documents said they acted as agents of China’s Ministry of State Security.
Three people have been charged after a police chase through Brisbane's inner-west suburbs on Friday night, with Polair footage released late on Saturday showing a black SUV driving on the wrong side of the Walter Taylor Bridge and Coonan Street in Indooroopilly. The chase followed an alleged crime spree that included stealing a car, breaking into a home and attempting an armed robbery.
The UN peacekeeping mission in Western Sahara has been left in limbo after Russia and the United States vetoed each other's draft resolutions to extend it, one day before the mandate was due to expire.
Luigi Mangione's lawyers filed paperwork on Friday again seeking dismissal of his state-level case in the killing of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson, arguing that New York's double jeopardy law bars the prosecution after his federal guilty plea.
An oil tanker carrying 27 Indian seafarers was attacked with limpet mines in the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, causing a fire in the engine room. The Panama-flagged Louise 1 was hit around 25 nautical miles northeast of Oman. India's Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said all Indian crew members are safe, while the UK Maritime Trade Operations said the fire was extinguished with no environmental impact. The attack is the first known successful use of limpet mines against a vessel in the strait since the US-Iran war began in February. The same source also reported that India separately launched a navigation satellite to strengthen its indigenous GPS alternative.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce next week her final decision on immigration rules, with social care workers already in the UK now likely to be exempt from a longer wait, the BBC understands. The proposed changes would extend the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain from five years to 10, with some lower-paid migrants facing a 15-year wait.
The Albanese government has banned federal agencies from using taxpayer money to buy promotional merchandise unless they seek approval.
The indefinite shutdown of a paper mill in Témiscaming, Quebec, threatens a way of life that has revolved around the plant for over a century. Most of the mill's 360 employees are out of work, receiving partial pay through government tariff relief, as locals seek to buy the plant back from its American owner, RYAM. The shutdown came after Canada-US trade talks broke down and Trump imposed more tariffs; property values fell almost overnight, and residents fear the town could become a ghost town.
Joseph Kabila, the former president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been named leader of a new rebel coalition, the Front for the Refoundation of the Nation (FRN), returning to rebel leadership after serving as a commander in the alliance that brought his father to power three decades ago. The 55-year-old has aligned himself with the M23 rebels, whom he once fought as president, and declared his intention to topple President Félix Tshisekedi, the man he handed power to in 2019 after 18 years in office.
Two people have been killed and three others injured in a horror head-on collision on Broken Head Road in Suffolk Park, south of Byron Bay, on Saturday morning, with a third vehicle crashing into the wreckage about 10.30am.
Flávio Bolsonaro, the former Brazilian presidential candidate and senator, fled to the United States this week following his loss in the election runoff to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, saying he was a victim of 'persecution'.
An apparent 15-tonne cocaine loss off France's Atlantic coast has drawn crowds of would-be finders to beaches in the south-west, where gendarmes are patrolling and one town has closed its beaches.
A 41-year-old woman has been charged following an arson incident after a bushfire in Perth's east on Thursday prompted evacuations and caused a power outage that temporarily shut down Perth Airport.
Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect in the disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine McCann in 2007, will no longer be surveilled by German police. A regional court in Kiel this week rejected a police appeal to extend the surveillance, ruling, citing a new expert assessment and other evidence, that he should no longer be considered in the high-risk group subject to constant police observation. The court said other measures, such as an ankle monitor, could remain in place.
France will deploy 70,000 police officers on Saturday and ban protests in city centres as it braces for a third consecutive weekend of demonstrations, while German authorities say rallies on Halloween are expected to be largely peaceful.
A 10-year-old student from Koonibba Aboriginal School has discovered a previously undocumented trace fossil of a megafauna species, likely a Procoptodon (short-faced kangaroo), on the South Australian coast.
A federal judge on Friday blocked the Trump administration from threatening election workers with criminal prosecution for counting ballots cast by registered voters the administration claims are ineligible, an emergency order issued four days before the midterms that also forces the Justice Department to walk back threats already sent to election officials.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he is “open” to calls for a formal apology from the British state for its role in the transatlantic slave trade, while ruling out financial reparations as “not the right answer”, ahead of the Commonwealth leaders summit in Antigua.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is set to depart for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua and Barbuda, seeking a reset on the world stage as analysts describe a series of domestic 'spot fires'. The trip offers a chance to reaffirm ties with allies including UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham, but a likely interest rate hike while Albanese is overseas will make his job harder, with markets tipping a fifth hike in 2026.
Former senator Rex Patrick has won a legal battle in the Administrative Review Tribunal, forcing the Australian government to hold unclassified parts of a hearing in public over allegations that Australian spies bugged Timor-Leste's government offices during oil and gas negotiations in 2004. The three-day hearing is scheduled for late November. The Commonwealth had argued the matter was so sensitive that even the public portions of the proceeding should be held behind closed doors.
A polling firm, Wedgewood Polls, has admitted to publishing fake statistics on battleground states during the US midterm election cycle, exposing vulnerabilities in how political information gains credibility. The firm posted its statement on a social media account that has since been deleted.
The Justice Department is investigating the Arizona voter registration efforts of three Democratic-aligned groups after an "undercover" video purported to show volunteers willing to register non-citizens, with the announcement coming four days before the Nov. 3 election.
Spirit of Tasmania IV and V made their first official Bass Strait crossings on Friday evening, after a nine-year procurement process marked by controversy and financial strain.
A Bangkok court on Friday sentenced human rights lawyer Arnon Nampa to a further two years and eight months in prison for violating Thailand's lese majeste law, bringing his cumulative sentence to more than 34 years. Nampa, 42, was convicted for a speech he gave in August 2020 while dressed as Harry Potter, calling for the monarchy to be scrutinised and held accountable.
Stephen Hubbard, the 74-year-old retired Michigan teacher released from a Russian prison on 21 October, said on Friday he only believed he would be freed when he was given new clothes and led to the exit, speaking in his first public remarks since his release during a White House visit with President Donald Trump.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a 500-million-euro ($559 million) initial contribution to the European Union's Ukraine Support Loan on Oct. 30 as Kyiv expects a 2027 budget shortfall of at least 70 billion euros ($78 billion).
The campaign of Abdul El-Sayed, Michigan's Democratic Senate nominee, has asked his former primary rival, Rep. Haley Stevens, to stay away from all campaign events, capping a day of increasingly pointed statements over an outside group's ad on Israel that drew in President Donald Trump and Republican nominee Mike Rogers.
The prime suspect in the 1994 murder of Perth jeweller Pamela Lawrence was in close proximity to at least three suspicious deaths in the UK, prompting local police to investigate, a new ABC documentary reveals. Simon Rochford, who died by suicide in 2006, was already identified as the likely culprit in the Lawrence case after an infamous wrongful conviction.
Three-time AFL premiership coach Chris Fagan has joined Carlton as director of coaching, returning to Victoria after leading Brisbane to three consecutive premierships. The 64-year-old will work alongside new Blues coach Josh Fraser and report to general manager of football Chris Davies, in what was described as a major boost to Fraser’s team.
Former Manly Sea Eagles hooker Manase Fainu says he helped prevent a plan to stab former NRL star Jarryd Hayne while they were incarcerated together at a Sydney prison. Fainu, released on parole Friday after serving an eight-year sentence for stabbing a Mormon youth leader, described how he and other islanders backed Hayne, who told them he had not done it; Hayne’s convictions on sexual assault charges were later quashed.
The Washington National Guard has been activated in what appears to be its first large-scale deployment to help protect ballot drop boxes across seven counties, with unarmed, plainclothes members set to observe for tampering or other unusual activity through 12:01 a.m. Nov. 10.
Irish stayer Defiantly, expected to set the tempo in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup, was scratched on Saturday morning after Racing Victoria vets were unable to pass him fit to run, in the second shock withdrawal in three days.
In February 2026, Japan became the first country to successfully and continuously retrieve rare-earth mud from 6,000 meters below the sea off Minamitorishima, its easternmost island, a feat that sparked nationwide excitement as a major step toward breaking free from dependence on China. But experts argue the rush is driven less by the minerals than by the political value of being seen to use the island, reinforcing Japan's claim of effective control over the waters around it.
Stephen Robinson's Aberdeen face Derek McInnes' Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup semi-final at Hampden on Saturday. Robinson has three wins in 11 to start the Premiership season and his position has been scrutinised; McInnes is under pressure to deliver a trophy after two trophyless campaigns at Ibrox, while Rangers' American owners have invested heavily.
A wildfire that tore through Mongolia's Numrug Strictly Protected Area in October, burning for eight days and affecting most of the reserve, has become a geopolitical issue involving Mongolia, China and Japan after preliminary investigators blamed a vehicle convoy operated by Mobicom, the Mongolian mobile operator that is 98.8 percent controlled by Japan's KDDI.
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday blocked a deposition that aimed to identify the people or group behind the Texas Transgender Student Union, which mailed pamphlets to Texas households in mid-October that a West Texas prosecutor said appeared designed to motivate conservative voters ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
A federal judge on Friday ordered the government to pull three taxpayer-funded Trump administration advertisements that appear to have been made for political or propaganda purposes, including one touting the president's claim that every American will get $5,000 if Republicans keep control of Congress.