World

Kangaroos survive Fiji scare

Reports published across four Australian news sites on 25 October 2026 said the Kangaroos survived a Fiji scare.

25 Oct 2026· 8 sources

Thousands rally in Prague as Czech government fast-tracks public media funding overhaul

Thousands of protesters filled Prague's Old Town Square on Sunday, renewing opposition to a government plan to overhaul funding for public broadcasters, after the ruling coalition unexpectedly fast-tracked the legislation in an early-morning parliamentary vote. The demonstrators, led by the group Million Moments for Democracy, demanded the withdrawal of the draft and called for a thorough public debate.

Haines condition improves as MP tributes open Parliament with civility pledge gaining support

Independent MP Helen Haines's condition has been upgraded from critical to serious but stable over the weekend after surgeons amputated both her legs following an alleged intentional attack. Federal MPs returned to Parliament House on Monday with heightened security, as tributes to Haines opened the sitting week and independent MP Kate Chaney announced she would sign a civility pledge that Haines had been the first to back.

25 Oct 2026· 4 sources

Hanson refuses to pull Thorpe bus cartoon as parliament honours Helen Haines

Pauline Hanson has refused to remove a One Nation cartoon showing independent Senator Lidia Thorpe being run over by a bus, drawing a sharp rebuke from Thorpe on the day parliament returned to pay tribute to wounded MP Helen Haines.

25 Oct 2026· 16 sources

Riyadh airport resumes limited operations as Houthis vow more strikes

Saudi Arabia reopened Riyadh's international airport for limited operations on Sunday, even as Yemen's Houthis continued attacks on the facility and vowed it would 'never be safe'. The partial resumption comes two weeks after a Houthi strike killed 13 people, the deadliest attack on the kingdom in more than a decade, and hours after the group claimed fresh strikes.

Emirati diplomat Lana Nusseibeh enters UN secretary general race as late contender

Lana Nusseibeh, the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United Nations who helped secure humanitarian deliveries to Gaza, has entered the race to succeed António Guterres as UN secretary general, drawing praise from former US and Israeli officials but facing backlash over the UAE’s contested role in arming Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces.

Le Pen casts herself as France's protector at presidential campaign launch

Marine Le Pen launched her presidential campaign on Sunday with a rally in Orléans, presenting herself as a figure of order and stability in a France gripped by overlapping crises. Addressing 8,500 supporters, the far-right National Rally leader vowed to restore the rule of law and denounced the government's handling of weeks of violent cost-of-living protests.

25 Oct 2026· 6 sources

Iran says diplomacy window open as Trump rules out strike 'today'

Iran said it is still passing messages to the United States via intermediaries and remains open to diplomacy, as concerns rise about a return to all-out war before upcoming elections in the United States and Israel. US President Donald Trump said there would not be a strike against Iran "today," while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran or its proxies could attack ahead of Tuesday's close elections. The International Committee of the Red Cross has begun receiving lists of Palestinian detainees from the West Bank and Gaza again after the Israeli Supreme Court ordered the government to resume sharing them.

US Politics

Trump’s beef import plan falls short as shipments reach only 20% of target

The Trump administration’s promise to cut beef prices by importing 300,000 metric tons of beef at lower tariffs is running well behind schedule, with only about a fifth of that total shipped and grocery prices showing little change. Data from US Customs and Border Protection show 59,423 metric tons imported as of October 19, while ground beef averaged $6.79 a pound in September, down slightly from August but still 7 percent above a year ago.

Far-right Israeli settlers establish 'Pioneers of Gaza' outpost near border

Far-right Israeli settler activists have established an outpost called the 'Pioneers of Gaza' just a few hundred metres from the Gaza border, hoping to eventually move into the strip. The camp, set up overnight to avoid detection, consists of tents, caravans and demountables, with a jumping castle and a religious classroom. The settlers say they will stay until the government formally establishes a settlement inside Gaza, reviving a project that was abandoned when Israel withdrew all 21 settlements from the strip in 2005.

25 Oct 2026· 7 sources

Australian athlete breaks world marathon race walk record, reports say

Multiple Australian news outlets have reported an Australian athlete has broken a world record in marathon race walking, but as of the initial reports no further details on the athlete, the time, or the event location have been made public.

25 Oct 2026· 4 sources

Albanese faces stark choice on Iran as Trump hints at new offensive

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faces a stark choice over Australia's position on the Iran war after US President Donald Trump said American forces "may do another little Epic Fury" at a rally in Florida last week. Mr Trump did not elaborate, but the remark lands as the conflict nears its eighth month and as Labor backbenchers who remember Mr Albanese's vocal opposition to the Iraq war grow restless.

Childcare worker's 'monstrous' assaults on infants captured on CCTV expose gap in national regulation

A Four Corners investigation has obtained CCTV footage showing childcare worker Edwina Ling committing more than 80 physical assaults on children at the Injinoo Childcare Centre on Cape York in 2024. Ling was sentenced in June to four years in prison on 80 counts of common assault and two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm. The case has exposed a gap in oversight: Injinoo is one of 473 Australian childcare services operating outside the National Quality Framework, and questions are being asked about why earlier warnings by staff were ignored.

Met Police to scale back enforcement on minor electronic tag breaches

The Metropolitan Police is launching a pilot scheme that will scale back routine enforcement against offenders who breach electronic tag conditions for under an hour, as officer shortages and demands from the government's early prisoner release programme continue to stretch resources across London.

Russian attacks hit four Epicentr hypermarkets in 24 hours, retailer reports

Russian strikes damaged or destroyed four Epicentr hypermarkets across Ukraine within 24 hours, the company said on Oct. 25, the latest wave of attacks targeting civilian infrastructure. Facilities in Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, and Poltava were hit on Oct. 24-25, with one 52-year-old woman injured in Poltava.

Machado calls for 2027 elections in Venezuela; Rodríguez says vote will be held but no date

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado called for elections to be held in 2027 during a news conference in Caracas on Thursday, declaring the country's move toward democracy 'irreversible', while interim President Delcy Rodríguez said elections would be held but set no date.

25 Oct 2026· 19 sources

Serbia's Student List ends 14-year rule of Vučić's party

Serbia's student-led opposition has swept Aleksandar Vucic from power, with preliminary results giving the Student List almost 53% of the vote and about 140 of 250 parliamentary seats, ending more than a decade of rule by the nationalist strongman.

25 Oct 2026· 48 sources

Saudi airport reopens, Israel tightens West Bank grip days before election

Saudi Arabia reopened its main international airport on Sunday after a deadly Houthi attack weeks ago, as Israel pressed ahead with a broad West Bank operation and a crackdown on Palestinian laborers just two days before a tense election widely seen as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wartime leadership.

Hellenic Basketball Federation president resigns amid match-fixing investigation

Vangelis Liolios, the president of the Hellenic Basketball Federation (EOK), resigned on Sunday as he appeared before an investigating magistrate in connection with an ongoing match-fixing probe covering 49 games played between 2016 and 2026. Liolios has denied the allegations, with his defence team describing the case as a conspiracy.

Saudi Arabia intercepts Houthi barrage near Mecca; Gulf bloc condemns 'grave violation'

Saudi-led coalition forces intercepted a barrage of ballistic missiles and drones fired from Yemen on Saturday evening, with shrapnel from two intercepted missiles falling in Mecca province, including near the holy city of Mecca. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) condemned the attack as a 'grave violation of the sanctity of the Holy Sites,' while the Houthi rebel group denied targeting Muslim holy places. The barrage also targeted the capital Riyadh, where a drone and ballistic missile were intercepted, and other cities across the kingdom.

Healey faces rising inflation and £35bn fiscal challenge ahead of Budget

Chancellor John Healey faces mounting pressure ahead of his first Budget on Wednesday, October 28, with September inflation at 3.5% and a warning from the Institute for Fiscal Studies that £35 billion in tax rises, welfare cuts or both may be needed to avoid cuts to public-service budgets.

Ukrainian drone strikes hit Russian finance ministry data center, tax databases reportedly compromised

Ukrainian drone strikes have damaged a Russian finance ministry data center in the suburb of Gorodets, roughly 230 miles east of Moscow and more than 600 miles from the front lines, according to a report by Data Center Dynamics (DCD). The facility is said to house state registries including the Federal Taxation Service's tax database, raising the possibility of disruptions to government information systems.

At least seven killed in Gaza as Israel strikes university campus, other sites

At least seven Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza, including airstrikes on the Islamic University campus that killed three security guards and wounded seven female students, according to Al Jazeera and Palestinian officials.

Suspect in Missouri teen's highway shooting charged in second road incident

A man already charged with fatally shooting 17-year-old Alyssa Wilson as she drove to a Halloween party has been charged in a separate highway shooting that occurred three days earlier, according to federal court documents.

Antonelli wins US Grand Prix, within two points of F1 title

Kimi Antonelli won the United States Grand Prix in Austin on Sunday, taking another step toward his first Formula One championship and moving to within two points of clinching the title, which he could do at next week's Mexican Grand Prix.

25 Oct 2026· 11 sources

Two-thirds of Australians now bulk-billed for all GP care as incentives boost rates

Almost two-thirds of Australians are now bulk-billed for all their GP care, up from 56% in both 2024 and 2025, according to a new report that credits the federal government’s recent investment in Medicare bulk billing incentives. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ annual health of the nation report, published Wednesday, found the proportion of general practitioners bulk-billing all patients has more than doubled to 26% from 12% a year earlier.

Zelenskyy confirms trilateral talks with Russia and US in November

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on Sunday that a trilateral meeting between Ukraine, the United States and Russia will take place in November, aiming to restart stalled peace talks in the fifth year of Russia's invasion.

Moscow to host 2030 World Weightlifting Championships

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has awarded Moscow the 2030 World Weightlifting Championships, making it the first Olympic sports federation to stage a global event in Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in 2022. The decision, announced on 25 October, follows the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) provisional lifting in July of the Russian Olympic Committee's suspension.

Four-year-old girl dies after fall from tower block in East London

A four-year-old girl has died after falling from a tower block in Barking, East London. Emergency services were called to St Paul's Road at about 11:00 BST on Saturday morning. The child was taken to hospital but later died from her injuries.

25 Oct 2026· 5 sources

Storm Boelo grounds flights at Heathrow and Gatwick, cancels London Diwali

Storm Boelo brought fresh travel chaos to London on Sunday, forcing the cancellation of more than 100 flights at Heathrow and Gatwick and prompting a last-minute cancellation of the capital’s annual Diwali celebration in Trafalgar Square, as the Met Office warned of danger to life from flying debris and crashing waves.

Gabon lifts eight-month social media ban

The High Communication Authority of Gabon announced on Saturday that it has lifted an eight-month ban on social media, restoring access to platforms such as Facebook, TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.

Saudi Arabia intercepts Houthi missiles and drones; oil prices surge on escalation fears

Saudi Arabia's coalition said it intercepted and destroyed drones and missiles fired by Iran-aligned Houthis toward several cities, including the capital Riyadh, on Sunday, while oil prices hit a six-month high amid fears of wider conflict in the Middle East.

US Politics

Blanche defends Trump-ordered Alaska election lawsuit as midterm DOJ offensive escalates

US Attorney General Todd Blanche on Sunday defended the Justice Department's preemptive lawsuit to block certification of Alaska's Senate election results if Republican incumbent Dan Sullivan loses, as the Trump administration escalates a series of politically charged DOJ actions in the final days before the midterms. President Donald Trump confirmed he personally ordered the lawsuit, saying, 'I'm the one who said do it.'

25 Oct 2026· 14 sources

Netanyahu presses Trump for more campaign support ahead of tight Israeli election, sources say

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged President Donald Trump to ramp up public support for his campaign ahead of Tuesday's tight election, according to a U.S. source with knowledge and an Israeli source briefed on the matter, a move the White House sees as a sign of desperation and an indication that Netanyahu believes he is losing.

Gaza's disabled children face lost education as war shatters specialist schools

Children with visual and hearing impairments in Gaza are largely cut off from education as specialist schools have been damaged or destroyed and essential supplies such as hearing aid batteries and Braille equipment are blocked by the ongoing siege, according to families and disability advocates speaking to Al Jazeera. The war that began in October 2023 has left many disabled students without access to learning, with some unable to attend school at all for the first year of the conflict.

Portuguese police clear Lisbon housing protest camp, 25 arrested

Portuguese police cleared a protest camp in central Lisbon before dawn on Sunday, baton-charging demonstrators and arresting 25 people as they dismantled more than 100 tents set up to protest the country's deepening housing crisis. A smaller camp in Porto was also cleared, with six arrests. The activist group Casa para Viver said 60 people were hurt and called a fresh protest for Tuesday.

World in Pictures: Protests, wildfires, missile strikes and a fire at Hitler's Eagle's Nest

From cost-of-living protests in France to a fire at Adolf Hitler's former mountaintop retreat in Germany, photographers this week captured a series of striking moments around the world. The images include an anti-Meta demonstration in Brazil, peatland wildfires in Indonesia, a Russian missile strike in Ukraine, election campaigning in Israel and student protests in Albania.

25 Oct 2026· 5 sources

Algerian parliament approves troop deployment to Niger in first overseas mission since 1973

Algeria's parliament has approved the deployment of troops to neighbouring Niger, the country's first foreign military mission since the 1973 Arab-Israeli war, completing a process that required a two-thirds majority in both chambers. The troops are expected to protect Algerian oil installations in northern Niger, marking a significant shift in Algeria's longstanding policy of non-intervention.

25 Oct 2026· 5 sources

Home Secretary criticises Sally Rooney as children's laureates donate royalties in solidarity

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has criticised Irish author Sally Rooney after she said she would donate earnings from her books to Palestine Action, a group proscribed under the UK Terrorism Act. Mahmood told parliament there was 'a world of difference' between profiting from book sales and directing money to a proscribed organisation. Two children's laureates subsequently announced they would donate their own royalties to Rooney in solidarity, calling the situation an 'absurdity'.

Ukraine strikes Russian titanium plant more than 1,400 kilometers from border

Ukrainian forces struck the Avisma titanium plant in Berezniki, Perm Krai, on October 25, one of the world’s largest producers of titanium sponge, according to Ukrainian monitoring channel Exilenova+. Located over 1,400 kilometers from the Ukrainian border, the facility is a key supplier of materials used in Russian military aircraft, nuclear submarines, and missile systems, and has been under US sanctions since 2023.

UK defence shares rise on reports of Healey’s Budget borrowing plan

British defence and aerospace shares rose on Monday after reports that Chancellor John Healey would use Wednesday’s Budget to announce billions of pounds in military investment financed through public lenders. The gains came as Conservatives demanded a fully funded plan to raise defence spending to three per cent of GDP by 2030.

US Politics

US food stamp enrollment drops 13% under Trump restrictions as advocates warn of rising hunger

Enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has fallen by 13 per cent over the past year, dropping from 41.6 million in July 2025 to 36.5 million in June 2026, according to the latest data from the US Department of Agriculture. The Trump administration says the changes encourage work, but critics, including Democratic governors and anti-hunger advocates, warn that the reductions are forcing more Americans to rely on food banks and go hungry.

One in three Australian households went hungry this year, Foodbank finds

New research by Foodbank reveals one in three Australian households experienced food insecurity over the past year, as the cost-of-living crisis deepens. The report, released Monday, found 33 per cent of households, about 3.6 million, did not have regular access to sufficient nourishing food, with many reducing meal portions and cutting back on essentials such as shampoo and soap. The findings come as inflation data due this week is expected to show ongoing price pressures, potentially prompting another interest rate hike from the Reserve Bank.

25 Oct 2026· 9 sources

Israeli forces turn Hebron homes into military posts as settlers build outposts, Palestinian sources say

Israeli forces have converted evacuated Palestinian homes in Hebron into barracks and observation posts, while settlers have begun establishing two new outposts on Palestinian-owned land south of the city, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Sunday.

Leaked emails reveal AfD co-leader’s private warnings about nationalist colleague she now praises

A leak of more than 400,000 internal Alternative for Germany (AfD) emails shows co-leader Alice Weidel privately denounced party firebrand Björn Höcke as racist and extremist a decade ago, warning his language risked bringing the party under intelligence surveillance. Years later, she praises his leadership and deems him suitable for a federal cabinet post, the correspondence reveals.

CENTCOM draws up Iran strike options as Trump weighs military action and diplomacy

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has prepared options for renewed military strikes against Iran, according to reports cited by Al Jazeera, raising the possibility of a major escalation in a conflict approaching its eighth month. President Donald Trump has suggested a strike could come imminently while simultaneously holding out the possibility of a negotiated agreement with Tehran.

All eight Slovak regional heads re-elected, capital mayor wins third term

The heads of all eight of Slovakia's regions were re-elected in weekend polls, with the country's pro-Western opposition retaining four posts, Prime Minister Robert Fico's ruling coalition keeping two, and independent candidates holding the remaining two. In the capital, opposition-aligned mayor Matúš Vallo won a third term.