World

2057 articles · page 28 of 43

Australia

Federal Court to Decide What Counts as Direct Aged Care Under New Minimums

A Federal Court case will determine what constitutes 'direct care' under Labor's new aged care minimums, raising the possibility of hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for providers who fail to meet the standards. The outcome could set a landmark precedent for the industry, clarifying which daily tasks — from personal hygiene to cleaning up after meals — count toward the mandated minimum care minutes.

27 Aug·3 min
Australia

Teen girl dies from strangulation during sex; authors call for regulation of porn and social media

A teenage girl has died from strangulation during a sexual encounter, prompting two Australian commentators to argue that pornography and social media are normalizing dangerous sexual practices like 'choking' among young people, and must be held accountable. Writing in major Australian newspapers, David Corlett and Maree Crabbe warned that such practices are now common but carry lethal risks, calling for urgent regulatory action.

27 Aug·3 min·3 sources
World

US designates UK-based Palestine Action as terrorist group; co-founder calls move ‘rich’

The United States has formally designated Palestine Action, a British activist group known for direct action against companies with Israeli ties, as a foreign terrorist organization. Huda Ammori, the group’s co-founder, told Al Jazeera the decision was hypocritical, saying ‘that’s rich’, while the US government accuses the group of engaging in violent and destructive activities that threaten public safety and international stability.

27 Aug·3 min
World

Yayoi Kusama, Visionary Japanese Artist Known for Polka Dots and Infinity Rooms, Dies at 97

Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese artist who rose from a psychiatric hospital to become one of the world’s most commercially successful and culturally ubiquitous contemporary artists, has died at the age of 97. Her studio announced on August 27 that Kusama passed away in a Tokyo hospital on August 14, 2026, ending a seven-decade career defined by polka dots, infinity mirror rooms, and a fearless embrace of the surreal.

27 Aug·2 min·9 sources
Australia

Abbott says War Memorial should leave frontier conflicts to National Museum

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has said the Australian War Memorial should not 'dwell on' frontier conflicts, arguing such history would be better presented at the Australian National Museum. His comments, reported by Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times, add a prominent voice to a long-running debate over the memorial's scope and its treatment of violence against Indigenous Australians.

27 Aug·3 min·3 sources
US Politics

Trump Appoints Mark Paoletta, a Close Thomas Associate, to Lead Agency Overseeing Federal Construction

President Trump has named Mark Paoletta, a longtime conservative lawyer and close associate of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, to lead the National Capital Planning Commission, a federal agency responsible for reviewing major construction projects in the Washington, D.C., region. The appointment, reported by The New York Times, places a figure with deep ties to the Trump administration and the judiciary at the helm of a panel that could soon weigh projects linked to the president's own business interests.

27 Aug·3 min
Australia

Queensland woman gives birth to twins with different biological parents after surrogacy and natural pregnancy coincide

A Queensland woman delivered twin children on the same day in November 2025, each with a different set of biological parents, after an IVF embryo transfer undertaken for a surrogacy arrangement coincided with a spontaneous natural pregnancy — a situation so rare it had not been contemplated by state surrogacy laws, according to a court judgment released this week.

27 Aug·3 min·2 sources
US Politics

Military Judge Sets June 2028 Trial Date for Alleged 9/11 Mastermind and Three Co-Conspirators

A military judge at Guantánamo Bay has set a June 2028 trial date for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks, along with three other alleged conspirators, according to an order issued Wednesday. The ruling marks the first firm trial date after more than 20 years of legal delays, pre-trial hearings, and contentious debates over the military commission system's legitimacy.

27 Aug·2 min·2 sources
Australia

Carroll scraps secret $8bn transport levy after auditor-general exposes hidden fare charge

Victorian Premier Carroll has scrapped a secret $8 billion levy embedded in public transport fares, acting a day after the state's Auditor-General revealed the charge had been quietly introduced on January 1 last year without public knowledge. The levy, which applied to all Myki trips, was collected as part of standard fare increases and funnelled directly into consolidated revenue rather than transport upgrades.

27 Aug·2 min·3 sources
World

Himalayan landslide survivors recount terror as death toll rises on Nepal-China border

Survivors of a catastrophic landslide on the Himalayan border between Nepal and China are telling harrowing stories of escape and loss as authorities recover bodies from the debris. The disaster, described by witnesses as a sudden 'huge gush of mud' and a 'wall of rock and water,' struck without warning, burying homes and sweeping away infrastructure in a region already vulnerable to monsoon-triggered landslides.

27 Aug·2 min·3 sources
US Politics

Fed Governor Lisa Cook Rebukes Trump Over Mortgage Fraud Allegations

Federal Reserve Governor Lisa D. Cook publicly pushed back on Tuesday against President Trump’s accusation that she committed mortgage fraud, marking the most direct confrontation yet in the president’s ongoing campaign to oust her from the central bank. Cook, who has been a target of Trump’s criticism since her appointment, denied any wrongdoing and called the allegations baseless, while supporters of the Fed’s independence warned that the attack threatens to politicize monetary policy.

27 Aug·3 min·2 sources
US Politics

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Rejoins Democratic Socialists of America After Seven-Year Lapse

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has renewed her membership in the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) after letting it lapse for seven years, a move that comes amid growing speculation about a potential presidential campaign in 2028. The New York Democrat, who initially joined the organization in 2018 during her first run for Congress, had not renewed her membership after her first year, according to reports first published by The Guardian.

27 Aug·2 min
US Politics

Early Government Projection Showed Thousands at Risk from East Palestine Chemical Exposure, Documents Reveal

Newly obtained government documents show that an early federal projection following the 2023 East Palestine, Ohio, train derailment estimated that thousands of Americans could have been exposed to harmful levels of toxic chemicals—a figure far larger than previously disclosed. The records, released by a watchdog group, reignite questions about the adequacy of the public health response and the transparency of both Norfolk Southern and federal agencies.

27 Aug·3 min
Geopolitics

UNRWA Chief Accuses Israel of Seeking to Eliminate Agency and Palestinian Refugee Status

The head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has accused Israel of deliberately working to dismantle the agency and erase the issue of Palestinian refugees, following the seizure of an UNRWA training centre in East Jerusalem. The claim, made on Tuesday, underscores deepening tensions between the UN agency and the Israeli government, which has long criticised UNRWA's mandate and operations.

27 Aug·3 min
World

Israeli Forces Install New Gate in West Bank Village, Isolating Palestinian Home

Israeli forces have installed a new gate around the home of Palestinian American Lou Ridi in the village of Qusra, in the occupied West Bank, effectively isolating the property and raising concerns about heightened movement restrictions for Palestinian residents. The move, reported on Wednesday, is the latest in a series of measures that critics say further entrench the occupation and fragment Palestinian communities.

27 Aug·2 min
World

Final witness in Lindsay Clancy trial casts doubt on postpartum psychosis defense

The trial of Lindsay Clancy, the Massachusetts mother accused of killing her three young children in 2023, is heading toward closing arguments after an FBI psychiatrist testified Wednesday that he does not believe she was acting under a command hallucination. Dr. Gregory Saathoff, a witness for the prosecution, told the court in Plymouth that Clancy likely understood the wrongfulness of her actions, challenging the defense’s central claim that she suffered from postpartum psychosis and heard a voice ordering her to commit the killings.

27 Aug·2 min
US Politics

Florida Catholic Bishops Rebuke Attorney General Over Vaccine Exemption Demands

Florida's Catholic bishops have delivered a sharp rebuke to Attorney General James Uthmeier after he threatened to block funding to Catholic schools unless they begin granting religious exemptions from vaccination requirements. The bishops, in a theological counterargument, stated that the Catholic Church recognizes no legitimate religious objection to vaccines and will not bend to what they called the state's misguided anti-vaccine policies.

27 Aug·2 min