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7643 articles · page 38 of 160 · The World front page
Dame Esther Rantzen has been laid to rest in a private funeral, her family has confirmed, as they released a final note in which the broadcaster and Childline founder urged campaigners to continue fighting for assisted dying reform, writing that she was 'deprived of any choice over my own death' by the current law.
· 2 sourcesA three-day hearing in the Land and Environment Court has begun in Moss Vale, hearing an appeal by developer Nakar Property against Wingecarribee Shire Council's refusal of a 16-megawatt gas-fired power plant and battery storage system. Community members and traditional landowners told the court the cumulative impacts of this and associated projects on the site are being overlooked by fragmented planning decisions.
· 2 sourcesIran’s parliament approved veteran defence official Mehrdad Akhlaqi Ketabchi as defence minister on October 18, elevating a figure sanctioned by the United Nations and the United States over his links to the country’s ballistic missile programme.
At least one person was killed and six injured when a Russian drone struck morning commuter traffic in Kyiv's Holosiivskyi District on October 20, according to city mayor Vitali Klitschko. Separately, three people died in a Russian attack on a production and warehouse building in Obukhiv, just south of the capital.
· 2 sourcesPresident Volodymyr Zelensky and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed tensions in US-Ukraine relations during a phone call on Oct. 20, as Kyiv accuses Washington of using military aid and access to technology as leverage to pressure Ukraine to halt strikes on Russian oil refineries.
A Serbian prosecutor involved in a landmark corruption case against senior regime figures over the alleged illegal transfer of a protected Belgrade site to a Trump development project has been targeted with advanced spyware, according to digital forensics and an Apple warning to the prosecutor.
The UK government has announced plans for a new railway station in Bradford that it says will transform travel across the North of England, replacing the existing 1970s structure and becoming a central hub in the Northern Powerhouse Rail network.
· 2 sourcesSpanish emergency services rescued 280 people by helicopter in a single day as Storm Adam continued to batter the Mediterranean coast, with dramatic footage showing a family and their dogs being carried to safety in the flooded town of Oliva. The death toll remains at five, and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is expected to visit the Valencia region on Tuesday to survey the damage.
· 4 sourcesBrendon Nugent has been charged with three offenses, including intentionally causing injury, over the alleged attack on independent MP Helen Haines. Haines remains in a critical condition in hospital, where she underwent emergency surgery after losing a leg, with surgeons working to save the other. Police allege the incident was a deliberate attack.
· 17 sourcesVoters in Canada's oil-rich Alberta province have overwhelmingly backed remaining in Canada, with early referendum results on Tuesday delivering a major boost to Prime Minister Mark Carney's push for national unity. With more than 1.5 million votes counted, 76 per cent supported remaining in Canada while close to 24 per cent backed beginning a process towards separation, according to unofficial results from Elections Alberta.
· 11 sourcesUEFA has formally demanded that FIFA release a series of documents by November 2 relating to President Gianni Infantino's abandoned $4.2 billion investment plan for the World Cup, as well as other governance issues. The demand, revealed on Monday and signed by UEFA general secretary Theodore Theodoridis, is the latest escalation in a power struggle between European football's governing body and the global organization.
Victorian Coroner Paul Lawrie has found that an online gambling addiction was the 'direct and paramount' causative factor in the suicide of 22-year-old Kyle Hudson, delivering a devastating rebuke to wagering giant Sportsbet. The coroner rejected the company's argument that Hudson was not a problem gambler, describing its defence as 'chilling' given repeated missed warnings and hundreds of targeted inducements.
· 4 sourcesAhead of the US midterm elections, President Donald Trump has been touting the American economy as "the hottest country anywhere in the world." A BBC Verify analysis finds the economy is growing faster than other G7 nations, but inflation has risen above the rate he inherited, job creation has slowed, and most households are worse off than they would have been, according to independent estimates.
· 2 sourcesA 23-year-old man has been jailed for 4½ years in the Perth District Court over a ram raid and arson attack on a Midland tobacco shop, a crime he carried out for an organised crime gang for a $5,000 payment.
· 3 sourcesWith two weeks until the 2026 midterm elections, independent analysts project Democrats are poised to regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives, driven by President Donald Trump's low approval ratings and discontent over the economy and the war in Iran. The Cook Political Report predicts a net Democratic gain of 10 to 20 House seats, well above the three needed for a majority, according to analysts speaking at a Brookings Institution panel Monday.
· 3 sourcesMyanmar's military government has released rare photographs of imprisoned former leader Aung San Suu Kyi receiving gifts from Britain's King Charles, an act critics argue is a calculated bid by the junta to gain international legitimacy. A presidential spokesperson confirmed that home ministry officials handed over two gardening books, a sealed envelope, and a diplomatic pouch from the monarch. The images show the 81-year-old Nobel Peace laureate smiling in a wood-panelled room at an undisclosed location in the capital, Naypyidaw, where she is serving multiple sentences under house arrest.
Russia has said it is “ready in principle” to resume US-mediated peace talks with Ukraine after President Vladimir Putin met US special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg on Wednesday. Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov suggested a new round could be held around 10 November in Abu Dhabi, and a US official said a proposed trilateral technical-level meeting had been accepted by both Kyiv and Moscow.
· 14 sourcesVice President JD Vance declined to endorse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for re-election on Monday, saying he would not get involved in Israeli elections, a day after President Donald Trump explicitly backed the Israeli leader. In an interview with journalist Mark Halperin, Vance laughed before responding: 'I'm not anti-endorsing him. I'm not pro-endorsing him. I'm not getting involved in Israeli elections.'
· 3 sourcesDual international Michael O'Connor says Mark Nawaqanitawase's two-year NRL run, capped by a State of Origin series win and a premiership with the Sydney Roosters, proves Australian rugby still produces world-class talent even as the Wallabies' Bledisloe Cup drought reaches 24 years. Wallabies coach Les Kiss wanted the winger for next month's Nations Championship campaign in the United Kingdom, but Nawaqanitawase ruled himself out in favour of rest before joining Japanese club Saitama Panasonic Wild Knights.
· 3 sourcesAustralian business columnist Stephen Bartholomeusz has argued that China's record export boom, sustained by state subsidies and a stagnant domestic economy, is leaving the country dangerously exposed to a European backlash. Writing for Nine's metropolitan newspapers, he said France and Germany are pushing for new European Commission powers to shut off EU market access to Chinese goods, a move that could threaten the export-led model Beijing relies on for growth.
· 3 sourcesAn independent review into the Northern Territory child protection department's handling of a five-year-old child's case before her alleged murder has revealed extensive failings, with the report calling for a 'system-wide reset' and all 45 recommendations accepted in full by the government.
David Sabatini, the former Massachusetts Institute of Technology molecular biologist whose career was shattered by sexual harassment accusations in 2022, has won a $6 million defamation lawsuit against Kristin Knouse, the colleague who made them. In an interview with The Free Press, Sabatini described the verdict as vindication after losing his lab, his biotech posts, and his reputation.
The UK government has laid regulations in Parliament to end benefits for serious criminals detained in hospital, closing a loophole that allowed offenders to receive up to £800 a month in universal credit while their living costs were already covered by the NHS. The move, which follows a campaign by the families of victims of high-profile cases, is expected to come into force early next year and save tens of millions of pounds annually.
· 4 sourcesChancellor John Healey has dismissed calls from within his own party to raise Capital Gains Tax, instead making a tax on banks the centrepiece of his first Budget on 28 October. The decision, confirmed ahead of next week's fiscal event, follows warnings that increasing CGT could ultimately cost the Treasury money if wealthy individuals defer asset sales or leave the country.
· 10 sourcesSpeaker Gerry Brownlee has warned that threats against New Zealand MPs have risen "astronomically" in recent years, as new figures show Parliament's specialist security team handled 216 requests for help in just three weeks. The warning comes after an attack that left an Australian MP critically injured and cost her a leg, an event condemned by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
The Independent Police Conduct Authority has found police failed to objectively examine the scene after a woman's death in Auckland, treating her fall as an accident despite knowing she was the complainant and central witness in an upcoming sexual assault trial. Auckland Police have since apologised to her family.
President Donald Trump has confirmed that SpaceX shares Elon Musk pledged to give to every child in America will be distributed through Trump Accounts, backing a plan Musk outlined earlier in the day and posted about on Truth Social.
Republican candidates in the closing weeks of the US midterm campaign are dramatically reducing their public association with President Donald Trump, with new analysis showing just 2.4% of advertising dollars spent since September 1 have promoted ties to the president, down from 27% in the 2018 midterms. The figures come from an analysis by Cory Alpert, a former Biden-Harris administration staffer now at the University of Melbourne, as the party struggles with an unpopular president whose approval rating has fallen below levels seen after the January 6 insurrection.
· 4 sourcesThe record-breaking El Niño event has forced the closure of tourist trails at Iguazu Falls after heavy downpours caused the Iguazu River to flow at six times its normal rate, while in El Salvador drought has left livestock starving and scientists warn of a 'terrifying level of additional risk' to the world's coral reefs. The World Meteorological Agency says the El Niño will strengthen further and persist until at least 2027, with impacts already felt across Indonesia, India, the Pacific and the Americas.
· 4 sourcesWil Malady, a top AFL draft prospect from Bairnsdale, secured a scholarship at Caulfield Grammar after sending an email to several private schools with spelling mistakes that admissions staff found charming and sincere. The 18-year-old, expected to be selected inside the first 15 picks of next month's AFL draft, said he wrote the email after realising scholarship deadlines had passed, telling this masthead he included spelling mistakes because he rushed to send it.
A man opened fire at a military recruitment office in Kyiv on Monday evening, wounding three police officers and three soldiers, Ukrainian authorities reported. The suspect, brought to the office over an alleged violation of the country's mobilization law, was detained after the attack.
A 40-year-old woman has entered not guilty pleas in the ACT Magistrates Court to charges of culpable driving causing death over a crash that killed two cyclists on Gungahlin Drive in Canberra's north.
At least 14 people have been killed and seven injured in a landslide at an illegal gold mine in southwestern Colombia, local authorities confirmed on Monday, as search and rescue operations concluded. Officials reported that 12 to 15 additional miners remain missing, but the difficult terrain and presence of armed groups hampered the response.
· 3 sourcesKing Mohammed VI has appointed Fatima Zahra El Mansouri as Morocco's first female prime minister, a historic milestone that has drawn both celebration and backlash, exposing deep divisions over gender equality in the North African kingdom.
Italy's government will dispatch 500 army troops to 'defend Milan' after two days of unrest that saw demonstrators clash with police, loot shops and vandalise property, Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said on Monday. The deployment is expected to be part of a security package to be approved at a cabinet meeting due on Tuesday.
· 2 sourcesUS President Donald Trump said the United States continues to strike Iran hard both economically and militarily, while China’s Premier Li Qiang condemned the US-Israeli attacks as ‘blatant aggression’ and Iran threatened undersea communication cables in response.
Gas prices have risen 37% since President Trump took office, driving frustration among even the most loyal Republican voters. At campaign events for top GOP leaders, attendees repeatedly raised the cost of fuel, forcing candidates to acknowledge a problem they had promised to fix. Republican leaders blame Democratic policies and the Iran war, but some acknowledge that simply dismissing concerns may not work.
Trainer Chris Waller has spoken for the first time about the death of stable star Ohope Wins in Saturday's Caulfield Cup, saying his staff are taking the loss “one day at a time” and that jockey Jye McNeil is recovering well after being cleared of serious injury.
· 4 sourcesMahmoud Khalil, the Columbia University demonstrator whose case became a flash point in the Trump administration's crackdown on anti-Israel foreign students, has asked the Supreme Court to hear his case, his lawyers said Monday.
· 2 sourcesIn the hours before federal independent MP Helen Haines was allegedly deliberately run down outside her Wangaratta office on Monday, a meme reading 'Not enough politicians are afraid for their lives right now & I think that’s a problem' was posted on the Facebook page of NSW Nationals MP Nichole Overall, prompting renewed scrutiny of online hate speech and political violence in Australia.
· 25 sourcesThe EU is seeking to strengthen its position in trade negotiations with China after European capitals recently won a cap on Beijing's hybrid vehicle imports, with analysts arguing the bloc is finally developing the backbone to confront China's trade surplus, even as others warn the tools may go unused.
The ACT Legislative Assembly has contracted armed security guards for the first time, responding to an escalation in violent threats against politicians. Speaker Jeremy Hanson announced the measure after a security audit found the territory's parliament needed greater protection, as members have increasingly faced threats of physical and sexual violence, and death threats.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is publicly refusing to entertain the possibility of losing the House majority, despite polling that shows Democrats leading the generic ballot by eight points and President Trump's approval at a record low. Scalise argues that his presence in competitive districts is evidence Republicans are still on offense, even as outside GOP allies pull nearly $1 million in advertising from one such race.
Qatar has proposed a comprehensive energy program for Lebanon, offering to build two gas-fired power plants within three years and supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) for 20 years through a pipeline crossing Syria, according to a draft program seen by Reuters. The plan, which also includes solar, wind and battery storage components, comes as Lebanon's state utility delivers only a few hours of electricity per day and private diesel generators cover roughly half of demand. Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Qatar would finance, run and operate the project, with QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies jointly developing a solar plant as the first stage.
A Stormont inquiry has formally released its report on Tuesday, concluding that websites advertising prostitution in Northern Ireland facilitate human trafficking and should be banned outright. The All-Party Group on Human Trafficking and Commercial Sexual Exploitation called for new criminal offences targeting those who operate the platforms, saying criminal gangs use them to manage multiple profiles and conceal abuse behind the pretence that the women are independent.
· 5 sourcesUkrainian tennis star Elina Svitolina has announced she and her husband, recently retired French tennis star Gael Monfils, are ending their marriage, describing the emotional toll of Russia's war in Ukraine as a factor in her personal struggles.
· 4 sourcesUS Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at Ovda Air Base in southern Israel, where American refueling planes and fighter jets are deployed, two sources with knowledge of the visit told Axios. The unannounced meeting came eight days before Israel's parliamentary election and as Washington and Jerusalem discuss a possible resumption of major combat operations against Iran.
· 3 sourcesRussell Brand is on trial at Southwark Crown Court in London accused of seven sexual offences against six women. On Monday, the third complainant told the court that he grabbed her breasts and dragged her into a bar toilet in 2004, where he orally raped her. Brand denies all charges.
· 4 sources