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7869 articles · page 54 of 164 · The World front page
A new round of United States sanctions has upended air travel to and from Iran, with a flight from Tehran to Dubai that once took under three hours and cost between $100 and $200 now taking up to 18 hours and costing more than $1,000. The disruption follows a September 23 deadline for foreign companies to stop servicing Iranian carriers.
The number of ships reporting attacks in and around the Strait of Hormuz has reached a record high, with 12 vessels struck between 5 and 11 October, the largest weekly total since the US-Israeli war with Iran began, according to BBC Verify analysis of UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) data.
· 2 sourcesRussian security services were waiting when a US deportation flight landed in Moscow in December, according to the BBC, as the number of anti-war Russians forcibly returned from Western countries rises. One deportee, identified only as Katya, said the FSB handed military papers to the men on the flight, requiring them to register with local enlistment offices.
The UK government will ban online pornography depicting strangulation, incest and adults portraying children from 6 November, following recommendations in a review of pornography regulation. Ministers say the change is intended to stop content that normalises violence against women, while campaigners have urged the government to ensure the ban is enforced.
· 3 sourcesHuman rights groups report that Youssef al-Manasif, a young Saudi man, faces imminent execution after his death sentence was upheld by the kingdom's supreme court. Arrested in 2017 at age 15, he was convicted of attending protests and funerals deemed unlawful by Saudi authorities. Activists say the case underscores Saudi Arabia's continued use of capital punishment for non-violent crimes committed by minors, despite a 2020 royal decree abolishing the practice.
Officers in the Metropolitan Police have said the force needs to move away from criminalising women involved in street sex work, as it pilots a new outreach team in north London in the wake of the Simon Levy case.
A 42-year-old employee of a defence contractor has been denied bail after allegedly being found with child abuse material during a border examination at Sydney airport. Nicholas Tyson Quinn appeared before the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday charged with two counts of possessing child abuse material.
· 2 sourcesA staffing crisis at Auckland's Starship Children's Hospital has forced delays of up to seven days for some cancer treatments, with nurses describing the shortage as the worst they have experienced. Health Minister Simeon Brown has asked Health New Zealand's chief executive for an explanation.
· 2 sourcesNationals leader Matt Canavan has claimed both Coalition parties oppose the Australia-EU trade deal, a position immediately disputed by Liberal senators who told the ABC the agreement is better than the status quo and should be supported.
· 2 sourcesAustralian rugby's first-ever quadruple header is underway at Accor Stadium, with the Wallaroos opening proceedings against Scotland. The historic afternoon will see all four senior national teams -- men's and women's 15-a-side and sevens -- play on the same schedule, with the Wallabies set to face the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup later tonight.
· 5 sourcesTwo Singapore-flagged container ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz this week, one sinking, but maritime analysts say commercial traffic is unlikely to stop because strong demand for Middle Eastern energy and higher prices still make the passage worthwhile for some operators.
Two men have died after a light plane crashed into a paddock near Scone Aerodrome in the NSW Upper Hunter on Friday afternoon, prompting investigations by police, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and the coroner.
· 4 sourcesThe federal government has introduced legislation to parliament that would impose a new minimum 30% tax rate on income from discretionary trusts, saying the change is about better aligning the tax treatment of income from assets and income from work.
The future of western security is being decided in the mountains around the Yemeni city of Taiz, the country's former prime minister has warned, as Iran-backed Houthi rebels advance on the strategic gateway to the Bab al-Mandab strait.
With the Victorian election weeks away, the Coalition opposition has proposed winding up Innovation Victoria's investment function and selling its early-stage portfolio of about 100 investments to help finance a $1.27 billion healthcare plan, a move an industry commentator has labelled a false economy.
French lawyers and rights groups have accused police of inflicting war-like injuries on teenagers during school protests, as France enters the fourth week of its biggest youth protest movement in decades and police investigate 36 allegations of officer violence against demonstrators.
Carlton has suspended a defender after the player was charged with drink-driving, the club announced, without disclosing further details.
A firearms manufacturer running for One Nation in New South Wales has promised to repeal gun laws introduced after the Bondi beach massacre, arguing that every rifle his company produces is now banned in the state.
· 2 sourcesThe number of cloned number plates involved in offences on UK roads has reached a record high, with more than 11,400 drivers contacting the DVLA last year after receiving fines for offences they did not recognise, according to RAC analysis of official data.
· 2 sourcesPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned that Donald Trump is not on the right side of history, as Ukrainians accuse the United States of gambling with their lives after Russian strikes devastated residential buildings in the capital.
Sophomore safety Tyler Ulrich, 21, has died five days after sustaining a "traumatic injury" during a college football game, Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma announced Thursday. The school did not disclose the cause of death or the nature of the injury.
An opinion column in The Age has criticised Australia's professional rugby players for seeking more money from the wrong sources, as the Rugby Union Players Association and Rugby Australia remain locked in a public dispute over a new pay deal that must be settled by October 31.
The Reserve Bank of Australia's 2026 annual report reveals governor Michele Bullock received $1.22 million in total remuneration last financial year, released as the bank argues with junior staff over pay and conditions.
· 2 sourcesBen Roberts-Smith, the Victoria Cross recipient facing war-crimes charges, has launched a commercial venture called Epic 1 Two with a promotional video, aiming to fund his legal defence. The brand, named after his military radio call sign, will sell branded clothing with a veterans discount.
· 5 sourcesMedia executive and ACM co-owner Antony Catalano has made his first in-person court appearance since being charged with assaulting his wife in March, including alleged strangulation and threats to kill. His barrister told Melbourne Magistrates Court that negotiations with prosecutors were continuing and that the alleged victim did not support the charges proceeding.
Jamaica's petition seeking legal guidance on slavery reparations from the UK will be heard by the privy council in the week of 8 March 2027, the Jamaican government has confirmed.
The FBI has arrested a California real estate agent for allegedly spying on Lai Ting-yu, the eldest child of Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te, in what analysts describe as part of China's growing transnational repression campaign targeting Taiwanese leaders.
The Greens created and maintained a secret 47-page dossier cataloguing allegations against Senator Jordon Steele-John and detailing strategies to shut down media coverage and monitor party members who raised concerns on social media, according to reporting published Friday by Nine newspapers.
· 5 sourcesMalaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has pledged to work toward Myanmar's reintegration into ASEAN after hosting President Min Aung Hlaing, who promised to send navy ships to repatriate Myanmar nationals at his government's own cost. The October 8 visit to Putrajaya, the first since the 2021 coup, drew criticism that Malaysia is rewarding impunity even as Kuala Lumpur insists the trip was about migration, not recognition.
· 2 sourcesThe owner of an Illawarra homewares store has been refused bail over allegations he stored more than 2,500 child abuse images and videos in cloud-based accounts and sent material on the encrypted messaging app Telegram.
Russia's finance minister attended a Group of 20 financial meeting in Bangkok on Thursday, his second in-person appearance at the gathering since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, testing how far Washington's rapprochement with Moscow will strain ties with European allies.
Las Vegas investigators have identified the man whose remains were found stuffed in a barrel in the receding waters of Lake Mead in 2022, ending a four-year mystery that captured nationwide attention. Clark County coroner Melanie Rouse announced on Thursday that the victim is Edward Lelburian Jackson, also known as "Buddy," a man from Arkansas with no known ties to the Las Vegas area.
Federal agents have launched an investigation aimed at stripping US Representative Ilhan Omar of her citizenship, executing a pre-dawn search of her Washington DC home and issuing more than a dozen grand jury subpoenas, according to sources familiar with the case. The probe, conducted by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), is focused on whether Omar's father misrepresented her age when applying for her citizenship, with potential charges including conspiracy, false statements on immigration paperwork and immigration fraud.
Demonstrations demanding the resignation of India's chief election commissioner have entered their second week in New Delhi, with young voters and student groups at the centre of rallies sparked by the removal of more than 130 million names from the draft electoral roll. The protests are continuing despite a heavy official crackdown in which police have arrested journalists, shut down the internet and blockaded the city centre.
· 2 sourcesUkrainian drones struck an oil refinery in Russia’s Ryazan region early on Thursday, igniting a fire, just hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky said a short-lived truce brokered by US President Donald Trump was over and that Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure would resume.
Small-time Victorian trainer Andrea Leek has the horse to beat in Saturday's $6 million Group 1 Caulfield Cup, with Cosmic Crusader rocketing into favouritism on the back of a dominant Turnbull Stakes win.
· 6 sourcesPerth owner Bob Peters has entrusted his star galloper Cosmic Crusader to little-known Victorian trainer Andrea Leek, and the gamble is paying off: the six-year-old gelding has won three of five starts this preparation and heads into Saturday's $6 million Group 1 Caulfield Cup as the favourite.
· 3 sourcesKangaroos fullback Reece Walsh has praised rival No.1 James Tedesco for helping him prepare for his World Cup starting debut, and says he will pay "top dollar" to any specialist who can stop him vomiting during matches, a problem that flared again in Australia's 24-22 opening win over New Zealand.
· 3 sourcesAustralian endurance runner Jack Hanley will strive to be the last man standing when he represents Team Australia at the Backyard Ultra in Wollongong on Saturday, hoping to beat his previous record of 74 hours in a race that has no finish line.
· 3 sourcesCleveland Police have arrested 50 people as part of a wider operation against organised crime following a fatal head-on crash on the A66 in Teesside that killed seven people, including two police officers.
Undercover footage broadcast by ITV News this week shows a Reform UK local party chairman advising an aspiring candidate to delete social media posts supportive of the far-right activist Tommy Robinson before encouraging them to stand as a councillor, deepening questions over the party's candidate vetting procedures.
· 2 sourcesPolice have locked down part of Dulwich Hill in Sydney's inner west after reports of gunfire and a man armed with a shotgun who allegedly set fire to a stolen car and fled on foot. Heavily armed tactical police, a police helicopter, and general duties officers responded to the area near Williams Parade and Constitution Road on Friday morning.
· 3 sourcesA Russian jet-powered drone struck the roof of a supermarket in the town of Mayaky in Ukraine's Odesa region on Thursday, injuring at least three people and sparking a major fire, Ukrainian officials said.
· 2 sourcesTwo pipelines carrying gas and oil products were damaged in separate incidents in Syria on Thursday, state media reported, the latest disruptions to an energy network that has suffered a series of suspected sabotage attacks in recent months. The state-owned Syrian Petroleum Company announced the damage, according to the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA).
Iraq's parliament has completed the formation of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's government, approving 11 vacant cabinet posts and three deputy prime ministers, including a senior leader of a US-sanctioned, Iran-backed movement, as the country grapples with severe liquidity shortages linked to the war on Iran.
This week, Ukraine's StarGate aerial medical evacuation drone was handed over to a combat brigade for evaluation under front-line conditions, moving the aircraft a step closer to real combat use after a year of development. The six-propeller drone, built by Ukrainian defence technology company SkyFall, is designed to fly into areas where enemy drones and artillery can leave wounded troops stranded, and carry them out without an evacuation crew.
· 4 sourcesThe order to restrict the SpaceX Starshield satellite service used by Ukraine's military came from inside the White House, Reuters reported on Thursday, citing two US officials and a Western official. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the restrictions "a big mistake" that would bring "a lot of human losses."
· 4 sourcesThe son of the Exclusive Brethren’s world leader has admitted meeting far-right agitators and belonging to secret chats where neo-Nazi associates and church elders plotted an election influence campaign, but told a parliamentary inquiry the encounters were “just business”. In a fiery three-hour hearing on Friday, Gareth Hales also acknowledged a “brief” meeting with then opposition leader Peter Dutton in 2025, while his father Bruce Hales revealed that church members have met with US President Donald Trump in New York.
· 10 sources