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Prime minister Petteri Orpo says eastern Finland ‘suffering because of Russian behaviour’Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Ukraine’s president, visited the Donetsk region today.Two people have been detained in Poland on suspicion of attacking Leonid Volkov, an aide to the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda told reporters today, Reuters reported. Continue reading...

Prime minister says not getting people into work is ‘irresponsible burden’ as he says ‘next parliament, a Conservative government’ will enact reformsRishi Sunak is arguing that not getting people into work is an “irresponsible burden” on future generations and taxpayers. He says:We risk not only letting those people down [the people who are long-term sickness benefits], but creating a deep sense of unfairness amongst...

Discussion ‘leans more towards infiltration than attack’ says anonymous Iranian official as US says Israel has carried out military operationFull report: Israel has carried out airstrikes on Iran, US officials sayWhat we know so far about Israel’s strike on IranWhat’s in Isfahan? The city home to Iranian nuclear facilitiesIt’s 7:24am in Tehran and 6:54 In Tel Aviv. Let’s get a reminder of what we...

PM launches consultation on personal independence payment amid ‘spiralling’ disability welfare billRishi Sunak has announced fresh curbs on disability benefits, saying he wants to explore whether some cash payments to claimants suffering from mental health conditions could be replaced by treatment or access to services.In a speech on welfare, the prime minister said he was launching a consultation on the personal independence payment (Pip),...

Three brothers and family friend died at the scene in Clackline in the state’s wheatbeltThree brothers, one of them only nine years old, and a family friend have been killed in a car crash in the Western Australian wheatbelt region.The brothers, aged 21, 19 and nine, died at the scene in Clackline in the early hours of Friday morning, along with a 45-year-old man,...

Broken Hill’s only newspaper, The Barrier Truth, closes due to cashflow problems, with staffer saying loss is ‘really sad for the community’Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastBroken Hill’s only newspaper has closed after almost 130 years of operation in a major blow to the outback NSW community.The Barrier Truth’s board told staff the union-run bi-weekly paper would...

Iranian official indicates no ‘immediate’ plan for retaliation after explosions reported in sky over Isfahan and TabrizMiddle East crisis: live updatesWhat we know so far about Israel’s strike on IranWhat’s in Isfahan? The city home to Iranian nuclear facilitiesUS officials have confirmed that Israel has carried out airstrikes against Iran, as explosions were reported in the sky over the cities of Isfahan and Tabriz,...

Katie Fieldhouse says Conservative party failed to act after she reported incident in early JanuaryThe Conservative activist who has accused a Tory MP of making a late-night demand for money has said she is appalled by the party’s response.Katie Fieldhouse has said Mark Menzies called her one night in December at 3.15am asking for £5,000 to pay “bad people” who had detained him in...

Shoppers cut back in March, with data likely to increase pressure on Bank of England over interest ratesBusiness live – latest updatesRetail sales in Great Britain unexpectedly stalled in March as consumers cut back on spending because of the cost of living, according to new data.British retail sales volumes stagnated at 0% in March after an increase of 0.1% in February, according to the...

Acting foreign minister Katy Gallagher says government is worried about potential for ‘further escalation of conflict in the region’The Australian government has urged all parties to “exercise restraint and step back” after the US confirmed Israel has launched retaliatory strikes on Iran, bringing the Middle East closer to a regional war.Officials in Washington said Israeli forces were carrying out military operations against Iran but...

This blog is now closed.Australia ‘extremely concerned’ after Israeli airstrikes on Iran confirmed by USNine-year-old among four killed in car crash in Western AustraliaGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, is speaking to the media after a 16-year-old was charged with a “terrorist act” for allegedly stabbing a bishop on Monday and is...

Work and pensions secretary attacks system of dealing with minor mental health problems as PM takes aim at ‘sicknote culture’Nearly everyone who gets signed off work for feeling “a little bit depressed” is classified as incapable of work, according to a senior government minister, as Rishi Sunak prepares to announce a new drive to get sick people back into employment.Mel Stride, the work and...

Reported Israeli drone strike on Isfahan may signal that this widening conflict has become more dynamicWhile the details remain vague, and Iranian denials strong, it seems very likely, given past history and strong comments from US officials, that a limited Israeli drone strike was launched against the Iranian city of Isfahan on Friday morning.Isfahan is significant for its military-industrial facilities, the presence of an...

Large quantity of illicit psilocybin allegedly discovered at Marsden home as investigations continue into separate and unrelated deaths suspected to be mushroom-relatedFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastQueensland police have laid charges over an allegedly commercial-scale psilocybin production operation south of Brisbane, as separate and unrelated investigations continue into high-profile...

Apple says Chinese government ordered it to remove two Meta-owned apps for ‘national security’ reasonsApple has removed WhatsApp and Threads from its Chinese App Store after the Chinese government ordered it to do so for “national security” reasons.Apple confirmed it had withdrawn the two apps – both owned by Meta, also the owner of Facebook – under instruction from the Cyberspace Administration of China,...

Exclusive: India seeking to use approach of UK election as bargaining chip and any exemption would be controversialIndia is demanding an exemption from the UK’s planned carbon tax as part of negotiations aiming to finalise a free trade deal before the UK election.India’s negotiating team have spent this week in London in a surprise set of talks to try to overcome the remaining hurdles...

Surveys suggest EH Bildu’s focus on health, housing and employment is attracting younger votersA leftwing coalition of Basque separatists, partly descended from the political wing of the defunct terrorist group Eta, could become the largest party in the Basque Country’s parliament after an election in the northern Spanish region on Sunday.Latest polls suggest that EH Bildu, which is led by a convicted Eta member...

Body of 16-year-old boy discovered with injuries ‘consistent with a crocodile attack’ as wildlife officers search for animalFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastA teenager has died after a suspected crocodile attack off an island in the Torres Strait, police have confirmed.Thursday Island water police launched a search and rescue...

First phase in world’s largest democratic exercise begins, with 969 million people eligible to vote over six-week periodVoting has begun in India’s mammoth general election, as Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party hopes to increase its parliamentary majority amid allegations that the country’s democracy has been undermined since it came to power 10 years ago.India’s elections are the largest democratic exercise in the world, with...

President’s suggestion that his ‘Uncle Bosie’ was eaten by cannibals harms US efforts to build Pacific ties, say local expertsJoe Biden’s suggestion that his uncle may have been eaten by cannibals in Papua New Guinea during world war two has been met with a mixture of bemusement and criticism in the country.Biden spoke about his uncle, 2nd Lt Ambrose J Finnegan Jr, while campaigning...

Paperwork filed shows the royal has informed British authorities that he has moved and is now ‘usually resident’ in the United StatesPrince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has formally confirmed he is now a US resident.The acknowledgment is said to underscore the prince’s increasing estrangement from Britain, after he and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, walked away from royal duties four years...

Students set up encampments to demand Columbia divest from Israel while those at USC gathered in support of Asna TabassumTensions on Columbia University’s campus continued to rise on Thursday as the New York police department began breaking up student protests over Israel’s war on Gaza, at the direction of the school’s president, and arrests were made.Hundreds of students pitched tents and began camping out...

Critics condemn ‘reckless and cruel’ expulsions and say deportees likely to be targeted by armed gangs who control much of countryMore than 70 Haitians expelled from the United States have been flown back to Haiti on the first deportation flight since heavily armed gangs launched a bloody insurrection which has paralysed the capital and forced the prime minister from office.The flight, which landed in...

Lawrence Hecker is charged with raping teenager after strangling him in 1975 in a New Orleans churchA mental competency hearing has been delayed again for a 92-year-old retired Catholic priest faced with charges of raping a teenager after strangling him unconscious in 1975 in a New Orleans church.Lawrence Hecker’s trial on state charges of aggravated rape, aggravated kidnapping, aggravated crime against nature and theft...