The Guardian

One federal Labor MP said his party’s brand has ‘taken a dive’ in Victoria – but others at the state level believe time is on their sideGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCounting in the Werribee byelection is still under way. But even if Labor manages to scrape through, the Victorian government is just a few hundred disgruntled votes away from losing its grip on this heartland seat.That is a problem Jacinta Allan knows cannot be ignored.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/feb/09/the-weekend-byelection-results-were-close-to-labor-and-the-greens-worst-case-scenario-but-its-not-all-good-news-for-the-liberals Author : Benita Kolovos Victorian state

The group of five workers were greeted at Bangkok airport by overjoyed family members and officials after being held for over a year in GazaSee all our Middle East coverageThe families of five Thai farm workers held hostage in Gaza for over a year wept with joy and hugged their loved ones as they arrived in Bangkok on Sunday.The group smiled as they walked into the arrivals hall at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport after being freed on 30 January as part of a ceasefire deal aimed at ending the Israel-Gaza war. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/09/thailand-hostages-return-gaza-bangkok Author : Guardian staff

David Crisafulli says infrastructure to be replaced after floods needs ‘greater ability’ to withstand natural disastersFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastQueensland’s premier has vowed to rebuild “more resilient” infrastructure after devastating floods in the state’s north, as Queenslanders were warned not to panic-buy while they are cut off.David Crisafulli said his government was here “for the long haul” of recovery, in an update on the state’s flooding on Sunday.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/feb/09/towns-cut-off-by-queensland-floods-warned-against-panic-buying-as-premier-vows-resilient-rebuild Author : Kate Lyons Publish

One woman killed and another taken to hospital with injuries to hands and face, paramedics sayFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA woman has died after being hit by debris from a tree which exploded when struck by lightning in a town south-west of Sydney.A second woman in her 40s was taken to hospital in a serious condition after the strike during a storm on Saturday afternoon.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/feb/09/woman-dies-after-lightning-bolt-explodes-tree-in-town-near-sydney Author : Australian Associated Press Publish date :

Birth control devices and HRT therapies to be listed on PBS alongside Medicare and bulk-billing changes, with Coalition immediately backing policyFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralian women will save hundreds of dollars thanks to new subsidies for contraceptive pills and hormone therapy, in a major investment announced by the federal government.The $573m package will put new contraceptive pills on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS) for the first time in decades. The move follows two parliamentary inquiries into reproductive health and menopause.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news

Weakened state of three freed Israelis shocks country, while several released Palestinians also need hospitalisationHamas freed three hostages from Gaza and Israel released 183 prisoners and detainees on Saturday, the fifth exchange under a fragile, three-week-old ceasefire deal.The gaunt appearance of the three Israeli men shocked the country, sparking anger and dismay that could increase pressure on the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to extend the agreement to a second stage, bringing home the remaining Israeli captives. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/08/fifth-ceasefire-exchange-sees-gaunt-hostages-and-prisoners-emerge-from-gaza-and-israel Author : Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem Publish date : 2025-02-09 00:10:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the

Minister says Labor will put Australia’s national interest first when it comes to dealing with Trump. Follow today’s news headlines liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGallagher welcomed the opposition backing Labor’s package for women’s health this morning. She said on ABC Insiders:We know Peter Dutton wanders around saying he’s going to cut a whole range of things. He’s clear he sees a lot of our investments in Medicare as wasteful spending. But these are really good investments into women’s health. And it will make a difference for millions of people across the country including women

Demonstrators at the proposed site included Hongkongers who fear it could be used to illegally detain dissentersLarge crowds gathered outside the proposed site of a new Chinese “mega-embassy” in London on Saturday, as politicians and protesters expressed concerns it could be used to “control” dissidents.More than 1,000 people congregated outside the Royal Mint Court, the former headquarters of the UK’s coin maker, near the Tower of London. The site could soon be turned into a Chinese embassy. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/08/large-protest-against-chinese-mega-embassy-takes-place-in-london Author : Sammy Gecsoyler Publish date : 2025-02-08 21:49:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked

National Institutes of Health said the $4bn in cuts will affect ‘indirect’ funding of buildings, equipment and staffThe Trump administration is cutting billions of dollars in medical research funding for universities, hospitals and other scientific institutions by reducing the amount they get in associated costs to support such research.The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said that it was reducing the amount of “indirect” medical research funding going to institutions, which will cut spending by $4bn a year. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/08/trump-administration-medical-research-funding-cuts Author : Oliver Milman Publish date : 2025-02-08 20:32:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked

MP removed from government and suspended from Labour party over posts on internal group Andrew Gwynne, a minister in the Department of Health and Social Care, has been sacked from the government over comments posted on an internal WhatsApp group. Gwynne, 50, the MP for Gorton and Denton, has also been suspended by the Labour party over the messages reported by the Mail on Sunday.Gwynne, who has been an MP for 20 years, has been accused of making racist, sexist and antisemitic comments in messages posted to the chat group. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/feb/08/health-minister-andrew-gwynne-sacked-over-whatsapp-comments Author : Nadeem Badshah

Reform has surged in the polls, panicking both Labour and the Conservatives. It’s a trap, and the risks are highNigel Farage is making trouble again. Reform, his latest political vehicle, has surged in the polls, moving into first place with some pollsters, and ruffling feathers on Labour back benches.While Farage has caused headaches for every prime minister since David Cameron, his recent rise is something new. Reform scored an average of almost 25% in January polls, past the peaks achieved by Ukip or the Brexit party in earlier parliaments. And while past Farage surges were spikes driven by circumstances –

Scotland’s botanic gardens suffer ‘unimaginable’ loss of rare specimensFor more than a century, whenever winter came to Scotland, they stood tall against the wind and rain and snow. But last month, battered by Storm Éowyn, hundreds of rare and historic trees in the living collection of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh were lost.The charity has four sites in Scotland. Its tallest tree in Edinburgh, a 166-year-old Himalayan cedar, fell during Éowyn’s gusts of up to 80mph, while Benmore Botanic Garden on the west coast has suffered “unimaginable” devastation. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/feb/08/kew-rescue-mission-arborists-head-to-scotland-after-hundreds-of-trees-and-plants-felled-by-storm-eowyn Author : Donna Ferguson Publish date

Rita and Philip Potter ‘never gave up hope’ after their labrador Daisy was stolen by suspected backyard breedersA couple whose dog was stolen more than seven years ago have said it was a “dream come true” when the RSPCA reunited them.Rita and Philip Potter, from Norfolk, said they “never gave up hope on her being found one day” after thieves stole theirlabrador Daisy from their garden in November 2017. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/08/norfolk-couple-reunited-with-their-dog-stolen-seven-years-ago Author : Daniel Lavelle Publish date : 2025-02-08 14:59:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Jocelyn Samuels says her dismissal from EEOC is part of greater strategy to target inequity and roll back rights for trans employeesSeven days after Donald Trump was inaugurated, Jocelyn Samuels received a message from the White House saying that the president – who had first appointed her as a commissioner to the US government agency tasked with fighting workplace discrimination – now wanted her gone.Like so many other officials Trump has axed since retaking office, Samuels was informed she was being terminated from the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) because of her “support for radical Biden administration guidance, DEI

Families at Downing Street meeting on Wednesday will call for judge-led inquiry into killingsThe families of those killed in the Nottingham attacks will meet the prime minister next week to call for a judge-led statutory inquiry into the killings.On Wednesday a report found that Valdo Calocane, who killed students Barnaby Webber, 19, Grace O’Malley-Kumar, 19, and caretaker Ian Coates, 65, before attempting to kill three other people in a spate of attacks in the city in June 2023, was not forced to take injectable antipsychotic medication because he did not like needles. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/feb/08/nottingham-attacks-victims-families-to-meet-keir-starmer Author :

The man given free rein by Trump to crusade against the federal government supported Democrats until 2022. But some of Musk’s longstanding positions lead a straight line to his far-right sympathiesElon Musk is not a people person, as millions around the world will be able to attest after the planet’s richest man cut off food supplies, healthcare and probably even life itself to some of the most vulnerable without so much as a fore- or afterthought.Musk sees himself as a data man, wielding numbers like a machete to slash and burn his way through government waste and corruption as he

Demoralised clergy speak of church in freefall and crisis of trust in run-up to governing body meetingMutiny may be in the air when the Church of England’s normally staid ruling body, the General Synod, meets for a five-day session next week.The gathering of the 500-member church parliament follows a series of tumultuous events that have resulted in the unprecedented resignation of the archbishop of Canterbury, repeated calls for the archbishop of York to stand down, and the sudden departure of the bishop of Liverpool. Behind all are cases of abuse, alleged abuse and the church’s failure to deal with abuse.

Warning by vice-chancellor Deborah Prentice comes as ‘Silicon Valley’ planned between Oxford and CambridgeThe University of Cambridge risks “losing unbelievable talent” owing to a drop-off in funding for PhDs, the vice-chancellor has cautioned.Prof Deborah Prentice, who took over as vice-chancellor in 2023, described PhD students as “the lifeblood” of the university’s research and innovation work, and expressed concern that funding from research councils had “dropped off significantly”. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/feb/08/cambridge-risks-losing-unbelievable-talent-amid-phd-funding-cut Author : Sally Weale Education correspondent Publish date : 2025-02-08 08:00:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.

Names of three Israeli civilians to be released by Hamas unveiled ahead of expected release of 183 Palestinian prisonersSee all our Middle East coverageToday’s expected release of another three Israeli hostages comes against the backdrop of uncertainty over the Israel-Hamas ceasefire after US president Donald Trump’s surprise announcement this week that he envisions the US taking over Gaza, moving Palestinians to other countries, and developing the territory into the “Riviera of the Middle East”.“We’re in no rush on it,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Friday, referring to his Gaza plan. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2025/feb/08/gaza-ceasefire-live-hamas-hostages-release-israel-exchange-palestinian-prisoners Author

As humanitarian aid organisation is gutted by Trump administration, Rudd’s office says neither he nor Asia Society received fundingGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastKevin Rudd, Australia’s ambassador in Washington DC, has hit back at “fake” claims an institute he once led received money from USAid, the US foreign aid agency being targeted by Donald Trump.The office of Rudd, a former Australian prime minister and current ambassador to the US, has issued a statement seeking to dispel claims circulating online suggesting Rudd and the Asia Society – where he has held various roles since 2015 –

Leaders praise each other at White House but president warns Japan could face tariffs if it doesn’t cut US trade deficit to zeroThe Japanese prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba, and the US president, Donald Trump, struck a warm tone at their first meeting on Friday, with Tokyo avoiding tariffs that Trump has slapped on other allies – for now.Heaping praise on each other at the White House, the two leaders pledged to stand together against Chinese “aggression” and said they found a solution for a blocked deal for troubled US Steel. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/08/trump-and-japanese-pm-ishiba-talk-tariffs-and-vow-to-stand-against-chinese-aggression Author : Agence France-Presse

Half allocated to state’s justice department while other half set aside for legal groups to defend immigrantsGavin Newsom, the California governor, signed laws on Friday setting aside $50m to help the state protect its policies from challenges by the Trump administration and defend immigrants amid the president’s mass-deportation plans.One of the laws allocates $25m for the state’s department of justice to fight legal battles against the federal government, and another sets aside $25m in part for legal groups to defend immigrants facing possible deportation. During his first presidency, Trump sparred with California over climate laws, water policy, immigrant rights and

Exclusive: Move allows China to further global influence, UK foreign secretary says on Ukraine visitDonald Trump’s plans to make dramatic cuts to the United States’ international aid budget could be a “big strategic mistake” that allows China to step in and further its global influence, the UK foreign secretary has said.David Lammy cautioned that Britain’s own experience of merging the Department for International Development (DfID) into the Foreign Office, announced by Boris Johnson in 2020 with little fanfare, was a serious blow to Britain’s “soft power” in developing countries and beyond. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/feb/07/trumps-international-aid-cuts-usaid-china-lammy Author : Pippa

Monsoon trough and forecast heavy rain is a hammer blow to residents who have begun returning to their inundated homesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAlready sodden parts of north Queensland are set for further heavy rainfall following near-record flooding that isolated towns and required defence force assistance.Totals in excess of 200mm were possible in areas spanning from Tully to Ayr, south of Townsville, before additional rainfall blankets the region through Monday. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/feb/08/more-severe-weather-to-hit-north-queensland-as-insurance-claims-rack-up Author : Australian Associated Press Publish date : 2025-02-07 23:05:00 Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked

Karim Khan, court’s British chief prosecutor, said to be focus of move decried as attack on international rule of lawGovernments around the world have rushed to defend the international criminal court after Donald Trump launched sanctions against the global body, which is seen as a vital last resort to prosecute powerful individuals accused of atrocities including war crimes and genocide.Set up more than two decades ago to serve as an impartial and incorruptible body that had the heft to take on criminals – from militant warlords to heads of state – the ICC has found itself under attack from Washington