The Guardian

The former PM is expected to testify in the foreign interference trial of businessman Alexander Csergo Security and defence advice falsely claimed to have come from former prime minister Kevin Rudd was supplied to Chinese intelligence agents by an Australian businessman, a jury has heard. Rudd is expected to testify in the foreign interference trial of businessman Alexander Csergo, which began on…

Exclusive: Prospect boss Mike Clancy cites problems retaining technical and digital experts Ministers must end “barking mad” restraints on civil service pay or risk being unable to recruit the technical and digital specialists it needs to keep pace, a union leader has warned. Mike Clancy, the Prospect general secretary, said the government should end the “rightwing trope” that restrained the pay …

Television outranks laptops, tablets and smartphones across all age groups, according to audience review The television has replaced laptops, tablets and smartphones as the most common device for UK viewers to watch YouTube at home, according to data confirming the platform’s place as a living room mainstay. More than half of all YouTube viewing through a domestic wifi connection is now done thro…

In a fiery speech in Los Angeles, the Vermont senator criticizes ‘grotesque’ levels of economic inequality Billionaires are “treading on very, very thin ice,” Bernie Sanders warned on Wednesday during a fiery speech in Los Angeles, imploring California voters to fight “grotesque” levels of economic inequality by approving a proposed tax on the state’s richest residents. The Vermont senator railed…

Lawyer tells court there is ‘real doubt’ whether police gave lawful move-on direction during rally against Israeli president that ended in violent clashes Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A Palestinian Australian man charged with failing to follow police directions during an Isaac Herzog rally in Sydney has had his…

Report says common agricultural policy provides ‘unfair’ levels of support to unhealthy, meat-heavy diets Beef and lamb receive 580 times more in EU subsidies than legumes, a report has found, despite scientists urging people to get more of their protein from less harmful sources. Analysis by the charity Foodrise found the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) provides “unfair” levels of support …

Demand is rising at unsustainable rate and could cost £3.4bn by 2030-31, local authorities warn Families who have children with special educational needs and disabilities (Send) should be means tested for school transport, according to councils in England, who say demand is rising “at an unsustainable rate”. Local authorities are urging the government to be “radical” in its Send reforms, which ar…

BRC survey finds finance bosses expect technology to improve productivity, with 69% pessimistic about the economy UK retailers are planning to cut staff hours and jobs amid rising employment costs and pessimism about the economy. Almost two-thirds (61%) of finance bosses at retail companies said they planned to reduce working hours or cut overtime, according to the latest survey from the British …

Programme that funds groups building tech to evade oppressive government controls under serious threat For nearly two decades, the US quietly funded a global effort to keep the internet from splintering into fiefdoms run by authoritarian governments. Now that money is seriously threatened and a large part of it is already gone, putting into jeopardy internet freedoms around the world. Managed by …

Abandoned beaches, public health warning signs and seagulls eating human waste are now features of the popular coastline in New Zealand A tide of anger is rising in New Zealand’s capital, Wellington, as the city’s toilets continue to flush directly into the ocean more than two weeks after the catastrophic collapse of its wastewater treatment plant. Millions of litres of raw and partially screened…

Festival confirmed writer and academic would appear in two sessions in 2026 following disinvitation from Adelaide event Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Global accounting giant KPMG has distanced itself from the Sydney writers’ festival, requesting its name be removed from the event’s website where it was listed as…

Lunar new year has ushered in a rare zodiac symbol with a reputation for energy and independence As the lunar new year begins, the focus has turned to the Chinese zodiac and the arrival of the year of the fire horse – a rare pairing in the 60-year lunar cycle. Drawing on Chinese metaphysics, the fire horse blends the horse’s reputation for energy and independence with the intensity of the fire el…

Reports say move could come this weekend as White House urges Iran to ‘make a deal’ with Trump on nuclear program The US military is ready for possible strikes on Iran as soon as this weekend, multiple news outlets reported Wednesday citing unnamed sources. However, the reports said, Donald Trump has yet to make a final decision on whether to carry out an attack. Trump has repeatedly demanded Ira…

Police arrest four after attack at skate park that left a man in his 20s dead A man is dead and a teenage boy is in a critical condition in hospital after they were stabbed at a Northampton skate park. Northamptonshire police launched a murder investigation after emergency services were called to the park in Ringway in the Briar Hill area on Wednesday following reports that two people had been st…

Research suggests more than 75,000 killed in the first 16 months of conflict, 25,000 more than announced at the time More than 75,000 people were killed in the first 16 months of the two-year war in Gaza, at least 25,000 more than the death toll announced by local authorities at the time, according to a study published on Wednesday in the Lancet medical journal. The research also found that repor…