The Guardian

Policymakers didn’t think people had the financial capacity to purchase ‘durable’ goods – but a rise in spending contributed to inflation Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast One of the first things many Australians did last year after receiving a tax refund or a lower mortgage rate was to buy an armchair, an air fryer…

Letter signed by 25 rebel MPs claims approach from the top is ‘increasingly unpopular’ with public Union leaders and 25 Labour MPs have urged Keir Starmer to end a “narrow, factional agenda” within the Labour party. A letter signed by the MPs, by the leaders of several Labour-affiliated trade unions and by campaign groupings within the party, claimed the approach from the top was “increasingly un…

Chris Minns announces change for minimum of two years as Anzac Day falls on weekends this year and next Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast People in Australia’s most populous state have been granted an Anzac Day long weekend for the next two years, and could be in line for more public holidays. The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has announced the state would have …

Cases reported in seven schools and a nursery in Enfield amid concern over low levels of MMR vaccination in capital More than 60 children have been infected by a measles outbreak in north London, it has been reported. Seven schools and a nursery in Enfield reported the cases, with some children treated in hospital, according to the Sunday Times. Continue reading...

Meanwhile in Sydney, Mardi Gras events to kick off with Fair Day. Follow the latest updates live Asked about recent protests in Sydney, Taylor did say that he believed “people have the right to play” but refused to criticise police over their handling of the situation, including the decision to move on a group of Muslim men engaged in prayer. He attacked Albanese for, he said, refusing to “condem…

Magistrates will analyse evidence that could implicate French nationals and re-examine case of Jean-Luc Brunel The Paris prosecutor’s office on Saturday announced it was setting up a special team of magistrates to analyse evidence that could implicate French nationals in the crimes of the convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. With Epstein’s known circle extending to prominent French figures …

Brewer last month said it was closing its distilling brands, prompting concerns for jobs at its Scottish facility The beer-maker BrewDog could be broken up after consultants were called in to help find new investors. The Scotland-based brewer, which makes craft beer such as Punk IPA and Elvis Juice, has appointed consultants AlixPartners to oversee the sale process. BrewDog last month announced i…

ISS now fully crewed after a medical issue forced the evacuation of four astronauts in January The International Space Station (ISS) returned to full strength with Saturday’s arrival of four new astronauts to replace colleagues who bailed early because of health concerns. SpaceX delivered the US, French and Russian astronauts a day after launching them from Cape Canaveral. Continue reading...

Concern grows over Narges Mohammadi’s health, family says, after reports of ‘life-threatening mistreatment’ Iranian authorities have without prior warning transferred Nobel peace prize laureate Narges Mohammadi to a prison in the north of the country as concern grows over her health, her family said on Saturday. Mohammadi, who won the peace prize in 2023 in recognition for more than two decades o…

Family pay tribute to Demi Edmunds, from Caldicot, saying she ‘loved her friends, and she was loved by all’ A 17-year-old girl who died in a collision involving three cars in Wales was “funny, kind and caring”, her brother said. Demi Edmunds was the sole pedestrian in the incident on the A4042 in Cwmbran, Torfaen, Wales, which occurred at about 12.25pm on Thursday, Gwent police said. The teenager…

After a fast kick-off in Australia, e-scooter hire crackdowns fuelled by safety concerns have seen shared ebikes pull ahead Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Rental ebikes are booming in popularity as e-scooter hire operations decline across Australia amid what some have labelled a “moral panic” over safety. The ebike boom has been led by Sydney, where the number of veh…

Speaking in Munich, Volodymyr Zelenskyy also called for a clear date for his country to be allowed to join the EU Ukraine wants security guarantees for a minimum of 20 years from the US before it can sign a peace deal with dignity, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ahead of talks next week with Russia and the US. He was speaking in Munich on Saturday where he also called for a clear date for Ukraine to be…

Residents who escaped violence tell of bandits riding in on motorbikes and shooting indiscriminately Armed assailants on motorbikes killed at least 30 people and burned houses and shops during raids on three villages in northwest Nigeria’s Niger State early on Saturday, residents who escaped the violence told Reuters. The attacks on villages in the Borgu local government area, near the border wit…

At his official installation, Archbishop Richard Moth recognised the Catholic church’s failures but insists it’s a time of ‘opportunity’ The new leader of Roman Catholics in England and Wales has said that the church has failed vulnerable people, urging more work to be done to address the struggle of refugees and learn from victims of abuse. At a ceremony where he was officially installed in his …

Speaking with progressive YouTuber, former US president stressed ‘unprecedented nature’ of agency’s actions Barack Obama publicly gave his support to demonstrators in Minneapolis for standing up to the “unprecedented nature” of the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) operation in Minnesota. Speaking in an interview with progressive YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen on Saturday, the former presi…