The Guardian

Tussle for influence as trade, tech and regional security to take centre stage in China, Philippines and Cambodia meetings The global political centre of gravity will be firmly in Asia this week as world leaders fly in for back-to-back high-level summits against the backdrop of the tussle for influence between the superpowers China and the US. Beijing will have the home advantage when it welcomes…

Prime minister says he and Chris Bowen were having ‘light-hearted banter’ when they were caught discussing where they keep their phones Get our daily political email , free app or daily news podcast Anthony Albanese has apologised for a hot-mic gaffe at the UN climate talks in Turkey, saying he regretted being overheard discussing mobile phone radiation and “dicks” in a candid conversation. “I of…

Party’s NSW leader Mike Newman says contenders are ‘people from the real world’ and not ‘career politicians’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The failed federal Liberal candidate Katherine Deves, who campaigned to exclude transgender women from women’s sport, will stand for One Nation at next year’s New South Wales election. Deves was among four NSW Legislative Council…

Volatile weather predicted after storms on Saturday, with a man in his 20s struck by lightning while swimming on NSW Central Coast Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Dangerous and severe “supercell” thunderstorms with the potential for giant hail and destructive winds were forecast for parts of New South Wales on Sunday, as volatile weather continued in the eastern state…

Deputy prime minister says change would be a massive step but ‘deserves proper consideration and scrutiny’ The government has said it will consider calls to change the age of consent after a woman waived her right to anonymity to publicly claim she was raped by Russell Brand as a 16-year-old schoolgirl. Mia Latter, now 37, alleged she had been orally raped by the jailed comedian when she was a te…

With Myer’s profitability battered and share price languishing near all-time lows, DJs’ slide into administration raises an uncomfortable question Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast When the retailer’s doors slide open, shoppers are greeted by rows of slashed price tags, frantic discounting, and all the other hallmarks of a department store closing down. Except, this isn…

Although booster exploded, company caught upper stage for first time in campaign to make megarocket reusable SpaceX’s megarocket Starship returned to its Texas launch tower on Saturday, a milestone in the company’s efforts to make the craft suitable for human spaceflight. The 171ft (52-meter) bullet-shaped upper stage descended into the clutch of the tower’s mechanical arms, ending a 22hr mission…

Filipino entry, pop and rap song Sobra-Sobra, takes 19-year-old to victory at grand final in Bangkok Carmelle Collado has won the first Eurovision song contest Asia, taking the Philippines’ entry, Sobra-Sobra , to victory in Bangkok on Saturday night, at the first regional edition of the contest to be staged outside Europe. Eleven countries competed at the One Bangkok Forum in central Bangkok, an…

MPs across factional lines share concerns about policy that legal expert says ‘paints the imprisonment of children as therapeutic’ Get our daily political email , free app or daily news podcast Until December last year, Meena Singh was the Victorian commissioner for Aboriginal children and young people, a role that saw her advocating for some of the state’s most vulnerable children. She had held …

Appeal for information comes after Brenda Raymond, 80, was set on fire outside her flat on Monday The family of an elderly woman who was set on fire outside a block of flats in Watford have said that they are “desperate for answers”. Brenda Raymond, 80, was found set alight outside her flat on Caractacus Cottage View on Monday. She was taken to a nearby hospital, where she is in critical conditio…

Exclusive: 2,850 more patients a month would need to be treated within 62 days to meet March 2027 goal, as experts warn of failure of leadership Nearly 10,000 more cancer patients in England will not be treated on time because the government will fail to meet its targets, amid a failure of leadership, focus and resource, experts have warned. The NHS set an interim target to treat 80% of cancer pa…

Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins’ victory means Democrats will now hold 30 US governorships after midterm blowout Democrats have captured Alaska ’s governor’s seat for the first time in nearly three decades, marking another major victory for their party in a midterm election period that has dramatically shifted political power across the US. Former Alaska state legislator Jonathan Kreiss-Tomkins defeated …

Raising borrowing costs too far risks laying waste to whatever growth there is in the economy A head of steam is building up behind the Bank of England raising interest rates again. With the latest forecasts by the central bank showing inflation rising to 5% next spring, another increase in the cost of borrowing seems inevitable, and may come as soon as next month. A growing number of analysts pr…

James ‘Fergie’ Chambers, a Cox Enterprises heir, faced a two-hour hearing about alleged support for Hamas A two-hour hearing in Spain’s high court Friday on the US extradition request of wealthy leftwing activist and philanthropist James “Fergie” Chambers turned out to be a study in contrasts. Chambers’s defense took most of the session to query the US citizen and detail irregularities in the Tru…

Thousands of flights still canceled as officials blamed ageing air control system for nationwide grounding Travel chaos continued across the US on Saturday morning as airlines scrambled to recover from a four-hour nationwide Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) ground stop that delayed or canceled thousands of the flights. On Saturday morning, more than 3,000 flights within, into or out of the U…