Regional news

Shopping centre fire kills at least eight people in Iran

Australian Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett says some individuals will be arrested and charged.

A game-high 27 points by LeBron James were not enough for LA Lakers to upset Oklahoma City in Western Conference semis.

US president pauses ‘Project Freedom’ to work on ‘final agreement’ with Tehran; stocks also ride high on AI euphoriaJD Wetherspoon has warned on profits for the third time in five months because of higher energy costs.The surge in oil and gas prices triggered by the Iran war piles more pressure on Britain’s hospitality industry, which is already struggling with weak consumer spending and higher costs from national insurance contributions.The company has a strong pipeline of new pubs and planned openings include Manchester airport, Heathrow airport, Paddington station, Charing Cross station and Shaftesbury Ave in central London.As many hospitality operators, including Wetherspoon, have reported, there have been substantial increases in costs, which may result in profits slightly below market expectations. Continue reading...

US president says he will briefly pause Project Freedom after just one dayTrump puts ‘Project Freedom’ on hold, saying he hopes to finalise deal with IranThe UK work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, has warned that job losses “could happen” in Britain due to the economic impacts of the Iran war.He said the UK economy was “going in the right direction” at the start of the year and unemployment figures for February showed a decline. He added that interest rates were expected to come down and the markets were pricing in cuts during the course of the year. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed.Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFederal shadow treasurer says any handouts in budget could add to inflationThe federal shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, has warned that potential cash handouts in next week’s federal budget could add to inflation.Unfortunately when the government hasn’t take inflation seriously, we’ve ended up in this situation and the risk is that if you keep handing out money to households, what you’ll actually do is fuel inflation.This is a government that cuts taxes. We’ve cut taxes already and we will cut taxes again, we made that clear and we made that public.The issue is, the budget won’t be pumping a lot of extra stimulus in the economy, in fact overall we’ll be winding back spending in the budget. Continue reading...

Green leader said he hosted fundraisers for the Red Cross but accepts he should not have described himself as a spokesperson for itGood morning. Zack Polanski was largely unknown until he became the Green party leader in September last year and since then, as his party has soared in the polls, there has been intense scrutiny of his pre-politics career. The best-known embarrassing revelation about his past is the fact that he once told a woman he could enlarge her breasts if she listened to his hypnotherapy spiel. Nigel Farage, who also leads a dispruption party enjoying spectacular success, has scandals in his past too, and Polanski’s allies would argue that they are worse. Farage took a £5m donation from a political supporter which he did not declare, he still has not provided as good explanation as to how his partner was able to afford to buy a home in Farage’s Clacton constituency and arguably he told 30 million women that he could enlarge the size of their bank balances if they listened to his spiel on Brexit. Guardian readers can decide for themselves who is more dodgy.But, as we tell our children, life isn’t fair. And it certainly isn’t fair for leftwing politicians campaigning in an environment where the rightwing media have considerable influence. Polanski discovered that again last night when the Times printed a story with various claims about him, of which the main one related to an allegation about his embellishing his CV. Here is our version by Jessica Elgot.I hosted various fundraisers for the British Red Cross, and indeed I would go on stage and speak for them about the amazing work they do tackling humanitarian crises, on the climate crisis and indeed for refugees all around the world.I used the wrong word and I accept that.It feels some of these stories feel like scraping the barrel to go back 10, 15 years.I’ve had so many friends – I’m literally talking maybe 20 or 30 in the last few weeks – who have phoned me and said a Times journalist has been phoning and they’ve been desperately trying to find things about your past. They asked me lots of questions and seem disappointed that I didn’t have some juicy, dirty gossip. Continue reading...

Authorities say the cell was planning 'targeted assassinations against high-level government officials'.

Mehdi Taj says cohosts US must ensure the Iranian military and IRGC are not 'insulted' during the FIFA World Cup.

Women's tennis stars say players 'deserve to be paid more' in prize money at Grand Slam tournaments.

The third day of hearings of the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion heard further evidence from Jewish AustraliansFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastViolent antisemitic abuse was allowed to proliferate across a Jewish political candidate’s social media as part of a broader trend designed to intimidate Jewish Australians from public life, a royal commission has heard.Joshua Kirsh launched a campaign as an independent candidate for the New South Wales upper house in late 2025 but found his advertisements online bombarded by antisemitic tropes, abuse and threats. Continue reading...

Trump pauses US 'Project Freedom' operation in Strait of Hormuz, citing progress towards Iran agreement.