Anthony Albanese will frame this year’s federal election as a choice between “building Australia’s future” under Labor or “taking Australia backwards” under the Coalition as the prime minister opens 2025 with a blitz of three campaign battlegrounds. The prime minister will move to an election footing this week, travelling to electorates across Queensland, the Northern…
Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, made a flying visit to Donald Trump’s Florida golf club on Saturday, during which the US president-elect praised the far-right leader for “really taking Europe by storm”. The pair were photographed in the grand ballroom of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club. The five-hour visit comes a few days before Meloni is due…
Lush, Uniqlo and Gymshark have stopped using freelance retail workers hired through apps such as YoungOnes and Temper, after unions criticised the gig economy companies. The TUC wrote to the retailers urging them to stop using freelance retail workers amid concerns they were missing out on significant employment rights. Some retailers recruited temporary shop assistants…
An apparently grieving killer whale who swam more than 1,000 miles (1,600km) pushing the body of her dead newborn has lost another calf and is again carrying the body, a development researchers say is a “devastating” loss for the ailing population. The Washington state-based Center for Whale Research said the orca, known as Tahlequah, or…
Victoria’s tourism agency has removed a social media post that described an unpatrolled ocean beach on the Mornington Peninsula as a “pristine swimming spot” amid almost 150 rescues on the state’s beaches on Saturday. Number 16 beach, on the Bass Strait side of Rye, is described on the Visit Victoria website as “recommended for experienced…
A landmark legal ruling that set out the duty of care New South Wales police owe people attending protests has been overturned on appeal, stripping an Invasion Day marcher of an $800,000 compensation claim and forcing her to repay $103,00 in legal costs. The NSW court of appeal handed down the decision shortly before Christmas,…
Almost £100m has been spent over the past decade on repairs for eight of the largest publicly owned ferries in Scotland. The figure has been described as “eye-watering” by Sue Webber, transport spokesperson for the Scottish Conservatives, who obtained details of the repair bill from ferry operator CalMac. The disclosure will add to the controversy…
Fire crews remain at the scene of a blaze that destroyed a Melbourne mattress store, with investigations likely to continue well into Sunday night after the fire was deemed a suspected arson attack. Emergency crews responded to several calls about a two-storey building on fire at Nunawading in the city’s east about 2.20am on Sunday….
Winds from the Southern Ocean will bring relief on Monday to parts of south-eastern Australia sweltering through a three-day heatwave. A heatwave warning for South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania was issued by the Bureau of Meteorology for the weekend as temperatures were expected to spike in some parts to 40C. Temperatures in…
More specialist rescue crews have joined the search for a bushwalker missing in dense and challenging terrain for 11 days. As many as 50 specialist search operators from across New South Wales have been deployed to help find Hadi Nazari, 23, who was last seen on Boxing Day. The experienced Victorian hiker was descending the…
