Inflation up to 3.8% as price pressures rise and hopes for Reserve Bank interest rate cuts fall pred 9 urami in 33 minutami Treasurer Jim Chalmers says government deciding on energy rebate extension in ‘next few weeks’ as cost of living continues to biteFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastInflation has climbed to 3.8% in the year to October, from 3.6% the month before, as Jim Chalmers flagged he could announce further energy bill subsidies for households in the upcoming midyear budget.Electricity prices were 37% higher in the year to October, which the Australian Bureau of Statistics said mostly reflected the end of state government power bill rebates. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Public sector told to find significant savings but Jim Chalmers denies ‘big job cuts’ pred 9 urami in 37 minutami Coalition accuses government of breaking its promise not to cut the public sector as treasurer confirms reductionsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastLabor could cut some public service budgets by as much as 5% as it looks for major savings in next year’s federal budget, but Jim Chalmers denied it would mean “big jobs cuts” for the sector.The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and the finance and public service minister, Katy Gallagher, have confirmed reports in the Australian Financial Review this week that cabinet ministers and department and agency bosses have been asked to find significant budget savings. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Excessive restraint in immigration detention centres ‘deeply concerning’, report finds pred 10 urami in 8 minutami Watchdog says force being applied ‘inconsistently, disproportionately, and without adequate justification’Home Office contractors are over-using restraint in immigration detention centres and failing to tackle the toxic culture behind bars, according to the findings of a new watchdog report described as “deeply concerning”.By Force of Habit: How the Use of Force in Immigration Detention Has Lost Sight of Necessity and Dignity was published by the Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB), which examines conditions in prisons and immigration detention centres. The findings revealed force being applied inconsistently, disproportionately, and without adequate justification, which it said undermined the dignity and welfare of highly vulnerable individuals. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Judge orders Trump administration to provide bond hearings to detained migrants pred 10 urami in 15 minutami District judge in California says detainees who were already living in the US are legally entitled to a bond hearing A federal judge has ruled that Donald Trump’s administration cannot impose mandatory detention on thousands of migrants held by US immigration authorities without first giving them an opportunity to seek release on bond.US district judge Sunshine Sykes in Riverside, California, certified a nationwide class of individuals who were already living in the United States when they were detained and are legally entitled to a hearing to determine whether they can be released on bond while their deportation cases proceed. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US justice department memo about boat strikes diverges from Trump narrative pred 10 urami in 24 minutami Exclusive: Officials frame strikes as self-defense against violence, without naming aggressor, while Trump claims they’re to stop US overdose deathsThe Trump administration is framing its boat strikes against drug cartels in the Caribbean in part as a collective self-defense effort on behalf of US allies in the region, according to three people directly familiar with the administration’s internal legal argument.The legal analysis rests on a premise – for which there is no immediate public evidence – that the cartels are waging armed violence against the security forces of allies like Mexico, and that the violence is financed by cocaine shipments. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Nauru president accused in parliament of corruptly siphoning off millions of Australian funding pred 10 urami in 40 minutami Senator uses parliament to accuse Albanese government of knowing David Adeang was ‘seriously corrupt’ yet still signing $2.5bn deportation dealFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNauru’s President David Adeang, a predecessor and other individuals have been accused in the Senate of corruptly siphoning off millions of dollars of Australian taxpayer money intended for the island’s arcane offshore processing regime.A previously unreleased report by Australia’s financial intelligence agency, Austrac, suspected Adeang of “corruption and money laundering” after detecting a “rapid movement of large volume and value of funds”, the Senate has been told. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
NSW weather: schools closed as state faces worst bushfire risk in years amid extreme heat pred 11 urami in 15 minutami Catastrophic conditions forecast in lower central west plains district and total fire bans for millions across state, with elevated fire danger in southern QueenslandFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastForecasts of soaring temperatures and damaging wind gusts have prompted authorities in New South Wales to raise bushfire alerts to their highest levels in more than two years.More than 20 public schools across central NSW were to be closed on Wednesday after the state’s Rural Fire Service issued a warning for catastrophic fire danger. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Second teenage boy charged with murder after alleged stabbing behind Sydney school pred 11 urami in 49 minutami Another boy, 15, charged on Monday after 17-year-old boy died from wounds to thigh in Rouse HillFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA second teenage boy has been charged with murder over the alleged stabbing of an older boy behind a school.The victim, a boy aged 17, died from stab wounds to his thigh after a confrontation at a park in north-west Sydney about 4.20pm on Monday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Officials find source of leak in Olympic pipeline two weeks after first report pred 12 urami Fuel from the pipeline, operated by BP, was first spotted in a ditch near an Everett, Washington, blueberry farmInvestigators have identified the source of a leak in the Olympic pipeline two weeks after fuel was first spotted in a ditch near an Everett, Washington, blueberry farm.Oil and gas company BP, the operator of the pipeline, shared in a statement that it had determined the leak occurred in a 20in pipeline and not a neighboring 16in pipeline, allowing that pipeline to be restarted. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Mother who hid children’s bodies in suitcases jailed for life in New Zealand pred 12 urami in 12 minutami Hakyung Lee was found guilty of murdering her children and concealing their remains in a storage lockerA mother who murdered her two children and hid their bodies in suitcases stored inside a rented locker has been sentenced to life imprisonment in New Zealand.Hakyung Lee, a New Zealand citizen originally from South Korea, was found guilty earlier this year of killing her children in a crime that has become known as the “suitcase murders”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
