Abortion pill access jumps almost 50% after Australia eases restrictions for pharmacies 07. October 2026 (17:00) The number of pharmacies stocking the MS-2 Step medication increased from 2,228 to 4,107 after rules relaxed in 2023Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe number of Australian pharmacies stocking an abortion pill increased by almost 50% when prescribing restrictions were relaxed, with researchers saying the findings suggest deregulation of abortion promotes safer and faster healthcare.A study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open on Thursday examined the impact of changes by the Therapeutic Goods Administration in 2023 which meant the medication, MS-2 Step, could be prescribed by any GP. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
British billionaire warned Epstein was a ‘sexual deviant’ decades before FBI closed in on the abuser 07. October 2026 (17:00) Sir James Goldsmith’s links to Hilton Head, South Carolina, add to mystery of Jane Doe 4, who claimed she was abused by Epstein in the 1980sFor Jeffrey Epstein, the billionaire Goldsmith family was a gateway to elite society and he wanted to be in their circle.The disgraced financier, who died in prison in 2019 facing sex-trafficking charges, longed for a billionaire’s lifestyle and cultivated the family’s friends, bankers, business associates and advisers. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Catastrophic wildfire loop’ after colonisation left parts of Australia more at risk from bushfires, study finds 07. October 2026 (17:00) Researchers found the shift from open woodland to dense forest after 1788 led to more intense fires, consistent with loss of cultural burning practicesSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereThe drastic land use changes wreaked by colonisation created a “catastrophic wildfire loop” that rendered south-east Australia more susceptible to climate-fuelled bushfires, experts say.A team of researchers, working with the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation, an organisation that represents traditional owners, reconstructed 1,000 years of vegetation and fire history at Purghagoolah, a lake surrounded by forest in Croajingolong national park in Gippsland, Victoria. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
In Vienna and Beijing, the First Nuclear Clocks Begin to Tick 07. October 2026 (17:00) By measuring the squishing and unsquishing of thorium-229 nuclei, two teams created a new type of clock that could someday beat the precision of atomic clocks.(New York Times)
In ‘Allegra’, the Choreography Dives Deep Into Japan’s Ancient Court Dance 07. October 2026 (17:00) And the spirit of the ballerina Allegra Kent doesn’t hurt. The choreographer Benjamin Akio Kimitch dives into the art of Bugaku to create his fantasy of a Japanese American court dance.(New York Times)
Angry residents of once-peaceful Minneapolis suburb blast leaders for failing to tackle Somali gang chaos... after they proposed soccer program to solve the crisis