HMRC cuts child benefit for 35,000 families based on incomplete travel data 28. October 2025 (07:00) UK tax agency apologises after flagging people as having emigrated, often when they return via different routesParents who went from Liverpool to Amsterdam with their autistic children are among thousands who have had their child benefit wrongly stopped as part of a crackdown on benefit fraud, it has emerged.The error by HM Revenue and Customs emerged 48 hours after the Guardian and the Detail reported on hundreds of families in Northern Ireland who had child benefit stopped after they returned home from holiday via Dublin airport, leaving HMRC with the impression they had taken a one-way ticket out of the country and were fraudulently collecting child benefit. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
UK military equipment used by militia accused of genocide found in Sudan, UN told 28. October 2025 (06:00) Exclusive: two dossiers of material seen by the security council raise questions over export of British arms to the UAE, which has been accused of supplying weapons to paramilitary RSF groupBritish military equipment has been found on battlefields in Sudan, used by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group accused of genocide, according to documents seen by the UN security council.UK-manufactured small-arms target systems and British-made engines for armoured personnel carriers have been recovered from combat sites in a conflict that has now caused the world’s biggest humanitarian catastrophe. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Wind power has cut £104bn from UK energy costs since 2010, study finds 28. October 2025 (06:00) Reduction comes from energy generated from windfarms and lower cost of gas owing to lower demandWind power has cut at least £104bn from energy costs in the UK since 2010, a study has found.Users of gas have been among the biggest beneficiaries, the research suggested. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Woman arrested after gas supplies allegedly sabotaged at two Sydney hospitals 28. October 2025 (05:45) NSW police allege water and gas mains were cut at first hospital in Sutherland before gas main switched off at nearby facilityFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA woman has been arrested after gas supplies were allegedly sabotaged at two Sydney hospitals, putting patients into potentially “catastrophic” situations.New South Wales police alleged that the woman, 42, cut Kareena private hospital’s non-medical gas supply and water mains at 12.20am on Tuesday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
NSW Labor ignores own drugs summit advice by keeping sniffer dogs and strip-searches at festivals 28. October 2025 (05:13) Police minister Yasmin Catley says high-visibility tactics remain important ‘investigative tools’ – even at music festivals trialling pill testingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe New South Wales government has “squibbed” the opportunity for major drug reform, advocates say, after Labor announced it would ignore some recommendations of a landmark report it commissioned.The government on Tuesday said it would continue using sniffer dogs and strip-searches at music festivals despite evidence that such high-visibility tactics “increases rather than decreases” the risk associated with illicit drug use. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
First instalment of Australia’s $2.5bn deal with Nauru triggered as first man arrives on island 28. October 2025 (04:57) Deal between federal government and Nauru expected to last 30 years and apply to around two dozen people released under high court’s NZYQ rulingFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralia has commenced its $2.5bn deal with Nauru to offload more than 350 people from the NZYQ cohort after the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, confirmed the first arrival had landed on the tiny Pacific island last week.Burke said Nauruan authorities had confirmed the arrival on Friday, as reported by the ABC, triggering the first yearly instalment of $408m. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
All fail Caesar: Brisbane high school teaches wrong topic for final year 12 history exam 28. October 2025 (04:30) An entire class has made an 11th-hour bid for special consideration due to ‘illness and misadventure’ after studying the wrong CaesarFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAn entire class of high school students in Queensland has applied for special consideration due to “illness and misadventure” just days before their year 12 ancient history external exam.They have not been waylaid by vengeful deities nor bewitched by sirens, however – these young scholars have studied the wrong Caesar. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Victorian premier vows to scrap ‘old-fashioned Nimby’ planning laws, fast-track homes and curb rights to object 28. October 2025 (03:04) Jacinta Allan says reforms would see housing permit-approval times slashed and generate more than $900m in construction activity each yearFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Victorian government has announced the biggest overhaul of the state’s planning laws in a decade, in a bid to slash approval times to just 10 days for standalone homes while limiting appeal rights to only neighbours.The premier, Jacinta Allan, and the planning minister, Sonya Kilkenny, on Tuesday said amendments to the Planning and Environment Act 1987 would generate more than $900m in construction activity each year. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Queensland’s controversial puberty blocker ban overturned by supreme court 28. October 2025 (03:04) Parent of transgender child successfully challenged decision by Crisafulli government to halt treatment for under 18sQueensland’s controversial ban on puberty blockers for transgender patients has been overturned by the supreme court.On Tuesday, Justice Peter Callaghan ruled in favour of a challenge by the parent of a transgender child, judging that the directive establishing the ban was made improperly and is unlawful. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Man finds surfboard that drifted 2,400km from Australia to New Zealand – and tracks down owner 28. October 2025 (02:04) Board was found covered in barnacles and mussels in Raglan, nearly 18 months after it was lost during a boat trip near TasmaniaA surfboard lost off Australia’s coast nearly 18 months ago has washed up on one of New Zealand’s most famed surf beaches, thousands of kilometres from where it was last seen.New Zealand-based French surfer Alvaro Bon was kite surfing in Raglan on the North Island’s west coast on 15 October, when his kite caught in the water and he began drifting out to sea. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
