News

Jimmy Lai’s 20-Year Term Follows a Familiar Chinese Pattern

The heavy sentence for the Hong Kong publisher aligns with mainland cases where influential critics of the Communist Party have been sent to prison for many years.

ABC to air Four Corners episode on Bondi terror attack despite Asio claim of ‘significant errors of fact’

Intelligence agency takes unusual step of publicly releasing statement and says it will ‘reserve our right to take further action’ if the ABC makes false claims Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast A Four Corners investigation into the secret lives of the alleged Bondi shooters in the lead-up to the nation’s worst terrorist attack will go to air on Monday night despite a preemptive claim by Asio that the episode co...

‘Blame me’: what the UK papers say as Morgan McSweeney quits over Mandelson-Epstein scandal

British papers explore what’s next for prime minister Keir Starmer after the loss of his longtime adviser over the Mandelson-Epstein files scandal The fate of prime minister Keir Starmer dominates the UK front pages on Monday after his embattled chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, resigned over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as ambassador to Washington. In standing down, McSweeney admitted the decision to advise sending Mandelson to the US despite his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey...

Spanish train drivers to begin nationwide strike after fatal crashes

Striking drivers are demanding increased investment and maintenance, and the hiring of more staff.

This billionaire tested China's limits. It cost him his freedom

Jimmy Lai, who has been jailed for 20 years, always said he owed Hong Kong, a city that had given him "everything".

Israeli president lays wreath at Bondi at start of controversial visit

Senior Jewish leaders have welcomed Isaac Herzog but pro-Palestinian groups say he should not have been invited.

Jon Kudelka, much-loved Australian political cartoonist, dies aged 53

Award-winning Tasmanian artist’s work was published by the Australian, the Saturday Paper and the Hobart Mercury Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Jon Kudelka, the Australian political cartoonist, has died at the age of 53. His wife, Margaret Kudelka, announced the news in a statement on Monday: “We are sad to tell you that our beloved, brilliant Jon Kudelka died peacefully in South Hobart on Sunday afternoon, s...

Lai has been held in solitary confinement for more than 1,800 days.

Jimmy Lai sentencing: Hong Kong court to rule on pro-democracy media mogul after conviction – live updates

Observers fear that conviction under national security law could come under the most severe penalty band of 10 years to life imprisonment. Follow the latest developments, live Jimmy Lai faces sentencing over national security charges Here are some images of Jimmy Lai at pro-democracy protests across Hong Kong over the years: Progressing from child labourer to billionaire, Jimmy Lai used his power and wealth to promote democracy, which ultimately pitted him against authorities in Beijing. Cont...

Jimmy Lai’s children have led a global campaign for him.

Jimmy Lai’s conviction was years in the making.

Here’s the latest.

Christchurch gunman seeks to appeal convictions and withdraw guilty plea

NZ court to consider an appeal from Australian white supremacist who pleaded guilty in March 2020 to murdering 51 people in mosque attack The Australian white supremacist who murdered 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch in 2019, in the worst mass shooting in the New Zealand’s history, is asking one of the country’s highest courts to vacate his guilty pleas and hold a new trial. Brenton Tarrant pleaded guilty in March 2020 to 51 counts of murder, 40 counts of attempted murder ...

Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong pro-democracy figure, faces sentencing over national security charges

The media tycoon, who was first arrested in 2020, could face life in prison in blow for press freedom following conviction in December Jimmy Lai, the Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy figure, is set to be sentenced on Monday in the financial hub’s most high-profile national security case, amid growing calls to free the longstanding critic of the Chinese Communist party whose health is frail. The sentence comes after a legal saga spanning almost five years for the founder of the now-shu...

Venezuela Frees Key Opposition Figures as Government Courts U.S. Support

The release of around 35 political prisoners comes amid closer cooperation between Washington and the interim government.

Isaac Herzog arrives in Sydney to meet survivors of Bondi terror attack amid tight security

Israeli president will meet with prime minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra and travel to Melbourne as pro-Palestine supporters stage protests Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, has arrived in Sydney for a four-day trip to Australia to speak to survivors of the Bondi terror attack and the victims’ families. In a post on X, the Israeli embassy said Herzog and his wife, Michal Her...

Is Bangladesh's youth turning against India?

Anti-Indianism is rising in Bangladesh as ties between the South Asian neighbours sink to a new low.

How off-the-shelf drones are changing jihadist warfare in West Africa

Insurgents have carried out a wave of drone strikes on military positions in the region.

‘Pulling up the drawbridge’: Alf Dubs criticises Shabana Mahmood’s plans for child refugees

Exclusive: Labour peer, who came to UK as a refugee, says some ministers try to show they won’t ‘just do things because of their background’ Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, whose parents migrated to the UK from Pakistan, is facing the suggestion from a veteran Labour peer that she is “pulling up the drawbridge once inside” when considering the plight of refugee children trapped abroad. Alf Dubs, who came to the UK aged six in 1939 fleeing the persecution of Jews in Nazi-occupied Czechosl...

‘Take the vaccine, please,’ Dr Oz urges amid rising measles cases in US

Health official’s endorsement comes as South Carolina faces hundreds of cases and US risks losing elimination status A senior US public health official called on Americans to get vaccinated against measles as outbreaks continue in multiple states and concerns grow that the country could lose its measles elimination designation. Dr Mehmet Oz, a cardiothoracic surgeon, spoke in support on Sunday of the measles vaccine. “Take the vaccine, please,” said Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Me...