Australia

Feels like I’m seeing more than I have in the past decade this summer, even saw some crickets when I haven’t seen them since I was a kid.

The 52-year-old Assange is wanted in the US for espionage, and faces 18 charges related to the publication of a range of highly classified information relating to the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Next week, the High Court of Justice in the UK will hold its hearing into whether Mr Assange can appeal his extradition to the US.

Mr Assange has been held in London's high-security Belmarsh prison since 2019 and potentially faces up to 175 years in prison.

David Littleproud told the ABC he and Mr Joyce had a conversation about the "circumstances" that led to him lying down in the street.

The Nationals MP said Mr Joyce's behaviour wasn't "normal" and that he had embarrassed himself and his family.

Mr Littleproud said there were "greater circumstances" to the incident than the public was aware of, beyond the "mixture of medication and alcohol".

"There's some family circumstances that his family need to deal with, and I encouraged him to take some time to deal with that emotionally," Mr Littleproud said.

"To make sure that his family understood that he was there for them but that we were there for Barnaby. That we were going to create an environment for him to be able to address those issues.

For investors fleeing China's stuttering market amid a prolonged property crisis and looking for safe, liquid places to put their money, Australian banks, and in particular CBA as the largest and most well known, are an easy pick, said Matthew Haupt, a portfolio manager at Wilson Asset Management.

Ms Lattouf was let go by the broadcaster on December 20, just hours after sharing a social media post about the war in Gaza.

I get that WA is financially far better off than 2017 projections.

What I don't really understand is why it is so unfair for WA to get back 70-75 cents per dollar its populace puts into GST.

C: Hey there, Barnaby, are you committed to climate action?

BJ: [walks right past]

C: No?

BJ: I'm committed to a Big Mac Meal.

C: What did he say? I didn't get that? Is it stumbling drunkenly away? 'Cause I've got that on here.

BJ: [having reached the car, now turns around and starts walking back]

C: Ohhh, he's angry.

C: I'm trying to fill up a bingo list.

BJ: So who are you?

C: The Chaser.

BJ: Ah, fuck. [loses momentum, stops, turns around and walks back to car]

C: Bye!

Reading the description of the state of his body, how they could at all think it was self inflicted is beyond me. And how can an ex-cop refuse to give evidence like that?

Good thing he's not looking for sympathy, as I am fresh out.

Jesus Christ, what an absolute moron and embarrassment.

Meat and Livestock Australia announced a 2030 net zero target in 2017, which experts say is ‘effectively not possible’

I’m trying to download, archive, and upscale as much older Australian TV content as I can, and would love to see what other people watched or enjoyed so I can try to preserve it as well.

In short: The Real Estate Institute of Queensland says high-paying government projects are pushing up the cost of construction.

An economist says growing wages are a contributing factor, but growing material costs, labour shortages, and excessive government regulations are in the way of development.

What's next?: The government has vowed to build 55,000 social houses by the year 2046.

Crazy how the wealthiest people in society are all those over paid tradies

Indigenous peoples have recognised land interests covering around 26% of Australia’s landmass. Research shows Aboriginal land holders want to be part of the energy transition. But they need support and resources.

This could take the form of federal grants to make communities more energy-efficient or less reliant on expensive, polluting diesel generators. Funding could also be spent on workforce training to ensure First Nations people have the skills to take part in the transition. Federal agencies could be funded to support grants for First Nations feasibility studies of renewable energy industry on their land.

Han Yang, a former junior diplomat for the Chinese foreign ministry, said Yang's case, along with the case of journalist Cheng Lei , showed a pattern of the Chinese government holding foreigners of Chinese descent as political prisoners.

"This is certainly very concerning, especially also considering the Chinese legal system is entirely at the whim of the Communist Party," Han said.

"It's not independent, it's not transparent, and any decision made by the court is essentially a decision made by the Chinese political leadership and based on their political interest."

He believes travellers of Chinese descent are more likely to be detained than those of other ethnicities.

Australia will roll out the red carpet to the visiting Papua New Guinea prime minister, James Marape, amid efforts to stall China’s security talks with the Pacific country.

Marape is due to arrive in Canberra on Wednesday before he addresses a joint sitting of the Australian parliament on Thursday – the first Pacific leader to be afforded this honour.

Amid increasing competition for influence in the region, the Australian government will seek to build on the security agreement with PNG that Marape and Anthony Albanese signed just two months ago.

The pouches – which the World Health Organization warns are a growing “public health concern” – are being heavily publicised on platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, with at least one post by an Australian-based fitness influencer garnering more than 2m views.

According to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) the products require a prescription to be legally supplied in Australia. One website that ships the pouches directly to consumers maintains they are legal in Australia.

The nicotine pouches are being sold on several websites in Australia with flavours similar to vapes, such as “bubblegum,” “lemon spritz” and “frozen cloudberry”. The products are manufactured by tobacco companies such as Philip Morris International’s Zyn brand and British American Tobacco’s Velo brand.

It comes ahead of a federal ban on non-prescription vapes, which the health minister, Mark Butler, promised would halt the tobacco industry’s attempt to create a “new generation of nicotine addicts”.