Perth man accused of attempted terror attack at Invasion Day rally to plead mental health defence

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Lawyers for Liam Alexander Hall say the 32-year-old is undergoing treatment in custody

Lawyers acting for Liam Alexander Hall, a 32-year-old man accused of attempting to bomb an Invasion Day rally in Perth, have foreshadowed a potential not guilty by insanity plea.

Hall was scheduled to appear before magistrate Matthew Walton via video link from Western Australia’s most secure psychiatric facility on Tuesday, but did not. Instead the case was adjourned until May.

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Starmer’s immigration rhetoric follows familiar pattern of bold claims but few results, expert says

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Madeleine Sumption says politicians make big claims about things they only partially control to appeal to voters

Keir Starmer’s pledge to “smash the gangs” profiting from small boat crossings has followed a pattern set by Conservative-led governments of employing “bullish rhetoric” with little evidence that it can be delivered, an expert has claimed.

Madeleine Sumption, the director of the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory, says the prime minister has repeated the mistakes of Rishi Sunak and David Cameron by making “bold claims with great certainty about things governments only partially control” .

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Rubbish and recycling in England: what’s changing and why it matters

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Nationwide reforms aim to standardise collections and expand food waste recycling to tackle stagnating rates

Recycling rules across England have long been inconsistent – but that will change from Tuesday when the government’s Simpler Recycling legislation comes into effect.

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Israel suspends battalion that detained CNN crew in West Bank – The Washington Post

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  1. Israel suspends battalion that detained CNN crew in West Bank  The Washington Post
  2. Israel punishes a military unit that assaulted a CNN crew in the West Bank  AP News
  3. Israel Pulls Battalion From West Bank After Soldier Talks of ‘Revenge’  The New York Times
  4. Israeli military suspends battalion involved in assaulting, detaining CNN crew in West Bank  CNN
  5. IDF chief: Detention, alleged assault of CNN crew in West Bank ‘grave ethical incident’  The Times of Israel
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Iran Update Special Report, March 30, 2026 – Institute for the Study of War

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  1. Iran Update Special Report, March 30, 2026  Institute for the Study of War
  2. Photos show aftermath from Iran's waves of retaliatory strikes  Reuters
  3. Iran Targets Gulf States, Israel Strikes Tehran  WSJ
  4. A Toothless Iran? Missile and Drone Strikes Show It Can Still Inflict Pain.  The New York Times
  5. Iran Update Special Report, March 26, 2026  Institute for the Study of War
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Energy Crisis: Iran’s Grip on Hormuz is Tighter Than Ever After a Month of War – Bloomberg.com

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  1. Energy Crisis: Iran’s Grip on Hormuz is Tighter Than Ever After a Month of War  Bloomberg.com
  2. Three scenarios for the Strait of Hormuz  Al Jazeera
  3. Here's what needs to happen before oil starts flowing through the Strait of Hormuz again  CBS News
  4. Opinion | Reopen the Strait of Hormuz? There’s one big problem.  The Washington Post
  5. Mines, missiles and miles of coastline: Why Iran has the upper hand in the Strait of Hormuz  CNN
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Giant oil tanker off Dubai hit by Iranian strike after Trump’s latest threats – Reuters

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  1. Giant oil tanker off Dubai hit by Iranian strike after Trump's latest threats  Reuters
  2. Iran War Live Updates: Trump Threatens Infrastructure Attacks; Missiles and Drones Reported Across Persian Gulf  The New York Times
  3. Iran hits oil tanker off Dubai as fighting continues on all fronts  NPR
  4. First Thing: Kuwaiti tanker hit by Iranian drone attack in Dubai port  The Guardian
  5. Live updates: Iran strikes fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker off Dubai’s coast  AP News
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Debit and credit card surcharges to be removed in Australia by October

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Treasurer Jim Chalmers says changes will help with cost of living and ‘Australians hate paying’ the surcharges

Debit and credit card surcharges will be gone by October under Reserve Bank reforms, with big banks likely to foot the bill for the cost-of-living measures.

The new rules, announced on Tuesday, will enable businesses to remove added fees on Mastercard, visa and eftpos card payments.

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Sad faces all round as Bolivia’s clowns protest over decree threatening their livelihoods

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Clowns in Bolivia are upset by mandate that stops schools hosting events from which they earn a living

Dozens of clowns have marched through the streets of Bolivia’s capital to protest against a government decree that limits extracurricular activities in schools, threatening their livelihoods.

Wearing full face paint and their signature red noses, the clowns gathered on Monday in front of the ministry of education in La Paz to oppose a decree published in February. The new mandate says schools must comply with 200 days of lessons each year – in effect banning them from hosting the special events where the entertainers are frequently employed.

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Vanuatu Indigenous leaders raise concerns over plans to build resort for cruise tourists

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Exclusive: Environmental impact assessments are ‘incomplete’, say leaders, and private beach club could harm fragile ecosystems

Indigenous community leaders in Vanuatu have raised concerns over plans by the cruise operator Royal Caribbean to build a private beach club on the island of Lelepa, arguing environmental impact assessments by the company are “incomplete” and “misleading”.

The community leaders outlined the issues in a letter sent to Royal Caribbean on 26 February, which has been seen by the Guardian. The leaders also said the development could harm fragile ecosystems and a nearby Unesco world heritage site.

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