Hurricane Helene leaves thousands without clean water in its wake

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Damage to sewage systems and pipes means widespread boil water notices and conservation orders could last weeks

Hurricane Helene left a path of devastation behind, with storm-ravaged areas struggling to access safe water for days because flooding damaged sewage systems, wastewater treatment plants and pipes that deliver drinking water to residents in the affected areas.

Boiling water advisories and water conservation orders are in place in counties in Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.

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Sellafield ordered to pay nearly £400,000 over cybersecurity failings

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Nuclear waste dump in Cumbria pleaded guilty to leaving data that could threaten national security exposed for four years, says regulator

Sellafield will have to pay almost £400,000 after it pleaded guilty to criminal charges over years of cybersecurity failings at Britain’s most hazardous nuclear site.

The vast nuclear waste dump in Cumbria left information that could threaten national security exposed for four years, according to the industry regulator, which brought the charges. It was also found that 75% of its computer servers were vulnerable to cyber-attack.

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Stranded luxury cruise ship still stuck off coast of Northern Ireland

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Villa Vie Odyssey set sail on three-and-a-half-year voyage on Monday after repairs but departure delayed again

The luxury cruise liner stranded in Belfast for four months remains anchored off the coast of Northern Ireland after two failed attempts to finally set sail on a round-the-world voyage.

The Villa Vie Odyssey was originally due to embark on a “perpetual” three-and-a-half-year trip on 30 May but was marooned after requiring repairs, leaving passengers stranded in Belfast over summer.

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Fury as Trump downplays severity of brain injuries suffered by 109 US soldiers: ‘What does injured mean?’ – The Independent

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  1. Fury as Trump downplays severity of brain injuries suffered by 109 US soldiers: ‘What does injured mean?’  The Independent
  2. Trump dismisses US troops' brain injuries from 2020 Iran strike  CNN
  3. Analysis | Trump’s continued callousness toward injured soldiers  The Washington Post
  4. Trump downplays troop brain injuries from Iran attack as ‘headaches’  Military Times
  5. Trump downplays importance of troops with brain injuries (again)  MSNBC
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Hand grenades thrown near Israeli embassy in Copenhagen

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In separate incident, Swedish police launch investigation after shots fired at Israeli embassy in Stockholm

Police in Denmark and Sweden are investigating after hand grenades were thrown near the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen and shots were fired at the Israeli embassy in Stockholm on Tuesday night and the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Three Swedish men were arrested in the Danish capital on Wednesday on suspicion of involvement in two explosions near the Israeli embassy at 3.20am in the Copenhagen district of Hellerup.

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Trip on psychedelics, save the planet: the offbeat solution to the climate crisis

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Proponents say using hallucinogens can spark ‘consciousness shifts’ to inspire climate-friendly behaviors

Thousands gathered for New York City’s annual Climate Week last week to promote climate solutions, from the phaseout of fossil-fuel subsidies to nuclear energy to corporate-led schemes like carbon credits. Others touted a more offbeat potential salve to the crisis: psychedelics.

Under the banner of Psychedelic Climate Week, a group of academics, marketers and advocates gathered for a film on pairing magic mushrooms with music, a discussion on funding ketamine-assisted therapy and a panel on “Balancing Investing & Impact with Climate & Psychedelic Capital”.

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Democrats laser in on Pennsylvania as they scramble to keep Senate majority

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Democrats’ prospects in Montana and West Virginia look grim – and money is pouring in to help Trump-backed Dave McCormick

Pennsylvania has come into laser focus in the 2024 election as the must-win state of the presidential election. But further down the ballot is another race in the battleground state – one that could decide whether Democrats are able to hold on to a one-seat majority in the Senate.

With the party bracing to lose a seat in West Virginia and incumbent Jon Tester’s prospects looking grim in Montana, a lot of attention and money is flowing into the Senate race between Democrat Bob Casey and Republican Dave McCormick in Pennsylvania.

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Mark Robinson skipped vote to declare Hurricane Helene a state of emergency

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North Carolina lieutenant governor who has been criticized for alleged explicit posts was the only member to not vote

Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s lieutenant governor and Republican gubernatorial candidate, skipped a vote on declaring a state of emergency in advance of Hurricane Helene’s arrival to the southern state, according to a report.

Robinson, who has been under attack recently over alleged racist and explicit posts on a pornography website’s message board, was the only council of state member who did not vote on Democratic governor Roy Cooper’s emergency declaration, WRAL News reported.

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Vatican bank fires man and woman who flouted staff marriage ban

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Newlyweds nicknamed ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by Italian media had both refused to resign so other could keep job

A man and woman have been fired from their jobs at the Vatican bank because they flouted a ban on marriage between employees.

The young couple, nicknamed “Romeo and Juliet” by the Italian media, got married in August, after the bank imposed a rule banning marriage between employees aimed at preventing nepotism.

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Humiliating Slapdown for Israeli Minister Trying to Act Tough – The Daily Beast

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  1. Humiliating Slapdown for Israeli Minister Trying to Act Tough  The Daily Beast
  2. France Says Israel's 'Persona Non Grata' Designation Of UN Chief 'Unjustified'  Barron's
  3. Israel bans UN secretary-general over anti-Israel actions: 'Doesn't deserve to set foot on Israeli soil'  Fox News
  4. ‘Deadly cycle of tit for tat must stop’ says Guterres  Al Jazeera English
  5. 'The time for empty calls for deescalation is over,' says Israeli UN envoy after Iran missile attack  The Times of Israel
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Canberra Liberal apologises for writing book that paints rosy colonisation picture and skips frontier wars

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One exercise in History of Australia, a student workbook and teaching manual, asks pupils to discuss how Aboriginal people were ‘blessed’ by the British coming

Peter Cain, the ACT’s shadow attorney general, has apologised “wholeheartedly” for a 2002 workbook he wrote which does not mention the frontier wars and paints a rosy picture of how Christian settlers helped First Nations peoples.

In History of Australia, a student workbook and teacher’s manual published by Light Educational Ministries, Cain wrote that when the British arrived, “some were afraid of the Aboriginals; some treated them badly”.

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Miles vows Queensland households will always have cheapest power in mainland national electricity market if Labor wins

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Premier promises to create ‘energy price guarantee’ if his party retains government at state election

Queensland’s premier, Steven Miles, will promise his state’s households they will always have the cheapest power prices of all mainland states in the national electricity market if Labor is elected this month.

Miles announced on Wednesday that he would set up a second state-owned power retailer, akin to Ergon, which operates in regional Queensland.

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Australia’s steepest and longest rental surge in history may be nearing end, figures show

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Annual growth is at multi-year lows in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, suggesting the stretch of rent rises may have peaked, Domain says

Annual rent increases for houses have hit multi-year lows in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, suggesting a relentless stretch of rising rents may have peaked, a new report has found.

Renters are still feeling the pinch from record high prices but the data in Domain’s Rent Report revealed the lowest September quarter growth rate since 2019 for houses and 2020 for units.

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Noise from new Hobart AFL stadium will ruin symphony orchestra’s historic concert hall, CEO fears

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Caroline Sharpen says ‘there’s no precedent in the world’ for a concert hall having to deal with 23,000-seat stadium just 170 metres from its stage

The $775m bid to bring an Aussie Rules team to Tasmania will place the state’s symphony orchestra in an unenviable world-first position, which could threaten its future existence.

The plan to build a home for the newly formed Tasmanian Devils AFL team will see a 23,000 seat capacity sports and music stadium constructed on a historic Hobart foreshore site just 40 metres from the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra’s purpose-built performing and recording headquarters, the Federation Concert Hall.

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Greens reveal plan for 1,000 new health clinics with free medical and dental care across Australia

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Adam Bandt to announce $54bn policy for at least six clinics in every electorate paid for by ‘Robin Hood’ tax reform

The Greens want to open 1,000 new health clinics nationwide with free medical and dental care, in a $54bn policy the minor party says it would push in the event of a hung parliament.

The party’s leader, Adam Bandt, will announce the commitment on Thursday in the seat of Perth – one of the Greens’ major targets at the next election.

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Cuddles and drama as live stream shows secret life of ‘ridiculously fluffy’ greater glider

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Camera installed inside a tree hollow in NSW forest to raise awareness of the plight of the endangered possum

Conservationists call them “ridiculously cute” and “captivating” – and now a live stream offers a global audience the chance to view life inside the hollow for a family of eastern Australia’s largest gliding possums.

The hollow-cam broadcasting live from a tree in south-east NSW offered unlimited greater glider viewing for animal lovers and reality TV tragics.

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