Annual rate in August unchanged, and hovering above Bank of England’s 2% target
The UK’s annual inflation rate rose by 2.2% in August, matching the increase in July, as lower petrol prices at the pump were offset by higher air fares.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the government’s preferred measure of the cost of living remained steady, matching forecasts by City economists and hovering just above the Bank of England’s 2% target.
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On the double-dissolution threat floated by Anthony Albanese yesterday, Sarah Hanson-Young says:
Again, why, why be so bullish about this? The Australian people don’t need a panicked prime minister who wants to press the exit button because he can’t get his own way.
They want a government that’s willing to work across the parliament. Now, a third of Australians voted for parties other than Labor or Liberal at the last election. And they did that because they want a parliament that works for them.
We want to fix it. We want to give the government the opportunity to fix it. I’m not just interested in saying no to things. I want to get outcomes. I guess that’s my concern.
This prime minister seems to have such a chip on his shoulder, doesn’t want to work with anyone. Just wants to do it all his way. I don’t think this is a very good sign for the future. Come on, come on, prime minister, you know, let’s put – put aside the politics and get on with getting some outcomes.
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Local Palestinian media is reporting that a 17-year-old child has been killed by Israeli security forces near Ni’lin, west of Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The claims have not been independently verified.
Overnight Israel’s military announced the deaths of four soldiers.
Continue reading...Communications minister Michelle Rowland welcomes Meta’s announcement but suggests it doesn’t strongly enforce its present age limit on Instagram
The Albanese government is forging ahead with its plans for an age restriction on social media despite Meta announcing new restrictions for teens on Instagram, with the communications minister arguing children’s use of social media is unbalanced.
On Wednesday Instagram announced changes to teen accounts, including giving parents the ability to set daily time limits for using the app, block teens from using Instagram at certain times and to see accounts their child is exchanging messages with and the content categories they are viewing.
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Continue reading...Find a viewing spot that is dark and looks towards the east, which is where the moon will rise. A flat location will give a ‘really cool’ perspective, experts say
If you look up into the sky on Wednesday night, you’ll likely notice the full moon gleaming bigger and brighter than usual.
You’ll be looking at the second supermoon of the year – the term for when the moon’s orbit is closest to Earth while it is full.
How to take a good photograph of the full moon on your phone or camera
Continue reading...Eric Kilburn, 16, says those who put others down over differences ‘are usually the most unhappy people out there’
Eric Kilburn Jr’s mother knew his feet were exceptionally big when, in his teens, she began needing to spend thousands of dollars to have his shoes specially made. But it turned out they were bigger than anyone else’s in the world who was his age – and so were his hands.
Sixteen-year-old Eric fits his 13.5in (34cm) feet in American size 23 shoes (UK size 22) – more than double the average of adult men, which is about 9 in the US. His hands, at 9.13in, easily surpass the 7.14in average for his age.
Continue reading...Productivity Commission report also says controversial activity test should be scrapped through overhaul of subsidies
Early education advocates have urged the Labor government to commit to universal childcare in the lead-up to the election, after a major report warned too many children were missing out on critical learning due to high costs and access issues.
The Productivity Commission has recommended that the federal government increase funding and simplify subsidies for early childhood education and care. It also said the controversial “activity test” should be scrapped, and called on state governments to provide out-of-hours care for older children in public schools.
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Continue reading...In today’s newsletter: The party talked up its plans for the climate during this summer’s election – and now seems to be backing that up with real action
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Good morning.
During their election campaign, Labour made it clear that the climate crisis would be a key focus should they make it into government. It looks as if they are making good on that promise. A number of senior cabinet ministers have come out this week, banging the drum for the government’s climate policies and reminding the public and the media that the climate crisis and its effects are at the top of their agenda.
Labour | Keir Starmer has declared more free tickets and gifts than other major party leaders in recent times, with his total now topping £100,000 after recent support for his lifestyle from Labour donor Waheed Alli.
Middle East | Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate against Israel after pagers used by its members exploded across Lebanon simultaneously, killing at least nine people and wounding almost 3,000. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. The apparent sabotage attack followed months of targeted assassinations by Israel against senior Hezbollah leaders.
Music | Sean “Diddy” Combs has been charged with sex trafficking and racketeering, according to a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday. Combs had been arrested late Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
NHS | A fifth of GPs are using artificial intelligence (AI) tools such as ChatGPT to help with tasks such as writing letters for their patients after appointments, according to a survey.
Aid | UK aid spending will fall to its lowest level since 2007 unless the government takes urgent remedial action in the autumn budget, a group of more than 100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the aid and humanitarian sector jointly warned on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Shadow defence minister calls on Australian prime minister to raise matter with Chinese president, saying it is ‘not the actions of a friend’
The release of a video appearing to show a Chinese military aircraft in a “dangerous” interception with an Australian surveillance plane has been criticised as “risky” and “deeply troubling” propaganda by the Australian opposition, who are calling for the prime minister to raise the matter with China’s president.
The footage, posted on video-hosting site BiliBili with the watermark of Chinese state television’s military affairs channel, appeared to show a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) J-16 fighter intercepting an Australian P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft. The incident took place in international airspace over the South China Sea in 2022.
Continue reading...Conservation group calls on government to ban insect-killing neonicotinoid pesticides outright
A national “butterfly emergency” has been declared by Butterfly Conservation after the lowest Big Butterfly Count since records began.
An average of just seven butterflies per 15-minute count were recorded by participants in this summer’s butterfly count, the lowest in the survey’s 14-year history.
Continue reading...Oxfam says ‘commonsense solution’ would reduce emissions and raise urgently needed climate finance
Fair taxes on superyachts and private jets in the UK could have brought in £2bn last year to provide vital funds for communities suffering the worst effects of climate breakdown, campaigners say.
Private jet use in the UK is soaring. It was home to the second highest number of private flights in Europe last year, behind only France, according to figures from the European Business Aviation Association.
Continue reading...ActionAid says ‘parasitic behaviour’ is fuelling the climate crisis and represents ‘corporate capture’ of public finance
More than $650bn (£494bn) a year in public subsidies goes to fossil fuel companies, intensive agriculture and other harmful industries in the developing world, new data has shown.
The subsidies entrench high greenhouse gas emissions and are fuelling the destruction of the natural world, according to a report from the charity ActionAid.
Continue reading...Taiwanese company Gold Apollo says a company in Europe made the pagers used in extraordinary attack in Lebanon that Hezbollah blames on Israel
The Taiwanese manufacturer linked to pagers that exploded as part of a deadly and unprecedented attack in Lebanon against Hezbollah has said the devices were made by a company in Europe, as the militant group blamed Israel and vowed revenge attacks.
Potentially thousands of pagers were remotely and simultaneously detonated across Lebanon, killing at least nine people and wounding almost 3,000 on Tuesday. Lebanon’s health minister, Firass Abiad, said a young girl was among the dead, and that more than 200 people had critical injuries.
Continue reading...Humanitarian sector says UK will lack credibility at world summits owing to ‘devastating’ impact of budget cuts
UK aid spending will fall to its lowest level since 2007 unless the government takes urgent remedial action in the autumn budget, a group of more than 100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the aid and humanitarian sector jointly warn on Wednesday.
The budget dedicated to providing aid overseas will be just 0.36% of gross national income (GNI) in 2024 largely owing to huge sums in the budget being diverted to hosting asylum-seekers in the UK, the aid organisations say.
Continue reading...Russian forces are gathering on Pokrovsk, a logistics base and transport hub, after months of slow, brutal advance
The Russian soldiers sent to storm Ukrainian positions arrived at a graveyard. Around them was the ruined village of Mykhailivka. From above, Ukrainian spy drones watched. One soldier vanished under a tree. Another jogged towards a shell-walloped cottage. Back at a control observation centre, Maj Oleksandr Fanagey muttered a few words.
Seconds later, a Ukrainian kamikaze drone hit a moving Russian. A live video stream showed that he survived but his left leg was injured. The soldier bottom-shuffled towards a patch of grass and tried to pull a bandage from a green backpack. “He will die for sure,” Fanagey predicted. “The enemy doesn’t bother evacuating its wounded.”
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