Daniel Andrews’ government engaged in ‘concerning’ conduct but no evidence of firefighter union blackmail: Ibac report

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Anti-corruption watchdog’s long-awaited report finds ‘serious and concerning’ conduct by senior government members in dealings with union boss

Senior members of the former Daniel Andrews government engaged in “serious and concerning” conduct in their dealings with firefighters union boss Peter Marshall, a long-awaited report by the Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog has found.

The report by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac) was tabled in parliament on Wednesday, some eight years after their investigation first began.

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‘Did you send that report?’ The Icac bombshell that came late for Damien Tudehope

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The former Liberal finance minister was questioned by Icac counsel assisting, Peggy Dwyer, on Tuesday

The bombshell came in the last five minutes of former finance minister and rightwing powerbroker Damien Tudehope’s examination before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac).

At 3.30pm on Tuesday, Tudehope was shown an email which he sent in February 2023, attaching a leaked draft parliamentary report into branch stacking in the Hills area by the Reformers, the shadowy group at the centre of Icac’s Operation Rosny.

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Ohio Republican Max Miller faces growing calls to resign over domestic abuse allegations

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Miller calls women accusing him liars as Republican senator Bernie Moreno says former son-in-law unfit for Congress

Max Miller, the beleaguered US Republican representative from Ohio, has vowed to defy a rising groundswell of resignation calls from his own party over domestic abuse allegations after his ex-father-in-law, Bernie Moreno, a GOP senator, said he was unfit to serve in Congress.

In a combative interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper, Miller turned the tables by attacking Moreno, accused three women – including his ex-wife – of lying by saying he had been violent towards them, and invoked Donald Trump in insisting that he would not resign.

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Campaign warns of perils UK waters can pose for dogs and owners

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Dogs Trust points to hundreds of incidents over recent years, some involving deaths of pets or people

With its gentle rippling water, tall purple flowers and rustling trees, Earlswood Lakes near Solihull in the West Midlands seems the perfect spot for dogs to paddle. But their owners have been warned that the otherwise idyllic open water could prove perilous to pets.

“We’ve had all this hot weather and millions of families are now spending time around open bodies of water, and it’s easy to not realise the dangers,” said Emma-Jane Thomas, rehoming manager at Dogs Trust Kenilworth during a walk around Earlswood.

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Charity Commission to investigate donations to illegal Israeli settlements

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Official action by regulator for England and Wales comes after formal complaint made by Labour MP about the funds

An official investigation has been launched into charities in England and Wales donating funds to illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine.

The Charity Commission will aim to establish the amount of charitable funds going to illegal settlements, whether the spending was in furtherance of their purposes and any regulatory action that may be necessary.

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ICE detainee reveals video of drinking water apparently contaminated with worm-like creatures

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‘Disturbing’ footage shared by California detainee surfaces amid wider complaints about conditions in ICE detention

Attorneys for a man detained in a California immigration detention center have released footage showing him holding up a bottle of water from inside the facility that appeared to be contaminated with worm-like creatures.

The footage came from a video call with Carlitos Ricardo Parias, a Los Angeles man who has been detained for months at the Adelanto Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, north-east of LA.

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Jetstar to charge fees up to $52 to put carry-on baggage in overhead lockers

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Airline says struggling to find room in overhead lockers on planes a ‘stressful part of the airport experience’

Jetstar will charge its passengers up to $52 to put carry-on baggage in the overhead locker, in a major change to the budget airline’s carry-on rules.

In a press release on Wednesday morning, the airline announced it would remove the 7kg weight limit for carry-on bags, beginning in February 2027. There will still be size restrictions.

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Naplan results 2026: reading and writing worsens in Australian schools as one in three students fail to meet benchmarks

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Education minister Jason Clare says the results showed ‘real challenges’ but numeracy scores were heartening

Reading and writing scores are going backwards for almost every age group in Australia’s national standardised school tests, with one in three students still failing to meet Naplan benchmarks.

This year’s tests were taken in March by 1.2 million students across years 3, 5, 7 and 9 to measure literacy and numeracy proficiency, with results released on Wednesday by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara).

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MI6 is top European foreign intelligence service, peer review finds

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UK’s Secret Intelligence Service praised for playing long game and having ‘a taste for dirty tricks’

MI6 has been ranked as the most powerful foreign intelligence service in Europe ahead of France and the Netherlands, according to a peer review.

The British intelligence agency scored 251 points in the research and was commended for its expertise in recruiting high-level informants and penetrating the ruling elites in Russia, China, Iran and Turkey, according to the review by 60 professionals from 25 countries.

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US stock market hits record highs as AI profits pile and oil prices ease

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S&P 500 shot up 1.8% and the main measure of Wall Street’s health topped its prior all-time high set a few months ago

The US stock market rallied to records on Tuesday as profits kept piling up for companies and as oil prices eased.

The S&P 500 shot up 1.8%, and the main measure of Wall Street’s health topped its prior all-time high set a couple months ago. The Dow Jones industrial average added 907 points, or 1.7%, to its own record set the day before, while the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.6%.

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Iran’s president denies threatening to resign during talks over strait of Hormuz

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Masoud Pezeshkian dismisses talk of internal rift as hardline Assembly of Experts call US negotiations ‘futile’

Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s president, has been forced to deny claims that he has repeatedly threatened to resign as he battles hardline factions opposed to reaching a settlement with the US over the strait of Hormuz.

The US and Europe hope a deal is imminent to reopen the strait and they are putting pressure on Oman to accept a temporary agreement that officials in Muscat fear will leave Iran retaining near permanent dominance of the vital oil shipping channel. Ships would enter the strait in a route close to Iran, but leave on a route that passes through Iranian and Omani waters.

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Dinghy carrying 173 people capsizes in Channel after engine catches fire

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All passengers thought to have been taken to Boulogne after large air and sea rescue operation by France and UK

A dinghy carrying 173 people has capsized after its engine caught fire as it attempted to cross the Channel from France.

The people onboard were rescued from the water after a large air and sea operation was launched using UK border security and French vessels along with an RNLI boat.

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Mass funeral held in Gaza for victims of 2023 Israeli strike

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Remains of 112 victims, including 40 children, recovered from rubble more than two years after residential block was destroyed

Mourners gathered in central Gaza on Tuesday for a mass funeral for 112 people, including 40 children, who were killed in 2023 in one of the deadliest Israeli strikes of the Gaza war.

Their bodies could not be recovered until now because of Israel’s continuing strikes, which have slowed, though not halted, since the ceasefire in October.

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US and Qatar report progress on Iran ceasefire and reopening Hormuz strait

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Optimism echoes Trump’s claims on Monday that deal is close as mediators say they are exchanging proposals

US and Qatari officials have said progress is being made in restoring a ceasefire in the US-Iran war and reopening the strait of Hormuz.

The optimistic speculation on Tuesday brought oil prices down 2%, but the strait remained closed to shipping and a cargo vessel was reportedly struck by an unidentified projectile off Oman’s coast close to the strait.

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