Huge cuts to national disability insurance scheme aim to save more than $36bn in budget’s largest single measure

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NDIS changes foreshadowed by health minister Mark Butler will drastically reduce access to the scheme, with nearly 700 staff positions to go at NDIA

The government expects to recoup $36.2bn by curbing the national disability insurance scheme’s growth over the next four years as it looks to return to the NDIS’s “original purpose” of supporting people with “significant and permanent disability”.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said the budget’s savings package amounted to genuine economic reform, beyond the “usual nips and tucks”.

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Australia unveils changes to negative gearing, capital gains tax – Reuters

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  1. Australia unveils changes to negative gearing, capital gains tax  Reuters
  2. Australia dumps tax breaks for landlords to help young own a home  Reuters
  3. Find out if you're among the budget's winners or losers  Australian Broadcasting Corporation
  4. Budget capital gains tax changes and negative gearing reform explained  The Guardian
  5. Australian Budget Mixes Economic Reform With Fuel Security, Spending Cuts  WSJ
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Russia strikes Ukraine with drones as ceasefire ends, Ukrainian officials say – Reuters

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  1. Russia strikes Ukraine with drones as ceasefire ends, Ukrainian officials say  Reuters
  2. Three-day ceasefire ends with fresh wave of Russian attacks on Ukraine – Europe live  The Guardian
  3. Dozens of Ukrainian drones target Moscow, mayor says, amid overnight attack on Russia  ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos
  4. As ceasefire ends, Russian drone strikes residential building in Kyiv  The Kyiv Independent
  5. Russia launches strikes at Ukraine, hours after expiration of 72-hour truce  Euronews.com
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Chaos in Philippines as Duterte ally wanted by ICC takes refuge in senate to avoid arrest

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Former police chief Ronald dela Rosa spends night at senate office after another Duterte ally offers protective custody

The unusual pursuit was captured on CCTV cameras inside the Philippine senate. Ronald dela Rosa, a longtime ally of the former president Rodrigo Duterte, raced along the hallways of the upper house complex, stumbling on the staircase, as he fled government agents.

“They want to forcibly bring me to The Hague, to surrender me there,” Dela Rosa said later on a Facebook livestream, pleading for public support.

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Sexual violence was ‘systematic, integral’ to Hamas-led October 7 terror assault, study finds – The Times of Israel

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  1. Sexual violence was ‘systematic, integral’ to Hamas-led October 7 terror assault, study finds  The Times of Israel
  2. First on CNN: New report details ‘systematic’ rape and sexual violence during Hamas’ Oct 7 attack on Israel  CNN
  3. Live Updates: Latest from Israel, Iran, and Middle East  The Jerusalem Post
  4. Hamas used sexual violence as a ‘deliberate tactic’ in Oct. 7 attack, report says  The Globe and Mail
  5. ‘Gang rape, forced stripping and humiliation’: New report documents 10,000 findings on Oct. 7 sexual crimes  ynetnews
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Internal displacements caused by violence or conflict at record high in 2025

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The 32.3m surpasses those caused by disasters for the first time, as 82.2m people displaced in total around world

The number of internal displacements triggered by conflict or violence around the world reached a record high in 2025, surpassing the number of disaster-driven internal displacements for the first time.

A report published by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) shows that by the end of 2025 there were 32.3m conflict-driven internal displacements. That is 60% higher than those recorded the previous year, and – for the first time since data collection began in 2008 – above displacements driven by natural disasters, which reached 29.9m in 2025.

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Tech boom vs oil crisis: Asia’s new economic reality is a warning for the world – CNN

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  1. Tech boom vs oil crisis: Asia’s new economic reality is a warning for the world  CNN
  2. A second wave of Iran energy shocks is about to hit Asia and the wider world. Why aren’t markets reacting?  Fortune
  3. Asia braces for a second wave of energy shocks from the Iran war  AP News
  4. Global energy crisis highlights meagre oil buffers in developing world  Al Jazeera
  5. Air-Conditioning Is in Short Supply as Asia Swelters  The New York Times
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Buyers of Liza Minnelli memoir claim it was not signed by hand

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Premium editions of Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! cost up to $250 but some say signatures are unnaturally identical

Liza Minnelli fans who bought signed copies of her memoir are seeking refunds because they believe her signature is fake.

Copies of Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! by the American 80-year-old singer were marketed around the world as “hand-signed collectibles”, with premium editions costing up to $250 (£185).

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Trump heads to China to spread the gospel of American tech while emulating Xi Jinping on AI

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Tim Cook and Elon Musk, among other tech CEOS, will accompany the US president on a trip to China

Donald Trump is heading to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.

On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, would join the US president. Other guests from the tech sphere include Meta’s recently appointed president, Dina Powell McCormick; Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of computer memory maker Micron; Chuck Robbins, CEO of longtime telecom giant Cisco; and Cristiano Amon, CEO of semiconductor maker Qualcomm, according to a White House official.

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Israeli lawmakers set up tribunal, allow for death penalty for October 2023 attackers – NPR

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  1. Israeli lawmakers set up tribunal, allow for death penalty for October 2023 attackers  NPR
  2. Israel Prepares to Prosecute First Suspects in Oct. 7 Attack Led by Hamas  The New York Times
  3. Oct. 7 attackers could face death penalty after Israel approves war crimes tribunal  CNN
  4. ‘A modern Eichmann trial’: Lawmakers tout imminent passage of law to try Oct. 7 perpetrators  The Times of Israel
  5. Israel passes law to allow death penalty and public trials for those linked to 7 October  BBC
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Iran war oil shortage forces Japan snack giant to use black-and-white packaging

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Calbee to switch its brightly coloured packaging to black and white because war has disrupted supply of certain raw materials used in ink

Japan’s biggest snack maker has been forced to use black-and-white packaging for some flagship products because of ink ingredient shortages caused by the strait of Hormuz blockade.

Calbee, whose potato chip brands in particular are known for brightly coloured bag designs, said 14 of its products would switch to monochrome branding by the end of May.

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EU diplomats agree to sanction Hamas leaders and Israeli settlers – NPR

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  1. EU diplomats agree to sanction Hamas leaders and Israeli settlers  NPR
  2. EU puts sanctions on Israeli settlers after Hungary drops Orban’s veto  The Washington Post
  3. EU announces sanctions against violent Israeli settlers  The Guardian
  4. European Union Hits Israeli Settlers With Sanctions  The New York Times
  5. EU ministers agree on sanctions targeting violent West Bank settlers  Reuters
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Teen bedroom art installation shines spotlight on Ukraine’s stolen children

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Since the start of the current conflict, more than 20,500 Ukrainian children have been taken by Russia

It looks like a typical teenager’s bedroom: football shirts on the wall, crumpled clothes on the floor, exercise books open on the desk. But it is a work of political art, intended to evoke the empty rooms of more than 20,500 Ukrainian children unlawfully taken to Russia.

The work was on display on Monday at the headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels, as delegates from 63 countries and international organisations gathered to discuss how to bring Ukraine’s children home. “It’s essentially a way for someone to step into Ukraine without having to actually travel there,” Isaac Yeung, a co-creator of the installation, said.

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