Jim Chalmers welcomes RBA’s first rate cut in four years, mum on effect on election date

While the Treasurer welcomed the RBA’s decision to cut rates, he sidestepped questions on how it could affect when Aussies will go to the polls.

Jim Chalmers says Treasury will continue preparing for a March 25 budget despite suggestions Anthony Albanese cou…[Read more]

Claims daycare worker was reported three times before sexual touching of young child

A group of parents say they were left in the dark by a Sydney early education centre, which allegedly knew about the sexual touching of a young child for eight days before it stood down the worker involved.

Multiple parents say they still haven’t been reassured…[Read more]

Australian central bank cuts rates for 1st time since late 2020

Australia’s central bank lowered its benchmark interest rate on Tuesday for the first time since October 2020 as the inflation continues to cool.

The Reserve Bank of Australia reduced the cash rate by a quarter percentage point from 4.35% to 4.1% at its first board meeting for the y…[Read more]

Israel rules out Hamas or Palestinian Authority governing post-war Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday he would not permit Hamas or the Palestinian Authority to govern Gaza following Tel Aviv’s war on the enclave.

“As I promised, the day after the war in Gaza, neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority will be there,” Net…[Read more]

Zelensky meets Turkey’s Erdogan amid US shift on Ukraine

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky in Ankara on Tuesday, as Kyiv seeks to shore up its position in response to US-Russia talks.

Zelensky flew into the Turkish capital from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) late on Monday, saying on Telegram he would…[Read more]

Erdogan says Ukraine’s territorial integrity, and sovereignty indisputable for Turkey

Erdogan also said that US President Donald Trump’s recent diplomatic initiative to seek an end to the Ukraine-Russia war aligned with the Turkish policy since the start of the conflict three years ago.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that…[Read more]

Turkey arrests 282 despite reconciliation bid with PKK

Turkish police have detained 282 suspects in the past five days in a large-scale operation targeting the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK.

Turkey has detained 282 people in a nationwide swoop on those with suspected “terror” ties, the interior minister said Tuesday, despite a p…[Read more]

Japan targets 60% emissions cut by 2035 from 2013 levels

Japan set fresh climate targets on Tuesday, pledging to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 60 percent in the next decade from 2013 levels.

Under the Paris Agreement, each country is supposed to provide a steeper headline figure to the UN for cutting heat-trapping emissions by 2035, and a…[Read more]

Mizuho Bank says worker stole safe-deposit box valuables in 2019

Mizuho Bank said Tuesday safe-deposit box valuables worth tens of millions of yen belonging to two customers were stolen in 2019 by an employee, following a similar incident reported by another Japanese megabank last year.

Mizuho Bank had not made the incident public “in…[Read more]

Frozen in time: Hospital room preserved since 1945 Tokyo firebombing

Time seems frozen in this severely charred hospital room in Tokyo, left much as it was almost eight decades ago after U.S. B-29 bombers unleashed a firestorm that incinerated vast areas of the Japanese capital.

While workers bustle outside, the small, drafty room remains eerily…[Read more]

Tech titans and government leaders gather in Paris for landmark AI summit

Political and tech leaders convene at the Grand Palais in Paris on Monday for a summit on artificial intelligence co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The goals of the two-day event are to promote ethics and accessibility in…[Read more]

French PM François Bayrou survives another no-confidence vote over social security budget

France’s National Assembly on Monday rejected another no-confidence vote tabled by the left-wing France Unbowed party against the minority government of centrist Prime Minister François Bayrou. Bayrou had used Article 49.3 of the Constitution to pass asp…[Read more]

Macron says France will apply ‘Notre Dame strategy’ on AI

President Emmanuel Macron says France will “commit to a clear timeline” and “deliver” on AI development, as Europe risks falling behind the US and China. He likened it to the rapid Notre Dame cathedral rebuild.

On the opening day of an AI summit in Paris co-hosted by India, French…[Read more]

Why more young men in Germany are turning to the far right

“What my parents taught me is that they used to live in peace and calm, without having to have any fear in their own country,” says 19-year-old Nick. “I would like to live in a country where I don’t have to be afraid.”

I meet him in a small bar on a street corner in the ex-mining town of…[Read more]

Germany’s neoliberal FDP’s desperate fight for survival

Germany’s neoliberal Free Democrats have a long history of being junior partner in federal governments. But this year, they may may fail to get into parliament.

The business-oriented, neoliberal Free Democrats (FDP) have put campaign posters up across the country reading: “Everything can be…[Read more]

Germany’s ambassador condemns raid on Palestinian bookstore

After Israeli police raided a well-known Palestinian bookstore in east Jerusalem, ambassador to Israel Steffen Seibert has said he is “concerned” about the arrest of the owners.

Germany’s ambassador to Israel, Steffen Seibert, has joined diplomats and journalists in condemning a raid by…[Read more]

Efforts continue to clear debris in sinkhole, rescue trapped truck driver

Rescue personnel continued efforts to clear debris in an expanding sinkhole in Saitama Prefecture on Friday in the hope of saving a man trapped as the crucial 72-hour threshold of survival passed.

Preparations continued to install a ramp leading into the sinkhole, now…[Read more]

Japan’s jobless rate in 2024 falls to 2.5%

Japan’s average unemployment rate in 2024 fell 0.1 percentage point from a year earlier to 2.5 percent, as fewer workers were dismissed amid a labor shortage, government data showed Friday.

The average job availability ratio last year fell 0.06 point from the previous year to 1.25, marking the first…[Read more]

Japan records biggest jump in foreign workers in 2024

Japan saw its biggest year-on-year jump in foreign workers since records began, government data showed Friday, as the country seeks to address labor shortages exacerbated by its aging population.

In October 2024, the nation’s foreign workforce stood at 2.3 million — an increase of around…[Read more]

Turkish intel secures release of 5 Thai hostages in Gaza

The National Intelligence Organization (MIT) has coordinated with Hamas to secure the release of five Thai hostages on Thursday held in the Gaza Strip, Turkish security sources reported on the same day.

The agency, which has mediated the release of some foreign hostages held in Gaza…[Read more]