‘Are we frustrated? Yes. Surprised? No’: how Victorian Liberal moderates’ plan to oust Moira Deeming went horribly wrong

• Ongoing hostilities between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militants have led to increased strikes on Lebanese hospitals and essential services. • The targeted attacks on healthcare infrastructure are severely deteriorating the humanitarian situation for civilians across the region.

• Ukrainian forces launched a massive wave of hundreds of drones targeting Russian oil and gas facilities overnight and into Friday morning. • The strikes specifically targeted energy sites, aiming to disrupt the infrastructure that fuels the Kremlin's economy and military operations.

• Ukraine has claimed a devastating strike on a bridge in Crimea, resulting in the destruction of approximately 50 Russian military vehicles. • The operation coincides with warnings from Kyiv's drone chief, who asserts that Vladimir Putin will lose access to the Crimean peninsula in the "near future."

• Ambassadors from the "E3" group—France, Germany, and the UK—met with a Russian minister to urge the commencement of direct peace negotiations to end the conflict. • The diplomatic push comes as Ukraine marks day 1,570 of the war, highlighting a continued international effort to find a diplomatic resolution.

• Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar defended India's decision to continue purchasing Russian oil during a visit to Finland, rejecting Western criticism of the move. • Jaishankar challenged global double standards by highlighting European arms sales to Pakistan while the West pressures India over its energy ties with Russia.

• Veteran foreign correspondent Edward Girardet has co-founded the "Help Save The Med" initiative to protect the Mediterranean Sea. • The project leverages storytelling alongside science and diplomacy, utilizing a diverse team of scientists, writers, photographers, and videographers.

Geert Wilders’ PVV altered sketch of jailed Syrian brothers to make them look more menacingA Dutch court artist has received damages after an MP for the far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) used one of her drawings without permission and manipulated it with AI to make the subjects look more menacing.Petra Urban, a court artist for 19 years, was shocked to discover a drawing she had made last year of two Syrian brothers jailed for the murder of their sister had been reworked and used in a video on Instagram and Facebook by the party’s Noord-Brabant region. Continue reading...

Photosynthesis does not always result in wood growth, a key factor in carbon dioxide sequestrationTrees may not be able to store as much planet-heating carbon as hoped, a study suggests, with researchers finding photosynthesis does not always lead to wood growth.Scientists studied 137 sites across the US and found trees stopped growing months before the point in the year at which photosynthesis stopped. Continue reading...

A woman in her 30s is being transported to hospital with arm and leg injuries after the attack at the Sydney beachA woman in her 30s is being treated for injuries after being bitten by a shark at Coogee Beach on Saturday.A spokesperson for NSW Ambulance said the woman was in a critical condition with arm and leg injuries. Continue reading...

President says Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores killed in ‘swift and lethal’ military strike with help from VenezuelaThe US military has killed a leader in the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua, Hector Rusthenford Guerrero Flores, with the help of Venezuela, Donald Trump announced on Friday.“At my direction, the United States Southern Command delivered a swift and lethal kinetic strike to successfully execute Niño Guerrero, the infamous leader of Tren De Aragua, one of the most bloodthirsty Terrorist Organizations on Planet Earth,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Continue reading...

Officials given 21 days to comply with order after Angel Kelley condemns administration for ‘telling half-truths’A US district court judge has ordered the Trump administration to reinstate any history or science materials it removed from the nation’s public monuments, finding that the White House’s actions “set a dangerous precedent of censorship and sanitization”.In March 2025, Donald Trump signed an executive order titled “restoring truth and sanity to American history”, calling upon the secretary of interior to examine monuments, memorials and statues to see if they had been altered after January 2020 to represent a “false construction of American history”. Continue reading...

In video, The Hills actor, who did not contest the outcome of the election, said his campaign to ‘save’ LA was just startingSpencer Pratt appeared to concede the Los Angeles mayor’s race on Friday in a new video where he says “the campaign portion of my mission to save Los Angeles is coming to a close”, but declares “war” against the two candidates advancing to the city’s general election.In the video posted on social media, Pratt notably did not contest the results of the election, despite Donald Trump’s repeated, but unfounded claims the race was “rigged”. Trump, who endorsed Pratt, called California’s elections “crooked”. Continue reading...