Australia news live: bird flu detected on Murray-Darling basin ‘should be ringing alarm bells’, expert says

Fate of two passengers onboard helicopter that went down Friday morning remains unknown after more than 24 hoursThe fate of two passengers onboard a firefighting helicopter that crashed Friday morning in Utah remains unknown after more than 24 hours, as one of the country’s largest wildfires continues to grow, preventing authorities from safely reaching the accident site.The Sikorsky S-64 helicopter, contracted by the US Forest Service, was responding on Friday to the Widemouth 2 fire, a blaze sparked in late July by lightning, when it crashed in a remote area of central Utah. Continue reading...

Yolŋu hip-hop artist dominates, while Butchulla duo and cousins Birdz and Fred Leone win artist of the year and Drifting Clouds takes home best new talentBaker Boy has won album, song and film clip of the year at the 2026 National Indigenous Music Awards (Nimas), paying tribute to his late grandmother who his album Djandjay is named for.The Yolŋu hip-hop artist, whose name is Danzal Baker, won three awards for his sophomore album Djandjay, including song of the year and film clip of the year for its hit single Thick Skin, which features Indigenous artists Thelma Plum, Emma Donovan, Kee’ahn and Jada Weazel. Continue reading...

Tehran urges US to ‘correct its behaviour’ as UAE says one of its ships targeted by Iranian missileIran has issued tough new demands for reopening the strait of Hormuz, while the United Arab Emirates said one of its ships was targeted by an Iranian missile, as a deal to open the strategic waterway remained out of reach on Saturday.Iran’s politburo-like body known as the supreme national security council said the strait of Hormuz will not open until the United States “corrects its behaviour”, with its state broadcaster publishing a statement from the council’s secretary, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who is also a commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps IRGC. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Workers’ rights experts raise ‘alarm bells’ over app requiring ABNs for jobs they say lack worker autonomyGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastConcerns have been raised that workers using an increasingly popular Australian hospitality gig-work app may be missing out on entitlements such as superannuation by being hired as “independent contractors”, similar to delivery riders.Launched in Melbourne in 2017, Supp describes itself as a “jobs marketplace”, where hospitality businesses can advertise available shifts to potential workers at an hourly rate, and where workers can secure ad-hoc employment. It was created by Kate and Cameron Reid, the owners of Lune Croissanterie, who maintain a financial stake in the company but are no longer on its board. Continue reading...

Advocates and legal bodies want the debt to be made ‘out of bounds’ given how hard it is to determine its accuracyGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCentrelink is pursuing $4.93bn in unpaid debts, with the oldest dating back more than 40 years, despite the government agreeing to implement a six-year statute of limitations on debt recovery.A growing list of advocates, including peak legal body Economic Justice Australia, want the debts wiped, while Australia’s leading welfare expert has warned it is impossible to trust whether the huge amount of debt is accurate. Continue reading...

Warning of increased activity as patrols spent 21 days in July monitoring Moscow’s ships in Dover Strait and North SeaThe Royal Navy has warned of increasing Russian activity around the UK’s waters after it spent 21 days in July monitoring Moscow’s ships.Naval operations to monitor Russian vessels increased by 25% last month compared with the previous year, with warships making repeated voyages through the Dover Strait and North Sea. Continue reading...

Weather system tied to warming sea surface expected to intensify in fall and winter, persisting until early spring 2027El Niño, a recurring climate phenomenon marked by above-average sea surface temperatures, when changes in wind patterns allow warmer water to spread across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific, could spell a wet winter for portions of the western and south-eastern US, climate models show. Coastal areas may be at elevated risk of flooding, experts warn.Climate scientists predict this year’s “super” El Niño, a label assigned when sea surface temperatures climb by at least 2C, will be the strongest of the century. The weather system is expected to intensify in the fall and winter, persisting until early spring 2027, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa). Continue reading...

Agent found to be able to find and exploit vulnerabilities without human intervention, and to carry out cyber-attacksOpenAI will pause some work on an artificial intelligence model because of security concerns, the company stated Friday, following a series of incidents in which AI agents have escaped containment.The company had evaluated the agent, Astra, and found “significant advancements in agentic coding and cybersecurity”, which had moved to a “critical” threshold where it can find and exploit vulnerabilities without human intervention, or devise and execute cyber-attacks when given only a “high level desired goal”. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Lack of funds left British museums unable pay eight-figure sum for collection, which went to Abu Dhabi institutionOne of the most important collections of UK Jurassic fossils ever compiled has been sold to a museum in Abu Dhabi, the Guardian can reveal, in what British experts have described as a loss for the nation.The collection, which was amassed by a private fossil collector, consisted of 318 specimens, including ichthyosaurs, fish and crustaceans among other creatures, some of which could be new species. Continue reading...

When, where and how to get the optimal view of the first solar eclipse to be visible across the country this centuryFor the first time this century, people across the UK will be able to see an almost total solar eclipse in the evening sky on Wednesday.A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the sun and the Earth, blocking the sun’s light either partially or fully. This year, people in the UK and Ireland will see 90-96% of the sun covered by the moon for the first time since 1999 – and it’s their last chance until 2081. Continue reading...

Joe Biden’s prostate cancer is reportedly ‘debilitating’, even as ex-president continues to speak out on public issuesFormer US president Joe Biden ’s prostate cancer has spread to other parts of his body and is causing him pain, even as he continues to speak out on public issues, his son Hunter said in an interview.In a wide-ranging interview with the BBC broadcast late on Friday, Hunter Biden grew emotional as he discussed his father’s condition, describing it as very sad to watch. Continue reading...