Report supporting Australia’s teen social media ban appears to contain AI hallucinations, Senate hears

• President Donald Trump announced the launch of "major combat operations" against Iran on February 28, involving massive joint strikes conducted by the U.S. and Israel. • In a related diplomatic effort, Jared Kushner, adviser and son-in-law to the President, is traveling to Egypt and Israel this week.

Fierce competition in some areas of London means landlord purchasers are making successful lowball offersThe average price of a home coming up for sale in Britain’s richest borough has dropped by almost £100,000 in a month as fierce competition among sellers in many areas prompts some to slash their price expectations, data shows.The property website Rightmove said that for Britain as a whole, average newly listed asking prices for homes had fallen by 2% over the past month, the largest August price drop in eight years. Continue reading...

Angela Rayner to launch guidance for ‘default yes’ on developments near transport hubs, including on green belt sitesThousands more homes could be built within 10 minutes of transport hubs, including on green belt sites, under a loosening of planning policy announced by Angela Rayner on Monday.The housing secretary will set out changes to national planning guidance for England that will include an order for councils to have a “default yes” approach to housing developments that are within a reasonable walking distance of well-connected train and tram stations.Stronger support in principle for development, meaning a more explicit presumption in favour of building in sustainable locations.Pubs will get protection from being turned into housing or offices with developers having to prove there is no reasonable prospect of keeping a pub as a going concern, including evidence that it was marketed for sale for at least a year.A requirement for at least 40% of homes to be accessible on bigger developments and stronger protections for community facilities.Stronger support for growth and infrastructure including support for AI growth zones and datacentres. Continue reading...

Lawyer for the entertainment industry and AFL figure says his career is ‘destroyed’ following convictionFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastEntertainment industry and AFL figure Ralph Carr says he is in “living hell” and has been “destroyed” after being convicted of rape, a Victorian court has heard.Carr was convicted of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault after a trial in the county court of Victoria last month. Continue reading...

Former 2GB and 2UE radio broadcaster is facing 22 indecent assault and sexual touching charges. Jones, 85, has pleaded not guiltyFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAlan Jones allegedly kissed his driver, a young man, inside a walk-in wardrobe in James Packer’s personal suite at the Crown Towers hotel in Melbourne, a court has been told.Complainant C said he and a friend went for a drink in Jones’s room when they were visiting Melbourne for a sporting event and they knew it was “nice” because it was Packer’s personal suite. Continue reading...

At least 2,325 people have been killed, according to government data, surpassing the death toll from 2018-20 outbreakThe Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is now the deadliest in the country’s history with at least 2,325 people killed, according to government data, surpassing the toll from the 2018-20 outbreak.Congo’s public health institute said on Sunday that confirmed cases had risen to 4,945, including 101 new cases detected in the previous 24 hours. Continue reading...

President says move is based on ‘very good relationship with Kim Jong-un’ but US military officials have said Ukraine war is boosting regime’s combat capabilitiesDonald Trump has said he is scaling back joint US military drills with South Korea aimed at deterring North Korea, despite military officials from both countries warning that Kim Jong-un’s regime was learning new battlefield tactics from the Ukraine war.The drills under Ulchi Freedom Shield, one of two major annual exercises held by South Korea and the US, start on Monday and run until 27 August. Continue reading...

Trump’s son-in-law and envoy held rare meeting with Hamas chief in Egypt in push for progress on ceasefireDonald Trump’s son-in-law and envoy, Jared Kushner, held a rare meeting with Hamas’s political chief on Sunday in Egypt, in a new diplomatic effort to make progress in the stalled Gaza ceasefire. Kushner will meet on Monday with Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under pressure after rejecting the new 15-point, US-backed road map.The talks aim to salvage the plan for Hamas to disarm and Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territory shattered by war. Continue reading...

Police say one of the two vehicles involved was driving in the wrong direction on the M9 motorway in County KildareFive teenagers have died and four other people have been seriously injured in a crash involving a car driving in the wrong direction on a motorway in Ireland, police have said.Gardaí confirmed the bodies of the youths, all male, had been removed from the scene of the two-vehicle collision, which happened in the early hours of Sunday on the M9 in County Kildare. Continue reading...

Dozens of non-profit groups urge Labor not to limit work rights for temporary migrants. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastJoyce says One Nation are ‘not homophobes’, but won’t be seen at Mardi GrasOne Nation leader Barnaby Joyce says his party are not homophobes, but will absolutely not attend a Mardi Gras event.Everybody’s trying to make us as a pack of homophobes, which we’re not. It’s just ridiculous. And we’re not racist, we’re not homophobes, but we always get these tropes thrown at us …You can absolutely bet I would not go to the Mardi Gras. But that’s my business, and we just want you to live your own life.This is not the Australia we want to be and it is not the answer to the growing challenges facing our community. Continue reading...

Robert Jenrick takes aim at disabled people and foreign nationals after saying UK guilty of ‘suicidal empathy’Reform UK has been accused of excluding the most vulnerable from society and punishing non-Britons living in the UK as it prepared to outline £50bn of cuts to benefits for disabled people and foreign nationals.Robert Jenrick, Reform’s finance spokesperson, will detail the plans for £20bn of cuts to disability benefits overall, as well as another £21bn from stopping foreign nationals – including EU citizens with settled status – claiming almost any benefits, among other cuts. Continue reading...