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HMAS Farncomb had been due to be retired this year, but is now expected to operate until about 2036Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTaxpayers will fork out an extra $11bn to extend the lifespan of Australia’s ageing Collins-class submarines for another decade, bridging the capability gap before the scheduled arrival of the first Aukus vessels in 2032.Originally designed to have a 30-year working life, the six Adelaide-built submarines have already been operational for between 23 and 30 years. The Albanese government announced in 2024 that it would undertake so-called “life of type extension” works to keep the six Collins class boats in the water for an additional 10 years. Continue reading...

After death of his father, Reed Jobs is keen for his $1bn venture capital fund Yosemite to make a difference“I saw my dad have cancer when I was a kid, and unfortunately that happens far too often. And that really motivated me to try to transform outcomes for other people out there.”Reed Jobs is talking about the death of his father, the Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, to a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2011 at the age of 56, the experience that underlines his mission to make cancer a non-lethal, treatable disease. Continue reading...

‘Polyclass’ of 6 million people consider themselves to belong to more than one social category, researchers sayMore than a third of Britons say they have changed social class, with upper-middle and upper-class people most likely to identify as belonging to more than one class, according to a survey.Working-class people were the least likely to say they had changed class or identified with more than one, with 70% saying they were in the same social category they were born into, the study by research firm Attest found. Continue reading...

• Apple will pay $250 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing the company of failing to deliver its promised AI-powered Siri features on time. • The lawsuit, filed in a U.S. federal court, stems from Apple's 2017 marketing of advanced Siri capabilities that were not released as advertised, affecting millions of iPhone users. • This settlement underscores growing legal scrutiny on Big Tech's AI promises amid delays in product rollouts, potentially setting precedent for similar cases.

After banging the battle drum, the US president is now in Nobel Peace Prize mode, promising to free marooned ships“Project Freedom” has all the trappings of a classic episode of the Trump Show, the reality series that the rest of the world does not just have to watch, but live through and survive. It has a dramatic plot twist, it is bathed in a self-projected beatific light, and the trailer looked far more promising that the reality.Trump spent a long weekend in Florida banging the war drum. Iran had not “paid a big enough price” for its past misdeeds, he wrote in an online post before spending Friday afternoon revving up a cheering crowd at America’s largest retirement community. Continue reading...

• The Environmental Protection Agency has classified microplastics and antidepressants as drinking water contaminants, responding to advocacy from the MAHA movement and public health concerns. • The classification marks a significant regulatory step in addressing emerging contaminants in U.S. water supplies that have raised concerns among health experts and environmental advocates. • The designation may prompt future regulatory actions to establish drinking water standards and treatment requirements for these substances.

Order last week is only partial rescheduling, making ‘an already complex process more confusing,’ expert saysThe Trump administration is making good on its promise to reschedule cannabis, but only partially – raising plenty of questions for those in the cannabis industry.Todd Blanche, the acting attorney general, signed an order last week that removes products sold under state medical cannabis licenses and FDA approved cannabis products from schedule I – defined as substances with no accepted medical use, to schedule III – which includes legal but regulated substances including certain doses of Tylenol with codeine and ketamine. Continue reading...

Research on maths teaching in English secondary schools upends decades of debate over mixed-ability educationTeaching pupils in classes grouped by ability improves the results of high-flyers but does not affect the progress of less able children, according to a study that upends decades of debate over mixed-ability education.The research by University College London’s Institute of Education found that secondary school pupils in England with previously strong maths performances made slower progress in mixed-attainment classes than when they were taught alongside children with similarly high ability. Continue reading...