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Facilities giant called ‘uncaring’ by low-paid cleaners, who believed they were covered by a fair-pay pledgeLow-paid cleaners have accused the Living Wage Foundation of giving accreditation to an “uncaring” outsourcing company paying less than the living wage.Facilities services giant OCS is accredited under a bespoke scheme for outsourcing firms. But the company has only committed to paying a living wage to its centrally employed...

Alex Cullen referred to Portelli by the nickname ‘McLaren guy’ on air after the mogul offered cash to the first TV presenter to do soGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA Nine reporter has been stood down after allegedly taking a $50,000 payment from a billionaire for referring to him as “McLaren guy”.Adrian Portelli, known for his cash and property...

New collection of author’s diary entries provides tragic insightFrankenstein’s monster, as horror fans know, did not really spark into life with a bolt of lightning, but was born inside the mind of Mary Shelley during a dreary holiday on a ­mountainside above Geneva. The inspiration came as volcanic ash clouds unexpectedly blocked out the sun that summer of 1816 and she and her friends, including...

Bar Council calls for pandemic restrictions to help reintegrate non-violent offenders into society and ease pressure on overcrowded jailsConditions similar to Covid lockdowns should be imposed on criminals as an alternative to overflowing prisons, barristers have told the government.In an official submission to an ongoing sentencing review led by former Conservative justice secretary David Gauke, the Bar Council called for consideration of more “creative...

Small businesses would be able to claim tax deductions on food and entertainment expenses for up to $20,000 under a Coalition policyGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTax breaks for work lunches are on the cards as part of a push by the Coalition to win over small businesses, as Peter Dutton looks to regain ground in inner-city Brisbane seats.The...

Prime minister says US has promised Israel will have the weaponry it needs to return to military campaign if necessary. This blog is now closedIn an update on the previous post, the Israeli military said sirens sounded in central Israel on Saturday as it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen.Explosions were heard over Jerusalem on Saturday morning, Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalists reported. Continue reading...

App no longer available on US Apple and Google stores after supreme court upholds lawmakers’ banTikTok stopped working in the US late on Saturday, shortly before a federal ban on the Chinese-owned short-video app was due to take effect.The app was no longer available on Apple’s iOS App Store or Google’s Play Store. The US Congress passed a law in April mandating that parent...

Firefighters pulled a child and adult from the Rokeby home on Sunday morning but were unable to reach the infant in timeGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA infant has been killed and four children and an adult injured in a horrific house fire in Tasmania on Sunday morning.Police and emergency services responded to reports of a fire at Rokeby...

Premier says alleged Kingston domestic violence incident has ‘rocked’ Queensland as woman, 34, remains in hospitalGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA Queensland man has been charged with attempted murder for allegedly setting fire to a woman in a horrific act of domestic violence in a home south of Brisbane.After being treated by paramedics at the scene in the Logan...

Shifting responsibility to consumers minimises the role of energy industry and policymakers, University of Sydney research suggestsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIt’s not unusual to see individuals championed as heroes of climate action, with their efforts to install rooftop solar and buy electric cars promoted as pivotal in the fight to save the planet.Hero figures can motivate others to...

Prime minister hopeful Israel-Hamas ceasefire will hold as Chris Minns vows to strengthen NSW hate speech laws in wake of antisemitic incidentsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThousands have gathered in Sydney and Melbourne hoping to celebrate a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas following a 15-month war.The three-phased ceasefire was to come into effect on Sunday evening Australian time, after...

Former deputy prime minister kicks off run for top job with video of Trump disparaging her for being tough negotiatorChrystia Freeland, Canada’s former deputy prime minister, kicked off her bid to lead Canada by boasting: “Donald Trump doesn’t like me very much” in a campaign video that quickly went viral.For Freeland, who led Canada’s re-negotiation of the North American Free Trade agreement (Nafta) with...

Former Trump White House adviser says supplication akin to Japanese surrender to allied forces in September 1945Steve Bannon, the former Trump White House chief strategist, has described the tech titans gathering at Monday’s inauguration as “supplicants” to Donald Trump making “an official surrender”, akin to the Japanese surrender to allied forces on the deck of the USS Missouri in September 1945.Bannon, who served as...

Administration to send 100 to 200 officers to city on day two of new presidency, Wall Street Journal reportsDonald Trump’s incoming presidential administration plans to launch a large immigration raid in Chicago the day after he takes office, according to unnamed officials talking to various media outlets.Federal immigration officers will target more than 300 people, focusing on those with histories of violent crimes, one...

Comparative quiet on Saturday in Washington contrasts sharply with white-knuckled fury of inaugural rallyEight years since its gargantuan first protests as a reaction to the incoming president being serially accused of sexual misconduct and misogyny and campaigning on restricting reproductive rights, the Women’s March on Saturday reprised in the nation’s capital before the return of that man to the White House – with, as...

Protesters smash windows after officials cite concerns the impeached president could destroy evidence if releasedA South Korean court has extended the detention of the impeached president Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday citing concerns he could destroy evidence linked to his martial law declaration, enraging his supporters, who attacked the court building.Hundreds of pro-Yoon protesters smashed windows and broke down doors to enter the court...

Unnamed gunman killed Ali Razini and Mohammad Moghisseh before shooting himself, Mezan reportsTwo judges have been killed in a shooting on Saturday at the supreme court building in Tehran, Iranian state media have reported.“This morning, a gunman infiltrated the supreme court in a planned act of assassination of two brave and experienced judges. The two judges were martyred in the act,” the judiciary’s Mizan...

Thousands gather in Whitehall and allegedly break through police line to advance to Trafalgar SquareMore than 70 pro-Palestinian demonstrators were arrested in central London on Saturday on suspicion of breaching protest conditions after some allegedly broke through a police line as they marched from a rally in Whitehall.Thousands of people had gathered to protest Israel’s 15-month war in Gaza, a day after a ceasefire...

Having a GoFundMe does not disqualify someone from aid – but it might affect their eligibility to cover specific needsAfter the house that she grew up in burned down in the Eaton fire in Altadena, California, last week, Steven Celiceo’s wife Kiri suggested that the couple visit the local library. As a librarian herself, she knew there were resources being distributed – and Fema...

Home Office official says data protection laws caused the cost of its forced removal programme to increaseThe Conservative government spent more than £130m on IT and data systems for the scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, which will never be used, the Observer can reveal.Digital tools needed to put the forced removal programme into effect made up the second-largest chunk of the £715m...

Hundreds of thousands are now set to return to whatever remains of their houses or to claim bodies from the rubbleAid agencies in Gaza are bracing for chaotic scenes this week as hundreds of thousands of people try to return to homes in the territory after the expected implementation of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Sunday.Before the ceasefire, which is due to...

President-elect said he’d probably give the company an extension from US ban the supreme court recently upheldDonald Trump has said he will “most likely” give the Chinese-owned TikTok app a 90-day reprieve from a potential ban in the US after he takes office on Monday morning.The incoming president said on Saturday, in an interview with NBC News, that he was considering the extension on...

Those who died had scrambled to take the fuel, which has rocketed in price amid an economic crisisA fuel tanker exploded after flipping over in central Nigeria on Saturday, killing 70 people who had scrambled to take the fuel.Kumar Tsukwam, the head of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Niger State, said a truck carrying 60,000 litres of gasoline had an accident at...

Emergency services say 30 people were involved, of whom 10 were taken to hospital, at Astún in the PyreneesTen people have been hurt, two of them seriously, after a ski lift collapsed at a resort in north-east Spain, hurling dozens of passengers into the snow below.Although initial reports said 35 people had been injured on Saturday at the Pyrenean resort of Astún, in the...