User Articles

Sleep standards overhaul to prevent shock infant deaths

A world-first push to tighten safety standards around mattress firmness is hoped to prevent infants from dying in their sleep. Australia was the first nation to establish firmness ratings on mattresses in 2013 and they have since been adopted worldwide. But rates of sudden unexpected deaths in infancy (SUDI) and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) have not decreased.

AAP Newswire

Politics

Libs’ gender quota push ‘subverting democracy’

A senior Liberal has rejected calls to introduce gender quotas for the party after its federal election defeat, saying it would subvert democratic processes. Defence spokesman Angus Taylor said while the Liberal Party needed more women representing it in parliament, quotas were not the way to do it. “I have never been a supporter of quotas because I don’t believe in subverting democratic processes,“ he said.

AAP Newswire

Mining

Farmer furore over rare earths mine approval

A state government has promised regional jobs and growth after rubber-stamping one of the world’s largest rare earths mines, but farmers say their concerns and rights have been bulldozed. Mining company Astron’s Donald Rare Earths and Mineral Sands Project won Victorian state government approval on Wednesday, the last regulatory hurdle for mine’s first stage, which will upend more than 1100 hectares of broadacre and livestock farmland in the state’s west.

AAP Newswire

Middle East

Coming home: Relief for Australians as airports open

Australian Or Kedem has packed his suitcase for what he hopes will be his fourth and final attempt to leave the Middle East now that missiles have finally stopped hurtling through the sky. A week into his trip to Israel for the birth of his nephew, the conflict broke out when the Israeli military launched strikes on Iran on June 13, arguing it was on the cusp of developing nuclear weapons.

AAP Newswire

Cost of living

Energy wobbles power-up electrification push

Australia’s vulnerabilities to global energy price spikes run deep, sparking calls for rapid electrification of transport and other exposed sectors. Australia’s exposure to energy price shocks is back in the spotlight, with even the weekly grocery...

AAP Newswire

History

Veterans remembered for service in ‘forgotten war’

Australia’s Korean War veterans and their families have been honoured during a moving commemorative service to mark the 75th anniversary. Former navy pilot Norman Lee makes a touching gesture for his fellow Korean War veterans every time he passes the memorial in the nation’s capital. The 95-year-old retired commodore flew many successful bombing missions across North Korea during his service in the conflict.

AAP Newswire

Cost of living

Hope for rate cut after surprise drop in inflation

A surprise fall in inflation in Australia has boosted hopes of an interest rate cut after a key measure dropped to its lowest level in nearly four years. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday showed headline inflation fell from 2.4 per cent to 2.1 per cent in May. The monthly figures also showed a sharp drop in trimmed mean inflation, which removes volatile price rises, from 2.8 per cent to 2.4 per cent in the month.

AAP Newswire

Diplomacy

Australia yet to secure Trump talks

Australia has not yet locked in a meeting between Defence Minister Richard Marles and US President Donald Trump at the NATO summit in the Netherlands. Marles, who is also the deputy prime minister, is set to face renewed pressure from the US, which wants its allies to lift defence spending.

AAP Newswire

Middle East

Aussies evacuate from war zone

A Royal Australian Air Force jet carrying more than 100 Australian citizens trying to escape the conflict in the Middle East has flown out of a major Israeli city after the airspace was opened. The 119 passengers left Tel Aviv in the early hours of Wednesday, Defence Minister Richard Marles confirmed to reporters in The Hague, where he is attending a summit of the NATO military alliance.

AAP Newswire

Iran

Diaspora hope for new regime

Australian-Iranians have mixed feelings about a ceasefire with Israel and fear the continuation of the existing regime could threaten their family and friends. A ceasefire will not calm the fears of Iranians in Australia as their homeland’s...

AAP Newswire

Middle East

Albanese rejects US-Iran criticism

Anthony Albanese has rejected criticism he was slow to respond to US strikes on Iran, while welcoming a ceasefire deal in the Middle East. The temporary pause in hostilities between Israel and Iran was announced by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday after almost two weeks of conflict.

AAP Newswire

Middle East

Inflation warning as conflict in Iran escalates

Experts warn Australia is not immune to the consequences of conflict in the Middle East as US strikes on nuclear targets trigger fears of retaliation by Iran. Iran’s potential retaliation to US military strikes could lead to a surge in the price of...

AAP Newswire

Politics

Leaders unmoved by stadium angst as election looms

An AFL stadium deal worth close to $1 billion is on the nose with most voters in one state but neither the premier or his would-be replacement are sniffing the electoral breeze. With a snap election weeks away, Tasmanian voters were surveyed on their attitude to a contentious deal struck with the AFL to build a $945 million roofed stadium at Macquarie Point.

AAP Newswire

Iran

‘We want peaceful, stable Mideast’

Anxious leaders in New Zealand are not supporting, yet not criticising, the United States’ strikes on Iran as it seeks a justification of the raids. Donald Trump’s administration entered the spiralling Israel-Iran conflict on Sunday with bombing raids on three facilities.

AAP Newswire

Housing

Renters fear speaking up about repairs

Almost seven in 10 private housing tenants worry about asking for repairs in case they face a rent increase. A survey of more than a thousand renters across Australia has also found a third would be unable to afford a five per cent increase on what...

AAP Newswire