Global Pulse

标签： Oceania

大洋洲

  • Man, 75, arrested after woman found dead in home west of Melbourne

    Man, 75, arrested after woman found dead in home west of Melbourne

    A fatal incident in suburban Victoria has left a woman dead and a 75-year-old man in police custody, following an early morning discovery at a residential address west of Melbourne. Emergency and law enforcement responders were called to the Connor Street home in Bacchus Marsh shortly after 3:30 a.m. on Wednesday, where they located the woman’s body.

    Authorities have confirmed the victim and the arrested man are known to each other, and have ruled out any other persons of interest connected to the incident. The 75-year-old suspect was taken into custody directly at the scene, but was transferred to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries while remaining under constant police guard.

    As of the latest update Wednesday morning, forensic identification work is still ongoing to formally confirm the victim’s identity. No charges have been filed against the arrested man to date, and Victoria Police have not released further details about the circumstances of the woman’s death as investigations continue.

    The breaking incident marks the second major developing news story in Australia on Wednesday, following widespread service disruptions across key Sydney train lines that brought chaos to commuters across the city.

  • Instagram chief admits touting teen safety tool while omitting it was barely used

    Instagram chief admits touting teen safety tool while omitting it was barely used

    A high-stakes antitrust and consumer protection trial against Meta, the parent company of one of the world’s most popular social media platforms, entered its second week this week, with explosive testimony from top Meta executives revealing gaps between the company’s public promises about teen online safety and its internal data.

    The case, brought by a coalition of 33 U.S. states that accuses Meta of deliberately designing its products including Instagram to addict young users, harvest their personal data, and mislead the public about the company’s safety commitments, has already exposed sharp contradictions between Meta’s public messaging and internal records. The trial, which opened in a California federal court last week, is scheduled to run through late September, with Meta CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg expected to take the stand at a yet-to-be-announced date.

    On Tuesday, Adam Mosseri, Meta’s head of Instagram, acknowledged under questioning from attorneys representing the states that he publicly promoted two flagship teen safety tools, Take a Break and Quiet Mode, when they launched without disclosing that early testing showed just a tiny fraction of teen users actually activated the features. Launched in 2021 and 2023 respectively, the two tools were billed as solutions to excessive teen scrolling and harmful late-night social media use: Take a Break lets users set custom reminders to step away from the app, while Quiet Mode mutes notifications after hours.

    In a 2021 blog post published the day before Mosseri’s Congressional testimony on social media’s harm to young people, he highlighted that 90% of teens who activated the Take a Break reminder kept the feature turned on. What the post did not mention, Mosseri confirmed Tuesday, was that only 1% to 2% of all teen accounts had ever activated the tool at all. Internal documents shown to the jury this week put the final adoption rate for Take a Break at 1.8%, while Quiet Mode reached just 8.7% of users. Mosseri pushed back on claims that adoption remains low, noting that the features were added as default settings to the new Teen Accounts with parental controls that Meta rolled out in 2024, but he could not recall if the company has ever publicly disclosed how many teen accounts actually have parental controls enabled.

    Francesco Fogu, Instagram’s director of product design, also testified Tuesday, confirming that Meta leadership knew adoption of the voluntary safety tools would remain low if they were not activated by default. Fogu told the court he was unaware of the specific internal adoption numbers, a revelation that appeared to surprise presiding Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who will issue a final ruling guided by the jury’s verdict.

    Multiple former Meta employees have already testified that the low adoption rates were not an accident, but a deliberate outcome tied to Meta’s advertising-dependent business model, which relies on maximizing user time spent on the platform. Arturo Bejar, a former Meta engineering director, called Take a Break “a feature that was designed to fail” in his testimony last week. George Volichenko, a former Instagram data scientist who worked on the safety features between 2022 and 2023, told the court Monday that leadership refused to enable Quiet Mode by default for younger teens because the default setting would have caused a measurable drop in user engagement. Volichenko added that the tools’ adoption rates were “very low and disappointing” and that Meta leadership showed no interest in taking meaningful steps to boost usage, calling the tiny uptake “just a drop in the ocean.”

    If the court finds Meta liable in the case, the states are seeking roughly $200 billion in financial penalties. A ruling against Meta would also almost certainly force sweeping changes to the company’s core business model for its social platforms, sending major ripples across the global technology industry. Mosseri is expected to continue his testimony on Wednesday, while the timeline for Zuckerberg’s appearance remains unconfirmed.

  • West Bank settlers attack AFP journalists

    West Bank settlers attack AFP journalists

    On a Tuesday in the occupied West Bank, a violent confrontation left international news agency Agence France-Presse (AFP) bearing the brunt of unprovoked aggression from Israeli settlers, with at least five people wounded and multiple vehicles heavily damaged, according to on-the-record accounts from the reporting team and local medical personnel.

    The three-person AFP crew had traveled to Jannatah, a small Palestinian village located just south of Bethlehem, to cover an ongoing local conflict. The assignment centered on Israeli left-wing activists who organize regular solidarity visits to Palestinian communities that have faced consistent harassment from settler groups, who had recently blockaded a key public road in the area.

    Tensions boiled over into open scuffling between the visiting activists and local settlers, prompting Israeli military forces to arrive on scene and order all journalists to evacuate the area, which they designated a “closed military zone.” Almost immediately after the order was issued, two additional vehicles packed with more settlers arrived to join the confrontation.

    Witnesses confirmed that many of the settlers involved in the attack were minors, who launched a barrage of stones toward both the AFP team and the Israeli activists. One AFP reporter, who managed to dodge an incoming stone, was subsequently struck in the chin by a stick wielded by a young settler, resulting in minor bleeding that required medical attention.

    When the violence subsided, the AFP team returned to their parked vehicles to discover extensive damage to both cars: the rear windshields had been completely smashed in, and multiple tires had been punctured. Vehicles belonging to the solidarity activists suffered identical damage in the attack.

    The Palestine Red Crescent Society confirmed that five people received medical treatment for injuries sustained during the confrontation. AFP reporters on site observed at least one injured Israeli activist being transported to a care facility in a Palestinian ambulance. During the chaos of the clash, an Israeli soldier temporarily seized the professional camera belonging to an AFP video journalist, though the equipment was returned before the team left the area.

    In an official statement following the incident, an Israeli military spokesperson confirmed that the temporary confiscation of the camera is now the subject of an internal review. Israeli law enforcement joined military personnel at the site to collect physical evidence related to the vehicle damage, and the spokesperson confirmed that a full police investigation into the attack has been launched.

    The incident unfolded against a long-running backdrop of territorial tension in the West Bank. Israel has occupied the territory since the 1967 Six-Day War, and it is currently home to roughly three million Palestinian residents and more than 500,000 Israeli settlers who have built communities across the area. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current right-wing government has pushed forward with aggressive expansion of settler construction in the months ahead of national elections scheduled for October 27. Independent observers and humanitarian groups have also noted that acts of settler violence against Palestinian communities and their supporters have spiked dramatically since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israeli targets from the Gaza Strip.

  • Golf giant Callaway apologizes after ad sparks outcry

    Golf giant Callaway apologizes after ad sparks outcry

    Leading global golf equipment manufacturer Callaway Golf has issued a formal public apology after a widely criticized promotional co-branded advertisement depicting violence against a female golfer sparked massive public backlash, consumer anger, and widespread calls for a industry-wide boycott of the company’s products. The controversial spot, which was created in partnership with popular golf digital media brand Good Good Golf, was initially posted to social media platforms last week before being quickly pulled from all channels in response to growing public outrage.

    The problematic ad featured Garrett Clark, co-founder of Good Good Golf, physically shoving Alexis Miestowski, a professional competitor on the Epson Tour, to the ground when she reached for Clark’s newly launched co-branded driver. After forcing Miestowski down, Clark delivered the ad’s tagline: “Do not touch my new driver.” The scene’s blatant depiction of physical aggression against a woman for promotional purposes immediately drew condemnation from golf fans, industry leaders, and gender equality advocates across social media.

    In an official statement released Tuesday, Callaway Chief Executive Chip Brewer acknowledged the company’s full responsibility for approving the inappropriate content before publication, noting that the internal approval process that greenlit the ad was a critical failure that would be thoroughly investigated. “While the video was produced by Good Good, it was approved by Callaway prior to posting. That approval should never have happened. Mistakes were made and we are taking the matter very seriously,” Brewer said. He added, “The content was inappropriate and does not reflect our values. To be clear: we are unequivocally against discrimination, domestic violence or threatening behavior of any kind… I assure you we will learn from this and do better.” The company has launched a full internal review to identify gaps in its content approval workflow to prevent similar missteps in the future.

    Good Good Golf, a digital media firm that has built a massive following on YouTube by targeting younger audiences to grow participation in golf, had already issued its own apology ahead of Callaway’s statement. “We posted a video to our channels that ultimately depicted actions that are not aligned with our values as a brand,” the company said in its statement. “We have since taken that content down. And sincerely apologize. Good Good has always stood for making the game of golf more inclusive to all, and we will continue to ensure that is our mission moving forward.”

    The controversy carries significant reputational risk for Good Good, which is set to make a major milestone in the sport as title sponsor of the PGA Tour’s first-ever Good Good Championship, scheduled to take place this November in Austin, Texas. PGA Tour CEO Brian Rolapp publicly addressed the scandal Tuesday, confirming that the tour shares the public’s concern over the ad’s content and Good Good’s initial response. “I think what we saw was concerning, is clearly not aligned with PGA TOUR values. We take it very seriously,” Rolapp said. “I think their initial response was disappointing. It was a bit defensive and late. But I think the responses are getting better. I think we’ve seen some things this morning, we’ve had some conversations with them, so we’ll continue to monitor and work with them going forward. But no, we were disappointed with what we saw.”

  • PGA chief says ‘no current plans’ for LIV stars to return

    PGA chief says ‘no current plans’ for LIV stars to return

    As the future of the Saudi-backed breakaway LIV Golf circuit hangs in serious doubt, the PGA Tour has confirmed there are no active plans to reopen a path for top defectors such as Bryson DeChambeau and Jon Rahm to return to the traditional tour, chief executive Brian Rolapp announced Tuesday.

    When LIV Golf first launched in 2022, it upended the global golf ecosystem by injecting billions of dollars in lavish signing bonuses and prize purses to poach dozens of the sport’s biggest names from the PGA Tour. Today, however, the breakaway league’s long-term survival is in question after it lost backing from its original Saudi investors. LIV leadership has attempted to right the ship by announcing a scaled-down “2.0” iteration for 2025, anchored by new financial backers, but persistent speculation has swirled that several high-profile players are exploring exits from the struggling circuit.

    Earlier this year, the PGA Tour rolled out a one-time program that allowed some LIV players to apply for readmission, provided they cut all contractual ties to the breakaway league and pay substantial financial penalties. Five-time major champion Brooks Koepka was the most high-profile name to take advantage of that opportunity, returning to the PGA Tour in January. But speaking to reporters ahead of this week’s season-ending Tour Championship in Atlanta, Rolapp made clear that pathway will not be extended to additional players for the foreseeable future.

    “Currently there’s no current plans for a Returning Member Program like you saw earlier this year,” Rolapp told the press conference.

    The PGA Tour has maintained a blanket ban on players who hold active contracts with LIV Golf, requiring any athlete seeking readmission to fully extricate themselves from all contractual obligations to the breakaway league before their case can be considered. Rolapp doubled down on that stance Tuesday, emphasizing that upholding organizational rules is critical to protecting the integrity of both the tour and the sport of golf as a whole.

    “Accountability and discipline are essential to any organization, and certainly for the integrity of the TOUR and for the game,” he said.

    Rolapp added that it is impossible to predict whether the door will reopen for LIV players down the line, in large part because the long-term trajectory of LIV Golf itself remains unclear. “I don’t know the future of LIV,” he said, adding that the PGA Tour’s stance has been consistent from the start of the split: “Anyone who’s interested in coming to the PGA TOUR needs to demonstrate that they are relieved of their contractual commitments or any tail obligations they might have in that legacy model.”

    “Brooks certainly did that, and until then, we weren’t really able to consider anything seriously. I would say the same thing here,” he noted.

    The news comes amid growing uncertainty around LIV Golf’s next chapter, and conflicting signals from one of the breakaway’s biggest stars, Bryson DeChambeau. DeChambeau, who has been named a core asset to LIV Golf’s planned 2025 reboot, struck an optimistic tone Sunday while speaking at LIV’s own season-ending event in Indianapolis. He told reporters he was “proud” of what the breakaway tour has accomplished since launching, and that he held “great thoughts about what could happen next year.”

    Just 24 hours later, however, DeChambeau sparked widespread speculation about his future with an ambiguous post to his Instagram account. The post featured a collection of photos from his LIV Golf tournament victories, paired with the caption: “It was a good run.”

  • Syrian Kurdish leader dissolves force that spearheaded jihadist fight

    Syrian Kurdish leader dissolves force that spearheaded jihadist fight

    In a historic shift reshaping Syria’s political and military landscape following the ousting of long-time leader Bashar al-Assad late last year, Mazloum Abdi, commander-in-chief of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), has formally announced the dissolution of the group as an independent military force. The move comes as the final step in a broader agreement that integrates all former SDF fighters and institutions into the new Damascus government’s state structures.

    Abdi made the declaration in a televised address from the presidential palace in Damascus on Tuesday, confirming that the integration of SDF personnel into Syrian army brigades has been fully completed. “We announce today the end of the mission of the Syrian Democratic Forces and declare, with full responsibility, their dissolution as an independent military force,” Abdi stated. He added that since the SDF’s founding, fighters had carried a heavy burden through one of Syria’s darkest periods, liberating dozens of cities and towns first from the former Baathist regime, then from the brutal occupation of the Islamic State (IS), also known by its Arabic acronym Daesh.

    “Circumstances have changed today and the country has entered a new phase characterised by peace and participation,” Abdi explained, noting that the group’s original mandate had concluded with the transition to a new political order. For his part, US Special Envoy to Syria and Iraq Tom Barrack, who also serves as Washington’s ambassador to Turkey, praised the disbandment as a model for post-conflict reconciliation. “This is what real integration looks like: not winners and losers, but former counterparts with differing points of view crafting a diplomatic solution to strengthen the sovereign nation of Syria. One army, one government, one state,” Barrack said.

    The SDF’s origin traces back to 2015, when the United States helped organize the group to leverage the combat experience of Kurdish fighters who had successfully defended the northern Syrian city of Kobane from IS occupation. For nearly a decade, the SDF served as Washington’s primary partner in the campaign against the jihadist group, ultimately driving IS out of all the territory it controlled in Syria by 2019. At its peak strength, the coalition of Kurdish and Arab fighters numbered roughly 100,000 members and controlled large, oil-rich swathes of northern and northeastern Syria.

    But the geopolitical landscape shifted dramatically following Assad’s ouster in late 2024, when the US shifted its support to the new US-friendly administration in Damascus, abandoning its long-time partner. In January 2025, open clashes between SDF fighters and new government troops left the Kurdish force with major territorial losses, and a wave of mass defections from Arab members of the SDF cut the group’s personnel in half, according to Syria expert Fabrice Balanche. Those clashes preceded the landmark integration deal that set the stage for Tuesday’s announcement.

    Under the terms of the agreement, new Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa issued a historic decree granting formal recognition of Kurdish national rights and enshrining Kurdish as an official national language — a first for Syria since it gained independence in 1946. The deal also requires the SDF to expel all leaders and members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) — a group that has waged a decades-long insurgency in Turkey and is labeled a terrorist organization by Ankara — from Syrian territory, a concession that addressed longstanding Turkish security concerns. Turkey had repeatedly launched cross-border military incursions into northern Syria between 2016 and 2019 to push SDF forces back from its border, due to Ankara’s view that the SDF is an extension of the PKK.

    The dissolution of the SDF marks a major political win for al-Sharaa, who has moved quickly to consolidate central government control over all Syrian territory following Assad’s fall. For Syria’s Kurdish population, however, the deal effectively ends a decades-long push for regional autonomy, even as Abdi reaffirmed that advocacy for Kurdish rights would continue through political channels. Last week, Abdi confirmed the full integration of Kurdish civilian administrative bodies into the Syrian state, adding: “Our struggle will continue, to cement our people’s rights in the constitution.”

  • ‘Final Fantasy’, ‘The Witcher’ in spotlight at Europe gaming bash

    ‘Final Fantasy’, ‘The Witcher’ in spotlight at Europe gaming bash

    Europe’s largest video game exhibition, Gamescom, officially kicked off in Cologne, Germany on Tuesday, bringing iconic franchises *Final Fantasy* and *The Witcher* to the center of global gaming attention. The event comes as the global gaming industry searches for a much-needed momentum boost, navigating a wave of widespread layoffs and cutthroat market competition.

    A sold-out opening ceremony marked the start of the four-day event, where around 5,000 in-person attendees gathered to get an exclusive first look at dozens of upcoming titles. Canadian gaming host Geoff Keighley led the nearly two-hour showcase, highlighting dozens of anticipated releases ahead of the show floor opening to the general public on Wednesday.

    One major high-profile release is notably absent from this year’s lineup: *Grand Theft Auto VI*, the most anticipated game launch of 2025. Developer Rockstar Games has opted to skip Gamescom, planning its own dedicated reveal event for the title ahead of its November 19 launch, a move that industry observers say will likely draw significant attention away from the expo. Many rival studios have even shifted their own release dates forward to avoid going head-to-head with *GTA VI*, creating an unusually packed schedule of new game launches this year.

    Instead, the biggest cheer of the opening night went to Polish studio CD Projekt Red, the developer behind the globally beloved *The Witcher* franchise. The studio announced two major updates for the franchise: a completely remastered version of the 2015 blockbuster *The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt* will launch for free on September 29, a welcome offering for cost-burdened gamers facing soaring prices for consoles and gaming hardware. A brand-new expansion for *The Witcher 3* will also drop next year, ahead of the long-awaited 2028 launch of *The Witcher 4*. To date, *The Witcher 3* has already sold more than 65 million copies worldwide, cementing its status as one of the best-selling role-playing games of all time.

    Another headlining franchise at this year’s show is Square Enix’s legendary *Final Fantasy* series. Director Naoki Hamaguchi appeared in person at the event to unveil new footage from *Final Fantasy VII Rebirth*, the third and final entry in the full remake series of the 1997 genre-defining original title.

    The showcase also shone a light on developers from around the globe, including Ukrainian studio 4A Games, which gave a first preview of *Metro 2039*, the next addition to its acclaimed post-apocalyptic first-person shooter franchise. Scheduled for a February launch, the new entry carries deeper thematic weight amid the ongoing war in Ukraine. “Metro has always been a story about avoiding war, but now that war is at our doorstep, we have built a story about its consequences and the price of freedom,” said executive producer Jon Bloch.

    Chinese developer HoYoverse, which rose to global fame with its open-world hit *Genshin Impact*, also took the stage to reveal *Nodus Fall*, a new cooperative action role-playing game set in a dark, twisted medieval fantasy world. Other major developers showcasing new titles include Nintendo, which will present *Nintendo Switch Sports Resort*, and Microsoft’s Xbox division, which will show off the next entry in the *Call of Duty* franchise, *Call of Duty: Modern Warfare IV*, and *Gears of War: E-Day*. Notably, Japanese console giant Sony, maker of the PlayStation 5, is absent from this year’s exhibitor lineup.

    Starting Wednesday, hundreds of playable stations will open to the public, where tens of thousands of attendees – many arriving in elaborate cosplay of their favorite game characters – will get to try out the new titles firsthand. Organizers confirmed that more than 1,600 exhibitors from across the globe will showcase over 800 unique games at this year’s event. Last year’s Gamescom drew nearly 360,000 attendees, a figure that almost returned to the pre-pandemic high of around 370,000, signaling a strong rebound for in-person industry events after years of COVID-19 disruptions.

    Beyond the exciting new game reveals, the shadow of industry turmoil hangs over this year’s expo. The global gaming market is facing unprecedented pressure: soaring demand for memory chips from the fast-growing artificial intelligence sector has driven up component costs, pushing console and hardware prices higher for consumers. At the same time, an overcrowded release calendar means there are far more new games than consumers have time or money to play, squeezing studio profit margins.

    This combination of intense market competition and shrinking margins has forced dozens of studios to implement cost-cutting measures, resulting in thousands of layoffs across the industry. Data from the ASGC Games Industry Layoffs Tracker shows that nearly 10,000 gaming industry workers have lost their jobs since the start of 2025, putting the industry on track to hit 15,000 total layoffs for the year. If that figure holds, it will come close to matching the 2024 record for layoffs, which followed a massive hiring boom during the COVID-19 pandemic when demand for video games surged.

    Opening the show, Keighley acknowledged the conflicting emotions defining the current moment for the global gaming industry. “It is no secret that the video games industry is changing and evolving,” he said. “On one level it is exciting, and on another it’s kind of scary.”

  • AFL: Sam Mitchell confident Hawks’ game style is ‘built for finals’ footy

    AFL: Sam Mitchell confident Hawks’ game style is ‘built for finals’ footy

    As the 2026 AFL finals series rapidly approaches, Hawthorn Football Club head coach Sam Mitchell carries a calm, measured confidence that his side’s carefully built game style is perfectly primed to compete for the sport’s biggest prize on the last Saturday in September. The Hawks currently sit fourth on the league ladder, their highest finish since Mitchell took the head coaching role, but their first postseason test presents a massive challenge: they will face off against minor premiers Fremantle, who remain undefeated at their home Perth Stadium venue through the entire 2026 regular season.

    Mitchell explained that for years, Hawthorn’s program has been built with the unique pressures of finals football in mind, noting that while the regular season requires a flexible game plan, the club has prioritized developing a style that can hold up under the intensity of September football. “All coaches understand that different playing styles and player profiles land differently across the course of a season versus high-stakes finals matches,” Mitchell said during a promotion for the ‘Always respect, always DrinkWise’ public education campaign. “You can’t structure your entire annual game plan around finals intensity, because that’s not how 90% of the season is played. But when the intensity does step up in the postseason, you need your game style to be compatible with that pressure. That’s been a core filter for every major decision we’ve made over the past five years, and we truly believe our style will stand up when it counts. We’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out.”

    When the two sides met earlier in 2026 at Perth Stadium, Fremantle claimed victory, breaking open a tight game with a dominant fourth quarter to extend their home winning streak to 12 matches. Mitchell, who has enjoyed a rare week of rest during the wildcard round, has used the break to spend time with his family ahead of the hectic finals schedule, and he noted that both sides have evolved significantly since that earlier meeting three months prior. “We haven’t rewatched that game yet, we’ll get to it over the coming days, but we know Fremantle at their best is extremely good,” Mitchell said. “We played pretty solid footy that day, we just couldn’t sustain our level of play for a full four quarters. Both teams have changed a lot in three months, so we need to prepare for the threats they’ll bring this time around, while also bringing our own new challenges to them.”

    Mitchell’s history as Hawthorn’s head coach shows clear, steady progress: his first finals campaign ended in a gut-wrenching semi-final exit, while his second saw the club climb from eighth place all the way to the preliminary final. This year’s squad has already ticked off multiple key milestones on their journey, with only the grand final spot and a premiership trophy left to claim. Mitchell pointed to last year’s deep run as a key turning point for the club’s culture. “This time last year we finished eighth, hit the road immediately for interstate finals, and came away with two wins – something we hadn’t managed to do in a long time,” he said. “That was a huge feather in our cap, proving we can perform on the big stage. We’ve got the confidence that our best football is good enough to compete with anyone, we just need to bring that form when it matters most.”

    One of the biggest advantages for Hawthorn heading into this finals series is the full fitness of dynamic young midfielder Will Day, who will feature in September action for the first time in his career. Mitchell said no one is more thrilled about that opportunity than Day himself. “I don’t think anyone is more excited to see Will out there than he is – I’m not even as excited as he is,” Mitchell said with a laugh. “He’s never made it this far into a season fully fit, he’s been building great form lately and looked really solid against the Eagles in our final round. I’m so pleased he’s gotten back to full fitness and good form, and I can’t wait to watch him wear the brown and gold in September for the first time.”

    Beyond the on-field preparation, Mitchell is also using the finals period to promote the DrinkWise initiative, which encourages responsible alcohol consumption at football matches to keep the sport a safe, welcoming space for all fans, including families. Mitchell, who plans to attend the wildcard round in Melbourne as a spectator with his children, said he values the family-friendly culture of Australian rules football and wants to help that culture thrive. “I’m really happy to be back supporting the Always respect, always DrinkWise campaign,” he said. “With the extra wildcard round this year, we want everyone to enjoy every minute of finals footy. One of the best things about this sport is that it’s a safe place for everyone, you can bring your kids, sit in the stands, and have a great day out. We just want to remind people that if you do choose to drink, do it responsibly, and respect yourself and everyone around you.”

  • Prime Minister to confront premiers on violence funding amid urgent reform calls

    Prime Minister to confront premiers on violence funding amid urgent reform calls

    A wave of high-profile scandals and a recent string of femicides across Australia have pushed the urgent crisis of violence against women and children to the top of the national policy agenda, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese set to convene national cabinet this week to address stalled progress and systemic failures in the country’s response. The gathering comes as Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek continues public consultations for the second five-year phase of Australia’s 10-year National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children, launched to tackle the multifaceted crisis through targeted action on prevention, intervention, response, and long-term recovery.

  • Reserve Bank signals further rate pain possible to crush persistent inflation

    Reserve Bank signals further rate pain possible to crush persistent inflation

    Australia’s multi-year battle against elevated inflation appears to be turning a corner on paper, but leading economic analysts are sounding a stark warning: Australian households carrying mortgages should prepare for more financial pain, as any apparent progress is unlikely to translate to imminent cash rate cuts. In fact, further interest rate hikes remain on the table ahead of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) September monetary policy meeting.