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  • ‘Spider-Man’ soars to huge $355 million opening in North America

    ‘Spider-Man’ soars to huge $355 million opening in North America

    The global box office has received a much-needed jolt from Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios’ latest superhero blockbuster, *Spider-Man: Brand New Day*, which notched one of the largest opening weekends in North American cinema history, industry analysts confirmed Sunday.

    Led by British star Tom Holland in his return to the title role of Peter Parker/Spider-Man, the film pulled in an eye-watering $355 million in ticket sales across the United States and Canada during its first three days in theaters. When compared to unadjusted box office records, that debut lands in second place all-time, falling just $2 million short of the 2019 record holder *Avengers: Endgame*, according to data from box office tracking site Box Office Mojo.

    The ninth live-action theatrical outing for the iconic web-slinger – who has previously been brought to life on screen by actors Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield – boasts a star-studded supporting cast that includes Zendaya (Holland’s real-life spouse), Mark Ruffalo, Florence Pugh, and breakout star Sadie Sink. The latest entry in the franchise follows a broken Parker, who has stepped back from public life after erasing all public knowledge of his superhero identity, navigating a radical personal shift while fending off deadly new antagonists.

    Industry analysts have called the opening nothing short of extraordinary, noting the film arrived at a time when the summer box office had gone two months without a major tentpole action release. “This is a colossal opening,” said David A. Gross, head of entertainment research firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “The summer has been without a big action title for nine weeks – an eternity at the box office. The market is ripe-ripe-ripe for this film.”

    Beyond North American borders, the film’s performance has been equally impressive. It earned an additional $570 million from international markets in its opening weekend, pushing its total global haul to a staggering $928 million by the end of the weekend, data from industry tracker Exhibitor Relations shows. Gross added that strong performance in key international markets, including a rare positive opening result in China for a major Hollywood release, has positioned international ticket sales to make up more than 60% of the film’s final global total.

    The Spider-Man juggernaut has also lifted the entire North American box office, with other top releases seeing stable holdovers alongside the blockbuster’s massive debut. Christopher Nolan’s latest original epic *The Odyssey* from Universal Pictures held onto the second spot in its subsequent weekend, pulling in $51 million to push its domestic total to nearly $400 million. Adapted from Homer’s ancient Greek epic poem, the film stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, the hero struggling to return home after the Trojan War, with Anne Hathaway as his wife Penelope and Tom Holland in a supporting role as his son Telemachus.

    “The combination of *Spider-Man* – a legacy superhero sequel – and *The Odyssey* – a big original production – is taking the box office to new highs by a comfortable margin,” Gross noted.

    Rounding out the top five highest-grossing films for the weekend were Disney-Pixar’s *Toy Story 5* in third place with $6.3 million, Universal’s animated outing *Minions & Monsters* in fourth with $5.8 million, and Disney’s live-action remake of its animated hit *Moana* in fifth with $5.3 million. The remaining spots in the weekend top 10 went to *Hadestown: The Musical* ($2 million), *The Invite* ($1.2 million), *I Want Your Sex* ($600,000), *Evil Dead Burn* ($525,000), and *Young Washington* ($478,000).

  • Trump’s on-again-off-again war against Iran: in his own words

    Trump’s on-again-off-again war against Iran: in his own words

    Among all modern U.S. presidents, few have delivered public threats of military aggression as stark and contradictory as 80-year-old Republican incumbent Donald Trump when it comes to conflict with Iran. Since escalations between the two nations broke out on February 28, Trump’s stance on a U.S. confrontation with Tehran has shifted dramatically, sometimes reversing course within mere hours of making a bold statement. Time and again, he has prematurely declared victory over Iran’s military capacity, only to adjust his timeline of conflict or issue fresh threats of new strikes days or weeks later.

    What makes these reversals even more striking is the whiplash in Trump’s assessments of Iran’s ruling faction. On June 17, he praised Iran’s new leadership as “very smart” and “far less radicalized” than their predecessors, who were killed in joint U.S. and Israeli strikes. Just three weeks later on July 8, a visibly frustrated Trump discarded that positive framing entirely, telling reporters: “I don’t want to deal with them anymore, they’re scum.”

    To understand the erratic nature of Trump’s approach to Iran, a timeline of his public statements reveals the pattern of extreme threats followed by quick retreats:

    On March 21, Trump took to his Truth Social platform to issue an ultimatum: If Iran did not fully open the Strait of Hormuz to unimpeded global shipping within 48 hours, the United States would target and completely destroy the country’s power infrastructure, starting with its largest facilities. The threat drew immediate international scrutiny, as deliberate attacks on civilian critical infrastructure like power plants are broadly classified as war crimes under international humanitarian law.

    Just two days later, on March 23, Trump walked back the deadline, extending it by five days and citing “very good and productive conversations” with Iranian diplomatic representatives. He would soon extend the pause on planned strikes against power plants for another 10 days, pushing the new deadline to April 6 to allow for ongoing diplomatic negotiations to continue.

    As the 10-day extension neared its end on Easter Sunday, April 5, Trump issued an obscenity-laced follow-up threat, writing: “Open the Fuckin’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell,” before adding the incongruous closing line: “Praise be to Allah.”

    Two days later, on April 7, Trump issued an even more extreme warning, writing in a Truth Social post that “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again.” The comment was widely interpreted by global policymakers and analysts as an explicit threat to eradicate Iran, a nation of more than 90 million people.

    But just hours after that alarming statement, Trump announced he would suspend all planned bombing and attacks on Iran for a two-week period. He confirmed he had accepted a truce proposal put forward by international war mediators, after a phone call with Pakistan’s prime minister.

    The pattern repeated again on June 11: Early that day, Trump posted that “The United States will be hitting Iran… VERY HARD TONIGHT” and added that “at some point in the not too distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island” — Iran’s key oil export terminal — along with other major oil infrastructure sites.

    Once again, the reversal came almost immediately: Five hours after issuing his threat of imminent strikes, Trump announced he had “cancelled the scheduled strikes and bombings against Iran this evening,” citing new progress in peace negotiations aimed at securing a permanent end to the conflict.

    By late June, an interim peace deal to end the cross-border fighting was finalized. But the truce collapsed within a month, with Iran launching attacks on U.S. military facilities across the Middle East, and U.S. forces responding with strikes on Iranian coastal defenses while expanding target lists to include civilian infrastructure and bridges.

    Speaking at a cabinet meeting on July 31, Trump reaffirmed his aggressive stance, telling attendees: “We’ll be hitting them very hard, and you know at some point they’re going to say, ‘We just can’t take it anymore.’”

    Again, a reversal came the next day. On August 1, Trump announced: “We have just been asked by Iran, and other Middle Eastern Countries, to hold off any attack.” He added that the core perimeters of a permanent peace deal had already been agreed to by both sides. Iran’s state-run media quickly and forcefully denied the claim, stating that no such request for a delay had been sent by the Islamic republic.

  • OPEC+ boosts September production by 188,000 barrels/day

    OPEC+ boosts September production by 188,000 barrels/day

    In a Sunday virtual gathering of core OPEC+ member states, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and five other major oil-producing nations have formally approved a planned 188,000 barrel per day increase in crude oil production set to launch in September. The decision comes against a turbulent backdrop of ongoing Middle East conflict that has severely disrupted shipping and oil supply flows through the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints.

    Following the closed-door meeting, the seven participating nations released a brief joint statement confirming the production adjustment, a move that many energy market analysts had already predicted weeks in advance. This incremental production hike marks the final step in unwinding the second of three separate production cut packages rolled out by the alliance between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its non-OPEC partners between late 2022 and 2023, when the group moved to curb output to stem falling global oil prices, slashing a combined total of nearly six million barrels per day from global markets.

    Industry analysts note that the immediate market impact of the new production quota will be limited for the foreseeable future. For months, Gulf oil exporters have faced major barriers to ramping up exports, as the Strait of Hormuz — which carries roughly a fifth of all global oil traded internationally — has remained effectively constrained amid Iranian actions tied to the ongoing Middle East war. This logjam has persisted even after a brief uptick in shipping following a June memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran.

    “OPEC+ has finished unwinding its voluntary cuts. The next challenge is managing the surplus that could emerge as export flows normalise,” explained Jorge Leon, senior oil market analyst at Oslo-based energy research firm Rystad Energy. Leon added that “today’s decision changes little in the near term because Hormuz remains constrained. The real market impact will come when normal export flows resume.”

    Beyond the immediate supply disruptions caused by geopolitical tensions, many OPEC+ members face structural barriers to hitting their new production targets. Giovanni Staunovo, a commodity analyst at global investment bank UBS, pointed out that numerous member nations are already unable to match their official quota levels due to long-term declines in domestic production capacity, meaning formal target increases have far less tangible impact on actual global supply than they may appear.

    Multiple member nations also face idiosyncratic challenges that limit their ability to ramp up output. Russia, one of the alliance’s two leading producers, has seen its production crimped by repeated Ukrainian drone strikes on its domestic oil infrastructure, with current output hovering around 9 million barrels per day — 800,000 barrels below its official target. While some countries like Iraq have publicly stated a desire to significantly boost production, the timing of when the alliance as a whole can actually deliver higher volumes to global markets remains uncertain.

    Looking ahead, market analysts broadly expect OPEC+ to hold off on any further supply adjustments for the final quarter of 2024 as the group begins preparations for new quota negotiations scheduled for 2027. “Having completed the restoration campaign, OPEC+ has little incentive to rush into further supply changes. Our base case is a fourth-quarter pause while the group prepares for the 2027 quota negotiations,” Leon said. He added that “for now, geopolitics is masking the scale of the supply increase. That will become much clearer once export flows normalise.”

    The alliance also faces growing internal frictions heading into upcoming quota talks scheduled to take effect next year. Analysts at DNB Carnegie note that OPEC+ “faces potentially difficult talks over new production quotas” starting in 2025, when the group plans to continue its gradual strategy of restoring production cuts. The May 2024 exit of the United Arab Emirates from the core voluntary cut group exposed existing internal divides, though Leon noted that alliance cohesion is not at immediate risk.

    “’I don’t think cohesion is at risk at this very moment,’” Leon said, though he warned that the UAE’s departure has laid bare underlying vulnerabilities in the alliance’s collective decision-making process.

  • Rescuers recover climber Nirmal Purja’s body after avalanche disaster

    Rescuers recover climber Nirmal Purja’s body after avalanche disaster

    One of the mountaineering world’s most celebrated figures has been claimed by the very peak he loved, after rescuers recovered the body of British-Nepali climber Nirmal Purja following a catastrophic avalanche that killed his entire 10-person international expedition on Pakistan’s Broad Peak. The Alpine Club of Pakistan officially confirmed Sunday that search teams reached Purja’s remains at an elevation of roughly 5,700 meters on the 12th highest mountain in the world.

    The disaster unfolded on Thursday, when a sudden avalanche hit the expedition led by the 43-year-old climber, cutting off all communications with the team immediately. In the days that followed, rescue operations launched by air and ground teams navigated treacherous high-altitude terrain to locate the missing group. As recovery efforts continued, the Alpine Club’s general secretary Ayaz Shigri confirmed that ground teams are currently transporting four recovered bodies — Purja, two additional Nepali nationals, and one Chinese citizen — down the mountain’s slopes. One more body has been located at a much higher elevation, but Shigri noted that extreme hazards and unstable conditions make any immediate recovery attempt unfeasible at this stage.

    Three other remains — those of an Omani woman, a Nepali man, and an American woman — were recovered on Friday and flown by helicopter to the nearby city of Skardu, regional authorities confirmed. Purja’s own expedition company made a devastating announcement Saturday: no members of the 10-person team had survived the avalanche.

    Before turning to full-time mountaineering, 43-year-old Purja built a distinguished career in British military service, serving first in the Brigade of Gurkhas before joining the Royal Marines’ Special Boat Squadron. After launching his mountaineering career, he broke dozens of global climbing records, and was just days away from completing a groundbreaking achievement: becoming the first person to summit all 14 of the world’s 8,000-meter “super peaks” twice without using supplemental oxygen. Just three days before the avalanche, Purja shared a public post on social media that read, “Broad Peak, I ask for nothing but safe passage up and back down.”

    News of the disaster has triggered an outpouring of shock and grief across the global mountaineering community, particularly in Nepal, where Purja worked to raise the profile of Nepali climbers and grow the country’s mountaineering sector. Britain’s Prince William was among the global leaders offering condolences, writing on X that Purja “served with distinction in the British Armed Forces before becoming one of the world’s greatest mountaineers, putting Nepalese climbers on the map,” adding that he was “truly saddened” by the loss of life.

    Fur Gelje Sherpa, President of Nepal’s mountaineering association, called the tragedy “an unthinkable loss for our mountaineering community and for the nation,” noting that Purja remained committed to elevating Nepal’s global reputation and advancing the country’s mountaineering industry. Mingma G Sherpa, a mountaineer who took part in the rescue mission, shared a heartfelt message on Instagram Saturday writing, “My loving brothers… We will take you back home to see (your) families.”

    Located in Pakistan’s Karakoram Range, Broad Peak stands as the 12th highest mountain on Earth, and is widely considered one of the most technically challenging of all 8,000-meter-plus peaks. The mountain was first successfully summited by an Austrian expedition team in 1957.

  • At Nepal school, outpouring of grief for climber Nirmal Purja

    At Nepal school, outpouring of grief for climber Nirmal Purja

    As rescue teams pulled the body of iconic British-Nepali mountaineer Nirmal Purja from Pakistan’s Broad Peak on Sunday, waves of sorrow washed over the Nepali boarding school where his legendary grit first took root. Hundreds of kilometers from the avalanche site, teachers, former classmates and current students gathered at Small Heaven School in Nepal’s southern Chitwan district, gathering around a flower-draped framed portrait of the 43-year-old climber who reshaped modern mountaineering.

    Lighting ceremonial candles in his honor, attendees shared intimate memories of the young boy who would grow to become one of the most celebrated figures in the climbing world. Dhiraj Bahadur Panta, a childhood school friend of Purja, told AFP his voice shaking with emotion that the entire community had held out hope through the days Purja was missing. “When he was missing, we were praying for him and spent sleepless nights,” Panta said. “It was not only me and my friends. I think people all over the world who knew him… prayed for him. But it was his fate, no one could avoid it.”

    Purja died alongside nine other climbers after being caught in an unexpected massive avalanche on Broad Peak last Thursday. News of his passing triggered an outpouring of heartfelt tributes from the global climbing community and public figures alike, with Britain’s Prince William among those offering formal condolences.

    Purja first arrived at the Chitwan boarding school as a young boy, spending eight years building deep connections with the institution’s staff and fellow students before moving on to join the British Gurkhas. That path would lead him to elite military service, and eventually, to global mountaineering stardom that put Nepali climbing expertise on the world map.

    On Sunday, current students filed one by one past Purja’s portrait, laying fresh flowers and offering quiet prayers, while former teachers recalled the young pupil who showed remarkable courage and discipline even at a young age. Shailendra Baral, who supervised Purja during his time in the school’s hostel, told AFP that his exceptional character was obvious from early childhood. “Even when he was in class three, he was fearless and committed to achieving something,” Baral said. “He was honest and an obedient student, which made us happy. We found courage in him even when he was a child.”

    Purja’s climbing career was defined by record-breaking feats that stunned the global climbing community. In 2019, he completed the ascent of all 14 of the world’s highest peaks in just over six months, smashing the previous record of seven years. The extraordinary achievement was later documented in a popular Netflix documentary, which inspired a new generation of young climbers and elevated Nepal’s profile in a sport that had long been dominated by Western adventurers.

    In 2021, Purja joined the historic all-Nepali team that pulled off the first winter ascent of K2, the world’s second-highest peak and one of the most dangerous and coveted challenges in professional mountaineering. When he returned to Chitwan in 2022 for a screening of his documentary, he received a hero’s welcome from the local community. In a social media post marking the occasion, Purja reflected on his roots at the school, writing: “I grew up here, running around with no shoes on. This is my hometown and so I wanted everyone here to see the film and inspire the younger generation.”

    For current students gathered to mourn him on Sunday, Purja’s trailblazing achievements have long been woven into the school’s collective identity. “It really feels bad to hear this news because we had always heard good things about him,” said student Sarbagya Paudel. “His bravery has set a great example for our school. Not only has he made our school proud, but he has also brought pride to Nepal. It is heartbreaking to know that he is no longer with us.”

  • Handbag tosses and high-heeled sprints: Amsterdam celebrates Drag Olympics

    Handbag tosses and high-heeled sprints: Amsterdam celebrates Drag Olympics

    Against a backdrop of roaring cheers and glittering costumes, the 22nd annual Drag Olympics kicked off Friday in Amsterdam, drawing hundreds of participants and spectators to what organizers call the world’s biggest sporting event exclusively for drag queens and drag kings.

    Hosted by the House of Hopelezz, Amsterdam’s longest-running drag community, this year’s event brought together amateur and veteran performers alike from across the globe, including competitors from the Netherlands, Ireland, Morocco, Russia, France, Mexico and Iran. Unlike traditional international Olympic games, the competition features five playful, drag-focused events that blend athleticism with campy flair: a high-heeled sprint, handbag toss, tug-of-war, cheekily named “bitch” volleyball, and hula hoop.

    For first-time competitor Nippy Le Twist, 35, whose legal name is Rutger van Aken, the event marked a rare public moment to embrace a side of her identity she only shared with close friends during COVID-19 lockdowns. Speaking to Agence France-Presse ahead of her first race, Le Twist said, “The first time that I was here was two years ago, and I was totally mesmerised with the performances in between the competition. It’s a side of myself that I haven’t publicly shown before, only during the COVID times with close friends at home. And I’m excited to see what this evokes in myself.”

    Jennifer Hopelezz, founder of the House of Hopelezz and creator of the Drag Olympics, noted that the event has grown dramatically since its early days, shifting from a small private gathering to a major public celebration. “It’s a silly event, it’s a stupid event, but it’s just, yeah, it’s a fun thing to do and every year it got busier and busier, more public, more audience and more competitors,” Hopelezz, whose legal name is Richard Keldoulis, said. Open to anyone willing to don a wig and a pair of heels, the event even offered on-site professional makeup artists to address last-minute cosmetic crises, with organizers gently reminding participants to prioritize wearability over height when choosing their competition heels.

    The opening ceremony carried weight beyond celebration, coming just one week after a deadly attack on Berlin’s annual Gay Pride parade. Draped in a high-cut rainbow swimsuit that emphasized her elaborately padded hips, Hopelezz led a procession through the crowd carrying a DIY Olympic torch that emitted bright pink smoke, before calling for a global Olympic truce to stand against anti-queer violence and ongoing conflicts around the world. “People are a bit nervous, and there’s a bit of a shadow over Pride, but we’re kind of determined not to go back in the closet, be visible and celebrate Pride, and not let people take that away from us,” she told the assembled crowd.

    Between competitive events, many drag artists wove explicitly political messaging into their performances, turning the stage into a platform for marginalized queer voices. A Lebanese-Palestinian drag queen incorporated commentary on the ongoing war in the Middle East into her set, while drag king Vinny von Vincy took the stage to declare that “Islamophobia does not protect queer people.” For Vincy, whose legal name is Saskia de Wildt and is 42, the event offers a rare safe space to celebrate parts of her identity that are often sidelined or rejected in mainstream spaces. “I feel like I can really express parts of myself and celebrate parts of myself that sometimes I’m marginalised for, or not so appreciated in different spaces,” she said.

    This year’s Drag Olympics is just one part of a packed month of Pride celebrations in Amsterdam, which is hosting 2025’s WorldPride festivities. The iconic annual Pride canal parade, set for Saturday, will be attended by openly gay Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, with community events continuing across the city for an additional week after the parade concludes.

  • Albanese government ups the ante in journalism pay stoush with Silicon Valley

    Albanese government ups the ante in journalism pay stoush with Silicon Valley

    The Albanese administration has issued a clear warning to global social media and technology conglomerates, unveiling a revised regulatory framework designed to compel large digital platforms to compensate Australian news organizations for the use of journalistic content. Set to be announced publicly on Monday, the adjustments to the government’s News Bargaining Incentive code modify the penalty structure that applies to platforms that refuse to enter into mandatory commercial agreements with local media outlets.

    Under the revised rules, major tech firms including Google and Meta will only face a maximum penalty equal to 2.5% of their Australian-derived digital advertising revenue if they fail to strike required deals. While the new rate marks a 0.25 percentage point increase from the originally proposed charge, the scope of taxable revenue has been narrowed from all Australian operational revenue to only digital advertising earnings, resulting in a lower overall penalty burden than the government initially outlined. According to government officials, the adjusted structure is designed to drive the same volume of voluntary commercial deals between platforms and media outlets as the original draft.

    In addition to the penalty changes, the updated code raises the minimum number of required deals with local media organizations from four to six for platforms to avoid penalties. Microsoft has also been added to the list of regulated entities, with its professional networking platform LinkedIn now brought into the scheme, in recognition of its growing role in distributing news content to Australian users.

    Financial Services Minister Daniel Mulino emphasized that the tweaks to the April draft legislation do not shift the core purpose of the policy, which is to shore up the sustainability of Australia’s journalism sector and encourage mutually beneficial commercial agreements between digital platforms and news providers. “Australian journalism is important to a well-functioning democracy and we want it to be sustainable now and into the future,” Mulino said. “We want digital platforms to do deals with a diverse range of media organisations and have shown good faith with both the platforms and media companies during the consultation process.”

    The reforms also include a series of adjustments to the News Journalism Payment Scheme ahead of the bill’s introduction to parliament. The definition of eligible journalists has been expanded to cover more essential news roles and freelance contributors, while a dedicated grant program funded by penalty revenues will be established to support small publishers and new media startups. Journalists and media outlets serving regional areas, small-to-medium audiences, and marginalized communities including Indigenous Australians and the LGBTQ+ community will receive a 20% uplift in distributed funds.

    Communications Minister Anika Wells noted that the targeted uplift for small and regional outlets recognizes the unique challenges these organizations face, as well as their critical role in serving local communities. “Journalism is the lifeblood of a robust democracy, which is why the Albanese government is backing a strong and sustainable media sector,” Wells said.

    The policy builds on a decade-long push by successive Australian governments to force large digital platforms to compensate local media, a fight that first resulted in the 2021 News Media Bargaining Code. From the start, the policy has faced fierce pushback from big tech: Meta, for example, chose to remove all news content from its Facebook platform in Australia from 2024 rather than comply with mandatory payment requirements.

    While the revised framework has been adjusted to address some tech industry concerns, it is expected to draw criticism from Australian publishers, who argue that narrowing the scope of revenue subject to penalties will reduce the overall financial pressure on platforms to strike deals. The legislation includes provisions to honor existing agreements reached during earlier bargaining periods, and a full statutory review of the scheme will be conducted three years after it takes effect.

    Major Australian news organizations including News Corp Australia, the ABC, Nine Entertainment and Australian Community Media have repeatedly backed the government’s approach. In a joint statement released during the consultation phase in April, the group argued that “if digital platforms fail to pay for the use of the news content from which they profit, then journalism becomes unsustainable.” Under the final framework, platforms that meet the requirement of striking six deals with local media will face zero penalty liability, eliminating any financial burden for compliant firms.

  • Young homeless in Victoria forced into hospital during mental health crisis, report finds

    Young homeless in Victoria forced into hospital during mental health crisis, report finds

    As Victoria prepares for its fiercely contested November state election, a new ground-breaking report has laid bare the catastrophic human cost of failing to address youth homelessness, laying the responsibility squarely at the feet of the next incoming government regardless of which party claims power.

    Released earlier this week by Melbourne City Mission (MCM), the survey of 209 young people aged 15 to 24 exposes a systemic breakdown that pushes already vulnerable homeless youth into repeated emergency department (ED) visits for life-threatening mental health emergencies. The data paints an alarming picture: more than 50% of young people accessing homelessness services in Melbourne have visited a hospital ED for urgent mental health concerns. Of these cases, nearly 60% involve self-harm, suicidal ideation, or suicide attempts, and 17% of young people have been admitted to the ED four or more times for the same issues.

    The report also uncovers deep-rooted trauma that precedes homelessness for most young people in the system. Five out of six respondents who accessed support services had grown up in households plagued by family violence, and roughly two-thirds had prior interaction with Victoria’s child protective services. Geographic data adds another layer to the crisis: in the Latrobe/Gippsland region, more than half of homeless young people have been without stable housing for two years or longer, while in Greater Melbourne, more than 25% have been unhoused for four years or more.

    In response to the findings, MCM and leading youth mental health service Orygen are calling on all political parties contesting the election to commit to building a fully funded, dedicated supported housing model specifically for vulnerable young people. The proposed model would mirror a partially implemented housing program already promised and rolled out for adults, adapted to meet the unique needs of homeless youth.

    Orygen executive director Professor Pat McGorry emphasized that stable, supported housing is not a secondary add-on to mental health care—it is a core intervention. “You cannot recover from a mental health crisis while you are sleeping rough or moving between temporary crisis beds,” McGorry explained. “Housing has to be part of youth mental health care, not an afterthought for when a young person has recovered. The Royal Commission made a promise to address this and so far the Victorian government has failed to deliver.”

    MCM chief executive Paul Wappett added that the current system traps young people in a devastating cycle: young people are treated for mental health crises in hospital, only to be discharged back into homelessness with no safe alternative. “Every young person in this snapshot has a story that starts with trauma and ends up in an emergency department, because there is nowhere else for them to go,” Wappett said. “Police, paramedics and hospital staff are working in a broken system and none of them can give a young person the home they need. That’s not a job any of them signed up for, and it’s not a job they should have to do.”

    The human impact of this policy failure is illustrated by the experience of Clara, a young Victorian who experienced chronic homelessness after being forced to leave her home at 18 to escape ongoing family violence. After leaving home, Clara cycled between temporary youth refuges, rough sleeping, and repeated ED visits for mental health emergencies. The instability and trauma derailed her education, despite her previous academic success, and her mental health declined so severely that she attempted suicide 42 times over six months.

    Clara’s trajectory shifted only after she accessed medium-term supported housing through MCM. “Having a safe place to live gave me the stability to engage in recovery, access support, and rebuild my life,” she said. Today, Clara lives in permanent stable housing with her partner, studies biomedicine, and works as an advocate in MCM’s outreach team. “My experience has shown me that safe housing is not just a roof over your head, it can be the foundation for recovery, hope, and a future,” she added.

    With the election just six months away, advocates are ramping up pressure on both major parties and minor candidates to prioritize this critical reform to end the cycle of trauma and hospitalisation facing Victoria’s most vulnerable young people.

  • At least 72 died in Spain’s Ceuta migrant rush

    At least 72 died in Spain’s Ceuta migrant rush

    One of the largest uncontrolled mass migrant crossings in recent European history has left at least 72 people dead after tens of thousands of people, mostly swimming across the border from Morocco, flooded into Spain’s North African enclave of Ceuta over recent days, local government officials confirmed Sunday. The death toll, updated from an earlier count of 67, marks one of the deadliest recent migrant events on the European Union’s southern border.

    An estimated 60,000 people crossed Ceuta’s lightly guarded border barrier between Wednesday and Friday, according to official estimates, but the vast majority have returned voluntarily to Morocco over the past 48 hours, leaving the small enclave gradually returning to normal operations by Sunday. By the end of the weekend, only small scattered groups of migrants remained in public spaces across Ceuta.

    On Sunday, Spanish national police and military personnel patrolled Ceuta’s city streets as clean-up crews worked to clear trash, discarded clothing and other debris left behind along the border crossing during the mass movement. An AFP reporter on the ground witnessed Spanish soldiers detaining a group of nine exhausted migrants resting on a sidewalk near a port-side housing development, guarded by troops and an armored personnel carrier. Rescue teams deployed small inflatable vessels to patrol the Mediterranean waters surrounding the border barrier, where a new 500-meter floating security boom has been installed to reinforce border controls. Spain’s Civil Guard was also seen transporting groups of remaining migrants by bus back to the border crossing for repatriation to Morocco.

    Many unaccompanied minor migrants remained in Ceuta over the weekend, gathered in a disused industrial park on the city’s outskirts. Aziz Dabch, a 41-year-old Moroccan man who was among the few adults staying with the group, told reporters that every child at the site shared the same goal: reaching mainland Spain to build new lives.

    The unprecedented mass influx has already triggered an international diplomatic crisis, with many of Spain’s European Union partners criticizing Madrid’s handling of immigration and border policies. Multiple competing explanations have emerged for what led to the sudden surge in crossings. Spanish officials have blamed criminal smuggling networks for spreading false rumors across social media claiming that a recent Spanish Supreme Court immigration ruling would open a window for unimpeded access to the enclave and eventually mainland Europe. Multiple regional analysts have put forward an alternative theory: that Moroccan authorities intentionally relaxed border controls to place diplomatic pressure on Spain, which has recently moved to strengthen diplomatic and trade ties with Algeria, Morocco’s long-standing regional rival. This is not the first time Morocco has used this tactic: in 2021, roughly 10,000 migrants crossed into Ceuta after border controls were eased, in a widely documented move to pressure Madrid. To date, Moroccan officials have not issued any public comment on the current crisis. Migrants who crossed the border confirmed they had heard widespread claims the border was open, a rumor that spread rapidly across social media platforms to draw thousands to the crossing.

    The European Union announced Sunday that it would hold an emergency video conference on Tuesday to address the crisis, after 22 of the bloc’s 27 member states signed a joint open letter calling for an urgent, coordinated EU-wide response to prevent additional uncontrolled border crossings. The crisis has already exposed deep divisions among EU member states: on Saturday, Italy implemented a one-month suspension of its Schengen Area commitments with Spain, pausing visa-free free movement across their shared border for the duration of the emergency. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez publicly condemned the move in a letter sent to all EU leaders, labeling the decision “selfish” and highlighting the need for collective action rather than unilateral border restrictions.

    Pope Leo XIV addressed the unfolding crisis during his regular Sunday daily prayers, saying he was following the situation in Ceuta “with deep concern” and called for a negotiated solution that delivers “peace, stability and justice” for all people affected by the crisis.

  • One Nation is Australia’s most popular political party, poll finds

    One Nation is Australia’s most popular political party, poll finds

    A recent nationwide voting poll has delivered a striking shake-up to Australia’s political landscape, with Pauline Hanson’s right-wing insurgent party One Nation reclaiming the position of the nation’s most popular political party by primary vote share. Conducted by research firm Redbridge exclusively for *The Australian Financial Review*, the survey of 1,001 Australian voters captured shifting voter sentiment weeks after the last major national polling, tracking movement across all major Australian political parties.

    Per the poll results, One Nation’s primary vote support climbed two percentage points to hit 32%, outstripping the ruling Labor Party, which saw a one-point drop to land at 29%. The center-right Coalition recorded a four-point surge to reach 22% primary support, while the left-wing Green Party shed an equal four points to settle at 10% of the projected primary vote. This result marks only the second time One Nation has outperformed Labor in primary voting polling since May 2024, with the shift falling within the poll’s stated 3.3% margin of error.

    While One Nation leads in primary voting, two-party preferred preference modeling reveals conflicting outcomes across different head-to-head matchups. In a direct contest between One Nation and Labor, the incumbent government still holds a lead, though that advantage shrank three points to leave Labor with a narrow six-point lead (53% to 47%). When matched against the Coalition, however, Labor lost its lead: the opposition rose six points to claim a four-point advantage, sitting at 52% to Labor’s 48%.

    On the question of preferred prime minister, incumbent Anthony Albanese retained his top position despite sliding approval ratings. Albanese polled at 32% for preferred prime minister, ahead of Pauline Hanson on 24% and new Liberal leader Angus Taylor on 15%. This standing comes despite overall negative sentiment toward the prime minister’s performance: Albanese’s net approval rating fell one point to negative 19. Hanson’s net approval held steady at minus 10, while Taylor’s approval improved three points to reach negative six.

    The poll also broke down voter support by the key issues driving electoral choice. Voters ranked cost of living, healthcare, and housing affordability as their top three concerns, with Labor holding small leads on all three. Issues of immigration and crime and safety, ranked fourth and fifth in voter priority, saw One Nation capture the lead in voter support on these policy areas.