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  • Israel says Hamas armed wing chief killed in Gaza strike

    Israel says Hamas armed wing chief killed in Gaza strike

    In a confirmed development over the weekend, Israeli security and military forces announced they had successfully eliminated Ezzedine Al-Haddad, the top commander of Hamas’s armed wing, whom Israel identifies as a key architect of the deadly October 7, 2023 cross-border attacks from Gaza into Israel. The targeted airstrike was carried out Friday in the densely populated Rimal neighborhood of central Gaza City, striking a residential building in the area.

    The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic security agency, jointly released a statement Saturday confirming the operation’s success. “The IDF and the ISA announce that yesterday, in a precise strike in the area of the City of Gaza, the terrorist Ezzedine Al-Haddad was eliminated,” the joint statement read. Multiple Hamas officials have independently confirmed Haddad’s death to Agence France-Presse, matching Israel’s account of the operation. According to one senior Hamas source, Haddad was assassinated in a strike that hit both a civilian residential apartment and a civilian vehicle in Gaza City. The same source confirmed that Haddad was killed alongside his wife and one of his daughters.

    Photographs captured by AFP journalists on the ground show mourners carrying Haddad’s flag-wrapped body on a stretcher pulled from the rubble of the targeted building. His remains were transported to a local mosque for funeral prayers before a processional through city streets to his burial site.

    Israeli military leadership has framed the elimination as a major breakthrough in its ongoing campaign against Hamas. IDF Chief Lieutenant Colonel Eyal Zamir called the killing a “significant operational achievement” in a public statement Saturday. “In every conversation I held with the hostages who returned, the name of the arch-terrorist Ezzedine Al-Haddad… came up again and again,” Zamir said. “Today, we succeeded in eliminating him. The IDF will continue to pursue our enemies, strike them, and hold accountable everyone who took part in the October 7th massacre.”

    Israeli officials say Haddad was not only a core planner of the October 7 attacks but also oversaw the group’s system of holding Israeli hostages captured during the incursion. The IDF claimed Haddad deliberately positioned himself near hostages to avoid being targeted, in an attempt to shield himself from Israeli assassination attempts.

    Haddad’s killing marks the latest in a string of targeted assassinations of senior Hamas leaders by Israel since the October 7 attacks. Prior to Haddad, Israeli forces have killed Yahya Sinwar, the group’s top political leader widely seen as the mastermind of the October 7 operation, as well as Mohammed Deif, the longtime commander of Hamas’s armed wing who was also identified as a key plotter of the incursion. Beyond Gaza, Israeli strikes have also targeted Hamas operatives in neighboring Lebanon, killing senior commanders from the Iran-aligned militant group Hezbollah, including its longtime leader Hassan Nasrallah.

    According to Hamas sources, Haddad, 55, was appointed to lead the group’s armed wing in May 2023, after his predecessor was killed in a previous Israeli assassination strike. He had already survived six separate Israeli assassination attempts prior to Friday’s strike, a Hamas source told AFP. Beyond his role as military commander, Haddad was a founding member of Hamas’s internal security service and oversaw multiple prisoner and hostage exchange negotiations, including the temporary ceasefire swap that took place in November 2023.

    The October 7 attacks, which were led by Hamas armed wing militants, killed 1,221 people in Israel according to an AFP tally compiled from official Israeli government data. Militants also abducted 251 people and took them back to Gaza as hostages. In response, Israel launched a large-scale retaliatory military campaign in Gaza that has killed more than 72,700 Palestinians in the territory, according to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, figures that the United Nations has deemed reliable.

    Even after a temporary ceasefire was agreed in October 2024, daily violence continues to grip Gaza, with both Israeli forces and Hamas repeatedly accusing the other side of truce violations. Since the ceasefire went into effect, Gaza’s health ministry reports at least 856 Palestinians have been killed in ongoing Israeli strikes, while the IDF confirmed five of its soldiers have been killed in militant operations in the territory during the same period.

  • Trump, Nigeria claim killing of senior IS leader

    Trump, Nigeria claim killing of senior IS leader

    In a landmark counterterrorism success announced jointly by the United States and Nigerian governments, a top-ranking Islamic State leader identified as Abu-Bilal al-Minuki — the group’s global second-in-command — has been killed in a precision joint operation in northeast Nigeria’s Lake Chad region. The strike, which also eliminated several of al-Minuki’s senior lieutenants, marks one of the most significant blows to the jihadist network’s leadership in recent years.

    US President Donald Trump first broke the news of the operation in a post to his Truth Social platform, confirming he had personally authorized the mission. “Tonight, at my direction, brave American forces and the Armed Forces of Nigeria flawlessly executed a meticulously planned and very complex mission to eliminate the most active terrorist in the world from the battlefield,” Trump wrote in the announcement.

    Nigerian President Bola Tinubu later released an official statement confirming the outcome of the operation, noting that the strike targeted al-Minuki’s fortified compound in the Lake Chad Basin, a volatile, resource-scarce region that spans the borders of Nigeria, Niger, Chad and Cameroon. The Nigerian army detailed that the operation was a coordinated air-land assault carried out between midnight and 4 a.m. local time on Saturday, following weeks of intelligence gathering on al-Minuki’s hidden stronghold.

    Nigerian military spokesman Sani Uba explained that intelligence confirmed al-Minuki and his loyal cell had established a concealed, heavily fortified enclave in a remote village within Borno State, the heart of a 17-year-long Islamist insurgency that has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions across northeast Nigeria. Both US and Nigerian officials frame al-Minuki’s death as a catastrophic disruption to IS global operations. The Nigerian defense statement called him a critical operational and strategic leader who not only directed IS activity in West Africa and the Sahel, but also provided guidance to IS affiliates across the globe on media strategy, economic warfare, and the production of weapons, explosives and drone technology.

    “This operation dealt a heavy blow to the ranks of the Islamic State,” Tinubu said, emphasizing the coordinated effort between the two nations’ armed forces. “Our determined Nigerian Armed Forces, working closely with the Armed Forces of the United States, conducted a daring joint operation that removes a key coordinator of global terror networks.”

    Al-Minuki, who was also known by the alias Abu-Mainok, had been subject to US sanctions since 2023 over his terror activities. A former senior commander in Boko Haram — the original jihadist group that launched its insurgency in northeast Nigeria in 2009 — al-Minuki was linked to some of the group’s most notorious atrocities. Nigerian military records tie him directly to the 2018 Dapchi kidnapping, in which more than 100 schoolgirls were abducted from their dormitory in Yobe State. Between 2015 and early 2016, he also facilitated the transfer of hundreds of Islamist fighters to Libya to reinforce IS operations in North Africa, according to official military accounts. In recent years, he oversaw coordinated IS-linked attacks targeting ethnic and religious minority communities across the Sahel and West Africa, officials confirmed.

    Nigeria has faced growing pressure from the United States since late 2025, with Washington accusing the Tinubu administration of not moving aggressively enough to root out jihadist insurgent groups operating across the country’s northern regions, including Boko Haram and the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), an IS-aligned offshoot. The joint operation follows a December 25 airstrike in northwestern Sokoto State, carried out by US forces alongside Nigerian partners, that targeted fighters from the Islamic State in the Sahel group, which is primarily based in neighboring Niger. In the weeks following that strike, Washington deployed hundreds of additional US troops to Nigeria to train and support local counterterrorism forces.

    Tinubu opened his statement thanking Trump for his continued partnership, calling the US “an indispensable ally in our fight to eliminate terror from our soil.” He added that he looked forward to “more decisive strikes against all terrorist enclaves across the nation” in the coming months. The Nigerian army confirmed that no Nigerian or US military personnel were killed, and no coalition military assets were lost during the operation, a rare clean outcome for a high-risk counterterrorism mission in the region’s difficult terrain.

  • War in Middle East: latest developments

    War in Middle East: latest developments

    Just one day after the United States broker a 45-day extension of a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the Israeli military launched a new wave of airstrikes against Hezbollah positions across southern Lebanon, marking an abrupt end to the temporary calm that followed the Friday diplomatic breakthrough. The escalation has triggered mass displacement of local residents, with hundreds of civilians fleeing five targeted southern villages toward the coastal city of Sidon and Beirut, Lebanon’s capital, according to the country’s official National News Agency.

    The violence was not confined to rural border areas: State media confirmed that an Israeli airstrike hit a multi-story residential building in the southern Lebanese port city of Tyre, carried out hours after the Israeli military issued evacuation warnings for the structure. AFP correspondents on the ground confirmed the strike. Separately, Lebanon’s health ministry announced that an Israeli strike in the southern town of Haruf killed three paramedics affiliated with the Hezbollah-linked Islamic Health Committee. The Israeli military reported that over the past seven days, its operations in southern Lebanon killed more than 220 Hezbollah militants and struck over 440 militant targets across the region.

    The ceasefire extension, announced Friday by the US State Department following two days of Washington-mediated talks, was intended to create space for negotiations toward a permanent, long-term political settlement between the two neighboring states. “The April 16 cessation of hostilities will be extended by 45 days to enable further progress,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott confirmed in a statement. He added that US officials will host new negotiations for a permanent agreement on June 2 and 3, while the Pentagon will convene military delegations from both sides for security talks on May 29.

    Lebanon’s official delegation described the deal as a critical step toward long-term regional security, noting in a statement released by the Lebanese presidency that the truce extension and US-facilitated security negotiating track “pave the way for lasting stability” and provide “critical breathing space for our citizens.” Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam echoed that sentiment, adding in remarks at an NGO gathering Friday that his country has been exhausted by decades of “reckless” foreign-backed conflicts and called on Arab and international stakeholders to back Beirut’s position in upcoming negotiations with Israel.

    The conflict in the broader Middle East has already rippled through global energy markets, after Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz — the world’s busiest chokepoint for crude oil shipments — has gutted oil exports from OPEC founding member Iraq. Iraq’s new oil minister announced Friday that the country exported just 10 million barrels of crude through the strait in April, a stark drop from the typical monthly volume of 93 million barrels. Like most Persian Gulf oil producers, Iraq routes the vast majority of its crude exports through the strategic waterway, and has struggled to reorient its supply chain to alternate routes after the Iranian blockade took effect.

    The disruption to global oil supplies has shaken financial markets: Global equity indexes slumped Friday after high-level US-China summit talks failed to produce any breakthrough agreement to reopen the strait, stoking renewed fears that sustained energy price increases will fuel persistent global inflation and slow economic growth. Energy markets moved sharply in the opposite direction: International benchmark Brent crude rose 3% to trade near $109 per barrel following the news.

    In another development tied to regional tensions, the United Arab Emirates issued a firm rejection of Iranian accusations that the Gulf state has played an active offensive role in the ongoing conflict. “The UAE affirms its categorical rejection of Iranian claims and attempts to justify Iranian terrorist attacks targeting the UAE” and other regional countries, Minister of State Khalifa bin Shaheen Al Marar said in an official statement.

    Separately, in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials reported that Israeli forces shot and killed 34-year-old Nour al-Din Kamal Hassan Fayyad on the outskirts of the Jenin refugee camp in the northern portion of the territory. The Ramallah-based Palestinian Ministry of Health confirmed Fayyad’s identity, saying he was “killed by occupation forces’ fire in the Jenin camp.” The Israeli military had not issued an immediate response to requests for comment on the killing as of Friday.

  • Putin to visit China May 19-20, days after Trump trip

    Putin to visit China May 19-20, days after Trump trip

    In a move that underscores the steady deepening of Moscow-Beijing ties, the Kremlin announced Saturday that Russian President Vladimir Putin will embark on a two-day official visit to China starting May 19, arriving just days after U.S. President Donald Trump concluded his groundbreaking trip to Beijing — the first visit to China by a sitting U.S. president in almost a decade.

    According to an official statement from the Kremlin, the core agenda of Putin’s visit will center on advancing the comprehensive partnership and strategic cooperation between Russia and China. During high-level talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the two leaders will exchange detailed perspectives on pressing international and regional issues of shared concern, with a joint declaration set to be signed at the conclusion of their discussions. Putin is also scheduled to hold a separate meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang, where the pair will focus on expanding bilateral economic and trade cooperation, a cornerstone of the increasingly robust relationship between the two nations.

    The timing of Putin’s visit announcement comes immediately on the heels of Trump’s Friday departure from China, a trip marked by ceremonial grandeur that masked the persistence of unresolved trade disputes and geopolitical rifts, chief among them the lingering conflict between Russia and Ukraine. During his talks with Xi, Trump raised the ongoing Ukraine conflict, which has stretched into its fifth year, as well as the stalled U.S. standoff with Iran that began when hostilities broke out between the U.S.-Israeli bloc and Iran on February 28. However, Trump departed China without securing any visible breakthrough on either issue, despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s pre-summit request that Trump push for progress on ending the conflict during his discussions with Beijing.

    Moscow has repeatedly made clear that it will not accept a ceasefire or enter into full negotiations with Kyiv unless Ukraine concedes to the Kremlin’s sweeping territorial and political demands. For its part, China has maintained a formal position of neutrality: it has consistently called for diplomatic negotiations to end the fighting, but has never condemned Russia’s 2022 full-scale incursion into Ukraine, and denies Western accusations that it supplies weapons or military components to Russia’s defense industry. Beijing has instead pinned blame for the conflict, the deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II, on Western nations, arguing that their ongoing arms shipments to Kyiv have prolonged the violence.

    As the world’s largest importer of Russian fossil fuels, China has emerged as Russia’s most critical economic partner, a role that has expanded dramatically since Western powers imposed sweeping sanctions on Russian oil and gas exports following the 2022 invasion. That close alignment has been repeatedly emphasized by top Russian officials, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who spoke on the sidelines of an event in New Delhi just one day after the China-U.S. summit.

    Lavrov welcomed the outcome of the China-U.S. talks, noting that “if the agreements reached or to be reached by Beijing and Washington are in the interests of our Chinese friends, we can only be delighted.” But he was quick to underscore the unique strength of Moscow’s relationship with Beijing, emphasizing that Russia and China are “bound to China by ties… that are deeper and stronger than traditional political and military alliances.”

    The contrast between the outcomes of Trump’s Beijing visit and the upcoming Putin trip is already drawing attention from global observers. Following his departure, Trump claimed he had secured “fantastic” new trade deals with China, including a purported commitment from Beijing to purchase 200 Boeing aircraft along with increased volumes of U.S. crude oil and soybeans. But the details of these agreements remain sparse and vague, and Chinese officials have not released any formal public confirmation of the trade deals. Beijing’s overall response to the Trump-Xi summit was also far more muted than Trump’s own glowing descriptions of his interactions with Xi, whom Trump called a “great leader” and “friend.”

  • Eurovision gears up for boycotted final, with fiery Finns favourites

    Eurovision gears up for boycotted final, with fiery Finns favourites

    The world’s most-watched live televised music competition is preparing to crown its 2025 champion this Saturday, as the 70th Eurovision Song Contest gets underway in Vienna against a backdrop of unprecedented political controversy and widespread boycott calls. Five nations — Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain, one of the contest’s longest-standing and most generous financial backers — have withdrawn from this year’s event over organizers’ decision to allow Israel to compete, a protest against Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza. More than 1,000 music artists across Europe have also joined the call for audiences to boycott the broadcast.

    The historic 25-country final, scheduled to kick off at 9:00 pm local time (19:00 GMT) at Vienna’s iconic Stadthalle venue, will play to a sold-out crowd of 11,200 in-person spectators. Heading into the final, a fiery Finnish duo sits at the top of bookmakers’ rankings, with an Australian superstar close on their heels. Finnish violinist Linda Lampenius, 56, and pop vocalist Pete Parkkonen, 36, first captured global attention during Tuesday’s first semi-final, where their high-octane performance of the Finnish-language track *Liekinheitin* (Flamethrower) set the circular Stadthalle stage alight. In a rare exception to Eurovision’s rule that all on-stage instruments are pre-recorded, Lampenius won special permission to perform with her prized 1781 Galliano violin for the final. A veteran performer who has graced the cover of *Playboy* and appeared on the hit series *Baywatch*, Lampenius told Austria’s APA news agency ahead of the show: “I will never be a wallflower.”

    Trailing the Finnish pair by a narrow margin is 41-year-old Australian star Delta Goodrem, who has sold more than nine million albums worldwide. Goodrem’s performance of her original track *Eclipse*, which draws inspiration from planetary alignment and romantic connection, wowed crowds during Thursday’s second semi-final, where she performed while suspended above a glittering grand piano. Goodrem is vying to become Australia’s first Eurovision winner; the nation has competed as an invited guest since 2015. Eurovision specialist Fabien Randanne, a journalist with French outlet *20 Minutes*, told AFP that the 2025 title will almost certainly go to one of the two front-runners. “It’s going to come down to Finland and Australia,” he said. While Randanne noted that many European viewers still hold quiet reservations about voting for a non-European nation, he added that Goodrem’s iconic “star aura” could be enough to push her over the finish line.

    Goodrem’s rise in the rankings has pushed other early contenders, including entries from Greece, Israel, Denmark and France, down in pre-final predictions. Romania’s 22-year-old Alexandra Capitanescu has broken into the top five, however, drawing attention for her electrifying performance of the metal track *Choke Me*. Meanwhile, veteran Italian music star Sal Da Vinci, 56, is being tipped as a surprise dark horse by some analysts for his traditional ballad *Per sempre si* (Forever Yes). Sebastien Dias-das-Almas, a French journalist who has covered Eurovision since 2011, noted that Da Vinci could win over the large base of casual viewers who only tune in for the final itself. “He could appeal to the traditional audience, who only follow the contest on television on the night of the event,” Dias-das-Almas explained.

    Despite the political tensions, Eurovision fan enthusiasm remains undimmed. More than 75 countries are set to broadcast the final, and fans from across the globe have flocked to Vienna for the week of events. Undeterred by rainy weather, attendees have enjoyed Danube river musical cruises, open-air karaoke in the city hall fan zone, and impromptu singalongs on trams crossing the Austrian capital. “We have nothing like this in America, and I think Eurovision is phenomenal because it brings everybody together,” American fan Tory Huflar told AFP after Thursday’s semi-final. Organizers are hoping this year’s viewership matches the 166 million television audience that tuned in for 2024’s contest hosted in Switzerland.

    Political controversy has overshadowed much of the build-up, however. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez defended his country’s withdrawal Friday, saying he was certain Spain was on “the right side of history”. Pro-Palestinian activists held an alternative “song protest” concert in central Vienna on Friday, and the city has maintained tight security across all event venues throughout the week. “I’m Jewish, I support Palestine, and I don’t want a platform to be given to Israel at Eurovision,” 57-year-old attendee Dalia Sarig, who wore a Palestinian keffiyeh to the alternative event, told AFP.

  • Man killed by 13ft great white shark in Western Australia

    Man killed by 13ft great white shark in Western Australia

    A devastating fatal shark attack has shaken Western Australia, after a 4-meter great white shark killed a 38-year-old man at a popular recreational marine site off the state’s coast. Local law enforcement confirmed that the bite occurred shortly before 10 a.m. local time on Saturday, which translates to 3 a.m. British Summer Time, at Horseshoe Reef. This location sits northwest of Rottnest Island, a top tourist draw near Perth famed for its pristine white sand beaches and world-renowned surf breaks.

    Local public broadcaster ABC shared details of the immediate emergency response, releasing aerial footage that shows first responders rushing the injured man back to shore by private vessel. Emergency medical teams and police carried out cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the man at Geordie Bay’s jetty in a desperate attempt to save his life. In a formal statement confirming the tragedy, a police spokesperson said, “Sadly the man was unable to be revived.”

    Western Australia’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development confirmed to AFP that it had received official confirmation the attack was carried out by a great white shark. In the wake of the incident, the department issued a urgent public advisory urging all water users to exercise “additional caution” when entering the ocean along the entire stretch of coast surrounding the attack site.

    This event marks the first fatal shark attack recorded in Western Australia since March 2023, when a surfer was killed in a mauling at a remote outback beach. Australia has one of the highest rates of documented shark interactions globally: official records dating back to 1791 show nearly 1,300 confirmed shark attacks across the country, with more than 260 of those incidents ending in a fatality.

    Just earlier this year, in January, the east coast state of New South Wales saw a sharp spike in shark incidents, with four separate attacks reported across its coastline over just a 48-hour period. One of those victims was 12-year-old Nico Antic, who was attacked by a suspected bull shark after jumping from a rock outcrop into Sydney Harbour. The young boy died from his injuries a week after the attack, leaving his family devastated. In a joint statement released after his passing, his parents said they were utterly “heartbroken” by their loss.

  • Tragic details emerge as couple found dead together at home

    Tragic details emerge as couple found dead together at home

    A quiet, tight-knit rural community in southern Tasmania is reeling from an unfathomable tragedy this week, after the bodies of an elderly married couple were discovered at their remote property in what investigators have classified as a murder-suicide linked to family violence.

    Emergency response teams were dispatched to the residence on Native Corners Road in Campania, a township of just 1,000 residents located roughly 40 minutes’ drive north of the state capital Hobart, early Friday morning. The call for assistance came after the dead male victim reached out to a close relative, who immediately alerted state police to the unfolding emergency.

    Speaking to media following the discovery, Tasmania Police Detective Inspector David Gill outlined the preliminary findings of the ongoing investigation. “A male person appears to have ended his own life and the female resident received injuries causing her death,” Gill stated. “Investigations thus far have indicated that it is a family violence case and we are treating this as a murder-suicide.”

    Autopsy and timeline assessments suggest the deaths took place shortly after the initial alert was placed to emergency services, Gill confirmed. Both victims, confirmed to be the couple who owned the property, are in their 60s. In a striking detail that has deepened the shock across the community, Gill added that the pair had no prior contact with law enforcement and were not known to police for any incidents before the tragedy.

    The detective also acknowledged the heavy toll the incident has taken on first responders, describing the scene inside the home as “extremely confronting” for the officers and paramedics who first arrived at the property. A major crime scene designation was put in place immediately after the bodies were found, to allow for forensic examination of the site.

    Out of respect for the couple’s surviving family, Gill declined to release further specific details about the incident or the victims. Investigators are now asking any members of the public who have information relevant to the case that they have not yet shared with police to contact the Tasmania Police non-emergency line on 131 444, referencing incident number ESCAD 114-15052026 to assist with the ongoing probe.

  • Wordle heads to primetime as media seek puzzle reinvention

    Wordle heads to primetime as media seek puzzle reinvention

    The global media landscape is undergoing a quiet transformation, as legacy news organizations rush to integrate interactive puzzles and casual games into their digital offerings — all chasing the subscription-driven success that The New York Times has spent years refining, and that is now poised to make the jump to network television.

  • Radical housing tax overhaul divides experts and property industry

    Radical housing tax overhaul divides experts and property industry

    Australia’s decades-old investor-centric housing tax policies have long been criticized for funneling billions of dollars in public benefits into speculative investment, driving skyrocketing property prices and locking millions of aspiring homeowners out of the market. Now, the Albanese Labor government has tabled one of the most radical housing policy overhauls in a generation as part of its latest federal budget, aiming to reorient the market toward greater affordability and accessibility – but the reform has sparked fierce debate across industry, politics, and advocacy circles.

    Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced the two core changes in his Tuesday budget speech. First, the existing 50% discount on capital gains tax (CGT) for property investors will be replaced with inflation-adjusted indexation, a shift that reduces tax breaks for investors who profit from rapid property price growth. Second, new property investors will only be eligible to use negative gearing – the tax break that allows investors to offset rental losses against other income – when investing in newly constructed residences.

    Chalmers framed the reform as a long-overdue correction to a broken tax system that has favored speculators over working Australians chasing home ownership. “Since 1999, house prices have risen over 400%, more than twice as fast as average incomes,” he told parliament. “Our tax changes will help about 75,000 Australians achieve the dream of home ownership. We’re delivering a fairer tax system for workers, first-home buyers and future generations.”

    The policy has drawn sharp opposition from the conservative Coalition, which has already pledged to repeal the changes if it wins the next federal election. Shadow housing spokespeople argue the reform is “an assault on aspiration”, discouraging ordinary Australians from building property wealth through investment. The nation’s major housing and property industry groups have echoed this criticism, warning the changes will erode investor confidence, create market uncertainty, and ultimately undermine Australia’s already pressing housing supply targets.

    Jacob Caine, president of the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA), pointed out that the country is already behind schedule on its National Housing Accord target to build 1.2 million new homes between now and 2029. “At a time of acute rental stress and chronic undersupply, policy settings should be encouraging more investment into housing, not creating uncertainty or reducing confidence,” Caine said. “Private investment plays a critical role in Australia’s housing system.”

    Tim Reardon, chief economist for the Housing Industry Association (HIA), added that investors accounted for 43% of all new home purchases over the past year. He noted that contrary to the government’s framing, the policy will not simply shift investment from established properties to new builds: “In the real world, capital is mobile. Investors aren’t limited to choosing between new or established homes – they can redirect capital to industrial property, commercial assets, shares or other classes of investment entirely.”

    On the other side of the debate, housing affordability advocacy groups have hailed the changes as a historic turning point for Australia’s dysfunctional housing market. Everybody’s Home, a national campaign coalition working to end the national housing crisis, called the reform a long-overdue challenge to one of Australian policy’s most entrenched “sacred cows”.

    Maiy Azize, spokeswoman for Everybody’s Home, argued that for decades the federal government has wasted billions on tax breaks that have done nothing to expand affordable housing and everything to drive up prices and worsen inequality. “The government has spent about $2 billion a year on boosting new housing supply, but gave away orders of magnitude more through CGT discounts and negative gearing,” Azize said. “Imagine if we had that money available to invest in public housing instead.”

    Azize added that the reform will help curb the runaway house price growth that has left tens of thousands of aspiring homeowners playing catch-up on deposits. “For everyone trying to save for a home, you can start saving for a deposit and won’t have to constantly worry if house prices will jump $150,000 in 12 months,” she said. The change also acknowledges that decades of underbuilding have left Australia with a shortage of roughly 640,000 social and affordable homes, a gap that will take roughly 20 years to close even with the new policy in place.

    When it comes to the impact of the changes on property prices, economists are broadly aligned in one key prediction: the overhaul will slow the breakneck growth that has defined Australia’s housing market in recent decades. Commonwealth Bank senior economist Trent Saunders said the tax changes, combined with ongoing interest rate rises from the Reserve Bank of Australia and increasing cost of living pressures, will lead to moderately slower price growth over the next three years.

    “In response to these policy changes, house prices are expected to eventually be 3% lower than they otherwise would have been,” Saunders explained. The policy is projected to shave roughly 60 basis points off annual house price growth in 2026, rising to a full 1 percentage point reduction in 2027. Saunders added that a key downside risk remains: if investor sentiment drops sharply in the short term, price growth could cool even faster than current projections based on market fundamentals suggest.

    As the government moves to legislate the changes, the debate over their long-term impact continues: while supporters say they mark a critical first step toward restoring housing affordability for a new generation, opponents warn they could worsen the existing supply crisis and leave renters and buyers worse off in the long run.

  • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vows to defend hate group laws as neo-Nazis plan court fight

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese vows to defend hate group laws as neo-Nazis plan court fight

    In a landmark move to counter extremist white supremacist activity on Australian soil, the federal government has formally outlawed the National Socialist Network (NSN) and two linked extremist factions, White Australia and the European Australian Movement, designating them as prohibited terrorist hate groups under national counter-extremism legislation. The ban came into effect at midnight Friday, marking only the second time an organization has received this designation in Australia, following the 2024 ban of Islamist group Hizb ut-Tahrir.

    Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke told reporters Friday that any association with the banned group will now carry severe criminal consequences. Under the new designation, activities including supporting, financing, training new recruits, recruiting members, joining the group, or directing its operations all qualify as criminal offenses, carrying a maximum prison sentence of 15 years. Burke emphasized that the ban sends an unambiguous message that racial supremacist ideology has no tolerance in contemporary Australian society.

    The roots of this ban stretch back to earlier this year, when Australian parliament passed expanded counter-hate legislation in the aftermath of the fatal Bondi Junction terror attack. In response to that new legal framework, the NSN publicly announced it would disband. But Burke argued that the group simply carried out a so-called “phoenix” reorganization, rebranding under new names while continuing the same extremist activities that meet the legal threshold for a ban. “It doesn’t matter what they call themselves, or how they restructure their operations, these groups rely on the same thuggish, intimidating tactics that Nazis have always used to target Jewish communities and other marginalized groups,” Burke said.

    Within hours of the government’s ban announcement, current and former NSN members and supporters began a coordinated effort to erase their digital footprints across social media platforms. A warning message circulated widely among affiliated circles, urging supporters to exercise extreme caution online. The message instructs members to avoid praising the group, sharing its content or footage, and to exit all group chats that include former NSN members. “Please take this seriously,” the message reads. “Don’t allow yourself to become an example made by the state.”

    Thomas Sewell, the former leader of the NSN, has framed the ban as a politically motivated attack on his organizing efforts. In an online statement, Sewell claimed the government acted out of hatred for white Australians, and that the ban is retaliation for his attempt to register a new far-right political party. Sewell confirmed he has launched an appeal to Australia’s High Court challenging the constitutionality of the underlying hate group ban legislation.

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed the challenge on Saturday, saying the government remains completely confident the appeal will be rejected. Albanese reiterated that the ban targets the group’s violent, divisive ideology, not just its branding. “These neo-Nazis have changed their names multiple times, but their core policies have never shifted: policies of hatred, policies of antisemitism, policies that seek to divide Australians and target vulnerable communities,” Albanese said. “These are critical laws that protect all Australians, and we will stand by them and defend them vigorously in court.”