Category: Top Stories

Heads of state and royalty will start converging on Rome on Friday for the funeral of Pope Francis in the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Square, but the group of poor people who will meet his casket in a small crosstown basilica are more in keeping with Francis’ humble persona and disdain for pomp. US President Donald Trump and Argentine President Javier Milei are among the leaders arriving Friday, the last day Argentine pope will lie in state in St. Peter’s Basilica before his coffin is sealed in the evening in preparation for his funeral Saturday. The Vatican said 130 delegations are ... Read more

A Gold Coast resident is disputing a massive water bill, alleging a council-owned tree caused a water leak on his property. Terry Gulliver, a swim coach, received a bill exceeding $5000, a figure almost eight times his usual charge. “I thought it was my rate bill, and then I took a double-take because it said water and sewerage… and I thought that’s crazy,” Gulliver said. Terry Gulliver wants council to foot the massive water bill he received after a tree busted a water pipe on his property. (Nine) “I rang up the council and he said ‘oh you must have ... Read more

A new study has uncovered another benefit of one of the country’s most commonly prescribed medications for diabetes – joint pain relief. More than six million scripts for metformin are written each year, mainly to treat type 2 diabetes. Researchers at Monash University led a study to see whether the safe and inexpensive tablets could be repurposed to manage pain for those with knee arthritis. A new study has uncovered another benefit of one of the country’s most commonly prescribed medications for diabetes – joint pain relief. (Getty) More than 100 people, who didn’t have diabetes but were overweight and ... Read more

Five days before his 100th day in office – and 93 days since his own deadline passed for resolving the conflict in Ukraine – President Donald Trump is frustrated his efforts to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine have so far fallen short, and has privately told advisers that mediating a deal has been more difficult than he anticipated, sources familiar with the discussions told CNN. Behind the scenes, he frequently brings up how much Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hate one another, one of the sources said – an unsurprising fact, but one ... Read more

China has denied any suggestion that it was in active negotiations with the administration of US President Donald Trump over tariffs, saying that any notion of progress in the matter was as groundless as “trying to catch the wind”. China’s comments come after Trump said on Tuesday that things were going “fine with China” and that the final tariff rate on Chinese exports would come down “substantially” from the current 145 per cent. Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said during a daily briefing that, “For all I know, China and the US are not having any consultation ... Read more

China appears to have quietly rolled back retaliatory tariffs of 125 per cent on some semiconductors made in the US, according to details provided to CNN on Friday by three import agencies in the southern technology hub of Shenzhen. The exemptions apply to integrated circuits, also known as microchips or semiconductors, according to the agencies. They found out about the exemptions, which have not been officially announced, late on Thursday. President Donald Trump waves on the South Lawn of the White House on Thursday. (AP) On April 12, China raised its reciprocal tariffs to 125 per cent for all goods ... Read more

Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is expected to appear in federal court on Friday to enter a plea on charges of stalking and murder. The court appearance comes about a week after a federal grand jury indicted Mangione on four federal charges in the December 4 killing of the insurance executive. The targeted shooting of Thompson, who was on his way to a UnitedHealthcare investors’ conference in New York, has led to an outpouring of support for Mangione from people with deep frustration and anger at the American for-profit health care system. Luigi Mangione ... Read more

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has denounced the cowardly behaviour of hecklers who interrupted Welcome to Country acknowledgements at Anzac Day dawn services in Melbourne and Perth today. Victorian dignitaries, spectators and veterans were listening to Indigenous elder Uncle Mark Brown at the Shrine of Remembrance when a small number of people started booing. In WA, a heckler disrupted the acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the land at the Kings Park dawn service, in an act the state’s premier Roger Cook labelled as “disgusting”. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Anzac Day. (9News) “What occurred at Melbourne’s Shrine of Remembrance and ... Read more

A man has been arrested after the fatal shooting of an 18-year-old man in the NSW city of Newcastle. Ekam Sahni died after he was allegedly shot in the chest at the Bar Beach carpark about 11.40pm on Wednesday. About 11.20am today, a 22-year-old man was arrested at Newcastle Police Station. Ekam Sahni was shot dead at the Bar Beach carpark. (Nine) Police said their inquiries are continuing. No charges have yet been laid. Sahni, a Newcastle local, was allegedly shot after a fight between two groups of people at the beach car park. After the fight, a white Volvo ... Read more

Emergency services were called to a beach off Boneo Road at 9.45am and carried out a search of the ocean. The Victoria Police Air Wing found a man unresponsive in the water. The man, who has not been publicly identified, was brought back to shore but could not be revived. A report will be prepared for the information of the coroner. The stretch of Victorian coastline is notoriously dangerous and has been the site of several tragic deaths in the last decade. It is understood the 53-year-old woman was among a group of three people washed off shore by a ... Read more