Category: Top Stories

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is expected to announce a $204 million pledge to introduce around-the-clock healthcare. Labor’s latest Medicare promise will include a 24/7 health advice line and access to after-hours doctors via telehealth for free under a rebranded 1800MEDICARE program. Albanese is set to announce 1800MEDICARE – which would replace Healthdirect – at a Labor rally in western Sydney later today. Anthony Albanese holds up a Medicare card. (Dominic Lorrimer) The expanded telehealth offering will be available in every state and territory from January 1 next year if Labor is re-elected. Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said earlier today the ... Read more

Two people were arrested during a fiery clash between opposing protest marches yesterday in Melbourne’s CBD. A man and a woman were arrested after violence erupted outside Parliament House in Spring Street when women’s rights protesters clashed with transgender rights activists. Police used pepper spray to control the crowd as punches were thrown between the opposing rallies. There was a strong police presence in the CBD ahead of yesterday’s warring protests. (9News) It’s understood the initial protest was organised by Women’s Voices Australia in protest of the Allan government’s plans to overhaul anti-vilification laws to include the LGBTIQA+ community. Trans-rights ... Read more

Residents in Sydney‘s Northern Beaches woke to a surprise visitor this morning, with a juvenile humpback whale swimming off Little Manly Cove. The unique sighting of the younger marine mammal comes ahead of the peak migration season. The sight left witnesses gobsmacked. Residents in Sydney’s Northern Beaches woke to a surprise visitor this morning, with a juvenile humpback whale swimming off Little Manly Cove. (9News) The unique sighting of the younger marine mammal comes ahead of the peak migration season. (9News) “I’ve never seen a whale come this close or up that close, it was truly something special,” Alex Smith ... Read more

World leaders and Catholic faithful have bidden farewell to Pope Francis in a funeral highlighting his concern for the “most peripheral of the peripheries” and reflecting his wishes as pastor. Though presidents and princes attended the mass in St Peter’s Square today, prisoners and migrants welcomed him at the basilica across town where he will be buried. Some 250,000 people flocked to the funeral, held on a brilliant spring day that was supposed to have been a special Holy Year celebration for adolescents. Archbishop Diego Giovanni Ravelli (front, left) kneels next to the closed coffin at the funeral mass for ... Read more

Both the White House and Zelenskyy’s office confirmed the meeting, which took place today in the hours before both men joined other world leaders and an estimated 200,000 Catholic faithful to farewell Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican. The Ukrainian Presidency shared striking images of the pair, seated without aides on relatively simple chairs amid the ornate surroundings of St Peter’s Basilica. US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meet in St Peter’s Basilica on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office) Although no recordings were released, the apparently serious but civil meeting appeared ... Read more

Policies threatening the right to work from home in the public sector may have wider consequences at the ballot box this election. Jordan Carroll, 25, isn’t a federal worker but he’s among the voters who highly value workplace flexibility. Jordan Carroll values a hybrid work policy far more than salary. (Supplied) Carroll left his 9-5 job at Commonwealth Bank to start his own business and isn’t surprised voter sentiment would shift in favour of flexibility. He quit CBA before it ordered workers to return to the office 50 per cent of the time and enjoyed a hybrid model while still ... Read more

The pope will get one more ride past the faithful on one of his beloved popemobiles. The Vatican says for Saturday’s burial procession, his coffin will be placed on the back of a popemobile used during his 2015 trip to the Philippines. The vehicle has been modified so the coffin will be visible to mourners along the nearly four kilometre route from St. Peter’s Basilica to his place of burial. The pope revealed in being driven through crowds of faithful whether in St. Peter’s Square or on one of his many foreign trips. His last was on Easter Sunday, when ... Read more

GRAPHIC WARNING: This video contains details some viewers may find distressing. A young man has been left with serious injuries after he was stabbed while jogging in Melbourne‘s north this morning. The 24-year-old was on a routine jog when he was allegedly ambushed by a stranger, struck in the abdomen and slashed on the neck and chin. Bystanders at the service station in Reservoir came to his aid and called Triple Zero while they tried to stop the bleeding. A young man has been left with serious injuries after he was stabbed while jogging in Melbourne’s north. (9News) Seven minutes ... Read more

The FBI on Friday arrested a Milwaukee judge accused of helping a man evade immigration authorities, escalating a clash between the Trump administration and local authorities over the Republican president’s sweeping immigration crackdown. Milwaukee County Circuit Court Judge Hannah Dugan is accused of escorting the man and his lawyer out of her courtroom through the jury door last week after learning that immigration authorities were seeking his arrest. The man was taken into custody outside the courthouse after agents chased him on foot. This 2016 photo shows Judge Hannah Dugan in Milwaukee. (Lee Matz/Milwaukee Independent via AP) (AP) The judge’s ... Read more

Preparations are under way in Vatican City for the funeral of Pope Francis at 6pm tonight (AEST). Tens of thousands of people have queued at St Peter’s Basilica to pay their respects as the pontiff lies in state. Dignitaries from around the world have arrived to attend the funeral, including UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, US President Donald Trump and Prince William. Source link