$20m public liability insurance to rally in a park: how council red tape hinders the right to protest 14. October 2026 (06:22) Public gatherings stymied by bureaucracy, Australian Democracy Network and Deakin University researchers findGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastCouncil red tape is stymieing the right to protest, a report has said, after a regional New South Wales council told a protest organiser they needed a $20m public liability insurance policy to hold a rally in a park.A report released on Wednesday, co-authored by Australian Democracy Network (ADN) and Deakin University’s Centre for Law as Protection, raised concerns about incidents in which councils have required protest organisers to obtain insurance when rallies are held on council land.
It also expressed concern about the power some regional and urban councils have to issue financial penalties if public gatherings are held without a council permit. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Iranian woman handed death sentence for ‘blasphemy’ in social media post 14. October 2026 (06:00) Rights groups warn of Tehran regime’s increasing use of executions to suppress dissent, with at least 600 this yearHuman rights groups have raised the alarm over the growing number of death sentences and executions in Iran, after reports that a 23-year-old woman, Najmeh Amini, has been sentenced to death for blasphemy over a social-media post.Amini, an accounting student, is being held in Vakilabad prison in the north-east city of Mashhad. She has been sentenced to more than 12 years in prison and death in separate cases heard by a revolutionary and a criminal court. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Ukraine is littered with landmines on a scale last seen in Vietnam. How can they be removed? 14. October 2026 (06:00) Faced with deadlier threats, demining groups are coming up with new ways of working using drones and AICrouched over on her hands and knees in a field of weeds, Olena Kabanova is digging into the ground. With a shovel and a steady hand, the 58-year-old digs out a neat square around the spot where a mine detector has sensed a suspicious object.Four years ago, this field in eastern Ukraine was occupied by Russian soldiers. Now back under Ukrainian control, it is littered with landmines. Civilians such as Kabanova are trying to make the land usable again. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Beau Lamarre-Condon previously visited farm where he later tried to sink bodies, court told 14. October 2026 (05:45) Jury also shown 3D reconstruction of Paddington terrace outlining prosecution version of alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke DaviesFollow our Australian politics live blog for latest updatesGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastBeau Lamarre-Condon previously visited a farm where he later tried to sink the bodies of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, the prosecution has told a Sydney court.The rural property belonged to the family of a man the police officer had met on a dating app and the two visited the farm together months before the alleged murders. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Family of Indigenous woman found dead in Melbourne mourn ‘vibrant, beautiful young girl’ 14. October 2026 (05:37) Police have charged a 31-year-old man with the alleged murder of Jayda Allen Bonner, whose body was found in a Carlton apartment on SaturdayFollow our Australian politics live blog for latest updatesGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastWarning: This article contains images of and references to Indigenous Australians who have diedThe family of a young Indigenous woman found dead in an apartment complex in Melbourne’s inner-north on Saturday say they are “absolutely crushed and shattered” by her death.Jayda Allen Bonner, 21, was found dead on the fifth floor of an apartment block on Cardigan Street, Carlton on Saturday at about 1.45am. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
’How do you explain the deletion of 130 million names?’ Why Indian voters are on the streets 14. October 2026 (04:09) Anger at electoral roll changes has boiled over, sparking a crisis for Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist governmentBorn into a small village in West Bengal, Shahida Fakir had always taken her vote for granted. That was, until it was suddenly taken away. She presented officials with her Indian birth certificate and family land documents from the village going back to 1962.Both her parents had been on the electoral roll going back decades, so she showed proof of that too. But when the final revised voter list came out in April, Fakir was not on it. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Court overturns Tanya Plibersek’s protection order which stalled controversial NSW goldmine 14. October 2026 (03:58) Federal court overrules decision by former environment minister for the McPhillamys goldmine development at BlayneyThe federal court has overturned a rare protection order issued by former environment minister Tanya Plibersek under Indigenous heritage legislation, which the company said effectively blocked a controversial goldmine in the central west of New South Wales.Regis Resources challenged the decision by the former minister to issue the order in 2024 under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Rachel Smith will turn 39 in prison. The high court says she could freeze her eggs from behind bars 14. October 2026 (03:45) Australia’s highest court says Queensland drug trafficker extracting and storing eggs is not ‘assisted reproductive technology’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA 36-year-old woman has won an appeal in Australia’s highest court about her right to freeze her eggs while behind bars.Rachel Smith is serving a 10-year prison term in Queensland for trafficking in a dangerous drug. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Russia arrests Japanese journalist on allegations of spying 14. October 2026 (03:05) FSB security agency said reporter was arrested on island of Sakhalin, alleging he was collecting information about Russia’s defencesRussia has arrested a Japanese journalist on the far east island of Sakhalin and accused him of spying, in the latest sign of rising tensions between Moscow and Tokyo.Russian foreign ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova identified the reporter as Yuki Imai, from the Hokkaido Shimbun newspaper, adding that he had been accused of “conducting espionage activities on Russian territory”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Graduate student accused of poisoning colleague and trying to flee to China arrested at LAX 14. October 2026 (02:53) Microbiologist Aili Wang, 32, poisoned tea of colleague in Wyoming who had pending patents, prosecutors allegeA Wyoming microbiology graduate student from China has been arrested on accusations she poisoned the tea of a colleague who had pending patents and with whom she did not get along, then tried to flee the country after police questioned her.Aili Wang, 32, was arrested 6 October at Los Angeles international airport, where prosecutors allege she sought to return to China. With her were laptops, electronic storage devices and documents now in the possession of police, who allege Wang was seen on surveillance video rummaging through the desk of the victim who specialized in technology for disease treatment – research similar to work she had done in China. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
