Contractor warned to ‘step up’ and finish Sydney’s maligned M6 motorway or face the consequences 10. March 2026 (06:12) Twin tunnels should be open but lead contractor wants out, blaming sinkholes and a ‘reverse fault’. The NSW government insists ‘there is a technical solution available’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwo years after large sinkholes opened above the construction of a $3.1bn Sydney motorway tunnel, the consortium charged with the project’s completion has been issued a notice forcing it to continue the job or face possible legal consequences.The New South Wales roads minister, Jenny Aitchison, said contractor CGU had on Monday been issued a “notice of default”, forcing it to recommence work on the 90% complete M6 tunnel by 1 May. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Was Iran really building a nuclear weapon? – podcast 10. March 2026 (06:00) Among the many justifications Donald Trump has presented for the US and Israel attacking Iran has been the supposedly imminent threat posed by its nuclear weapons programme. But how close was the country really to developing an atomic weapon? Ian Sample hears from Kelsey Davenport, the director of non-proliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. She sets out why many experts don’t believe the country even had a structured nuclear weapons programme, and explains what she thinks the impact of the war could be on nuclear proliferation around the world.Attacking Iran’s nuclear programme could drive it towards a bomb, experts warnSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Bombing of Iran’s oil infrastructure to have major environmental fallout, experts warn 10. March 2026 (06:00) Monitors admit they are struggling to keep track of the environmental disasters arising from widening warIsrael’s bombing of Iran’s oil infrastructure will have major long-term environmental repercussions, experts have warned, as monitors admitted they were struggling to keep track of the environmental disasters arising from the widening war.Even as Iranians filled the streets to mark the appointment of a new supreme leader, the Shahran oil depot north-east of Tehran and the Shahr-e fuel depot to its south continued to burn on Monday, two days after they were bombed by Israeli warplanes. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Middle East crisis live: Trump claims Iran war will be over ‘very soon’ but Tehran says it will determine when 10. March 2026 (05:50) US president says war is ‘very complete’ and threatens worse strikes if passage of oil via strait of Hormuz is blocked; IRGC says it will not let out ‘one litre of oil’Oil prices drop sharply after Trump moves to reassure marketsTrump says Iran war is ‘very complete, pretty much’ as economic toll risesIsraeli strikes have hit south and east Lebanon, state media is reporting.The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, says it has intercepted a missile and drone attack from Iran. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Kyle Sandilands apologises to former co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson and says he wants program back on air 10. March 2026 (05:34) Kiis FM radio host accuses ARN of not running ‘genuine process’ before terminating Henderson’s contract and suspending him following pair’s on-air fightFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastKyle Sandilands says he has apologised to his co-host, Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, and is “devastated” that their partnership could be ending in his first public comments since their shock split.In a lengthy statement issued on Tuesday, the Kiis FM radio host said he had been told by the broadcaster’s parent company, the Australian Radio Network (ARN), that he was “not allowed to contact Jackie” or his colleagues after her exit from the $200m Kyle and Jackie O Show on Tuesday 3 March. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Bundaberg residents told to evacuate immediately amid major flooding in parts of Queensland 10. March 2026 (04:09) The BoM has forecast flooding of the Burnett River at Bundaberg could rise to 7.5 metres by midnightFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesSign up for climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s free Clear Air newsletter hereResidents of the coastal Queensland city of Bundaberg have been told to evacuate immediately amid major flooding in the wake of a tropical low.It comes after days of heavy rain across northern Australia, with parts of the Northern Territory experiencing their worst flooding in decades, and Darwin residents asked to reduce water use after the Darwin River Dam – the city’s major water source – stopped operating due to flooding. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
New Zealand Covid response among world’s best but ‘scars’ remain, inquiry finds 10. March 2026 (03:43) Royal commission says response led by Jacinda Ardern was broadly ‘appropriate’, in a wide-ranging report featuring recommendations for future pandemicsA royal commission into New Zealand’s Covid response has found it was one of the best in the world but acknowledged the period had left “scars”.The second of two inquiry reports on the pandemic was released on Tuesday and focused on the period between February 2021 to October 2022, when the government changed from an elimination strategy to one of suppression and minimisation of the virus. It also examined vaccine safety and the government’s immunisation programme, lockdowns and tracing and testing technology. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Vague and contradictory Trump says Iran war ‘won’, but not ‘won enough’ 10. March 2026 (03:14) After oil prices surged on Monday the US president sought – and failed – to offer a clear vision for when the largest US intervention in the Middle East in years will endMiddle East crisis – live updatesAt one of the most consequential moments of his two terms in office, wartime president Donald Trump on Monday delivered a vague and contradictory forecast for how long the United States will continue to fight in Iran and what the ultimate goal of the US military campaign there will be.With oil hovering above $100 a barrel for much of Monday and Middle Eastern allies fearing a further tumble into regional conflict, Trump appeared in Doral, Florida with the mission of calming global markets and reassuring skittish allies that he has a clear vision for how to end the largest US intervention in the Middle East since the Iraq war. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Trump’s Iran war will reinforce North Korea’s view that nuclear weapons are the only path to security 10. March 2026 (03:09) As speculation mounts that Kim Jong-un and Trump could meet this month, analysts say Pyongyang will continue to see nuclear weapons as a matter of survivalMiddle East crisis – live updates North Korea’s launch last week of a missile from a naval destroyer elicited an uncharacteristically prosaic analysis from the country’s leader, Kim Jong-un. The launch was proof, he said, that arming ships with nuclear weapons was “making satisfactory progress”.But the test, and Kim’s mildly upbeat appraisal, were designed to reverberate well beyond the deck of the 5,000-tonne destroyer-class vessel the Choe Hyon – the biggest warship in the North Korean fleet. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Kia Carnival escape one of 12 since US firm took control of Australian immigration detention, damning report finds 10. March 2026 (03:08) Staffing levels at centres ‘critical’ under Management and Training Corporation, prisons watchdog says Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAt least 12 escapes have occurred since a US private prison operator began running Australia’s immigration detention network, including by a high-risk detainee who was mistakenly placed in an unsecured Kia Carnival with a makeshift weapon, a scathing report has found.The prisons watchdog, the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), on Tuesday released a damning report about the running of the onshore immigration detention centres during their transition to Management and Training Corporation (MTC). Continue reading...(The Guardian)
