NSW Health continues to use machine known to produce inaccurate results to test child blood lead levels 08. March 2026 (15:00) LeadCare II offers point-of-care testing but the equipment has had recalls globally due to the potential for inaccurately low readingsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastElla’s* 16-month-old daughter returned a blood lead level of 3.5 micrograms of lead per decilitre (3.5μg/dL) when she was tested last week.That’s under the five micrograms the Australian guidelines consider the investigation threshold – the level at which a child’s blood test result should trigger a health response – but Ella is not reassured. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Outsourced call centre sweeps Centrelink customer privacy breaches ‘under the rug’, staff allege 08. March 2026 (15:00) Workers accuse government-contracted Telco Services Australia of fabricating performance statistics, denying adequate breaks and penalising staff for taking leaveFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA major outsourced call centre operator has been accused of pressuring managers to fabricate performance statistics and sweep serious privacy breaches involving Centrelink customers “under the rug”.The allegations, which the company strongly denies, form part of a series of claims by current and former call centre workers who say their employer, the Perth-based Telco Services Australia (TSA), penalises staff for taking sick leave, and does not allow for adequate breaks, putting workers’ health at risk. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Two more US aircraft arrive at RAF Fairford 08. March 2026 (14:48) Aircraft touch down in Gloucestershire after Trump given use of British bases for defensive operations in IranMiddle East crisis – live updatesTwo more US Air Force planes have landed at RAF Fairford, after the UK allowed the US to use its bases to take part in defensive operations in Iran.Footage broadcast on Sunday showed two Boeing C-17 Globemaster transportation planes landing at the airbase in Gloucestershire, days after B-1 Lancer bombers arrived. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Ex-rapper Balendra Shah set to be Nepal PM after party’s landslide election win 08. March 2026 (14:47) Shah’s Rastriya Swatantra party secures thumping victory in first poll since gen Z protests that toppled government Balendra Shah, the rapper turned politician and popular figurehead of a gen Z revolution, looks set to become Nepal’s next prime minister after his party won by an unprecedented margin.Shah, known widely as Balen, and his Rastriya Swatantra party (RSP) secured a rare landslide victory in the first election since youth-led protests during which dozens were killed and the former government was toppled. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Judge rules Kari Lake unlawfully ran US media agency, voiding mass layoffs 08. March 2026 (14:35) Trump picked Lake without Senate confirmation to run VOA parent agency in 2025 who cut over 1,000 jobsA federal judge ruled Saturday that Kari Lake unlawfully led the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) for several months last year and voided mass layoffs and other actions taken during that period to dismantle the agency.The US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) is an independent federal agency that oversees the Voice of America (VOA), the US’s largest and oldest international broadcaster, and provides grants to Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe and other news agencies. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘People are thinking twice’: Cyprus feels the effect of the Iran war on tourism 08. March 2026 (14:00) No country in Europe is likely to be affected more than Cyprus, the nearest EU member to the Middle EastThe season has barely begun but Ayia Napa is beginning to feel the pulse. Tourists are trickling back, enjoying the Cypriot resort’s sunsets, eateries and shoreline views.On the seafront, Vassilis Georgiou is busy overseeing the construction of a new ramp for the jetskis that are a highlight of his water sports business. Last year, more than 500,000 holidaymakers visited the beachside booth, snapping up tickets for the boat cruises and parasailing also on offer. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
How Trump’s EPA rollbacks give US states new tools in climate suits 08. March 2026 (14:00) Vermont and New York face high stakes to protect climate superfund laws as it faces attacks from Trump’s DoJSign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxBy rolling back a bedrock climate legal determination, the Trump administration has undercut its attacks on a groundbreaking state climate accountability law, green groups have argued in court.Trump’s justice department has asked a judge to kill a first-of-its-kind 2024 Vermont “climate superfund” policy requiring major polluters to pay for damages caused by their past planet-heating pollution, partly on the grounds that that federal law, not state law, governs greenhouse gas emissions. But last month, Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) repealed the endangerment finding, the scientific determination giving federal officials the authority to control those very pollutants. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
German state election a test for chancellor Friedrich Merz 08. March 2026 (13:52) Leader’s centre-right CDU party is hoping to beat Greens in Sunday’s election in Baden-WürttembergFriedrich Merz’s centre-right CDU faces a regional election on Sunday, the first of several this year in which it hopes to stem the rise of the far-right Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).Voters will head to the polls in Baden-Württemberg, a prosperous hub of Germany’s auto sector with a population of 11.2 million. A year after winning national elections, the CDU is aiming to snatch first place in the south-western state from the Greens, who have won the last two state elections. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
ChatGPT driving rise in reports of ‘satanic’ organised ritual abuse, UK experts say 08. March 2026 (13:00) Exclusive: ‘Witchcraft, spirit possession and spiritual abuse’ offending typified by sexual abuse, violence and neglectChatGPT is driving a rise in reports of organised ritual abuse, UK experts have said, as survivors of “satanic” sexual violence use the AI tool for therapy.Police say organised ritual abuse and “witchcraft, spirit possession and spiritual abuse” (WSPRA) against children is under-reported in the UK. There is no modern-day charge that covers it specifically, but such offending is typified by sexual abuse, violence and neglect involving ritualistic elements – sometimes inspired by satanism, fascism or esoteric religious beliefs – to control victims. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘I am trying to live’: Haitians in Mexico seek community despite broken immigration systems 08. March 2026 (13:00) Funding cuts, US political pressure and bureaucratic delays have left thousands of Haitians facing prolonged uncertainty in TapachulaA year ago, when Jean Baptiste Gensley stepped off a bus in Tapachula, Mexico’s southern city on the border with Guatemala, he carried a small backpack and the hope that his journey was finally over.In his native Haiti, Gensley, 37, worked as a radio journalist and social worker, analyzing the effects of gang violence in some of Port-au-Prince’s most dangerous neighborhoods. With time, as his research led to police intervention, he caught the attention of the city’s gangs. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
