Browsing: Main Headlines

Australian actor Orpheus Pledger, former Home and Away star, has been arrested after a three-day police manhunt across the country. Pledger, 30, is facing four charges for allegedly assaulting a woman, authorities say.

ByteDance, the Chinese parent company of TikTok, has said that it has no plans to sell the popular video app despite pressure from the US government. Earlier this week, TikTok said it would challenge in court the “unconstitutional” law.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced a temporary suspension of his public duties to decide whether to continue in office. This decision comes in the wake of a court’s start of a preliminary inquiry into his wife, Begoña Gómez. Sánchez expressed the urgency of determining whether to persist in leading the government or relinquish his position, stating it as a matter of honour.

Arizona has voted to repeal a 160-year-old law banning abortion, marking a major win for the Democratic-led effort to take the law off the books. Republicans had thwarted two earlier attempts to vote on ending the law, which bans abortions from conception without exceptions for rape or incest.

India’s general election, the largest-ever election, has begun and will take around 44 days until the polls close. To get people voting in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru, companies in the city are offering a range of incentives – from free food to taxi rides.

Ukraine has begun using long-range ballistic missiles secretly provided by the US against invading Russian forces, American officials have confirmed. The weapons were part of a $300m aid package approved by Joe Biden in Match and arrived this month.

A UN Security Council resolution – which called on all countries to prevent an arms race in outer space, has been vetoed by Russia. The draft resolution was put forward by the US and Japan and was aimed at reaffirming a principle already set out in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

In a secretive meeting held about a year ago, a small group of lawmakers gathered to strategize on how to effectively ban the popular social media app, TikTok. The lawmakers, determined to keep their discussions away from the prying eyes of TikTok lobbyists, worked tirelessly to craft a bill that would effectively prohibit the app from operating in the United States.

The EU has called on international donors to resume funding to Gaza’s largest UN agency. Several nations had stopped funding the UNRWA agency after allegations that some employees took part in the October 7 attack on Israel. A review has found that Israel failed to provide evidence for its claim that thousands of UNRWA staff were members of terror groups.

On Tuesday, tens of thousands of people took to the streets of the Argentinian capital Buenos Aires to protest against cuts to public universities. The protesters called for education funding to be protected. The country’s new President, Javier Milei, was elected to office last year promising to bring Argentina’s finances under control with sweeping cuts to the public sector.