ABC News Top Stories

Online fitness trainer and former reality TV contestant Sam Wood will take his fight for bail to the Supreme Court in Queensland. Mr Wood, who is facing domestic violence charges, spent his first night in prison since his application for bail was rejected by a magistrate on the Sunshine Coast.

The mother of two Australian surfers shot dead in Mexico has called for their accused killers to receive maximum prison sentences as the court prepares to deliver its verdict. West Australian brothers Jake and Callum Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad were shot dead after...

A 28-year-old woman who worked at a plague research institute in Siberia has died.

The World Health Organization has asked Russia for more information about the death.

Hear what a former White House pandemic expert says would worry him and what the WHO wants from Russia.

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A ban on credit card payments to the Australian Taxation Office will be delayed until June 30, with the federal government agreeing to temporarily cover the cost of surcharges after pressure from businesses. Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the funding will give the ATO more time to consult with businesses and get it right.

AI data centre company Firmus has withdrawn its application to list on the ASX, scrapping what was set to be one of Australia's biggest share market floats. The company cited recent market volatility and conditions, saying the offer would not appropriately reflect its long-term growth...

Firmus is a data centre operator backed by chip-making giant Nvidia and it has axed its plan to list on the Australian share market.

The float had been billed as one of the biggest debuts in the history of the market, and it was a $44 billion float.

So what went wrong?

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UK police have admitted the warrants used to search Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor's homes in February were unlawful, and the High Court has quashed them.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested on 19 February on suspicion of misconduct in public office, and has been investigated over his links to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

A solicitor says the setback does not necessarily jeopardise the broader investigation, so what happens to the evidence police gathered?

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New research shows a troubling number of young abuse victims in Australia are staying silent or turning to AI chatbots instead of a trusted adult.

Australia's Federal Police Commissioner Krissy Barrett says it's a trend that highlights the limits of what police can do, and calls for a whole-of-community response.

So what does the research actually show, and what can caregivers do to help?

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The month-long trial over the murders of two Australian brothers in Mexico on a surfing trip is finally drawing to a close this morning. 

British police have admitted warrants they used to search properties linked to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor were unlawful. 

There's been a run of Russian attacks killing civilians in Ukraine, prompting outrage and calls for a forceful international response. 

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Prominent fitness influencer and reality TV star Sam Wood has been refused bail on domestic violence charges. Police allege he became involved in a family argument at Noosa on Queensland's Sunshine Coast on Saturday night.

A teenager is fighting for life in Melbourne after being burnt while allegedly carrying out an arson attack on Monday. The ABC understands a group was tasked with targeting the address by middlemen who had communicated using WhatsApp.

The $44 billion Australian float of data centre operator Firmus appears to be in trouble. Investment banks stopped taking bids for the initial...

Prominent fitness influencer and reality TV star Sam Wood has been denied bail on domestic violence charges and remanded in custody until 23 November.

Queensland police allege Mr Wood assaulted his wife during a family argument in Noosa on Saturday 3 October.

So what did the court hear from the prosecution and from Mr Wood's lawyer?

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Friends of a Victorian teenager fighting for life after a botched arson earlier this week have told the ABC they're praying he survives. The boy remains in a critical condition with burns to 90 per cent of his body after he and three others allegedly set cars on fire in Melbourne's northwest on Monday.

The New South Wales Supreme Court has released video footage allegedly showing Beau Lamarre-Condon making preparations to dispose of the bodies of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies. The former police officer is accused of murdering the couple and has pleaded not guilty.

...

The Australian Taxation Office has announced it will stop accepting credit cards as payments from 1 December, in response to the Reserve Bank's reforms to ban surcharge fees on card payments.

The ATO says absorbing the surcharge would effectively transfer the cost to all taxpayers, but the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry wants the decision reversed.

So what does the change mean for small businesses that use credit cards to manage their cash flow?

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Lawyers for a U-S death row inmate Christa Pike, who survived a botched execution are now seeking a lesser punishment of life in prison.

Real estate analysts say renters are opting for cheaper houses as data shows tenants have hit their financial breaking point.

French chemist Henri Kagan and Kenso Soai from Japan have won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, for what's been described as "the coolest experiment in organic chemistry".

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There's some new data out that could sound like good news for renters: it shows that rents are flat lining in most capital cities.

In fact, for the first time in two years, the price of rent in Sydney has even dropped!

But rents aren't going up anymore because tenants are at breaking point after years of increases.

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The High Court has found planning authorities must factor in the emissions from fossil fuels burned overseas when approving projects, such as mines. 

The judgement centres on a New South Wales mine expansion. 

While environmental groups are hailing the case as a win, law experts are sceptical it will set a broader legal precedent across the country.

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Life insurance companies are now legally banned from using genetic test results to deny people cover or charge them more.It ends a long and anxious wait for some Australians, who've been delaying the tests out of fear for their insurance.

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A mystery illness linked to a plague laboratory in Russia is being watched around the world, after a 28-year-old woman died on October 2.

Russian authorities say they have traced her contacts and the situation is stable.

So what do we know and is there any reason to be alarmed about pneumonic plague?

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A majority ruling in the High Court has found planning authorities need to consider how overseas emissions should be managed when approving fossil fuel projects in Australia. The finding is in favour of a Hunter Valley residents group, which halted the Mount Pleasant coal mine expansion last year in the New South Wales Court of Appeal.

Education and business groups have warned the Coalition's plan to slash Australia's temporary migration program would damage the economy. Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has rejected criticism of the economic impact of his proposal but acknowledged the changes would hit some visa...

Lawyers for US death row inmate Christa Pike say she is awake and speaking six days after Tennessee's attempt to execute her by lethal injection failed.

Tennessee's governor has halted executions for the rest of the year and ordered a review, and the state's prison chief is resigning.

A legal expert says Pike may satisfy the legal test for cruel and unusual punishment, and her attorneys will ask the governor to commute her sentence to life in prison without parole.

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Paramount Pictures has bought Warner Bros Discovery in a mega-merger that has created Skydance, one of the biggest media empires in the world.

Skydance will control HBO, DC Comics, New Line Cinema, CBS, CNN and Channel 10 in Australia, and will be led by David Ellison, son of tech billionaire and Trump ally Larry Ellison.

Entertainment journalist Kim Masters says large layoffs are widely expected, and a Deakin University professor says the merger could undermine American democracy.

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Tens of thousands of high school students have been protesting across France against under staffing and dilapidated classrooms.

The demonstrations have turned violent at times , with police firing tear gas and protesters lighting fires in the streets and hurling projectiles.

So what's happening in France?

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Jewish people are gathering to reflect three years on from the October 7 attacks, including at a service at Sydney’s Bondi beach. 

The Coalition is copping criticism from the higher education sector and business groups about its immigration plan, as One Nation releases modelling to support its own proposal to dramatically slash overseas arrivals. 

Student protests have spread to more than 30 cities across France with some turning violent as demonstrators set fires and clash with police.

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Three years on from Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Israelis are pausing to remember the day that changed their country and set off a chain of events that has reshaped the region.

About 1,200 people were killed and hundreds were taken hostage, and the war in Gaza that followed continues, with more than 74,000 Palestinians killed according to local health authorities.

With an election three weeks away, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's opponents are promising a national, independent inquiry into what happened, something he has refused.

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After a devastating population crash around 2017, the endangered Bogong moth appears to be making a remarkable comeback.

Researchers have a few theories about what's behind the explosion in numbers this year, from good rainfall to unusual wind patterns.

The moths are a crucial part of the alpine ecosystem, but there's still a lot scientists don't fully understand about them and their extraordinary journey.

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The family of a 28-year-old male soldier who died in a training exercise in the Northern Territory's Top End has asked for privacy as they mourn. Five other soldiers involved in the vehicle rollover at a training area southeast of Darwin were flown to hospital, where they remain.

The National Farmers Federation has welcomed aspects of the Coalition's migration policy but wants to see more detail. Under the plan, the Coalition has vowed to cut 650,000 temporary visas over four years.

OpenAI says additional monitoring has been put in place since one of its artificial intelligence...

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has announced the Coalition's migration policy, which he says is the biggest cut to immigration in the history of the country.

Under the plan, net overseas migration would fall to 100,000 a year for the first two years, rising to 160,000 by year four, compared with Labor's target of 225,000 a year by mid-2028.

How does it compare to One Nation's plan and who is being targeted for cuts?

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British author and former MP Jeffrey Archer has died at home aged 86, on the eve of the release of his final novel, Adam and Eve.

He became an MP at 29, was bankrupted, turned to writing novels, and was jailed for perjury in 2001 over his 1987 libel case against the Daily Star.

So how will Jeffrey Archer be remembered?

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An Australian army soldier has died and five others were injured during a training exercise in the Northern Territory.

The federal opposition is set to reveal how much it wants to cut overseas migration, and the government's demanding it spell out what that would mean economically for the country.

US President Donald Trump says a threat linked to Iran is behind the decision to move American bombers out of a British airbase.

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The former Prince Andrew has launched legal action against police in the UK who arrested him earlier this year.

Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has filed a claim with the High Court in London against Thames Valley Police over search warrants in February.

The younger brother of King Charles is already at the centre of one of Britain's biggest royal scandals, but this legal battle is not about proving his innocence. 

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Health experts are calling for Queensland's crackdown on shops selling illegal cigarettes to be implemented nationally. Data shows sales of legal cigarettes rose by 55 per cent in the first month after the laws took effect. While some premiers are calling for a cut to the tobacco excise WA WA's Premier Roger Cook says the real problem starts at the border and he wants the federal government to do more to stop illegal tobacco entering the country.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has announced early elections after his government's emergency measures to tackle the housing crisis were defeated...

A flydubai pilot has been accused of attacking his colleague in the cockpit in an alleged attempt to seize control of the plane and crash it.

With reports the alleged attacker had been grounded at another airline over security concerns, should there be more information sharing between airlines? 

The cockpit doors, strengthened after September 11, also complicate matters, as they can keep rescuers out as well as potential hijackers.

So what can airlines and regulators do about the risk of a radicalised or mentally unwell pilot?

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Investigations are underway into any potential Australian links of a pilot who attempted to crash a plane flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv last week. Hamam Al-Hammami is accused of attacking a colleague with an axe on a flydubai aircraft.

The United States says it has withdrawn all of its bombers from RAF Fairford, a base in England used to launch attacks on Iran. Last week British authorities intercepted vans apparently on their way to the base.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says he was surprised by first round election results that put...

Midterm elections in the Untied States are just weeks away, and Republicans are facing real pressure to hold onto their narrow majorities in both houses of Congress.

Polls suggest Donald Trump's economic policies have hit voters hard, and Democrats are eyeing seats across the country, including in states they haven't won in decades.

With redrawn voting maps, a fresh wave of progressive candidates, and Donald Trump making some eyebrow-raising promises, there's a lot at stake before polling day on November 3.

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Sydney's eastern suburbs are in party mode after the roosters completed the NRL-NRLW premiership double. 

The Australian Federal Police says a counterterrorism team is investigating Australian links to a flydubai pilot who allegedly attacked a colleague in the cockpit.

Australia's oldest man Ken Weeks turns 113 today. 

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A clearer picture is emerging about the attempted FlyDubai plane hijacking and the man allegedly behind it.

And while Omani national, 29 year old Hammam al-Hammami's exact motive for attacking his co-pilot with an axe and trying to crash the plane is unclea, authorities and experts believe he harboured extremist views.

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On the eve of the decider, a crash involving fans transformed the mood from excitement to heartbreak, leaving a Newcastle's community struggling to balance its grand final hopes with concern for those injured.

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