Top World News

Apr 3, 2026 - World

The telco’s sweeping price changes and the closure of its cheaper ‘starter’ plan risk putting off many of its loyal customersTelstra has long traded on its claim to have better – and far more expansive – mobile coverage than its rivals to justify a steep pricing premium that has accelerated in recent years.But the telco’s latest changes, which include steep price hikes and the closure of its cheaper “starter” plan to new users, combined with a dramatic rejection of its coverage claims by the industry regulator, risk putting off many of its traditional customers, according to consumer advocates. Continue reading...

Apr 3, 2026 - World

Proposal, a win for RFK Jr’s Maha movement, is a ‘first step’ toward tackling plastic pollution, advocates sayThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed on Thursday to include microplastics and pharmaceuticals on a list of contaminants in drinking water for the first time, a step that could lead to new limits on those substances for water utilities.Lee Zeldin, the EPA administrator, said the agency was responding to Americans who have worried about plastics and pharmaceuticals in their drinking water. The gesture also aims to hand a win to health secretary Robert FKennedy Jr’s Maha movement, which for months has pressured Zeldin to further crack down on environmental contaminants. Continue reading...

Apr 3, 2026 - World

NASUWT says full entitlement should be increased to 26 weeks and paternity pay also improvedFull maternity pay for teachers across the UK should be increased to 26 weeks to help stem the exodus of women in their 30s from classrooms, a union leader has said.Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union, said it was a “national scandal” that so many teachers who quit said inadequate maternity support was one of the reasons. Continue reading...

Apr 3, 2026 - World

A U.S. fighter jet in the Middle East was shot down by Iran, according to a breaking news report from Axios on Friday, the first such instance since the Trump administration launched Operation Epic Fury alongside Israel in late February.“An American fighter jet was shot down by Iranian fire,” reads a statement from Axios’ Barak Ravid, issued on social media moments after his report was published. “A search is underway to locate the two crew members, according to a source familiar with the details.”Neither the White House or the U.S. military responded to Axios’ request for comment on the alleged downed aircraft, which according to photos and videos viewed by Axios, is believed to be an F-15 fighter jet.מטוס קרב אמריקני הופל מאש איראנית. חיפוש מתנהל כדי לאתר את שני אנשי הצוות, כך לפי מקור שמעורה בפרטים. קראו את הכתבה שלי ב-@axioshttps://t.co/8CR6n5WqJA— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) April 3, 2026

Apr 3, 2026 - World

Capsule’s engine fires up for six minutes, putting crew on track to reach farthest distance travelled by humans in spaceThe four astronauts on the Artemis II mission are approaching 100,000 miles from Earth as they head towards the moon, putting them on track to reach the farthest distance humans have ever travelled into space.The crew have left Earth’s orbit and fired their engines on Thursday for a “translunar injection”, sending the Orion capsule on its trajectory towards the moon. Continue reading...