The cash rate target — a figure that influences how high people’s mortgage repayments are set — hasn’t changed for more than a year. It’s been set at 4.35 per cent since November 2023. But it’s possible that will change when the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) meets next week. When is the next RBA meeting? The RBA Board’s first …

For the first time in a decade, Australia has moved into the top 10 of the international corruption index for transparency. But experts warn more work is still needed to stay there. Australia scored 77 out of 100 in Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perceptions Index. It was an improvement on its previous ranking in 2023, which saw Australia with a …

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has revealed he would be willing to swap land in negotiations with Russia to bring the ongoing conflict between the two countries to an end. Mr Zelenskyy has in the past refused to relinquish any territory, after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. In an interview with The Guardian that was published on Tuesday, he said …

A ceasefire deal has been reached in Gaza. The US and Qatar confirmed an agreement had been made between Israel and Hamas to pause the 15-month-long war in Gaza, and release dozens of Israeli hostages. Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails will also be freed. The deal will take effect on Sunday, January 19, and include three phases. This is what we …

Amanda Rishworth will become the new NDIS minister, Katy Gallagher will pick up another portfolio and Anne Aly will assist the new NDIS minister in a cabinet reshuffle following Bill Shorten’s retirement. Former Labor leader Bill Shorten will leave parliament on Monday, just before the federal election, vacating the National Disability Insurance Scheme portfolio and providing an opportunity for the …

The federal government has launched an investigation into the appointment of a principal at a private school in southern New South Wales, following “anti-Semitic” comments on social media. Principal of New Madinah College in Young, Sheikh Abdulghani Albaf, has been condemned by the federal and NSW governments and the Australian Jewish Association over Facebook comments spanning several years. A post …

Struggling Australians need leadership with heart, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says, as both major parties kick off their unofficial election campaigns. With voters hitting the polls in a matter of months, the Liberals have pledged to get the nation “back on track” while Labor promises to “build Australia’s future”. But Opposition Leader Peter Dutton lashed the government’s campaign mantra, pointing …

Now that the brutal Bashar al-Assad regime has been toppled, Syria’s new leaders have tried to appeal to Western governments to build closer ties and lift harsh sanctions on the country. Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist alliance led by Al-Qaeda’s former Syria branch, declared Assad’s rule over on 8 December , after the rebel group they spearheaded took control …

Liberal leader Peter Dutton has made his case to become prime minister, rallying the party faithful at an event in Melbourne, where the Coalition must make in-roads to win back government at the federal election. The Coalition hopes to make the Albanese government the first one-term government in almost a century, and has eaten away at Labor’s popularity over the …

Outgoing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau revealed how he got President-elect Donald Trump to shift his attention away from annexing Canada at their meeting last year. Trudeau shared that Trump’s plan to make Canada a U.S. state came up during his trip down to Mar-a-Lago late last year. ‘We started musing back and forth about this,’ Trudeau recalled about his meeting with Trump. ‘And I started to …