It always pays to read the fine print. Last month’s report by the Australian National Audit Office into the now notorious sports grants scheme wasn’t happy reading for the Government. But there was one line the Prime Minister latched onto. It was a line in the opening “summary and recommendations” section, a mere nine pages in. “No applications assessed as …

Diplomatic tensions over Britain’s decision to allow Chinese telco Huawei into its 5G network have boiled over after confidential discussions with Australia about the policy were leaked. The ABC can reveal the UK’s High Commissioner has taken the rare step of writing to the heads of two federal parliamentary committees to formally protest the leak of details of sensitive talks …

A man has died and a woman has been injured after being washed off the rocks by powerful waves at Bondi Beach. Emergency services were called to Mermaid Rocks after reports of two people in distress in the water around 5:30pm. The man, aged in his 40s, was pulled to shore with the help of bystanders but couldn’t be revived …

Syria’s Parliament [People’s Assembly] has unanimously passed a resolution recognizing and condemning the Armenian genocide committed by the Ottoman state at the turn of the 20th century. The move was adopted during the session held today at the Parliament in Damascus. The resolution expressed the sympathy of the Parliament with the Armenian people and recognized that Armenian, Syriac and Assyrian peoples …

China’s Hubei province has reported 81 more deaths from coronavirus, bringing the total to 780 and taking the global count past that caused by the SARS epidemic in 2002-2003. The national health commission confirmed cases across China had risen to 37,198, with 811 deaths. The number of people who died from severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) reached 774. The announcements came …

Back in October, the nation’s often-warring media companies joined forces in a rare display of unity. As part of the “Right to Know” campaign, newspaper front pages were blacked out and TV ads ran across the networks. It was an attempt to harness “people power” behind the cause of press freedom. The rival bosses of News Corp, the ABC and …

A gunman described as a soldier angry over a financial dispute has killed two people and then gone on a far bloodier rampage in north-eastern Thailand, shooting as he drove to a busy mall where shoppers fled in terror. At least 21 people were killed in all, 31 were injured and others were believed to be still inside the building …

A massive bushfire on the NSW South Coast that destroyed homes and claimed the lives of several people has been declared extinguished after this weekend’s heavy rain. The NSW Rural Fire Service last night said the Currowan Fire in the Shoalhaven had been officially set to ‘out’. For 74 days the fire burnt out 499,621 hectares, destroying 312 homes in …

A man has been arrested after driving erratically with multiple roads in Melbourne’s CBD put into lockdown but police say the incident wasn’t terror-related. A man arrested after driving erratically down Melbourne’s busy Flinders Street caused a lockdown and revived horrific memories for the city. The 26-year-old was arrested without incident and no one was hurt, in stark contrast to …

The State of the Union address gives US presidents the opportunity to update the nation and the world on their progress, policies, hurdles and priorities. Donald Trump’s latest address was just as much about everyone else’s reactions to what he was saying — and not all of them were favourable. Trump was greeted by chanting Mr Trump entered the room …