Majority of missing Australians were near Gyirong Port minutes before impact. Rescuers say the area is now destroyed, covered in metres of silt and debris

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It has been almost a week since the catastrophic floods in Nepal and not even a vehicle can get into the area where the majority of missing Australians were last heard from.

Gyirong Port, the border area between Nepal and China, was the first to be hit. Images from Chinese rescue teams who have managed to get in by helicopter or hiking show the area has been completely flattened. The immigration building, the power lines, everything, just wiped away.

As families await news after the catastrophe, community members appeal for compassion in the face of hateful rhetoric

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A slew of racist social media comments have been made towards Australians missing in the catastrophic Nepal-Tibet floods, prompting calls for greater accountability of major platforms to remove hateful rhetoric.

On Monday, the total number of Australians missing after flash floods triggered by a massive glacier collapse in the Himalayas rose to 43, and the overall death toll was at least 810 people.

Perrottet disagrees when counsel assisting Peggy Dwyer SC claims brother of former NSW premier is not truthful and ‘constructing evidence’

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A brother of former New South Wales premier Dominic Perrottet has told Icac he would lie to a property developer about delivering political outcomes “to keep him on side”, but Charles Perrottet has denied lying to the state’s anti-corruption watchdog.

Charles Perrottet, who is among three Liberal figures alleged to have anticipated receiving $2m in prohibited political donations from Jean Nassif, told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) on Monday that he “made up” updates for the property developer.

Police urge mother to attend hospital after baby’s body discovered in Harrow Road in Auburn

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New South Wales police have appealed for information to find the mother of a newborn baby boy, whose body was discovered in a rubbish bin in Auburn in Sydney’s west on Monday morning.

Police said emergency services responded to reports of the body of a baby located in a rubbish bin at a unit block along Harrow Road in Auburn at 11.20am, with officers from the Auburn police area command finding the body of a newborn boy.

Leah Stewart, who was bitten while swimming at Coogee beach, says she asked herself ‘which limb am I willing to lose’ as she fought back

An Australian woman who lost an arm after a shark attack at a Sydney beach has described delivering a “left hook” punch to the four-metre great white as its open mouth came within centimetres of her face.

Leah Stewart, 34, a teacher and mother of a one-year-old, was attacked by the shark while on a morning swim at Coogee beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on 13 June.

Administrators will be forced to close the business if it fails to secure additional funding, revealing hundreds of staff have not been paid for weeks

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The administrators of embattled property developer Bathla Group have said the company will fold by the end of the week unless they can secure additional funding to keep it afloat.

The insolvency advisory Teneo assumed control of Bathla’s operations on 25 August after the Sydney-based construction company went into voluntary administration under the weight of almost $3.6bn in debt.

Justice Natalie Adams says she is troubled by expert evidence about rape allegations in slain woman’s police statement

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Molly Ticehurst’s ex-boyfriend is unlikely to face a life sentence for her domestic violence murder, a crime which galvanised a national movement against gendered abuse.

Ticehurst, a 28-year-old childcare educator, was found dead in her home at Forbes, in the New South Wales central-west, in the early hours of 22 April 2024.

Inmates would take over ‘basic’ road maintenance duties, allowing skilled crews to focus on fixing 500,000 potholes

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Victorian prisoners will be put to work on road maintenance as part of Labor’s plan to fix the state’s potholes if re-elected.

The state’s premier, Ben Carroll, outlined the plan on Monday off the back of an announcement on Sunday that the government would be increasing the road maintenance budget by $352m to fix 500,000 potholes by the end of January.

Climate change is the greatest threat to the Pacific, with fuel shortages and missile tests also on the agenda as Anthony Albanese heads to Palau

Anthony Albanese is in Palau this week for the annual Pacific Islands Forum and regional security is expected to top the agenda.

China is testing nuclear-capable missiles in the Pacific, prompting talk of a new regional agreement. The United States-Iran war has exposed a reliance on costly fossil fuels that is undermining Pacific economies.

Smartglasses with cameras can benefit the vision impaired but companies might pit ‘accessibility benefits against safety and privacy’, eSafety says

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Australia’s online safety regulator has urged smartglasses companies to automatically blur people’s faces filmed on the devices, and make it clearer when someone is filming, as the federal government faces pressure to ban the technology.

In advice to industry published on Monday, the office of the eSafety commissioner warned that while smartglasses with cameras, such as Meta’s Ray-Ban, can offer accessibility benefits to low vision or blind people, companies might pit “accessibility benefits against safety and privacy considerations”, and noted there was already a backlash to the technology.

Solomon Islands prime minister cancels his appearance, along with leaders from Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa

Several leaders have pulled out of a the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting in Palau at the eleventh hour.

The Solomon Islands prime minister, Matthew Wale, has cancelled his appearance after a no-confidence motion was lodged against him at home by the Solomon Islands home affairs minister, Manasseh Maelanga.

Successful legal challenge raises questions about hundreds of floodplain harvesting licences issued by former Coalition government

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The New South Wales water regulator has cast doubt over its ability to prosecute potential water theft due to uncertainty about the validity of licences governing billions of litres of water entitlements in the state’s north.

It follows a successful legal challenge brought by a group of irrigators in the state’s north-west which found 11 floodplain harvesting licences issued by the former Coalition government were invalid.

This blog is now closed

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The Australian government is working with Russian officials in a bid to secure the release of Australian Oscar Jenkins, Matt Thistlethwaite says.

Speaking to ABC news breakfast, the assistant minister for foreign affairs declined to answer whether a prisoner swap was on the table.

Obviously, we try and negotiate as best we can on behalf of all Australians who find themselves in difficulties such as this. We obviously have to abide by international laws and we always uphold them. But the Australian officials on the ground will work with their counterparts to ensure that, hopefully he’s returned to Australia safely.

Fellow boxers, sporting figures, politicians and celebrities have paid tribute to the champion boxer and community leader, who died aged 75

• Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images and names of Indigenous Australians who have died

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Tributes are pouring in for Indigenous Australia boxing great, Tony Mundine, who has died aged 75.

The Guardian understands that the Bundjalung man and father of former world champion boxer and NRL star Anthony Mundine had a heart attack on Sunday, and was in hospital surrounded by family when he passed.

Fellow boxers, sporting figures, politicians and celebrities have paid tribute to the champion boxer and community leader, who died aged 75

• Warning: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains images and names of Indigenous Australians who have died

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Tributes are pouring in for Indigenous Australia boxing great, Tony Mundine, who has died aged 75.

The Guardian understands that the Bundjalung man and father of former world champion boxer and NRL star Anthony Mundine had a heart attack on Sunday, and was in hospital surrounded by family when he passed.

Corporate regulator finds insurers settling most claims with cash rather than by managing repairs or rebuilding, warning of ‘unfair outcomes’ for homeowners

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Home insurers are overwhelmingly paying cash to settle claims, leaving Australians to foot blowouts in repair costs for their cyclone-damaged homes.

The corporate regulator is calling for “realistic” bigger payouts, warning the practice could cause “unfair outcomes” for people already in vulnerable positions.

This month a predator with ties to the online extortion group known as 764 was sentenced to decades in prison. The mother of one of his victims wants parents to know the truth about this ‘harrowing’ global trend

• Sadistic online exploitation: five warning signs for parents - and how to keep young people safe

“My beautiful, kind, intelligent, trusting daughter had the misfortune of stumbling across a link in a Discord server that led her to your evil and cruel group.

“The grooming of her started immediately, and what followed was unimaginably harrowing and traumatic. You were just one of the group members who abused her, who made her do things that no young person should ever be made to do.”

Solomon Islands prime minister cancels his appearance, along with leaders from Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa

Several leaders have pulled out of a the Pacific Islands Forum leaders’ meeting in Palau at the eleventh hour.

The Solomon Islands prime minister, Matthew Wale, has cancelled his appearance after a no-confidence motion was lodged against him at home by the Solomon Islands home affairs minister, Manasseh Maelanga.

Missing woman’s partner and daughters fundraise to join search in one of the hardest-hit areas of Nepal

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Clair Spry says her sister would hate the attention. She would want it focused on the Nepali people, who have been displaced or are in need of aid. She would want it to be on the impact of the climate crisis, especially on the world’s most economically vulnerable populations.

“Her focus right now would not be on her; it would be on the families,” Spry said. “So many people, the Nepalese people, that have been horribly displaced and traumatised. She would want the attention on them and how we are going to help them.

Even after a week in which Pauline Hanson and One Nation candidates tripped over themselves trying to explain key policies, voters still backed the party

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The One Nation hype machine went into overdrive after Saturday’s Secret Harbour byelection but one thing is clear from the thumping victory.

Despite the party’s sustained surge in public support, Labor and the Coalition still don’t have any idea how to calm an angry electorate and dint support for Pauline Hanson and her insurgent movement.