Dominic Sirico 
South Korean investigators probing a Jeju Air crash which killed 179 people in the worst aviation disaster on its soil said Wednesday they will send one of the retrieved black boxes to the United States for analysis. The Boeing 737-800 was carrying 181 people from Thailand to South Korea Sunday when it issued a mayday … Read more
Millions of Australians will see a range of changes affecting their finances and daily lives, starting Jan. 1, impacting workers, businesses, and consumers across the country. The range of changes include welfare payment increases, rising passport fees, and new workplace laws. While some costs, like medicine prices, will remain frozen, others, such as aged care … Read more
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday vowed that his country would use 2025 to fight for an end to Russia’s nearly three-year-long invasion by any means necessary. The Ukrainian leader’s address caps a difficult year for the war-battered country which has been fending off a better-resourced Russian army for nearly three years. “May 2025 be … Read more
Ukraine’s decision to turn off the taps keeping Russian gas flowing via its territory to Europe has already sown trouble in the continent’s east, with Moldova declaring a state of emergency and Slovakia threatening Kyiv with retaliation. Under a five-year deal signed in 2019 Ukraine had allowed Russia to pipe gas to Europe via its … Read more
Abdullah Ocalan, the jailed founder of Kurdish militant group the PKK is hailed by many Kurds as an icon, but within wider Turkish society many see him as a terrorist who deserves to die. On Saturday, Ocalan, who has been held in solitary confinement in Turkey since 1999, received his first political visit in nearly … Read more
A United Nations report published Tuesday found that Israeli strikes on and near hospitals in the Gaza Strip had left healthcare in the Palestinian territory on the verge of collapse. The report by the UN human rights office said such strikes raised grave concerns about Israel’s compliance with international law, as it cited potential war … Read more
Despite political upheavals, stock markets and bitcoin smashed records in 2024, fuelled by investor enthusiasm for AI, falling interest rates, and hopes of tax cuts. Here are four of the most remarkable aspects of 2024 on financial markets: Wall Street’s three main stock indices blew past record highs to set new peaks in 2024, with … Read more
Lifelong farmer Joe Del Bosque knows that America can’t live without immigrants, but he worries that many of his countrymen think it can’t live with them either. “When they’re needed, they welcome them. When they don’t need them, they want to kick them out,” the 75-year-old told AFP. “Well, right now the country doesn’t know … Read more
Israel’s devastating campaigns against Iran’s regional allies have severely weakened its arch-enemy’s ability to project its power, but Yemen’s Tehran-backed Huthi rebels remain a stubborn thorn in its side, analysts say. With the ranks of Palestinian group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah decimated after more than a year of war, and with the fall of Bashar … Read more
Illustration of Visa credit and debit cards Australian Payments Plus (AP+) has issued a warning that thousands of Australians may lose access to card payments as the eftpos network undergoes an update. Despite making progress on technical issues, not all customers have updated their devices yet. Before Jan. 1, 2025, people who have received notices … Read more
