Foo Fighters paused their Sydney concert on Tuesday to honor Todd Russell, who died at 54 after an illness. Frontman Dave Grohl recalled Russell’s survival in the 2006 Beaconsfield mine collapse and the band’s connection with him.
Key Facts
Russell and co-worker Brant Webb were trapped underground for 14 days after the Beaconsfield mine collapsed in Tasmania on Anzac Day 2006.
The collapse killed miner Larry Knight; Russell and Webb were rescued.
During the rescue, Russell requested an iPod loaded with Foo Fighters music.
Grohl promised Russell and Webb tickets and beers at a Foo Fighters concert if they survived.
Grohl later met the miners backstage at a Sydney Opera House show in 2006.
Grohl wrote “Ballad of the Beaconsfield Miners” and included it on a Foo Fighters album.
Russell announced a week before his death that he was moving home to spend his remaining days there.
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Newcastle council has barred climate group Rising Tide from holding events on council land after consulting New South Wales Premier Chris Minns. The decision comes ahead of a smaller protest this Saturday and the group’s next annual blockade, planned for February.
Key Facts
Lord Mayor Gavin Morris used his casting vote on Tuesday night to block council licenses for Rising Tide events on council land.
Rising Tide holds protests at the Port of Newcastle, where participants use kayaks and rafts to try to block coal ships.
The group calls for an end to new fossil fuel projects, a stop to Newcastle coal exports by 2030, and a 78% tax on fossil fuel profits.
A court invalidated a four-day maritime exclusion zone the New South Wales government imposed around the port ahead of Rising Tide’s 2024 protest.
Police charged 173 protesters in 2024; they later withdrew charges against 125 people.
Police charged 129 protesters who entered the water during the 2025 blockade, which stopped three coal ships from entering the port; those cases remain before the courts.
Rising Tide went to the New South Wales Supreme Court on Wednesday after police rejected its application for a permit for Saturday’s event.
Minns told the council that licensing the events could make it complicit in illegal activity and put lives at risk.
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Haiti Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime praised El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele after Salvadoran troops supported an operation that destroyed a suspected gang headquarters near Port-au-Prince. The deployment of more than 2,000 Salvadoran soldiers has raised questions about coordination with Haiti’s security forces and a UN-backed mission, as well as compliance with human rights law.
Key Facts
Bukele said Salvadoran forces destroyed the home of gang leader Wilson Joseph, also known as Lanmo San Jou, and a 400 Mawozo gang headquarters in Croix-des-Bouquets.
A Miami Herald report said the attack took place Sunday and was carried out by a Haitian police task force backed by Salvadoran troops.
The Miami Herald reported that 20 people died, citing anonymous sources.
Joseph was not at the house during the attack, according to pro-government media in El Salvador.
Bukele sent more than 2,000 soldiers to Haiti after four Salvadoran troops went missing following an October 18 ambush.
The deployment has raised concerns about rules of engagement and coordination with the UN-backed Gang Suppression Force.
Amnesty International urged Haiti and El Salvador to ensure Salvadoran operations comply with international human rights law.
Dominican President Luis Abinader called for El Salvador and the Gang Suppression Force to coordinate, while offering support to Bukele.
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Thomas Markle is back in custody after allegedly cutting off his ankle monitor, CBS News reported. He had been arrested on an allegation of possessing child sexual abuse material.
Key Facts
Thomas Markle is Meghan Markle’s father.
Markle is back in custody.
Authorities allege that Markle cut off his ankle monitor.
Markle had been arrested on an allegation of possessing child sexual abuse material.
CBS News reported the update.
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A newly unsealed U.S. indictment alleges that Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood al-Saadi coordinated suspected terrorist plots from a Brooklyn jail using coded messages and payments. Prosecutors say the alleged plots targeted Jewish communities in Europe and the United States, as well as RAF Fairford, a British base that has hosted U.S. troops and bombers.
Key Facts
The superseding indictment charges al-Saadi and two other men with conspiring to carry out nearly 20 attacks.
Prosecutors allege the defendants acted for an Iran-aligned network that included the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and Kata'ib Hezbollah.
Al-Saadi allegedly communicated with co-defendants Mohsen Mohajeri and Mohammad Ali al-Hassani through calls with family members in Iraq.
British authorities detained six suspects in connection with the suspected RAF Fairford plot; all were later released on bail.
The United States withdrew bombers stationed at RAF Fairford and redeployed them to their home bases.
Al-Saadi is the only defendant currently in U.S. custody, and he pleaded not guilty in June to charges involving alleged plots across Europe.
Iran has denied involvement in the suspected plot.
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Prince George’s kingfisher drawing appears in a special edition of Country Life magazine guest edited by his father, Prince William. The edition also includes an interview with Catherine and William’s comments on supporting women in the British armed forces.
Key Facts
Prince George drew the kingfisher at home in the spring, when he was 12.
The drawing appears in a 300-page special edition of Country Life published this week.
Prince William guest edited the edition.
Catherine gave an interview and discussed the healing power of nature.
William called for a more inclusive and respectful culture for women in the British armed forces.
The article connects William’s comments to the death of soldier Jaysley Beck in 2021; a coroner said the Army’s failure to act after harassment and sexual assault contributed to her suicide.
The edition also features Aston Villa manager Unai Emery, who praised William’s support for the club.
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Sonia Gandhi’s memoir recounts her experience of Indira Gandhi’s 1984 assassination and the grief that followed Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination in 1991. It also describes Sonia’s reluctance to enter politics before she later led the Congress party through two general election victories.
Key Facts
Indira Gandhi was assassinated on 31 October 1984 by two Sikh bodyguards.
The article says the bodyguards killed Indira in retaliation for the Indian army’s operation at the Golden Temple earlier that year.
Rajiv Gandhi became prime minister on the evening of his mother’s assassination.
Sonia Gandhi says she warned her husband that he would also be killed.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991.
Sonia Gandhi writes that she initially resisted calls to enter politics.
She later led the Congress party through two general election victories.
Her new memoir is titled Belonging: A Journey of Love.
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President Donald Trump has announced plans to end billions of dollars in annual U.S. military aid to Israel. Al Jazeera’s Marah Rayan examines what Section 219 of the National Defense Authorization Act could mean for the military partnership and whether a new deal is being developed.
Key Facts
Trump announced plans to end annual U.S. military aid to Israel.
The aid is described as amounting to billions of dollars each year.
The report asks whether a new U.S.-Israel deal is in the works.
Al Jazeera’s Marah Rayan examines Section 219.
Section 219 is part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
The report considers what Section 219 could mean for the future of the U.S.-Israel military partnership.
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Iran opened what the article describes as its first all-women military training camp amid fears of renewed U.S. attacks. Dozens of female volunteers took part in military exercises at Tehran’s Azadi Square.
Key Facts
The camp was described as Iran’s first all-women military training camp.
The article linked the camp’s opening to fears of renewed U.S. attacks.
Dozens of women participated in the exercises.
The participants were called “Janfadayan.”
The article describes Janfadayan as volunteers willing to sacrifice their lives for Iran.
The exercises took place at Azadi Square in Tehran.
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Former police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon denied making a fake Grindr account for Jesse Baird, a court heard during his double murder trial. He said he tried to check whether an email address linked to a man Baird had been seeing was active, but did not create or use an account in that man’s name.
Key Facts
Lamarre-Condon is accused of fatally shooting Jesse Baird and Luke Davies in Baird’s Sydney home on 19 February 2024.
He has pleaded not guilty to two murder charges and one charge of aggravated break and enter.
A friend previously testified that Lamarre-Condon made fake profiles of Baird on dating apps, including Grindr.
Under cross-examination, Lamarre-Condon said it had never happened that he told a friend he made a fake Grindr account related to Baird.
He told the court he attempted to use an email address he believed belonged to a man Baird had been seeing to check if it was active on the app.
Lamarre-Condon said he could not confirm the email address was that man’s and had seen it on social media.
The trial is being heard in the New South Wales Supreme Court before Justice Natalie Adams.
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England’s higher education regulator said many university assessments are unsupervised and can be completed to a high standard with AI, sometimes in minutes. The regulator warned this could weaken the reliability of assessments and called for more AI-free or redesigned assessments; Universities UK said many institutions are already changing their approach.
Key Facts
The Office for Students (OfS) and Advance HE based their research on the views of 244 higher education staff and 91 students from at least 127 universities.
The research found that students can sometimes use AI in ways staff cannot reliably detect.
Unsupervised assessments include coursework and remote online exams; a cited study found 93 UK universities still use remote exams in some form.
The OfS said closed-book and practical exams were among the most effective assessment formats.
The OfS reported cases where students completed entire assessments within minutes using AI and received grades similar to those of other students.
The research said students need clear guidance on when AI use is allowed and called for remote or non-secure assessments to remain valid despite AI access.
Universities UK said institutions were adding in-person exams, presentations, oral exams, process-based assessments and controlled uses of AI.
Under proposals being consulted on, universities that fail to meet OfS quality standards could face tuition-fee restrictions or limits on student numbers.
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Real Madrid winger Vinícius Júnior sent a video message to Zaher, a 13-year-old Sudanese boy who lost both legs in a 2024 drone strike. Now living in Cairo and walking with prosthetic legs after surgery and rehabilitation, Zaher hopes to accept Vinícius’s invitation to attend a Real Madrid match.
Key Facts
Zaher and his mother were in Khartoum when a drone strike hit him in 2024.
The family had been unable to afford to flee as fighting between Sudan’s army and the Rapid Support Forces disrupted life in Khartoum.
Zaher spent nearly a year in Cairo, where he received surgery and rehabilitation and was fitted with prosthetic legs.
He can now walk and kick a football again.
Vinícius told Zaher he hoped he would return to playing football and invited him to attend a Real Madrid match together.
Zaher said the message uplifted him, and he hopes to get a visa so he can accept the invitation.
Unicef says more than 17 million children in Sudan need humanitarian assistance and it has verified at least 4,300 children were killed or maimed.
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U.S. authorities charged three men with allegedly acting on Iran’s behalf to plan attacks on Jewish communities and a British airbase. Separately, Russian and Ukrainian representatives held their first peace talks in nine months, and Israel’s parliament was sworn in after an election in which no party won a majority, leaving a new government unformed.
Key Facts
U.S. authorities charged three men over alleged plans to attack Jewish communities.
The men were accused of acting as operatives backed by Iran.
The alleged plot also included an attack on a British airbase.
Russian and Ukrainian representatives met for peace talks for the first time in nine months.
Israel’s parliament was sworn in without a new government in place.
No party secured a majority in Israel’s election.
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President Donald Trump has chosen to continue economic pressure and a naval blockade against Iran rather than resume strikes or pursue a deal now, according to the article. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told G7 foreign ministers that the strategy also includes an operation to disrupt Iran’s land routes for moving weapons and technology.
Key Facts
Rubio described the policy as a third option beyond restarting the war or making what he called an unacceptable deal.
Trump said a new round of strikes against Iran was “quite unlikely” and did not seem necessary.
The article says the U.S. is maintaining an economic crackdown and naval blockade against Iran.
The planned operation, called Iron Gate, aims to cut off land routes Iran uses to move advanced weapons and technology.
Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and Jared Kushner reportedly favored continued pressure over renewed war.
Rubio said Iran’s economic difficulties could eventually affect its willingness to negotiate.
A U.S. official said Turkey, Iraq and Pakistan worry that pressure to limit business with Iran could cause instability in their countries.
The article says Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has called for an end to the current stalemate, while continued pressure could prompt the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to consider more aggressive attacks.
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An analysis of studies involving nearly 10,000 people found that escitalopram performed best among the antidepressants examined at preventing depression relapse, with agomelatine and duloxetine also ranking well. Researchers and clinicians said the differences were modest and do not show which medicine will work best for any one person; patients should discuss treatment choices with their doctors.
Key Facts
The analysis examined previous studies comparing more than a dozen antidepressants.
People taking escitalopram were more likely than those taking fluoxetine (Prozac) to improve and remain well, and less likely to stop their medication.
Agomelatine and duloxetine ranked next after escitalopram in the analysis.
The researchers said the differences between medicines were modest and that longer studies are needed.
Experts said treatment decisions should consider factors such as side effects, a patient's previous response and their preferences.
Escitalopram can cause side effects, including sleep problems, constipation and weight gain.
Doctors commonly recommend continuing antidepressants for at least six months after depression symptoms end, then reducing the dose gradually.
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Residents of Nairobi’s Kibera settlement fear more deadly flooding as Kenya enters its short rainy season and forecasters warn of a potentially strong El Niño. The government is clearing rubbish from rivers and drains, but officials say Nairobi’s drainage system is outdated and needs major investment.
Key Facts
Agnes Shikoli, 62, lives close to the Ngong River in Kibera and says floods reached halfway up her home’s wall in March.
Shikoli’s sister died of electrocution after her home flooded during the earlier rains.
More than 60 people across Kenya died in flooding earlier this year.
Kenya’s short rainy season has begun, amid warnings that El Niño could bring intense rain and flooding.
A government programme called Climate Worx is clearing rubbish from Nairobi’s rivers, while workers also unclog drains across the city.
Nairobi County disaster management chief Bramwell Simiyu says the drainage system has gone years without maintenance and was designed for a much smaller population.
Simiyu says fully upgrading Nairobi’s sewerage and drainage system could cost up to $192 million.
Informal settlements near rivers face particular flood risks because homes are close to the water and can be swept away by flash floods.
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El Salvador’s military fired rockets at a compound in Haiti that was allegedly linked to the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang. The gang leader had asked the United Nations to begin talks days before the strike, and 2,500 Salvadoran troops are in Haiti supporting the government’s fight against gangs.
Key Facts
El Salvador’s military fired rockets at a compound in Haiti.
The compound was allegedly linked to the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang.
The 400 Mawozo leader had asked the United Nations to begin talks.
The request for talks came days before the strike.
El Salvador has 2,500 troops in Haiti.
The Salvadoran troops are helping the Haitian government fight gangs.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters threw milk toward Joe Biden during a visit to Trinity College Dublin, where his son Hunter was receiving an award for public discourse. The article says the protest was over Biden’s support for Israel.
Key Facts
Pro-Palestinian protesters threw milk toward Joe Biden.
The incident took place in Dublin, Ireland.
Biden visited Trinity College Dublin without announcing the visit in advance.
Hunter Biden was receiving an award for public discourse.
The article links the protest to Joe Biden’s support for Israel.
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France 24 interviewed Lex Paulson about Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner’s possible run for the French presidency. Paulson said Riner’s fame could help him attract attention, but questioned whether he has presented a detailed political vision; he described the interest in Riner as reflecting dissatisfaction with established political choices and a desire for leaders who listen to voters.
Key Facts
The report discusses Riner entering or potentially entering France’s presidential race.
Lex Paulson is identified as a professor at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University and director of executive programs at its School of Collective Intelligence.
Paulson said political candidates increasingly need to capture public attention in a fragmented media environment.
He said celebrity alone does not establish political credibility.
Paulson noted Riner’s public positions against racism and xenophobia but questioned whether he has a developed political vision.
Paulson linked interest in political outsiders to voters’ sense that traditional politicians listen mainly during election campaigns.
He argued that bringing decision-making closer to citizens could help restore trust in political institutions.
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President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Manila for the ASEAN Summit from November 16 to 18 and meet Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. The planned visit comes amid protests against the U.S.-backed Pax Silica initiative, which aims to strengthen AI-related supply chains and which Philippine groups say could harm communities and weaken national sovereignty.
Key Facts
The article says Trump is scheduled to travel to the Philippines next week for the ASEAN Summit.
The summit is scheduled to run from November 16 to 18.
Trump plans to meet with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Pax Silica is a State Department initiative launched in December to promote cooperation on AI development and supply-chain security.
The initiative focuses on areas including semiconductors, chip manufacturing, and critical minerals.
The State Department says more than 20 U.S. allies are involved in efforts to protect sensitive technologies and critical infrastructure.
Philippine grassroots groups have held protests against the initiative in July, August, and September, according to the article.
Student groups and GABRIELA have also protested or announced plans to protest the initiative and Trump's visit, citing concerns about land, jobs, resources, and national sovereignty.
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