‘You have to find another one’: why children with complex needs are being turned away from childcare 18. February 2026 (15:00) A program to put additional staff in Australia’s childcare centres to support children with complex needs is plagued by funding gaps and delaysGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastChildren with complex needs are being turned away from childcare centres due to funding gaps and staff burnout, with industry leaders warning federal government inclusion rules are having the reverse effect.The government’s inclusion support program (ISP) is intended to provide additional staff for children with complex needs, but the funding amounts to half of that needed, with centres forced to pay the rest. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Federal MPs accept free sport tickets from gambling companies amid calls to restrict wagering ads 18. February 2026 (15:00) Tabcorp and Sportsbet provided tickets to at least six Liberal and Labor politicians, register of interests showsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAt least six federal Labor and Liberal politicians, including an assistant minister and shadow ministers, have disclosed they accepted free tickets to lucrative sporting events from major gambling companies in the past six months, as the government faces calls to restrict wagering ads and better regulate the sector.Anthony Chisholm, the assistant minister for regional development and agriculture, has declared twice in recent months taking tickets and hospitality from Tabcorp for major horse race meets in Victoria and Queensland. Sportsbet, Australia’s biggest online bookmaker, also provided tickets to rugby union, the Australian Open or race meets to the Labor MPs Raff Ciccone and Dan Repacholi, Coalition shadow ministers Dan Tehan and Tim Wilson, and Liberal MP Mary Aldred. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
CBS accused of ‘corporate capitulation’ amid row over Colbert interview with Democrat – US politics live 18. February 2026 (14:48) Stephen Colbert said the network told him not to air an interview with a Texas Democrat running for SenateA reminder that my colleagues are covering the latest out of Europe, including the news that Volodymyr Zelenskyy said no agreement has been reached in the US-brokered meetings between Ukraine and Russia, in an attempt to end the four-year conflict in the region.“We can see that some groundwork has been done, but for now the positions differ, because the negotiations were not easy,”the Zelenskyy told reporters after the talks had finished Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Scores of NGOs call for Home Office child assessment body to be axed 18. February 2026 (14:47) Coalition of refugee support groups says board’s ‘traumatic’ and ‘flawed’ processes are putting children at riskA coalition of refugee support groups has called for a Home Office organisation to be axed, claiming it is putting hundreds of children at risk.The Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium, which consists of more than 100 organisations including the Refugee Council, Barnardo’s and the NSPCC, has published a report analysing the performance of the Home Office’s national age assessment board (NAAB), which was set up in March 2023 to determine the ages of young asylum seekers newly arrived in the UK, often on small boats. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Aggravated burglary charges against 18 Palestine Action activists dropped 18. February 2026 (14:32) Prosecutors drop charges over break-in at Israeli defence firm site after jury cleared six other defendants of offenceProsecutors have dropped aggravated burglary charges against 18 defendants accused of a Palestine Action break-in at an Israeli defence firm’s UK site after a jury cleared six other defendants of the offence.Charlotte Head, 29, Samuel Corner, 23, Leona Kamio, 30, Fatema Rajwani, 21, Zoe Rogers, 22, and Jordan Devlin, 31, were all acquitted of aggravated burglary, which carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, with respect to the 6 August 2024 raid on the Elbit Systems factory in Filton, near Bristol. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
The bogus four-day workweek that AI supposedly ‘frees up’ 18. February 2026 (14:00) Business leaders tout AI as a path to shorter weeks and better balance. But without power, workers are unlikely to share the gainsThe front-page headline in a recent Washington Post was breathless: “These companies say AI is key to their four-day workweeks.” The subhead was euphoric: “Some companies are giving workers back more time as artificial intelligence takes over more tasks.”As the Post explained: “more companies may move toward a shortened workweek, several executives and researchers predict, as workers, especially those in younger generations, continue to push for better work-life balance.”Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. He is a Guardian US columnist and his newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com. His new book, Coming Up Short: A Memoir of My America, is out now Continue reading...(The Guardian)
FBI and Minnesota police investigate ICE arrest that left man with broken skull 18. February 2026 (13:49) Alberto Castañeda Mondragón was hospitalized with eight skull fractures after being arrested by ICE agents in JanuaryMinnesota and federal authorities are investigating the alleged beating of a Mexican citizen by immigration officers last month, seeking to identify what caused the eight skull fractures that landed the man in the intensive care unit of a Minneapolis hospital.Investigators from the St Paul police department and FBI last week canvassed the shopping center parking lot where Alberto Castañeda Mondragón says Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents wrested him from a vehicle, threw him to the ground and repeatedly struck him in the head with a steel baton. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Household energy bills in Great Britain forecast to fall by £117 a year 18. February 2026 (13:48) Consultancy’s prediction comes after Rachel Reeves said green subsidy costs would be removed from domestic billsHousehold energy costs in Great Britain are expected to tumble by an average of £117 a year from April after Rachel Reeves announced in November’s budget that the cost of green subsidies would be removed from domestic bills.The government’s quarterly cap on energy bills is forecast to fall after the chancellor’s decision to shift the levies used to support renewable energy projects into general taxation, and scrap a bill payer-funded energy efficiency scheme, according to Cornwall Insight, a leading energy consultancy. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Suicide rates for UK men are a ‘national catastrophe’, says Prince William 18. February 2026 (13:29) William tells radio panel that talking about emotions and mental health should become ‘second nature to us all’ Prince William has called the prevalence of male suicide in the UK a “national catastrophe” in a radio appearance in which he opened up about his approaches to dealing with difficult emotions.William told a special episode of Radio 1’s Life Hacks that “we need more male role models” to talk about their mental health publicly, to help other men do the same and make open discussions “second nature to us all”. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Environmental groups sue Trump’s EPA over repeal of landmark climate finding 18. February 2026 (13:10) Lawsuit from health and environmental justice groups challenges the EPA’s rollback of the ‘endangerment finding’More than a dozen health and environmental justice non-profits have sued the Environmental Protection Agency over its revocation of the legal determination that underpins US federal climate regulations.Filed in Washington DC circuit court, the lawsuit challenges the EPA’s rollback of the “endangerment finding”, which states that the buildup of heat-trapping pollution in the atmosphere endangers public health and welfare and has allowed the EPA to limit those emissions from vehicles, power plants and other industrial sources since 2009. The rollback was widely seen as a major setback to US efforts to combat the climate crisis. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
