‘A state of crisis’: record number of Americans are pessimistic about US healthcare system 31. December 2025 (17:07) Costs, insurance delays and difficult-to-obtain mental health treatment plague the US health system A record 23 % of Americans believe the United States healthcare system is “in a state of crisis” and 47% think it has “major problems,” according to a recent poll from the West Health-Gallup Center on Healthcare in America.The poll also revealed that a record 29% of Americans see “cost” as the most urgent health problem facing the US. Experts note that these two perceptions – that the healthcare system is in a state of crisis and that costs are an urgent health problem – are related. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
‘Not my first rodeo’: meet the 21-year-old serving as Georgia’s youngest state legislator 31. December 2025 (17:00) Democrat Muhammad Akbar Ali joins the Georgia state house as a legislator representing an Atlanta suburbMuhammad Akbar Ali, a 21-year-old recent college graduate, won a runoff election for a state house seat in Atlanta’s suburbs earlier this month, becoming the youngest Georgia state legislator serving today – perhaps the youngest ever.The key to the young Democrat’s victory and his strategy moving forward? Experience. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
ITV agrees to invest £3m in fitness app created by Joe Wicks 31. December 2025 (16:35) The Body Coach app, launched in pandemic, will advertise on ITV’s channels and video platform ITVX under dealThe broadcaster ITV has agreed to invest up to £3m into the health and fitness app The Body Coach, created by Joe Wicks, who shot to fame by getting people exercising in their living rooms during the Covid pandemic.It is the latest deal made through the group’s media for equity investment fund ITV AdVentures Invest. As part of the agreement, The Body Coach will advertise on ITV’s channels and its video platform ITVX. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
€1m Picasso portrait up for grabs for €100 in charity auction 31. December 2025 (16:00) Artwork by one of the most influential artists of 20th century raffled to fund Alzheimer’s researchHis work is consistently ranked among the world’s most expensive art, with paintings fetching more than a $100m at auction. But you no longer need to be a multimillionaire to own a Picasso – for €100, anyone in the world has the chance to walk away with a painting by one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.The French charity Alzheimer’s Research Foundation announced recently it was raffling Picasso’s 1941 portrait, Tête de femme, which is worth more than €1m, to a single winner. Proceeds from the tickets will help fund Alzheimer’s research, one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Sticky inflation, metal prices and the AI bubble risk: key trends to watch in the Australian economy in 2026 31. December 2025 (15:00) Can inflation be tamed without further interest rate hikes? And will the hot streak for gold and silver continue in 2026?Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Australian share market delivered a 6.8% return in 2025, representing a third consecutive year of gains in a volatile period marked by trade wars, reigniting inflation and fears of an artificial intelligence-fuelled bubble.Here are three things to watch for in 2026. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
From inflation to infighting, the six factors that will shape Australian politics in 2026 31. December 2025 (15:00) Albanese will face a crucial test on the economy while the Coalition deals with existential questions after an election drubbingGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBefore 14 December, Anthony Albanese was enjoying the most successful year of his long parliamentary career.A landslide election win delivered Labor 94 lower house seats and crushed its political opponents. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Cabinet papers reveal Alexander Downer warned of dire climate change outcomes in 2005 31. December 2025 (15:00) Officials warned of major economic, environmental and social disruption to Australia due to its dependence on coalGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Howard government was warned in 2005 that climate change was occurring more quickly than previously predicted and “many human and natural systems and economic activities in Australia” were vulnerable, newly released documents show.Cabinet papers made public by the National Archives on Thursday show officials warned the Coalition government of critical gaps in knowledge about the timing, location and magnitude of climate-related damage, even as international cooperation geared up to try to limit the worst effects on the planet. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Cabinet papers 2005: John Howard’s government was warned in 2005 that schools and borders might need to be shut under a pandemic 31. December 2025 (15:00) Alexander Downer told senior colleagues the H5N1 strain of bird flu could mutate into a pandemic ‘with potentially devastating consequences’ for Australia and the worldGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastHealth officials warned the Howard government that Australia might need to close schools and shut international borders in the event of a global influenza pandemic, nearly 15 years before the arrival of Covid-19.Previously unreleased cabinet papers made public by the National Archives of Australia on Thursday show planning for an influenza pandemic reached all the way to the national security committee of federal cabinet in October 2005. The discussions, two years after the Sars viral respiratory disease spread across Asia, presaged much of the response as Covid-19 spread around the world. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Xi Jinping vows to reunify China and Taiwan in New Year’s Eve speech 31. December 2025 (14:47) Reunification ‘is unstoppable’, says Chinese president, a day after the conclusion of intense military drillsChina’s president, Xi Jinping, has vowed to reunify China and Taiwan in his annual New Year’s Eve speech in Beijing.Speaking the day after the conclusion of intense Chinese military drills around Taiwan, Xi said: “The reunification of our motherland, a trend of the times, is unstoppable.” Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Sydney New Year’s Eve strikes more sombre tone as fireworks follow minute’s silence for Bondi 31. December 2025 (14:36) Terror attack victims remembered with menorah projected on to Harbour Bridge ahead of traditional dazzling displayAustralia paused to show solidarity with the Jewish community as New Year’s Eve festivities rolled across the nation.Weeks on from the Bondi Beach terrorist attack, hundreds of thousands of people around the Sydney Harbour observed a minute’s silence and shone a collective, defiant light following the recent atrocity. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
