Dezi Freeman shot dead by police after seven-month-long manhunt 30. March 2026 (02:48) Victoria police commissioner Mike Bush said the shooting was ‘justified’ and brought closure to the families of two police officers allegedly killed by Freeman in Porepunkah in AugustLive updates: Australian fugitive Dezi Freeman shot dead by Victoria policeGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastFugitive Dezi Freeman, the man allegedly responsible for the shooting deaths of two officers at Porepunkah, has been killed after a seven-month long manhunt in rural Victoria.Victoria police chief commissioner, Mike Bush, has confirmed a man was fatally shot by police shortly after 8.30am on Monday, following an hours-long standoff in which he failed to surrender peacefully. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
China’s ‘teapot’ oil refineries keep economy brewing – but surging crude prices leave them strained 30. March 2026 (02:00) The factories, which buy cheap crude and turn it into fuel, are struggling as higher oil prices threaten their razor-sharp margins The towns that are the bulwark of China’s energy security can, at a moment of global crisis, appear deceptively quiet. Trucks carrying oil trundle along wide-open highways that have little traffic, while a few boarded-up shops in crumbling low-rise buildings hint at a long-forgotten local buzz.A ramshackle noodle shop serving hand-pulled ribbons of dough was empty at lunchtime, save for a few construction workers and a teacher watching videos on Douyin, the social media platform, with his meal. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
LA county sheriff’s deputy dies after medical emergency during relay race 30. March 2026 (01:08) Levi Vargas, 30, was competing in Baker to Vegas race through Mojave desert as US south-west faces extreme heatLos Angeles county sheriff’s deputy Levi Vargas died on Saturday after a medical emergency while participating in an annual relay race through the Mojave desert. He was 30 years old.Vargas had been competing at the Baker to Vegas Challenge Cup relay race, which follows a 120-mile (193km) course from Baker, California, to Las Vegas, Nevada, through the Mojave desert. Several law enforcement agencies send 20-runner teams annually to compete in the race. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
US will reportedly allow Russian oil tanker to reach Cuba amid blockade 30. March 2026 (00:41) Anatoly Kolodkin could soon discharge at Matanzas port, US official says, three months after Cuba’s last oil importThe US is allowing a Russian tanker full of crude oil to reach Cuba, the New York Times reported on Sunday, possibly granting a lifeline to the Caribbean island amid a de facto oil blockade imposed by Washington.Ship tracking data showed the Russian-flagged tanker Anatoly Kolodkin on Sunday was just off the eastern tip of Cuba. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Australia politics live: Chalmers says there is no ‘expectation’ of a recession; Pocock condemns stories of older Australians ‘charged $200 to have a shower’ 29. March 2026 (23:58) Treasurer says government’s inflation forecast from a fortnight ago is now looking ‘conservative’. Follow updates liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTrade minister to speak at National Press Club after signing of EU free trade dealDon Farrell, the trade and tourism minister, will speak to journalists at the National Press Club in Canberra today, talking up the government’s new free trade agreement with the European Union.We haven’t had an honest conversation in this country about issues around taxation for a very long time, because the conversation always gets shut down. So I absolutely support us having honest conversations as Australians about what we should be doing into the future that’s in the best interest of our nation. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Keir Starmer to launch local elections campaign with focus on cost of living 29. March 2026 (23:30) PM will also cite Iran war as reason to stick with Labour, as party adopts new slogan: ‘Pride in Britain’ Keir Starmer will say that a vote for Reform UK will put at risk progress Labour is making on the cost of living, arguing that Britain’s values are being tested in a volatile world.Launching the party’s local elections campaign with a new slogan: “Pride in Britain”, Starmer will urge voters to stay the course with Labour. A dire set of results are predicted for the party in Wales, Scotland and English councils, especially in the north-east of England and London. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Chesney the kangaroo found three days after hopping away from farm 29. March 2026 (23:07) Marsupial escaped from enclosure at Wisconsin’s Sunshine Farm on Wednesday after he was spooked by stray dogsHow does a kangaroo escape a petting zoo?It’s not the opening line to a dad joke. If you’re Chesney the kangaroo, you scale an 8ft (2.5-meter) fence and go on the lam for three days, giving your keeper sleepless nights and sending residents of a small Wisconsin town on a search that would end happily on Saturday. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
Cory Booker says Democrats have ‘failed this moment’ and calls for new leaders 29. March 2026 (21:32) Senator’s comments come amid growing divisions within the party, which he says has ‘too small of a coalition’Cory Booker, the Democratic senator from New Jersey, renewed his calls for new leadership of the Democratic party, saying the party has “failed this moment”.“As a whole, our party has failed this moment,” Booker said on Sunday. “I’ve called for a generational renewal, because this left-right divide is killing our country and our adversaries know it.” He also said that “purity tests” within the party have led to more division in the US. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
NHS restructure is greatest danger to Streeting’s effort to revive service 29. March 2026 (20:45) Health secretary still confident of success but critics say scrapping of NHS England has been ‘a total car crash’NHS to miss targets for cutting A&E wait times and performance in EnglandIn the Great Hall at the University of East London last Wednesday, the perennially upbeat Wes Streeting was exuding even greater positivity than usual. After years of neglect under the Conservatives, he said, the NHS was starting to revive thanks to Labour’s medicine.In a bravura performance in front of an audience of health service bosses, policy experts and student nurses in their blue and green uniforms, Streeting reeled off a long list of improvements in his 20-month tenure as health secretary. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
What the Houthis’ entry into the Iran war means for the conflict and the wider region 29. March 2026 (20:27) Fresh attacks on Red Sea shipping would be devastating – but the Iranian proxy has reasons to be cautiousThe true significance of the long-awaited entry of Yemen’s Houthis into the Iran war depends on whether the Tehran-backed proxy group is intending to send a few missiles and drones from a distance towards Israel or will instead capitalise on its proximity to the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait to effectively close off the Red Sea to shipping, just as Iran has in effect shut the strait of Hormuz.The combined effect of both waterways being shut to commercial traffic from countries that neither the Iranians nor Houthis favour would be devastating. Napoleon Bonaparte’s remark that “the policy of a state lies in its geography” has never seemed more apt. Continue reading...(The Guardian)
