source : the age
Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Wednesday, August 26. Many Australians will be waking to the sad news that country music legend Dolly Parton has died, aged 80, as tributes to the Jolene and I Will Always Love You songwriter and 11-time Grammy winner pour in from around the world.
Here’s what else is making news today.
- It was business’ night of nights at the Business Council of Australia’s annual dinner last night, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as the headline guest, alongside a slew of corporate bigwigs, executives and politicians. Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn also made an appearance, despite much speculation surrounding his attendance.
- The chair of the Sydney Swans Foundation apologised yesterday to those affected by allegations of sexual assault being investigated by Victoria Police, and the suspension of five Swans players for breaching club standards.
- Some of the nation’s top international law experts have argued Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada should consider launching an MH17-style joint criminal investigation into the fatal Israeli drone strike that killed aid worker Zomi Frankcom and her World Central Kitchen colleagues in Gaza in 2024.
- And Ghislaine Maxwell’s bid to overturn her sex-trafficking conviction and be freed from prison was rejected by a US federal judge who said on Tuesday (US time) the claims by Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and longtime associate that new evidence had emerged were “demonstrably meritless”.
Opposition Leader Angus Taylor has called for the prime minister to stand down Labor MP Luke Gosling from his special envoy role after the Solomon member allegedly breached his bail conditions.
Gosling was charged in Darwin last month after allegedly assaulting Northern Territory Administrator David Connolly. Gosling has denied all allegations.
Taylor said any MP charged with an alleged assault should be suspended.
“Presumption of innocence is important in our system, but he should be stood down whilst these proceedings continue,” Taylor told the ABC News Breakfast.
“I said when this first happened, it was a test of the prime minister’s leadership. If it was a test then, it’s an even stronger test today. He must act. It’s completely unacceptable for a second charge to be placed on Luke Gosling.”
Independent senator says while data centres can be an opportunity for Australia, it is important for the government to “get the settings right”.
“There’s clearly issues around energy and water, around social licence,” he told Nine’s Today show.
“One of the big things that I haven’t heard any leaders talking about is what is the long-term benefit. Where is the data centre tax and the return to the Australian people because we’ve seen this play out before.”
Pocock’s remarks come as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese prepares to unveil a national AI and data centre plan when he convenes a meeting of national cabinet today.
Australia has 225 data centres either in development or in the planning pipeline, while 162 are already built.
The energy market operator says the number of data centres in development since last year has more than doubled.
Tributes for Dolly Parton continue to pour in this morning, as celebrities, politicians and public figures from around the world honour the leading lady of country music.
US President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social: “Rest in Peace, Dolly! The World loves you.”
Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, former US vice president Kamala Harris and US Senator Bernie Sanders all posted their own tributes too, along with New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
American singer Dionne Warwick was one of the first to pay tribute to Parton.
Windsor, Ontario: With his trade war with Canada intensifying, US President Donald Trump floated the idea of renaming Lake Ontario to become “Lake America”.
His latest branding idea – he rechristened the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” – highlights how much his rhetoric and trade policy have sundered the previously warm relationship between Washington and Ottawa.
Trump introduced the idea hours before Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced reciprocal tariffs on US imports into his country.
“The United States is giving serious consideration to changing the name of Lake Ontario to Lake America in that we don’t expect to doing much business with Ontario any longer,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
Some of the nation’s top international law experts have argued Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada should consider launching an MH17-style joint criminal investigation into the fatal Israeli drone strike that killed aid worker Zomi Frankcom and her World Central Kitchen colleagues in Gaza.
The Israel Defence Forces’ military advocate-general last week cleared the military personnel involved in the 2024 drone strike of criminal wrongdoing, infuriating the Albanese government.
The UK, Canada and Australia branded the decision not to pursue criminal charges “shameful” in a joint statement over the weekend.
“The victims of this incident and their families deserve justice and accountability, and we will continue to seek answers on their behalf,” the nations said.
As well as Frankcom, the seven aid workers killed in the attack included humanitarians from the United Kingdom and a dual Canada-US national.
Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Wednesday, August 26. Many Australians will be waking to the sad news that country music legend Dolly Parton has died, aged 80, as tributes to the Jolene and I Will Always Love You songwriter and 11-time Grammy winner pour in from around the world.
Here’s what else is making news today.
- It was business’ night of nights at the Business Council of Australia’s annual dinner last night, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as the headline guest, alongside a slew of corporate bigwigs, executives and politicians. Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn also made an appearance, despite much speculation surrounding his attendance.
- The chair of the Sydney Swans Foundation apologised yesterday to those affected by allegations of sexual assault being investigated by Victoria Police, and the suspension of five Swans players for breaching club standards.
- Some of the nation’s top international law experts have argued Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada should consider launching an MH17-style joint criminal investigation into the fatal Israeli drone strike that killed aid worker Zomi Frankcom and her World Central Kitchen colleagues in Gaza in 2024.
- And Ghislaine Maxwell’s bid to overturn her sex-trafficking conviction and be freed from prison was rejected by a US federal judge who said on Tuesday (US time) the claims by Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and longtime associate that new evidence had emerged were “demonstrably meritless”.
