Yesterday
Should weight-loss drugs be given to children?
A battle over how to treat childhood obesity is brewing between two groups who each believe their approach has young people’s best interests at heart.
This Month
WHO chief asks countries to push Trump to reconsider US withdrawal
But diplomats also pressed the World Health Organisation about how it might cope when its biggest donor exits the UN health agency.
January
Trump’s difference is in the detail second time around
Anthony Albanese was not going there when asked about this. But be assured the pressures Donald Trump is unleashing will make the need to change inevitable.
A rundown of Trump’s executive actions
The new president wasted no time in announcing steps to implement many of his campaign pledges, including on immigration, energy, the military and federal workforce.
China’s smokers light up global tobacco sales despite bans
Unlike in much of the world, where strict controls have led to a sharp decline in smoking, research suggests cigarette sales in China have risen in recent years.
October 2024
After a year of war, Gazans wonder how to deal with tonnes of rubble
Two-thirds of Gaza’s pre-war structures – more than 163,000 buildings – have been damaged or flattened, according to UN satellite data.
September 2024
Why big pharma wants the government to pay it to make drugs
Drug companies say the government must help pay for new antibiotics people will rarely use. But without them, Australians may die.
Israel finds bodies of six more ‘brutally murdered’ hostages
Israel’s military says the hostages were executed just before soldiers arrived in a tunnel under Rafah. President Joe Biden said Hamas will “pay for these crimes”.
August 2024
Labor agrees to guarantee Rex tickets
Catherine King says travellers can continue to book on Rex; Treasurer says no government “has ever overseen more job creation”; “Basic” council stuff-up plunges NSW Liberals into chaos. Follow live updates.
May 2024
Anti-vax claims flood Senate inquiry. Officials say they’re wrong
The ABS, Health Department and actuaries say there is no evidence to support claims there were more deaths from non-COVID causes due to government vaccine mandates during the pandemic.
PNG landslide death toll estimates raised to 670
Crews have given up hope of finding survivors buried deep under the soil and rubble after a landslide slammed into a village on the Pacific island.
September 2023
What is Nipah and why is the deadly virus flaring up again?
India is on high alert after a resurgence of the potentially lethal virus in southern Kerala state.
August 2023
What giving up that midweek glass of wine really does to your body
It’s easy to notch up too many units when drinking, just out of habit. Here’s what happened when one writer consulted an alcohol coach.
Japan releases nuclear wastewater as China vents fury
Beijing branded the long-awaited release of the treated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant as selfish and irresponsible.
The $183b COVID boom is turning to bust for Pfizer and Moderna
Moderna’s share price has already declined 43 per cent since the start of this year, while Pfizer’s has fallen 30 per cent.
‘It’s aerosol, stupid’: the professor who challenged medical chiefs
Mary-Louise McLaws, who passed away at the weekend, stood firm against Australia’s conservative medical profession, arguing the official COVID-19 pandemic response was missing the key driver of infection.
July 2023
Common sweetener in soft drinks and yoghurt ‘may cause cancer’
Aspartame is used in everything from Diet Coke and toothpaste to low-calorie fruit yoghurts and cough drops.
June 2023
Why COVID-19’s origins just got murkier
A four-page declassified report by the US Office of the Director of National Intelligence has muddied the waters, with the identity of patient zero still a mystery.
The poverty of AI pessimism should worry us all
Spurning AI will rob the world of its best chances to reverse productivity declines, manage an ageing population, and head off new health threats.
May 2023
China scientist concedes Wuhan lab leak theory for first time
The comments are the first admission by a senior official that Beijing’s took the so-called Wuhan lab leak theory seriously after years of heated denials.