Pope Francis “slept all night” and is continuing to rest, the Vatican has said in a one-line statement, after the 88-year-old pontiff had two episodes of acute respiratory failure on Monday. The pope, who has pneumonia in both lungs, has been at the Gemelli hospital in Rome for more than two weeks. As of Tuesday…

A former soldier raped his ex-girlfriend in a “violent, sexual act of spite” before he murdered her with a crossbow, a court has heard. Kyle Clifford, 26, shot dead Louise Hunt, 25, and her sister Hannah Hunt, 28, with a crossbow and fatally stabbed their mother, Carol Hunt, 61, at their home in Bushey, Hertfordshire,…

Anthony Albanese has condemned a threat made against a mosque in south-west Sydney that referenced the Christchurch terror attack as “abhorrent”, as the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, confirmed police were conducting a “major investigation”. NSW police on Tuesday evening confirmed they were investigating after the Australian Islamic House – Masjid Al-Bayt Al-Islami in…

With a one-word answer to a four-word question, the Australian politician Roger Cook set off a flurry of headlines he may hope does not catch the White House’s attention. During a game of “finish the sentence” with a journalist on Tuesday, the premier of Western Australia was asked: “JD Vance is a …” “Knob,” he…

James Harrison, the Australian known as “the man with the golden arm” because of his prolific baby-saving blood donations, has died aged 88. In his lifetime, Harrison rolled up his sleeve more than 1,100 times to give his plasma which was then used in 2.4m doses of anti-D medication to save at-risk newborn babies. Harrison’s…

The New South Wales government has dropped a commitment to remove 9,500 poker machines from across the state, despite committing to do so before the state election. During the campaign, senior Labor figures including the now treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, described the party’s plan to remove thousands of poker machines as a clear point of difference…

China and Canada unveiled retaliatory measures against the US after Donald Trump imposed his sweeping tariffs plan at midnight US time, despite warnings it could spark an escalating trade war. US tariffs have come into force of 25% against goods from Canada and Mexico, the US’s two biggest trading partners, and 20% tariffs against China…

The Western Australian premier, Roger Cook, has called the US vice-president, JD Vance, a “knob”, wading into US politics at a pre-election event in Perth. At the West Australian’s Leadership Matters event on Tuesday morning, at which Cook was the guest speaker, a journalist asked the premier to finish the sentence: “JD Vance is a…

US vice-president JD Vance said that the best way to protect Ukraine from another Russian invasion is to guarantee the US has a financial interest in Ukraine’s future. “If you want real security guarantees, if you want to actually ensure that Vladimir Putin does not invade Ukraine again, the very best security guarantee is to…

The Reserve Bank is cautious about future cash rate cuts and doesn’t view last month’s decision to reduce the official interest rate level as a commitment to make further reductions, according to the minutes of the bank’s recent board meeting. The 18 February meeting minutes, released on Tuesday, deflate the hopes of mortgage holders of…