Helen Haines, the independent federal MP for the Victorian seat of Indi, is in a critical condition and has lost a leg after an alleged attack outside her electorate office in Wangaratta on Monday afternoon.
On Tuesday the alleged attacker and driver of the car was named by police as 43-year-old Brendan Nugent.
A major investigation is under way into the incident, with Victoria police, the Australian federal police, Asio and counter-terrorism investigators involved.
Guardian Australian political editor Tom McIlroy speaks to Matilda Boseley about what happened and why this alleged attack on an independent MP is a watershed moment in Australian politics and political debate
Read more:
Helen Haines loses leg after car allegedly did U-turn and struck her twice in Wangaratta
Brendan Nugent named as driver apprehended over alleged attack on Helen Haines
‘I don’t want to be known as a hero’: barber who rushed to help Helen Haines praised by PM
Zoe Daniel: I knew one of us could get hurt eventually. I never thought it would be my friend Helen
Continue reading...Critics said images of detained former leader were a stunt by the military to end country’s diplomatic isolation
Myanmar has delivered presents from Britain’s King Charles to Aung San Suu Kyi, releasing rare photos of the imprisoned former leader in what critics said was a stunt by the country’s military to end diplomatic isolation.
A presidential spokesperson said on social media that home ministry officials handed over two gardening books on soil, “along with one sealed envelope and a sealed diplomatic pouch”, from King Charles, who is known to have an interest in planting and the environment.
Continue reading...Selina Cartmell announces season including Stockport-set version of Phaedra myth by Simon Stephens
A theatre boss has promised to channel the “pioneering spirit of Manchester” and be “brave and fearless” as she unveiled a new season of work, two years after a deeply damaging censorship row.
Selina Cartmell, the artistic director of the Royal Exchange in Manchester, revealed details of 2027-28 productions that include a retelling of the Munich air disaster and a modern Stockport-set version of the ancient Greek myth Phaedra.
Continue reading...Serve this warm and juicy meatball sabanekh with Iraqi tomato rice for a comforting meal that’s made to be shared
This is the kind of meal I love for its generosity and simplicity. A comforting spinach and chickpea stew (sabanekh), scattered with tender lamb meatballs and finished with a bright squeeze of lemon. And, alongside, Iraqi red rice (timman ahmar) brings warmth, colour and a gentle sweetness from the tomato, and soaks up the rich, savoury juices of the stew. Together, they form a hearty meal made for sharing.
Continue reading...The government says it can transform the state with AI, but it is no match for the resulting stream of machine-generated slop. And we all pay the cost
Another morning, another avalanche of emails. Even after a guilty cull, my inbox is sitting at well over 7,000, but lately I’ve started subscribing to the Quentin Crisp theory of housework: why bother, when after four years or so you stop noticing the accumulating dust? Empty inboxes just fill up again anyway.
In theory, email was supposed to save hours of meetings, phone calls and standing over photocopiers. Instead, we just spend hours deleting stuff people wouldn’t have bothered telling us if it had meant picking up the phone, but which they can now spam to their entire database at the click of a button. The glorious ease and convenience of being able to reach the world in seconds came, we now know, with the inconvenience of them being able to reach you right back.
Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...Rise in economic hardship and changes in attitudes towards migration could explain drop in support, experts say
Public support for the NHS’s founding principles – that it is free to use, available to everyone and tax-funded – has fallen over the last five years, research has shown.
Backing for all three pillars dropped between 2021 and 2025 across the UK population, except for a small rise in millennials’ support for the NHS being funded from taxation.
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