The International Space Station (ISS) returned to full strength with Saturday’s arrival of four new astronauts to replace colleagues who bailed early because...
The International Space Station (ISS) returned to full strength with Saturday’s arrival of four new astronauts to replace colleagues who bailed early because of health concerns.
SpaceX delivered the US, French and Russian astronauts a day after launching them from Cape Canaveral.
Last month’s medical evacuation was Nasa’s first in 65 years of human spaceflight. One of four astronauts launched by SpaceX last summer suffered what officials described as a serious health issue, prompting their hasty return. That left only three crew members to keep the place running – one American and two Russians – prompting Nasa to pause spacewalks and trim research.
Moving in for eight to nine months are Nasa’s Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, France’s Sophie Adenot, and Russia’s Andrei Fedyaev. Meir, a marine biologist, and Fedyaev, a former military pilot, have visited the ISS before. During her first space station visit in 2019, Meir took part in the first all-female spacewalk.
Adenot, a military helicopter pilot, is only the second French woman to visit space. Hathaway is a captain in the US navy.
Nasa has refused to divulge the identity of the astronaut who fell ill in orbit on 7 January or explain what happened, citing medical privacy. The ailing astronaut and three others returned to Earth more than a month sooner than planned. They spent their first night back on Earth at a hospital before returning to Houston.
The space agency said it did not alter its preflight medical checks for their replacements.
Gordon Ramsay is setting the record straight about allegations Brooklyn Beckham made against his parents.
In a recent interview with The Sun, the 59-year-old celebrity chef and TV personality denied Brooklyn’s claims that his mother, Victoria Beckham, danced inappropriately with him at his wedding to Nicola Peltz Beckham.
“Victoria is upset, and [has] every right to be upset,” he told the outlet. “We were there at the wedding. There was nothing salacious. There was nothing inappropriate. Everyone was having fun [and] having a dance.”
When pressed further about whether he saw Victoria “grind” on her son or if she did anything else that could be seen as inappropriate, Ramsay said, “No! Nothing of the sort. It was fun.”
Ramsay denied Brooklyn’s claims that Victoria did anything inappropriate at his wedding.(Michael Yarish/WBTV via Getty Images; Neil Mockford/GC Images)
Ramsay has had a close friendship with the Beckham family for over two decades, with Ramsay telling the outlet his relationship with Brooklyn remains “solid” throughout this family feud, adding that “Love is blind [and] it’s easy to get up on that roller coaster, and get carried away,” but that he believed Brooklyn will find his way back.
“I’ve seen first hand just how good parents they are. David as a dad is just incredible. They have both put so much energy into their kids, and I know just how many times they have got Brooklyn out of the s—,” he said. “I think it’s going to be a matter of time before Brooklyn takes a good look at himself and understands just what his parents mean to him.”
The restaurant owner’s comments come nearly a month after Brooklyn bashed his parents on his Instagram story, confirming years-long speculation of a feud between them, writing, “I do not want to reconcile with my family.”
Among the many claims he made against his parents in the post, Brooklyn alleged his parents controlled him his whole life and that Victoria “hijacked” his first dance with Nicola, causing her to run out of the room crying.
Brookln Beckham alleged that at his wedding, his mother, Victoria Beckham, danced “inappropriately on me.”(Getty Images)
“She danced very inappropriately on me in front of everyone. I’ve never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life,” Brooklyn said.
In addition to Brooklyn, 26, the former Spice Girls member and her husband, David Beckham, are also parents to sons Romeo, 23, Cruz, 20, and daughter Harper, 14, all of whom Brooklyn has blocked on social media.
Cruz recently posted a series of photos on his Instagram, some of which featured Brooklyn, prompting some of his followers to poke fun at Brooklyn.
“Did you contact his lawyer before his face appears on your Instagram,” one user wrote, while another echoed: “Brooklyn about to sue you too.”
Fans teased Brooklyn and Nicola in Cruz’s Instagram comments.(Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images for Vogue)
“Did nicola approve these Pics before you post them of her hostage,” one follower asked.
Prior to the bombshell statement, the 26-year-old photographer reportedly sent his parents a legal “desist” letter, informing them they could only speak to him and his wife via lawyers. The Sun reported that the letter instructed his parents not to mention him or his wife on social media.
France and Germany call for UN special rapporteur for occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, to step down over her critical comments.
More than 100 prominent artists – including musicians, actors and writers – have signed an open letter in support of the United Nations special rapporteur for occupied Palestinian territory who faces international calls to step down.
In a letter from the group Artists for Palestine on Saturday, the signatories offered “full support to Francesca Albanese, a defender of human rights and, therefore, also of the Palestinian people’s right to exist”.
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“There are infinitely more of us in every corner of the Earth who want force no longer to be the law. Who know what the word ‘law’ truly means,” the letter said.
Among the supporters were actors Mark Ruffalo and Javier Bardem, Nobel Prize-winning author Annie Ernaux and British musician Annie Lennox.
At last week’s Al Jazeera Forum, Albanese, an outspoken critic of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza, said “we as humanity have a common enemy”, but a fake video that was later debunked had her accusing Israel of being the “common enemy”.
She later explained in a social media post she was referencing “the system that has enabled the genocide in Palestine” as the “common enemy”.
‘Crush any criticism of Israel’
Still, European countries, including France and Germany, continue to call for her removal.
On Tuesday, a group of French lawmakers sent a letter to Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot condemning Albanese’s remarks as “anti-Semitic”. A day later, Barrot called on her to step down, saying France “unreservedly condemns the outrageous and reprehensible remarks”.
On Thursday, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul called her position “untenable”.
Frank Barat, an author and film producer, said French President Emmanuel Macron and Barrot have repeatedly said they support international law “while the facts show the complete opposite”.
Albanese has highlighted for the past two years that under international law, “states have a duty to act to prevent genocide, and they’ve been failing completely” in Gaza, Barat told Al Jazeera.
“Because Francesca has been highlighting this hypocrisy, she’s been targeted by most Western governments. The political agenda of these governments is to crush any criticism of Israel. We’ve seen it in the streets of Europe. We’ve seen it in the streets of the US,” he added.
People who have spoken out against Israel’s war on Palestine are “criminalised while the perpetrators of genocide continue to be let go“, Barat said.
Marta Hurtado, a spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said at a news briefing on Friday that her colleagues are “very worried” about the backlash against Albanese.
“We are concerned that UN officials, independent experts and judicial officials are increasingly subjected to personal attacks, threats and misinformation that distracts from the serious human rights issues,” Hurtado said.
Nearly 600 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in Gaza since an October 10 “ceasefire” alone. At least 72,000 Palestinians have been killed and 171,000 wounded in Israel’s war since October 2023
A former imam who coerced his victims, some as young as 12, into believing he had supernatural powers, has been found guilty of 21 sexual offences, including nine counts of rape.
Abdul Halim Khan, 54, of Old Ford Road, Bethnal Green, in east London, used his position as a respected faith leader to abuse multiple women and girls between 2004 and 2015, the Metropolitan Police said.
He was convicted of nine counts of rape, four counts of sexual assault, two counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, five counts of rape of a child under 13 and one count of assault by penetration at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Friday.
Khan persuaded victims to meet him at isolated spots, including flats and quiet, hidden locations, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.
He would then rape or sexually abuse them, saying he would be possessed or disguised as a jinn, or supernatural spirit, the CPS added.
Victims felt they had to keep these acts hidden and quiet from families and friends, or they may be harmed by “black magic”, the CPS said.
His offending came to police attention in 2018 when the youngest victim reported him to a teacher at her school, the force said.
When questioned, Khan repeatedly denied the allegations, calling them a conspiracy and saying the victims had made them up for revenge, police said.
Khan was eventually charged in March 2023.
A survivor of his abuse, speaking after the verdict, said what she suffered as a child “has had a profound and lasting impact”.
She said she still carried the trauma with her, having “lived with shame, fear and confusion that were not mine to carry. The loss of trust, in people, in systems, and at times in myself, shaped much of my adult life.
“I hope this outcome acknowledges not only the abuse itself, but the deep and lasting harm it causes.
Detective Sergeant Sara Yems, who led the investigation, said the seven women who came forward showed “extraordinary courage”, adding she hoped that Khan’s conviction would “offer a small measure of comfort”.
Melissa Garner, specialist prosecutor for the CPS, said Khan “abused his position of trust and authority to carry out a vicious series of rapes and sexual abuses against seven victims, including three vulnerable teenage girls.”
She added: “Khan coerced and deceived them into thinking that he possessed supernatural powers which could protect them and their families from harm in exchange for hideous acts of sexual abuse without their consent”.
Sweden had a chance to secure a gold medal in the women’s 4 x 7.5 km relay, but Ebba Andersson crashed hard and flipped over. When Andersson got up, she realized she had lost her right ski and couldn’t put it back on.
She then plodded along with one ski, carrying the other under her arm, while waiting for Sweden’s ski technician to reach her with a new ski. The hectic scene unfolded as Andersson was attempting to keep Sweden’s place on the podium.
Making matters worse, the ski technician, while running to catch up with Andersson, also fell in the snow to delay them even further.
Ebba Andersson tags teammate Frida Karlsson, right, during the cross-country skiing women’s 4×7.5 km relay at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Tesero, Italy, on Feb. 14, 2026.(Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP Photo)
“She’s fallen again,” BBC commentator Rob Walker said as the mishap occurred, via the New York Post. “An absolute disaster – and she’s lost a ski. She’s doing her level best to catch it up.”
“What a nightmare this has turned out to be for the Swede. It’s all been going so well so far. Frida Karlsson (Andersson’s teammate) can barely bring herself to look.”
Frida Karlsson walks off the course after completing her leg of the cross-country skiing women’s 4×7.5 km relay at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Tesero, Italy, on Feb. 14, 2026.(Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)
“And what an effort from Andersson. She’s running. She’s running with the ski under her arm. Desperate to give Karlsson at least something to aim at.”
The crash and subsequent time without a ski dropped Sweden to seventh, but they rallied to finish in second and win a silver medal. Norway beat Sweden by 50.9 seconds, finishing with a time of 1:15:44.8 to secure the gold medal.
Heidi Weng celebrates after winning the gold medal in the cross-country skiing women’s 4×7.5 km relay at the 2026 Winter Olympics. Tesero, Italy, on Feb. 14, 2026.(Matthias Schrader/AP Photo)
Despite recovering enough to land a silver medal, Andersson was distraught about the crash.
“My body is ok, but my heart is not,” Andersson said. “I can’t blame anyone but myself. I didn’t act well enough in that moment. Then we had the worst possible bad luck with the broken ski. It was mostly panic and chaos through that entire leg.”
‘Illiberal’ PM, endorsed by ally Trump this week, to receive US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Sunday.
Published On 14 Feb 202614 Feb 2026
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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban says his country should fear the European Union more than Russia while promising to clear away the EU’s “oppressive machinery” before what looks will be heated parliamentary elections.
Delivering his annual state-of-the-nation speech on Saturday, Orban pledged to push out “the foreign influence that limits our sovereignty together with its agents” as the opposition Tisza Party maintains an 8 to 12 percentage point lead over Orban’s ruling Fidesz party eight weeks from the April 12 elections.
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“Fear-mongering about [Russian President Vladimir] Putin is primitive and unserious. Brussels, however, is a palpable reality and a source of imminent danger,” said the 62-year-old leader, who compared the EU to the repressive Soviet regime that dominated Hungary for decades last century.
Since returning to power for a second time in 2010, Orban has waged a campaign against “pseudo-civil organisations”, “bought journalists”, judges and politicians in his drive to build what he calls an “illiberal state”.
His crackdown on immigration has provided a blueprint for right-wing leaders, such as United States President Donald Trump.
‘War or peace’?
In Saturday’s speech, Orban signalled his work of clearing liberal forces from the country is only “half-done”, noting that Trump, who is backing him to win the upcoming vote, “rebelled against the liberals’ global-scale business, media and political network, thereby improving our chances as well”.
On Friday, Trump posted a new endorsement of Orban on his Truth Social platform, saying he’s a “truly strong and powerful leader with a proven track record of delivering phenomenal results”.
The US president’s comments came as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio prepares to visit Hungary on Sunday. Rubio will fly in from the Munich Security Conference in Germany with a stopover in Slovakia for talks with nationalist Prime Minister Robert Fico.
Orban, who has cultivated warm relations with Putin during his current stretch in power, this week cast the April elections as a stark choice between “war or peace”, warning in a Facebook post that Peter Magyar’s Tisza Party would drag the country into the conflict raging next door in Ukraine.
The prime minister has doubled down on his strategy of portraying Magyar as a “Brussels puppet” with billboards depicting him saying “yes” to a demand for “Money for Ukraine!” from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
Canada has faced renewed accusations of cheating after a member of the Swiss men’s curling team raised concerns of double-touching during their round-robin game on Saturday. The allegations came shortly after World Curling made adjustments to officiating following the first claims made against Canada’s Marc Kennedy.
Switzerland became the sole unbeaten team at Milan Cortina after defeating Canada 9-5 in their fourth straight win, but the victory did not come without controversy.
Canada’s Ben Hebert, Brett Gallant and Marc Kennedy compete during a men’s curling round robin match against Switzerland at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The event took place in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Feb. 14, 2026.(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Swiss curler Pablo Lachat-Couchepin was captured on the broadcast talking to his coach during a fifth-end break in which he mentioned that he witnessed double-touching.
“I don’t want to focus too much on it, but he double-touched, and the referee saw it,” he said, according to The Toronto Star. It was unclear if those concerns were raised to officials.
The controversy even bled onto the women’s side on Saturday.
Canadian curler Rachel Homan had her stone removed after an official ruled that she had touched it again after releasing the handle. Homan protested, but per World Curling’s rules, there are no official replays and the official’s final call stands.
According to The Athletic, video replay of the incident did show Homan’s finger grazing the rock.
Canada’s Rachel Homan looks on during the women’s curling round robin session against Italy at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The event took place in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Feb. 14, 2026.(AP Photo/Fatima Shbair)
The new accusations came after World Curling released a statement addressing the claims first made by Sweden on Friday and Kennedy’s subsequent reaction, which was captured on the live broadcast.
“Game Umpires are situated at the end of each sheet and physically cannot see every delivery infraction. However, when they are made aware of delivery issues, game umpires are positioned to observe the delivery for three ends. During this period of observation in the Friday evening game, there were no violations recorded,” the statement began.
The sports governing body also addressed two rule concerns including “double-touching” and touching the granite. According to the rules, players can retouch the handle multiple times, but “touching the handle after the hog line is not allowed and will result in the stone being removed from play.” Additionally, the stone will be removed from play if the granite of the stone is touched at all during “forward motion.”
As a result of the allegations, World Curling said that two officials will be positioned to observe all deliveries beginning with Saturday’s games.
Canada’s Brad Jacobs and Marc Kennedy in action during the men’s curling round-robin session against Sweden at the 2026 Winter Olympics. The event took place in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Feb. 13, 2026.(AP Photo/Misper Apawu)
Kennedy vehemently denied the accusations made by Sweden’s Oskar Eriksson at the time, saying, “Who’s doing it? I haven’t done it once, you can f— off.”
Canada was issued a verbal warning for Kennedy’s language, which he apologized for on Saturday – but the apologies ended there.
“I probably could’ve handled myself better in the moment,” he told CBC. “I know I’m a role model for Canadian curlers, so if I apologize at all, it’s to the young curlers around the country that would’ve expected more from me in that moment.”
Kennedy went on to say he was defending himself and his team when their integrity came under criticism, and went on to further accuse Sweden of being in the wrong, saying he believed they “premeditated planning to try to catch us.”
“They’ve come up with a plan to catch teams in the act,” Kennedy said.
Ukraine wants security guarantees for a minimum of 20 years from the US before it can sign a peace deal with dignity, Volodymyr Zelenskyy said ahead of talks next week with Russia and the US.
He was speaking in Munich on Saturday where he also called for a clear date for Ukraine to be allowed to join the EU. Some EU officials have put the date as early as 2027.
Speaking to the annual Munich security summit, Ukraine’s president said he hoped “the trilateral meetings next week will be serious, substantive, helpful for all us but honestly sometimes it feels like the sides are talking about completely different things”.
“The Americans often return to the topic of concessions and too often those concessions are discussed only in the context of Ukraine, not Russia,” he added.
The issue of Europe’s frustration with a perceived US reluctance to spell out the security guarantees it is prepared to offer Ukraine in the event of a peace deal, and the need for the guarantees to be spelled out before an agreement is signed, likely remains the biggest wound in the badly fractured relationship between the US and Europe.
In a speech that was welcomed by European leaders keen to see any sign of a thaw in the relationship, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, put forward an offer to work in partnership with Europe.
However, this proposition, he stressed, was highly conditional and the US would go it alone if Washington’s highly Trumpian conditions were not met on climate, migration and tariffs.
Using a diplomatic tone that the US vice-president, , shunned in his speech at the conference a year ago, Rubio said “Europe and the US belong together”. He added that the US was ready to undertake the task of rebuilding the world order alone if necessary, but “we prefer it – and hope – to do it together with you, our friends in Europe”.
He made almost no reference to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, besides claiming that the US had pressed India to stop importing Russian oil, a claim Russia disputes.
At a press conference in Munich, Zelenskyy said the US had told him that if Ukraine withdraw from the Donbas, peace would come as quickly as possible, but he insisted this concession was not possible since Ukrainians live there.
He disclosed that the US had so far offered a 15-year security guarantee, but Ukraine wanted a minimum 20-year, legally water-tight agreement, setting out the specific help the US would provide to a planned European reassurance force due to be put inside Ukraine in the event of a peace deal.
Details of a so-called prosperity plan whereby the US would have access to Ukrainian mineral resources had not yet been exchanged, Zelenskyy said.
He also queried why the head of the Russian negotiation delegation had been changed, saying he feared it meant the Russians were playing for time, rather than shifting strategy.
Zelenskyy also complained about Europe having been practically absent from the table. “That’s a big mistake, in my opinion,” he said, a view that was shared by the Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi.
On Friday, Donald Trump called on Zelenskyy to “get moving” to reach an agreement with Russia. Zelenskyy insisted that the elections that the US has pressed Ukraine to hold by 15 May can only take place two months after a ceasefire is declared, to ensure voters have adequate security.
Trump has been trying to put pressure on Zelenskyy to agree a deal within months, but has not spelled out the consequences if Ukraine is not sufficiently flexible for the US.
Zelenskyy also said the Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy plants would be raised in the talks in Geneva, adding that not a single energy plant inside Ukraine had now been left unscathed.
European leaders appear gloomy that a diplomatic breakthrough will be secured, with the consensus that Putin is not yet economically or militarily exhausted.
Zelenskyy said his ambition was to lift the number of Russians killed or seriously injured to 50,000 a month.
One European leader predicted at least another two years of war, and insisted Europe had the resources to sustain Ukraine for that long.
Zelenskyy also mounted a fierce attack on the Iranian regime for providing the Shahed drones that had caused so much damage inside Ukraine.
With as many as 200,000 protesters attending a demonstration in Munich calling for the Iranian regime to be toppled, Zelenskyy said: “We have never had a conflict of interests with the Iranian regime. But the Iranian Shahed drones they sold to Russia are killing our people and destroying our infrastructure.”
He argued that if Iran is given time, it will cause more destruction. “Regimes like the one in Iran must not be given time. When they have time, they only kill more.
“They must be stopped immediately, and this is exactly what should have happened with the Ayatollah after all the wars his regime unleashed and all the lives it took.”
Jessica Alba is single — and it cost her seven figures to make it official.
The 44-year-old actress has finalized her split from film producer Cash Warren, bringing their 16-year marriage to a legal end and closing out a relationship that spanned nearly two decades.
According to documents obtained by TMZ, the former couple will share joint custody of their three children — Honor, 17, Haven, 14, and Hayes, 8 — and neither party will pay spousal support.
Cash Warren and Jessica Alba filed a petition to end their marriage in February 2025. (Karwai Tang/Getty Images)
Alba will pay Warren $3 million to balance out the division of assets, TMZ reported. The payout will be made in two non-taxable installments — $1.5 million immediately and another $1.5 million one year from now.
The “Honey” actress has also officially restored her legal last name to Alba.
Alba and Warren cited irreconcilable differences as their reason for divorce.(Rich Fury/VF22/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)
Fox News Digital has reached out to attorneys for both Alba and Warren.
The divorce filing was first submitted in the Superior Court of Los Angeles after Alba petitioned for dissolution of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.
In documents obtained by Fox News Digital, she listed Dec. 27, 2024, as the date of separation.
The legal filing followed a candid social media announcement in January 2025, when Alba publicly confirmed the split.
“I’ve been on a journey of self realization and transformation for years – both as an individual and in partnership with Cash,” she wrote at the time, signaling that the decision had been long in the making.
Alba and Warren first met in 2004 on the set of “Fantastic Four” and tied the knot in 2008.
They went on to welcome three children while building careers in Hollywood and business.
Alba and Danny Ramirez’s relationship has been in the spotlight following her divorce from Cash Warren.(XNY/Star Max/GC Images)
In the months following the news of the split, Alba appeared to be moving forward.
In July 2025, she fueled dating rumors after being spotted returning to Los Angeles from a getaway in Cancun, Mexico, with actor Danny Ramirez.
She later confirmed the relationship by sharing photos from a trip to Australia, where fans quickly took note of their apparent chemistry.
Stephanie Giang-Paunon is an entertainment writer for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to stephanie.giang@fox.com and on Twitter: @SGiangPaunon.
Rental ebikes are booming in popularity as e-scooter hire operations decline across Australia amid what some have labelled a “moral panic” over safety.
The ebike boom has been led by Sydney, where the number of vehicles on streets nearly doubled in 2025 as US operator Lime deployed thousands more.
E-scooter hire had been faster to take off around Australia than ebikes, with all capital cities bar Sydney permitting the devices in early 2025. Operations froze over the course of the year due to safety concerns, shrinking access and unpopularity.
Major operator Neuron and its subsidiary Beam reduced their combined fleets by nearly a tenth over the year, to about 12,500 e-scooters across 24 locations.
Perth pulled about 1,000 rental e-scooters from its streets after a man died in an e-scooter crash. A subsequent Western Australian inquiry found e-mobility could be brought back in under tight regulation.
In Bendigo, Beam’s 250 scooters were pulled from streets after users took less than 55,000 trips, missing expectations, while the City of Adelaide said its 2,000-strong fleet saw ridership slide from 543,000 trips to 514,000, from 2024 to 2025.
Neuron and Lime pulled scooters from Melbourne’s Yarra area after the council hiked fees, having already being forced out of the city’s CBD in 2024.
Stephen Coulter, an industry consultant with Zipidi, blamed the e-scooter slowdown on a “moral panic” over safety and injuries.
“You’ve had moral panic, which has caused some [local governments] to overreact, like the City of Melbourne, who just withdrew them overnight back in September 2024,” he said.
Coulter said state governments could help e-scooters return in 2026, with the Victorian and New South Wales governments approving share scheme operators, while WA and Queensland to respond to state inquiries.
In the meantime, residents in Melbourne had swapped to Lime’s ebikes, Coulter said.
“Bikes are picking up in the absence of scooters and the operators are becoming better at aligning them with customer need,” he said.
Cities that previously only adopted e-scooters have moved towards bikes. Hobart adopting Beam bikes in May, Canberra invited applications for ebike and e-scooter operations and Adelaide will issue a similar invitation this year.
Lime’s Asia Pacific head, Will Peters, said the company was disheartened when Melbourne forced out its e-scooters but was hopeful of growing its ebike offering.
It is capped at operating 1,200 ebikes across inner Melbourne but recently debuted bikes and scooters in the Darebin municipality and is watching for a chance to expand into nearby Merri-bek.
Peters said Lime had seen the greatest uptake in Sydney, where e-scooter use is illegal, including for shared schemes.
Shared e-scooter operator Neuron and its subsidiary Beam reduced their combined fleets by nearly a tenth over the course of 2025, to about 12,500 e-scooters across 24 locations. Photograph: Sally Robertson/Alamy
It more than doubled its Sydney fleet to at least 7,000 ebikes over 2025, according to Guardian Australia analysis of public data, though industry sources have suggested the true figure could be higher than 10,000. The company declined to share fleet data.
Lime is bidding to boost ridership further in Sydney, offering redesigned bikes and subscriber discounts as it negotiates to expand as far west as Parramatta.
“How do we make Sydney the best market?” Peters said. “I think we can be bigger than London, we can be bigger than Paris.”
Ebikes boomed in Paris after the first European city to invite shared e-scooters also became the first to ban them in 2023.
Sydney’s lack of scooters has similarly supported rapid growth in rental ebike use, with 600,000 NSW residents now using a shared ebike monthly – 100,000 more than in October, government data suggests.
The City of Sydney reported shared ebike trips in the CBD nearly doubled in 2025, to 3.7m. Demand has attracted competition, with HelloRide operating 3,000 ebikes and Ario bringing a fleet of 2,700 since it entered in late 2024.
Shared bikes are legal for road use, restricted to speeds of 25km/h and power of 250 watts, unlike illegal and modified ebikes which have attracted government crackdowns amid a nationwide surge in injuries.
E-scooters and other personal mobility devices were involved in 10 deaths and 440 crashes in Queensland in 2025, preliminary police data shows. Legal ebikes, both privately owned and rented, were involved in four deaths and 235 crashes.
Shared ebikes’ relative safety compared to escooters had encouraged customers to swap, according to Adam Rossetto, general manager of Ario, which also operates scooters in far north Queensland.
“Ebikes are coming back into the fore,” Rossetto said.
“They provide a more traditional approach to mobility … that delivers less stupidity, I think, from a section of users.”
