The US military’s Southern Command, which oversee operations in Latin America and the Caribbean, announced that it carried out another deadly strike on Monday, killing two suspected drug smugglers in the eastern Pacific.
The statement said that the latest in what legal experts have called a series of extrajudicial killings by the Pentagon was carried out “at the direction of” the Florida-based combat unit’s new commander, Gen Francis L Donovan, who was sworn in at a Pentagon ceremony last Thursday. Donovan takes over after a US navy admiral, Alvin Holsey, chose to retire over reported disagreements over the boat-strike policy.
The announcement, which was accompanied by video of the attack, was carried out on a boat “transiting along known narco-trafficking routes in the eastern Pacific”, the Pentagon said. The US Coast Guard was called to search for a lone survivor of the attack, the statement said.
The new killings bring the death toll to at least 130 in 38 strikes, according to Pentagon statements tallied by the Intercept.
Earlier Monday, US military forces boarded a sanctioned tanker in the Indian Ocean after tracking the ship from the Caribbean Sea as part of an oil quarantine meant to squeeze Venezuela, said defense secretary Pete Hegseth.
Venezuela had faced US sanctions on its oil and relied on a shadow fleet of falsely flagged tankers to smuggle crude into global supply chains. Following the US raid to apprehend then president Nicolás Maduro in early January, several tankers fled the Venezuelan coast, including the ship that was boarded in the Indian Ocean overnight.
Hegseth vowed to eventually capture all those ships, telling a group of shipyard workers in Maine on Monday that “the only guidance I gave to my military commanders is none of those are getting away”.
“I don’t care if we got to go around the globe to get them; we’re going to get them,” he added.
The Trump administration has seized seven tankers as part of its broader efforts to take control of Venezuela’s oil. Aquila II, a Panamanian-flagged tanker under US sanctions related to the shipment of illicit Russian oil, has not been formally seized and placed under US control unlike previous actions, a defense official said.
Instead, the ship is being held while its ultimate fate is decided by the US, according to the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss decision-making.
The Aquila II is owned by a company with a listed address in Hong Kong, ship tracking data shows it has spent much of the last year with its radio transponder turned off, a practice known as “running dark” commonly employed by smugglers to hide their location .
It was one of at least 16 tankers that fled the Venezuelan coast last month, according to Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, who said his organization used satellite imagery and surface-level photos to document the ship’s movements. According to data transmitted from the ship Monday, it is not currently laden with a cargo of crude oil.
The Pentagon’s post on X said the military “conducted a right-of-visit, maritime interdiction” on the ship.
“The Aquila II was operating in defiance of President Trump’s established quarantine of sanctioned vessels in the Caribbean,” the Pentagon said. “It ran, and we followed.”
A navy official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, would not say what forces were used in the operation but confirmed the destroyers USS Pinckney and USS John Finn as well as the mobile base ship USS Miguel Keith were operating in the Indian Ocean.
In videos the Pentagon posted to social media, uniformed forces can be seen boarding a navy helicopter that takes off from a ship that matches the profile of the Miguel Keith. Video and photos of the tanker shot from inside a helicopter also show a navy destroyer sailing alongside the ship.
Shadley Van Schalkwyk gave the first blow to Pakistan by dismissing Saim Ayub.
07:24 PM, 10-Feb-2026
Live Score PAK vs USA: Good start for Pakistan
Pakistan has made a good start by batting first against America. There was a good partnership between Saim Ayub and Sahibzada Farhan for Pakistan.
07:02 PM, 10-Feb-2026
Live Score PAK vs USA: Pakistan batting starts
Pakistan’s batting against America has started. Sahibzada Farhan has entered for Pakistan along with Saim Ayub.
06:35 PM, 10-Feb-2026
PAK vs USA Live Score: Playing-11 of both the teams
America: Andreas Gouse (wicketkeeper), Shayan Jahangir, Monank Patel (captain), Miling Kumar, Sanjay Krishnamurthy, Shubham Ranjane, Harmeet Singh, Mohammad Mohsin, Shadley van Schalkwyk, Ehsaan Adil, Saurav Netrawalkar.
Pakistan: Saeem Ayub, Sahibzada Farhan, Salman Aga (captain), Babar Azam, Usman Khan (wicketkeeper), Shadab Khan, Mohammad Nawaz, Faheem Ashraf, Shaheen Afridi, Usman Tariq, Abrar Ahmed.
06:33 PM, 10-Feb-2026
PAK vs USA Live Score: America won the toss
America’s captain Monank Patel has decided to bowl first after winning the toss against Pakistan.
06:20 PM, 10-Feb-2026
PAK vs USA Live Score: America has defeated Pakistan
It will not be easy for Pakistan to face America because the US team had defeated Pakistan during the 2024 T20 World Cup.
06:15 PM, 10-Feb-2026
PAK vs USA Live Score: America gets first success, Saim Ayub out; Partnership with Farhan broken
Live Cricket Score Today, PAK vs USA T20 World Cup 2026: Hello! Welcome to the live blog of Amar Ujala. Group A match is being played between Pakistan and America today in the T20 World Cup. America had created an upset last time by defeating Pakistan and now once again its eyes will be set on repeating this charisma.
As Dutch speedskater Jutta Leerdam broke an Olympic record in her gold-medal-winning run on Monday, her fiancée Jake Paul couldn’t contain his emotions.
He was crying for joy.
Paul was on his feet in the stands, bawling his eyes out as Leerdam didn’t just live up to the expectations of winning gold at the 2026 Milan Cortina games — she also broke the 1,000-meter speed skating record with a time of 1:12.31.
Jake Paul of United States of America cries with joy for his fiancée Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands who won after the Women’s 1000m Speed Skating event on day three of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at Milano Speed Skating Stadium on Feb. 9, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Henk Jan Dijks/Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi)
Leerdam broke the previous record set by teammate Femke Kok, who notched her time just moments before Leerdam’s run.
While the 27-year-old skater was brought to tears after seeing her final time, Paul was in the stands doing the same, surrounded by her family, who also couldn’t help but cry tears of joy.
This marked Leerdam’s first-ever gold medal at the Olympics and her second overall medal after winning silver in Beijing in 2022.
This one was extra special considering Leerdam’s surprising fall during the Dutch Olympic Trials, which forced her out of the race. There were talks that her spot at Milan Cortina was in doubt, but she made the Dutch team in the end.
It was the right move.
Boxer Jake Paul celebrates in the stands after his fiancée Jutta Leerdam of Team Netherlands (not pictured) wins Gold after breaking the Olympic record in the Speed Skating Women’s 1000m on day three of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Speed Skating Stadium on Feb. 9, 2026 in Milan, Italy.(Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
Before Leerdam’s record-breaking run, Kok raced to an impressive 1:12.59 time, which ultimately resulted in a silver medal for the Netherlands. Kok is also expected to be in contention for the gold medal in the 500-meter race later in the Games.
Rounding out the podium in the 1,000-meter sprint was Japan’s Miho Takagi, who finished third with a time of 1:13.95.
As for the Americans, Erin Jackson was in first place with a 1:15.00 time. However, as the skaters kept going, she kept falling down the list.
Brittany Bowe, Jackson’s teammate, just finished in fourth to miss out on a medal with a time of 1:14.55.
Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands celebrates winning the gold medal in the women’s 1,000 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026.(Luca Bruno/AP Photo)
Paul, the polarizing boxer, has been no stranger to showing emotion. And while this was pure joy, he fired off a tweet that appeared angry when talking about another massive sporting event back in the States.
Paul called Super Bowl LX halftime show performer Bad Bunny a “fake citizen” ahead of the Puerto Rican’s performance at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday night. Paul took exception with Bad Bunny due to the Grammy Award-winning artist speaking out against things like U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
“To clarify: I wasn’t calling anyone a ‘fake citizen’ because they’re from Puerto Rico. I live in Puerto Rico, and I love Puerto Rico,” Paul said in his most recent tweet, clarifying what he wrote on Sunday night. “I have used my platform to support Puerto Rico time and time again and will always do so. But if you’re publicly criticizing ICE who are doing their job and openly hating on America, I’m going to speak on it. Period. That’s the same reason I called out Hunter Hess.
Jake Paul of the U.S., center, cries after his fiancée Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands won the gold medal in the women’s 1,000 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Monday, Feb. 9, 2026.(Antonio Calanni/AP Photo)
“If you benefit from a country and the platform it gives you, but publicly disrespect it at the same time, that’s what I mean by being a fake citizen. And I agree love is more powerful than hate. Love America.”
Paul and Leerdam announced their engagement in March 2025 with a joint Instagram post.
Mastrosa was charged after the book sparked outrage and, on Tuesday, she was found guilty of three child abuse material charges at a Sydney court.
“The defendant has written a book that sexually objectifies children,” magistrate Bree Chisholm said.
“The reader is left with a description that creates the visual image in one’s mind of an adult male engaging in sexual activity with a young child.”
Lauren Mastrosa issued a pre-release of the novel to 21 advance readers in March before a complaint about its content was made to police. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
The 210-page book’s cover is coloured in pink pastel with the title spelled out in children’s alphabet blocks.
The magistrate found Mastrosa, who is from Sydney’s western suburbs, possessed, disseminated and produced child abuse material when writing and marketing her literary work.
Mastrosa issued a pre-release of the novel to 21 advance readers in March before a complaint about its content was made to police.
She was arrested after a search of her home, where officers found 16 hard copies of the offending novel.
The 34-year-old will be sentenced at a later date.
In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380.
The United States Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) announced Monday that the U.S. military carried out an operation targeting a drug-trafficking vessel in the Eastern Pacific, leaving two people dead and one survivor.
“On Feb. 9, at the direction of #SOUTHCOM commander Gen. Francis L. Donovan, Joint Task Force Southern Spear conducted a lethal kinetic strike on a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations,” the agency said.
The U.S. Southern Command conducted a fatal strike Monday targeting a a vessel operated by Designated Terrorist Organizations. (SOUTHCOM)
Muslim groups call for NSW police commissioner to resign
Dozens of Muslim organisations across Australia, including the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Australian Muslim Advocacy Network, the Lebanese Muslim Association, the Muslim Vote and Stand for Palestine have condemned the NSW police disrupting a Muslim prayer and the use of force at the protest in Sydney on Monday.
The groups said in a joint statement:
What occurred was completely unacceptable. Police officers knowingly intervened in a moment of religious observance, forcibly interrupted prayer and used physical force against individuals who posed no threat to public safety.
The use of force against people who were stationary, peaceful and engaged in prayer cannot be justified by vague references to public order. Interrupting prayer mid-act demonstrates a lack of respect for religious freedom and raises serious concerns about discriminatory and heavy-handed policing.
In addressing the police actions earlier at the protests, against the visit of Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, the NSW premier Chris Minns said it took place during “riotous behaviour” but clarified he was not suggesting those praying were doing that.
Police disperse praying Muslims during protests in Sydney – video
The groups have called for an apology from the premier, the police minister and police leadership and the resignation of the police commissioner “whose leadership bears responsibility for a policing culture in which such conduct was permitted to occur”.
They are also seeking an investigation and the police officers involved to be held accountable.
People praying as part of the pro-Palestine protests in Sydney yesterday. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
Key events
House passes bill to establish Australian Tertiary Education Commission
Things have been moving fairly quickly already in the House this afternoon, which just started sitting at 12pm, due to all the party room meetings. Over in the Senate, estimates is still going on, and public servants are still facing a grilling.
The House has just voted to pass a bill establishing the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC) which is a body that will be charged with designing university reforms, following the university accord.
The ATEC will also look at more contentious policies like the Job Ready Graduates Scheme and possible ways to fix it.
The body was supposed to be established last month, but the bill was only introduced on the last sitting day of last year.
Coalition calls for government to take action against Laos over methanol-poisoning deaths
The Australian government should take stronger action against the Laotian government over the deaths of two Australian women, Sussan Ley and the shadow foreign minister, Michaelia Cash, have said.
In a statement, the pair said the Laotian ambassador should be brought in to give a formal explanation over revelations that workers at a hostel responsible for the deaths of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles by methanol poisoning have only received fines of A$185.
Ley and Cash said Australia makes a “significant contribution to Laos through our foreign aid program and other development assistance”:
A year ago we learned the Laos government was refusing Australian Federal Police assistance in the investigation. A year ago Australians were told by the Albanese Government that the matter was in hand.
We now know there has been no meaningful justice for Holly and Bianca, and their families did not learn of these outcomes from their own government but via the British woman’s family.
The Albanese government should remind the Laotian government of the important contributions Australian taxpayers make to key programs in Laos in line with the friendship between our two countries.
A photo of Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones, who died in November 2024 after inadvertently drinking alcohol laced with lethal methanol at Vang Vieng in Laos. Photograph: Charlie Kinross/The Guardian
Lisa Cox
Climate groups say big emitters should pay for disaster recovery
Climate groups are calling for a pollution levy to be paid by major emitting companies, including gas and coal producers, as communities are hit by the costs of increasing global-heating driven disasters.
Climate Action Network Australia (CANA) and Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action said data from the Insurance Council of Australia showed fires, floods, heatwaves and storms had resulted in about $1.6bn in insured losses in Australian communities this summer so far.
The groups said Australia’s biggest emitting companies should “pay their fair share for the damage now being caused” via a levy that could fund disaster recovery in hard-hit communities, adaptation measures, and accelerating the clean energy transition.
Jan Harris, the co-chair of Bushfire Survivors for Climate Action, lost her home to a bushfire in 2018. She said “it is families just like mine who are shouldering the burden of climate change and we are close to breaking”.
Barry Traill from CANA said:
Communities are paying for this savage summer with their homes, livelihoods and, in too many cases, their lives … It’s time our parliament made those profiting from climate pollution help pay for the cleanup and the protections we need.
Penry Buckley
How many people attended last night’s protest in Sydney?
Police have so far declined to provide an estimate an how many attended last night’s protest, although as Guardian Australia has reported, police and organiser estimates can differ significantly.
When the Palestine Action Group unsuccessfully sought to challenge the government’s invocation of “major event” powers at the supreme court this week, organisers said they expected about 5,000 people to attend the protest at Town Hall square, which they said had a capacity of about 4,500.
The NSW upper house Labor MP Stephen Lawrence who attended the rally, told the ABC this morning he thought about 20,000 to 30,000 people had been present, a number echoed at a press conference by the Palestine Action Group and the NSW Greens a short while ago.
Police have confirmed there have been charges laid among the 27 protesters arrested yesterday, but are yet to identify the alleged offences.
People gathering at Sydney’s Town Hall yesterday to protest the Israeli president, Werner Herzog. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian
Tom McIlroy
Albanese thanks Labor MPs for discipline and ‘dignity’ in partyroom meeting
Anthony Albanese has thanked Labor MPs for their discipline and “dignity” in recent weeks, using remarks to a caucus meeting in Canberra to highlight ongoing instability in Coalition ranks.
The prime minister told the closed door meeting on Tuesday that Labor must continue to be “the adults in government” as the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, looks set to be challenged within days.
Albanese said the Coalition was a circus but government MPs should talk up their record on economic matters, on schools funding and a new agreement with the states and territories to fund hospital services and the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
Albanese also mentioned his successful visit to Indonesia alongside the foreign minister, Penny Wong, last week.
Ahead of the May budget, Albanese said Labor would work to strengthen the government’s fiscal position and provide assistance to households with the high cost-of-living, and reminded Labor MPs of the week’s closing the gap report on Indigenous disadvantage.
He said the annual Closing the Gap statement would be delivered in the wake of an alleged terror attack against Invasion Day protesters in Perth on 26 January. Albanese restated his view that it was time to “turn the temperature down” in Australia.
Josh Taylor
Lots of parents would like us to ban Roblox, Wells says
The communications minister, Anika Wells, is holding a press conference outlining the government’s concerns with gaming platform Roblox.
Wells said she believes “many of you I think, like me, were probably disgusted by the fact that children as young as four or five are seeing graphic and gratuitous violence on this platform”.
Roblox is under fire in Australia as regulators continue to pressure the company over child safety concerns. Photograph: Ramil Sitdikov/Reuters
She confirmed she has written to Roblox to seek a meeting, and asked the eSafety commissioner for any other measures she can undertaken to stop kids from seeing this type of content on Roblox. Wells has also asked for Roblox to assess again if it should be classified at PG, given it was last classified in 2018.
Wells said lots of parents would like to see Roblox banned under the social media ban, but noted the ban “is not there to cure the internet, cannot cure all the ills of the internet and it is designed specifically to [target] predatory, persuasive algorithms features and functions that kids experience”.
Josh Butler
Watt complains about ‘absolute explosion’ of Senate estimates questions
Greens senator David Shoebridge and minister Murray Watt have had a tense stand-off in senate estimates, over the timeliness – or lack thereof – of answers to questions about the department of home affairs.
Watt, the environment minister, claimed opposition and crossbench senators were being “over the top” and seeking to “jam up the system” in how many questions they’re asking at Senate estimates.
Senate estimates always gets a bit tetchy, and when ministers or public servants can’t or won’t answer questions at the table, they’re often asked to take them “on notice” (to respond later in writing).
Shoebridge was asking the department of home affairs about previous questions he’d asked – about the Dural caravan bomb hoax, and the department’s contracting arrangements around offshore detention – saying he’d been waiting a long time for responses.
Watt, representing the minister for home affairs, explained there had been “an absolute explosion of questions on notice” in this parliament and the last one, compared to the last time Labor was in opposition, and that Labor had been more “responsible” with their questions. He claimed the department had responded to about 90% of the questions on notice put to it, and hit back: “Senators need to take some responsibility for the sheer number of questions being asked”.
Shoebridge responded:
These are matters of public interest and they deserve timely answers.
Watt:
With respect senator, every senator thinks their questions on notice are significant … it takes time to resolve in addition to the important work this department does.
Patrick Commins
Gloomy Aussie households ‘bracing for more rate rises’
Australian households “are bracing for more rate rises”, according to Westpac’s latest sentiment survey which revealed a deepening pessimism among consumers.
The mood among Australians has soured over the past couple months as a rebound in inflation sealed the case for tighter monetary policy.
Matthew Hassan, a senior economist at Westpac, said the first Reserve Bank rate hike in over two years “has put renewed pressure on finances, dented attitudes towards major purchases and raised concerns about medium-term prospects for the economy”.
Eight in ten respondents said they expected the RBA to hike again in the next 12 months, after the central bank lifted its cash rate target to 3.85% last Tuesday.
Just over a third of those surveyed even expect mortgage rates to climb by 1 percentage point or more over the next 12 months – a far more gloomy prediction than the one-and-a-bit RBA rate hikes priced into financial markets.
Despite this rates outlook, Australians are incredibly bullish when it comes to house price expectations, as the index tracking this question lifted to a 15-year high.
In contrast the “time to buy a dwelling” gauge dropped to its lowest since late 2024.
Muslim groups call for NSW police commissioner to resign
Dozens of Muslim organisations across Australia, including the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils, Australian Muslim Advocacy Network, the Lebanese Muslim Association, the Muslim Vote and Stand for Palestine have condemned the NSW police disrupting a Muslim prayer and the use of force at the protest in Sydney on Monday.
The groups said in a joint statement:
What occurred was completely unacceptable. Police officers knowingly intervened in a moment of religious observance, forcibly interrupted prayer and used physical force against individuals who posed no threat to public safety.
The use of force against people who were stationary, peaceful and engaged in prayer cannot be justified by vague references to public order. Interrupting prayer mid-act demonstrates a lack of respect for religious freedom and raises serious concerns about discriminatory and heavy-handed policing.
In addressing the police actions earlier at the protests, against the visit of Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, the NSW premier Chris Minns said it took place during “riotous behaviour” but clarified he was not suggesting those praying were doing that.
Police disperse praying Muslims during protests in Sydney – video
The groups have called for an apology from the premier, the police minister and police leadership and the resignation of the police commissioner “whose leadership bears responsibility for a policing culture in which such conduct was permitted to occur”.
They are also seeking an investigation and the police officers involved to be held accountable.
People praying as part of the pro-Palestine protests in Sydney yesterday. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images
Tom McIlroy
Turnbull stops short of endorsing Taylor for Liberal leadership
Malcolm Turnbull has stopped short of endorsing his former cabinet colleague Angus Taylor for the Liberal leadership.
In a well-timed visit to Parliament House, the former Liberal leader said Taylor should front up and state his intentions on a possible challenge against Sussan Ley.
“I think it is important to stand up and be counted. This is a place where we vote in public,” he said.
If Angus wants to be leader of the Liberal party, he should stand up and say so, and say why, which is exactly what I did in the Senate courtyard nearly 11 years ago.
Asked if Taylor, the shadow defence minister, was fit to be leader, Turnbull chose his words carefully.
He is absolutely fit to be leader, because the only qualification for being leader of the opposition is to be member of the House of Representatives.
Angus has rather unenlightened views on energy nowadays but I remember when he worked for Rod Sims, years ago, when he was a young economist at Port Jackson Partners. He was very strongly in favor, and very eloquently in favor, of an economy-wide price on carbon, as the most efficient way to reduce emissions, but I gather he no longer shares that view.
‘It’s a rough business’, Turnbull sympathises with the Liberals
Tom McIlroy
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has weighed in on the Liberal leadership saga slowly unfolding at Parliament House this week, accusing his own party of abandoning the centre for an ideological “la la land”.
Turnbull was in Canberra to speak about hydro-electricity, but took a series of questions about the fight between Sussan Ley and Angus Taylor for the opposition leadership.
Former Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Turnbull says his party has abandoned the centre for an ideological “la la land”, in a press conference at Parliament House Photograph: Hilary Wardhaugh/Getty Images
Asked if a challenge against Ley would be unfair less than a year on from the election, Turnbull said politics is a rough game.
“Everyone gets treated badly in parliament,” he said. “Look, it’s a rough business.
I sympathise with all of my former colleagues. They are in a terrible state. The Liberal party is facing an existential crisis.
Turnbull said the party had to face up to hard truths about who it seeks to represent.
This is the inevitable consequence for the Liberal party of imagining that the goal of politics is to seek the approval of the Sky News audience.
Now that may well represent many of the members of their branches, but it does not represent Australia.
Andrew Messenger
Queensland parliament holds minutes’ silence for Bondi massacre victims
Queensland parliament has held a minutes’ silence for the victims of last year’s massacre at Bondi, on its first sitting day of the year.
The premier, David Crisafulli, moved a motion that the parliament “convey its deepest sorrow” for the massacre, condemn antisemitism and express its admiration and gratitude for the heroism of those who responded to the shooting.
Crisafulli said the attack, on 14 December 2025 “will forever be remembered as one of our nation’s darkest days” and was “an act of terror driven by antisemitism”.
“Hatred, fear and extremism must never be allowed to fracture the values that bind us. Queensland is a diverse state. Our strength comes from this diversity; people of different backgrounds, beliefs, cultures, identities and they choose to live here,” Crisafulli said.
No one should have to second-guess their place based on faith; no-one.
My message to Queensalnd’s Jewish community is – you matter, this is your home. We’re determined that you can go and worship, you can go to school, you can go to the shops, to university, without looking over your shoulder.
Both party leaders read out the 15 names of the people who were killed in the attack and vowed to do everything they could to prevent it happening again.
All MPs then stood for a minute to remember their lives. The government is expected to introduce legislation allowing the attorney general to ban slogans – including pro-Palestine phrases such as “From the river to the sea” and “globalise the intifada” – later today.
Confrontation between Greens MP and NSW police commissioner
Penry Buckley
NSW Greens upper house MP Abigail Boyd, who has alleged she was assaulted by police at yesterday’s protest, has just confronted the NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, at NSW parliament. Lanyon was giving a press conference alongside the premier on yesterday’s protest a short while ago.
The interaction was witnessed by media outlets who had come down from the press conference, including Guardian Australia. Boyd, who posted a picture of herself in the neck brace this morning, has alleged she was pushed and shoved by police at the protests last night, despite telling them she was a member of state parliament.
“It’s not OK,” said Boyd, after describing her alleged assault to Lanyon.
“Are you happy for me to get a police office to come and speak to you?” said Lanyon.
We’ll take it seriously.
NSW Greens MP says community can no longer trust police to handle protests
Following Chris Minns, pro-Palestinian protesters are addressing the media this morning, and say the NSW police can no longer be trusted to deal with peaceful protests.
Greens MP Sue Higginson says NSW police created a “literal pressure cooker” by surrounding protesters from being able to disperse.
There is a large part of NSW now that does not, cannot and should not trust the NSW police under the current NSW premier to be able to deal with … peaceful protests
What we saw last night was a monumental failure. You only have to look at what took place. The police created a literal pressure cooker. They surrounded people at Town Hall. There were no safe avenues of dispersal.
Higginson says she has asked the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission to establish an investigation.
She says there was no “compromise” and no movement from police.
I thought we would never return to this [as in] 1978 when a state and police thinks they can suppress, oppress and control a mass peaceful movement.
I dealt with police officers last night who I know themselves were shocked at what took place and that some of those police officers were emboldened …
Independent MP says protests were ‘entirely foreseeable’
The independent MP Zali Steggall says last night’s protests were “entirely foreseeable” and that any instances of excessive police force must be investigated.
Steggall told Sky News she understands that Jewish Australians are feeling vulnerable and that Palestinian Australians are also feeling hurt and angry at the “continued killing of innocent civilian lives”.
Host Laura Jayes, pushes Steggall on whether phrases like “globalise the intifada” are damaging. Stegall says:
I don’t dispute that it is damaging, but what I am really disappointed that at no point am I hearing anything in relation to what is to happen to the Palestinian people. We are seeing today the announcement that the Israeli government has further passed laws to legalise taking occupied [Palestinian] territories.
It was entirely foreseeable, considering the last two years and the issues and the damage this has been social cohesion, that events like last night were going to happen.
Why are we having the leader of a foreign state here causing social disruption and impacting our social cohesion … inviting the head of another state that has highly foreseeable consequences on our social cohesion is something the prime minister should have taken much greater care in considering.
Independent member for Warringah, Zali Steggall. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Teddi Mellencamp reflected on her cancer journey one year after she was hospitalized and required emergency brain surgery.
The former “Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star had electrodes positioned across her head prior to a brain scan in an image shared Monday from her hospital stay last year.
Shortly after revealing her diagnosis in February 2025, Mellencamp, 44, shaved her head to prep for surgery to remove a few of the tumors.
“Real Housewives of Beverly Hills” star Teddi Mellencamp reflected on her cancer journey.(Sara Jaye/Getty Images for Trü Frü)
“A year ago today I went into the ER thinking I had migraines and within 24 hours was having surgery on the plum-sized stage 4 tumors on my brain,” Mellencamp shared on Instagram. “I have a lot of anxiety surrounding today but also a lot of gratitude.”
“Gratitude for the doctors and nurses who took care of me, gratitude for my family and friends for supporting me, and gratitude for all the love that you have poured into me.”
She encouraged her followers to “trust your instincts” and “get checked.”
Teddi Mellencamp revealed her cancer diagnosis in February 2025.(Frazer Harrison)
Teddi first shared she was diagnosed with stage 2 melanoma in March 2022, and later shared in April 2025 that her skin cancer had grown to stage 4 and that it had spread to her brain and lungs. She had surgery to remove the tumors on her brain, saying at the time that while getting them removed, doctors ended up finding more.
Later that month, a scan showed her tumors were decreasing in size. One of the many debilitating effects she suffered from on her cancer journey was her inability to speak clearly. Her recent stint on “The Masked Singer” helped her in more ways than one.
WATCH: TEDDI MELLENCAMP TALKS BENEFITS OF PERFORMING ON ‘THE MASKED SINGER’
“‘The Masked Singer’ has done so much for me because leading up to it, I had been really, really sick,” Teddi said. “And I even see improvement in my motions now … You could see if you watch closely when I was singing, my hands were really shaking. And I had kind of forgotten how much I was shaking.
“Then when I was watching that, I was like, ‘Oh yeah, I forgot that,’ because when you’re recovering, you forget, you kind of only think about the negative, not the positive. And I’m like, that is a huge positive. That drove me crazy.”
She added, “I couldn’t write, like my hands were shaking so bad that I couldn’t write. Now my hands don’t shake at all … you’ve gotta be grateful for those things, because it is happening, whether it’s happening in my timeframe or not.”
Teddi Mellencamp admitted doctors gave her “50/50” odds of surviving cancer.(Getty/Teddi Mellencamp Instagram)
The co-host of “Two T’s in a Pod” will soon celebrate five years at the helm of her podcast with fellow “Housewives” alum, Tamra Judge. Mellencamp told Fox News Digital that she’s lucky to have a platform where she can speak honestly and openly with anyone.
“I’ve learned so much from other people on the Internet. You know, we’ve got to be honest, there were some tough years for me on the Internet, like people were coming for me, like it was, it was constant,” Mellencamp said. “And now I would say a lot of people reach out with regard to should I go get checked, or a dermatologist saying somebody came in and said they got checked because of you and any of those times that that happens, I’m like, I am so grateful that this happened to me because I’m able to share it with so many people, whether it be my podcast, television shows, anything.”
“I want to share with as many people as possible because you have to be your own health advocate.”
OpenAI said on Monday it has begun testing ads in ChatGPT, one day after being lampooned for its chatbot ad plans in rival Anthropic’s Super Bowl commercial.
The test is occurring in the US for logged-in adult users with Free accounts or the new ad-supported “Go” subscription tier; OpenAI has spared customers who pay for Plus, Pro, Business, Enterprise, and Edu accounts from seeing ads.
“Anthropic serves an expensive product to rich people,” said the aggrievedbillionaire in a social media post last week. “We are glad they do that and we are doing that too, but we also feel strongly that we need to bring AI to billions of people who can’t pay for subscriptions.”
OpenAI must pay staff and find a way to deliver returns for investors who have sunk more than $60 billion into the money-losing venture. So with positive cash flow not expected until 2030 – assuming the company survives that long – ad revenue looks like life support
It’s not the only AI company eyeing ad revenue opportunities. Google is reportedly planning to bring ads to its Gemini services later this year. But advertising and AI remain an unproven flavor combination: Perplexity, the AI search startup, paused its advertising operation last October following the departure of ads chief Taz Patel.
OpenAI aims to demonstrate that it can serve ads while maintaining customer trust. Echoing privacy commitments from the likes of Google and Meta, the company says, “we keep your conversations with ChatGPT private from advertisers.”
Specifically, the AI outfit insists that chats, chat history, memories, name, email, precise location, IP address, and sensitive information (e.g. health, politics) are never shared with advertisers.
Nonetheless, the biz has enabled ad personalization as a default in the settings available to ChatGPT users. So those who leave this setting enabled can expect their recent past and present conversations will be fed to systems that choose and serve ads based on what’s discussed.
“Starting in February, if ads personalization is turned on, ads will be personalized based on your chats and any context ChatGPT uses to respond to you,” the support document explains. “If memory is on, ChatGPT may save and use memories and reference recent chats when selecting an ad.”
Disabling ad personalization means only the current conversation will inform the ad targeting – past chatter will be ignored.
This data will not affect the answers ChatGPT provides, OpenAI insists: “Ads do not influence the answers ChatGPT gives you. Answers are optimized based on what’s most helpful to you.”
OpenAI explains that during the test period, the AI company will decide what ads its customers see by matching the topics discussed in current and past conversations with the relevant ads. “For example, if you’re researching recipes, you may see ads for meal kits or grocery delivery,” the company said.
Other signals may also be used for ad selection, like a person’s general location, language, and ad interaction history.
OpenAI insists that its ads, which will appear at the end of ChatGPT’s response to a prompt, are clearly labelled and visually separated from the chatbot content.
The biz similarly separates itself from the marketing messages it presents, stating that it does not endorse or recommend advertisers, or their products and/or services. That’s a level of hesitancy matched by its disclaimer: “ChatGPT can make mistakes. Check important info.”
OpenAI won’t show ads in temporary chats, when users are logged out, after generating an image, and in the ChatGPT Atlas browser. The ad exemption in Atlas may represent a bid to encourage more usage of OpenAI’s browser. It also appears to be an acknowledgement that ad blocking extensions could be used to remove ads if they were allowed in Atlas.
ChatGPT users discussing sensitive or regulated topics, including health, mental health, and politics, will also not see ads.
Advertisers will face restrictions that mean they cannot show spots related to dating, health, financial services, or politics.
But things may change. OpenAI says that its initial advertising test is focused on learning and that its advertising program will evolve over time – which may not be long if current spending fails to generate the necessary returns.
Caveat user. There’s plenty of industry precedent for starting with a product that customers love, then slowly increasing the ad load until it resembles something completely different – and much worse. For a refresher, check out what Google looked like when it started.®
New Delhi. The controversy regarding the ICC T20 World Cup match to be played between India vs Pakistan has finally ended. On February 1, the news of Pakistan government boycotting the match against India came to light and by February 9, the news of the matter being settled came to light. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has accepted some demands of PCB and BCB in a three-party meeting held in Lahore on Sunday. This brings to an end the weeks of speculation and confusion regarding the 2026 T20 World Cup. Now this big match between India and Pakistan is just waiting for the formal announcement.
ICC deputy chairman and Singapore representative Imran Khawaja was chosen by the board as the arbitrator on this controversial issue. He is considered an influential figure in the ICC and holds voting rights on the board as an Associate Member Director. Mohsin Naqvi from PCB side and former player Aminul Islam from Bangladesh side participated in the meeting. Together, all three resolved this impasse and ended the uncertainty that had been going on for weeks.
1 February- The Pakistani government had announced that their team would play in the tournament, but not against India. Until the ICC received formal confirmation from the PCB, it had warned that there would be serious consequences if Pakistan withdrew from the match. However, Pakistan remained firm on its decision.
Later, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also publicly reiterated this stance, making the boycott threat almost official. In less than ten days, the PCB’s tough stance softened. Reversing its decision on Monday, world cricket’s biggest rivalry restarted.
3 February – There were talks behind the scenes between ICC and PCB. ICC had intensified its efforts to organize this big match of Group A. ICC deputy chairman Imran Khawaja and Emirates Cricket Board chairman Mubashir Usmani held several calls and meetings with PCB chief Naqvi and PSL chief and Naqvi’s senior advisor Salman Naseer. These efforts had started a week ago. These became more intense after the tweet of Pakistani government.
5 February – Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) President Shammi Silva wrote a letter to Naqvi urging him to reconsider his decision to abandon the match against India. Warned that this decision could cause serious economic crisis in Sri Lanka, because large-scale preparations have already been made for the contest. The PCB was also reminded of Sri Lanka’s past cooperation, which included touring Pakistan at a sensitive and challenging time.
6 February – According to reports, Naqvi assured his Sri Lankan counterpart that he would respond after consulting the Pakistan government.
7 February – Shortly after Pakistan’s nervous win in the T20 World Cup opener against Netherlands, a big revelation was made in a PTI report. PCB has formally written a letter to ICC demanding implementation of the ‘Force Majeure’ clause. This attempt was to justify the boycott of the match against India. The ICC was not satisfied with this and along with solid reasons it also asked for proof that all possible solutions had been tried.
8 February – Khawaja, appointed as the mediator, reached Lahore and held a meeting with Naqvi and Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Islam. The meeting lasted for more than five hours, in which Pakistan made several demands, although both sides did not publicly disclose the outcome.
9 February (morning) – After Sri Lanka, the Emirates Cricket Board also wrote a letter to the PCB urging it to reconsider its stand. The ECB warned that a boycott would “damage the game” and cause huge economic losses to many member countries, especially associate teams.
9 February (evening) – Naqvi once again met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and informed him about the discussions held in Lahore and the appeals of BCB, SLC and Emirates Board. Sharif also spoke on phone to Sri Lankan President Anuar Kumar Dissanayake, who reiterated his request to play the match with Pakistan. The Pakistani government later clarified that the purpose of reversing the boycott decision was to “protect the spirit of cricket and support the continuity of this global game in all participating countries”.
Voters in Portugal have rejected the main far-right party’s attempt to win the presidency, instead electing Antonio Jose Seguro of the centre-left Socialist Party to a five-year term. Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler watched the results come in.
