Author: info@thewitness.com.au

Ukraine’s potential post-war security issues have been widely discussed in recent weeks, both in Washington and across European capitals, with the potential for a ceasefire seemingly at an impasse amid continued Russian bombardment of civilian targets across Ukraine.The number of Ukrainian civilians killed in Russian attacks in July-August exceeded 500 people, according to the UN Human Rights Commissioner’s office. Regions across the country are under the permanent threat of air attacks, including from Shahed-type drones, ballistic missiles and glide bombs.Three civilians were killed and dozens injured on Saturday in the latest strikes, with municipal infrastructure hit in the country’s south…

Around the cabinet table, 2025 was viewed as a year that should be preoccupied with a focus on delivering election promises. Next year, senior ministers say privately, the government will shift focus to a new agenda that might include controversial tax changes.Many centre-left and centre-right parties which have governed in Western democracies in recent decades have either been cannibalised or face challenges from populist parties.The Liberal Party’s membership base is dwindling and right-wing politics in Australia is threatening to fracture. This masthead reported on July 28 that during the brief Coalition split, Liberal MPs were privately discussing the prospect of…

Normal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeIn his call to revise the structure of university degrees, Bill Shorten comes perilously close to defining universities as bodies whose prime function is to provide vocational skills (“Revise degrees, says Shorten, future is skilled”, September 20). This is only one thing they do and not the most important. Among other things he proposed that some universities have a prime emphasis on teaching. This was precisely the system we had when there were Colleges of Advanced Education, which focused on teaching, and universities with a different core function. But in the late 1980s…

But credit to the NRL, shifting the biggest games of the season to the day of rest has been a masterstroke – 72 points on Sunday made for fine viewing.Credit to Penrith and their dominance of the past-half decade – the theory their play is better suited to night and evening games is backed by four-straight titles and 14 consecutive finals victories.Brian To’o scores in the corner for Penrith.Credit: Getty ImagesThey’re just that good. Sunday’s six tries in 40 minutes, with a 100 per cent completion rate, seven offloads and 32 tackles in Canterbury’s half doesn’t change the fact they’re…

On Friday, police arrested an armed man inside the stadium who claimed to be affiliated with law enforcement and displayed “suspicious behaviour”. But Turning Point later said the man was there to undertake “advance security for a known guest”.Kirk’s assassination on September 10 while speaking at a university campus in Utah has rocked the US, especially the right. The 31-year-old was a prominent Trump ally, a masterful political organiser and a prolific speaker, who was embarking on a new college tour, challenging opponents to debate him on stage. Many touted him as a future president, including Trump.Charlie Kirk’s memorial will…

Seventy-six per cent of those surveyed agreed it was more difficult for a young person to buy their first home.LoadingJust 10 per cent disagreed, with the highest proportion, 12 per cent, among those aged 55 or more.Three-quarters of supporters of every party believed it was tougher for young people to get into the property market, the highest proportion of 80 per cent among voters living in marginal seats.In a challenge to both major parties, people believe governments have to spend more to deal with skyrocketing house prices.Just 13 per cent believed the government had gone too far while 24 per…

The typical customer is shopping everywhere, at any time. One sees a product on social media, does some desktop research, goes into store to assess it in person while scrolling through reviews on the phone, asks a customer service rep some questions, then might complete the purchase online.The Iconic doesn’t have the advantage of retailers with both a digital and bricks-and-mortar presence (“omnichannel” is the technical term among retailers). Its vision is to earn trust as the go-to online destination for fashion and lifestyle shoppers, which is broad enough to stock over 1500 carefully curated, highly desired brands, but not…

Louis Partridge wears his heart on sleeves for Olivia RodrigoLouis Partridge is head over heels in love with Olivia Rodrigo.The 22-year-old star of the upcoming Netflix drama House of Guinness, has shed some light on his romance with singer Olivia Rodrigo. In a recent interview with Esquire UK, Partridge discussed how he and Rodrigo, 22, have been navigating their relationship in the public eye. Partridge admitted that he was caught off guard by the attention surrounding their Wimbledon appearance this summer. “I was not aware that was going to be a thing,” he said. “I did see a lot of…

“The information that the Western Australian Police Force received was that it was a minor outage, that services had been fully restored, and that there was 26 calls for the WA Police Force to check,” she said.Loading“Our immediate concern was those 26 persons that were trying to call triple zero, and we immediately implemented those welfare check protocols.”Pearson said WA Police was not provided with the “fullness of the wheres and hows of that outage”.She declined to detail the fatal incidents that led to the death of a 74-year-old Willetton man and a 49-year-old Kensington man, only saying that there…

The five-peat is alive. The Panthers are through to their sixth consecutive preliminary final after dominating the Bulldogs 46-26 at Accor Stadium. Nathan Cleary and Paul Alamoti celebrate.Credit: Getty ImagesIt was a complete masterclass from the reigning premiers, who played dazzling football – especially in the first half – to keep the possibility of a fifth premiership alive. It really was a sublime 80 minutes of football from Penrith, who are peaking at the right time of the season. No one player can be responsible for the results today, although Nathan Cleary, Paul Alamoti and Brian To’o were all in…