Low-income families could receive free child care if the federal government accepts the key recommendations of a major report. The Productivity Commission has been tasked with charting a course towards universal early childhood education and care. In a set of draft recommendations, it has urged the government to modify childcare subsidies and increase access for

A key political ally of Vladimir Putin has adopted a child seized from a Ukrainian children’s home, according to documents uncovered by BBC’s Panorama. Sergey Mironov, the 70-year-old leader of a Russian political party, is named on the adoption record of a two-year-old girl who was taken in 2022 by a woman he is now

China has reported no “unusual or novel pathogens” in clusters of child pneumonia cases, the World Health Organization has said. Beijing has attributed a rise in flu-like illnesses to the lifting of Covid curbs, said the WHO, which had requested for more data on the cases. Still it urged residents in China to take precautions,

For many Palestinian-Americans living thousands of miles away from Gaza but watching the deadly violence from afar, it’s more than grief that grips them – it’s also guilt. “I think guilt is a feeling that a lot of Palestinians in the diaspora feel because every single Palestinian has Palestine in their heart, no matter where

At just nine years old, Devika Rotawan survived the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. Shot in the leg, she later identified the lone surviving gunman in court. Fifteen years on, the BBC’s Soutik Biswas reconnects with her to explore the changes in the life of a survivor living in the aftermath of the massacre. I

Rap mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs is being sued by a woman who says he drugged and sexually assaulted her in 1991. In a lawsuit seen by the BBC, the plaintiff says the assault took place during a date with the rapper. Mr Combs recently settled a sexual assault suit brought by R&B singer and former

The world’s biggest iceberg is on the move after more than 30 years being stuck to the ocean floor. The iceberg, called A23a, split from the Antarctic coastline in 1986. But it swiftly grounded in the Weddell Sea, becoming, essentially, an ice island. At almost 4,000 sq km (1,500 sq miles) in area, it’s more

Four people, including two journalists, have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, local media say, as exchanges of fire intensify along the border. Lebanon’s prime minister condemned the “attack” in the village of Tayr Harfa that killed an Al Mayadeen TV reporter and cameraman along with another man. Israel’s military said it had “operated

Israeli forces have detained the director of Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital for questioning, a week after their controversial raid there. Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya was held at a checkpoint as he evacuated patients to the south, a colleague told the BBC. The Israeli military said he was being questioned over evidence that al-Shifa “served as

A South Korean court has ordered Japan to compensate a group of women who were forced to work in military brothels during World War Two. The 16 women, who were kept as sex slaves for Japanese soldiers, previously had their case dismissed. They filed a lawsuit in 2016 but Seoul Central District Court dismissed it