More than a million mobile phones could be cut off from calling triple-zero within months, raising alarm about Australia's readiness for the imminent shutdown of the 3G network.

Canberra

Australia is facing a critical situation with its planned shutdown of the 3G network, which could lead to over a million mobile phones being unable to access the emergency call service, triple-zero, within months. This development has sparked concerns regarding the country's preparedness for the transition away from 3G technology. The upcoming discontinuation of the 3G service signals a significant shift in the nation's telecommunications landscape, underscoring the need for widespread awareness and adaptation strategies among mobile phone users.



Australia's looming 3G shut down could be derailed

This shutdown is happening imminently. Telstra is due to close its 3G network on the 30th of June and Optus will follow suit in September. TPG, which owns Vodafone, has already shut its 3G network in December last year. And what it means is once the network has been closed down, devices that rely solely on 3G will no longer work. And so despite this looming deadline, Telstra estimates about 113 Telstra customers are still yet to upgrade their 3G device, you know, with just a few months to go. Optus wouldn't provide us with a figure for their customers. But of greater concern to the federal government is this quirk which was detected late last year and it's to do with a subset of older 4G handsets. Now because of the way these handsets are configured, they use the 4G network for voice calls and for texts. But when it comes to the triple zero network, so the emergency network, it defaults to 3G. So the concern is owners with a 4G phone might be caught out in times of emergency. So the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, updated parliament last month in March saying that she had figures suggesting about 740,000 4G devices could be caught out in the 3G closure because of this issue. In response to that, she set up a working group with all of the telcos to try and resolve the issue quickly. And that working group has now met and the number of devices affected has now been dramatically scaled up to over a million. So that's over a million 4G devices, which may not be able to make triple zero calls once the 3G network has been shut down. So the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, says this is obviously concerning. She says she'll have more to say on the 3G shutdown soon. And she certainly isn't ruling out a delay to the shutdown, in her words, if warranted in the public interest. So they have this working group now, which is reporting to the minister fortnightly on their progress. The whole aim is to ensure a safe shutdown of the 3G network. And no one's really disputing whether the network needs to be shut down. It's a pretty old and slow network and the telcos need to free up space for the, you know, data hungry 4G and 5G technologies. The question is whether these issues can be resolved in time. So Telstra has today launched a new service for its own customers. So if you're unsure if your device will be affected, you can text the number 3 to the number 3498. I've done it. You'll get a text message from Telstra letting you know what action, if any, you need to take. And this is the kind of action that the federal government is really encouraging the telcos to do. It's to scale up communications to customers who may be affected by this shutdown. You know, it may end up being delayed, but ultimately this network is going to be shut down. Now, the opposition has been very critical of the government, saying this issue with the quirk of the 4G phones and triple zero, it was first identified in November last year. They're questioning why we're just months out and there are still so many Australians who don't, who potentially don't know about it. And the nationals particularly are calling for the 3G network shutdown to be delayed.

Prospects for a Gaza ceasefire appeared slim as Hamas reiterated its demand for an end to the war in exchange for the freeing of hostages, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flatly ruled that out.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

Israel-Gaza War

Gaza truce hopes fade as Israel, Hamas trade blame

The Israeli cabinet has voted to unanimously shut down Al Jazeera's operations in the country. That's according to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement on X. 
It is not clear when this decision will take effect.

Israel announces ban of Al Jazeera channel, website

Australian police said they have shot dead a boy after he stabbed a man in Western Australia's capital Perth, in an attack authorities said indicated terrorism.

Perth

Australian police shoot boy dead after stabbing

Sadiq Khan has been elected mayor of London, winning a historic third term after a dramatic contest. Khan was declared the winner over the Conservative candidate, Susan Hall with 43.8% of the vote.

London

Sadiq Khan elected London mayor for third term

Floods have killed at least 58 people in southern Brazil. Nearly 70,000 have been forced from their homes. Tens of thousands of people have been left without drinking water or electricity. It's the worst flooding the region has seen in more than 80 years.

State of Rio Grande do Sul

Climate Crisis

'It's going to get worse': Brazil braces for flood peaks

Students at the University of California in Irvine say they will remain on campus until all their demands are met. School officials say they'll continue to negotiate with the protesters -- and are hoping to reach a deal soon.

Irvine

Police, protesters in stand-off at California university

The Federal Government will cut $3 billion in student debts, in measures to be announced in next week's budget. The reforms will see the student loans of three million graduates by an average of $1200 and changes to loan indexation.

Camperdown

Labor to wipe $3 billion of student debts

Mexican authorities have charged three suspects over the disappearance of Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad. It's believed the tourists became embroiled in a bungled robbery. Four bodies were found near the trio's abandoned campsite, but are yet to be formally identified.

Baja California

Mexican authorities lay charges over Australian brothers' disappearance

A knife-wielding teenage boy has been shot dead by police in Bunnings carpark in Willetton, Perth. The 16-year-old boy had phoned Triple Zero saying he planned ‘acts of violence’ and stabbed a male member of the public. The WA Police Commissioner says the teenager had ‘mental health and radicalisation issues’.

Willetton

Police shoot dead ‘radicalised’ teenage boy in Perth

The death toll from rains in Brazil's southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul rose to 57, local authorities said on Saturday (May 4) afternoon, while dozens still have not been accounted for.

Dozens missing amid record-breaking Brazil flooding

There are renewed hopes for a ceasefire in Gaza after a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo to continue talks amid reports of a proposal agreed to by Israel to halt fighting for an initial 40 days in exchange for the release of hostages.

Hopes rise for Gaza ceasefire amid Hamas talks

Students showing support for Palestinians have set up camp outside the University College London. They say they'll continue their protest until the university divests from Israeli institutions that 'profit from the war in Gaza'.

Pro-Palestine university protests spread to London

Dozens of Palestinians have held a demonstration in the West Bank, to condemn the killing of five Palestinian fighters. Crowds rallied hours after Israeli troops attacked the fighters in the village of Deir al Ghoson.

Jerusalem

Five Palestinian fighters killed during West Bank raid

Dozens of people in two rubber dinghies have reached the southern coast of England, the latest among thousands of asylum-seeking migrants to make the risky sea crossing from France this year.

Dover

Asylum seekers arrive in England despite Rwanda threat

A former immigration detainee has been bailed after allegedly threatening police with a knife in Melbourne. It follows the recent violent home invasion allegedly committed by another released detainee in Western Australia Pressure is mounting on Federal Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to be held to account.

Pressure mounts on Immigration Minister after latest detainee incident

Mexican authorities have reportedly discovered a fourth body near the cliff site where Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson disappeared, along with their American friend Jack Carter Rhoad. The Australian family of the brothers are en route to Mexico. The bodies are yet to be formally identified.

Ensenada

Fourth body discovered in Mexico search for Australian brothers

Ukraine is eagerly waiting for Western aid as Russia racks up more victories on the battlefield. Meanwhile, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron on a visit to Kyiv gave Ukraine the go-ahead to use British weapons to strike directly at Russia.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

U.K. allows its weapons to be used on Russian soil

Canadian police have charged three Indian men with the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year and said they were probing whether the men had ties to the Indian government.

Surrey

Canada police charge three with murder of Sikh leader

China has launched an uncrewed spacecraft on a nearly two-month mission to retrieve rocks and soil from the far side of the moon, the first country to make such an ambitious attempt.

Wenchang

China launches mission to far side of the moon

Britain's opposition Labour Party won a parliamentary seat in northern England on Friday (May 3) and control of several councils, inflicting heavy losses on the governing Conservatives to pile more pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

U.K.'s Labour claims big early win over Conservatives

Turkey has announced that it is halting trade with Israel, worth $7 billion a year, until a permanent ceasefire and humanitarian aid are secured in Gaza. Israel denounced the decision as breaking trade agreements.

Ankara

Turkey to stop trade with Israel until Gaza ceasefire

Media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders warned of declining government support for press freedom as it unveiled its annual world rankings on Friday, highlighting Argentina among the countries where the situation has deteriorated.

Paris

States doing less to support press freedom, says watchdog

Arizona's Democratic governor signed a bill overturning an 1864 law banning abortion, a month after the state's supreme court said the Civil War-era rule was valid.

Arizona

Arizona governor signs bill repealing 1864 abortion ban

U.S. President Joe Biden said that both freedom of speech and the rule of law must be respected in protests at college campuses over Israel's war in Gaza. In response to a reporter's question, Biden said that the campus protests had not forced him to reconsider his policies in the Middle East.

Washington

Biden breaks silence on protests at University Campuses

From suspensions to expulsions to criminal charges, college students across the U.S. involved in these pro-Palestinian protests could face life-changing consequences. Some are demanding amnesty for these protesters.

New York

More than 1,000 student protesters arrested across U.S.

English voters are heading to polling stations to pick mayors, councilors and a new lawmaker in the last electoral test for British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak before a national vote later this year.

Voters head to polls in last test for U.K.'s Sunak

The US State Department accused Russia of having used a chemical weapon against Ukrainian forces in violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention, while also announcing fresh sanctions against Moscow. In addition to the chemical agent chloropicrin, Russia also used "riot control agents (tear gas) as a method of warfare in Ukraine, also in violation of the CWC," the department said in a factsheet.

Zaporizhzhia

U.S. accuses Russia of using chemical weapons in Ukraine

There are grave concerns for Perth brothers Jake and Callum Robinson who are missing on a surf trip in Mexico's Baja region. The pair have failed to arrive at their accommodation and are not responding to contact from their families.

Council of the City of Sydney

Grave fears for brothers missing on Mexico surf trip

Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers has kept open the prospect of tax incentives in the budget as business warned that changes to foreign investment laws. It comes amid criticism that budget spending could prompt further inflation and prompt rate rises.

Government hints at further tax incentives in Budget

Colombian President Gustavo Petro says his country will break diplomatic relations with Israel. He's criticised Israel's conduct since the start of the war on Gaza. Petro requested to join South Africa's case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide.