North Korean leader Kim Jong Un inspected a Russian fighter jet factory that is under Western sanctions on Friday (September 15), part of a visit Washington and its allies fear could strengthen Russia's military in Ukraine and bolster Pyongyang's missile program.

Moscow

North Korea's Kim tours Russian fighter jet plant

North Korea's Kim Jong-un has continued his official visit to Russia, stopping on Friday to inspect a fighter jet factory that is under Western sanctions due to the war in Ukraine. The visit comes just days after Kim and President Vladimir Putin held a rest summit, but has stoked Western concerns. There is unease that a revived Moscow-Pyongyang axis could strengthen Russia's military in Ukraine and bolster Pyongyang's missile programme. During Wednesday's talks, Kim and Putin discussed military matters, the war in Ukraine, and Russian help for North Korea's satellite programme. On Friday, South Korea and the United States said that military cooperation between the two countries was a violation of UN sanctions, and that the allies would ensure there is a price to pay. But it was not immediately clear what, if any, leverage the US and its Asian allies would have over either Russia or North Korea, both of which have close ties to China. Back in Russia's Far East, the 39-year-old North Korean leader was shown on Russian state television, carefully inspecting the cockpit of a fighter jet, as Russian officials explained its capabilities via a translator. Russia has gone out of its way to publicise the visit and drop repeated hints about the prospect of military cooperation with North Korea, which was formed in 1948 with the backing of the Soviet Union. For Putin, who says Russia is locked in an existential battle with the West over Ukraine, Supporting Kim allows him to needle Washington and its Asian allies, while potentially securing a supply of artillery for his war in Ukraine. And it could give Kim access to some of Russia's sensitive missile and other technology. Washington has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia, which has the world's biggest store of nuclear warheads, but it is unclear whether any deliveries have been made. Pyongyang and Moscow have denied that North Korea could supply arms to Russia. US and South Korean officials have called on Moscow to show responsibility as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. There was no comment from either Kim or Putin on the US warnings, though Russian diplomats pushed back against the criticism. The Kremlin says it abides by UN sanctions, but that it has a right to develop neighbourly relations, including on sensitive topics.

Pope Francis has suggested in a letter to five conservative cardinals that there could be ways to bless same-sex unions within Catholicism and suggests that such blessings could be studied if they are not confused with sacramental marriage.

Città del Vaticano

Pope says Catholic Church could bless same-sex marriages

Republican Kevin McCarthy has been ousted as the Speaker of the House of Representatives in an extraordinary showdown. Those who voted him out include Democrats and members of his own party.

Washington

McCarthy ousted as U.S House Speaker

Thai police arrested a teenage gunman suspected of killing two foreigners and wounding five people on Tuesday in a shooting spree at a luxury Bangkok mall, the latest high-profile gun violence to rock the country in recent years.

Bangkok

Tourists killed in Thailand mall shooting, teen arrested

Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud trial got underway with jury selection on Tuesday (October 3), nearly a year after his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange's collapse shocked markets and tattered his reputation. 

New York

Bankman-Fried Trial

Bankman-Fried's fraud trial begins in New York

The United Nations Security Council has authorized the deployment of a multi-national security force to Haiti. It's designed to help the Haitian police battle heavily armed gangs that have become increasingly powerful there. It's not clear when the force will arrive, or who, other than Kenya, will contribute to it.

UN approves international force to aid Haiti

U.S. House Republican Matt Gaetz has filed a motion to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Gaetz and other hardline Republicans were angered that McCarthy relied on votes from the Democrats to pass a last-minute temporary deal to avert a government shutdown.

Republican files motion to oust U.S House Speaker

At least three people have been killed and several others injured in a shooting attack at a shopping mall in Thailand's capital Bangkok. The Prime Minister said police arrested the suspected gunman. Police said the suspect is 14 years old.

Three killed in Bangkok mall shooting

It's day two of the Conservative Party conference in the United Kingdom and disagreements over the economy have taken centre stage. The government has ruled out pre-election tax cuts despite the urging of some from the party fringes.

Manchester

UK Tories rule out pre-election tax cuts

Thirty-one-year-old Sam Bankman-Fried heads to trial in New York in what prosecutors say is one of the largest fraud cases in U.S history. He is accused of misusing money made from his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, ultimately leading to its collapse.

Crypto on trial, as Sam Bankman-Fried faces fraud charges

Happening before the cameras, the world saw a combative Trump at a civil fraud trial in New York. The state's attorney general is accusing him of inflating the value of his assets by billions of dollars to secure massive loans.

Trump Arrest

Trump 'combative' during first day of fraud NYC trial

The scientists who provided the foundational research that lead to mRNA vaccines — the first vaccines against COVID-19 — have won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Philadelphia

Nobel prize to scientists who laid groundwork for COVID vaccines

Locals have told of the frantic moments when they rushed to help a woman who'd been attacked by a shark off the jetty at Beachport in the state's south east. The woman is in a stable condition in hospital with wounds to her foot, leg and hand.

Beachport

Woman seriously injured in SA shark attack

The property market is continuing to soar with house prices set to hit a new record high. It's putting home ownership further out of reach for first homebuyers.

Adelaide

House prices continue to rise, hit record highs

EU ministers convened in Kyiv on Monday in their first ever meeting outside the bloc. They marked their support for Ukraine after both a pro-Russian candidate won an election in Slovakia and the U.S. Congress left Ukraine war aid out of its spending bill.

Kyiv

Ukraine Invasion

Kyiv brushes off U.S, Slovakia wobbles in EU visit

Moderate U.S. Republicans and Democrats approved a spending deal just hours before a U.S. government shutdown deadline on Saturday. The bill, presented by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, has further infuriated hardline Republicans already seeking to push him from his post.

Speaker McCarthy risked his job to avoid shutdown

U.S. President Joe Biden is pressing congressional Republicans to back a bill to provide more aid to Ukraine, after the stopgap-funding bill that kept the government open left aid to the country out. 

Biden calls on Republicans to back Ukraine spending bill

Early voting for the Voice to Parliament referendum begins in half of Australia's states and territories today, with the remaining jurisdictions to follow tomorrow. It's less than two weeks before the country's first referendum in almost 25 years. 

Canberra

Voice to Parliament

Voice referendum pre-polling underway

More than a dozen people have been killed in a fire in adjoining nightclubs in Murcia in southeast Spain, emergency services have confirmed, adding that rescuers were still searching for people unaccounted for after the blaze.

Murcia

Nightclub fire in Murcia kills at least 13 people, more missing

In Ukraine, new legislation goes into effect on Sunday mandating women with medical backgrounds to register for military service. The country is preparing for what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is describing as 'a long war'. 

Ukraine mandates military service for female medical personnel

Pakistani security forces have cracked down on Pakistan Taliban armed group, also known by the acronym TTP. The group is blamed for rising violence in the country. It includes remnants of al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), and has intensified attacks recently.

Islamabad

Pakistan: Taliban crackdown after terror blast

Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving female member of the United States Senate, has died at the age of 90.

Dianne Feinstein: Longest-serving woman in U.S senate dies

A United Nations spokesperson says the UN is sending a humanitarian team to Nagorno-Karabakh this weekend as more than 100,000 refugees have now arrived in Armenia from neighbouring Nagorno-Karabakh. It comes after Azerbaijan retook control of the enclave in a military offensive.

Baku

More than 100,000 flee Nagorno-Karabakh region

The consumer and competition watchdog is calling for a major overhaul of Australia's childcare system. A draft report by the ACCC has found Australian parents pay almost twice the OECD average for childcare despite large government subsidies for the sector. 

ACCC calls for enforceable caps on childcare fees

The United Nations is sending a mission to the Nagorno-Karabakh region- its first access there in nearly 30 years. The mission is to identify the humanitarian needs of residents there.

Zangilan

Fears 100,000 refugees fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh

Ethnic Armenians fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh — 90,000 of them and counting — just keep coming. They mourn the lives they left behind, traumatized by the conflict they're fleeing in the contested region that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

Goris

UN mission to visit Nagorno-Karabakh after military offensive

A Nevada grand jury indicted Duane (Keefe D) Davis in the fatal drive-by shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996. Davis, who was a witness to the Las Vegas shooting, was arrested 27 years after the hip-hop icon was killed.

Los Angeles

Witness to Tupac Shakur's killing indicted for murder

The New York City area is under a state of emergency after the remnants of tropical storm Ophelia dumped 15 centimetres of rain, flooding roads and subway tunnels.