Tag Archives: oceania

Aussie skincare products pulled from shelves over banned ingredient

2025-11-04 FreeNews

Some of Australia's leading skincare brands have been forced to pull popular products from shelves in one state after they were found to contain banned plastic microbeads.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has issued compliance notices to six businesses – Natio, Coles Group, McPherson's Consumer Products, Aesthetics Skincare, Frostbland and JMSR Australia – to withdraw nine different items.

Most of the products were exfoliators, and include the popular Alya Skin pomegranate exfoliator facial scrub, the Dr LeWinn's essentials gentle exfoliant weekly facial polishing gel and the Natio ageless skin renewal exfoliator.

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Some of Australia's leading skincare brands have been forced to pull popular products from shelves in one state for containing banned plastic microbeads.

The EPA alleged the skincare items contain microbeads, which are tiny solid plastic particles that began to be phased out a decade ago.

They are often microscopic in size and cannot be filtered out during sewage and treatment works, leaving them to wash up in rivers, lakes and oceans.

Once in the water, they can attract toxins and work their way back up to humans via the food chain.

While some of the products had particles made of bioplastics like polylactic acid and cellulose acetate, the EPA argues they do not readily break down and are still defined as plastic under legislation.

"Microbeads don't belong in skincare or our waterways – they can threaten marine life and people's health," EPA chief executive Tony Chappel said.

Since receiving the compliance notices, the six brands have removed all of the stock.

Some of Australia's leading skincare brands have been forced to pull popular products from shelves in one state for containing banned plastic microbeads.

Coles said it removed the KOi product from all stores nationwide and has updated its policies to ensure the ingredient was not included in any Coles Own Brand products in the future.

The EPA also worked with major retailers, such as Chemist Warehouse and Priceline, to get the products out of stores quickly.

It is one of a few regulators in the world to take enforcement action against the use of plastic microbeads in personal care products.

Further investigations are underway as the authority works to enforce the state plastics ban.

Plastic microbeads were once a common item in cosmetic and skincare products to add texture, exfoliate and extend shelf life.

NSW banned their use in rinse-off skincare products from November 1, 2022, with a failure to comply with a notice carrying a maximum penalty of up to $550,000, plus an extra $55,000 for each day the products are supplied.

Plastic microbeads are also banned in the ACT, Western Australia and Queensland.

The Northern Territory is looking at banning them, while the remaining states have no ban in place.

NSW EPA chief executive Tony Chappel.

Full list of the products withdrawn from shelves

Aesthetics Skincare Pty Ltd – Aesthetics Bio Fermented Triple Action Scrub
Coles Group Ltd – KOi For Men Cleansing Face Scrub Oat and Desert Lime
Frostbland Pty Ltd – Alya Skin Pomegranate Exfoliator Facial Scrub and Exfoliating Sorbet
JMSR Australia Pty Ltd – Jan Marini Bioglycolic Resurfacing Body Scrub and Jan Marini Cranberry Orange Exfoliator
McPherson's Consumer Products Pty Ltd – Dr LeWinn's Essentials Gentle Exfoliant Weekly Facial Polishing Gel
Natio Pty Ltd – Natio Men's Purifying Face Scrub and Natio Ageless Skin Renewal Exfoliator

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Worker dies shortly after being freed from collapsed medieval tower

2025-11-04 FreeNews

A worker who was alive when rescue crews pulled him from the rubble of a partially collapsed medieval tower in Rome has died.

Authorities in the Italian capital said the man didn't withstand the trauma he suffered and died soon after he was extracted.

"I express deep sorrow and condolences, on behalf of myself and the government, for the tragic loss of Octay Stroici, the worker who was killed in the collapse of the Torre dei Conti in Rome," Italy's Premier Giorgia Meloni said in a statement after midnight local time.

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A firefighter gives a thumbs-up as rescuers pull a construction worker from under the debris of a medieval tower that was under renovation near the Roman Forum in Rome, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, after it partially collapsed earlier in the morning. (Fabrizio Corradetti/LaPresse via AP)

"We are close to his family and colleagues at this time of unspeakable suffering."

Images broadcast on local television showed three rescuers loading the man onto a telescopic aerial ladder, then descending and wheeling him on to a stretcher and into an ambulance.

His state wasn't immediately clear, but Adriano De Acutis, chief commander of Rome's firefighters, said on state television channel RAI that he was conscious.

"Since the conditions seem serious, they will now evaluate him and he was immediately taken to the hospital," Lamberto Giannini, prefect of Rome, told reporters at the time.

Rescuers faced a complex task as they tried to use a first-floor window to get near the trapped worker. But they were forced to retreat in a cloud of debris as the structure continued to give way. Another approach on two ladders was also aborted, and a drone sent up in their stead.

As dusk approached, firefighters lifted on a crane used giant tubes to suck rubble out of the second-floor window. They kept working late into the night.

"The operation lasted a long time because every time a part of the body was freed, there was additional rubble that covered it," Giannini said.

Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri told reporters earlier that the worker was speaking to rescuers and using an oxygen mask. He added that rescuers were working with extreme caution in "a very delicate extraction operation" to avoid further collapses.

Three workers were rescued unharmed after the initial midday incident, firefighter spokesperson Luca Cari said. Another worker, age 64, was taken to hospital in critical condition; RAI reported he was conscious and had suffered a broken nose.

No firefighters were injured in the ensuing operation.

The Torre dei Conti was built in the 13th century by Pope Innocent III as a residence for his family. The tower was damaged in a 1349 earthquake and suffered subsequent collapses in the 17th century.

Hundreds of tourists had gathered to watch as firefighters used a mobile ladder to bring a stretcher to the upper level of the Torre dei Conti during the first rescue attempt. Suddenly, another part of the structure crumbled, sending up a cloud of debris and forcing firefighters to quickly descend.

The first collapse struck the central buttress of the structure's southern side, and caused an underlying sloped base to fall. The second damaged part of the stairwell and roof, cultural heritage officials said in a statement.

Queen Paglinawan, 27, was attending to a client in a gelato parlour next door when the tower first started coming apart.

"I was working and then I heard something falling, and then I saw the tower collapse in a diagonal way,″ Paglinawan, 27, told The Associated Press as yet more rubble crashed down.

The tower, which has been closed since 2007, is undergoing a 6.9 million euro ($12.1 million) restoration that includes conservations work, the installation of electrical, lighting and water systems and a new museum installation dedicated to the most recent phases of the Roman Imperial Forum, officials said.

Before the latest phase was started in June, structural surveys and load tests were carried out "to verify the stability of the structure, which confirmed the safety conditions necessary" to proceed with work, including asbestos removal, officials said. The current work, carried out at a cost of 400,000 euros, was just about complete.

Italian prosecutors arrived at the scene as the rescue operation was underway, and were investigating possible charges for negligent disaster and negligent injuries, Italian media reported. It is common in Italy for investigations to begin while an event is ongoing and before possible suspects are identified.

German student Viktoria Braeu had just finished a tour at the nearby Colosseum and was passing by the scene during the firefighters' initial rescue attempt.

"And then we were like, 'It's probably not long until it's going to go down,' and then it just started erupting,'' said Braeu, 18.

Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Meloni had shared her hopes for a successful rescue.

"My thoughts and deepest sympathies go out to the person currently fighting for his life under the rubble and to his family, for whom I sincerely hope that this tragedy will have a positive outcome," Meloni said in a statement.

"I would like to thank all the law enforcement officers, firefighters, and rescue workers who are intervening with courage, professionalism, and dedication in this extremely difficult situation."

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The chilling discovery that should have the world on notice

2025-11-04 FreeNews

An Antarctic glacier shrunk by nearly 50 per cent in just two months to mark the fastest retreat recorded in modern history – and the way it happened could have big implications for global sea level rise.

The Hektoria Glacier, slightly larger in size than the NSW city of Newcastle, is on the Antarctic Peninsula, a spindly chain of mountains sticking off the continent like a thumb pointing toward South America. It is one of the fastest warming regions on the planet.

Grounded glaciers such as Hektoria, which rest on the seabed and don't float, generally retreat no more than a few hundred metres a year. But between November and December 2022, Hektoria retreated by 8 kilometres, according to a study published in the journal Nature Geoscience.

"This is astonishing; the rate of retreat is just crazy," said Ted Scambos, a study author and senior research scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder in the western US.

Understanding more about why this happened is vital; if larger glaciers retreat at similar rates, it could have "catastrophic implications for sea level rise," the authors wrote in a statement accompanying the report.

Antarctica holds enough ice to raise the global sea level by about 60 metres.

Hektoria's near demise was discovered by chance. Researchers had been surveying the bay where it is located for a separate study. They were keeping a close eye on the area's "fast ice" – sea ice fastened to land that doesn't move with the wind or tides – believing it was about to break off and float out to sea.

As Naomi Ochwat, a study co-author, studied the data, she noticed Hektoria had lost an enormous amount of ice over a very short period.

She and her co-authors started to dig into what was happening, looking at satellite images and data from flyovers.

They identified several steps that led to Hektoria's rapid retreat. In 2011, the bay filled with fast ice, stabilising the glaciers around it, allowing them to advance into the bay and form thick, floating ice tongues. In 2022, this fast ice broke out of the bay, destabilising the glaciers, causing them to lose their ice tongues and retreat.

The reason Hektoria fell apart much faster than its neighbouring glaciers was due to what lay beneath it, the scientists found.

Hektoria rests on an ice plain, where sliding ice glides over flat sediment on the seabed. Ice plains can prompt fast retreat because as the glacier thins, the ice starts to rise up and water pushes underneath into its crevasses, exerting pressure and causing large slabs to break off – in a process called calving.

As one iceberg calves, it exposes the glacier behind it to the same pressures and calving happens again. Scambos likens the process to "dominoes toppling backwards, their feet slipping out from under them, one after the other."

This kind of ice plain melting has happened before. Models show that between about 15,000 and 19,000 years ago, during a period of warming that ended the last Ice Age, glaciers with ice plains retreated hundreds of metres a day.

But "we hadn't seen it play out live before, certainly not at this rate," Ochwat said.

Hektoria's retreat was heavily influenced by climate change, she added. The loss of sea ice in the ocean next to Hektoria, believed to have been driven by ocean warmth, allowed wave swells to reach the fast ice and break it up, leaving the glacier exposed to ocean forces.

As climate change accelerates, "we are likely to see more reductions of sea ice in this region," said Bethan Davies, a glacial geologist at Newcastle University in the UK who was not involved in the study. This could result in other glaciers losing the sea ice that currently buttresses them, she told CNN.

Hektoria is a relatively small glacier by Antarctic standards, and its partial demise would not cost the planet much in terms of sea level rise, Scambos said.

However, "it's a smaller cousin to some truly gigantic – I mean size of the island of Britain – glaciers in Antarctica that could conceivably go through the same process, as this whole evolution of the ice sheets on earth evolves with global warming," he said.

The next stage is to better establish which areas in Antarctica are vulnerable to the same process. If a huge glacier were to disintegrate quickly, "it means that we might have a step change in sea level rise," Ochwat said.

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Warning over Aussie holiday hotspots as cyclone sweeps in

2025-11-04 FreeNews

Australian travellers are being warned of a dangerous storm cell that is forecast to sweep through several tourist hotspots in South-East Asia.

Tropical Cyclone Kalmaegi is set to hit Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos in the coming days, triggering a Smart Traveller warning to Australians who are either in these countries or heading to them.

"Heavy rain and dangerous winds are expected, which may cause flash flooding and landslides," the website said today.

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Residents are evacuated to safer grounds as Cyclone Kalmaegi nears the area of Guiuan, Eastern Samar province, central Philippines. Australia has issued a warning for several countries in the region as a result.

"Transport, including airport closures and flight cancellations, along with essential services, may also be affected.

"If you're travelling, contact your airline or travel provider [and] check media for updates and follow the instructions of local authorities."

It comes as more than 150,000 people evacuated to safer ground in eastern provinces of the Philippines as the cyclone approached from the Pacific Ocean on Monday, with authorities warning of torrential rains, potentially destructive winds and storm surges of up to 3 metres.

Cyclone Kalmaegi was forecast to make landfall on Monday night or early Tuesday. It was last spotted about 95 kilometres south-east of Guiuan town in Eastern Samar province, where sustained winds of up to 140km/h and gusts of up to 170km/h were recorded.

It was expected to blow westward and batter central island provinces, including Cebu, which is still recovering from a 6.9 magnitude earthquake on September 30 that left at least 79 dead and displaced thousands of people when houses collapsed or were severely damaged.

Displaced residents staying in flimsy tents would be moved to sturdier shelters, the Office of Civil Defence said.

On central Negros island, villagers were warned that heavy rains could cause volcanic mudflows on Kanlaon volcano, which has been emitting plumes of ash and steam in recent months, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said.

Kalmaegi, locally named Tino, was forecast to further strengthen over the Philippine Sea before possibly making landfall in Guiuan town or nearby municipalities.

In this photo, provided by the Philippine Coast Guard, residents are evacuated to safer grounds as Typhoon Kalmaegi nears the area of Guiuan, Eastern Samar province, central Philippines on Monday Nov. 3, 2025. (Philippine Coast Guard via AP)

Typhoon Haiyan, one of the most powerful tropical cyclones on record, slammed ashore into Guiuan in November 2013 and raked across the central Philippines, leaving more than 7300 people dead or missing, flattening entire villages and sweeping scores of ships inland.

Haiyan demolished about a million houses and displaced more than 4 million people in one of the country’s poorest regions.

“Nobody’s complaining among the residents because of their experience with Yolanda. They know it’s better to be safe than sorry,” Eastern Samar Governor RV Evardone told The Associated Press, referring to Haiyan’s Philippine name.

Nearly 156,000 people had been evacuated by nightfall in eastern and southern provinces, including in Dinagat Islands province south of Eastern Samar, Office of Civil Defence Administrator Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV said. Disaster response agencies, including coast guard search and rescue units, have been put on alert.

Inter-island ferries and fishing boats were prohibited from venturing into increasingly rough seas, stranding more than 3500 passengers and cargo truck drivers in nearly 100 seaports, the coast guard said. A number of domestic flights were cancelled.

The Philippines is battered by about 20 typhoons and storms each year. It is often hit by earthquakes and has more than a dozen active volcanoes, making it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries.

Reported with Associated Press

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‘Not if, but when’: Farmers fear ‘food freeze’ will leave millions hungry

2025-11-04 FreeNews

Farm leaders have warned Australia faces a potential national food delivery freeze that could leave millions hungry in an ever-more destabilised world.

The NSW Farmers Federation has warned that Australia's limited fuel reserves could come under serious threat in a potential global emergency.

Australia has just 22 days of diesel reserves, which could badly damage Australia's food security amid continuing international trade turmoil, and leave producers with no way of getting food to shops and supermarkets – or even of growing it in the first place.

"Our fuel insecurity is the leak in the tank that could drain our nation of vital food supplies and export markets in just days," NSW Farmers acting chief executive Mike Guerin said.

"One iceberg sank the Titanic, but a thousand things could stop our oil tankers from reaching Australian shores.

"And no fuel means no farm machinery, no tractors, no trucks – and that means no food on shelves, no food in shops, and no food leaving our shores."

The peak farm body is calling for a new national program to monitor stocks of key agricultural inputs, such as fuel, to ensure food security.

Mapping of the supply chains that provide fuel and other inputs to the nation must be included within any new program to monitor stocks of these supplies, Guerin said, alongside an early warning system to alert the nation to shortages before it was too late.

"Farmers deserve to know when a shortage of fuel, fertiliser or another key input is imminent, so they can prepare accordingly," Guerin said.

"The program should also be working actively to prevent shortages of these inputs, and have plans in place to relieve shortages, not if, but when, they occur.

"This isn't about triggering panic buying but about preventing a national standstill in food supplies – and with 27 million hungry mouths to feed just in Australia, we just can't keep risking it until the system fails."

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Former PM gave Albanese ‘fighting words’ in case Trump ‘turned nasty’

2025-11-04 FreeNews

A former prime minister helped prepare Anthony Albanese for his highly anticipated first face-to-face meeting with Donald Trump by giving him "fighting words" in the event of a hostile moment.

Paul Keating, Labor prime minister from 1991 to 1996, revealed he gave Albanese advice after seeing Trump lash out at other leaders ahead of their October 20 meeting.

"I did give our prime minister a heap of fighting points in the event that Trump turned nasty on him," he told the audience at an event at the State Library of NSW last night.

Former Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating

"It turned out he didn't have to use them."

Keating added that he believed Albanese was "up for having Australia punch back" if he experienced any hostility.

"If you showed the slightest sign of weakness, you're buggered with him," he said, describing the president as a "power guy".

Although there was a brief moment of awkwardness over Australian Ambassador to the US Kevin Rudd's past criticisms of Trump, last month's meeting was largely hailed as a success by the federal government and the opposition alike after Albanese walked away with an $8.5 billion critical minerals and rare earths deal.

The meeting also saw Trump reaffirm his support for the AUKUS submarine pact after the Pentagon's review of the deal stirred uncertainty on whether the US would deliver on the $368 billion agreement.

"There shouldn't be any more clarifications because we're just going full steam ahead building," Trump said.

Over a week later, Trump praised the prime minister at a dinner with seven APEC nation leaders in South Korea, saying they had a "great meeting" and Albanese had "done a fantastic job".

"We're working together on rare earths, but we're working on a lot of things together, and it's all working out very well," Trump said of Albanese.

Australia's long-standing relationship with the US appears strengthened after being shaken when Trump began his second term in January by imposing sweeping global tariffs.

Australian steel and aluminium imports hit with a 50 per cent tariff, while most other goods were whacked with a baseline 10 per cent tariff.

Despite outrage from all sides of politics, Albanese announced he would not retaliate with tariffs on US imports to Australia.

However, his government lifted biosecurity restrictions on US beef in a move speculated to appease Trump.

Albanese and his government were then scrutinised for most of this year for failing to secure a face-to-face meeting with Trump, as he met with other world leaders shortly after taking office.

The prime minister brushed off the criticism at the time, insisting he had had four positive phone calls with Trump.

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North Korea’s longtime ceremonial head of state has died

2025-11-04 FreeNews

Kim Yong Nam, a quintessential North Korean bureaucrat whose lifelong loyalty to the ruling Kim dynasty allowed him to serve as the country’s ceremonial head of state for two decades, has died, state media reported Tuesday.

The Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday that Kim Yong Nam, former president of the Presidium of North Korea’s rubber-stamp Supreme People’s Assembly, died Monday of multiple organ failure at the age of 97.

KCNA said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visited the bier of Kim Yong Nam on Tuesday to express deep condolences over his death.

It said Kim Yong Nam's funeral was set for Thursday.

Kim Yong Nam is not related to Kim Jong Un, the third generation of his family to rule North Korea.

Kim Jong Un, grandson of state founder Kim Il Sung, took power upon his father Kim Jong Il's death in 2011 in the country's second hereditary power transfer.

Kim Yong Nam served as head of the Supreme People’s Assembly from 1998 to April 2019.

That post is North Korea’s nominal head of state, though the true power was held by the Kim family that has ruled the North since its formal foundation in 1948.

Kim Yong Nam, who was known for propaganda-filled speeches with a deep, booming voice at key state events, often appeared in state media greeting visiting foreign dignitaries on behalf of Kim Jong Un and his late father Kim Jong Il.

In February 2018, he traveled to South Korea with Kim Jong Un’s influential sister, Kim Yo Jong, to attend the opening ceremony of the Pyeongchang Olympics as Pyongyang sought better ties with Seoul and Washington after years of heightened animosities on the Korean Peninsula.

The trip made Kim Yong Nam the highest-level North Korean official to visit South Korea since Kim Jong Un sent a top military officer to attend the closing ceremony of the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

At the Pyeongchang opening ceremony, Kim Yong Nam and Kim Yo Jong sat within feet of then-U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, though the two sides made no apparent contact.

North Korea’s temporary diplomatic openness peaked with the summits between Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019, but Kim Yong Nam did not attend them and his influence was seen as waning due to his age.

In April 2019, he was replaced by Choe Ryong Hae, one of Kim Jong Un’s close confidants who had previously served as the top political officer of the North’s 1.2 million-member military.

Kim Yong Nam’s career epitomized that of a successful North Korean bureaucrat.

He joined the ruling Workers’ Party shortly after the 1950-53 Korean War and survived major political purges through the 1970s.

He was appointed to the powerful Politburo in 1978 and served 15 years as foreign minister, starting in 1983.

During his tenure, the Berlin Wall fell and the Soviet Union disintegrated, leaving North Korea isolated.

North Korea watchers also say Kim Yong Nam had an expertise in third-world diplomacy.

He was a frequent participant in gatherings of nations that consider themselves independent from major power blocs, including the 2012 Non-Aligned Movement summit in Iran.

People who met Kim Yong Nam described him as mild-mannered but staunch in his opinions.

“I found Kim Yong Nam a puzzling figure. In greetings before business began, he was cordial and relaxed, but once at work, he relentlessly followed his script in a way that reminded of former Soviet foreign minister Andrei Gromyko,” former Washington Post reporter Don Oberdofer wrote in his book, “The Two Koreas.”

In a testament to his loyalty to the ruling dynasty, Kim Yong Nam read an elegy to Kim Il Sung when he died in 1994.

Kim Yong Nam also undertook the job of formally nominating Kim Jong Il to be chairman of the National Defense Commission after the son observed a three-year mourning period.

A native of Pyongyang, Kim Yong Nam studied at Kim Il Sung University and Moscow State University.

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Australian households to get free electricity for three hours a day

2025-11-04 FreeNews

Australians will get three hours of free solar power per day, even if they don't have solar panels, the Albanese government has announced today.

From July next year, a plan called Solar Sharer will require retailers to offer free electricity to households for at least three hours in the middle of the day when solar generation is at its peak.

The initiative will eventually be open to all Australian houses and apartments, as long as they have a smart meter and move their electricity use to the middle of the day when the scheme is in operation.

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Unidentified electrician performing installation of solar panel on house roof using cordless screwdriver

The offer will initially be available to states and regions under the Default Market Offer (DMO), which acts as a limit to what retailers can charge for electricity.

These are NSW, south-east Queensland and South Australia, with consultations to extend the offer to the rest of the country by 2027.

Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the move would benefit all Australians.

"Free daytime power for families across Australia is proof that what's good for the planet is good for your pocket," he said.

"People who are able to move electricity use into the zero cost power period will benefit directly, whether they have solar panels or not and whether they own or rent.

"The more people take up the offer and move their use, the greater the system benefits that lower costs for all electricity users will be."

Electricity prices are rising, with the Australian Bureau of Statistics showing they have jumped nine per cent in the last quarter, subsequently having an impact on inflation.

Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen during Question Time at Parliament House, he was claimed the Solar Saver scheme will save millions of Aussies money on their electricity bills

Bowen said the government would reform the DMO to make it cheaper for Australians.

"Australians deserve a fairer go when it comes to their energy bills," he said.

"Reform to the DMO will strip out unnecessary costs and expand protections to all standing offer customers and small customers in embedded networks, including renters and apartment dwellers."

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New US poll deals major blow to Donald Trump

2025-11-04 FreeNews

More Americans than ever before disapprove of US President Donald Trump's actions in office, according to a major new poll in the US.

The fall of 2025 is not a replay of 2017, the year before the Democrats captured control of the US House in Trump's first term.

The Democrats' five-point advantage among registered voters in the generic congressional ballot falls short of the 11-point edge they held in CNN polling a year before the 2018 midterms.

And favourable views of the party still stand near all-time lows as they have throughout this year, eight points below where they were in the fall of Trump's first year in office.

In a mid-term election year, though, views of the president can outweigh perceptions of the opposition party. Trump's approval rating in the poll stands at 37 per cent, the worst of his second term in CNN polling and roughly equivalent to his 36 per cent approval rating at this point in his first term.

And his disapproval rating, at 63 per cent, is numerically the highest of either term, one point above the previous high of 62 per cent as he was leaving office in January 2021.

CNN's Poll of Polls average, which puts Trump's approval rating a few points higher at 41 per cent as of Sunday, charts a similar trend since January. Approval of the president has dipped across partisan and demographic lines since the summer in CNN's polling.

Democrats have a very early advantage

Looking ahead to next year's mid-terms, Democrats appear to have a very early advantage: 47 per cent of registered voters say they'd vote for the Democrat in their district if the election were held today, while 42 per cent prefer the Republican.

More say they've ruled out supporting a Republican (42 per cent) than say the same about a Democrat (35 per cent).

And 41 per cent say they would be sending a message that they oppose Trump with their vote, nearly double the 21 per cent who say their vote would be a message of support for the president. Independents break in Democrats' favor on the generic ballot (44 per cent to 31 per cent for Republicans, with 19 per cent saying they wouldn't pick either right now).

U.S. President Donald Trump greets Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of a bilateral meeting at Gimhae Air Base on October 30, 2025 in Busan, South Korea.

Registered voters who are Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents are far more likely than Republican-aligned voters to say they are extremely motivated to vote next year (67 per cent compared with 46 per cent).

Those Democratic-aligned voters who consider the state of democracy to be a top concern are perhaps the most fired up within the party: 82 per cent in that group say they are deeply motivated to vote, compared with 57 per cent among Democratic-aligned voters who call the economy their top concern.

CNN's poll results suggest that the Democratic Party's ongoing internal image troubles may not necessarily translate into defections at the ballot box.

Democratic-aligned voters remain far less fond of their own party (65 per cent have a favourable view of the Democratic Party) than Republican-aligned voters (80 per cent have a favourable view of the GOP), but even those Democratic-aligned voters with a negative view of the party are almost universally behind the Democratic candidate in their district (93 per cent) and broadly motivated to vote (71 per cent say they are extremely motivated).

All told, Democrats hold a 12-point advantage among those voters who say they are extremely or very motivated to turn out next year.

Broad dissatisfaction with Trump and the country

Americans are broadly dissatisfied with the state of the country (68 per cent say things are going badly) and the economy (72 per cent say it's in poor shape, and 47 per cent call the economy and cost of living the top issue facing the US). About six in 10 (61 per cent) say Trump's policies have worsened economic conditions in the US.

Roughly eight in 10 consider the federal government shutdown either a crisis (31 per cent) or a major problem (50 per cent), and 61 per cent disapprove of Trump's handling of it. Nearly as many disapprove of the way each party's congressional leadership is handling it (58 per cent disapprove of each). Taken all together, about nine in 10 American disapprove of at least one of those three players on the shutdown.

A majority hold negative views of Trump's performance on several other key issues: most (56 per cent) feel that his foreign policy decisions have hurt America's standing in the world, and 57 per cent say he's gone too far deporting immigrants living in the US illegally.

About a quarter of Americans (26 per cent) say the state of US democracy is the top issue facing the nation, and it is the top issue among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents (45 per cent say it's the most important issue, with the economy and cost of living at 38 per cent).

Americans are increasingly likely to say Trump has gone too far in using the power of the presidency – 61 per cent say so, up nine points since February.

On his teardown of the East Wing of the White House, 54 per cent of the public is dissatisfied or angry, with just 10 per cent saying they're satisfied with or happy about that decision.

Another 36 per cent (including nearly half of Republicans) say it doesn't matter much to them.

Most Americans also see the Republicans who control Congress as doing too much to support Trump (55 per cent, up from 48 per cent who felt that way in February).

White House

But the GOP base is pleased: Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are largely satisfied with the level of support the GOP in Congress provides to Trump (63 per cent say it's the right amount, about the same as in February).

On the Democratic side, though, views are more divided and party support less clear. Four in 10 say the Democrats in Congress aren't doing enough to oppose Trump, and among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, 69 per cent feel that way.

The CNN poll was conducted by SSRS online and by phone from October 27 to 30 among a random national sample of 1245 adults, including 954 registered voters. Results for the full sample have a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points; it is plus or minus 3.6 points for results among registered voters.

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Mother with stage four cancer’s heartbreaking act for daughter

2025-11-04 FreeNews

Cindy Graham, 49, has already knitted baby blankets for her daughter for when she has children.

Because she knows she's not going to be there.

The Sydney mother-of-four has stage four lung cancer.

Cindy Graham, 49, has lung cancer

And while three of her children are adults, her youngest, Charlotte, just turned eight.

"She knows I've got cancer, but she does not know my prognosis," she told 9news.com.au.

"My other children are adults and they'll be okay but my little girl, she looks at me and it crushes my heart and soul."

When Graham was given the "devastating" diagnosis five years ago, she had to stop breastfeeding Charlotte to start treatment for the cancer which kills more Aussies than any other.

But she has already defied the odds by living this long.

Cindy Graham, 49, has lung cancer

There is just a 26 per cent chance of surviving for five years after diagnosis.

"I feel incredibly lucky I've made it this far – most people don't," she said.

Despite being the most common cancer killer of Aussies, lung cancer is drastically underfunded.

Graham's only symptom was a dull ache in her chest.

Now she must plan her life around scans every three months.

That includes making memories with Charlotte and husband Mitchell, 39, who is in the Navy.

Cindy Graham, 49, has lung cancer

Graham, who walked with her family in the Shine a Light event on November 1, is also joining experts in pushing for more funding for the disease, after a new screening program passed 25,000 scans.

The National Lung Cancer Screening Program, which experts say will save more than 12,000 lives in the next decade, launched in June.

Of the 15,000 expected to be diagnosed with lung cancer this year, 85 per cent will get the dreadful news at a late stage when it's hard to treat.

Estimates show the program will help diagnose more than 70 per cent of cases at an earlier stage, where there are improved treatment opportunities.

However, Graham is backing experts' calls for more funding to actually help improve treatments.

Cindy Graham, 49, has lung cancer

"The only reason I'm alive is because of a clinical trial," she said.

"We now have the national screening which is wonderful and that is going to pick up so many more cases early, but then we also need effective treatments for them."

The new screening program has seen 29,773 people enrolled with 25,949 low-dose CT scans completed, Lung Foundation Australia CEO Mark Brooke said.

"For many years, Lung Foundation Australia has been advocating for this program and it is expected to improve the five-year survival rate of lung cancer with earlier detection and therefore earlier treatment," he said.

"However, there is certainly more that needs to be done.

"This includes more funding for vital research."

An Australian Government Health spokeswoman said between 2015 and 2025, the Australian Government's Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) has invested more than $35 million for research focussed on lung cancer.

"On 2 May 2024, Minister Butler announced the MRFF Low Survival Cancers Mission (LSCM). It will provide $150 million over 10 years, from 2027-28, for research to improve care and health outcomes for people with low survival cancers," she said.

Lung cancer facts

Lung cancer kills more Australians than any other cancer, ahead of breast, prostate and ovarian cancers.

In 2024 it killed 8918 Aussies, according to Cancer Australia.

Lung Cancer screening could save thousands of lives.

Lung Foundation Australia says patients have significantly poorer outcomes compared to other common cancers.

It received less than a quarter of the funding cash given to breast and colon cancer research between 2011 and 2016, according to Cancer Australia.

One in three women and one in 10 men diagnosed have never smoked.

Those eligible for free screening must be between 50 and 70 years old and have no signs or symptoms.

They must have a history of at least 30 pack years of smoking and are still smoking or have quit only in the past decade.

Anyone interested should see their GP or call the Lung Health Helpline

November is Lung Cancer Awareness Month.