Australias

England’s second innings gets off to a familiar start as Mitchell Starc takes a “brilliant” diving catch of his own bowling to dismiss Zak Crawley for a duck in the first over again on day two of the first Ashes Test in Perth.

FOLLOW LIVE: The Ashes first Test – day two

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The treaty, which comes more than 220 years after the state was colonised, creates an assembly and truth-telling body.

The first treaty between Indigenous people and a government in Australia has entered into law in the state of Victoria after it was finalised and signed.

Members of the state’s First Peoples Assembly gathered for a ceremony to sign the document on Wednesday evening before state Governor Margaret Gardner added her signature to the treaty on Thursday morning.

Jill Gallagher, a Gunditjmara woman and former commissioner of the Victorian Treaty Advancement Commission, told Australian public broadcaster ABC that the treaty represents “the story of the Aboriginal people’s resistance”.

“I feel very happy. I’m just over the moon,” Gallagher said.

“Today marks a turning point in our nation’s history, a moment where old wounds can begin to heal and new relationships can be built on truth, justice and mutual respect,” she said.

Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan described the signing of the treaty as marking a “new chapter” in the state’s history.

“It is a chapter that is founded on truth, guided by respect and carried forward through partnership … a partnership to build a stronger, fairer, more equal Victoria for everyone,” Allan said.

Australia was colonised by the then-British Empire in 1788, with settlers first arriving in what is now known as Victoria in the early 1800s.

While British powers entered into treaties with Indigenous peoples in other colonised countries, including Canada, New Zealand and the United States, no treaty was ever signed in Australia.

The treaty, which has been described as historic by the United Nations human rights chief Volker Turk, formalises the creation of the permanent First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria.

Turk said the treaty “addresses the continued exclusion of and discrimination against the country’s First Peoples – the result of colonisation”.

The agreement, he added, had the “potential to be truly transformative, ensuring the First Peoples have a direct voice in advising and shaping laws, policies and practices that affect their lives”.

The treaty process began in 2016 and included the Yoorrook Justice Commission, a formal truth-telling body which concluded in June this year and heard from Indigenous people harmed by colonisation, including members of the Stolen Generations, who were Indigenous children taken from their families and communities by state agencies and religious organisations.

Australia held a referendum in 2023 that sought to change the constitution and create a permanent Indigenous voice to inform parliament on issues related to Indigenous people.

The referendum failed to achieve enough support to change the constitution.

The referendum followed after the 2017 Uluru Statement from the Heart petition, which had called for an Indigenous voice to inform parliament, and emphasised that Indigenous people had 60,000 years of ancestral ties to their land. This “sacred link” could not be erased from world history in “merely” 200 years, according to the statement.

Australia’s High Court says government acted within its rights when it passed a law revoking 99-year lease for planned Russian embassy site.

Russia has lost a legal fight to build a new embassy near Australia’s Parliament, with the nation’s top court ruling that Canberra acted within its rights when it cancelled the lease for the site.

Australia passed legislation in 2023 to mothball the planned embassy building after officials deemed it to pose a security threat.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at the time that his government decided to revoke the lease over the “specific risk” posed by the site, located about 300 metres (328 yards) from Parliament House.

Russia, which blasted the move as “Russophobic hysteria”, challenged the legislation in court, arguing that it was not valid under the Australian Constitution.

In a unanimous ruling on Wednesday, the High Court found that the cancellation of the lease had been a “valid exercise of the legislative power” to enact laws related to the acquisition of property.

The court, however, ruled that Russia was entitled to compensation after paying about $2m for the 99-year lease in 2008.

The court previously rejected a bid by Moscow to stop its officials from being evicted from the site.

The government introduced new legislation on June 15 to end the Russian lease on the land after intelligence agencies warned the location was a risk to national security.

In a statement following the ruling, Attorney General Michelle Rowland said, “Australia will always stand up for our values and we will stand up for our national security.”

“The government welcomes the High Court’s decision that found the government acted lawfully in terminating the Russian Embassy’s lease,” Rowland said in a statement.

“The government will closely consider the next steps in light of the court’s decision,” Rowland added.

The Russian embassy said it was studying the judgement, according to Australian broadcaster ABC News.

“The Russian side will carefully study the text of the court ruling, which sets a precedent,” an embassy official said in a statement.

Relations between Australia and Russia have been strained for years.

Ties deteriorated sharply after the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, which multiple investigations blamed on pro-Russian separatists, and then plunged further after Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

#BREAKING: The lease was granted to Russia in 2008, but was withdrawn when parliament passed a new law citing ASIO advice that the planned embassy could pose a threat to national security. https://t.co/6S6bf37h7m

— ABC News (@abcnews) November 11, 2025

World champions Australia were not involved in the men’s Pacific Championships because of their commitment to touring England.

And Samoa – beaten by the Kangaroos in the World Cup final at Old Trafford three years ago – were hopeful of a first international trophy when they led New Zealand 12-0 thanks to tries from Brian To’o and Simi Sasagi.

But the Kiwis responded through Naufahu Whyte to trail 14-6 at the break, and then produced five unanswered tries in the second half.

Interchange forwards Whyte and Erin Clark were key to the comeback, along with Foran and man of the match Dylan Brown.

Foran and stand-off Brown combined to send over Isaiah Papali’i for the first of his two tries shortly after half-time.

After a Jamayne Isaako penalty levelled the scores, New Zealand stepped up the pace and Clark, Casey McLean, Papali’i and Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad ran in tries against the tiring Samoans, to the delight of the retiring Foran.

“I wanted it so badly for New Zealand,” Foran said. “It has meant so much to me playing for my country.”

The half-back, who announced in July that he would finish his NRL career at the end of this season after three years with Gold Coast Titans, will now rejoin his first club Manly Sea Eagles as an assistant coach.

Half Yours has won the Melbourne Cup, with Jamie Melham becoming only the second female jockey to win Australia’s most famous horse race.

Goodie Two Shoes, trained by Ireland’s Joseph O’Brien and ridden by Wayne Lordan, finished in second place, with Middle Earth in third.