Australia is slowing the issuance of new “working holiday” visas popular with backpackers as the government looks at policies to cut migration to the country. “They are still being processed, but they are being processed more slowly than they were previously,” Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said on Sunday. The visas allow people to come to Australia to work and travel for a set period of time, and are popular with European and Japanese citizens. Applications for people from 24 nations with an...

“Horrific, horrendous, unbearable, unsafe.” That is how medical professionals describe the impact of this year’s heatwaves on Britain’s healthcare system, in response to a survey by the Doctors’ Association UK. In hospitals built for a cooler climate, staff are now dealing with patients too sweaty to receive intravenous drips, medication at risk of degrading in high temperatures and colleagues collapsing on the job with heat fatigue. The past few months have revealed the extent to which...

A top US military commander said mental health was a valid concern after meeting crew deployed on the USS Abraham Lincoln, where conditions aboard the aircraft carrier have led to complaints during its long deployment in the Iran war. Admiral Brad Cooper’s visit to the carrier in the Arabian Sea followed outrage among family members about reports of food shortages, water contamination, mouldy showers and long shifts in wartime aboard the vessel, which has been deployed without a port call for...

Australia’s foreign minister attacked the policies of the far-right One Nation party, arguing that its call for a monoculture would damage social cohesion at home and relations with friends and allies abroad. “The call for a monoculture is a call for Australia to curtail our choices and cut off our connections,” Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a speech on Friday in Sydney. “At a time where external and internal forces are seeking to divide us, turning Australians against each other makes us...

The US is readying unprecedented economic measures against Iran, as President Donald Trump seeks to intensify efforts to force Tehran to capitulate after almost six months of war. The president said in a brief interview with Fox News that the US was planning to hit Iran’s economy hard, and that he did not care if the conflict were to end before the November US midterm elections, which would hinge on voter perceptions of the economy. Trump has struggled to find an off-ramp to the war, which has...

Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said he would speed up the pace of reforms and strengthen an anti-corruption drive as he sought to rebuild public support after a string of electoral defeats and party departures. Anwar acknowledged shortcomings by his administration that had led to frustration among Malaysians. While the economy grew 6 per cent last quarter and unemployment was low, Anwar said he “won’t deny” that Malaysians faced higher living costs. “The economic numbers are not winning...