The Planetary Health Check (PHC) provides an annual assessment of the state of the Planet. It is structured around the Planetary Boundaries: the nine critical processes that regulate stability, resilience, and the conditions that support life on Earth. For each boundary, one or two indicators, known as control variables, are used to assess its status.

PLANETARY HEALTH CHECK 2026

A Scientific Assessment of the State of Our Planet

In 1927, Augusto Cesar Sandino began an insurgent campaign against the U.S. occupation of Nicaragua. 

Under orders from President Calvin Coolidge, the U.S. Marines had intervened in Nicaragua to settle a civil war between a conservative government and liberal rebels. In his manifesto, Sandino responded by effectively declaring war on the United States. He also specifically denounced former liberal leaders who had agreed to put down their arms in the face of U.S. intervention. 

BY ANTONIO DE LOERA-BRUST

David Shoebridge has declared he wants the Greens to replace Labor and has accused the government of creating the circumstances for One Nation’s rise in his first remarks after being elected the Greens’ federal leader.

The party’s 10 senators and lone MP met to decide the new leadership team during a pre-planned two-day retreat in Sydney, after the shock resignation of Larissa Waters on Monday due to ill health.

David Shoebridge says ‘we’re here to replace Labor’ in first remarks after being elected new Greens leader

In the formal rooms of the University Club of Chicago the loudest applause was not reserved for celebrity. It was reserved for refusal. 

The refusal to accept an official story merely because it was official and trade editorial independence for access; refusal for leaving wrongdoing concealed because disclosure might end a career and invite prosecution or fracture and upend a life. 

Integrity in Media Is Possible

Can the words “integrity” and “media” even be mentioned in the same breath? ask whistleblowers Coleen Rowley and Tom Drake.

THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF DISINFORMATION ABOUT THE "STOLEN UKRAINIAN CHILDREN" AND THE LATEST INSTALMENT CAME YESTERDAY FROM THE ABC FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT... IN THE FOG OF THE UKRAINE/RUSSIA CONFLICT, PROVOKED BY THE WEST, THE CIVILIANS ARE OFTEN VICTIMS OF VARIOUS PLOTS AND ACCIDENTS. 

THE WEST HAS CLAIMED THAT RUSSIA "STOLE" MORE THAN 20,000 UKRAINIAN CHILDREN, FOR EXAMPLE... OF THESE, BARELY 200 CHILDREN HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED AND CLAIMED BY UKRAINIAN FAMILIES. THE REST, COMING FROM THE DONBASS REGION, WERE [ARE] RUSSIAN — ORPHANS OR FROM RUSSIAN FAMILIES.

ACCORDING TO STATS 2.8 MILLION "UKRAINIANS" [russians] HAVE MIGRATED TO RUSSIA, INCLUDING ABOUT 200,000 CHILDREN. SOME WEBSITES CLAIM THAT THESE PEOPLE WERE FORCIBLY MOVED BY THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT, BUT 99.99 PER CENT OF THESE [Russians] WOULD HAVE BEEN WILLING TO GO TO RUSSIA....

Australia is campaigning for a UN Security Council seat on a promise to uphold international law and defend middle powers. Its record on Gaza, Indigenous rights, military alliances and international rulings tells a far less consistent story.

John Menadue

At the United Nations General Assembly, Anthony Albanese warned about the collapse of the international rules-based order. He said that Australia would be speaking up for middle powers and for that system of international order if Australia won a seat on the UN Security Council in 2029/30.

Madonna took home the Moon Person for Artist of the Year at the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards, beating out nominees Ariana Grande, Bruno Mars, Morgan Wallen, Sabrina Carpenter, and Taylor Swift. Later, she won the VMA for Best Dance for “Confessions II – The Film.”

“First of all, I would like to thank my fingers because I can always count on them,” Madonna joked before launching into an anecdote about her debut at the very first VMAs, hosted back in 1984. “I had a little problem with my shoes … and I dove onto the stage to try to make myself look cute and sexy and like I meant to do it,” she said. “I went backstage feeling really proud of myself and my manager told me that my career was over.” 

European leaders from the “frugal” coalition of fiscally conservative countries have called for a fundamental overhaul of the EU’s common budget, to shift funding towards defence, economic competitiveness and border control, in a letter to Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

Repression of anti-Gaza genocide protests took another leap at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Sunday, confirming that Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s government is continuing the pro-Zionist and pro-war agenda of his predecessor, Keir Starmer. 

Mass arrests of 150 Palestine Action protesters at UK Labour Party conference, as total nears 4,000

BY Robert Stevens

Merseyside Police arrested more than 150 people, the vast majority of those peacefully protesting. This brings the total arrests since the undemocratic proscription last year of Palestine Action under anti-terror legislation to almost 4,000.

The Reserve Bank has delivered its fourth rate hike for 2026, bringing interest rates to the highest level since November 2011.

Meanwhile, the Australian share market opened higher in morning trading ahead of the RBA's interest rate decision.

US bonds surged as Wall Street closed lower.

Meanwhile, oil is trading above $US105 a barrel.

Follow the day's financial news and insights from our specialist business reporters on our live blog.

Disclaimer: this blog is not intended as investment advice.

Paris – On August 25, CIA Director John Ratcliffe made an unexpected visit to Moscow, where he met with several senior Russian military officials and intelligence chiefs. The reason for the visit remained unclear, and speculation circulated on social media, but it was largely speculative.

BY Huda Al-Husseini*

In mid-September, the Kremlin was signaling that negotiations could resume. Putin had said the trilateral talks with the United States and Ukraine would be unlikely before the State Duma elections, but that Russia would be ready to resume contacts after them. The elections ended on September 20. Within a week, both Putin and Lavrov had shifted from conditional openness to a set of positions that make a negotiated end to the war harder to reach than at any point this year.

A new poll finds majority support among surveyed Democrats for pursuing criminal prosecutions of officials from both the Biden and Trump administrations over Gaza. The finding points to demands for accountability that extend beyond party allegiance.

Stephen Prager

The majority of Democratic voters believe Israel has committed genocide in Gaza for the past three years. And they want the American politicians in both parties who supported it to pay.

On June 14, 1854, the allied Anglo-French fleet dropped anchor off Krasnaya Gorka, a village 20 km from Kronstadt and around 50 km from St. Petersburg. Dozens of screw-propelled frigates and steam and sail-powered ships – carrying 3,500 guns and over 30,000 sailors – formed an armada the likes of which had not been seen since the Battle of Trafalgar. They stood by, ready to attack the capital of the Russian Empire. 

Britain and Russia have been to war before. Ask the British fleet how that went

In the Baltic, London’s armada found that threatening St. Petersburg was easier than getting past Kronstadt