Presented by Haylena Krishnamoorthy
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts .
The UN Secretary-General has urged leaders at the COP31 summit to take immediate stronger action against fossil fuels.
World leaders gathering at the summit in Antalya, Türkiye, are expected to outline their climate priorities as negotiators try to revive efforts to shift away from fossil fuels and expand the use of electricity.
Nearly 200 countries are attending amid warnings the world remains on track to exceed the Paris Agreement's 1.5C warming target.
Outside the summit, climate activists protested what they described as false climate solutions, arguing technologies such as carbon capture and storage allow corporations to keep polluting.
Ayumi Fukakusa from Friends of the Earth Japan, was among the crowd.
"The corporations that the government are promoting certain technologies that is supposed to help climate actions. But those technologies, like CCS (Carbon Capture and Storage), I was talking about earlier, is actually not helping climate crisis, but it helps corporations to keep polluting us. So that’s why we came to protest."
Spain has been brought to a standstill by its first general strike in 14 years, with unions saying four million workers have taken part, as anger over soaring housing costs spills onto the streets.
Transport has been disrupted, factories shut down and protesters have clashed with police in cities including Madrid and Barcelona.
The walkout comes just over two weeks before a snap general election, with unions demanding urgent action on skyrocketing rents and the cost of living.
Twenty-five-year-old student Lluc Sala says for young Spaniards, the dream of owning a home is slipping away.
“It's a big deal of not having hope for the future, because you don’t hope to have someday a house for yourself. It's just unachievable for us, with the salaries that working class people have in Spain.”
Iran's security chief Chief Mohsen Rezaei says Iran won't allow any enriched nuclear material to leave the country.
Russia has previously offered to remove uranium from Iran, as part of a potential deal to ease US concerns, but said it was for Tehran to decide whether to remove it or not.
The United States has long accused Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, which Iran denies.
Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei insists its uranium is being used for peaceful purposes.
“There are many applications for it. We are already designing ships that operate on nuclear power and submarines that operate on nuclear power. We want our own enriched material. Why would we send it abroad? In short, not a single particle of this enriched material will ever leave Iran. All of it remains under our control.”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has moved from his home in Washington to a military base, after alleged Iran-linked threats.
An official source familiar with the situation confirmed that the move was for Bessent's safety.
He’s the third senior Trump administration official reported to have relocated to military housing, following Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth.
The move follows concerns his home could be identified via geo-location, after a photograph of the property was published.
Bessent has been leading the US campaign to cripple Iran’s economy through sanctions, with a Treasury spokesperson saying he will not be deterred by threats from Tehran.
The relocation comes amid heightened security concerns across the region, although talks surrounding diplomatic efforts to end the conflict appear to be gaining momentum.
The federal government says the housing market is shifting towards first home buyers after new data showed investor lending fell a record 30.6 per cent in the September quarter.
The dip followed changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions in the May budget.
The number of new investor loans dropped to just over 35,000, while lending to owner-occupiers fell by a smaller 5.3 per cent, lifting their share of the market to 68 per cent.
Housing Minister Clare O'Neil said the figures showed the balance was moving away from investors and back towards owner occupiers, while Treasurer Jim Chalmers pointed to growing investor interest in new builds, which aren't impacted by the tax changes.
Industry groups and the opposition warned the tax changes could hurt housing supply at a time when construction costs and interest rates are rising.
NSW Women's State of Origin coach John Strange has stepped down, leaving the Blues searching for a new mentor ahead of next year's series.
Strange transformed the program during his two-year tenure, guiding NSW to back-to-back series victories, including the Blues' first clean sweep in a three-game series this year.
The 51-year-old won five of six Origin matches while also coaching the Sydney Roosters' premiership-winning NRLW side.
NSWRL chief executive David Trodden credited Strange with changing the trajectory of the women's program, with a replacement to be appointed before preparations begin for next year's campaign.