Exclusive: Economists say falling house prices are largely in the more expensive parts of Sydney and Melbourne’s markets and are less likely to affect first-time property owners

Fears that first-time buyers with tiny deposits will find their mortgages are worth more than their homes may be assuaged by new data showing falling prices are concentrated in the top end of the Sydney and Melbourne property markets.

Climbing inflation, interest rates and worries about the economic fallout from the Middle East conflict have helped depress housing values in the country’s two biggest cities.

Exclusive A vast area of the Bellingshausen Sea should be covered by sea ice by now, with one expert calling the loss of ice ‘depressing’

Antarctica’s west coast is missing an area of winter sea ice the size of France, sparking concerns for threatened penguins other marine life and global sea levels.

One expert said the loss of ice in the Bellingshausen Sea was “depressing” and the failure of ice to form could have intensified a heatwave over the continent’s peninsula last week that saw daytime temperatures peak at 15.4C which is more than 20C above average.

Report by Labor-led joint human rights committee says cuts to the $50bn scheme could limit support for those in need

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Sweeping changes to the NDIS appear “retrogressive” and lack alignment with a landmark independent review to improve the $50bn-a-year scheme, a Labor-led committee has found.

The 57-page scrutiny report from the joint human rights committee, released on Friday, examined the proposed changes under the Albanese government ahead of a separate report due next week by a Senate inquiry. The Labor-chaired committee questioned the human rights implications of winding back access for more than 200,000 participants in the coming years, which could leave many without sufficient disability support.

Location scans from the globally popular augmented reality game have helped train AI to recognise and interpret physical spaces

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

An AI model trained on data collected from users of Pokémon Go will potentially help military drones find their location in war zones.

Pokémon Go, a 2016 augmented reality mobile game, allowed players to find and catch Pokémon in the real world using the cameras on their mobile phones, and exploded in popularity. In 2018, the company reported having more than 800m downloads worldwide.

Flood of tributes for Victorian athlete, who died while overseas

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Local Australian athletics organisations have paid tribute to 2025 Stawell Gift finalist Jemma Stapleton, 25, who died while on holiday overseas with her family.

The cause of death has not yet been disclosed, though an online fundraising page shared by her brother said she “tragically lost her life in an accident”.

Josie Murray fined $10,500 and disqualified from gun ownership for five years after pleading guilty to possessing a gun silencer

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

The grandmother of missing four-year-old Gus Lamont has been fined $10,500 after admitting to a firearms offence unrelated to the boy’s disappearance eight months ago.

Josie Murray was fined $10,500 after a hearing in Adelaide magistrates court on Friday, where she pleaded guilty to one aggravated charge of possessing a sound moderator – a device better known as a gun silencer.

Event to go ahead at an undisclosed location after Moonee Ponds restaurant cancelled at the eleventh hour

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

One Nation has been forced to move a planned fundraising event to an undisclosed location in Melbourne, after the venue decided not to hold it due to planned protest activity. The event was due to be attended by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce.

A spokesperson for the party told Guardian Australia on Friday that it would move the fundraiser from Giorgio Casa, a bistro in Moonee Ponds, after Victorian police “did express concern about protest activity at the event”.

Woman, 58, was last heard from Monday afternoon and her car was found the next day

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

A man has been charged over the alleged kidnapping and murder of a woman whose body is yet to be found.

Police have been investigating the disappearance of a 58-year-old woman who failed to returned to her home in Sydney’s north-west on Tuesday.