Archive September 4, 2025

In the most recent iteration of Australia’s controversial offshore detention policies, the Australian government has agreed to pay the tiny Pacific island nation of Nauru about $1.6 billion over three decades to resettle former detainees who have “no legal right to remain in Australia.”

In exchange for an initial $ 408 million Australian dollars ($ 267 million) and approximately $ 70 million Australian dollars ($ 46 million) each year thereafter, both governments signed a secretive agreement last week.

A “snap Senate hearing” on Wednesday night, according to independent senator David Pocock, revealed that the Australian government could lose up to 2.5 billion Australian dollars ($1.6 billion) over the course of 30 years as a result of the “agreement with Nauru to send asylum seekers there.”

After Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced last week that he had signed a memorandum with the president of Nauru “for the proper treatment and long-term residence of people who have no legal right to stay in Australia, to be received in Nauru,” the Senate hearing took place.

According to Clare Sharp, head of immigration at the Department of Home Affairs, “it’s in both countries’ interests to move through this as effectively as we can.”

Because money doesn’t flow until people arrive, she said, “It’s in Nauru’s interest.”

Nauru is one of the smallest nations on earth, with an estimated 12 500 people living on its shores and a continent that is only 21 square kilometers (8. 1 square miles) wide.

The agreement with Australia will “support Nauru’s long-term economic resilience,” according to Nauru’s president David Adeang, who released a statement on Sunday.

The deal with Nauru was “discriminatory, disgraceful, and dangerous,” according to Jana Favero, deputy CEO of the Melbourne-based Asylum Seeker Resource Center.

Favero claimed that the deal’s broad language could lead to the deportation of many thousands of Australian citizens.

Not the small number that the government would have Australians believe, according to Favero in a statement, “is tens of thousands of lives at risk.”

There are no guarantees that all 354 people, including some who have been found guilty of serious crimes, will be deported to Nauru, according to Australian immigration officials, who will make the final decision.

When their visas are revoked, the Australian government has been trying to find a solution for the country’s immigration crisis. In 2023, the nation’s High Court ruled that indefinite detention was unlawful if deportation was not an option, leading to the release of 220 people.

According to government officials, Australia currently has 35 people who are in that situation.

Although their transfer reportedly has been delayed by legal issues, Australia paid an undisclosed sum in February for Nauru to accept three immigrants who had been found guilty of violent crimes.

When Australia first began its contentious offshore detention program in 2001, Nauru was one of the two nations that Australia initially directed asylum seekers to.

After Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s election pledge to end offshore detention, the last refugees left Nauru and came back to Australia in June 2023.

The legally binding 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, including one protecting the right to contest detention in court, was violated by Australia’s offshore policy in January of this year, according to the UN Human Rights Committee.

In recent years, Nauru has turned to other migration-related initiatives to revive its economy, which has historically relied heavily on fertiliser-export phosphate, a crucial ingredient. However, those supplies have long since run out, and mining is thought to have caused 80% of Nauru to be uninhabitable.

The government of Nauru announced last month that the country’s first new citizens had been accepted as part of the Economic and Climate Resilience Citizenship Programme, which offers citizenship and a passport for a $ 105, 000 minimum investment.

Naomi Osaka defeated Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-6 (3) to reach the US Open semifinals on Wednesday, underscoring her resurgence on the biggest stage of the sport.

The Japanese 23rd seed, who returned last season after a lengthy maternity break, extended her unbeaten streak to 5-0 and secured a Friday meeting with Amanda Anisimova. Four years later, she won the final of her four major titles.

It means a lot, I say. Osaka, who was only watching the semifinals from the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium two years ago, said, “I’m surprised I’m not crying.”

You guys haven’t seen the amount of hard work you guys have put in, so I was sitting there watching and hoping I would have the opportunity to play on this court once more.

I simply want to thank my team. I’m hoping you’ll watch my next round.

After dropping a tight opening set, Muchova, who had been on the court for more than 10 hours over four exhausting rounds, dropped a tight opening set before coming out firing with a break at the start of the next set. She received treatment in the locker room for an apparent left leg issue.

She had a few awkward movements while having heavy compression on her thigh, but she continued to annoy her rival with her creative style of tennis, winning 5-4 before Osaka won the game and reclaim the lead after the tiebreak.

It was a very challenging match, Osaka continued.

She is “one of the world’s best players.” It’s very challenging every time I play against her.

She beat me last year with one of my best outfits. I was very upset. Simply put, I’m appreciative of being here.

Anisimova avenges her embarrassment at Wimbledon.

In a move that was unprecedented, Anisimova eliminated second seed Iga Swiatek from the US Open with a 6-4, 6-3 victory, reversing her most brutal defeat of the Grand Slam history.

The American eighth seed, who lost to Swiatek in the Wimbledon final less than two months ago, won 67 of 121 points to complete the turnaround on Arthur Ashe Stadium in 96 minutes.

In her on-court interview, Anisimova remarked, “Playing here is so freaking special.” “I’ve been living here for the rest of my life,” I said today. I’m capable of doing it.

The 24-year-old’s transition from July’s agony to Wednesday’s triumph exemplifies tennis’s potential for redemption.

Anisimova admitted she was “slow as hell” in the Wimbledon final but approached this rematch with a fresh perspective after watching the painful footage on Tuesday night.

She told reporters, “This is unquestionably the most meaningful victory I’ve ever had.” I really didn’t have a single thing of fear when I went out there; instead, I was just moving and attempting to get myself moving.

Swiatek acknowledged that the aggressiveness of her foe’s return strategy was decisive.

The six-time Grand Slam champion told reporters, “I couldn’t win today’s match playing like that, serving like that, and with Amanda being so aggressive on the returns.”

Swiatek’s bid for a seventh Grand Slam title and second US Open crown in the quarterfinals for the second straight year came to an end with just two breaks from four chances, while the American dominated on the return, dominating four of the nine break opportunities.

The American’s transformation from a devastating Wimbledon defeat to a US Open triumph serves as a powerful reminder that the best comebacks frequently occur after the most crushing defeats.

According to local authorities, a boat carrying more than 100 passengers capsized in Nigeria’s north-central Niger State killing at least 60 people and rescuing dozens more.

On Tuesday morning, the ship left the Malale district’s Tungan Sule town for Dugga on Nigeria’s Kainji reservoir, and it made its way there at around 11 a.m. local time (10:00 GMT).

The incident occurred when a vessel struck a submerged tree stump near the Gausawa community in the Borgu Local Government Area, according to the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA).

The agency reported to the local newspaper, Daily Trust, that “overloading and collision with a tree stump” was to blame.

Women and children were reported missing from the ship, which NSEMA claimed was headed for Dugga for a “condolence visit.”

According to Abdullahi Baba Ara, director general of NSEMA and head of the Borgu Local Government Area, the number of casualties are still rising as the search efforts for “missing persons” are being conducted.

He told the Reuters news agency, “The boat incident has claimed 60 lives.

He continued, “Ten people have been discovered in serious condition, and many are still being sought.”

The boat had “more than 100 people on it,” according to Sa’adu Inuwa Muhammad, the district head of Shagumi, who was present at the scene shortly after the accident.

31 corpses were recovered from the river, according to the organization. He added that the boat had also been recovered and taken out.

According to Muhammad, the deceased made up the majority of women and children. According to him, four victims have already been interred in accordance with Islamic customs.

Riverine communities in Nigeria frequently experience boat accidents, especially during the rainy season between March and October, when rivers and lakes overflow. This is caused by lax safety enforcement, overcrowding, and subpar boats.

On Thursday, September 4, 2018, the situation is as follows:

Fighting

• A 62-year-old man was killed in the Polohy district of Ukraine when 408 Russian forces attacked the Zaporizhia region, according to Regional Governor Ivan Fedorov.
• According to Serhii Tiurin, the governor of the Khmelnytskyi region in western Ukraine, a man was killed in a Russian attack.
• According to local officials, at least 35 people were hurt by Russian attacks on Wednesday in Ukraine, including 14 in the Donetsk region and 14 in the Kherson region, according to the Kyiv Independent news agency.
• According to Russia’s state-run TASS news agency, the country’s Ministry of Defense said that its forces shot down 170 Ukrainian drones, five guided aerial bombs, and two rockets in a 24-hour period.
• According to the Kyiv Independent, the air force of Ukraine shot down 21 Russian drones and missiles.
• A 52-year-old man was killed in a Ukrainian drone attack in the Kursk region of Russia, according to Alexander Khinshtein, the governor of the region.
• Nearly 30 000 homes in the Chernihiv region of Ukraine were without power as a result of a Russian drone attack, according to Governor Viacheslav Chaus.
• The city of Kupiansk in the northeastern Kharkiv region of Ukraine has been “about half” taken, according to the Russian Defense Ministry. The 10th Army Corps of Ukraine refuted that claim in a post on Telegram, saying that “every attempt by the Russian occupiers to use localities as a decoration for propaganda videos is doomed to fail.”

A peace agreement

Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, said he was willing to meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy with Putin in Moscow on Wednesday. “Donald Trump] asked me for a meeting, and I said, “Yes, it’s possible, let Zelenskyy come to Moscow.”
• Andrii Sybiha, the foreign minister of Ukraine, responded to Putin’s invitation by saying that the Russian leader “continues to mess around” by “making knowingly unacceptable proposals.”
• Even though Putin knew there are “serious proposals” from seven nations to host a meeting between the two leaders, which Zelenskyy was prepared for “at any point in time,” according to Sybiha, he made his offer.

Regional security

• Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea, stated on Thursday that his country would continue to “fully support” Russia and its army as a “fraternal duty” under the terms of its defense agreement with Moscow.
• During a White House meeting with Karol Nawrocki, the country’s conservative nationalist president, President Donald Trump said the country could increase its troop presence in Poland and pledged to secure its defense.