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Former minister Robert Jenrick is considered the frontrunner to lead the party. Photo: HENRY NICHOLLS / AFP Four hopefuls were left in the race to become leader of the Conservatives on Tuesday after centrist former work and pensions minister Mel Stride was knocked out of a race set to shape the future direction of Britain's once dominant party. The contest to replace former prime minister Rishi Sunak as leader will run until 2 November, after Conservative members cast the final ballots for a new head charged with turning around the fortunes of a party that suffered the worst result in its history in a July election defeat at the hands of Labour. Tuesday's second round of voting again handed pole position to Robert Jenrick, a right-winger who quit as immigration minister as he believed t...

King Charles and Queen Camilla will travel to Australia and Samoa in October. Photo: AFP / JANE BARLOW By Matthew Doran and Maani Truu, ABC political reporters King Charles and Queen Camilla will make their first visit to Australia and Samoa since taking the throne. The royal pair will not be visiting New Zealand. They will visit Canberra and Sydney from 18-23 October. Buckingham Palace has released new details of King Charles and Queen Camilla's first visit to Australia since taking the throne. The visit, scheduled for next month, will be a slimmed-down, five-day affair, taking into account the king's ongoing health concerns. It will be the first time in more than a decade that a reigning monarch has touched down on Australian shores, after Queen Elizabeth II's last tour in 2011. The...

Sponges and cloths often breed bacteria due to staying damp between washes. Photo: Unsplash By Kellie Scott of the ABC My approach to replacing the sponge I use to wash dishes is less about time frame and more about when it looks manky. Sarah McLean, a lecturer in environmental health at Swinburne University of Technology, says that's probably not a satisfactory guide. Dr McLean says bacteria, and sometimes even viruses, can live on the tools we use to wash dishes - whether that's a sponge, brush, or cloth. "It's one of those tricky things, because you want to be sustainable, but you also don't want to put yourself or family at risk" by using these items for too long, she says. So, how often should we be changing or cleaning the sponges, brushes, and cloths we use to wash dishes? What l...

By Nandita Bose, Gram Slattery and Joseph Ax Donald Trump and Kamala Harris went on the offensive at the start of the first presidential debate. Photo: AFP / SAUL LOEB Republican Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris immediately went on the offensive in the opening segment of their first presidential debate, each seeking a campaign-altering moment in their closely fought election. Harris, 59, attacked Trump's intention to impose high tariffs on foreign goods - a proposal she has likened to a sales tax on the middle class - while touting her plan to offer tax benefits to families and small businesses. "Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression," Harris said, referring to his years as president from 2017-2021. Unemployment peaked at 14.8...

Republican Donald Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris immediately went on the offensive in the opening segment of their first presidential debate, each seeking a campaign-altering moment in their closely fought election. Harris, 59, attacked Trump's intention to impose high tariffs on foreign goods - a proposal she has likened to a sales tax on the middle class - while touting her plan to offer tax benefits to families and small businesses. "Donald Trump left us the worst unemployment since the Great Depression," Harris said, referring to his years as president from 2017-2021. Unemployment peaked at 14.8 percent in April 2020 and at 6.4 percent when he left office. It was far higher in the Great Depression. Trump, 78, criticised Harris for the persistent inflation during the ...

Photo: AFP / SAUL LOEB Analysis - As the United States rocks and rolls its way through one of the weirdest presidential election years ever, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump met for their first debate. Here's five quick takeaways on how it all went. Tempting Trump's temper One of Harris's goals was to get under Trump's skin. There's no doubt she managed to rile him a few times, particularly in an exchange where she hit him where it hurts - on crowd sizes. Talking about his rallies, Harris said, "what you'll also notice is that people start leaving his rallies early out of exhaustion and boredom." Trump immediately launched back saying that he has the biggest rallies, and within a sentence or two claimed nobody goes to Harris's events and that people were also being bussed in and paid to go...