Welcome, readers, to Afternoon Update.
Australia’s chief medical officer, Prof Michael Kidd, has joined a chorus of Australian medical experts condemning the Trump administration’s announcement tying paracetamol to autism, with his predecessor, the former chief medical officer Prof Paul Kelly, labelling the announcement as “cruel” to pregnant women.
Australia’s medicines regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration, said that “robust scientific evidence shows no causal link between the use of paracetamol in pregnancy and autism or ADHD, with several large and reliable studies directly contradicting these claims … Importantly, untreated fever and pain can pose risks to the unborn baby.”
Dr Elisha Broom, a counsellor and spokesperson for the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (Ranzcog), expressed fears pregnant women will not take paracetamol when they need it and suffer harm from unmanaged fever after the Trump administration made unfounded claims.
“It’s not a no-harm scenario when women are fearful to take what we know are safe over-the-counter medications to relieve pain and fever in pregnancy,” Broom said.
Top news
Police officer charged with assault after Hannah Thomas injured at pro-Palestine protest in Sydney
New Zealand loosens residency restrictions as record number of citizens leave
Trump signs order designating antifa as a ‘domestic terrorist organisation’
Rodrigo Duterte, former Philippines president, charged with crimes against humanity at ICC
Drone sightings cause widespread disruption and delays at Norway and Denmark airports
Eat salmon, win prizes: Fat Bear Week begins in Alaska’s Katmai national park
In pictures
At the conclusion of the 2025 World Athletics Championships, we take a look at some of our favourite images from Tokyo.
What they said …
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“Today is a win for threatened wildlife across Australia”.
The Wilderness Society has been successful in federal court proceedings it launched in March that sought to compel the federal environment minister, Murray Watt, to make recovery plans for species including the greater glider and the ghost bat. Watt conceded that successive governments acted unlawfully when they failed to make such plans for native species threatened with extinction.
Full Story
Albanese formally recognises Palestine at the UN
On Monday, standing outside the UN headquarters in the US, Anthony Albanese announced Australia’s formal recognition of Palestine as a sovereign and independent state.
Guardian Australia’s political editor, Tom McIlroy, speaks to Nour Haydar from New York on why the prime minister chose this moment to make the landmark decision and whether the move will deepen the divide between Australia and the US on the war in Gaza.
Before bed read
The AFL grand final is here, and 16 fanbases are out in the cold once again. The Brisbane Lions are looking to go back-to-back, the Geelong Cats are looking to stop them, and an army of neutral, casual and undecided fans face the eternal question: which of these two teams do I dislike less? Guardian Australia’s Alex McKinnon helps you decide.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: PINE. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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