President Donald Trump has signed an executive order declaring that his plan to sell TikTok’s US operations to US and global investors will meet the requirements in a 2024 law that says the short video app will be banned unless its Chinese owners sell it.

The new US company will be valued at around $US14 billion ($A21 billion), Vice President JD Vance said.

Trump has delayed enforcement of the law until December 16 amid efforts to extract TikTok’s US assets from the global platform, line up American and other investors and win approval from the Chinese government.

“There was some resistance on the Chinese side, but the fundamental thing that we wanted to accomplish is that we wanted to keep TikTok operating, but we also wanted to make sure that we protected Americans’ data privacy as required by law,” Vance said.

Trump said: “I spoke with President Xi. We had a good talk, I told him what we were doing, and he said go ahead with it.”

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Trump has credited TikTok, which has 170 million US users, with helping him win re-election last year and has 15 million followers on his personal account. The White House also launched an official TikTok account last month.

“This is going to be American-operated all the way,” Trump said.

He added Rupert Murdoch, Dell founder Michael Dell and “probably four or five absolutely world-class investors” would be part of the deal.

Republican House politicians said they want to see more details of the deal to ensure it represents a clean break with China.

“As the details are finalised, we must ensure this deal protects American users from the influence and surveillance of CCP-aligned groups,” said US representatives Brett Guthrie, Gus Bilirakis and Richard Hudson.

Trump, during his first term, signed an executive order attempting to ban the app if it didn’t split off its US business, warning that TikTok’s “data collection threatens to allow the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information.”

Beijing previously called the demand that TikTok be spun off from its Chinese parent company an act of “robbery,” but Chinese officials changed their tune as the US-China trade war progressed.

with AP

Home buyers are prepared to pay an extra $23,000 extra for a home adorned with solar in a sign households are valuing bill-saving features.

Nationally, solar systems attract an average uplift of 2.7 per cent on property values, with the technology attracting the biggest premiums in Hobart and Brisbane, among the capital cities.

The average home with solar in the Queensland capital commands a $30,219 premium compared with comparable dwellings without, according to the numbers from Cotality, formerly Corelogic.

Australia is a world leader in rooftop solar uptake, with roughly one in three homes equipped with the electricity generation technology.

Solar panels pay themselves off in lower bills over time and are playing an increasingly important role in the transition to a low-emissions, renewables-powered energy system.

In the first half of 2025, rooftop solar contributed 12.8 per cent of the nation’s electricity generation.

Cotality’s Tom Coad expected the assurance of a value uplift from solar would encourage more home owners to install them.

Owner-occupiers worried they will not be in the home long enough to claw back the upfront costs through cheaper bills can be comforted by the fact the property will attract a premium anyway.

An incentive for property investors is that a solar-equipped dwelling is worth more upon sale, which makes up for landlords missing out on the bill-saving benefits of solar that their tenants enjoy. 

“What this report shows is that actually, it’s a win-win,” Mr Coad told AAP.

“If you stay in the property, you get the savings. 

“If you sell the property at some point in the future, you get the uplift at that point too.”

He said households were increasingly cottoning on to the benefits of cheaper bills and were potentially valuing such home features more amid higher electricity prices.

The real estate data firm’s analysis also quantified the value attached to estimated energy efficiency ratings and determined a more modest 1.3 per cent, or $10,560, average national uplift for every extra star.

Mr Coad expected energy performance to become a bigger price mover as more states and territories followed ACT’s lead to make it compulsory to disclose energy ratings at the point of sale or lease.

Battery uptake has been booming as households and businesses take advantage of federal and state incentive schemes, but were not included in the Cotality analysis. 

Puppets and props from Muppets creator Jim Henson’s extensive career will go up for auction, including pieces from children’s shows such as Fraggle Rock and The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.

There are also calendars autographed by Miss Piggy herself.

The Jim Henson Company said this will be the first auction from its archives.

Henson, who died in 1990 at age 53, brought to life a host of beloved Muppets characters — from Kermit the Frog to Miss Piggy to the Swedish Chef.

He also brought his artistry and creativity to Sesame Street and Fraggle Rock and to the 1980s movies The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth.

The auction comes as The Jim Henson Company is celebrating its 70th anniversary.

More than 400 items — props, costumes, set pieces, autographed memorabilia, posters and puppets — will be available.

They were selected from tens of thousands of pieces, said Karen Falk, director of the company’s archives.

One of the highlights will be a full-body puppet of Naia Drenchen Gelfling from The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.

California-based Julien’s Auctions, which is handling the sale, estimates the puppet’s value at between $US15,000 ($A22,729)–$US25,000 ($A37,882).

Online bidding will begin on October 22, while the live auction will be on November 25.

Over the years, the Henson family has donated some of Jim Henson’s iconic creations to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, including the original Kermit, which was made from his mother’s old green coat and ping pong balls for eyes.

In 2013, the family donated an original version of Miss Piggy and some of her co-stars from The Muppet Show for display in the National Museum of American History.

Australia will likely need to pour tens of millions of dollars into its campaign for a seat at the world’s top security body.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has used his first speech at the United Nations to kick off a push to join the UN Security Council from 2029.

A bid will not come cheap, Australian National University international law professor Donald Rothwell warns.

“It will cost a lot of money,” he told AAP.

The security council is made up of five permanent members and ten rotating spots. France, China, Russia, the US and the UK are always on the committee and have the power to veto any resolution.

If Australia were to join the council, it would be for a two-year term representing the “Eastern Europe and other countries” bloc that includes Canada and New Zealand.

The three Western allies normally co-ordinate their bids to join the Security Council, but the federal government will likely need to campaign against eastern European countries.

The last time Australia did so, the lobbying effort cost around $25 million.

In the nation’s term from 2013 to 2014, the federal government helped co-ordinate the response to the downing of flight MH17, by spearheading a motion to secure an independent investigation into the crash.

Government sources say they are yet to lock in a dollar figure for the upcoming campaign.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese used his speech to the UN General Assembly to breathe new life into Australia’s bid, which began a decade ago under former foreign minister Julie Bishop.

He said joining the committee was a worthwhile goal.

“The United Nations is much more than an arena for the great powers to veto each other’s ambitions,” Mr Albanese told the UN General Assembly.

“This is a place for the global spotlight to shine on suffering and struggles that might otherwise be forgotten,” he said.

Professor Rothwell said Australia would need to mount a strong campaign, with the vote usually contested quite fiercely because of the seat’s prestige.

“It inevitably sees a very significant diplomatic effort on the part of Australia,” he said.

The announcement of Australia’s bid caps off Mr Albanese’s visit to New York City, in which he secured a long-awaited meeting with US President Donald Trump, lobbied countries to ban children from social media and sat down with a slew of world leaders.

The prime minister will now visit the UK for talks on the AUKUS nuclear submarine deal, Gaza and Ukraine.

Nuclear submarines, Gaza and Ukraine are likely to top Anthony Albanese’s agenda as he touches down in London for the next leg of his three-country visit.

The prime minister is scheduled to arrive in London on Friday (AEST) to meet UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, with an expert suggesting the AUKUS deal could dominate discussions. 

Under the multibillion-dollar security pact with the US and UK, Australia would gain nuclear-powered attack submarines by the early 2040s.

The US is reviewing the agreement, agreed under Joe Biden’s presidency, to ensure it aligns with President Donald Trump’s “America First” agenda.

Mr Trump would be a key topic of discussions, Monash-Warwick Alliance international relations researcher Tom Howe said.

“I think (Mr Albanese and Mr Starmer) will probably talk about some tactics on how to best manage Trump,” Mr Howe told AAP.

He said the UK commissioned the sixth of its seventh SSN-AUKUS submarine for the UK Royal Navy, which will replace its Astute class boat fleet from the late 2030s.

“It was commissioned ahead of schedule, kind of breaking protocol because it hasn’t had its at-sea testing yet, but that matters for Australia … because that submarine took 12 years to build,” Mr Howe said. 

“The UK is supposed to be deploying and rotating a submarine out of the base in Perth from 2027, so there’s quite a lot riding on that for Australia.”

Mr Albanese will meet King Charles III at Balmoral Castle, after the monarch stressed the importance of AUKUS during Mr Trump’s visit to the UK last week.

“Our Aukus submarine partnership, with Australia, sets the benchmark for innovative and vital collaboration,” the King said at a state banquet at Windsor Castle, as Mr Trump, seated next to him, nodded.

Mr Albanese’s UK visit follows five days at the UN, where he called on world leaders for more action on climate change, an end to conflict in Gaza and Ukraine, and alleviating poverty and inequality.

In his wide-ranging debut before the General Assembly on Thursday (AEST), the prime minister urged an overhaul of the multinational institution to prevent further loss of trust.

The talk followed a fiery speech from Mr Trump in which he admonished nations such as Australia that recognised Palestinian statehood. 

Mr Howe said Mr Albanese and Mr Starmer would likely discuss Gaza and Israel, especially with Australians and Britons aboard an aid flotilla that has reportedly been attacked by drones, prompting Italy and Spain to send naval ships to help.

“That’s quite problematic for the British government, maybe less so for the Australian government given there’s fewer Australians (on board) and they have less commitment to commit a ship,” Mr Howe said.

“But Britain does and so there’s going to be a significant headache there for Starmer.

“It looks pathetic to have citizens threatened like that and to do nothing.”

The prime minister’s final stop will be in the United Arab Emirates where he will meet President Sheikh Mohammmed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

There, the pair will discuss the two countries’ free trade agreement, the Australia-UAE Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

After failing to secure a meeting with US President Donald Trump while in New York, Mr Albanese was able to snap a selfie with the leader at a cocktail event on Wednesday.

The pair locked in a formal face-to-face meeting for October 20.

Australian women are twice as likely as men to experience migraines, with sufferers and researchers saying investment is needed to find treatments that would help close the significant health blind spot.

One in three Australian women is living with frequent migraines, according to the 2025 national women’s health survey published in August.

The chronic condition is more than “just a headache” but a complex neurological event.

Justine Martin is a resilience coach and author who has battled hemiplegic migraines for most of her life.

The 54-year-old says she never leaves home without pain medication or anti-nausea drugs. 

“I’ve been suffering from migraines since I was 15 and it’s not gotten any easier after 40 years,” she told AAP.

“It’s frustrating because when you have a migraine, people can’t see what is happening in your head.” 

While she doesn’t want to let the condition control her life, Ms Martin feels like she is often playing a game of roulette as she never knows when or where a migraine will strike. 

“The older I’ve gotten, the more I’ve noticed different things that trigger them, but it’s really been trial and error, eliminating different foods and understanding those triggers.”

Women are at least twice as likely as men to experience migraines, research by Jean Hailes for Women’s Health found. 

“It hits hardest in their thirties, right when women are building careers, families and their futures, Jean Hailes for Women’s Health Sarah White said. 

“The cost of days lost to pain is immense for individual women, which has broader consequences on society.”

For Olivia, who preferred not to give her last name, migraines began when she was 10 years old and often led to a sudden loss of her peripheral vision. 

“It was very disruptive in high school and I had to have my parents pick me up early many times,” she said.

Although she hasn’t had a severe migraine in a few years, persistent headaches still affect her everyday life now that she is in her 30s. 

“With frequent headaches, it’s something you always have to be prepared for with water and medication,” she said. 

“Working in a corporate setting, it can be pretty disruptive and I try to push through a lot of the time.” 

Addressing migraines would not only improve millions of women’s lives, but it would boost the global economy by $US80 billion ($A121 billion), the 2025 World Economic Forum Insights Report found.

Greater investment and national attention are needed, Migraine and Headache Australia spokesman Carl Cincinnato said.

“We must do better for the one in three women affected by this disorder, which can be debilitating for so many,” he said.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is advocating for the European Union to unlock up to 140 billion euros ($A249 billion)  in frozen Russian assets to finance Ukraine’s war effort, marking the first public expression of support at this level from Germany for such a move.

The proposal of an interest-free EU loan, outlined in a Financial Times editorial, aims to provide long-term support for Ukraine without violating property rights.

The assets would remain frozen until Russia pays reparations for the war, Merz suggested, addressing longstanding legal and financial concerns that had previously made Germany and other EU states wary of confiscating Russian assets.

Under the plan, the loan would initially be guaranteed by member states and later backed by the EU’s long-term budget from 2028.

“We need a new impetus to change Russia’s calculations,” Merz said in the editorial. 

“Now is the moment to apply an effective lever that will disrupt the Russian president’s cynical game of buying time and bring him to the negotiating table.”

The editorial marks the first time Merz has given his backing to an EU plan to send the roughly 210 billion euros ($A374 billion) held in a Belgian depository to Ukraine without confiscating it – a red line for many member states and the European Central Bank.

Finance Minister and Vice Chancellor Lars Klingbeil, in a separate statement, said Europe needed to exert maximum pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war against Ukraine.

“That is why it is right to make greater use of frozen Russian assets. Germany is prepared to explore new avenues that are legally possible and responsible.”

The plan, important for Ukraine support amid uncertainty over the United States’ commitment to Kyiv under President Donald Trump, is likely to dominate an informal EU summit in Copenhagen next week.

“I propose that, at the European Council at the end of October, we give the mandate to prepare this instrument in a legally secure manner,” Merz said, adding that payments should be disbursed in tranches and decisions on the arms procured should be taken jointly by Kyiv and EU member states.

Until now, the EU has taken only interest generated from the Russian assets, which were frozen after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Germany, the EU’s biggest economy and Ukraine’s second-biggest military backer, has previously expressed legal concerns over any proposals to seize the assets completely.

The United States has long been Ukraine’s biggest single backer and weapons supplier, but Trump says Europe should take on a much greater share of its own defence burden. 

Denmark has informed its NATO allies that drone incursions that shut two of its airports are linked to unspecified “state actors”, Latvia’s foreign minister says, adding that the West must invest in anti-drone capabilities.

Denmark’s foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. Its defence minister earlier said the overnight drone sorties were hybrid attacks aimed at spreading fear. 

He did not identify the perpetrators.

The incident, the second in two days in Denmark alone, is part of what some European officials see as a pattern of Russian disruption that has exposed the vulnerability of European airspace at a time of high tensions between Moscow and NATO.

Russia’s embassy in Copenhagen on Thursday rejected as “absurd” speculation about Moscow’s involvement in the Danish incursions.

“The Danish government said it’s a state activity that operates it,” Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze told Reuters, referring to the overnight drone forays in Denmark.

“So we will wait for further assessments from our Danish colleagues, but it’s very clear on the allies’ side… we all have to invest in counter-drone capability,” she said, speaking on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.

The incursions forced Aalborg airport, used for commercial and military flights, to shut for three hours, while Billund airport, Denmark’s second-largest, was closed for an hour, police said. Both reopened on Thursday morning.

Drones were also seen near Esbjerg and Sonderborg airports, as well as Skrydstrup airbase, home to Denmark’s F-16 and F-35 fighter jets, and over a military facility in Holstebro, police confirmed. 

They are all located in the western Jutland region.

Civil rescue company Esvagt told Reuters its vessels had observed late on Wednesday what appeared to be drones flying over the North Sea. 

Local police received a report about drones near North Sea oil fields, state broadcaster DR reported. 

“This shows at least that we do not have the capacity at present to prevent the intrusion of drones over our airports,” said Peter Viggo Jakobsen, an associate professor at the Royal Danish Defence College. 

“This is a hole in our preparedness.”

Danish police said they had increased their presence at the impacted airports and other critical infrastructure. 

The incursions come after Denmark this year boosted its military budget to address acute shortcomings.

Last week, it announced plans to acquire long-range precision weapons, while its decision to host Ukrainian missile fuel production near the Skrydstrup airbase has drawn criticism from Russia.

Poland shot down suspected Russian drones in its airspace on September 10. 

Danish authorities said on Thursday they decided not to take down any of the drones in their airspace for safety reasons, despite the disruption caused to air traffic.

“It certainly does not look like a coincidence. It looks systematic. This is what I would define as a hybrid attack,” Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen told reporters.

Denmark has not yet decided whether to invoke NATO’s Article 4, which allows members to request consultations over any security concerns, Poulsen added. 

Poland invoked the article after downing the drones, as did Estonia after Russian military jets violated its airspace for 12 minutes on September 19.

A beloved yet cash-strapped public art trail has been accused of not paying its artists properly, with the federal government not interested in funding a bailout.

Sculpture by the Sea warns its annual show – a transformation of Sydney’s Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk into an open-air art exhibition – will not go ahead unless it raises $200,000 in the next two weeks.

Though the event draws almost 500,000 visitors each year, its founder David Handley says federal arts agency Creative Australia had shown “indifference”.

Federal Arts Minister Tony Burke hit back on Thursday, saying Sculpture by the Sea had not applied for funding and the new national cultural policy, called Revive, prioritises organisations that pay creators.

“For too long, artists have been expected to work for free, for too long people are treated as though their life’s work is a hobby and not a career,” he told reporters in Sydney on Thursday.

“We have made a decision in Revive … that we would absolutely prioritise organisations that paid their artists properly.

“To have your works included in Sculpture by the Sea, you were not paid. In fact, you had to pay them.”

Mr Handley said Mr Burke was “regrettably … seriously misinformed”.

“Each year, the artists who exhibit in Sculpture by the Sea in Sydney and Perth collectively earn $2-3 million from the exhibitions in the form of artist subsidies, awards, and sculpture sales,” he said.

“Each artist in this year’s Bondi exhibition is guaranteed an income of at least $3000.”

Sculpture by the Sea began in 1997 as a one-day show, organised out of Mr Handley’s living room by volunteers.

It has since exploded in popularity and now employs 20 staff, according to its website.

This year artists are charged $50 to enter works and are expected to cover freight costs to Sydney’s eastern suburbs if selected, which can add thousands of dollars in costs – though the organisation stresses the latter affects a “small number of artists”.

Its awards and subsidies include a $70,000 acquisition award and scholarships ranging from $25,000 to $35,000.

Exhibitors in the trail’s small artwork division are also given $3000 if their work does not net more than $3500 in sales, subsidies or awards.

About one in four of the outdoor sculptures are sold during the event, mostly for less than $50,000.

Sculpture by the Sea gets a 40 per cent commission on any sale plus GST.

The funding approach differs from other major exhibitions and prizes including the the Archibalds, Australia’s most famous portrait prize, which charges $50 to would-be entrants but gives $1000 to those selected.

The Art Gallery of NSW pays an extra $300 if a work is picked to go on tour, in addition to any prize winnings.

Famed Tasmanian art festival Dark Mofo directly invites artists, pays them artist fees and covers the costs of displaying and shipping works.

Sculpture by the Sea lost $1 million in federal funding after 2023 when it was ranked in the bottom third of applicants in a funding round by Creative Australia.

A schools education program has already been cut due to funding constraints, while the top prize is 30 per cent down on 2024’s offering.

The Perth exhibition of Sculpture by the Sea, held annually at Cottesloe Beach, was unable to proceed in March after Creative Australia overlooked it for support.

Tourism WA’s three-year funding deal had expired in 2024 and billionaire philanthropist Andrew Forrest had helped support it before that.

However, the federal government has come to the rescue of the western event, albeit through a different limb: Austrade.

The export-oriented body has provided a $1.5 million grant to the WA Sculpture by the Sea event to cover its staging in 2026 and 2027.

The billionaire chairman of Premier Investments has made a series of jaw-dropping allegations involving the Smiggle boss who was fired for alleged serious misconduct a year ago.

Solomon Lew said that John Cheston – now the CEO of jewellery chain Lovisa – encouraged a culture of drinking and gambling with staff and returning to work intoxicated, saying there was an ongoing investigation.

Rebekah Giles, Mr Cheston’s legal representative, denied the allegations and suggested they were motivated by bitterness that he had left Premier.

“To the extent that this latest rant is about Mr Cheston, it is simply untrue,” she said in a statement.

Lovisa has also been approached for comment.

Premier Investment’s Just Group fired Mr Cheston in September 2024, three months after he gave his required year-long notice that he was leaving to head Lovisa.

Premier’s Just Group subsidiary had alleged “serious misconduct” on the part of Mr Cheston but was not more specific until Thursday, when Mr Lew detailed the allegations during a call with reporters as Premier announced its full-year earnings.

“People were being paid to be at work, doing other things, and not being at work, and being absent from their jobs, and spending time being intoxicated and gambling with staff in the organisation,” Mr Lew said.

This happened during office hours, and head office staff would return to work intoxicated, Mr Lew alleged.

He suggested “people were being bullied, sexual harassment, etcetera, that was never reported, interference by the CEO to that (human resources) department, and there’s a long list of situations.”

Mr Lew said he was “appalled that this was going on for some years and I never knew about it”.

Pressed on whether anyone other than Mr Cheston had been fired for alleged misconduct, Mr Lew said he wasn’t certain but believed other people had left the company.

“There are people who were dragged into this mob, obviously, over a period of time, quite a few people who are no longer with the company,” he said.

“If you were to ask me whether those practices are going on today, I’m going to say no.”

Mr Lew said that Premier had not paid Mr Cheston any further renumeration after firing him, clawing back $5.2 million.

Ms Giles said Mr Cheston resigned 18 months ago and put the company behind him.

“The truth is Mr Cheston declined Premier’s offer to lead a separately listed Smiggle business and instead resigned to accept a CEO role for another publicly-listed retail company,” she said.

“That decision appears to be what Premier is unable to move past.

“Mr Cheston has moved on and Premier should do the same.”

A back-to-school stationery chain, Smiggle has 296 stores, about half of which are in Australia, and about 80 head office staff.

Mr Lew said Smiggle still didn’t have a permanent CEO because Premier was being “very very particular” about finding a replacement.

Mr Lew’s comments largely overshadowed Premier’s 2024/25 earnings results.

Premier Investments said it made $831.3 million in revenue in the 52 weeks to July 26, up 1.2 per cent from a year ago.

Sleepwear chain Peter Alexander’s 2024/25 sales were a record $548 million, up 7.7 per cent from a year ago, with sales around Mother’s Day and Father’s Day particularly strong.

Premier said its statutory profit was up 31.1 per cent to $338.2 million, when including the divestment of its clothing stores Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans, Dotti and Jacqui E to Myer in January.

Its underlying profit from continuing operations – excluding the apparel brands divestment and costs associated with Peter Alexander’s entry into the UK market – was down 14.9 per cent to $220.3 million.

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