AU Brief — Monday 14 September 2026
Monday 14 September 2026
Good morning: European leaders voice alarm over Russian drone strikes near Poland, while at home there's driving safety advice, a shake-up in prostate cancer nursing funding, and lighter fare from music, film and food.
Culture
Elkie Brooks reflects on six decades in music
Singer Elkie Brooks, born Elaine Bookbinder in Salford in 1945, discusses her career from cabaret circuits and supporting the Beatles to forming Vinegar Joe with Robert Palmer and going solo with hits like Pearl's a Singer. She recalls early performances, changing her name, and personal challenges including her band's split and a later-discovered fractured hip. She is currently touring with The Long Farewell Tour, marking sixty years in music.
Sources: Guardian Australia
Science & Tech
1997 antpitta find sparked Ecuador conservation drive
The discovery of the jocotoco antpitta by ornithologist Robert Ridgely in southern Ecuador in 1997 led to the creation of the Jocotoco Foundation the following year. The foundation now protects 19 reserves covering about 50,000 hectares, plus manages another 82,000 hectares, supporting more than 1,350 bird species. A study at its Canandé reserve found previously cleared land had recovered 90% of biomass and species numbers within three decades.
Sources: Guardian Australia
Culture
Burning Man marks 40 years amid ageing crowd, three deaths
Burning Man turned 40 this year, with organisers noting attendees are ageing, as the share of participants in their 20s fell to about 10% in 2025 from nearly a third previously, while those in their 40s and 50s grew to almost 42%. Three deaths were recorded at this year's festival, all men over 50, with local authorities saying there was no evidence of foul play and autopsy results are expected in six to eight weeks. A Burning Man Project spokesperson said it was too early to link the deaths to participants' age.
Sources: Guardian Australia
News
Driving instructors share tips for tricky road situations
Several UK driving instructors have offered advice on handling common challenges such as running late, road rage, traffic delays, hire cars and getting lost. Suggestions include leaving extra time before trips, keeping a two-second gap from the car ahead, avoiding eye contact with aggressive drivers, and checking a hire car's condition before departure. They also advise researching road rules before driving abroad and pulling over safely if lost rather than checking a satnav while moving.
Sources: Guardian Australia
World
Russian drone strikes near Poland border alarm European leaders
A Russian drone hit a truck near Ukraine's border with Poland, close to the Dorohusk-Yahodyn crossing, prompting Ukraine's Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha to describe it as Russian terror reaching the EU and NATO. Lithuania briefly closed Vilnius airport over a suspected drone sighting later found to be birds, while a separate drone strike hit a train locomotive near the Polish border in Volyn. Russian President Vladimir Putin, at the BRICS summit in India, did not rule out resuming three-way talks with Ukraine and the US in October.
Sources: ABC News
Culture
A classic French chocolate mousse recipe
A recipe outlines how to make a simple chocolate mousse serving two, using dark chocolate, eggs, salt and sugar. It covers melting the chocolate via bain-marie or microwave, whisking egg whites to soft peaks, combining with yolks, and folding before chilling for at least two hours. The piece also suggests optional flavour variations such as orange zest, coffee, spices or vanilla.
Sources: Guardian Australia
Politics
Trump administration labels US bike lanes as 'DEI'
The Trump administration has criticised bike lanes as a form of diversity, equity and inclusion policy, freezing or cancelling related grants and describing alternative transit options as unworkable in the US. Officials have also suggested removing existing bike lanes, arguing they reduce road space for cars and increase traffic. The US currently has about 4,400 directional miles of bike lanes, with efforts to expand them dating back to the 1960s.
Sources: Guardian Australia
Culture
New Shaun the Sheep film brings Halloween-themed adventure
A new Shaun the Sheep stop-motion film from Aardman Animations sees the sheep of Mossy Bottom secretly growing pumpkins for Halloween, using a science-book GM technique after their farmer accidentally destroys the original crop. A mix-up sends the growth formula into the farmer's baldness cure, leading to chaos when a hairy beast is spotted in the area and the farmer goes missing. The film features voice work from John Sparkes and Nina Sosanya, with a script by Mark Burton and Giles Pilbrow.
Sources: Guardian Australia
Culture
Author Emily St John Mandel on fiction and 'collapsing' reality
Canadian-born novelist Emily St John Mandel discusses her new book Exit Party, which imagines two divergent future Americas, one in civil war and one a surveillance state. She reflects on political polarisation, saying she does not know how society recovers when large parts of the electorate disagree on basic facts. Mandel also discusses her writing process and the success of earlier novels including Station Eleven, which sold 1.5 million copies.
Sources: Guardian Australia
Culture
Couple describes 14 years of open marriage with children
In a personal account, a married couple named Michael, 46, and Selena, 40, describe maintaining an open relationship over 14 years while raising three children under 10. They explain how dating other people helped them manage the demands of parenting, reconnect sexually, and navigate feelings of jealousy through communication and logistics. Both say the arrangement has strengthened their bond and primary relationship.
Sources: Guardian Australia
Weather & Climate
Opinion piece questions overuse of 'unprecedented' in climate reporting
A Guardian column argues that words like 'unprecedented' and 'awesome' are losing their impact through overuse, a process linguists call semantic bleaching. It cites research by Frances Moore at UC Davis showing that repeated exposure to extreme temperatures makes them feel less remarkable, even though negative feelings about them persist, a pattern ecologists link to 'shifting baseline syndrome'. The piece also reframes the boiling frog parable, noting real frogs jump out when water heats, urging similar responsiveness to climate change.
Sources: Guardian Australia
Health
Prostate Cancer Nursing Funds Shift to McGrath Foundation
The federal government is redirecting $46.5 million over five years, funding around 60 specialist nursing positions, from Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia to the McGrath Foundation as part of an all-cancer care model starting next July. PCFA leaders warn the change could mean losing nurses with years of specialist prostate cancer experience, though officials say existing nurses can transition across and funding levels will stay the same. PCFA plans to keep funding an additional 24 nurse positions itself and says it will examine legal and parliamentary options to protect the program.
Sources: ABC News
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