Hurricane Melissa, a rare and powerful Category Five storm, is bearing down on Jamaica, threatening to be the island’s worst hurricane in more than a century. With winds near 280 kilometres an hour and up to a metre of rain forecast, the storm could cause catastrophic flooding. Authorities warn that the entire island is at risk, with Cuba and the Bahamas also in Melissa’s path later this week.

The long-awaited overhaul of Australia’s national environmental law is set to ignite Parliament this week, as the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) faces its first major reform in twenty-six years. This second attempt at a package, featuring an independent EPA and a new National Interest power, has already generated a political firestorm. The Opposition is demanding the bill be split, while the Greens warn the entire package is "riddled with loopholes."

A man and a young woman have been killed in a mine explosion near the outback town of Cobar in far western New South Wales. An investigation is underway into the cause of the underground blast, which has devastated the local community. Political leaders and mining unions say the tragedy highlights the urgent need to strengthen workplace safety in Australia’s mining industry.

Sudan’s civil war has entered a dangerous new phase as the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) seize the army’s last major base in Darfur. The fall of El-Fasher has sparked a humanitarian crisis, with thousands fleeing and aid groups warning of ethnic violence and starvation.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party, otherwise known as the P-K-K, has announced it will withdraw its fighters from Turkiye after a decades-long insurgency. While the move has been welcomed by many, the P-K-K says it now wants to see Turkiye's government act in good faith to protect Kurdish rights and allow the group to enter mainstream politics.

SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves speaks with Elio D'Amato from EnviroInvest about why investors are increasingly optimistic of a US China trade deal ahead of leadership talks, as some global central banks prepare to cut interest rates this week.

Timor-Leste has officially joined ASEAN as its 11th member state – an achievement more than a decade in the making. The moment marks both a diplomatic triumph and a new chapter for the young nation forged from decades of struggle.

The Albanese government has handed Australian artists a major victory by definitively ruling out a controversial exemption that would have allowed tech companies free rein to mine creative work to train AI models. This decision, which was immediately praised as a "critical step in the right direction" by the creative sector, now paves the way for the Copyright and AI Reference Group to convene and determine the next steps for modernising Australia's copyright laws.

The 47th annual ASEAN summit is underway in Malaysia, with talks expected to focus on trade and regional security - with a dash of US President Donald Trump. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is also attending and says his focus for the trip will be Australian jobs and security.

US and EU sanctions on Russia's largest oil companies this week has left refineries in China and India assessing their implications. Some sell refined products to Australia. But will the latest measures be able to capture Russia's shadow fleet that exploit sanction loopholes? Exclusive data shared with SBS has shown vessels transporting Russian crude oil and previously sanctioned by the Federal government still appear in the supply chains of Australian companies.