A passing remark at a government health review meeting led Dipti Raut to tribal villages in Maharashtra's Nandurbar district. There, umbilical cords were being cut with blades fashioned from bamboo, with shaving blades and, in some cases, with arrowheads. Raut is Resident Editor of Divya Marathi, the Marathi edition of Dainik Bhaskar. She spent months travelling to remote villages for the story, meeting traditional male midwives and women who had given birth without trained health workers. The investigation won first prize at The Statesman Award for Rural Reporting 2025. The midwives she met had been conducting deliveries in villages where access to healthcare remained limited. "They showed me how bamboo was fashioned into a blade to cut the umbilical cord," she recalls. "As a mother, as a woman, I found it very painful. As a journalist, I felt that my story does not end here," she says. Raut set out to find women who had given birth this way. One woman s

Veteran TV newsman Hugh Riminton has retired from nightly news, with Channel Ten airing a special tribute to its long-time reporter and anchor on Friday night. Riminton humbly called the segment an “overly indulgent use of eight minutes of prime time news” before going on to say his farewell on LinkedIn. “I have retired from daily news,” Riminton wrote. “My human heart is deeply touched by this on-air suprise farewell at TEN News Sydney. Thank you everyone. Thank you anyone who has ever watched any of my reports over nearly 50 years. Every part of that connection has been a privilege. But now, I'm tending tomatoes.” He also posted a farewell on X. “Yup, I’m done. My reporting career has gone from telegrams to the age of AI. It will only pace up from here, but that’s for the next generation. And they’re committed and bright. Good luck. Farewell.” The Sydney Morning Herald’s Peter FitzSimons asked Rimi

Coalition vows to slash migration as One Nation surges Opposition Leader Angus Taylor is set to unveil a plan to cut net overseas migration to about 100,000, tighten visa rules and link future intake levels to housing supply—positioning the Coalition as tougher than Labor while trying to blunt One Nation’s momentum. The move goes to the heart of the cost-of-living and housing debate, and will sharpen political lines on workforce needs, population growth and social cohesion. Covered by: Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Australian Financial Review. Sam Wood domestic violence charges rock celebrity fitness empire Reality TV figure and fitness entrepreneur Sam Wood has been remanded in custody on domestic violence charges, with multiple outlets highlighting a resurfaced video in which he joked about strangling his wife before his arrest. Beyond the court case, the story has become a wider test of brand accountability and the commercial fallout for influencer-led businesses b

Continue? co-founder Mark Serrels was nervous when he went to pick up the first copies of the video game magazine he launched with Jackson Ryan. Once he had it in his hands, the nerves faded. “It’s exactly what I wanted,” Serrels told Influencing. “I’m stoked with how it’s all turned out.”  Serrels later said it was a dream realised when he got his hands on the magazine, while Ryan shared that he couldn’t wipe the smile off his face when Serrels first brought him the printed copies.  “It was just really cool to finally see it in the flesh… I'm stoked and proud of us.” As Influencing has previously reported, Serrels and Ryan launched the Kickstarter-funded magazine in March in an attempt to "designate a new place for video game writing, criticism and discussion and to bring the video game community together." The pair had aimed for a launch to coincide with Melbourne International Games Week and PAX Australia, which takes place this week. Continue? will

The ABC's Media Watch last night examined claims surrounding the case of missing South Australian four-year-old Gus Lamont. In a segment titled "Eagle theory", host Linton Besser looked at several reports that theorised a wedge-tailed eagle could have taken the child. The segment opened on the 12-month anniversary of Gus' disappearance, recapping events since, including police raising the possibility he had died, and the appeal for information from South Australia Police and his parents. Besser noted that two instances of AI-generated content had fuelled misinformation around the case.  He then traced the eagle theory's coverage, beginning with UK masthead The Sun on 23 September, followed by fellow UK outlet The Independent the next day. "The British press were only following our own," Besser said, citing a News.com.au article reporting that bird nests on the Lamont property were to be searched for the child's body. But as Besser pointe

The Karnataka Union of Working Journalists (KUWJ - R) has strongly condemned the alleged attack on journalists who had gone to cover a protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi and the alleged sexual harassment of a woman journalist by a police officer. The union expressed outrage over the assault on journalists covering the protest and the inappropriate behaviour towards the woman journalist. It said such incidents occurring while journalists are performing their professional duties are a matter of concern. KUWJ state president Shivanand Tagadur has demanded appropriate legal action against those who assaulted the journalists and harassed the woman journalist. He also called for a safe environment for journalists to perform their professional duties.