Teens who use social media two hours daily at higher risk of depressive symptoms, study finds

Teenagers who spend hours glued to social media are likely to experience poorer mental health and a decline in wellbeing, a decade-long study shows, with young girls most at risk.

AAP reports social media has transformed young people’s lives through instant connection but raised concerns about cyberbullying, harmful algorithms and impacts on health, including reduced sleep and fewer offline activities, the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute study published on Friday found.

It comes as a world-first ban for under-16s reaches its six-month mark, with its effectiveness in reducing harm still unclear.

The research found adolescents who used social media for at least two hours a day were at higher risk of experiencing depressive symptoms and poor wellbeing, compared with those who used the platforms less than one hour a day.

Young people aged 12-18 found using heavier amounts of social media was associated with small but increased mental health problems one year later.

The strongest impact on mental health was seen in girls 12–13 years old.

El Niño forms in Pacific as experts say it will likely turbocharge extreme weather

El Niño, the climate phenomenon that supercharges weather around the world, has officially arrived and could intensify to historic levels in the (northern hemisphere) autumn, US officials said on Thursday.

US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (Noaa) forecasters confirmed the formation of El Niño in the warmer than usual Pacific Ocean near the equator, which affects global weather patterns.

Scientists have previously advised that this year’s El Niño could be the strongest of the century. António Guterres, the UN secretary general, described El Niño as an “urgent climate warning”.

There was a 63% chance that the El Niño will get so intense this late (northern hemisphere) autumn and early winter that it “would rank among the largest El Niño events in the historical record going back to 1950”, according to Noaa.

Read more here:

Six Australian music acts inducted into Aria hall of fame

The Aria hall of fame has six new members after the body inducted iconic Australian acts into its anointed halls.

Gurrumul, Jenny Morris, Kate Ceberano, Spiderbait, the Living End, and Vika and Linda Bull were awarded in Sydney on Thursday night.

Aria typically inducts one artist a year to its hall of fame, but elevated six to top-tier status on Thursday night as part of its 40th-anniversary celebrations, AAP reports.

Accepting Gurrumul’s hall of fame nod, Mark Grose, the artist’s former manager and collaborator, thanked the fewer than 10,000 people who speak the native Yolngu language for keeping it alive.

Resignation of Britain’s defence secretary will have ‘no effect’ on Aukus, minister says

Tim Ayres, the minister for innovation, said the resignation of John Healey in the UK, Britain’s defence secretary, will have “no effect” on the Aukus partnership.

He told RN Breakfast this morning:

This is a partnership that has deep support across all three countries’ political systems, within the public service and the defence agencies in all three countries, and indeed with the defence industry, because it’s in the interests of all three countries.

Over the life of this agreement … there will be many ministers for defence for all three countries, many secretaries for war in the United States case, who are there charged with delivering this program.

Twenty-five anti-Isaac Herzog protesters to face joint trial in Sydney

Twenty-five people who were charged after they protested against the visit of the Israeli president will face a six-week joint trial in July next year.

The protesters had their matters heard before Downing centre local court on Thursday after their lawyers made a successful application for the joint hearing, arguing there were common legal issues across the cases.

The acting deputy registrar Soly Najm set down a week-long pre-trial hearing for 8 March 2027, and a six-week long trial beginning 19 July 2027.

Felicity Graham, who was one of nine lawyers to appear on behalf of the protesters, told the court she expected the police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, to be the first witness called.

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NSW police find human remains in search for woman missing since 2018

NSW police have located human remains in a long search for a woman allegedly murdered in 2018.

Officials said officers have been investigating the disappearance of Nadire Sensoy, 71, who vanished from her home in Prospect in December 2018. A coronial inquest into her death began in 2023, but it was suspended after new information came to light.

Later in 2023, police arrested a man, 47, in Wagga Wagga, NSW. He was charged with murder and remains before the courts.

NSW police said this morning they will allege he murdered the woman, who was known to him.

Officials said officers searched a property in Seven Hills in Sydney this week, where they located human remains. They have not yet been formally identified.

Good morning, Nick Visser back on deck to take over the blog reins. Let’s get into it.