Man Charged After Threatening Australian Minister's Staff With Nunchucks

A man was charged with threatening an Australian state minister's staff with nunchucks, days after another female lawmaker was critically injured in an alleged deliberate car attack, as governments worldwide race to patch critical PHP programming language vulnerabilities that could allow hackers to steal data or compromise servers.

Australian Lawmaker Staff Threatened With Nunchucks

A 56-year-old man entered Western Australian minister Hannah Beazley's electorate office in suburban Perth brandishing nunchucks and making verbal threats. [1] Beazley was not present at the time of the incident. [1] Nunchucks are a weapon used in martial arts consisting of two sticks or rods connected by a rope or chain. [1] Police charged the man following the event on Wednesday. [1] The incident occurred at the minister's office in suburban Perth. [3] Authorities described the actions as threats made against staff. [1]

Second Attack on Female Australian Politician in Days

The nunchucks incident occurred days after another Australian female legislator was critically injured when a man repeatedly hit her with a car. [1] The two incidents are raising concerns about the safety of female politicians and security for lawmakers who are highly accessible to the public in Australia. [1] Police said the events are heightening concerns about female politicians' safety. [3] Lawmakers in the country remain highly accessible to the public. [1] The prior car attack left the other legislator in critical condition. [3]

Global Rush to Patch Critical PHP Vulnerabilities

Governments including the UK, EU, Australia and US, plus companies such as Amazon, are urgently patching PHP flaws discovered with AI assistance that affect an estimated 30 million websites and could let attackers run arbitrary code, steal data or plant backdoors. [5] The UK government is working to identify any potential exposure in its online services. [5] Amazon faced multiple exploitation attempts on its systems before an embargo on the warning was lifted. [5] The UK's National Cyber Security Centre urged all organisations to follow guidance to protect systems and consider taking systems offline if immediate remediation is not feasible. [5] PHP powers platforms including online shops, Wikipedia and WordPress. [5] The flaws allow an attacker to get their own code onto a webserver and run it. [5] Cyber security researcher Ryan Austin discovered the flaw after a hunch aided by AI. [5] The PHP Foundation intended to release details later in the month along with a complete fix. [5] Details leaked on social media on Tuesday. [5] The vulnerabilities went undetected for at least a decade. [5] The US National Security Agency said the vulnerabilities often provide a direct path to the server's file system or database. [5] OpenAI called the discovery one of the most impactful security issues in recent memory. [5]

European Hostages Freed After Captivity in Niger

Two European women hostages, one Swiss and one Austrian, were freed in Niger after more than a year in captivity and taken to Benghazi, Libya. [2] The Swiss woman was released after a year and a half in captivity. [2] The Austrian woman had been a hostage for one year and nine months. [2] They arrived in Benghazi thanks to the intervention of the Deputy Commander-in-Chief Saddam Haftar. [2] In a video, the 69-year-old Swiss woman said she was taken hostage a year and six months ago and thanked Marshal Khalifa Haftar and his son for her release. [2] The Austrian expressed similar thanks. [2] Libyan officials said the women would be handed over to authorities in their respective countries after procedures were completed. [2] Niger is battling a jihadist insurgency linked to al Qaeda and the Islamic State that spun out of a Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali in 2012. [2] Kidnappings have intensified in Niger over the last year. [2]

Athens Blast Linked to Drug Crime Injures Four

Greek police are investigating a drug-linked bomb blast in Athens that injured four people, including two officers, with evidence including an electric detonator, remote control and possible heroin packets. [4] The blast occurred at an apartment building in Kolonos in Athens on Wednesday. [4] The injured included two civilians and two police officers. [4] A sergeant from the Exarchia precinct suffered the most serious wounds to his hand and eye but his life is not in danger. [4] Bomb disposal officers recovered remnants of an electric detonator, batteries, a remote control, low-power explosive material and packets of a narcotic possibly heroin. [4] Homicide investigators are leading the inquiry rather than the counterterrorism unit. [4] Authorities consider it likelier that a criminal left the bag at the entrance for later pickup. [4] The building manager and a resident found the bag and called the police. [4] The sergeant apparently pressed the button while examining the bag. [4]

What to watch next: Organisations will continue applying fixes to PHP systems following the AI-assisted discovery, with agencies warning that threats will become more commonplace as AI technology rapidly improves.