Brisbane Olympics infrastructure body urges LNP to fast-track controversial venues with special laws

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Save Victoria Park says it has briefed barristers and could launch a legal challenge to protect the site

The infrastructure authority for the 2032 Brisbane Olympic Games is pushing the Queensland government to suspend normal procurement rules and consider special planning laws to fast-track the approval and construction of controversial new venues.

The Queensland government announced its venues plan for the Olympics on Tuesday, including plans to build a new stadium in the heritage-listed Victoria Park, Brisbane’s largest inner-city parkland.

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Service Members Admit: Yep, We Swiped Paddington – Newser

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  1. Service Members Admit: Yep, We Swiped Paddington  Newser
  2. Vandals of Paddington Statue Were ‘Antithesis’ of Beloved Bear, Judge Says  The New York Times
  3. Paddington Bear statue: RAF engineers admit damage  BBC.com
  4. Judge accuses RAF pair of ‘wanton vandalism’ for destroying Paddington Bear statue | Children  The Guardian
  5. How Paddington took over the justice system  The Spectator
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More than 3m Britons to lose out from benefits cuts

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Families forecast to lose an average of £1,720 a year, according to official government analysis

More than 3 million people will lose out as a result of the government’s sweeping cuts to welfare, according to the official government analysis, with families losing an average of £1,720 a year.

The official assessment of the impact of the benefits cuts – including a sharper-than-expected cut to universal credit payments – shows those eligible for disability payments will be hit the hardest.

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Sweden to increase defence spending sharply to 3.5% of GDP – Financial Times

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  1. Sweden to increase defence spending sharply to 3.5% of GDP  Financial Times
  2. Sweden plans largest military buildup since the Cold War amid Russia threat and uncertain US-EU ties  The Associated Press
  3. Sweden targets $30B increase in defense spending, to hit 3.5% of GDP by 2030  Breaking Defense
  4. Sweden Raises Defense Spending Target to 3.5% of GDP by 2030  Bloomberg
  5. Sweden to boost defence spending $30 bn over a decade  Herald Palladium
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Russian strikes show Moscow does not want ‘real peace’, says Zelenskyy

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Ukraine’s president says drone attacks just hours after ceasefire talks were ‘a clear signal to the whole world’

Ukraine’s president has accused Russia of being insincere about making peace as he reported an attack by 117 drones, before he headed to Paris for a discussion with EU and Nato leaders about establishing a post-conflict security force.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that launching nationwide strikes after negotiations over maritime and energy ceasefires was proof of Russia’s true intentions, though the Kremlin insisted the US-brokered talks were proceeding constructively.

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People doing intense exercise experience time warp, study finds

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Research suggests those who push themselves when working out perceive time to move more slowly

If your sessions at the gym seem to drag on for hours, you are in good company. People who push themselves when working out report a form of time warp, making it feel as if they have been exercising for longer than they have, researchers say.

Adults who took part in 4km cycling trials on exercise bikes perceived time to have slowed down, scientists said, with the cyclists underestimating how long they had been pedalling for by about 10%.

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Trump officials pause some green card applications in immigration crackdown

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Approved refugees reportedly affected by freeze on processing after Trump demands more aggressive vetting

The Trump administration has paused the processing of certain green card applications as the US government continues to implement a hardline immigration agenda.

CBS News reported that approved refugees are part of the processing freeze, as the White House enacts an effort to more aggressively vet immigrants to the US.

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Newly shared Signal messages show Trump advisers discussed Yemen attack plans

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The Atlantic releases more text from chat after Trump officials claimed none of it was ‘classified information’

The Atlantic magazine has published fresh messages from a group chat including top US officials where they discuss operational details of plans to bomb Yemen.

The initial revelations by the magazine and its editor, Jeffrey Goldberg, who was accidentally added to the chat on the messaging app Signal, have sparked a huge outcry in the US, with the Trump administration facing withering attacks over the disastrous leak of sensitive information.

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Europe wants to pour billions of dollars into its own defense companies — but market watchers say it may not be able to shut American firms out – CNBC

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  1. Europe wants to pour billions of dollars into its own defense companies — but market watchers say it may not be able to shut American firms out  CNBC
  2. Europe Talks Tough on Military Spending, but Unity Is Fracturing  The New York Times
  3. Southern Europe rebuffs von der Leyen’s debt-based defense plan  POLITICO Europe
  4. EU not ready for Eurobonds to boost defence spending, says Commissioner Kubilius  Euronews
  5. 'War economy:' Is the European 'peace project' at risk?  DW (English)
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Iowa law banning books including 1984 and Ulysses blocked by US federal judge

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Judge rules that law banning school libraries and classrooms from carrying books depicting sex acts had been applied unconstitutionally

A lawsuit brought by publishers and authors including John Green and Jodi Picoult has led to a portion of a law banning Iowa school libraries and classrooms from carrying books depicting sex acts being halted.

On Tuesday, a federal judge temporarily blocked the measure, writing that it had been applied unconstitutionally in many schools and that books of “undeniable political, artistic, literary, and/or scientific value” had been caught up in it, including Ulysses by James Joyce, Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, Beloved by Toni Morrison and The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.

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Woman tells court Gérard Depardieu groped her buttocks and breasts on set

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Film assistant says actor groped her several times in three incidents while filming Les Volets Verts

The French actor Gérard Depardieu sexually assaulted an assistant director on three occasions while she was working with him on a film shoot, placing his hands on her buttocks and breasts, leaving her feeling “petrified”, the woman told Paris’s criminal court on Wednesday.

Depardieu – the biggest French cinema star to face trial for sexual assault since the #MeToo movement – is charged with sexually assaulting the assistant director three times during the shooting of the feature film Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters) in Paris in 2021.

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Israel embraces France’s far-right, turning a blind eye to its Nazi past – CNN

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  1. Israel embraces France’s far-right, turning a blind eye to its Nazi past  CNN
  2. How Antisemites Got Invited to an Antisemitism Conference  Haaretz
  3. Israel's antisemitism strategy: Picking political allies over Diaspora Jews - opinion  The Jerusalem Post
  4. Israel’s antisemitism confab to start amid controversy over far-right invitees  The Times of Israel
  5. Israel's antisemitism conference kicks off amid criticism  DW (English)
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Hegseth Addresses Indo-Pacom Partnerships During First Trip to Region – Department of Defense

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  1. Hegseth Addresses Indo-Pacom Partnerships During First Trip to Region  Department of Defense
  2. Tokyo frets about durability of US alliance ahead of visit by Pete Hegseth  Financial Times
  3. Hegseth to fly to the Philippines and Japan in first visit to Asian treaty allies at odds with China  The Associated Press
  4. China Sends Ominous Warning to US Ally: 'Playing With Fire'  Newsweek
  5. Hegseth’s Asia Tour Won’t Fix US Credibility Crisis  Bloomberg
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Former Citibank exec settles maternity discrimination case for £215,000

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Maeve Bradley, who worked for Citibank in Belfast, lost out on expected promotion after having a baby

A former Citibank employee has received £215,000 in a discrimination settlement after she lost out on an expected promotion when she returned from having a baby.

Maeve Bradley, who had worked at the American bank’s offices in Belfast as an assistant vice-president of derivatives since March 2021, took maternity leave in 2023 and said she was devastated to be offered a different role on her return.

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NATO leader warns Russia to expect a ‘devastating’ reaction if it ever attacks Poland – ABC News

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  1. NATO leader warns Russia to expect a 'devastating' reaction if it ever attacks Poland  ABC News
  2. 'This is not the time to go it alone,' NATO's Rutte tells US and Europe  Reuters
  3. NATO to Putin: Attack Poland and our response will be ‘devastating’  POLITICO Europe
  4. NATO chief appeals for unity as Europe builds its armies and the US eyes security threats elsewhere  The Associated Press
  5. NATO leader warns Putin against attacking Poland, says retaliation would be 'devastating'  Fox News
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California Uber and Lyft drivers push for settlement in wage theft claims

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Ride-share drivers held demonstrations from San Francisco to San Diego amid ongoing negotiations affecting 250,000

Ride-share drivers in Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego held demonstrations in front of city hall buildings on Wednesday as California state attorney General Rob Bonta, city attorneys and attorneys representing ride-share drivers continue negotiations next week with Uber and Lyft to settle thousands of claims of wage theft for drivers.

At least 250,000 individual ride-share drivers in California who drove for the apps between 2016 and 2020 are estimated to be eligible for the settlement for wage theft claims of tens of billions of dollars, according to Rideshare Drivers United in California.

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Proposal to automatically give babies mother’s surname ignites row in Italy

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Politician says idea would be ‘compensation for centuries-old injustice’ of children being assigned father’s name

An Italian politician has proposed a law that would make it automatic for babies to be assigned their mother’s surname at birth, a step that would mark a rupture with a centuries-old tradition and has sparked a fiery debate.

Dario Franceschini, a former culture minister from the centre-left Democratic party, argues that such legislation would “right a historic wrong”.

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