NSW Labor divided over Chris Minns’ plan to extend controversial youth bail laws

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Exclusive: MLC Stephen Lawrence tells party room government is putting state on ‘slippery slope’ to more punitive approach

The New South Wales premier is facing growing internal dissent over his plan to extend controversial youth bail laws, with one MP telling caucus the laws had put the government on a “slippery slope”.

Sources say Labor MLC Stephen Lawrence – a former barrister and one-time mayor of Dubbo – argued during a February meeting that the government was on a path whereby it could adopt further punitive approaches because the laws introduced a year ago weren’t working.

If crime wasn’t going down there could be calls for even tougher measures, leading to a dangerous downward spiral, Lawrence suggested.

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NSW police say off-duty officers’ shouts of ‘Allahu Akbar boom’ after dispute with Muslim man were ‘banter between friends’

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‘The chanting you heard was not directed at you in any way,’ inspector tells Sydney man who complained about neighbour’s Christmas party in Glenmore Park

A NSW police internal investigation has found that off-duty officers who allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar boom” and “Hezbollah” at a Christmas party after a verbal dispute with a Muslim man who lived next door were indulging in “banter between friends”.

The incident allegedly took place on 13 December at Glenmore Park in western Sydney, after the man complained to his neighbours about water from their swimming pool leaking into his property.

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Tens of thousands attend anti-government protest in Serbia – BBC.com

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  1. Tens of thousands attend anti-government protest in Serbia  BBC.com
  2. Protesters flood Belgrade in one of biggest anti-government rallies  Reuters
  3. Protest Against Serbian Leader Draws 100,000 in Biggest Crowd Yet  The New York Times
  4. Over 100,000 people join protest rally in Belgrade against Serbia's president and government  The Associated Press
  5. Serbians stage huge protest in Belgrade against their president  The Guardian
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Zelensky Accuses Russia of Trying to Trap Ukraine’s Forces Amid Cease-Fire Talks – The New York Times

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  1. Zelensky Accuses Russia of Trying to Trap Ukraine’s Forces Amid Cease-Fire Talks  The New York Times
  2. Russian troops battle last Ukrainian forces in Kursk region  Reuters.com
  3. Zelenskiy Says Russia Planning ‘Encirclement’ in Border Region  Bloomberg
  4. Russia says it has recaptured key Kursk region town, as Trump says peace is ‘up to Russia now’  CNN
  5. Russia Overpowers Bold Ukrainian Military Venture in Kursk  The Wall Street Journal
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Pope remains in stable condition, shows gradual improvements from therapies – Vatican News – English

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  1. Pope remains in stable condition, shows gradual improvements from therapies  Vatican News - English
  2. Hospitalized Pope says ‘facing period of trial’, body ‘weak’  The Times of Israel
  3. Pope says he is facing 'period of trial' as he issues traditional Sunday prayer from hospital  Sky News
  4. Ailing Pope Francis works on signature reform from hospital as he recovers  Al Jazeera English
  5. Pope Francis, showing plans to continue on, starts new process for Catholic reforms  Yahoo
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The big question on Ukraine: is Trump ready to push Putin into peace? | Shaun Walker

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Russian leader’s antagonism to Zelenskyy and lack of interest in a ceasefire leaves colossal task for US

On paper, everyone is in agreement: Donald Trump says he wants a ­ceasefire; Kyiv’s ­negotiating team has already agreed to a 30-day ceasefire ­proposal at marathon talks with the Americans in Jeddah; and Vladimir Putin says he accepts the idea, albeit with a few “nuances”.

But Putin’s so-called nuances are bigger than mere wrinkles, and at the end of an intense week of diplomacy around Russia’s war in Ukraine, a ceasefire – never mind a sustainable peace – still looks to be something of a distant prospect.

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Rocket blasts off to bring stranded US astronauts home from the ISS at long last

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Launched by Nasa and SpaceX, the Falcon 9 is picking up Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore, whose eight days on board the International Space Station became nine months

A long-awaited mission to return stranded US astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore from the International Space Station has been launched by Nasa and SpaceX.

The pair were due to spend eight days on the ISS in June, but technical problems with the experimental spacecraft that took them there have left them stuck on the orbital laboratory for nine months.

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Serbians stage huge protest in Belgrade against their president

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Farmers and bikers join students in climax to movement that Aleksandar Vučić labels an ‘imported revolution’

A vast demonstration has been gathering in Belgrade, marking the climax of more than four months of student-led protests and the biggest challenge to President Aleksandar Vučić in the 11 years of his increasingly autocratic rule.

Vučić stoked tensions in the run-up to yesterday’s mass protest, suggesting there would be an attempt to overthrow him by force and calling it an “imported revolution” with the involvement of western intelligence agencies, but he provided no evidence for the claims. The demonstrations against government corruption and incompetence have so far been overwhelmingly peaceful.

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Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 9, including aid workers and journalists – NPR

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  1. Israeli strikes in Gaza kill 9, including aid workers and journalists  NPR
  2. Israel kills at least nine Palestinians, including journalists, in Gaza  Al Jazeera English
  3. Aid workers killed in Israeli air strike in Gaza, charity tells BBC  BBC.com
  4. Israeli air strike kills nine in Gaza, local ministry says, during ceasefire disputes  Reuters
  5. Israel Keeps Up Attacks in Gaza Despite Truce  The New York Times
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Israeli airstrikes ‘kill nine’ as Hamas restates Gaza ceasefire demands

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Militant group hardening its negotiating position in ceasefire talks amid new violence in territory

The current fragile pause in hostilities in Gaza has come under further threat with Hamas hardening its negotiating positions amid new Israeli airstrikes in the devastated territory.

The first phase of the ceasefire agreement ended two weeks ago but Israel is refusing to implement the scheduled second phase, which is supposed to end with its withdrawal from Gaza, the freedom of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, and a definitive end to the conflict.

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Military planning for Ukraine peace moves to ‘operational phase’, says Starmer – BBC.com

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  1. Military planning for Ukraine peace moves to 'operational phase', says Starmer  BBC.com
  2. Keir Starmer's ad hoc alliance could still struggle to materialise  BBC.com
  3. Trump’s right, Putin can take the hard or easy way on Ukraine. He has to prove he wants peace | David Lammy  The Guardian
  4. Starmer: ‘Sooner or later’ Russia must yield to peace  Voice of America
  5. Ukraine allies plan meeting of military chiefs next week  POLITICO Europe
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