Cyclone Alfred update: NSW and Queensland prepare for flooding as authorities urge ‘do not underestimate this storm’

Posted on by

BoM warns of hazards from ‘erratic’ storm and forecasts show it slowed again and downgraded to a category one storm when it makes landfall between Friday and Saturday morning

Millions of people in Queensland have hunkered down while residents in parts of northern New South Wales have been ordered to evacuate as Australia’s east coast prepares for wild weather brought by Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

The slow-moving storm is now expected to make landfall in Queensland late on Friday or on Saturday morning, later than was forecast earlier in the week, after the category two system “spun around on itself” and briefly stalled overnight on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

Voice referendum normalised racism towards Indigenous Australians, report finds

Posted on by

Complaints detailing distressing incidents of racism reveal 2023 referendum one of Australia’s ‘darker moments’, author says

Warning: this article contains distressing descriptions of racism

A report examining racism towards Indigenous Australians found one fifth of all complaints contained reference to the failed voice to parliament referendum, in what authors say was one of the nation’s “darker moments”.

The report, titled If You Don’t Think Racism Exists Come Take a Walk With Us, was released on Thursday. Undertaken by the University of Technology Sydney’s Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research and the National Justice Project, it is the second annual report about racism targeting First Nations people and is based on 453 validated reports of racism made to the Call it Out register in the 12 months to 20 March 2024.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Europe’s leaders to hold Ukraine talks at ‘turning point in history’ – BBC.com

Posted on by
  1. Europe's leaders to hold Ukraine talks at 'turning point in history'  BBC.com
  2. Europe can’t ‘live off dividends of peace’, Macron says in speech calling for major rearmament  FRANCE 24 English
  3. French economy minister floats taxing the rich to fund military buildup  POLITICO Europe
  4. French fiscal woes crimp Macron's defence spending plans  Reuters
  5. France Eyes Taxes on Rich, Not Companies, to Help Fund Defense  Bloomberg
Posted in Uncategorized

Firing squad could become Idaho’s main execution method if governor signs bill

Posted on by

State senate passes bill as its sponsor suggests shooting someone is more effective and humane than other methods

Firing squads could become Idaho’s primary execution method under a bill headed to the governor’s desk this week.

The Idaho senate passed the bill on Wednesday, and if signed by governor Brad Little, it will take effect next year.

Continue reading...

Scientists raise concerns as the US stops sharing air quality data from embassies worldwide – The Associated Press

Posted on by
  1. Scientists raise concerns as the US stops sharing air quality data from embassies worldwide  The Associated Press
  2. U.S. embassies end air pollution monitoring that spurred China and others to action  NBC News
  3. Trump shuts down worldwide air quality monitoring program  The Independent
  4. 'Big blow' for pollution research as US stops sharing air quality data from embassies worldwide  Euronews
  5. State Department halts global monitoring of air pollution  The Washington Post
Posted in Uncategorized

Why JD Vance offends us He exposes British fragility – UnHerd

Posted on by
  1. Why JD Vance offends us He exposes British fragility  UnHerd
  2. JD Vance Ignites Outrage in UK With ‘Random Country’ Comment  The New York Times
  3. Starmer praises sacrifice of British troops in Afghanistan and Iraq in oblique rebuke to Vance  ABC News
  4. French defense minister responds to JD Vance comments on post-conflict peacekeeping force in Ukraine  Yahoo
  5. Trump Ally Turns on JD Vance Over Ukraine Remarks: 'Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!'  Newsweek
Posted in Uncategorized

River campaigners to sue Ofwat over water bill rises

Posted on by

Group claims regulator signed off on ‘broken system’ making customers pay for industry’s neglect

An environmental group is to take legal action against Ofwat, the water regulator, accusing it of unlawfully making customers pay for decades of neglect by the water industry.

River Action will file the legal claim this month, arguing that bill rises for customers that have been approved by the regulator could be used to fix infrastructure failures that should have been addressed years ago.

Continue reading...

Town hall leaders condemn ‘ill-thought-out’ plan to merge English councils

Posted on by

Survey reveals senior officials think changes will do little to address local authorities’ dire financial crisis

Ministers’ plans to shake up the structure of English local government by merging councils are “ill-thought-out”, “insane” and a “bizarre diversion” that will fail to deliver savings, according to a survey of town hall leaders.

The depth of unhappiness with the plans is revealed in an annual poll of senior councillors and executives, most of whom said the changes would be costly, time-consuming and do little to address the dire financial crisis facing councils.

Continue reading...

Trump posts fresh ultimatum to Hamas as US enters direct talks with group

Posted on by

US president tells group to ‘release all of the Hostages now ... or it is OVER for you’ as White House enters negotiations

Donald Trump has posted a fresh ultimatum to Hamas, telling the group to “release all of the Hostages now, not later, and immediately return all of the dead bodies of the people you murdered, or it is OVER for you”.

“‘Shalom Hamas’ means Hello and Goodbye,” he wrote in a social media post on Wednesday, in an apparent reference to the beginning of direct talks with the group.

Continue reading...

Hundreds of US diplomats decry dismantling of USAid in letter to Rubio

Posted on by

Officials say slashing of US Department for International Development leaves power vacuum for adversaries

Hundreds of diplomats at the state department and US Agency for International Development have written to the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, protesting against the dismantling of USAid, saying it undermines US leadership and security and leaves power vacuums for China and Russia to fill.

In a cable expected to be filed with the department’s internal “dissent channel”, which allows diplomats to raise concerns about policy anonymously, the diplomats said the Trump administration’s 20 January freeze on almost all foreign aid also endangers American diplomats and forces overseas while putting at risk the lives of millions abroad that depend on US assistance.

Continue reading...

Pentagon official condemned over tweet about Jewish victim lynched by Georgia mob

Posted on by

Kingsley Wilson cast doubt on circumstances of death of Leo Frank, in echo of white supremacist talking point

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has condemned a past social media post by the Pentagon spokesperson Kingsley Wilson that disputed the innocence of Leo Frank, a Jewish businessman whom most historians agree was wrongfully convicted of killing a 13-year-old factory worker and lynched in 1915 during a wave of antisemitism in the US.

“Leo Frank raped & murdered a 13-year-old girl. He also tried to frame a Black man for his crime,” Wilson wrote on X in response to an August 2024 tweet by the ADL marking the 109th anniversary of Frank’s lynching. “The ADL turned off the comments because they want to gaslight you.”

Continue reading...