Australian author Craig Silvey pleads guilty to possessing and distributing child exploitation material

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Prosecutors drop two other charges against Jasper Jones author, 43, including allegations he produced child exploitation material

Award‑winning author Craig Silvey has pleaded guilty to possessing and distributing child exploitation material, while a charge that he produced such material has been dropped.

Silvey, 43, was first charged in January after detectives from Western Australia police’s child abuse squad raided his Fremantle home, allegedly catching him communicating online with child exploitation offenders and seizing his electronic devices.

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Taiwan’s president says state visits are ‘basic right’ after trip he says Beijing tried to block – AP News

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  1. Taiwan’s president says state visits are ‘basic right’ after trip he says Beijing tried to block  AP News
  2. Taiwan's 12 remaining diplomatic allies  Reuters
  3. Taiwan's Lai returns from Eswatini trip amid China objection  dw.com
  4. Taiwan’s Lai Defied China to Reach Africa. Now He Must Get Home  Bloomberg.com
  5. Taiwan Outfoxes China in Test of Wills Over Tiny African Country  WSJ
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Australia hikes rates again and warns inflation will stay higher for longer – CNBC

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  1. Australia hikes rates again and warns inflation will stay higher for longer  CNBC
  2. RBA governor’s frank message on the economy is the biggest shock  The Guardian
  3. Australia's central bank set to cool its heels after rapid-fire rate hikes  Reuters
  4. Australia bucks global trend and raises interest rates  Financial Times
  5. RBA Signals Pause After Delivering Third Straight Rate Hike  Bloomberg.com
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Ukraine drone hits luxury skyscraper deep in Moscow, just days ahead of Victory Day parade – Business Insider

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  1. Ukraine drone hits luxury skyscraper deep in Moscow, just days ahead of Victory Day parade  Business Insider
  2. Ukrainian drone hits upmarket Moscow high-rise ahead of Victory Day celebrations  BBC
  3. Drone Hits a Moscow High-Rise Days Before a Major Military Parade  The New York Times
  4. Drone Hits Upscale Moscow Tower as City Readies for Parade  Bloomberg.com
  5. Explosion reported in Moscow, authorities claim drone attack – videos  Українська правда
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NSW police urged Jewish man to drop claim he was subject to antisemitic slurs and death threats, commission told

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Nir Golan was told that there was not much police could do and the case would get thrown out

New South Wales police encouraged a Jewish man to abandon a case against a man who made antisemitic slurs, death threats, and performed Nazi salutes at him in public because the investigation would be “a lot of wasted effort”, the antisemitism royal commission has been told.

Jewish Australian Nir Golan gave evidence on Tuesday, telling commissioner Virginia Bell that police had encouraged him to drop any action because “there’s not much that they could do and the case would ultimately get thrown out”.

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Two volunteers among three dead off NSW coast after rescue boat rolls while trying to help sinking yacht

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‘Hero’ rescuers aged 78 and 62 confirmed dead, while four others made it to shore after yacht broke up

Two marine volunteers who died while attempting a dangerous rescue mission have been remembered for their courage and heroism.

The men were deployed as part of a six-person Marine Rescue New South Wales team after a good Samaritan saw a yacht in distress near the breakwater at south Ballina, in the state’s north, on Monday night.

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Mysterious green rocks in Pyrenees cave hint that prehistoric people were working copper there for 4,000 years – Live Science

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  1. Mysterious green rocks in Pyrenees cave hint that prehistoric people were working copper there for 4,000 years  Live Science
  2. Above 2,000 meters: Cova 338 redefines Pyrenean prehistory  EurekAlert!
  3. Prehistoric mining: Ancient malachite processing found in Spanish highlands  Open Access Government
  4. Prehistoric child’s finger bone, bear tooth pendant, and more discovered in Spanish cave  Popular Science
  5. Ancient Copper Mining Camp Unearthed in the Pyrenees  Discovery Alert
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Next Scottish government faces ‘really difficult’ spending choices, economists say

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Parties accused of ‘fiscal denial’ and failing to tell voters the scale of the challenge

The next Scottish government will need to make “really difficult” spending decisions soon after taking power, including tackling its large public sector pay bill, senior economists have said.

Economists with the Fraser of Allander Institute, at the University of Strathclyde, believe the manifestos published by Scotland’s political parties during the campaign failed to tell voters about the true scale of the challenge.

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Merz’s strategy for dealing with Trump’s anger: Tell him he’s right – politico.eu

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  1. Merz’s strategy for dealing with Trump’s anger: Tell him he’s right  politico.eu
  2. Why Friedrich Merz decided to risk Donald Trump’s wrath | Jörg Lau  The Guardian
  3. Friedrich Merz’s ill-timed tussle with Donald Trump  The Economist
  4. Merz 'not giving up' on Germany's relationship with US  dw.com
  5. Trump’s war of words with Friedrich Merz takes toll on US-German relationship  The Hill
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