- Thousands Rescued From Notorious Scam Compounds Newser
- Thousands rescued from illegal scam compounds in Myanmar as Thailand launches huge crackdown The Guardian
- China begins repatriation from Thailand of more than 1,000 online scam workers rescued from Myanmar The Hill
- A top Chinese official tours Thai-Myanmar border to highlight crackdown on scam centers The Associated Press
- Japanese boy says he was forced to commit fraud in Myanmar The Japan Times
‘Wilful acts of bastardry’: former Treasury secretary says young Australian workers ‘robbed’ by tax system
Ken Henry made comments at a tax summit in Melbourne, arguing fiscal drag is seeing taxes go up while real incomes fall
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Recent governments have carried out “wilful acts of bastardry” and created intergenerational inequality and environmental destruction that will leave younger voters worse off, the former Treasury secretary Ken Henry has said, urging tweaks to Australia’s tax system to bridge the growing divide.
Henry, who worked under both the Howard and Rudd governments, used a speech at the Per Capita tax summit in Melbourne on Thursday morning to argue the country’s tax settings since the Howard government have fuelled inequality and left further generations and young workers “to pick up the tab”.
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Continue reading...Six elephants dead after being hit by train in Sri Lanka
No injuries were reported among passengers of the train, which derailed after striking the elephants.
Creative Australia says it won’t reinstate artist Khaled Sabsabi for Venice Biennale at tense all-staff meeting
Exclusive: The western Sydney artist was dropped from representing Australia just days after being selected
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The artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino will not be reinstated as Australia’s representatives at the next Venice Biennale despite thousands of artists calling for the decision to be overturned.
The chair of Creative Australia, Robert Morgan, and the organisation’s executive director, Adrian Collette, told an all-staff meeting on Thursday that the decision to withdraw the Venice contract to avoid a potential public outcry would not be revised.
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Continue reading...In Russia, dozens of dissenters are held as psychiatric patients – Reuters
Panama sends 97 U.S. deportees to migrant camp after they refused to be repatriated – NPR
- Panama sends 97 U.S. deportees to migrant camp after they refused to be repatriated NPR
- Migrants Deported to Panama by Trump Administration Taken to Jungle Camp The New York Times
- Police search for woman who escaped Panama hotel where US deportees are being held The Guardian
- India Responds After Illegal Migrants Deported By US Seek "Help" In Panama NDTV
- Migrants in Panama deported from US moved to Darien jungle region Reuters Canada
Trump calls Zelensky a ‘dictator’ as rift between two leaders deepens
The comments come as the latest salvo in a public war of words between the US and Ukrainian leaders.
Fog harvesting could provide water for arid cities
Research in Chile could help to provide drinking water for some of the world's most arid places.
Trump tells BBC that Russia has ‘the cards’ in peace negotiations
Trump told the BBC that he trusted that Moscow wants to see an end to the Ukraine war.
Trump signs executive order targeting ‘benefits for illegal aliens’
US president issues order aimed at preventing taxpayer dollars supporting illegal immigration and another designed to get rid of regulations
Donald Trump has signed an executive order aimed at ending federal benefits for people in the country illegally, his latest in a blizzard of moves to crack down on immigration.
The White House said the order seeks to end “all taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens” but it was not clear which benefits will be targeted. People in the country illegally generally do not qualify except for emergency medical care. Children are entitled to a free K-12 public education regardless of immigration status under a 1982 supreme court ruling.
Continue reading...Europe greenwashing with north Africa’s renewable energy, report says
Greenpeace argues European-backed projects hamper countries’ ability to decarbonise their own economies
European countries are extracting renewable energy from Morocco and Egypt to “greenwash” their own economies, while leaving north Africans reliant on dirty imported fuels and paying the environmental costs, a Greenpeace report says.
Both Morocco and Egypt are aiming to leverage their strategic locations south of the Mediterranean, and their solar and wind power potential, to position themselves as pivotal to Europe’s quest to diversify its energy supply.
Continue reading...Energy network owners have made £3.9bn from higher bills, says report
Citizens Advice believes Ofgem made flawed interest rate calculation for companies in Great Britain
The companies behind Great Britain’s gas pipes and power lines have pocketed a windfall of nearly £4bn from household bills during the energy and cost crisis, according to a report.
The analysis, by Citizens Advice, argued that energy network owners were able to make the “excess profits” over the past four years after the industry regulator misjudged their costs.
Continue reading...All eyes on far-right AfD in German election rocked by violence and US interference
Extremists tipped for second place after shifting debate to immigration and crime and winning endorsements from Musk and Vance
In the tumultuous German election campaign, which has been rocked by jaw-dropping US interference, a spate of violent attacks and rare fears for the country’s political stability, all eyes have been locked on the party most likely to finish second.
When the dust settles after Sunday’s vote and conservative opposition leader Friedrich Merz is – barring further surprises – elected chancellor, the 2025 race will be remembered as the moment the far-right Alternative für Deutschland, consistently polling in second place, went from sideshow to centre stage.
Continue reading...What are sinkholes, how are they formed and why did one appear in a Surrey street?
Failed water main or mineshaft most likely culprits as hole opens up in the village of Godstone
Residents of Godstone in Surrey have been evacuated from their homes amid fears that two large sinkholes in their high street could trigger a gas explosion. Here we look at what causes sinkholes, whether they are becoming more common and what can be done to prevent them.
Continue reading...LNP release of Queensland corruption watchdog report ‘terrifying and petty’, Jackie Trad says
Former deputy premier criticises government’s use of parliamentary privilege to make public previously suppressed CCC report on her conduct
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The former Queensland deputy premier, Jackie Trad, says the new government’s decision to release a previously suppressed Crime and Corruption Commission report into her conduct is “terrifying and petty”.
The CCC investigation report has been the subject of a years-long legal wrangle, and had been blocked from release after a high court ruling in 2023.
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Continue reading...South Korea’s President Yoon in court for preliminary ‘rebellion’ hearing
Lawyers defending Yoon, who stands charged with trying to incite a rebellion, called for his release from custody.
Meta and Google opt out of Sydney Mardi Gras amid move away from DEI in US
Former sponsors walk away from 2025 event – while organisers say they do not meet partnership requirements
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Google and Meta do not meet the requirements to partner with the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the organisation has said, after the two tech giants ended their official involvement and ditched diversity obligations in the US.
At the 47th annual Mardi Gras parade up Oxford Street next Saturday, a notable absence will be the two tech firms, previously event sponsors.
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Continue reading...Five things we learned at the A$AP Rocky trial
There's a lot to unpack from the rapper's trial, including what AWGE means and the impacts to the A$AP Mob
Five things we learned at the A$AP Rocky trial
There's a lot to unpack from the rapper's trial, including what AWGE means and the impacts to the A$AP Mob
British tourist dies trekking with friend in Himalayas
The two British men were hiking in "extremely difficult terrain" when one reportedly fell.