EU’s top diplomat accuses Trump of ‘appeasement’ with Putin – POLITICO Europe

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  1. EU’s top diplomat accuses Trump of ‘appeasement’ with Putin  POLITICO Europe
  2. US relations with Europe will never be the same after Trump’s call with Putin  CNN
  3. European leaders unhappy about U.S. and Russia excluding them from talks on Ukraine  NPR
  4. Trump’s Ukraine call with Putin leaves UK sounding at odds with reality  The Guardian
  5. Trump triggers Western anger over ‘appeasement’ talks with Putin  POLITICO Europe
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Bottom 5 defence spenders in Nato: Trump’s targets – Army Technology

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  1. Bottom 5 defence spenders in Nato: Trump’s targets  Army Technology
  2. Trump’s uphill battle to make NATO allies hit his mega defense spending target  POLITICO Europe
  3. As Trump team makes first NATO visit, Europeans brace for haggling  The Washington Post
  4. NATO must get on ‘wartime mindset,’ military alliance chief urges  Global News Toronto
  5. NATO allies need to spend 'considerably' more to deter Russia: Rutte  Euronews
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Gas explosion at Taiwan food court kills 4 and injures 26 – The Associated Press

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  1. Gas explosion at Taiwan food court kills 4 and injures 26  The Associated Press
  2. At Least 4 Killed in Suspected Gas Explosion at Taiwan Shopping Mall  The New York Times
  3. Suspected gas blast at Taiwan mall kills four, injures 26  Reuters
  4. At Least 4 Dead After Gas Explosion Tears Through Food Court of Busy Shopping Mall: Reports  PEOPLE
  5. Explosion at Taiwan department store kills four  Al Jazeera English
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Sudan says plan for first Russian naval base in Africa will go ahead

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Two countries’ foreign ministers meet in Moscow and agree there are no obstacles to long-delayed plan

A plan for Russia to establish its first naval base in Africa will go ahead, Sudan’s foreign minister has confirmed, after years of delays over the Red Sea military port.

If the agreement is implemented, Russia would join the US and China in the region; they have bases to the south in Djibouti.

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Khaled Sabsabi dropped as Australia’s representative to Venice Biennale

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Amid political pressure, Creative Australia says deselecting the Lebanese-born artist will avoid ‘divisive debate’

Khaled Sabsabi, the western Sydney artist who fled Lebanon’s civil war as a child, has been dropped from representing Australia at the 61st Venice Biennale – just five days after being selected to do so.

Sabsabi selection for the 2026 showcase had caused controversy due to some of the artist’s previous works, including a 2007 depiction of former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was assassinated last year, and a 2006 video rendering of the 9/11 attacks called Thank You Very Much. Shortly after the announcement, Sabsabi admitted to being shocked at being chosen, telling the Guardian: “I felt that, in this time and in this space, this wouldn’t happen because of who I am.”

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Referendum needed for Dutton’s call to toughen citizenship-stripping laws, expert says

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Constitutional law expert Helen Irving says such a change appears to be a distraction from serious nature of anti-Israeli comments from NSW nurses

Peter Dutton’s proposal to toughen citizenship-stripping laws in response to comments made by two New South Wales nurses would probably require a referendum, a constitutional lawyer says.

Both major party leaders have been accused of a “bidding war” on who can look tougher on the issue, with Abul Rizvi, a former senior immigration official, urging politicians not to throw more petrol on the fire amid social tensions.

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NSW Labor accused of trying to ‘redesign’ a mental health system with no psychiatrists

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Patient care compromised by closing beds and shifting workload to less qualified staff, motion claims

The New South Wales Labor government is seeking to “redesign” the state’s mental health system without psychiatrists, despite the risks to patient care, its political rivals claim.

In a NSW legislative council meeting on Wednesday, the shadow assistant minister Susan Carter and the Greens’ health spokesperson, Dr Amanda Cohn, lambasted the Minns government’s handling of psychiatrists’ mass resignations, with Carter accusing the responsible ministers of having “sought to redesign our mental health system to work without specialist psychiatrists”.

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Climate crisis contributing to chocolate market meltdown, research finds

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Scientists say more-frequent hotter temperatures in west African region are part of reason for reduced harvests and price rises

The climate crisis drove weeks of high temperatures in the west African region responsible for about 70% of global cacao production, hitting harvests and probably causing further record chocolate prices, researchers have said.

Farmers in the region have struggled with heat, disease and unusual rainfall in recent years, which have contributed to falling production.

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Trump kept Germany’s Scholz in the dark about his Ukraine peace plan – POLITICO Europe

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  1. Trump kept Germany’s Scholz in the dark about his Ukraine peace plan  POLITICO Europe
  2. Scholz rejects ‘dictated peace’ for Ukraine as Europe reels after Trump-Putin call  FRANCE 24 English
  3. ‘We will soon be next’: German leaders sound alarm on Trump’s Ukraine plan  POLITICO Europe
  4. Can European ‘Boots on the Ground’ Help Protect Ukraine’s Security?  The New York Times
  5. The Global South, Not Europe, Should Play Peacekeeper in Ukraine  Foreign Policy
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