- France's political chaos casts long shadow over economic growth CNBC
- France’s government looks on the brink of collapse. What’s next? The Associated Press
- Why is France facing a no-confidence vote and what happens next? The Guardian
- For France’s Le Pen, it’s Barnier now, maybe Macron next POLITICO Europe
- France’s Prime Minister Could Be Forced to Resign This Week. Here’s What Could Happen Next. The New York Times
BBC Verify tracks week of rebel advances in Syria
It’s been one week since rebel forces launched their largest offensive against the Syrian government in years. BBC Verify has been tracking their advances.
Australian Music prize: 80-year-old Kankawa Nagarra wins over Nick Cave and Amyl and the Sniffers
Walmatjarri elder and blues musician wins $50,000 prize for Wirlmarni, saying she hopes it will bring pride to her community in Wangkatjungka
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The Walmatjarri elder and blues musician Kankawa Nagarra has won the $50,000 Australian Music prize (AMP) for her debut album Wirlmarni, seeing off competition from Nick Cave, the Dirty Three and Amyl and the Sniffers.
Inspired by the UK’s Mercury prize, the AMP focuses “entirely on artistic merit” and aims to “financially reward and increase exposure” for Australian musicians who release the best album in a calendar year.
Continue reading...Diddy accused of dangling woman from high balcony in new case
The rapper has denied the allegations - the latest in more than two dozen lawsuits filed against him.
Late Night Razzes Trump Over His Upcoming Visit to Notre-Dame – The New York Times
- Late Night Razzes Trump Over His Upcoming Visit to Notre-Dame The New York Times
- Inside the Dramatic Race to Restore Notre Dame Cathedral The Wall Street Journal
- What caused the Notre Dame fire? The latest as the cathedral reopens. The Washington Post
- Meet the American Artisans Who Helped Resurrect Notre Dame Cathedral ELLE Decor
- Archaeologists Discovered More than 1,000 Artifacts Beneath Notre Dame Cathedral ARTnews
How Ukraine has faced its worst month on the battlefield in two years – visualised
November was Ukraine’s worst month since September 2022 for territory lost to Russian forces. These charts and maps show the latest developments in the war
Ukraine lost an area equivalent to the size of New York City to Russian forces in November – the worst monthly figure for Ukrainian defenders since September 2022.
After the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russia gained ground quickly before being pushed back in a Ukrainian counteroffensive. Last year, with the conflict mostly at a stalemate, Institute for the Study of War (ISW) data shows that Russian forces took 2,233 sq km (862 sq miles) of territory. Already in 2024 they have taken about 2,656 sq km.
Continue reading...California Democrat Adam Gray unseats Republican as last House race decided
Adam Gray wins by fewer than 200 votes, leaving Democrats with 215 House seats and Republicans 220 this election cycle
Democrat Adam Gray captured California’s 13th congressional district on Tuesday, unseating Republican John Duarte in the final US House contest to be decided in the 2024 elections.
Gray’s win in the farm belt seat that cuts through five counties means Republicans won 220 House seats this election cycle, with Democrats holding 215 seats.
Continue reading...Donna Nelson, who claims she was love scam victim, jailed for smuggling drugs into Japan
Donna Nelson sentenced to six years in prison after court finds her guilty of bringing methamphetamine into country
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The jailing of an Australian woman in Japan is “really distressing” for her family, the federal government has acknowledged as it committed to doing all it could to help her.
The Australian federal health minister, Mark Butler, made the promise a day after Donna Nelson was sentenced to six years for smuggling methamphetamine into Tokyo in January 2023, despite her claims she had been the victim of an online romance scam.
Continue reading...Cathay Pacific apologises over inflight Family Guy episode with Tiananmen Square scene
Hong Kong carrier removes episode from entertainment system after social media complaint that it might breach national security laws
Hong Kong’s flagship airline, Cathay Pacific, has apologised over the inclusion of a Family Guy episode in its inflight entertainment system that features a scene depicting Tiananmen Square.
The airline told the South China Morning Post it had apologised to customers after a complaint was raised on social media that the episode might breach Hong Kong’s national security laws.
Continue reading...Labor declines to review three coal proposals for potential climate impact – as it happened
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- Donna Nelson, who claims she was love scam victim, jailed for smuggling drugs into Japan
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More on the new Malaysia-based maritime institute:
The government is contributing $1.78m over four years to support the institute, which will train regional government officials on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, broader maritime law and ocean governance, awareness of maritime domains and environmental protection.
We don’t want to see any unilateral changes to the status quo across the Taiwan straits, and our focus is on doing everything we can in terms of exercising our international voice around promoting stability and peace in and around the Taiwan straits, in and around Taiwan.
Rules and norms are vital for our shared maritime region and the countries of our region make an ongoing contribution to maintaining and promoting them.
The institute will deliver training to officials from across the region on complex maritime legal and policy topics. It will nurture leaders and help further our collective contribution to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
Continue reading...South Korea’s president, Yoon Suk Yeol, facing impeachment after martial law shock
Opposition parties submit motion to impeach Yoon after his shock bid to put South Korea under martial law for first time in over four decades
South Korean opposition parties have formally submitted a motion to impeach the president, Yoon Suk Yeol, over his short-lived declaration of martial law.
Early on Thursday, lawmakers presented to parliament an impeachment motion alleging that Yoon “gravely and extensively violated the constitution and the law” and accuses him of imposing martial law “with the unconstitutional and illegal intent to evade imminent investigations... into alleged illegal acts involving himself and his family”.
Continue reading...Georgians risk serious injury and jail in fresh pro-EU protests
More than 300 people have been arrested and police are accused of using unnecessary force on the streets.
‘Deeply disturbed’: South Koreans react to President Yoon’s martial law order
People in Seoul express anxiety and confusion following the president's now-rescinded martial law order.
‘We’ve seen this before’: residents of rebel-held Aleppo fear regime onslaught
Syria’s second largest city braces for possibility of president Bashar al-Assad revisiting brutal tactics used in civil war
A billboard of the Syrian president that once overlooked a central square in Aleppo has been burned almost beyond recognition, but the influence of Bashar al-Assad is still felt in the now rebel-held city as residents live in fear of bombardment by his regime.
“The biggest fear, one shared by all the people of Aleppo right now, is the airstrikes,” said Mahmoud, a 50-year-old man who declined to share his family name, concerned that Assad could regain control of the city and punish accused critics as he did eight years ago.
Continue reading...China bans exports of key microchip elements to US as trade tensions escalate
Semiconductor restrictions on China announced by Washington a day earlier prompt retaliation involving critical minerals including gallium and germanium
The Chinese government has said it will ban exports to the US of some key components in making semiconductors, escalating trade tensions a day after Washington announced curbs targeting China’s ability to make advanced chips.
Among the materials banned from export were the metals gallium, antimony and germanium, China’s commerce ministry said in a statement that cited “national security” concerns.
Continue reading...Urgent Plastics Treaty Talks Miss Mark as Deadline Looms! – Kawsachun News –
- Urgent Plastics Treaty Talks Miss Mark as Deadline Looms! Kawsachun News -
- Saudi Arabia Leads Pushback Against Global Plastic Treaty The New York Times
- Divided over whether to stop making plastic, U.N. treaty talks collapse The Washington Post
- Plastics Failure Is a Canary in the Climate Coalmine Bloomberg
- Countries fail to reach agreement in UN plastic talks Reuters
Erdoğan’s risky play in Syria – POLITICO Europe
- Erdoğan’s risky play in Syria POLITICO Europe
- Is the battle for Aleppo part of Syria’s war? Al Jazeera English
- A Geopolitical Cauldron Simmers in Syria After Rebel Attacks The New York Times
- What’s happening in Syria? How an old conflict in the Middle East erupted again NBC News
- How the Syrian Opposition Shocked the Assad Regime The New Yorker
Missing woman looking for cat may have fallen into sinkhole, police fear
Family of Elizabeth Pollard, 64, of Marguerite, Pennsylvania, say she has not been seen since Monday
Authorities fear a grandmother who disappeared while looking for her cat may have been swallowed up by a sinkhole that recently opened up in a western Pennsylvania village.
Crews lowered a pole camera with a sensitive listening device into the hole in Marguerite on Tuesday morning but detected nothing. A second camera lowered into the hole showed what could have been a shoe.
Continue reading...Australia splits with US to back UN resolution demanding end to Israel occupation of Palestinian territories
Vote marks a change to the nation’s official stance held for more than two decades
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Australia has split with the US and voted with 156 other countries at the UN to demand the end of Israel’s “unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory as rapidly as possible”.
The vote marks Australia’s return to the position for the first time in more than two decades.
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Continue reading...Three climbers from the US and Canada missing on New Zealand’s highest mountain
Several climbing-related items which police believe belonged to the trio found, as bad weather will likely delay search efforts until Thursday
Rescue teams looking for three climbers who went missing on New Zealand’s highest mountain have expressed “grave concerns” over the party’s welfare in the rugged terrain, as bad weather hampers search efforts for the second day in a row.
US nationals Kurt Blair, 56, and Carlos Romero, 50, and a Canadian man flew by helicopter on Saturday to a camp on Aoraki Mount Cook with plans to summit the 3,724 metre (12,218 ft) mountain.
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