Taiwan leader visits Eswatini despite China’s attempts to block trip – Al Jazeera

  1. Taiwan leader visits Eswatini despite China’s attempts to block trip  Al Jazeera
  2. Taiwan Outfoxes China in Test of Wills Over Tiny African Country  WSJ
  3. Taiwan's Lai lands in Eswatini in a trip delayed by lack of overflight clearance  NPR
  4. Taiwan's 12 remaining diplomatic allies  Reuters
  5. Taiwan president defiant on visit to Eswatini; China calls him a 'rat'  NBC News
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Australia news live: dozens paddle out in Sydney and Newcastle in solidarity with Gaza Flotilla; PM commits another $1.8bn to urgent care clinics

Parents of Australian who was detained by IDF call for stronger government response. Follow updates live

Canavan defends Coalition decision to preference One Nation ahead of independent in Farrer: ‘Socialists and communists always go last’

Matt Canavan said he understood why voters in Farrer, set for a byelection next Saturday, were disillusioned with the federal opposition.

I‘ve been down there for 20 days, 15 nights – and 10 of those I’ve been in a swag – over the past month.

I’m doing everything I can to fight for them. I’d love to fight for that great part of our country again, it’s a wonderful part of our nation where we pioneered the use of irrigation and dams. It still produces 40% of our food, 60% of our fruit.

Under my leadership, [in] my view, socialists and communists always go last.

I think we need to really see how the overseas conflict evolves, how prices evolve for oil. But I think, you know, it is doing what it was intended to do. It’s not a silver bullet, but it is providing material support for people. And as I said, it’s providing support for people who are really doing it tough when they can’t shift away from using petrol.

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Polanski takes combative approach as Greens enter media spotlight

From legitimate scrutiny to lurid scare stories, the Green party’s rise has brought a sudden spike in attention

It is the lot of smaller parties that grow rapidly that they tend to endure something of a trial by the media in the UK. The attention from some of the newspapers and broadcasters to the Green party before this week’s elections has occasionally borne an unlikely resemblance to the height of Clegg-mania in the spring of 2010, when the Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, was rewarded for his positive polling with the unlikely Daily Mail headline “Clegg in Nazi slur on Britain”.

All manner of colourful tales have emerged about Green policies and personnel as the party has risen up the national opinion polls, making them something of a target for news editors and reporters. That attention has ranged from legitimate questions over the views of members to more eccentric warnings of a dire future for everyone in Britain from exotic animals to members of the clergy.

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US approves $8.6bn in arms sales to Middle East allies – Al Jazeera

  1. US approves $8.6bn in arms sales to Middle East allies  Al Jazeera
  2. Israel Acquiring Low-cost Systems From U.S. to Intercept Drones  Haaretz
  3. Trump administration fast-tracks $8.6bn in arms sales to Middle East allies  Financial Times
  4. US Approves Nearly $9 Billion in Weapons Sales to Mideast States  Bloomberg.com
  5. U.S. Fast-Tracks Arms Deals Valued at $8.6 Billion to Mideast Partners  The New York Times
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Nato meetings with TV and film-makers prompt claims it is seeking ‘propaganda’

Exclusive: Two ‘intimate conversations’ held with writers, directors and producers, with a third due in June

Nato is holding closed-door meetings with film and TV screenwriters, directors and producers across Europe and the US, the Guardian can reveal, prompting accusations the alliance is seeking to use the arts to generate “propaganda” for the bloc.

The alliance has held three meetings with film and TV professionals in Los Angeles, Brussels and Paris and is due to continue its “series of intimate conservations” next month in London, meeting with screenwriter members of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB), which represents professional writers in the UK.

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Trump says US navy will ‘guide’ trapped ships from strait of Hormuz amid ‘very positive’ talks with Iran

US president’s post follows flurry of mixed signals including concern Tehran had not ‘paid big enough price’

Donald Trump has announced that the US will “guide” ships trapped by the Iran war out of the Gulf through the strait of Hormuz on Monday morning, and claimed his representatives were having “very positive” discussions with Iran.

Trump wrote on his social media site that the operation, called “Project Freedom”, would be a humanitarian gesture “on behalf of the United States, Middle Eastern Countries but, in particular, the Country of Iran”.

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Barnaby Joyce blames campaign ‘pressure’ after One Nation Farrer candidate contradicts party on immigration

David Farley says net overseas migration of 306,000 ‘probably not’ too much despite party policy to cap migrants at 130,000 per year

Barnaby Joyce has blamed “the pressure of a campaign” for One Nation’s Farrer candidate contradicting party policy on immigration and appearing to endorse Labor’s current intake.

The One Nation MP also claimed voters won’t worry about Gina Rinehart’s million-dollar donation of a private plane to Pauline Hanson’s party, claiming journalists were more interested than ordinary people in the lucrative gift from Rinehart’s company.

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Jefferson Lewis charged with murder over death of Kumanjayi Little Baby near Alice Springs

Warlpiri girl went missing on Saturday 25 April from a town camp and was found dead five days later

  • Warning: This article contains references to Indigenous Australians who have died

Northern Territory police have charged Jefferson Lewis with murder over the death of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby.

The Warlpiri girl went missing on Saturday 25 April from her bed in a town camp near Alice Springs.

Indigenous Australians can call 13YARN on 13 92 76 for information and crisis support; or call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Mensline on 1300 789 978

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