Fraudster trying to sell fake ancient statues to Sotheby’s foiled over bogus invoices

Paperwork supplied by Andrew Crowley, 46, found to be made using printing methods 25 years too modern

A fraudster who tried to sell fake ancient statues to Sotheby’s was foiled when his bogus accompanying paperwork was found to be written with printing methods that were 25 years too modern, a court has heard.

Andrew Crowley, 46, asked the auctioneers to value three Cycladic figures and one Anatolian stargazer statuette that he had inherited from his grandfather, Southwark crown court in London was told on Friday.

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Iran war day 85: Tehran says major gaps remain in US talks – Al Jazeera

  1. Iran war day 85: Tehran says major gaps remain in US talks  Al Jazeera
  2. Iran war live: Tehran sends ‘mixed’ messages as mediators depart Iran  Al Jazeera
  3. Araghchi tells UN chief that US is making ‘repeated excessive demands’  The Times of Israel
  4. Iran says talks not necessarily close to agreement despite Munir's visit  ایران اینترنشنال
  5. Middle East live: Iran in ‘final stage’ of drafting framework for US deal, state media reports  France 24
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Albanese joins coalition of nations calling for an end to Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank

Australia joins the UK, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands and New Zealand in condemning illegal settlements

The Israeli government is undermining stability in the West Bank as settler violence reaches unprecedented levels, a coalition of western countries says, as its leaders call for an end to construction of Israeli settlements it says breach international law.

In a joint statement issued on Friday, Anthony Albanese and the leaders of the UK, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, Norway, the Netherlands and New Zealand said:

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Jacinta Allan launches state-sponsored apprenticeships at Victoria’s Labor conference ahead of election

The premier is offering 2,000 apprenticeships at the revived State Electricity Commission as part of a pre-election push

Jacinta Allan has used Labor’s final state conference before the election to announce a plan for a government-owned electricity body to hire apprentices to address significant workforce shortages and job insecurity.

The Victorian premier announced the plan in a speech that drew on her father’s experience as a linesman at the State Electricity Commission (SEC), which was revived by Daniel Andrews in 2023 after being privatised by former premier Jeff Kennett in the 1990s.

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Stephen Hawking’s father worried his son ‘does not study much’, diaries reveal

Exclusive: New biography uncovers Frank Hawking’s papers in which he lamented that his son had ‘little initiative’

In exploring the physics and geometry of the universe, Stephen Hawking became a world-renowned pioneer of black hole theory, writing the bestselling book A Brief History of Time, which has sold more than 13m copies, and inspiring people to “look up at the stars and not down at your feet”.

But, during Hawking’s student years and as he approached adulthood, his father was deeply concerned about how his son would turn out. Frank Hawking lamented that “he hangs round the house with little initiative and does not study much”, according to previously unknown diaries that he had written partly in code.

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Anthony Albanese visibly emotional after defending Labor’s capital gains tax and negative gearing changes

Prime minister launches impassioned argument in favour of much-maligned reforms announced in last week’s federal budget

A visibly emotional Anthony Albanese has launched an impassioned defence of Labor’s proposed changes to negative gearing, the capital gains tax discount and family trusts, saying he will “not allow Australia to become a country where aspiration is only for some”.

The prime minister has faced sustained criticism to the reforms, which include limiting negative gearing to new-builds while grandfathering existing properties, changing how CGT is calculated and imposing a new 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts.

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Israeli bombardment reduces buildings to craters in southern Lebanon

People killed in strikes across multiple locations after child and six paramedics die in attacks a day earlier

Israel has carried out overnight strikes on Lebanon’s Bekaa valley and the southern province of Tyre, killing at least four people and reducing buildings to craters.

The strikes on southern Lebanon continued on Saturday morning, hitting close to Lebanese army barracks, killing a man on a motorcycle in the town of Nabatieh, and killing and wounding people in the town of Chehabiyeh, where the death toll is not yet known.

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Conference at UN to review nuclear nonproliferation treaty fails to reach agreement – AP News

  1. Conference at UN to review nuclear nonproliferation treaty fails to reach agreement  AP News
  2. Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference fails to reach agreement  Vatican News
  3. Reversal: Democracies Protest Iran’s Election to UN Nuclear Body After UN Watch Pressure  UN Watch
  4. Iran blames US for collapse of UN nuclear talks  Middle East Eye
  5. Disappointment spreads among A-bomb survivors in Japan over NPT confab  Japan Wire by Kyodo News
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Trump Mobile investigating potential exposure of would-be customers’ personal information

Phone company launched by Donald Trump’s family says names and contact details appear to be affected, but not credit card or banking information

A phone company launched by Donald Trump’s family business is investigating a potential security flaw on its website that appears to have exposed the personal details of an estimated 27,000 people who sought to buy a gold-coloured smartphone.

Trump Mobile said in a statement that it was investigating the issue – “with the assistance of independent cybersecurity professionals” in which the full names, addresses and phone numbers of people who filled out preorder forms appeared to be exposed.

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