Author Archives: Admin

Battle lines redrawn in Spain’s snap election after latest train disaster

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Next month’s poll no longer the contest it was, as Pedro Sánchez finds himself forced to defend government’s safety record

One of the most dependable cliches of contemporary Spanish politics is that it never pays to bet against Pedro Sánchez. Time and time again – as leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) and as prime minister – Sánchez has shown an almost preternatural ability to profit from adversity, and to confound expectations and wrongfoot his opponents.

But next month’s snap general election, called by Sánchez after rightwing and far-right parties voted down the housing reforms his coalition government had announced in response to angry protests, may suddenly not be the contest it once was.

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Former Sydney childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith hit with 202 more abuse charges

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NSW police say charges include child rape and relate to 23 alleged victims aged between one and five at a Sydney childcare centre

One of Australia’s most notorious paedophiles is facing hundreds more child abuse charges, including for the alleged rape of children as young as one.

Days after being extradited from Queensland to New South Wales, Ashley Paul Griffith was hit with 202 charges dating from between 2014 and 2017, with police labelling the allegations “deeply disturbing”.

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Netanyahu alleges stolen election as he seeks political survival amid uncertainty – The Washington Post

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  1. Netanyahu alleges stolen election as he seeks political survival amid uncertainty  The Washington Post
  2. Netanyahu's party claims Israeli election 'stolen' as results show him losing majority  PBS
  3. Israel faces weeks of coalition haggling as Netanyahu’s party claims election 'stolen'  CNBC
  4. After losing his majority, Netanyahu tries to delegitimize election results  Axios
  5. Netanyahu's chief of staff provided intel. leading to arrests in Ra'am vote bribery case - report  The Jerusalem Post
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Sudanese diaspora and human rights groups denounce UAE nominee for UN top job

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Critics cite Lana Nusseibeh’s denial of accusations the UAE is fuelling Sudan war by supporting paramilitary RSF

Members of the Sudanese diaspora and international human rights monitors have denounced the candidature of an Emirati diplomat for the top job at the UN, citing her denial of accusations that the United Arab Emirates is fuelling the war in Sudan by supporting the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.

The UAE nominated Lana Nusseibeh last week to replace the UN secretary general, António Guterres, as he finishes his second five-year term ⁠this year, upending a race that had become gridlocked.

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China Elevates Key Figure in Purges With Rare Politburo Pick – Bloomberg.com

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  1. China Elevates Key Figure in Purges With Rare Politburo Pick  Bloomberg.com
  2. China expels a record number from Communist party amid Xi’s intensified purges of top officials  The Guardian
  3. China’s Xi Demands More Loyalty as Purges Trim Party Elite  WSJ
  4. Xi Jinping elevates general who led purge of China’s military  Financial Times
  5. It can be lonely at the top. And that’s just how China’s leader likes it  CNN
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Feral deer will become Australia’s next feral pig problem without prompt action, report warns

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The invasive species has increased in spread and numbers and is costing farmers millions of dollars

An unpublished government report on feral deer shows Australia is failing in its efforts to stop the spread of what one advocate warns could become “Australia’s next feral pig”.

The five years from 2020-2025 over which the national feral deer action plan was assessed covers a period in which the famously elusive species has increasingly encroached upon major cities, leading to more frequent encounters – including a memorable occasion in which two men in various degrees of undress were fined after becoming lost in the bush when they were spooked by deer while nude sunbathing.

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Record number of purges as Xi emphasises ‘party discipline’ at China political gathering – BBC

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  1. Record number of purges as Xi emphasises 'party discipline' at China political gathering  BBC
  2. China Confirms Expulsion of 33 Officials, as Xi’s Purge Deepens  The New York Times
  3. It can be lonely at the top. And that’s just how China’s leader likes it  CNN
  4. After purges, China’s Central Committee praises the party’s ‘rigorous self-governance’  The Christian Science Monitor
  5. Xi Jinping elevates general who led purge of China’s military  Financial Times
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China expels a record number from Communist party amid Xi’s intensified purges of top officials

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The unprecedented number of empty seats at the fifth plenum – a symbol of expulsions – serve as a symbol for the scale of the purges under Xi Jinping

China expelled a record number of officials from the Chinese Communist party (CCP) as it concluded a major political gathering, which saw an unprecedented number of empty seats indicating the scale of the purges under Xi Jinping.

A record 33 members were expelled at this week’s fifth plenum, a gathering of top officials that takes place roughly once a year.

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Sam Wood to remain in custody after another failed bail bid over domestic violence charges

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Former Bachelor star and wellness influencer stands accused of choking and assaulting wife at Noosa in Queensland



Former Bachelor star Sam Wood will remain in custody while he awaits trial on domestic violence charges, after he was refused bail for a second time.

Wood, 46, from Melbourne, has been held in custody since his arrest on 4 October at Noosa.

On Friday supreme court justice Patrick McCafferty said Wood posed “an unacceptable risk” of further offending, meaning he will remain in the high-security Wolston correctional centre until his trial, which the court heard might not take place until 2028.

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