How do Pakistan and Taliban Afghan militaries stack up as clashes escalate? – Reuters

  1. How do Pakistan and Taliban Afghan militaries stack up as clashes escalate?  Reuters
  2. Pakistan says it's ready for talks with Afghanistan, Kabul residents recall airstrike shock  Reuters
  3. The Man Behind Pakistan's Deadly New Enemy, Afghanistan  NDTV
  4. Border clashes erupt between Pakistan and Afghanistan—again  The Economist
  5. Afghanistan’s Taliban government blames Pakistan for twin drone strikes on Kabul  AP News
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Inside Ukraine’s drone campaign to blitz Russia’s energy industry – Reuters

  1. Inside Ukraine's drone campaign to blitz Russia’s energy industry  Reuters
  2. Ukraine Claims Russia Refinery Strike as Pressure on Putin Grows  Bloomberg.com
  3. BBC Verify Live: Assessing Russian fuel shortages, and video shows Gaza executions  BBC
  4. To Inflict Pain on Russians, Ukraine’s Drones Zero In on Oil Refineries  The New York Times
  5. How successful is Ukraine’s ‘gas war’ against Russia?  Al Jazeera
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Ex-Catholic priest exploited family deaths to abuse disabled boy, police allege

Mark Ford, extradited from Indiana to New Orleans jail, faces life in prison if convicted of sexual abuse charges

A man working as a Roman Catholic priest in New Orleans positioned himself as a mentor to a young disabled boy grieving two family deaths – and then exploited the proximity to abuse him for years, police allege.

Those details are contained in criminal court records generated by the arrest of Mark Francis Ford in Indiana in September as well as his subsequent transfer to New Orleans’s jail, a process which was completed late on Tuesday.

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‘Inherently cruel’: Canadian parents say citizenship bill erodes rights of children adopted abroad

Rule would require adopted children born abroad to prove ‘substantial connection’ to Canada to pass on citizenship

Canadian parents of children adopted abroad say a proposed citizenship bill represents a “shocking and unconscionable” erosion of their children’s rights by the governing Liberals.

The federal government is in the midst of overhauling the Citizenship Act so Canadians born abroad can pass citizenship to further generations born abroad. The bill would also restore or grant citizenship descendants who were excluded under older citizenship laws.

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Catholic Church must do more to help sexual abuse survivors and hold church leaders to account, hard-hitting report says – CNN

  1. Catholic Church must do more to help sexual abuse survivors and hold church leaders to account, hard-hitting report says  CNN
  2. Protection of Minors: Second Report proposes restorative measures against abuse  Vatican News
  3. Catholic Church is failing abuse victims, Vatican panel says  Reuters
  4. Vatican report says clergy sex abuse victims need reparations and tangible sanctions to heal  Crux
  5. Vatican Panel Says Church Is Still Too Slow in Addressing Sexual Abuse  The New York Times
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Hamas Says It Can’t Find Dead Hostages as Israel Pushes Back – Bloomberg.com

  1. Hamas Says It Can’t Find Dead Hostages as Israel Pushes Back  Bloomberg.com
  2. Live updates: Israel-Gaza, Hamas says it has handed over all hostage bodies it can access  CNN
  3. Hamas needs more time to recover hostages' remains, U.S. advisers say  NBC News
  4. Sa’ar claims Hamas is able to return bodies of additional hostages, is choosing not to  The Times of Israel
  5. Remains of last female Hamas hostage and IDF soldier handed over to Israel  Fox News
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Ricky Hatton is thought to have killed himself, inquest told

Provisional cause of death for former boxing world champion given at opening of inquest in Stockport

Ricky Hatton, the former world champion boxer who died in September, is believed to have killed himself, according to a provisional cause of death given at the opening of his inquest at Stockport coroner’s court.

Hatton, 46, was found dead in his home on 14 September. News of his death caused an outpouring of grief across the world and thousands of people lined the streets for his funeral.

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U.S. forges ahead on Gaza deal amid disputes, clashes and executions – Axios

  1. U.S. forges ahead on Gaza deal amid disputes, clashes and executions  Axios
  2. France and Britain refine plans at UN for Gaza force resolution  Reuters
  3. EU diplomat says US role in Gaza security force still unclear, delaying mission  The Times of Israel
  4. The countries volunteering to patrol Gaza  Politico
  5. Focus on peace process turning to demilitarizing Gaza, Trump admin advisers say  JNS.org
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Anti-Israel rioters break store windows, light fires as thousands march in Barcelona – The Times of Israel

  1. Anti-Israel rioters break store windows, light fires as thousands march in Barcelona  The Times of Israel
  2. Barcelona: Violent 24-hour March Denounces 'genocide In Gaza'  i24NEWS
  3. Tens of thousands in Spain strike to protest Israel's military action  Yahoo
  4. Violence erupts at anti-Israel rallies in Spain  JNS.org
  5. Pro-Palestinian riots rock Barcelona despite Gaza ceasefire: McDonald’s and Starbucks vandalized  Ynetnews
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Hamas says all reachable hostage bodies recovered amid Israel threat to resume Gaza fighting

Hamas says it needs specialist equipment to recover remaining bodies as Israel’s defence minister threatens to resume fighting

Israel has threatened to resume fighting in Gaza after Hamas announced that it could not return any further remains of deceased Israeli hostages without specialist recovery equipment that is needed to retrieve the rest from the ruins of the devastated territory.

The threat from Israel Katz, the defence minister, came after Hamas handed over the remains of two further bodies late on Wednesday, bringing the total of known deceased hostages returned by Hamas to nine – along with a tenth body that Israel said was not that of a former hostage.

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‘Conflicts of interest’ behind Australian parliamentary official’s $315k retirement payment, report finds

Barrister finds ‘multiple procedural failures’ in payment to Cate Saunders, who had ‘close’ relationship with former DPS secretary

An independent “fact-finding mission” into a $315,126 retirement payment to a senior parliamentary department official has found “multiple procedural failures” including overpayment, a disregard for specialist advice and “excessive pressure” applied in the payment’s timing.

The report by Sydney barrister Fiona Roughley SC, released Thursday, found there were “conflicts of interest” and “conflicted persons” within the Department of Parliamentary Services involved in the decision-making process.

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From protest laws to deaths in custody, Minns’ rush to claim the conservative high ground is clumsy and costly

At almost every opportunity, the NSW premier chooses a conservative path: get the cops on side and let nobody fault Labor’s toughness on crime. It’s not working

There is a lesson for Chris Minns in the NSW supreme court’s declaration that police powers to deal with protesters near places of worship are invalid: laws curtailing civil liberties should never be rushed.

They should certainly not be pushed through in an atmosphere of panic and incomplete facts such as existed in the fevered days after the now notorious Dural caravan incident.

Anne Davies is Guardian Australia’s NSW state correspondent

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Queensland’s 10-cent container refund scheme referred to crime and corruption commission

Parliamentary inquiry into Containers for Change recycling program reveals allegations of bullying and conflicts of interest

Ten allegations against Queensland’s container recycling scheme have been referred to the state’s corruption watchdog after a parliamentary inquiry on Thursday revealed allegations of bullying and conflicts of interest.

A parliamentary committee revealed claims that the board coordinating the state’s Containers for Change is “dominated” by Coca-Cola and Lion, with several submissions to the inquiry claiming that the two beverage companies have an incentive to reduce the number of containers being recycled in order to lower their costs.

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Nestlé to axe 16,000 jobs as new chief targets sales growth

Almost 6% of global workforce will be cut over next two years, including 12,000 white-collar professionals

Nestlé has said it will cut 16,000 jobs over the next two years as the owner of KitKat and Nescafé attempts to reduce costs and increase sales.

The Swiss-headquartered multinational said the cuts would include 12,000 white-collar professionals and 4,000 in its manufacturing and supply chain, close to 6% of Nestlé’s global workforce.

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