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Dutton refuses to specify what Coalition’s $21bn of pledged defence spending would be used on
Opposition leader insists costings will be released prior to the election as Andrew Hastie says ‘America-first’ US means Australia’s defence must be prioritised
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The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has refused to specify where an additional $21bn in pledged defence spending would be allocated, nor where the money would come from, committing only to releasing the Coalition’s costings before the 3 May election.
After announcing the Coalition’s policy to spend an additional $21bn over five years, lifting defence spending to 2.5% of GDP, Dutton was questioned over where the money would come from and what specific capabilities it would be directed to.
Continue reading...Married at First Sight Australia groom applies for restraining order against on-screen bride
Ryan Donnelly alleges that Jacqui Burfoot has made ‘vicious’ and ‘malicious’ claims about him online
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A Married At First Sight groom claims he was left fearful after his estranged on-screen bride tried to destroy his life by posting about him online.
Ryan Donnelly and Jacqui Burfoot were paired together in this year’s season of the hit Australian reality TV series but chose to separate during an insult-laden final vows ceremony.
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Continue reading...Number of births in US increased by 1% in 2024, according to CDC data
Small increase amounts to 3.6 million births and an increase in the women aged 40-44 giving birth
The number of births in the US increased slightly in 2024 to roughly 3.6 million, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The small increase of 1% in the number of births comes amid a long-term decline that began during the Great Recession, in about 2008. The provisional data was released on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Catholics Expected a Revolution From Francis, Just Not the One He Gave Them – The New York Times
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More than 80% of the world’s reefs hit by bleaching after worst global event on record
An ashen pallor and an eerie stillness all that remains where there should fluttering fish and vibrant colours in the reefscape, one conservationist says
The world’s coral reefs have been pushed into “uncharted territory” by the worst global bleaching event on record that has now hit more than 80% of the planet’s reefs, scientists have warned.
Reefs in at least 82 countries and territories have been exposed to enough heat to turn corals white since the global event started in January 2023, the latest data from the US government’s Coral Reef Watch shows.
Continue reading...Dominican Republic detains pregnant Haitian women in hospital swoop
Early turnout shatters record in Canada polls with 7.3m ballots cast
Steve Hilton, former David Cameron adviser, to run for California governor
Ex-advertising executive, who hosted a Fox News show and has criticised Kamala Harris, will stand as a Republican
David Cameron’s former top adviser Steve Hilton has joined the 2026 race for California governor, running as a Republican to replace the Democrats’ Gavin Newsom, who is prevented by law from seeking a third term.
Hilton, who hosted a show on Fox News for six years, launched his campaign with the theme “Golden Again: Great Jobs, Great Homes, Great Kids”. His campaign said Hilton would be “reinforcing his commitment to positive, practical solutions instead of today’s ideology and dogma”, and that his brand of “positive populism” would focus on helping working families.
Continue reading...Sydney residents shaken awake by early morning earthquake in NSW Hunter Valley
Preliminary information indicates the 4.6-magnitude quake occurred at a shallow depth of 10km
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Aftershocks are expected from an earthquake that shook residents awake along a stretch of Australia’s east coast.
The quake struck at 2.55am on Wednesday near Singleton in the New South Wales Hunter Valley, about 200km north of Sydney, Geoscience Australia seismologists said.
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Continue reading...Trade unionists, conservationists and church groups unite against Dutton’s nuclear plan
Seven Regions Nuclear Free alliance launches campaign representing groups who oppose the Coalition’s proposed nuclear reactors in their communities across Queensland, NSW, SA, Victoria and WA
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Trade unions, conservationists, First Nations groups, church congregations and community organisations have launched a coordinated campaign against opposition leader Peter Dutton’s plan for nuclear reactors across Australia.
The Coalition has pledged, if elected, to build seven nuclear reactors to replace retiring or retired coal sites naming Tarong and Callide in Queensland, Liddell and Mount Piper in New South Wales, Port Augusta in South Australia, Loy Yang in Victoria, and Muja in Western Australia.
Continue reading...‘National disgrace’: US lawmakers decry student detentions on visit to Ice jails
Delegation visits jails where Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk are being held and denounce ‘authoritarian’ Trump
Congressional lawmakers denounced the treatment of Mahmoud Khalil and Rümeysa Öztürk, the students being detained by US immigration authorities for their pro-Palestinian activism, as a “national disgrace” during a visit to the two facilities in Louisiana where each are being held.
“We stand firm with them in support of free speech,” the Louisiana congressman Troy Carter, who led the delegation, said during a press conference after the visits on Tuesday. “They are frightened, they’re concerned, they want to go home.”
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