Police officer and suspect who took hostages at Pennsylvania hospital killed in shootout

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A doctor, a nurse and a custodian at UPMC Memorial, and two other officers were shot and wounded in attack

A man armed with a pistol and carrying zip ties entered a Pennsylvania hospital’s intensive care unit Saturday and took staff members hostage before he was killed by police in a shootout that also left an officer dead, authorities said.

Three workers at UPMC Memorial hospital, including a doctor, a nurse and a custodian, and two other officers were shot and wounded in the attack, the York county district attorney Tim Barker said. A fourth staffer was injured in a fall.

Guardian staff contributed reporting

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Australia should repatriate and investigate alleged crimes of Islamic state member found in Syria, experts say

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Exclusive: Home Affairs tells the Guardian consular assistance is ‘severely limited’ in Syria, where Mustafa Hajj-Obeid remains in custody

The Australian government should repatriate, monitor and investigate any crimes committed by a member of Islamic State who was wounded in the extremist group’s final battle, according to multiple security and international law experts.

Last week, the Guardian revealed an Australian man whose fate was not publicly known was alive and in custody in a prison in north-eastern Syria, run by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

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Australian defence force officer stripped of security clearance over loyalty to Israel

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Asio believed the man, anonymised as HWMW, was at risk of being exploited by the Mossad

An officer in the Australian army has been stripped of his security clearance because Asio believes he is more loyal to Israel than Australia, and at risk of being exploited by the Mossad.

The man told Asio interviewers he did not view Israel as a foreign government and that he would share classified information with the Israel Defense Forces if they asked for it.

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Backyard chickens: Floridians start raising hens to combat rising egg prices

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Despite conflicting laws, a wave of amateur homesteaders have started keeping fowl in the spirit of self-sufficiency

Katie Whalen’s backyard in the Florida city of Port St Lucie is testament to her journey towards a life of self-sufficiency. She grows mangoes, avocados, starfruit, jackfruit and coconuts. She is cultivating a tropical tree spinach known as chaya.

What she really wants, however, is a chicken coop and hens to provide eggs that are becoming increasingly unaffordable in stores. As bird flu worsens across the US and commercial suppliers struggle to keep up with demand, the keeping of fowl and production of eggs in home environments, has surged in popularity, and Whalen is keen to join the revolution.

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Telegram fined nearly $1m by Australian watchdog for delay in reporting about terrorism and child abuse material

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Telegram took 160 days to provide information, with the delay obstructing online safety scrutineer from doing its job, commissioner says

Encrypted messaging app Telegram has been fined nearly $1m by Australia’s online safety regulator for failing to respond on time to questions about what the company does to tackle terrorism and child abuse material on its platform.

The notice was issued to Telegram, among other companies, in May last year, with a deadline to report back in October on steps taken to address terrorist and violent extremism material, as well as child exploitation material on its platform.

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Energy giant AGL disputes $25m fine for wrongly taking welfare money from hundreds as ‘excessive’

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Exclusive: Court documents obtained by Guardian Australia show appeal argues judge was wrong to decide penalty was needed to ‘provoke’ leadership attention

Energy giant AGL is disputing a “manifestly excessive” $25m fine for using the Centrepay debit system to wrongly take welfare money from hundreds of vulnerable Australians. It argues that a judge should not have used the massive financial penalty to try to “provoke some attention” from the company’s board and executive leadership.

Late last year, the federal court imposed the hefty fine and excoriated AGL for wrongly taking money from 483 welfare recipients via Centrepay, the scandal-plagued, government-run system that allows automatic diversion of social security payments to essential services, like electricity bills and rent.

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Russia unleashes biggest drone attack of Ukraine war on eve of anniversary – POLITICO Europe

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  1. Russia unleashes biggest drone attack of Ukraine war on eve of anniversary  POLITICO Europe
  2. Russia launches largest drone attack on Ukraine on eve of third year of war  CBS News
  3. Russia-Ukraine war: List of key events – day 1,095  Al Jazeera English
  4. Russian attacks kill one in Kryvyi Rih, damage houses in Kyiv, Ukraine officials say  Reuters
  5. Russia launches record number of drones at Ukraine -- as Kyiv nears mineral rights deal with US  New York Post
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Amid Regional Diplomatic Furor, Sudan’s Paramilitaries Forge a Rival Government – The New York Times

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  1. Amid Regional Diplomatic Furor, Sudan’s Paramilitaries Forge a Rival Government  The New York Times
  2. Kenyan tea exporters fear Sudan blowback over RSF meeting  Semafor
  3. Sudan’s RSF, accused of genocide, signs charter to form rival government  Al Jazeera English
  4. Covert with calculated risk: How Iran is shifting its Israel strategy  Al-Monitor
  5. President Ruto markets contentious Sudan mediation as US lawmakers target him  Nation
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