South African activists allege Israel used shadowy NGO to ‘traffic’ Palestinians from Gaza – Middle East Eye

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  1. South African activists allege Israel used shadowy NGO to 'traffic' Palestinians from Gaza  Middle East Eye
  2. What’s the shadowy organisation taking Gaza Palestinians to South Africa?  Al Jazeera
  3. South Africa investigates mystery of a plane that arrived with more than 150 Palestinians from Gaza  AP News
  4. The Israeli links behind Palestinian refugee flights  News24
  5. Israeli army claims Gazans who arrived in S. Africa on mystery plane had been granted entry  France 24
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Refugees to face 20-year wait to settle permanently under asylum reforms – BBC

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  1. Refugees to face 20-year wait to settle permanently under asylum reforms  BBC
  2. Illegal migration is ‘tearing our country apart’ and system is broken, says Shabana Mahmood – UK politics live  The Guardian
  3. Britain to announce ‘most significant’ change to asylum rules in years, setting Europe’s longest route to settlement  CNN
  4. U.K. plans to drastically reduce protections for refugees in overhaul of its asylum policies  CBS News
  5. UK to curtail asylum seekers’ automatic right to accommodation  Financial Times
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Germany Is Just Making Too Much Money in China to Back Away Now – Bloomberg.com

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  1. Germany Is Just Making Too Much Money in China to Back Away Now  Bloomberg.com
  2. German finance minister lands in Beijing as trade gulf widens, supply chains wobble  Reuters
  3. Germany news: Vice Chancellor Klingbeil in China for talks  DW
  4. Germany: China could shape end of Russia’s war in Ukraine  World Ukrainian Congress
  5. Klingbeil seeks German access to critical raw materials in Beijing  Yahoo Finance
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China Warns Students in Japan of Safety Risks as Tensions Rise – Bloomberg.com

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  1. China Warns Students in Japan of Safety Risks as Tensions Rise  Bloomberg.com
  2. China sends coast guard to Senkaku islands amid row with Japan  The Guardian
  3. Japanese divided on military response to China over Taiwan, Kyodo poll shows  Reuters
  4. Airlines offer Japan trip refunds as row over Takaichi’s Taiwan comments deepens  South China Morning Post
  5. China warns citizens against Japan travel as Taiwan spat escalates  CNN
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Former MP from Katter’s Australian party claims victory in Townsville mayoral race after swing against former leader

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Nick Dametto says he is proud to ‘build the capital of northern Australia’ after byelection triggered by resignation of controversial former mayor

Townsville has voted decisively against its former controversial mayor and instead looks likely to elect a bodybuilding, bull-riding former state MP from the populist right in what has been described as one of the biggest swings in Australian electoral history.

Nick Dametto, 42, who was the deputy leader of Katter’s Australian Party’s and a Queensland parliamentarian before resigning and handing in his membership last month to run as an independent in Saturday’s byelection, had received more than 61% of the vote as of Sunday, with just over 30% counted.

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China sends coast guard to Senkaku islands amid row with Japan

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Activity around Japanese-held islands, also claimed by China, comes after PM Sanae Takaichi said Japan might respond militarily to an invasion of Taiwan

China has sent its coast guard through the waters of the Senkaku islands and military drones past outlying Japanese territory as Beijing ramps up tensions over the Japanese prime minister’s remarks on Taiwan.

On Sunday the Chinese coast guard said its ships made a “rights enforcement patrol” through the waters of the Senkaku, which are administered by Japan but also claimed by China as the Diaoyu islands.

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Michael Jackson is moonwalking back, but after the Springsteen flop is the pop biopic still relevant?

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Jackson’s songs are back on charts and biopic trailer racked up 116m views in 24 hours, yet there is a certain hesitation

Michael Jackson’s voodoo classic Thriller was high on Billboard’s Hot 100 in the week of 15 November, handing the 16-years-gone King of Pop a record for having a Top 10 hit across six different decades. Simultaneously, Jackson also broke records for receiving 116m views in 24 hours for the trailer of a new biopic, Michael, set for release in April.

Millions of fans may be excited and primed for a Jackson biopic. For comparison, the trailer beat out Taylor Swift’s Eras tour preview and it will join a procession of recent music biopics about Bruce Springsteen, Amy Winehouse, Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and Elton John. The most successful of all – the Freddie Mercury and Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody – took in nearly a billion dollars at the box office.

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