Former army lawyer David McBride appeals conviction claiming duty to disclose military secrets

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McBride has appealed his jail sentence of five years and eight months claiming he ‘blew the whistle on the unequal application of the law’ by the ADF

The former army lawyer David McBride has lodged his appeal in the ACT supreme court almost five months after he was sentenced to a maximum of five years and eight months in jail.

McBride pleaded guilty to three charges in November 2023 after the court upheld a commonwealth intervention to withhold key evidence the government argued had the potential to jeopardise “the security and defence of Australia”. The charges included stealing commonwealth information and passing that on to journalists at the ABC.

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‘It’s doing social harm’: Albanese asks states and territories to work together on a social media ban for kids

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PM is seeking input on the impacts of phone bans in schools and ideas to maintain the social connection of kids

Anthony Albanese has written to the nation’s first ministers asking for their support in implementing a nationwide minimum age for social media.

After South Australia’s Labor government announced it would be moving forward with plans to ban children under 14 from accessing social media, Albanese announced the federal government would introduce legislation addressing the same concerns by the end of the year.

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Why is the UK handing the Chagos Islands back to Mauritius? – Al Jazeera English

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  1. Why is the UK handing the Chagos Islands back to Mauritius?  Al Jazeera English
  2. Britain cedes disputed islands to Mauritius, securing key U.S. military base  NBC News
  3. Starmer defends UK ceding control of Chagos Islands amid Tory criticism  The Guardian
  4. Department Press Briefing – October 3, 2024  Department of State
  5. Diego Garcia: What is on the secretive UK-US island in the Indian Ocean?  BBC.com
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EU court rules gender and nationality enough to grant Afghan women asylum

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ECJ ruling follows Afghan women’s challenge to Austrian court refusal to give them refugee status

The European court of justice (ECJ) has ruled that gender and nationality alone are sufficient grounds for a country to grant asylum to women from Afghanistan, where the ruling Taliban have sharply curtailed women’s rights.

Authorities in Austria refused refugee status to two Afghan women after they applied for asylum in 2015 and 2020. The women challenged the refusal before the Austrian supreme administrative court, which in turn requested a ruling from the ECJ, the top European Union court.

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As communist China turns 75 can Xi fix its economy? – BBC.com

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  1. As communist China turns 75 can Xi fix its economy?  BBC.com
  2. Chinese Communist Party marks 75 years of rule as economic, security threats persist  Fox News
  3. 'No challenges can stop China's progress' Xi Jinping says in 75th anniversary speech  CNBC
  4. In break from past, China receives no formal statement from US on National Day  South China Morning Post
  5. China’s Communist Party has ruled for 75 years. Will it make it to 100?  The Associated Press
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Argentina’s Javier Milei accused of plagiarising UN speech from West Wing

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Populist leader alleged to have ‘copied word for word’ a monologue by TV show’s fictional president Jed Bartlet

Argentina’s rightwing populist president, Javier Milei, has been accused of plagiarising a chunk of his recent speech to the United Nations general assembly from the political drama The West Wing.

“It seems like fiction, but it isn’t,” the left-leaning Buenos Aires newspaper Página 12 reported on Friday, claiming Milei had “copied, word for word, a monologue” by the television show’s fictional president, Josiah “Jed” Bartlet.

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Russian “spy whale” cause of death revealed by police in Norway – CBS News

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  1. Russian "spy whale" cause of death revealed by police in Norway  CBS News
  2. Post-Mortem Results for Hvaldimir Confirm Likely Cause of Death  The Fishing Daily
  3. ‘Russian Spy’ Whale Likely Died of Infection – Norwegian Police  The Moscow Times
  4. Russian ‘Spy Whale’ Hvaldimir Likely Died From Infection In Norway, Not Gunshot  Outlook India
  5. ‘Russian spy’ whale likely died of infection: Norway police  Arab News
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UN rejects Israel’s request to evacuate blue helmets monitoring the border with Lebanon – EL PAÍS USA

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  1. UN rejects Israel’s request to evacuate blue helmets monitoring the border with Lebanon  EL PAÍS USA
  2. UN peacekeepers stay on Lebanon’s border despite Israeli ground incursion  The Associated Press
  3. UN mission in Lebanon rejects Israeli request to leave  DW (English)
  4. UNIFIL reaffirms peacekeepers staying put in south Lebanon  The Times of Israel
  5. Civilians bear brunt in 'catastrophic' Lebanon conflict, UN official says  Reuters
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Herd helps guide blind elephant as they escape rising floodwater in Thailand’s Chiang Mai province – The Associated Press

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  1. Herd helps guide blind elephant as they escape rising floodwater in Thailand's Chiang Mai province  The Associated Press
  2. Dozens of elephants forced to evacuate due to flash flooding  CNN
  3. About 100 Elephants Are Rescued from Flooded Sanctuary: 'Biggest Evacuation We Have Ever Done'  PEOPLE
  4. Watch: Elephants escape floodwaters in Thailand  BBC.com
  5. Flooding in northern Thailand prompts mass evacuation of residents and animals  KOMO News
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A year on, how the Hamas attack has profoundly affected UK political life

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From general election upsets to protests on the streets, the shockwaves from the Middle East have resonated in Britain

When Shockat Adam, the newly elected independent MP for Leicester South, addressed his supporters at the July election count, he brought his speech to an end with a dedication – not to the constituents of the East Midlands city he now represents, but to people more than 2,000 miles away.

“This is for the people of Gaza”, he said, holding a Palestinian keffiyeh aloft.

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EU leaders back extra Chinese EV tariffs despite split vote

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Decision opposed by five countries including Germany, where car firms say it could be ‘fatal’ blow for industry

EU leaders have given the green light to extra tariffs on electric vehicles from China despite opposition from five countries including Germany, where car manufacturers condemned the decision as a potential “fatal” blow for the auto industry.

The European Commission – which provisionally approved the step in June after an inquiry found that Beijing’s state aid to auto manufacturers was unfair – now has free rein to impose steep tariffs for five years from the end of this month.

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The female soldiers who predicted Oct. 7 say they are still being silenced – The Washington Post

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  1. The female soldiers who predicted Oct. 7 say they are still being silenced  The Washington Post
  2. Questions for IDF over fall of Israel border post Nahal Oz by Hamas on 7 October  BBC.com
  3. Israel’s Oct. 7 Early Warning Failure: Who Is to Blame?  War On The Rocks
  4. Israel-Hamas War: Netanyahu's Sophisticated Deception of the Israeli Public  Haaretz
  5. October 7 attacks: Israel's intelligence failures - Reporters  FRANCE 24 English
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