Australia news live: Senate motion against ‘river to the sea’ is based on ‘incorrect understanding of the phrase’, peak bodies say

Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, the Australian National Imams Council and Jewish Council of Australia issue joint statement along with a host of Muslim peak bodies. Follow live updates

Shorten and Dutton clash over reduced migration

Earlier this morning the NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, and the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, clashed over Dutton’s promise to reduce Australia’s migration intake in his budget reply speech last night.

Well, Bill, a couple of points. One is that we say that, in the first year, 40,000 homes will be freed up. That includes the numbers who would be bidding at auctions this weekend against Australian citizens.

If the government had have adopted our policy over a five-year period, you would free up 325,000 homes. So the number of people who are foreign citizens, who are buying houses in our country is low, but nonetheless it contributes to an overall shortage of housing in our country.

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5 Members of Harvard’s Antisemitism Advisory Group Threatened to Resign, House Committee Says | News – Harvard Crimson

  1. 5 Members of Harvard's Antisemitism Advisory Group Threatened to Resign, House Committee Says | News  Harvard Crimson
  2. Harvard Ignored Antisemitism Advisory Group's Recommendations, House Committee Says  The New York Times
  3. Harvard graduate student suing university for 'rewarding antisemitism,' ignoring pleas of Jewish students  Fox News
  4. Harvard Was Unresponsive to Antisemitism, House Committee Finds  The Wall Street Journal
  5. Harvard slammed in House probe for 'inaction' on antisemitism  The Boston Globe
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Violence rages in New Caledonia as France rushes emergency reinforcements to its Pacific territory – The Associated Press

  1. Violence rages in New Caledonia as France rushes emergency reinforcements to its Pacific territory  The Associated Press
  2. Why this French island in the Pacific is being roiled by violence over a vote held 10,000 miles away  CNN
  3. Why are there riots in New Caledonia over France’s voting rights bill?  The Washington Post
  4. France imposes a state of emergency in New Caledonia as unrest continues  NPR
  5. France imposes state of emergency, bans TikTok in riot-hit New Caledonia  FRANCE 24 English
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Peter Dutton and Bill Shorten clash on TV over budget reply plan to ban foreign homebuyers

Opposition leader promised in speech on Thursday to restrict property investment by non-residents

Peter Dutton has been challenged over the number of foreigners who buy houses in Australia each year after promising in his budget reply speech to ban foreign investors.

The opposition leader was asked on Nine’s Today show on Friday about the impact of foreign buyers on the housing market after he proposed the ban as a key measure to ease pressure on the housing market.

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Police arrest three A-League men’s players from Sydney club over alleged betting corruption

NSW police allege a senior player was arranging ‘for yellow cards to occur during certain games’ in late 2023

Three A-League men’s players have been arrested in Sydney after an international investigation uncovered an alleged betting corruption scandal.

New South Wales police on Friday said they had arrested the three footballers following an investigation by the organised crime squad which began in December and was assisted by the UK gambling commission.

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Israel-Hamas War in Gaza: Live Updates and Latest Rafah News – The New York Times

  1. Israel-Hamas War in Gaza: Live Updates and Latest Rafah News  The New York Times
  2. Devastation in Gaza as Israel wages war on Hamas: Live updates  CNN
  3. Israel Sending More Troops to Rafah Amid Warnings of Famine in Gaza  The New York Times
  4. ‘Exhausted, traumatized’ Rafah refugees lack infrastructure in camps: UNICEF Spokesperson  MSNBC
  5. Israeli war updates: No humanitarian crisis in Rafah, Netanyahu says  USA TODAY
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Teachers in England stretched by pupils’ mental and family problems, MPs say

Education select committee concerned that excessive workload is driving teachers out of profession

Teachers’ workloads are being increasingly stretched by their pupils’ mental health and family difficulties, according to MPs who were critical of the government’s efforts to tackle chronic staff shortages in England’s schools.

The education select committee said it was “concerned that since the pandemic teachers are spending more time on addressing issues that would typically fall outside the remit of schools, including family conflict resolution and mental health support,” and called for the government to support better provision inside and outside schools.

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Union urges Labour not to ban new North Sea licences without plan for jobs

Unite launches bid to persuade Keir Starmer to invest more in north-east Scotland

The UK’s oil and gas workers risk becoming “the coal miners of our generation,” Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, has warned, urging Labour not to ban new North Sea licences without a clear plan to safeguard jobs.

Unite is launching a billboard campaign in six Scottish constituencies aimed at persuading Keir Starmer to commit more investment to north-east Scotland, the centre of the offshore oil and gas industry.

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More than 6,000 bank branches now gone in nine years of ‘disastrous’ closures

Thirty-three constituencies, including two in London, will not have a single bank branch by the end of the year, says Which?

The number of UK bank branches that have shut their doors for good over the last nine years will pass 6,000 on Friday, and by the end of the year the pace of closures may leave 33 parliamentary constituencies – including two in London – without a single branch.

The tally is being published by the consumer group Which? as it seeks to make the “avalanche” of closures and the “disastrous” impact they can have on local communities an election battleground.

Barnsley East (estimated population: 94,000)

Bolton West (98,000)

Bradford South (106,000)

Bury South (103,000)

Central Suffolk and North Ipswich (102,000)

Chatham and Aylesford (103,000)

Clwyd South (70,000)

Colne Valley (112,000)

Dagenham and Rainham (117,000)

Denton and Reddish (88,000)

Don Valley (99,000)

East Worthing and Shoreham (99,000)

Erith and Thamesmead (117,000)

Glasgow North East (88,000)

Liverpool, West Derby (94,000)

Mid Bedfordshire (121,000)

Mid Derbyshire (83,000)

Newport East (84,000)

North East Derbyshire (92,000)

Nottingham East (98,000)

Penistone and Stocksbridge (89,000)

Plymouth Moor View (94,000)

Reading West (112,000)

Rhondda (68,000)

Sedgefield (85,000)

Sheffield Hallam (85,000)

St Helens North (100,000)

Stone (86,000)

Swansea East (81,000)

Warrington North (95,000)

Wentworth and Dearne (100,000)

Wirral West (68,000)

York Outer (92,000)

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Algerian man missing for 26 years found captive in neighbour’s cellar – Al Jazeera English

  1. Algerian man missing for 26 years found captive in neighbour’s cellar  Al Jazeera English
  2. Algerian man missing for more than 25 years 'held captive by neighbour'  Yahoo! Voices
  3. Teen kidnapped 26 years ago rescued from neighbor's cellar just 100 yards from home  New York Post
  4. He Was Kidnapped as a Teenager 26 Years Ago. He'd Been Within Sight of His Family's Home the Whole Time: Reports  PEOPLE
  5. 'Kidnapped' Algerian man rescued after 26 years from neighbour's cellar  The Independent
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As Russia Advances, NATO Considers Sending Trainers Into Ukraine – The New York Times

  1. As Russia Advances, NATO Considers Sending Trainers Into Ukraine  The New York Times
  2. Western military trainers will be sent to Ukraine ‘eventually,’ top US military official said  Semafor
  3. Western military trainers could go to Ukraine, Lithuania minister says  The Guardian
  4. Some NATO countries are considering sending military instructors to Ukraine – NYT  Ukrainska Pravda
  5. NATO Leader Mocks Putin's Nuclear Threat, Says Ready To Send Troops To Ukraine: Risking Open War?  Hindustan Times
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Texas governor pardons man who killed Black Lives Matter protester in 2020

Greg Abbott on Thursday pardoned Daniel Perry, who has been serving a 25-year sentence since 2023 murder conviction

Governor Greg Abbott of Texas issued a full pardon on Thursday to a former US army sergeant convicted of murder for fatally shooting an armed demonstrator in 2020 during nationwide protests against police violence and racial injustice.

Abbott announced the pardon just minutes after the Texas board of pardons and paroles disclosed it had made a unanimous recommendation that Daniel Perry be pardoned and have his firearms rights restored. Perry has been held in state prison on a 25-year sentence since his conviction in 2023.

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