France faces months of political instability as government nears collapse – BBC.com

  1. France faces months of political instability as government nears collapse  BBC.com
  2. French lawmakers push through no-confidence motion that could topple government  CNN
  3. French Government on Brink of Collapse Over Budget  Bloomberg
  4. What will happen if France’s government loses no-confidence vote?  The Guardian
  5. France's prime minister to push through contested budget despite risk of no-confidence vote  CNBC
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Idaho’s ‘abortion trafficking’ law partly revived by US appeals court

State can enforce law against those who harbor or transport a minor across state lines without parental consent

Idaho can enforce a first-of-its-kind “abortion trafficking” law against those who harbor or transport a minor to get an abortion out-of-state without parental consent, a federal appeals court ruled on Monday.

But the San Francisco-based 9th US circuit court of appeals in its ruling blocked a part of the law that prohibits “recruiting” a minor to get an abortion.

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Australia news live: Allan defends Victoria after it’s named worst state for business; Burke to meet Indonesian minister over Bali Nine

The Victorian premier has defended the state’s business credentials saying there’s key data missing from the Business Council of Australia’s report. Follow today’s news headlines live

Weather check shows mixed conditions forecast across Australian cities

It’s a mixed, if warm, bag in capital cities today, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting storms in Melbourne, sunny skies in Brisbane and Adelaide and showers across all other major cities.

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Joe Biden visits Angola to showcase Lobito Corridor – BBC.com

  1. Joe Biden visits Angola to showcase Lobito Corridor  BBC.com
  2. Biden to Meet Angolan President Lourenco  Bloomberg
  3. Biden travels to Africa where policies were ‘over-promised and under-delivered,' amid massive China expansion  Fox News
  4. Biden in Angola: What’s behind the last-ditch Africa trip?  Al Jazeera English
  5. What is Lobito railway project? Biden's counter to China's Belt and Roads initiative. Will Trump support  The Times of India
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Sifting of landfill to begin in search for Manitoba serial killer victims

Winnipeg effort involves carting waste that may contain remains of First Nations women murdered by Jeremy Skibicki to a purpose-built facility and combing through it by hand

The unprecedented search of a landfill in Canada for the remains of two murdered Indigenous women entered a critical yet “difficult” stage as teams braced for the possibility of finally recovering the victims of a convicted serial killer.

On Monday morning, trucks began carrying excavated material from a Winnipeg landfill, said the Manitoba premier, Wab Kinew, as he outlined the immense scope of a search aiming to bring some closure to grieving families.

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Replica Harry Potter swords recalled in Japan for breaking weapons law

Police said 86cm stainless steel blade – mounted on a wooden plaque and sold in the hundreds – contravened Japan’s firearms and sword control law

Full-size replica swords sold as souvenirs at a popular Harry Potter exhibition in Tokyo have fallen foul of Japan’s strict weapons control law and been recalled.

The 86cm stainless steel blade, which comes mounted on a wooden plaque, is described on the Warner Bros website that promotes the event as an “authentic recreation of Godric Gryffindor’s sword”.

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Woolworths takes $50m hit as strike leads to empty shelves

The supermarket giant filed an urgent application with the Fair Work Commission to end industrial action blocking distribution centres

Australia’s biggest supermarket chain, Woolworths, says it has lost $50m in grocery sales since the start of industrial action that has disrupted the flow of goods into some of its stores.

More than 1,500 Woolworths warehouse workers have been on strike since 21 November, seeking better pay and safety on the job. Industrial action has affected up to five distribution centres, impacting supplies in some stores in Victoria, New South Wales and the ACT.

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Chip war ramps up with new US semiconductor restrictions on China

Biden administration broadens limits on Chinese access to advanced microchip technology, with Donald Trump expected to go even further

The US has announced new export restrictions targeting China’s ability to make advanced semiconductors, drawing swift condemnation from Beijing.

Washington is expanding efforts to curb exports of state-of-the-art chips to China that can be used in advanced weapons systems and in artificial intelligence.

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Missouri governor denies clemency for man facing execution for killing girl

Christopher Collings was convicted of sexually assaulting nine-year-old in 2007 and leaving her body in sinkhole

Missouri’s governor on Monday denied clemency for Christopher Collings, a death row prisoner facing execution for sexually assaulting and killing a nine-year-old girl and leaving her body in a sinkhole.

Collings, 49, is scheduled to receive a single injection of pentobarbital at 6pm CT on Tuesday at the state prison in Bonne Terre, Missouri, for the 2007 killing of fourth-grader Rowan Ford. It would be the 23rd execution in the US this year and the fourth in Missouri.

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Australian father calls out Spotify for allegedly playing Sportsbet ads during Frozen and Bluey songs

Man says gambling ads ‘potentially damaging’ for his children who regularly listen to Disney and the Wiggles on his account on music streaming app

The Australian gambling agency Sportsbet has paused advertising with the music streaming company Spotify, after its content was allegedly played between children’s songs.

The pause comes after Guardian Australia reported on a complaint by a father who alleged the “potentially damaging” ads were inserted between Disney songs.

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UK underestimates threat of cyber-attacks from hostile states and gangs, says security chief

New head of National Cyber Security Centre to warn of risk to infrastructure in first major speech

The UK is underestimating the severity of the online threat it faces from hostile states and criminal gangs, the country’s cybersecurity chief will warn.

Richard Horne, the head of GCHQ’s National Cyber Security Centre, will cite a trebling of “severe” incidents amid Russian “aggression and recklessness” and China’s “highly sophisticated” digital operations.

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Elon Musk’s $56bn Tesla pay package rejected again by US judge

Kathaleen McCormick in Delaware rules Musk not entitled to vast sum despite Tesla shareholders voting to reinstate it

A judge ruled on Monday that Tesla chief executive Elon Musk is still not entitled to receive a $56bn compensation package even though shareholders of the electric vehicle company had voted to reinstate it six months ago.

The ruling by the Delaware judge, Kathaleen McCormick of the court of chancery, follows her January decision that called the pay package excessive and rescinded it, surprising investors. The decision cast uncertainty over Musk’s future at the world’s most valuable carmaker. Tesla’s board argued the enormous payment scheme was necessary to keep Musk involved in the company, an argument that the billionaire, already the world’s richest man, echoed.

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