Romania orders election recount after TikTok bias allegations – BBC.com

  1. Romania orders election recount after TikTok bias allegations  BBC.com
  2. Romania's top court postpones decision on presidential election  Reuters
  3. Romania Court Orders a Recount After Surprise Election Result  The New York Times
  4. Romania’s RFK Jr. is all about good food and helping farmers  POLITICO Europe
  5. Who is Calin Georgescu, the far-right populist who won the 1st round of Romania's presidential race?  The Associated Press
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Poll: Netanyahu’s Likud drops slightly with Hezbollah truce; Bennett would win if he ran – The Times of Israel

  1. Poll: Netanyahu’s Likud drops slightly with Hezbollah truce; Bennett would win if he ran  The Times of Israel
  2. Israel cease-fire deal has critics worried over Biden, Obama officials looking to stymie incoming Trump admin  Fox News
  3. Israeli strikes test cease-fire; IDF warns displaced Lebanese not to return  The Washington Post
  4. The diplomatic push that took Lebanon from Armageddon to ceasefire  Reuters
  5. Battered by war and divisions, Lebanon faces a long list of challenges after ceasefire deal  The Associated Press
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Here Are the Risks When Zoos Pay for Endangered Species – The New York Times

  1. Here Are the Risks When Zoos Pay for Endangered Species  The New York Times
  2. Millions of Dollars to Protect Pandas Was Spent by China on Roads and Buildings  The New York Times
  3. Panda diplomacy leads to millions going to China, with very little oversight  Straight Arrow News
  4. Panda Conservation Projects Backfiring After American Zoos Dished Out Millions To China  Daily Caller
  5. Zoos' Panda Payments to China Come Under Scrutiny  Newser
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NSW farmer fined record $1m for wiping out critical koala habitat for private airstrip larger than Sydney airport

Ronald Greentree and his company Auen Grain cleared 1,262 hectares of land home to 30 threatened species, NSW government says

The former graincorp chair and prominent wheat farmer Ronald Greentree has been handed a record fine of more than $1m for illegal land-clearing in the north-west of New South Wales.

Greentree and his company Auen Grain were sentenced in the state’s land and environment court on Friday for offences related to illegal clearing of an area larger than Sydney airport on the property “Boolcarrol”, north-west of Narrabri.

The sentence follows a 2022 court decision that found Greentree and Auen Grain guilty of eight separate land-clearing events at the property between December 2016 and January 2019.

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Justin Hemmes’ Merivale to pay $19.25m to ex-staff who allege they were underpaid

But the Sydney hospitality giant, which operates more than 90 bars, restaurants and hotels, didn’t admit any liability in relation to the claims

Sydney pub baron Justin Hemmes’ company has agreed to pay millions to ex-employees who alleged they were underpaid, but did not admit any liability in relation to the claims.

Merivale has agreed to pay $19.25m to settle the lawsuit which was approved in the federal court on Friday, after five years of legal arguments and closed-door negotiations.

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Australia Passes Landmark Social-Media Ban for Under-16s – The Wall Street Journal

  1. Australia Passes Landmark Social-Media Ban for Under-16s  The Wall Street Journal
  2. Australia Bans Social Media for Everyone Under 16  The New York Times
  3. Australia's under-16 social media ban sparks anger and relief  Reuters
  4. Australian Parliament bans social media for under-16s with world-first law  The Associated Press
  5. Teen News Boss Criticises Australian Social Media Ban  Barron's
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Louise Haigh quits as transport secretary after admitting conviction for misleading police over stolen mobile – UK politics live

Transport secretary departs after it emerged she pleaded guilty to incorrectly telling police that a work mobile phone was stolen in 2013

In her resignation letter Louise Haigh said little about the past conviction, now spent, that led to her resignation. But she gave a fuller statement yesterday when approached by reporters about the story. She said:

In 2013 I was mugged while on a night out. I was a young woman and the experience was terrifying.

I reported it to the police and gave them a list of what I believed had been taken - including a work mobile phone that had been issued by my employer.

Louise Haigh has done the right thing in resigning. It is clear she has failed to behave to the standards expected of an MP.

In her resignation letter, she states that Keir Starmer was already aware of the fraud conviction, which raises questions as to why the prime minister appointed Ms Haigh to Cabinet with responsibility for a £30bn budget? The onus is now on Keir Starmer to explain this obvious failure of judgment to the British public.

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‘Absolutely no reason for panic’: As ruble falls, Putin says situation is ‘under control’ – Meduza

  1. ‘Absolutely no reason for panic’: As ruble falls, Putin says situation is ‘under control’  Meduza
  2. Russia in panic as US sanctions trigger ruble collapse  DW (English)
  3. The ruble’s in a slump. For the Kremlin, that’s a two-edged sword.  MarketWatch
  4. As rouble plummets, how will Chinese merchants get money out of Russia?  South China Morning Post
  5. Russia tries to stem panic over the plummeting ruble, as the central bank is forced to intervene  CNBC
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Israeli military to remain in Gaza for years, food minister says

Avi Dichter, of Israel’s security cabinet, made the comments as reports of the scale of Israel’s military infrastructure in the territory emerge

The Israeli military will remain in Gaza for many years, fighting against fresh Hamas recruits in the territory and could be responsible for delivery of humanitarian aid there, a senior Israeli minister has said.

The comments by Avi Dichter, Israel’s minister for food security and a member of the Israeli security cabinet, confirm an emerging picture of a long-term deployment of Israeli troops inside Gaza, with no immediate Israeli plan for any other administration to govern the territory’s 2.3 million people and begin reconstruction there.

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