EU centrists’ deal paves way for von der Leyen to return as commission president

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Agreement between three pro-European blocks would make Estonian PM top diplomat and former Portuguese PM council president

Ursula von der Leyen looks likely to clinch the nomination for a second term as European Commission president under a deal by EU leaders from the three pro-European political groups that sews up the bloc’s top jobs.

According to the agreement made by the centre-right European People’s party (EPP), the Socialists and the Liberals, von der Leyen will be nominated for a second five-year mandate at the head of the EU executive at a Brussels summit on Thursday.

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Taxing super-rich debate should start with 2% levy, says economist behind plan – Yahoo Finance UK

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  1. Taxing super-rich debate should start with 2% levy, says economist behind plan  Yahoo Finance UK
  2. International scheme to tax billionaires’ wealth technically feasible, study finds  The Guardian
  3. Brazil Unveils Global Billionaire Tax Plan That Has Split G-20  Bloomberg
  4. Brazil-backed G20 report calls for global, wealth-based income tax  Fox News
  5. Macron joins Brazil's Lula to tax billionaires — but is it all it's made out to be?  POLITICO Europe
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Experts warn Julian Assange plea deal could set dangerous precedent

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Human rights organisations want the next UK government to seek assurances from the US that it will not pursue journalists publishing classified information

The next UK government must push the US for reassurance it will not pursue journalists for publishing classified information, human rights organisations and experts have argued after the release of Julian Assange.

Experts have warned that the plea deal struck between the WikiLeaks founder and the US authorities – which will see him plead guilty to one charge under the Espionage Act, but avoid serving any additional time in custody – could set a dangerous precedent.

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Stonehenge likely to be put on world heritage danger list over tunnel plan

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Unesco officials recommend adding Wiltshire stone circle amid fears road scheme would compromise its integrity

Stonehenge is likely to be put on a list of world heritage sites that are in danger because of the plan to build a tunnel under the precious landscape.

Unesco officials have recommended adding the Wiltshire stone circle and the area around it to the list because of concerns that the tunnel would “compromise the integrity” of one of the Earth’s great prehistoric sites.

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Anti-DEI law forces closure of University of Utah LGBT center

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News comes amid anti-diversity legislation that has gutted inclusionary programs at several public universities

After 21 years of service, the University of Utah’s LGBT Resource Center will close on Friday, as the second-largest public university in the state comes into compliance with HB 261, Utah’s version of the anti-DEI legislation that has swept the country and gutted inclusionary programs at several public universities.

“As we’ve evaluated how best to comply with the legislation, I want to be clear that we’ve faced very difficult decisions,” the vice-president for student affairs, Lori McDonald, said in a statement. “The law and subsequent guidance require a foundational change in how we approach student support, and we will follow the law. This isn’t about changing the words we use; we’re changing how we approach the work.”

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Speaker Election: BJP Gets 4-MP Boost From YSRCP.. – Greatandhra

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  1. Speaker Election: BJP Gets 4-MP Boost From YSRCP..  Greatandhra
  2. Rare showdown for Speaker as NDA picks Om Birla again  Hindustan Times
  3. Om Birla vs K Suresh - Rare Election For Lok Sabha Speaker Today: Top 10  NDTV
  4. Congress held both Speaker, deputy post in Nehru & Indira era: BJP  The Times of India
  5. Speaker fight: TMC keeps INDIA on edge, says 'not consulted', 'could have given names'  The Indian Express
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Tesla recalls majority of Cybertrucks for fourth time

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Windshield wiper and trunk bed trim problems cause more delays in the truck’s promised mass launch

Tesla said on Tuesday it was recalling most Cybertrucks in the United States over issues with their windshield wipers and exterior trim.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says Tesla has now issued four recalls for its 2024 Cybertruck.

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Reactions to Julian Assange plea deal differ across the US political divide

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Leftist film-maker Michael Moore applauds deal while Mike Pence says it ‘dishonors’ US military members

Reaction to the news that Julian Assange had agreed to plead guilty to a single charge under the Espionage Act in order to go free came from various parts of the US political spectrum on Tuesday.

James Clapper, director of US national intelligence in 2010 when Assange and his WikiLeaks organization published secret US intelligence documents with a consortium of newspapers including the Guardian, told CNN: “I actually think this came out pretty well … Critical to this was his plea of one count of espionage.

“He’s paid his dues,” Clapper added. “There was a damage assessment done at the time – there was concern but I don’t recall direct proof that assets in Afghanistan and Iraq supporting or helping the US were exposed.”

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Hillary Clinton: waste of Biden’s debate time to rebut Trump ‘nonsense’

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Former secretary of state, who has debated both men, says Trump ‘starts with nonsense and digresses into blather’

Hillary Clinton has said it would be a “waste of time” for Joe Biden to attempt to refute Donald Trump’s contentions in Thursday’s presidential debate because “it’s nearly impossible to identify what his arguments even are”.

The former secretary of state wrote in a New York Times opinion piece that Trump “starts with nonsense and then digresses into blather”.

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Princess Anne ‘doing fine’ in hospital after injury, husband says

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Sir Tim Laurence brings Princess Royal ‘a few little treats from home’ and says she is making ‘slow but sure’ progress

The Princess Royal, who is recovering from head injuries believed to have been inflicted by a horse, is making “slow but sure” progress, her husband has said.

V Adm Sir Tim Laurence visited Anne after she spent a second night at Southmead hospital in Bristol, where she remains under observation having had a concussion.

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PPE worth £1.4bn from single Covid deal destroyed or written off

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UK government deal struck at height of pandemic described as ‘colossal misuse of public funds’

An estimated £1.4bn-worth of personal protective equipment (PPE) bought by the government in single a deal has been destroyed or written off, according to new figures described as the worst example of waste in the Covid pandemic.

The figures obtained by the BBC under freedom of information laws showed that 1.57bn items from the NHS supplier Full Support Healthcare will never been used.

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Ukraine war: Zelensky sacks top general accused of incompetence – BBC.com

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  1. Ukraine war: Zelensky sacks top general accused of incompetence  BBC.com
  2. Top Ukrainian General Replaced Amid Criticism Over Heavy Casualties  Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
  3. Zelensky Removes Gen. Yurii Sodol Amid Criticism of Excessive Casualties  The New York Times
  4. Zelenskyy fires top Ukrainian commander after claims his soldiers suffered heavy losses  NBC News
  5. Ukraine's Zelenskyy replaces military's commander of joint forces  Fox News
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Trump mocked for claiming he was ‘tortured’ in Georgia mugshot arrest

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Former US president made the claim in a fundraising email that advertised coffee mugs featuring his mugshot

Donald Trump has been met with a chorus of online mockery after claiming that he was “tortured” while being processed at the Fulton county jail in Georgia last August, an occasion that generated the mugshot that he has since turned into a money-making device as he campaigns for a second presidency.

The outlandish and unsubstantiated claim came in a fundraising email and drew at least one unflattering comparison with one of the former president’s political nemeses: John McCain, the former Republican senator for Arizona whose real experience of torture and incarceration during the Vietnam war was a target for Trump’s mockery.

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Russia-Ukraine war: ICC issues arrest warrants for Russian officials over attacks on Ukrainian civilian targets – as it happened

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International criminal court issues arrest warrants for Russia’s former defence minister Sergei Shogu and military chief of staff Valery Gerasimov

President Maia Sandu welcomed the start of the EU accession talks with Moldova, stressing that her country is within the European family.

“We are stronger together,” she said on X.

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Job threat for Australian university staff as claims international student cuts are being weaponised

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Leading experts have described Labor’s controversial migration policy as a ‘recipe for chaos’ set to hit campuses

University staff have been threatened with deep job cuts because of the federal government’s proposed international student cap, raising concerns the controversial policy is being weaponised as an “excuse” to slash jobs.

The draft bill, introduced to parliament last month, would give the education minister powers to set a maximum number of new international student enrolments. Leading policy experts have described it as a “recipe for chaos”.

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