Coalition would not copy Morrison government’s approach to China diplomacy, says Simon Birmingham

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Shadow foreign minister says blasting Beijing in public had negative consequences and a future government would do things differently

The shadow foreign minister, Simon Birmingham, has suggested the Morrison government’s megaphone diplomacy with China was counterproductive and a future Coalition government would approach the relationship differently.

In an interview for Guardian Australia’s Australian Politics podcast, Birmingham conceded that blasting China in public had had negative consequences.

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Olaf Scholz questioned at Progressive Governance Summit – as it happened

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German chancellor and LSE professor Lea Ypi speak on ‘freedom, peace and progress’ at event chaired by Guardian’s editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner

Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, said at the Progressive Governance Summit that globalisation is a benefit for world development.

There must be an answer to the question why the most lucky countries in the world have “right-populist movements and unrest,” he said.

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Paris arthouse cinema La Clef to reopen after buyout from squatters’ collective

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Filmmakers and students evicted by police in 2022 make a triumphant return to the historic venue after raising funds to buy it for €2.7m

Two years after being evicted by Paris police, a collective of students and film-industry professionals returned to the arthouse cinema they had occupied from 2019 to 2022 on Thursday to reinstall the wheels of a 35mm projector.

The crucial difference is that this time they did so as legal owners of the keys to the 600 sq metre community cinema in the French capital’s Latin quarter, appropriately called La Clef (The Key).

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US ‘incredibly concerned’ over Putin’s threat to supply weapons to North Korea after Asia tour

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State department warns such a move could destabilise the peninsula, as South Korea considers arming Ukraine

Vladimir Putin’s suggestion that Russia could supply weapons to North Korea is “incredibly concerning”, a senior US official has said, days after Putin and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, signed a defence pact that requires their countries to provide immediate military assistance if either is attacked.

Matthew Miller, a US state department spokesperson, said the provision of Russian weapons to Pyongyang “would destabilise the Korean peninsula, of course, and potentially … depending on the type of weapons they provide … violate UN security council resolutions that Russia itself has supported”.

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Far-right French candidate attacked by masked assailants on campaign trail

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National Rally’s Hervé Breuil, 68, hospitalised after being assaulted as he handed out flyers in central France before snap elections

Masked assailants have assaulted a far-right candidate on the campaign trail ahead of France’s snap parliamentary election, in the latest incident of violence targeting politicians across Europe.

Police said Hervé Breuil, a candidate for Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) party, was assaulted as he handed out flyers on Thursday morning with four others in the industrial city of Saint Étienne, in central France.

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Namibia high court overturns law banning gay sex

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Victory for LGBTQ+ campaigners who say ban contributes to discrimination and violence by police

Namibia’s high court has overturned a law that criminalised gay sex in a victory for LGBTQ+ campaigners after a number of setbacks in the battle for rights in African countries in recent years.

Namibia inherited a law banning “sodomy” and “unnatural offences” when it gained independence from South Africa in 1990. While the ban was rarely enforced, activists said it contributed to discrimination against LGBTQ+ people, including violence by the police.

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The gardener who took a Canadian city to court for the right to not mow his lawn

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Missisauga officials have twice forcibly cut Wolf Ruck’s grass and billed him, after he decided to rewild his garden

Most mornings, Wolf Ruck walks the mown paths in his yard in Mississauga, Ontario, watching for insects landing on the goldenrod, birds feeding on native seed heads, and chipmunk kits playing in the tall grass.

The septuagenarian artist, film-maker and former Olympic canoeist began rewilding his garden with native plants three years ago, as part of a growing movement across Canada towards replacing water-thirsty lawns with “naturalised gardens”.

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Roberto Baggio injured in armed burglary at home in Italy

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Ex-footballer reportedly struck on the head with butt of a gun and detained in a room while Italy game was on TV

The Italian football legend Roberto Baggio was robbed and beaten at gunpoint in his home on Thursday while watching the Italy-Spain match in the European Championship with his family.

A group of at least five armed individuals forcibly entered the villa in Altavilla Vicentina, located in northern Italy, at 10pm local time.

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‘Bloody brilliant’: businessman stripped of far north Queensland island

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Double Island returned to state government over leaseholder Benny Wu’s failure to reopen it for tourism

A far north Queensland island has been returned to the state government after a Hong Kong businessman was stripped of a tourism lease for breaching conditions.

Double Island near Cairns was home to a luxury resort that shut down six years ago.

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Missing teen Amber Haigh was ‘removed from the equation’ after giving birth, court told

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Husband and wife plead not guilty before prosecution lays out case in NSW murder trial after 2002 disappearance

A couple from country New South Wales used the intellectually disabled teenager Amber Michelle Haigh as a “surrogate mother” so they could have another baby, before they killed her, a court has heard.

Robert and Anne Geeves, now of Harden, face one count each of murder over the suspected killing of Haigh, who disappeared without trace in June of 2002. On the opening day of the trial, the court heard how the couple had deliberately tried to “plant the seed” Haigh was suicidal, and they had set out to have her “removed from the equation”.

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Tributes for victim of fatal alleged road rage incident in Sydney as man charged

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NSW police allege ‘words were said’ before Rhyce Harding, 27, was killed in an alleged hit-and-run at Blackett

A man has been charged over an alleged road rage incident that police allege saw another man dragged 100 metres down a street before dying at the scene.

Rhyce Harding, 27, was allegedly hit by a white ute after getting out of his car in Sydney’s west, police said.

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South Korean troops fire shots after third incursion by North Korean soldiers – The Associated Press

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  1. South Korean troops fire shots after third incursion by North Korean soldiers  The Associated Press
  2. Putin Threatens to Arm North Korea, Escalating Tension With West Over Ukraine  The New York Times
  3. Russia-North Korea pact could dent China's influence, but Beijing still holds sway over both  Yahoo! Voices
  4. South Korea summons Russian ambassador over pact with North Korea  Reuters
  5. Putin says Russia may send weapons to North Korea  Al Jazeera English
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