Ukraine official says minerals deal agreed with US
‘We are still at war’: Syria’s Kurds battle Turkey months after Assad’s fall
Nurse charged over video that boasted about harming Israeli patients
White House takes control of press pool that covers Trump
Can Europe still count on the US coming to its defence?
Australia news live: Hastie warns ADF is ‘going to get weaker’ as China tests US allies with ‘gunboat diplomacy’
Shadow defence minister told ABC RN China is testing US allies as Trump ‘resets relationships in Europe’. Follow today’s news live
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ABC pays tribute to Antony Green as he announces upcoming election will be his last on-air
Continuing from our last post: the ABC’s director of news, Justin Stevens, has paid tribute to Antony Green as he announces the upcoming election would be his last on-air with the national broadcaster.
For more than three decades he has performed one of the ABC’s most important roles with precision, impartiality, dedication and unprecedented expertise.
He has the ABC’s immense gratitude and respect. I’m sure our audience joins me in thanking him and wishing him well as he prepares for his final federal election broadcast.
It’s time to retire. I turn 65 this coming weekend. I work on a three-year election cycle with federal elections, I won’t be presenting elections in three years’ time when I’m 68, so this will be my last on-camera election for the ABC.
I’ll stay on for a couple of years, handing over work and doing other things, but essentially I’m deciding to retire and work less.
There are 80 or 90 of them, a book on every election since 1990, state and federal … I [also] redesigned computer system. When I first started this, you had to be in the tally room to get the numbers. It was the only way to get data from the Electoral Commission to the ABC computer, so you had to be there. It’s a completely different world now.
Continue reading...Chile hit by nationwide blackout, forcing Santiago metro evacuations
Chile’s biggest blackout in 15 years hits from Arica to Los Lagos, testing one of South America’s top power grids
A sweeping blackout has hit Chile, stranding commuters, knocking out traffic lights, paralyzing countless businesses and leaving most of the South American country without electricity.
The National Electrical Coordinator, Chile’s grid operator, said a disruption had occurred in a high-voltage transmission line that carries power from the Atacama Desert of northern Chile to the capital of Santiago in the country’s central valley.
Continue reading...Billion Indians have no spending money – report
Myanmar villagers reveal ‘desperate’ illegal kidney sales
Donald Trump orders new tariff investigation into US copper imports
President opens new front in assault on global trade norms as advisers claim China moving to dominate copper market
Donald Trump on Tuesday opened yet another front in his assault on global trade norms, ordering a new investigation into possible tariffs on copper imports to rebuild US production of a metal critical to electric vehicles, military hardware, semiconductors and a wide range of consumer goods.
Trump, looking to thwart what his advisers see as a move by China to dominate the global copper market, signed an order directing commerce secretary Howard Lutnick to start a new national security investigation under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962, the same law that Trump used in his first term to impose 25% global tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Continue reading...Sydney nurse who allegedly threatened to kill Israeli patients in viral video charged
Strike Force Pearl investigators arrested and charged Sarah Abu Lebdeh, 26, but no charges have been laid against her former colleague Ahmed Rashid Nadir
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A public hospital nurse who allegedly threatened to kill Israeli patients in a viral video posted by an Israeli influencer has been charged with three offences.
Sarah Abu Lebdeh, who worked at Bankstown-Lidcombe hospital, was charged with three offences including threatening violence, using a carriage service to threaten to kill and using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.
Continue reading...Couple’s trauma after body placed next to them on flight
US judge blocks Trump’s suspension of refugee resettlement program
US district judge in Seattle says Trump’s executive order exceeded his powers by shutting down program
A federal judge has blocked Donald Trump’s attempt to suspend the US’s refugee admission system after ruling that the move exceeded his powers.
The ruling, from US district judge Jamal Whitehead, stated that Trump’s executive order affecting refugee admissions, issued on the day of his inauguration, amounted to an illegal usurpation of the powers of Congress.
Continue reading...Rachel Maddow says MSNBC laying off ‘non-white’ hosts and staff is ‘indefensible’
Majority of producers on Maddow and Joy Reid’s shows let go with option to re-apply amid network shake-up
MSNBC has told the majority of the employees who produce Rachel Maddow and Joy Reid’s primetime evening news shows they are being let go as part of the network’s programming overhaul with the option to apply for new roles, according to two people directly familiar with the matter.
Maddow, the biggest star and highest-rated anchor at MSNBC, will get to keep her executive producer, Cory Gnazzo, and several other senior producers, the people said.
Continue reading...Six babies have died from cold in Gaza over two weeks, medics say
ABC election guru Antony Green says it’s ‘time to retire’ as he prepares to leave on-air role
Analyst, who is about to turn 65, said the upcoming federal election would be the last he covers on air
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The ABC’s election analyst, Antony Green, has just announced that the upcoming federal election will be his last on-air with the ABC.
Green said on Wednesday morning it was “time to retire”.
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Continue reading...Newsom threatens to pull funds unless California cities crack down on homelessness
‘We’re not going to fund failure,’ says governor, who warned local authorities they could lose out on millions of dollars
California’s governor warned cities and counties that they could lose out on hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding if they do not make progress in clearing out encampments and tackling homelessness.
Gavin Newsom’s comments on Monday, while announcing $920m in funding to address the crisis, come as he escalates efforts to push local governments to take greater action. Last summer, Newsom told counties he could withhold state support if they failed to do more homeless encampment sweeps.
Continue reading...Wes Streeting to axe thousands of jobs at NHS England after ousting of chief executive
NHS staff fear power grab by health department as health secretary looks to shrink body due to ‘duplication’ of roles
Wes Streeting will axe thousands of jobs at NHS England after his ousting of its chair and chief executive in what health service staff fear is a power grab.
The health secretary’s plan follows Amanda Pritchard’s shock announcement on Monday that she was stepping down as the organisation’s chief executive next month.
Continue reading...French fugitive whose escape left two officers dead extradited from Romania
Mohamed Amra’s arrest ends nine-month manhunt when armed assailants ambushed prison convoy in Normandy
A notorious French fugitive who staged a deadly escape that killed two guards last year has been extradited from Romania to France, days after his arrest in Bucharest ended a nine-month international manhunt.
Mohamed Amra, nicknamed “The Fly”, was arrested near a shopping centre in Bucharest on Saturday after being identified by Romanian police, despite having dyed his hair red, possibly to evade detection. The Bucharest court of appeal approved his extradition request on Sunday.
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