Australia’s new environmental protection agency approves coal project, angering climate groups

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A Queensland open-cut mine will be able to keep digging until 2055 as Anthony Albanese denies tensions with Pacific leaders over fossil fuels

Australia’s new national agency for environmental protection has approved its first coal project, allowing a Queensland open-cut mine to keep digging until 2055 while clearing threatened woodland and koala habitat.

The confirmation of the extension of the Saraji mine, which digs and exports coal for steel making, comes after the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, denied this week there was tension over Australia’s fossil fuel exports during talks with Pacific leaders.

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Molly Ticehurst’s father tells DV murderer he hopes daughter’s screams will haunt him forever

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Tony Ticehurst confronts Daniel Billings during sentence hearing in regional NSW, stating: ‘When she died, part of me died with her’

The family of Molly Ticehurst, who was murdered by her abusive ex-boyfriend Daniel Billings in her home in central western New South Wales in 2024, has come face-to-face with her killer.

Tony Ticehurst on Thursday described his 28-year-old daughter as big-hearted and deeply loved. She was his best friend and confidant, he told the supreme court in Orange.

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Boy charged after teenager’s hand nearly cut off in Sydney

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NSW police called to Redfern on Wednesday night found a 17-year-old with a partially severed hand

A teenage boy will face court today after a “near-complete amputation” of a boy’s hand during an alleged assault in Sydney on Wednesday night.

New South Wales police were called to Redfern about 6pm last night and found a 17-year-old with a partially severed hand.

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Dutch central bank moves 86 tonnes of gold to UK from US and Canada, citing ‘geopolitical unrest’

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Bank says gold reserves held in London could be traded more easily and the move will allow it to respond more rapidly in a ‘crisis situation’

The Dutch central bank says it has moved 86 tonnes of its gold reserves out of the US and Canada to London, citing “increasing geopolitical unrest”.

De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) said gold reserves held in London could be traded more easily than those held in New York and Ottawa.

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China’s falling emissions amid Iran war spark hope of decarbonisation watershed

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Oil consumption plummets and EV sales soar as analysts say demand may not fully return even if crude price falls

China’s carbon dioxide emissions fell by 1% after the outbreak of the US-Israeli war on Iran, thanks to a sharp reduction in oil consumption and a steady rise in the use of electric vehicles and public transport, analysis shows.

The report reveals the role of clean energy in cushioning the price shocks caused by the strait of Hormuz crisis to the world’s biggest oil importer. It also reinforces hopes that China, which is the world’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, may be nearing a turning point in decarbonising its economy.

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Epstein survivors urge billionaire Leon Black to cooperate with House panel

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Black called on to comply with subpoenas and appear as required to clarify connections to convicted sex offender

More than a dozen survivors of Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse have called on the billionaire Leon Black to appear before the House oversight committee in order to clarify his connections to the late disgraced financier and convicted sex offender.

In a letter released on Wednesday, the survivors urged Black to comply with congressional subpoenas ahead of Thursday’s deposition before the House oversight committee.

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Cassandra Wilson, Grammy-winning jazz singer, dies aged 70

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Mississippi-born Wilson, who worked across folk, pop, R&B and country, was once dubbed America’s best singer

Cassandra Wilson, the two-time Grammy-winning jazz singer, songwriter and producer has died. She was 70.

Dubbed America’s best singer by Time magazine in 2001, Wilson was best known for her genre-bending voice, which expanded the boundaries of traditional blues-based jazz and worked effortlessly across folk, pop, R&B, country and beyond. At the heart of all her work was her idiosyncratic contralto, a soulful sound distinctly tied to her roots.

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Apple Maps renames Lake Ontario as ‘Lake America’ for US users after Trump order

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Tech company submits to controversial Trump order to rename body of water amid US trade spat with Canada

Apple has renamed Lake Ontario as “Lake America” for US users of its Maps app, after an executive order from Donald Trump to change the name of the Great Lake amid his trade spat with Canada.

The Apple Maps app now displays the controversial new name for the lake, which sits between New York state and the Canadian province of Ontario, for users in the US. Apple users outside the country will still see the Lake Ontario name.

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Clippers docked five first-round draft picks and fined $30m over Kawhi Leonard scandal

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  • Team circumvented salary cap rules to sign star

  • Owner Steve Ballmer lands one-year ban

The NBA has handed down one of the biggest punishments in the history of the league to the Los Angeles Clippers after finding that the franchise circumvented salary cap rules when it courted Kawhi Leonard as a free agent.

The league has stripped the team of five first-round draft picks, giving the team no natural pick in the draft from 2029 through 2033.

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Jury in Malta acquits businessman in killing of investigative journalist – AP News

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  1. Jury in Malta acquits businessman in killing of investigative journalist  AP News
  2. Malta court acquits businessman of car bomb murder of anti-corruption journalist  Reuters
  3. Maltese tycoon found not guilty of involvement in Daphne Caruana Galizia murder  The Guardian
  4. Maltese tycoon acquitted of masterminding reporter's murder  Yahoo
  5. The Killing of Maltese Journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia and Its Aftermath  U.S. News & World Report
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How are search operations progressing in Nepal, a week after deadly flash flood? – Reuters

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  1. How are search operations progressing in Nepal, a week after deadly flash flood?  Reuters
  2. Dramatic video shows woman and two children narrowly escaping Nepal flash flooding  WBAL-TV
  3. Nepal-Tibet flood death toll tops 1,100 as tens of thousands search for missing  ABC News - Breaking News, Latest News and Videos
  4. Nepal Seeks Climate Compensation From China, US and India  Bloomberg.com
  5. China Censors and Punishes to Shape Narrative on Floods in Tibet, a Contrast to Nepal  The New York Times
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Maltese tycoon found not guilty of involvement in Daphne Caruana Galizia murder

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Yorgen Fenech cleared on both charges he faced over 2017 killing of journalist that prompted global outrage

One of Malta’s richest men has been found not guilty of involvement in the murder of the anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

The verdict, which is expected to be appealed against by the prosecution, came as a blow not only to the victim’s family, but to the politicians and campaigners who regard the case as a landmark action in the fight to protect press freedom in Europe.

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Bayeux tapestry loan symbolises ‘entente amicale’ between France and UK, says King Charles

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Monarch tells Emmanuel Macron at the British Museum in London that the two nations will share a future ‘woven together’ by history and shared values

The loan of the Bayeux tapestry was “the best possible symbol” of the “entente amicale” between France and the UK, King Charles said, as he visited the famous embroidered masterpiece at the British Museum in London.

Though the tapestry recounts a conflict, “here it is today, nearly 1,000 years later, as a precious symbol of trust, at a time when trust seems sadly to be in short supply between nations,” he said.

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How the Hell Did an Island Suddenly Appear, Then Vanish? – 404 Media

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  1. How the Hell Did an Island Suddenly Appear, Then Vanish?  404 Media
  2. Phantom Island Mysteriously Appears, Vanishes, Then Reappears on B.C. Reservoir  The New York Times
  3. Peekaboo island: the floating forest confounding nature watchers in western Canada  The Guardian
  4. Canada Has a New Forested Floating Island. Scientists Think It Used to Have Many More.  National Geographic
  5. Mysterious vanishing island reappears on British Columbia reservoir  upi.com
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