Court also hears from four people who say they didn’t witness alleged offence against another complainant
One of Alan Jones’s accusers has had his allegation withdrawn, with one charge of assault with an act of indecency dramatically dropped from the former broadcaster’s trial.
The allegation, dating from 2012 and brought by a complainant pseudonymised as F, was withdrawn by the prosecution in a Sydney court on Monday afternoon.
Continue reading...Media workers are grappling with increasingly volatile press climate in US, with some detained and even deported
As hundreds of masked and armed US federal agents besieged the streets of Minneapolis, turning the midwestern city into the frontline of the Trump administration’s unprecedented crackdown on immigration, the independent photographer John Abernathy was documenting one of the protests that had become a daily occurrence when Immigration and Customs Enforcement tackled him.
A photograph of him on the ground, pepper spray running down his face, captured the violence with which ICE agents had for weeks treated immigrants and the thousands of US citizens who had come to their defence. It was also a stark reminder that journalists were not immune to the agency’s aggressive tactics.
Continue reading...Unions, thinktanks and others say overhaul could provide investment Britain needs
Unions, thinktanks, environmental groups and charities have come together to call on ministers to boost the financial firepower of the national wealth fund to empower it to invest more in Britain and rebalance the country’s economy.
Lower energy bills, the revitalisation of the UK’s industrial heartlands and the provision of more high-quality jobs could all be unlocked by scaling up the NWF, according to a statement from organisations including the TUC, Greenpeace, WWF and the New Economics Foundation.
Turbocharging the retrofitting of homes and buildings.
Giving the public a bigger stake in critical infrastructure through taking part-ownership stakes in key projects.
Launching a targeted investment programme to bring new green industries to communities hit hardest by deindustrialisation.
Supporting a network of regional banks to funnel money into the small businesses that hold up local economies.
Continue reading...In a 60 Minutes interview, ex-husband describes moments leading to the 2023 killings
In his first televised interview, Patrick Clancy, the ex-husband of Lindsay Clancy, described the moments leading up to the 2023 killings of their children and how he coped in the aftermath.
Patrick Clancy responded to online criticism and conspiracy theories from people who supported Lindsay Clancy and believed he did not provide enough care to his wife at the time.
Continue reading...Two leaders meet in French territory off Canada as Ottawa seeks stronger relations with EU while fighting trade war with US
The leaders of France and Canada have pledged closer ties to grapple with rising geopolitical tensions, climate change and the erosion of democratic values, after they met in a French territory off Canada’s Atlantic coast.
The two leaders’ visit to Saint-Pierre and Miquelon – the first by a French president since 2014 and the first by a Canadian prime minister – came just weeks after Donald Trump posted an image showing the islands, as well as all of Canada and other countries in North America, covered by the US flag.
Continue reading...President’s latest order expected to bring NIH funding under control of Trump administration to align with agenda
Donald Trump’s latest executive order is expected to establish a board responsible for approving National Institutes of Health grant funding, marking another attempt by the Trump administration to censor topics that do not align with the president’s agenda.
The executive order, reported by outlets including the Washington Post and Politico, was discussed in a meeting on Friday where senior administration officials accused the NIH of funding “woke” initiatives that went against Trump’s political priorities.
Continue reading...Funding boost for facilities and fixed dates for trials designed to encourage more survivors to come forward
Specialist courtrooms prioritising cases of rape and other serious sex offences are to be introduced across England and Wales, with campaigners welcoming the move as potentially transformative.
The changes, designed to encourage more survivors to come forward, will include the provision of private entrances and waiting rooms, and facilities equipped for recording evidence in advance and observing sentencing remotely.
Continue reading...Jovenel Moïse, 53, was shot dead in July 2021 in a killing which sparked chaos in Haiti
Eighteen people have been arrested in association with the 2021 assassination of the Haitian president Jovenel Moïse, according to US officials.
Moïse, 53, was shot dead on 7 July 2021 at his private residence by a hired group of about 20 military-trained Colombian mercenaries. His security detail did not intervene to protect him.
Continue reading...Tensions grow as Trump tells Fox News he is considering ‘wiping Iran out’ after attacks on Riyadh by Houthi rebels
Governments across the Middle East are bracing for an escalation of violence after Iran claimed it had received intelligence that the US was preparing for a renewed bombing campaign against the Islamic Republic.
In a potential sign of growing tensions before the UN general assembly in New York this week, Donald Trump cut short a weekend visit to the Camp David presidential retreat on Sunday with no official explanation, and a new security alert was issued by the state department to all US citizens in the Middle East.
Continue reading...Far-right AfD wins in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and leftwing Die Linke on course for victory in Berlin
Germany’s embattled chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has vowed to stay in office and fight for future-proofing economic changes despite heavy losses for his conservatives in two state elections, one to the far right and the other to a leftwing party.
Preliminary results indicated Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) tallied just 4.9%, below the 5% threshold needed to enter the state parliament and indicating they may be excluded altogether. It would be the CDU’s worst-ever state score, which Merz called a “disaster”.
Continue reading...Row at Athenian riviera resort turned violent after two elderly bathers reportedly argued over shortage of loungers
Greek police are investigating the death of an 82-year-old man after a brawl over a sunlounger at a beach on the Athenian riviera.
The man had arrived at the popular bathing spot of Vouliagmeni before 10am on Sunday hoping to secure a sunbed, but he soon began arguing with a fellow bather – described by authorities as a “76-year-old man unknown to him” – when it became clear loungers were in short supply.
Continue reading...Florida’s María Elvira Salazar warns Trump that advisers are ‘compromising his legacy’ and not showing ‘whole picture’
María Elvira Salazar, the Republican congresswoman who has accused the president of going too far on immigration enforcement, doubled down on her criticism of the administration on Sunday, warning Donald Trump that some of his advisers were “compromising his legacy”.
In an interview with CBS News’s Face the Nation, the Florida representative who is locked in a tight race for re-election pleaded with the US president not to “squander” his relationship with Hispanic voters. Though she couched her remarks as criticism of top administration advisers, it was clear that her focus was on Trump’s much-vaunted ambition to carry out the largest mass deportation of undocumented immigrants in US history.
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