- Rubio, Democrats clash over Trump’s foreign policy moves The Washington Post
- Senate Democrats Grill Defiant Rubio on Trump Policies The New York Times
- Democrats express remorse for confirming Marco Rubio Axios
- Van Hollen slams Rubio in contentious exchange over deportations and Abrego Garcia ABC News
- US is not withdrawing from the world, Rubio says during testy hearings in Congress Reuters
Australia news live: Nationals’ decision to break up Coalition not unanimous; ‘treacherous’ weather hampering chopper NSW flood rescues
Nationals leader hints there might still be a possibility of joint tickets in 2028 if state officials from the two parties can come to agreement. Follow today’s news live
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People trapped by flooding as river rise breaks record
Intense falls and major flooding have hit Australia’s most populous state as a slow-moving system dumps rain, causing a major river to rise to the highest level in almost 100 years.
Continue reading...NSW floods: BoM warns of ‘lots of flooding to come’ amid wet weather on mid-north coast
Two days of heavy rainfall still on way as SES carries out 130 rescues amid floods in Taree and nearby areas
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Residents of the mid-north coast of New South Wales have described anxious waits for rescue in the dark as unprecedented flooding inundates homes and businesses across the region.
The State Emergency Service has performed 130 rescues in the past 24 hours, the bulk of those occurring in Taree, Wingham and Glenthorne.
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Continue reading...Queensland to restrict good character references in sentencing of accused rapists
Good character references from friends and families of accused rapists had previously been a consideration in a judge’s sentencing decision
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The consideration of good character references for accused rapists will be restricted under major Queensland court reforms but some advocates say it does not go far enough.
The changes introduced to Queensland parliament this week are among the recommendations made by a Queensland Sentencing Advisory Council report into rape and sexual assault.
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Continue reading...Chicago Sun-Times confirms AI was used to create reading list of books that don’t exist
Outlet calls story, created by freelancer working with one of the newpaper’s content partner, a ‘learning moment’
Illinois’ prominent Chicago Sun-Times newspaper has confirmed that a summer reading list, which included several recommendations for books that don’t exist, was created using artificial intelligence by a freelancer who worked with one of their content partners.
Social media posts began to circulate on Tuesday criticizing the paper for allegedly using the AI software ChatGPT to generate an article with book recommendations for the upcoming summer season called “Summer reading list for 2025”. As such chatbots are known to make up information, a phenomenon often referred to as “AI hallucination”, the article contains several fake titles attached to real authors.
Continue reading...Pacific must not become a ‘military zone’ amid rise of China, New Zealand’s deputy PM warns
In an interview with the Guardian, Winston Peters says the world faces the ‘most uncertain time’ in 80 years ahead of talks with Australia's foreign minister
The Pacific must be protected from becoming a military zone amid China’s growing push for influence in the region, New Zealand’s top diplomat Winston Peters has warned ahead of a meeting with his Australian counterpart Penny Wong.
Peters, who is New Zealand’s deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister, told the Guardian that his country has a good relationship with China.
Continue reading...Britain, France and Canada Condemn Israel’s Expansion of Gaza War – The New York Times
- Britain, France and Canada Condemn Israel’s Expansion of Gaza War The New York Times
- 'This must end now' and 'Rayner's secret plan' BBC
- UK suspends free trade talks with Israel and announces sanctions over West Bank settlers AP News
- Netanyahu capitulated – but still alienated Trump and infuriated the enlightened world Haaretz
- U.K. suspends trade talks with Israel as pressure mounts over war in Gaza The Globe and Mail
Venezuela frees US citizen in latest exchange with Trump administration
President Donald Trump sent special envoy Richard Grenell to arrange Joseph St Clair's release after months in prison.
Global Economic Officials Gather Amid Headwinds From Trump’s Trade War – The New York Times
- Global Economic Officials Gather Amid Headwinds From Trump’s Trade War The New York Times
- G-7 Finance Ministers Aim to Avoid Public Spats With US Despite Trade Turmoil Bloomberg.com
- Top finance officials from G7 countries gather in Banff for 3-day summit CBC
- Global trade war dominates agenda for Group of Seven finance ministers meeting in Banff The Globe and Mail
- Morning Bid: An awkward G7 Reuters
Did Trump really strike Gulf deals worth $2tn? – BBC
- Did Trump really strike Gulf deals worth $2tn? BBC
- For Trump, Adulation and No Risk of Protests Made the Gulf a Dream Trip The New York Times
- President Trump’s Gulf Trip: Post-Visit Observations Arab Center Washington DC
- The Mideast Is Donald Trump’s Safe Place The New Yorker
- MORNING GLORY: A triumphant trip for Trump Fox News
Watchdog calls for action on children’s care case delays in England and Wales
Proportion of cases lasting more than a year up 17-fold in seven years, National Audit Office says
The proportion of children in England and Wales subject to care proceedings who are having to wait more than a year to have their case resolved has increased more than 17-fold in the last seven years, a watchdog has found.
The average duration of proceedings brought by local authorities to protect a child from harm (known as public law cases) was 36 weeks last year, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). In 2014 the government set a time limit of 26 weeks but it has never been met.
Continue reading...Review of student suicides in England dodged ‘real issues’, say bereaved parents
Uinversity students’ mental health and wellbeing must be ‘prioritised alongside their studies’, argue campaigners
A review of student suicides in England dodged “the real issues” with universities, the parents of a student who killed herself before a class presentation have said.
The national review of higher education student suicide deaths, commissioned by the Department for Education, heard that families suffered “distressing experiences” at the hands of university administrators, and concluded that universities owed a “duty of candour” to relatives, including greater transparency and involvement.
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Continue reading...Brain tumour diagnosis could be made within hours, say researchers
New testing method means treatments could start sooner, possibly before patient leaves the operating table
A new method for diagnosing brain tumours could cut the time patients wait for treatments by weeks to hours and raise the possibility of novel types of therapy, researchers have said.
According to the Brain Tumour Charity, about 740,000 people around the world are diagnosed with a brain tumour each year, around half of which are non-cancerous. Once a brain tumour is found, a sample is taken during surgery and cells are immediately studied under a microscope by pathologists, who can often identify the type of tumour. However, genetic testing helps to make or confirm the diagnosis.
Continue reading...Watchdog urges Scotland to take action after repeatedly missing climate targets
Climate Change Committee says original goal of a 75% emissions cut by 2030 will now be delayed by up to six years
The UK’s climate watchdog has warned that Scotland needs to take “immediate action at pace and scale” to cut its emissions after ministers axed a series of policy pledges.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC), an official advisory body, said ministers in Edinburgh needed to take urgent action to curb emissions from buildings and transport to cut Scotland’s overall emissions to nearly zero by 2045.
Abandoned a target to cut car miles by 20% by 2030.
Dropped a pledge to rapidly decarbonise homes by mandating low-carbon heating systems.
Cut funding for tree planting.
Missed targets to restore degraded peatland.
Ignored calls for a plan to cut meat and dairy consumption, and failed to use their powers to tax air travel more heavily.
Continue reading...Trump rolls out Golden Dome missile defense project and appoints leader
Gen Michael Guetlein of Space Force will be in charge of defense system that could cost $540bn over 20 years
Donald Trump announced on Tuesday that his administration will move forward with developing the so-called “Golden Dome” missile defense system that he envisions will protect the United States from possible foreign strikes using ground and space-based weapons.
Flanked by the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, in the Oval Office, Trump also said that he wanted the project to be operational before he left office. He added that Republicans had agreed to allocate $25bn in initial funding and Canada had expressed an interest in taking part.
Continue reading...The personal secretary and adviser to Mexico City’s mayor are shot dead – AP News
- The personal secretary and adviser to Mexico City’s mayor are shot dead AP News
- Mexican officials assassinated in rare attack in capital Financial Times
- Motorcycle gunmen kill Mexico City mayor’s private secretary and adviser CNN
- Personal secretary and adviser to Mexico City’s mayor killed in brazen daylight attack The Guardian
- Two top aides to Mexico City mayor shot dead by motorbike killers Reuters
Trump says US will put weapons in space as part of ‘Golden Dome’ plan
The president has expanded on his vision for overhauling the US's missile defence system with space-based interceptors.
Flights at New Jersey airport capped temporarily amid air traffic control issues
Cuts to continue through October amid runway construction aimed at curbing delays and cancellations
The Federal Aviation Administration has finalized an interim order to temporarily cut the number of flights coming in and out of Newark Liberty international airport as the embattled transit hub has recently experienced widespread delays and cancellations due to air traffic control operations.
Beginning on Tuesday, 20 May, Newark airport’s maximum hourly rate is now 28 arrivals and 28 departures, for a total of 56 hourly operations. Prior to this change, Newark typically handled more than 77 flights per hour during peak times, according to USA Today.
Continue reading...Why is Donald Trump fixated on South Africa?
How did the US right become fixated on a debunked conspiracy theory of 'white genocide' in South Africa?
Judges told to favour community alternatives over short prison sentences
Sentencing review to be published on Thursday aims to ‘ease prison capacity crisis’ and reduce reoffending
Judges and magistrates in England and Wales will be told to move away from handing out short custodial sentences in favour of community-based alternatives in a long-awaited sentencing review to be announced on Thursday.
Amid concern that the criminal justice system could collapse because of overcrowding in prisons, the former Tory justice secretary David Gauke will call for suspended sentences to be made available for custodial sentences of up to three years, instead of the current two.
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