Rights groups condemn arrest of Hong Kong activist Anna Kwok’s father and brother

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Arrests are the first case of the city’s national security law being used to target the relatives of pro-democracy campaigners

Human rights groups have condemned the arrest of relatives of Anna Kwok, an exiled pro-democracy activist who is wanted by the Hong Kong police, in the first example of the city’s national security law being used to target the family members of an activist living overseas.

Kwok, 28, is the executive director of the Washington-based Hong Kong Democracy Council, and is one of 19 overseas activists wanted by the national security police, who are offering bounties of HK$1m (£97,000) for information leading to arrest.

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Parents of Bondi Junction killer confiscated his ‘pigging knives’ year before stabbings, inquest told

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Inquest into deaths of six victims in April 2024 told Joel Cauchi’s father and mother worried about weapons ‘especially if he’s going to lose contact with reality’

Joel Cauchi called the police to his parents’ home more than a year before he stabbed and killed six people at Bondi Junction, to complain that his father had taken away his knives due to concerns about his mental health, an inquest has been told.

Body-worn camera footage played at the coronial inquest in Sydney on Monday showed an officer telling her colleague, after speaking to Cauchi’s mother, that “Mum just wants him to get help”.

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Far-right Trump ally secures decisive win in first round of Romania’s presidential election rerun

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George Simion will face centrist Bucharest mayor Nicușor Dan in runoff vote

An ultranationalist who opposes military aid to Ukraine, has vilified the EU’s leaders, and calls himself Donald Trump’s “natural ally” has won the first round of Romania’s rerun presidential vote and will face a centrist in the runoff, as vote counting nears its end.

With 99% of votes counted late on Sunday, George Simion, whose far-right Alliance for the Union of Romanians (AUR) began as an anti-vax movement during the pandemic, was comfortably in the lead on a projected 40.5% of the vote.

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Two arrested over bomb plot targeting Lady Gaga concert in Rio attended by millions

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Two people have been arrested in connection to an alleged planned attack on Brazil’s LGBTQ community at the singer’s Sunday concert, police say

Two people have been arrested in connection with an alleged plot to detonate explosives at a free Lady Gaga concert in Rio de Janeiro, in what authorities believe was an attempt to target Brazil’s LGBTQ community.

The Rio event on Saturday was the biggest show of the pop star’s career. It attracted an estimated 2.1 million fans to Copacabana beach and had crowds screaming and dancing along.

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Trump announces 100% tariffs on movies ‘produced in foreign lands’

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President calls films ‘national security threat’ and claims he called on commerce department to immediately enact tariff

Donald Trump on Sunday announced on his Truth Social platform a 100% tariff on all movies “produced in Foreign Lands”, saying the US film industry was dying a “very fast death” due to the incentives that other countries were offering to draw American film-makers.

In his post, he claimed to have authorised the commerce department and the US trade representative to immediately begin instituting such a tariff.

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Israel to call up thousands of reservists, considers expanding Gaza war – The Washington Post

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  1. Israel to call up thousands of reservists, considers expanding Gaza war  The Washington Post
  2. Israeli army starts calling up reservists for planned expansion to Gaza offensive  BBC
  3. Ministers approve plans to expand Gaza offensive, renew and overhaul aid delivery  The Times of Israel
  4. Netanyahu convenes ministers on new phase of Gaza war and aid  Reuters
  5. Poised to Expand Gaza Offensive, Israel Calls Up Thousands of Reserve Soldiers  The New York Times
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U.K. probing possible link between two suspected state-sponsored Iranian plots – NBC News

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  1. U.K. probing possible link between two suspected state-sponsored Iranian plots  NBC News
  2. Eight men arrested in two separate anti-terror operations, Met police says  BBC
  3. U.K. police arrest 7 Iranians in what government calls biggest counterterrorism operations in years  CBS News
  4. ‘Iranian terror attack’ foiled with hours to spare  The Telegraph
  5. Tehran’s cruelty is closer than we think  The Spectator
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MPs warn social care needs substantial investment to fix ‘broken’ system

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Cross-party group’s report emphasises risk of failure after finding 3.5 million people not getting care they need

A cross-party group of MPs has warned attempts to reform adult social care are doomed to fail unless ministers accept major investment is needed to overhaul a “broken” system that was failing millions of people.

Reform of social care was typically seen by governments as a “burden” on the taxpayer, and a “drain on resources” rather than a positive boost to people’s lives, the NHS and the economy, said the health and social care select committee.

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