General news

• New York prosecutors urge judge not to toss out Trump hush money conviction

  10-12-2024 23:41 via nbcnews.com
  
  Prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office urged a New York judge not to throw out President-elect Donald Trump's criminal conviction in his hush money case, offering a variety of suggestions about how the case could proceed without interfering with his presidential duties.
  
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• China’s sci-fi spherical Death Star-like robot cop uses AI, facial recognition to track criminals

  10-12-2024 23:15 via foxnews.com
  
  Footage from the streets of China captured a scene straight from a science fiction novel – spherical drones alongside patrolling law enforcement. Chinese robotics company, Logon Technology, unveiled the RT-G autonomous spherical robot in a release, saying it was a "technological breakthrough" designed to assist and even replace humans in dangerous environments.The spherical robots are capable of operating both on land and water. The robots can reach speeds of up to 35km/h (a
  
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• Netanyahu wants to establish ‘relations’ with Syria but says Israel will attack it if becomes a threat

  10-12-2024 23:12 via foxnews.com
  
  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday he wants to establish "relations" with the new regime in Syria after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad, but he warned Israel will not hesitate to attack the Middle Eastern nation should it pose a threat."We want relations with the new regime in Syria," Netanyahu said in a live address. "But if this regime allows Iran to return to establishing itself in Syria or allows the transfer of Iranian weapons or any other weapons to Hezbollah or [if it]
  
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• HTS leader says world ‘has nothing to fear’ from new Syrian regime – Middle East crisis live

  10-12-2024 21:13 via theguardian.com
  Ahmed al-Sharaa, also known as Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, attempted to reassure foreign nations in remarks on Sky NewsShare your reaction to the fall of AssadThe first western journalist to gain access to Sednaya prison was the Guardian’s William Christou, and he spoke to Archie Bland for this morning’s First Edition newsletter. He told Bland:I didn’t know exactly what to expect. But it looked medieval. There were cages, and I saw a prosthetic leg lying on the floor, tiny cramped
  
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• Australia news live: Chris Minns condemns ‘shocking’ overnight vandalism in Sydney involving anti-Israel graffiti

  10-12-2024 21:11 via theguardian.com
  Police were called to Woollahra, where a car had been set on fire. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPaul Fletcher confident Liberals will pick up new seats at next electionYesterday, Liberal frontbencher Paul Fletcher announced he would not re-contest the next election.The Liberal party is at its strongest when it has senior people, and people across the party room, from all of the different strands and philosophical traditions that make up
  
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• Disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner retrying comeback

  10-12-2024 21:08 via theguardian.com
  
  Weiner, 60, whom some blame for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential defeat, registers as candidate for New York City councilAnthony Weiner, the former congressman who suffered one of the most spectacular falls from grace in US politics after he was embroiled in a sexting scandal that some blame for Hillary Clinton’s defeat in the 2016 presidential election, has formally initiated yet another attempt at a comeback.Weiner, 60, has officially registered as a candidate for a New York Cit
  
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• Suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting screams outside court hearing

  10-12-2024 21:06 via theguardian.com
  Suspect yelled ‘this is … an insult to the intelligence of the American people’ before he fought being extradited The suspect in the shooting death of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, screamed: “This is completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people” on Tuesday before he fought being extradited from Pennsylvania to face murder charges in New York.During the hearing, beside choosing to fight his extradition, Luigi Mangione
  
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• US state agency unit combating foreign disinformation snubbed for extension

  10-12-2024 21:04 via theguardian.com
  
  The Global Engagement Center, which addresses foreign influence operations outside the US, left in the lurchThe Global Engagement Center, a state department unit critical to combating foreign disinformation, will not receive a multi-year extension in the latest National Defense Authorization Act, putting its future operations in jeopardy.The next chapter of the GEC – which only addresses foreign influence operations outside the United States – now relies on Congress to come up with a
  
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• Crown prince lobbied Cameron over Saudi dissident, documents reveal

  10-12-2024 20:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Records obtained via FoI request relate to critic of Saudi royal family living in UK under asylum protectionMohammed bin Salman personally lobbied David Cameron earlier this year to intervene in the legal case of a London-based dissident who is suing the Saudi government, amid threats by its officials that the issue “could have implications” for £100bn of investment in the UK.UK government documents obtained by the Guardian show that Cameron asked senior Foreign Offi
  
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• UN may remove Syrian rebel group HTS from terror list if conditions met

  10-12-2024 20:45 via theguardian.com
  Post-Assad leadership must prove its social and political inclusivity to shed terror designation, says UN envoyThe UN would consider taking the Syrian rebel group that toppled the regime of Bashar al-Assad off its designated terrorist list if it passes the key test of forming a truly inclusive transitional government, according to a senior official at the world body.Geir Pedersen, UN special envoy for Syria, held out the prospect of removing Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) from the organisation&rsquo
  
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• Some ‘mystery disease’ patients in DRC have malaria, WHO says

  10-12-2024 20:44 via theguardian.com
  UN health body says patients could have more than one disease as unidentified illness continues to cause alarmTen patients suffering from a mystery disease that has broken out in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have tested positive for malaria, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said.However, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the patients could have more than one disease simultaneously. Continue reading...
  
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• Leading group of Syrian rebels could be removed from UK terror list

  10-12-2024 20:44 via theguardian.com
  Western intelligence has deemed Hayat Tahrir al-Sham not a direct terror threat to the UKHayat Tahrir al-Sham, the leading group that overthrew the Assad regime in Syria, is not a direct terror threat to the UK, according to western intelligence assessments.The judgment could mean that the UK, along with the US and EU, will soon remove HTS’s designation as a terror organisation. In the British case, that would help justify direct contact with Syria’s emerging leaders. Continue readin
  
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• Prince Harry trying to turn News Group trial into ‘public inquiry’, high court told

  10-12-2024 20:41 via theguardian.com
  Counsel for Sun publisher accuses Duke of Sussex and co-claimant of calling irrelevant witnesses over ‘generic issues’The Duke of Sussex is attempting to turn his case against the publishers of the Sun into a “public inquiry” to seek accountability for others who have already settled claims, the high court has heard.Prince Harry faces up to four days of “very extensive” questioning in the witness box in the legal action he and Tom Watson, a former Labour deput
  
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• Fundraisers hit £6.8m target to build MND centre in honour of Rob Burrow

  10-12-2024 20:31 via theguardian.com
  Rugby league player’s teammate Kevin Sinfield and fans enable building of motor neurone disease centre in LeedsThe £6.8m fundraising target to build a new specialist motor neurone disease (MND) centre in Leeds in honour ofthe rugby league player Rob Burrow has been reached.The money was raised by the colossal efforts of his fans and close friend Kevin Sinfield over three years after the former Leeds Rhinos player received an MND diagnosis. Continue reading...
  
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• Tobago’s push for greater autonomy fails at final hurdle

  10-12-2024 20:25 via theguardian.com
  Local politicians decry major setback in decades-long battle for more political and economic independenceA new attempt to give the Caribbean island of Tobago more self-governance has been defeated in what local politicians described as a major setback in a decades-long battle for more political and economic independence.One of the Caribbean’s top tourist destinations, Tobago is part of the twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago, whose economy is mainly based on oil and gas production. Co
  
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• Claims against PinkNews bosses of sexual misconduct ‘very concerning’, says No 10

  10-12-2024 20:23 via theguardian.com
  
  BBC reports 30 current and former staff at LGBTQ+ website allege founder and his husband behaved inappropriately towards junior colleaguesDowning Street has described as “very concerning” multiple allegations of sexual misconduct made against the couple who run PinkNews, the world’s largest LGBTQ+ website.The BBC reported that more than 30 current and former staff of PinkNews have accused its founder and CEO, Benjamin Cohen, and his husband, Anthony James, of inappropriate beha
  
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• Bournemouth beach murder accused said he liked knives, court told

  10-12-2024 20:16 via theguardian.com
  Prison officer and criminology lecturer give evidence in trial of Nasen Saadi, who denies murder of Amie GrayA criminology student accused of fatally stabbing a sports coach on a Dorset beach told a prison officer he was fascinated with knives, a jury has heard.Nasen Saadi, 20, is said to have told the officer that he liked the shape and look of knives and had a collection of about six at his home in south London. Continue reading...
  
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• Meet the Parents sequel in development with original cast set to return

  10-12-2024 20:15 via theguardian.com
  
  Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro are in talks to reprise their characters for a new comedy follow-upRobert De Niro and Ben Stiller are in talks to reprise their roles in a new Meet the Parents sequel.According to Deadline, the actors, along with their fellow co-stars Blythe Danner and Teri Polo, are in discussions to return for an as yet untitled follow-up. Continue reading...
  
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• FA warned to avoid protest at meeting unless boycotting Saudi Arabia World Cup

  10-12-2024 20:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Saudi Arabia will host 2034 men’s World CupFA yet to disclose how it will approach voteThe Football Association board has been warned by voices in internal discussions to avoid protesting at Wednesday’s meeting that will confirm Saudi Arabia as host of the 2034 men’s World Cup, unless it is willing to boycott the tournament.Saudi Arabia will formally win the right to stage the World Cup at a virtual meeting of the 211-member Fifa congress. On Tuesday there remained a lack of cl
  
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• Photos of Birmingham DHL fire suggest device could have downed plane

  10-12-2024 19:50 via theguardian.com
  
  Images consistent with fire from magnesium-based device, suspected to be part of Russian sabotage plotPhotographs of the fire caused by a suspected Russian incendiary device at a DHL facility in Birmingham in July have backed up intelligence assessments that the blast was strong enough to have brought down a cargo plane.One image appears to show when the booby-trapped item, hidden in a massage device, caught fire. A distinctive bright light emerges from the top of a crate of parcels being moved
  
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• European countries urged not to abandon Syrians applying for asylum

  10-12-2024 19:43 via theguardian.com
  
  UN agency and charities call on governments not to leave refugees in limbo after UK and Germany suspend claimsThe UN’s refugee agency and the UK’s biggest refugee charity have urged European countries not to turn their backs on the Syrians who are applying for asylum.Interventions from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Refugee Council follow the UK government’s suspension of 6,500 asylum claims from Syrian nationals after the collapse of the Assa
  
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• Matt Gaetz gets prime-time talkshow on hard-right outlet OANN

  10-12-2024 19:13 via theguardian.com
  
  Hiring comes after ex-congressman’s attorney general nomination foundered amid sexual misconduct allegationsFormer Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz has secured a prime-time slot at One America News Network (OANN), a broadcaster known for its staunch support of Donald Trump and controversial election coverage.Gaetz, who rose to prominence as a combative Trump ally and was instrumental in ousting the former House speaker Kevin McCarthy, will host a nightly political talkshow beginni
  
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• Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson to fulfill dream of performing on Broadway

  10-12-2024 19:13 via theguardian.com
  
  Liberal supreme court judge will take on ensemble role in musical, a fantasyshe articulated in Harvard applicationKetanji Brown Jackson is set to fulfill a long-held dream this Saturday, stepping on to Broadway in a one-night performance of the musical & Juliet.The 54-year-old liberal supreme court justice will take on an ensemble role in the show, realising a goal she first articulated in her Harvard University application essay. Jackson will appear in the 8pm ET performance and participate
  
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• UK politics: Kemi Badenoch criticised by Nigerian vice president for ‘denigrating’ his country – as it happened

  10-12-2024 19:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Kashim Shettima said Nigerians are proud of Badenoch’s achievements, despite her denigrating the country where she was brought upRachel Reeves has rejected Lib Dem criticism (see 10.33am) that she is neglecting social care. She told broadcasters:For our NHS to work effectively we need a social care system that works.That’s why, at the budget, I put £600m into investment in social care.High quality early education is the cornerstone of our promise to ensure tens of thousands of
  
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• Woman arrested on suspicion of murder of Irish boy Kyran Durnin

  10-12-2024 19:02 via theguardian.com
  
  Eight-year-old boy believed to have disappeared two years ago but only reported missing in AugustA woman has been arrested in Ireland on suspicion of the murder of an eight-year-old boy who disappeared two years ago.Gardai investigating the suspected murder of Kyran Durnin said on Tuesday the woman, whose name has not been made public, was being detained at a police station in the east of the country. Continue reading...
  
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• Former human rights lawyer spared jail after admitting fraud over Iraq war claims

  10-12-2024 18:56 via theguardian.com
  
  Phil Shiner pleads guilty to misconduct and dishonesty relating to untruthful allegations against UK combatantsAn award-winning former human rights lawyer has been spared jail after admitting to fraud charges linked to false abuse claims made against war veterans.Phil Shiner, the principal solicitor of the law firm Public Interest Lawyers, was given a two -year suspended sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty in October to misconduct and dishonesty relating to untruthful claims against comba
  
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• Collapse of Syria’s Assad regime renews US push to find Austin Tice

  10-12-2024 18:48 via foxnews.com
  
  The fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria over the weekend has brought a renewed effort by the Biden administration to find American journalist and Marine veteran Austin Tice and bring him home. An immense push to return Tice, who was abducted in Syria 12 years ago, has been initiated as hostage-affairs envoy Roger Carstens has begun outreach in Beirut, and efforts to engage with sources in Syria to gain information on Tice's whereabouts have begun, according to White House national s
  
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• Mexico federal congressman shot dead in Veracruz state

  10-12-2024 17:59 via theguardian.com
  
  Benito Aguas from president Claudia Sheinbaum’s Morena party is latest victim of spate of political violenceA Mexican federal congressman has been assassinated, in the latest killing in an outbreak of political violence in the country.The Veracruz attorney general’s office confirmed the death of Benito Aguas, a member of the leftist government’s ruling coalition in the 500-member lower house of congress. Continue reading...
  
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• Syrian activist whose suffering became symbol of Assad brutality found dead in Sednaya prison

  10-12-2024 17:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Mazen al-Hamada had escaped to tell the world about regime’s torture before returning to DamascusMiddle East crisis – live updatesWhen he spoke to lawmakers and in lecture theatres around the world, Mazen al-Hamada’s face told the story of brutal torture by Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The discovery of the Syrian activist’s body inside the notorious Sednaya prison on the outskirts of Damascus brought the news that he never lived to see its downfall.Hamada’s sunke
  
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• France begins military withdrawal from Chad as influence in Africa wanes

  10-12-2024 16:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Senegal also requests departure of French troops, saying they are ‘not compatible’ with country’s sovereigntyFrance has begun recalling its military assets from its former ally Chad in the latest blow to its dwindling influence across its former colonies in Africa.Two Mirage fighter jets returned to a base in eastern France on Tuesday, said the army spokesperson Col Guillaume Vernet. Continue reading...
  
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• NHS to get £600m boost in Welsh budget

  10-12-2024 16:13 via bbc.com
  
  All Welsh government departments to be offered more cash from April under budget plans.
  
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• Government department spends £1,200 on two folders

  10-12-2024 16:13 via bbc.com
  
  It comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves asks departments to highlight savings they can make in the next few years.
  
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• In maps: Who might control the country now Assad has gone?

  10-12-2024 16:06 via bbc.com
  
  A visual guide to the latest developments as advancing Syrian fighters set their sights on Damascus.
  
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• Car loan scandal victims told to complain to their lender

  10-12-2024 16:06 via bbc.com
  
  Aggrieved car buyers who feel they were mis-sold a loan should complain to their lender, MPs hear.
  
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• Scrabble star wins Spanish world title – despite not speaking Spanish

  10-12-2024 16:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Nigel Richards has also been champion in English and – after memorising dictionary in nine weeks – FrenchMore than 150 competitors representing 20 countries descended on a hotel on the outskirts of Granada last month to battle it out at the Spanish World Scrabble Championships.Now, weeks after the letter tiles were meticulously placed and the points tallied, news of the tournament’s winner, Nigel Richards, has made waves across Spain, with many scratching their heads over the f
  
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• MP calls for first-cousin marriage to be banned

  10-12-2024 16:03 via bbc.com
  
  Tory former minister Richard Holden says the children of first cousins are at greater risk of birth defects.
  
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• Reeves vows to cut 'waste' in spending review

  10-12-2024 15:45 via bbc.com
  
  The chancellor says "efficiency savings" will ensure enough funding for key public services.
  
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• Coffee price surges to highest on record

  10-12-2024 15:42 via bbc.com
  
  Coffee drinkers are set to feel the pinch from high prices after crops got hit by drought and heavy rainfall.
  
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• Brazilian President Lula in ICU after surgery to drain head hemorrhage, hospital says

  10-12-2024 15:41 via foxnews.com
  
  Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is recovering in an intensive-care unit after undergoing surgery for an intracranial hemorrhage, the Sirio-Libanes hospital said in a statement in the early hours of Tuesday.The procedure was performed after the 79-year-old leftist leader felt headaches doctors believed resulted from a fall at home in October.BRAZIL'S FIRST LADY AIMS EXPLICIT JOKE AT KEY TARGET OF HUSBAND'S ADMINISTRATION: 'F--- YOU, ELON MUSK'The hospital said Lula, who trave
  
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• Actor guilty of raping teen in acting classes

  10-12-2024 15:29 via bbc.com
  
  Alexander Westwood, 24, sexually assaulted a child over an eight-year period.
  
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• EU’s new competition chief signals reform of anti-trust and state aid rules

  10-12-2024 15:28 via theguardian.com
  
  Teresa Ribera says changes are needed to make it easier for innovative firms to merge and spur the green transitionThe EU’s new competition chief has signalled a shake-up of anti-trust rules to make it easier for innovative companies to merge, as well as a relaxation of state aid policy to spur the green transition.In her first major speech since taking office last week, Teresa Ribera said EU merger and anti-trust rules needed to “take full account of innovation and future competitio
  
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• Airstrike on North Darfur market kills more than 100, says Sudan lawyers’ group

  10-12-2024 15:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Hundreds injured in Sudanese military attack in Kabkabiya during town’s weekly market day, group saysA Sudanese military airstrike on a market in North Darfur has killed more than 100 people, a pro-democracy lawyers’ group said, amid a war marked by claims of atrocities on all sides.The Emergency Lawyers group said the strike on Monday injured hundreds in Kabkabiya, a town about 110 miles (180km) west of El Fasher, the state capital that has been under siege from the paramilitary Rap
  
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• Urgent search for woman stuck in estuary mud

  10-12-2024 15:21 via bbc.com
  
  Shona Campbell reported getting into difficulties on the Solway Firth in Dumfries and Galloway.
  
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• 'Vile' sex abuser with dozens of child victims jailed

  10-12-2024 15:08 via bbc.com
  
  The 130 charges relate to 47 victims, some from England, of which 46 were children at the time of the offending.
  
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• Fast-moving wildfire forces evacuations near Malibu

  10-12-2024 15:08 via bbc.com
  
  The Franklin brush fire has burned hundreds of acres in an upmarket area of the US state of California.
  
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• UK 'keeping close eye' on British jihadists in Syria

  10-12-2024 15:06 via bbc.com
  
  Home Office minister Angela Eagle tells the BBC that UK intelligence services are monitoring the situation.
  
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• Sharna is sick of educating her GP. A landmark plan for LGBTQ+ Australians may help

  10-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: Health ministry releases 10-year LGBTQ+ health plan informed by largest national consultation undertaken by any Australian governmentFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastSharna Ciotti wishes she didn’t have to correct the presumption she’s in a heterosexual relationship whenever she needs healthcare, and often fears she’ll be treated differently for doing so.When Ciotti visits the GP in Adela
  
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• Peter Dutton’s bid to politicise top science agency is ‘absurd’, former CSIRO energy director says

  10-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Glenn Platt tells Guardian Australia that the opposition leader had a ‘lazy’ response to report that undermines scienceFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA former CSIRO energy director has said Peter Dutton’s attempt to politicise the national science agency’s work on the likely costs of nuclear reactors is “incredibly disappointing” and “absurd”.The opposition leader att
  
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• Michele Bullock’s ‘wild ride’ at the RBA could spell trouble for Labor if interest rate cuts aren’t on the way

  10-12-2024 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Growth has slowed, but employment is up – could the new year bring mortgage repayment relief?Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastMichele Bullock, the Reserve Bank governor, concluded her final public appearance in 2024 saying, “it’s been a bit of a wild ride for me”.Given the RBA hadn’t budged interest rates a jot for the whole year – the previous move was the November 2023 hike &ndas
  
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• Cohen 'chooses to forget' 2003 Rugby World Cup win

  10-12-2024 15:00 via bbc.com
  
  Former England wing Ben Cohen says the team's 2003 Rugby World Cup triumph causes him a "little bit of pain" more than 20 years on.
  
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