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Politics
Policy, power, and the news of the day.
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Nearly 50,000 Yemeni civilians flee as Houthis advance along Red Sea coast
Global struggle for control of Bab al-Mandab strait threatens to turn Yemen’s on-off conflict into a forever war Violence erupts in Yemen again: why it matters globally and how it is linked to the US-Iran war Nearly 50,000 people have fled a sudden advance by Houthi forces in western Yemen , with entire villages emptied and families trapped near frontline fighting with depleting food supplies, according to aid workers. Civilians in the Middle East’s poorest country have found themselves victims of a global struggle for control over one of the most important shipping routes in the world, which threatens to turn Yemen’s on-off conflict into a forever war. Continue reading...
Firewall compromised: has Friedrich Merz blown ‘democracy’s last shot’?
Many fear chancellor is wrong man for the job at a time when Germany’s defences against far right are crumbling A cataclysm. A 9.0 earthquake. A five-alarm fire. A bitter rejection of Germany ’s joyous reunification three decades ago, and a threat to the democratic postwar order. Sizing up the repercussions of last weekend’s win for the far-right Alternative für Deutschland party in the former communist state of Saxony-Anhalt, German commentators expressed a sense of doom, panic and helplessness in the political establishment. Continue reading...
Court case brought by Zionist federation against journalist Mary Kostakidis ended ‘by consent’
Former SBS newsreader had been accused by Zionist Federation of Australia of breaching Racial Discrimination Act when sharing X posts Federal court proceedings brought by the Zionist Federation of Australia (ZFA) against journalist Mary Kostakidis have been discontinued “by consent ” with “no order as to costs”. The former SBS newsreader had been accused by the federation of breaching the Racial Discrimination Act (RDA) by sharing two X posts about a speech by the late Hezbollah secretary general Hassan Nasrallah in January 2024. Continue reading...
US rapper Lil Durk found not guilty of murder-for-hire scheme
Prosecutors accused musician, born Durk Banks, of putting bounty on fellow rapper in retaliation for friend’s killing Chicago rapper Lil Durk has been acquitted of all charges in a murder-for-hire scheme, in which a man was fatally gunned down in 2022. Prosecutors had accused Lil Durk , born Durk Banks, of putting a bounty on Atlanta rapper Tayquian Bowman’s life in retaliation for the 2020 shooting death of Banks’s friend, fellow Chicago rap star King Von. Continue reading...
NSW police seize 36 illegal ebikes on northern beaches that are now destined for the crusher
Officers found one 14-year-old’s ebike was capable of hitting 90km/h. Owners have two weeks to appeal the seizure before the bikes will be crushed Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Dozens of high-powered and illegal ebikes have been seized by police on Sydney’s northern beaches just weeks after the force was granted new powers to destroy dangerous bikes. The operation was part of a coordinated push with the New South Wales government to ensure people only ride legal ebikes that have not been modified to reach high speeds. Continue reading...
California woman charged with murder after allegedly killing husband with flagpole
SF Gate reports bond for Vicky Kyung Mi Kim, 65, set at $10m after man found dead at couple’s Palm Desert home A 65-year-old California woman has been arrested on suspicion of murder after allegedly fatally wounding her husband with a flagpole, according to SF Gate. On 4 September, Palm Desert sheriff’s deputies responded to an “unknown trouble call” in The Enclave, a luxury condominium community. Upon arrival, officers located an individual with “traumatic injuries” that appeared to be from a physical assault and pronounced them dead. Continue reading...
Man arrested over death of Mississippi woman found hanging from a tree
Police have arrested Jacques Ratliff and ruled the death of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old Black woman, as a homocide Police in Jackson, Mississippi, have arrested a man in the death of Tasia Fortune, a 29-year-old Black woman found hanging from a tree behind a vacant house last month. The state medical examiner on Thursday ruled Fortune’s death a homicide. Jackson police chief RaShall Brackney-Wheelock said at a news conference Friday that police had secured search and arrest warrants for Jacques Ratliff and arrested him when they encountered him walking on the street. Continue reading...
As China rises, Australia is increasingly enmeshed in the US war machine. Is the alliance still worth the risk?
Australia is being exploited by an ally that could draw it, however unwillingly, into war with China, experts warn Get our new political email , free app or daily news podcast “Physical security matters,” said Kevin Rudd, at his axiomatic best before the National Press Club this week. “Our first responsibility is to secure our people’s future in this most contested region of the world.” Continue reading...
Republican senator fires aide who used Nazi soldiers as Facebook profile picture
Washington Post report also reveals Jon Husted staffer Stephen Woytek created pro-Rhodesia playlist on Spotify The Republican senator for Ohio, Jon Husted, has fired an aide who was discovered to have used a photo of Nazi SS soldiers as his Facebook profile photo. Stephen Woytek was appointed as Husted’s political director last month in the senator’s knife-edge re-election contest against former Democrat senator Sherrod Brown. According to the Washington Post , Husted had decided to “part ways” with Woytek, 25, after learning that his Facebook profile showed he followed a military re-enactment group called LAH Living History Unit, which portrays the 1st SS Panzer division. Continue reading...
Military aircraft reportedly blamed for UK air traffic control outage
Meltdown that grounded thousands of flights caused by ‘spurious’ flight data being entered into system, report says The air traffic control outage that caused thousands of flights to be grounded across the UK earlier in the week was caused by a military aircraft entering “spurious” flight data into the system, according to a report. Hundreds of thousands of passengers were affected after more than 2,000 flights were cancelled on Tuesday when the system used by the National Air Traffic Services (Nats) shut down for four hours. Continue reading...
Alexander Zverev holds his nerve against Karen Khachanov to reach US Open final
Zverev wins 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6) German reaches third straight grand slam final About 107 minutes into men’s semi-final day on Arthur Ashe Stadium, there was finally a touch of tension radiating from the court. After falling down a set and break, his semi-final meeting with his old rival Alexander Zverev swiftly turning into a beating, Karen Khachanov fought hard to force a second set tie-break. Deep in that tension-filled tie-break, down 5-6 on his serve, Khachanov saved Zverev’s first set point with a bold forehand winner, and then at 6-7 he punctuated a screaming backhand passing shot winner with an imperious roar of his own. There was a time when Zverev might have faltered under such pressure, but he has won too many big matches this year to allow such a small surge from a lower-ranked opponent to scare him. Zverev composed himself and he quickly regained control, navigating a second tense tie-break in similar fashion as he moved to within one match of winning a second career grand slam title in his last three major appearances by defeating Khachanov 6-3, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6). Continue reading...
Ex-CIA officer accused of stealing gold bars reaches tentative plea deal
David Rush accused of stealing hundreds of gold bars worth over $40m and hiding them in his basement Federal prosecutors have reached a tentative plea agreement with a former CIA officer accused of stealing hundreds of gold bars worth more than $40m from the US spy agency and hiding them in his basement, court records show. David Rush and federal justice department prosecutors have a “plea agreement in principle”, the parties said in a Friday court filing . The parties also asked a judge to extend the 17 September deadline for three weeks through 8 October to allow them time to “resolve the matter prior to an indictment”. Continue reading...
CIA releases dozens of presidential daily briefs on Bin Laden and al-Qaida from before 9/11
The presidential briefing documents were declassified on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks Several dozen presidential briefing documents declassified on Friday, the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks , detail intelligence that government officials had gathered about Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida leading up to the hijackings that killed nearly 3,000 people and upended American national security . The documents illustrate security analysts’ tracking of Bin Laden’s movements and support system, as well as concerns about possible threats to US targets. They also detail officials’ understanding of his network in the United States and other countries, including how his operations were financed. Continue reading...
Legionnaires’ disease outbreak kills one and infects others in the South Bronx
The disease is a form of pneumonia caused by Legionella bacteria, which can grow in warm water and spread through mist produced by cooling towers One person has died from legionnaires’ disease, and four more have been sickened in New York City amid a new cluster of cases only weeks after local health officials had declared a separate deadly Manhattan outbreak of the illness over. On Thursday, New York City officials announced that their municipal health department launched an investigation into a community cluster in parts of Melrose and Morrisania in the South Bronx, including ZIP codes 10451 and 10456. Continue reading...
US Open tennis 2026 men’s semi-final: Frances Tiafoe v Ben Shelton – live buildup
Updates from the second men’s semi-final in New York Andrew Lawrence: in praise of five-set tennis | Mail Bryan Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime here’s Tumaini Carayol’s lookahead to tonight’s match. Continue reading...
California petition worker arrested for allegedly paying people to forge voter signs
Prosecutors say James Brass orchestrated scheme to pay people on LA’s Skid Row to duplicate registered voters’ signatures A California ballot petition worker has been arrested and charged with identity fraud for allegedly paying people on Los Angeles’ Skid Row to forge the signatures of registered voters. Prosecutors say James Brass, 47, orchestrated the scheme with the help of two signature collectors, 49-year-old Courtney Price and 33-year-old Jateisha Herron. Continue reading...
Reform UK given record £36m donation by British crypto billionaire
Ben Delo was convicted in US for failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls but pardoned by Trump Reform has been given a record £36m donation by Ben Delo, a British cryptocurrency billionaire convicted in the US for failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls. The businessman, who has moved back to the UK from Hong Kong, is now the biggest UK political donor by far, dwarfing the £15m contribution to Reform UK from Thailand-based donor Christopher Harborne. Continue reading...
North Carolina state trooper charged with murder of police captain
Nekime Matu Oxendine accused of first-degree murder of Adam Bean, shot and killed in apparent domestic dispute A North Carolina state highway patrol trooper has been charged with the murder of the captain of a county sheriff’s office. Cumberland county Capt Adam Bean was shot and killed on 27 March at a home in the town of Hope Mills. A grand jury on Tuesday indicted Nekime Matu Oxendine, 44, with first-degree murder in Bean’s death, and a judge ordered him held without bond pending the outcome of the case. Continue reading...
Jakob Ingebrigtsen blows away bitter rival Hocker in Ultimate Championships 5,000m
Norwegian leaves rival Hocker trailing to claim $150,000 Briton Jazmin Sawyers second in the women’s long jump It is a scene that has become gloriously familiar down the years. Jakob Ingebrigtsen leaving the world’s best athletes gasping in his slipstream, holding one finger in the air, revelling in his athletic genius. But this victory over 5,000m at the inaugural Ultimate Championships carried extra sweetness – and spice. The sweetness? That came from winning a mammoth first prize of $150,000. And the spice? Well, that was provided by the way Ingebrigtsen utterly obliterated his great American rival Cole Hocker, a man he had branded a “coward” just a week ago. Continue reading...
Los Angeles to memorialize late mountain lion P-22 with sculpture in Griffith Park
The wild feline made its home in the park before being euthanized in 2022 after showing signs of declining health The city of Los Angeles will memorialize its most famous mountain lion with a bronze sculpture at Griffith Park, the 4,200-acre (1,700-hectare) stretch of land the cougar once roamed. Known as “P-22”, the number assigned by the team of biologists that first identified him, the lion gained national fame after photographer Steve Winter captured an iconic image of him prowling through Griffith Park with the Hollywood sign in the background. Continue reading...
Company hired for Trump’s reflecting pool makeover reportedly admits flaws in plan
Atlantic Industrial Coatings was given $14.7m no-bid contract and its findings contradict president’s claims of vandalism The company hired to renovate the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool has acknowledged that “human oversight” and flaws in the repair plan caused the newly installed blue liner to peel and tear, according to documents reviewed by the New York Times that challenge Donald Trump’s repeated claims of vandalism. The president has repeatedly said vandals armed with knives or box cutters were responsible for tearing apart the pool’s “American flag blue” liner. But documents reviewed by the Times show that Atlantic Industrial Coatings, the company awarded the renovation contract, blamed its own execution of the repair work and a flawed design plan. Continue reading...
15-year-old boy rescued after days adrift in Bering Sea
Teen was rescued from a capsized fishing vessel on 10 September, days after the boat overturned and his older brother and cousin drowned. The group had last been seen been leaving Alaska's St Lawrence Island in an 18ft fishing vessel on 4 September, and were expected back early on Sunday but failed to return, the coast guard said in a statement Continue reading...
Arizona accuses L’Oréal of concealing cancer risks linked to hair relaxers
Democratic attorney general seeks damages and penalties in legal action that echoes thousands of similar suits Arizona has sued L’Oréal that the French cosmetics company hid evidence that its hair relaxer products could cause cancer in women – echoing thousands of similar lawsuits from users and their families. Arizona attorney general Kristin Mayes , a Democrat, filed the lawsuit late on Thursday in state court. The lawsuit makes Arizona the first state to sue over alleged cancer risks linked to hair relaxers. It also alleges that L’Oréal is violating state consumer protection laws by marketing the hair relaxer products that are used predominantly by African American women without warning consumers about the alleged risks of ovarian and uterine cancers. Continue reading...
Federal court rejects Trump order keeping Michigan coal plant open
A federal court is declaring that the energy department exceeded its authority when it forced a Michigan power plant to stay open past its scheduled retirement date In a defeat for the Trump administration, a federal court on Friday ruled that the energy department exceeded its authority when it forced a Michigan coal-fired power plant to stay open past its scheduled retirement date last year. Energy secretary Chris Wright had said the 64-year-old JH Campbell Generating Plant was needed to ensure reliable electricity in the region, and he used emergency powers to keep it operating. Environmental groups and three states – Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota – went to court to try to overturn orders keeping the plant online. Continue reading...