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Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wins a second 3-year term
Anthony Albanese claimed victory as the first Australian prime minister to clinch a second consecutive term in 21 years on Saturday and suggested his government had increased its majority by not modeling itself on U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.
«Australians have chosen to face global challenges the Australian way, looking after each other while building for the future,» Albanese told supporters in a victory speech in Sydney.
DEBATE OVER USING BEACH CABANAS AT POPULAR TRAVEL DESTINATION PROMPTS PRIME MINISTER TO WEIGH IN
«We do not need to beg or borrow or copy from anywhere else. We do not seek our inspiration overseas. We find it right here in our values and in our people,» he added.
His center-left Labor Party had branded Albanese’s rival Peter Dutton, the opposition leader, «DOGE-y Dutton» and accused his conservative Liberal Party of mimicking Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency.
Dutton had earlier conceded his alliance of conservative parties had been defeated at the election and that he had lost his own parliamentary seat that he had held for 24 years.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese reacts as he addresses the party faithful after winning a second term following the general election in Sydney, Saturday. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft)
Dutton’s plight parallels that of Canada’s opposition leader, Pierre Poilievre, who lost his seat after Trump declared economic war on the U.S. neighbor to the north. Poilievre had previously been regarded as a shoo-in to become Canada’s next prime minister and shepherd his Conservative Party back into power for the first time in a decade.
Analysts argue that mirroring Trump switched from a political positive for Australian conservatives to a negative after Trump imposed global tariffs.
Trumpet of Patriots, a minor party inspired by Trump policies with an advertising budget funded by mining magnate Clive Palmer that eclipsed the major parties, attracted only 2% of the vote.
Zareh Ghazarian, a lecturer in politics at Monash University, in Melbourne, questioned the significance of the «DOGE-y Dutton» lable in the election result.
«We won’t know. But I’m not sure it had a massive impact,» Ghazarian said. «It is a huge win for Labor and it’s a massive rebuke for the Liberal Party.»
US congratulates Albanese on re-election
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated Albanese on his election to a second three-year term.
«Australia is a valued ally, partner, and friend of the United States. Our shared values and democratic traditions provide the bedrock for an enduring alliance and for the deep ties between our peoples,’ Rubio said in a statement.
«The United States looks forward to deepening its relationship with Australia to advance our common interests and promote freedom and stability in the Indo-Pacific and globally,» he added.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, a fellow center-left leader, congratulated Albanese on his victory.
«The U.K. and Australia are as close as ever – which goes to show that long-distance friendships can be the strongest,» Starmer said. «I know that we will continue to work together on our shared ambitions, including on trade, investment and energy, working towards a better life for working people in the U.K. and Australia.»
Labor held a narrow majority of 78 seats in the 151-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties form governments.
Australian governments are usually elected for at least a second term, but are expected to lose seats at the second election. But Labor is on track to increase its majority in its second term.
High prices are a major election issue
Energy policy and inflation have been major issues in the campaign, with both sides agreeing the country faces a cost of living crisis.
The Liberal Party blamed government waste for fueling inflation and increasing interest rates, and has pledged to cut more than one in five public service jobs to reduce government spending.
While both said the country should reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, Dutton argues that relying on nuclear power instead of renewable energy sources such as solar and wind turbines would deliver less expensive electricity.
Labor argued Dutton’s administration would slash services to pay for its ambitions to build seven government-funded nuclear generators. Australia currently has no nuclear power.
Opposition senator Jacinta Nampijnpa Price would have been responsible for cutting 41,000 public service jobs in Dutton’s administration. She attracted media attention last month when she told supporters her government would «make Australia great again.»
Echoes of Trump
Price told reporters at the time she didn’t recall using the words reminiscent of the Republicans’ «Make America Great Again» slogan.
Price, who said she was photographed wearing a MAGA cap «in jest at Christmas time,» on Saturday blamed the news media for focusing on Trump in the election campaign.
«You made it all about Donald Trump,» Price told Australian Broadcasting Corp. «We really couldn’t care less about the way Donald Trump is governing for America. We were concerned with the way Australia is being governed under an Albanese government.»
The election took place against a backdrop of what both sides of politics describe as a cost of living crisis.
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Foodbank Australia, the nation’s largest food relief charity, reported 3.4 million households in the country of 27 million people experienced food insecurity last year. That meant Australians were skipping meals, eating less or worrying about running out of food before they could afford to buy more.
The central bank reduced its benchmark cash interest rate by a quarter percentage point in February to 4.1% in an indication that the worst of the financial hardship had passed. The rate is widely expected to be cut again at the bank’s next board meeting on May 20, this time to encourage investment amid the international economic uncertainty generated by Trump’s tariff policies.
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Alemania, Francia, Italia y el Reino Unido exigieron el fin inmediato de la guerra en Gaza ante la amenaza de una hambruna masiva
Los líderes del Reino Unido, Francia, Italia y Alemania reclamaron este viernes el cese inmediato de la guerra en la Franja de Gaza, donde la crisis humanitaria se agrava cada día. En un comunicado conjunto divulgado por Berlín, el primer ministro británico Keir Starmer, el presidente francés Emmanuel Macron y el canciller alemán Friedrich Merz exigieron a Israel que levante de inmediato todas las restricciones al flujo de ayuda y permita la labor urgente de la ONU y de organizaciones humanitarias ante el riesgo de hambruna.
“El tiempo de poner fin a la guerra en Gaza es ahora”, declararon Starmer, Macron y Merz. “Urgimos a todas las partes a alcanzar un alto el fuego inmediato”, reiterando su respaldo a los esfuerzos diplomáticos de Estados Unidos, Qatar y Egipto para obtener un acuerdo.
En el texto difundido por Berlín, los dirigentes subrayaron que “la catástrofe humanitaria en Gaza debe acabar de inmediato”. Insistieron en que “las necesidades más básicas de la población civil, incluido el acceso a agua y alimentos, deben ser satisfechas sin más dilación”. Los tres mandatarios coincidieron al calificar de “inaceptable” la retención de asistencia humanitaria esencial y recordaron a Israel su obligación de respetar el derecho internacional humanitario.
Por su parte, el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores de Italia, Antonio Tajani, se sumó al cuestionamiento internacional y manifestó: “Ya no podemos aceptar las masacres y la hambruna en la Franja de Gaza”.
Tajani aclaró que Italia no reconocerá al Estado palestino unilateralmente, como anunció Francia, y condicionó cualquier reconocimiento a la reciprocidad de parte de Palestina hacia Israel. También subrayó la necesidad de un “alto el fuego inmediato”, y la primera ministra italiana Giorgia Meloni describió la situación en Gaza como “dramática”, insistiendo en que ninguna acción militar puede justificar ataques contra civiles.
Más de 100 organizaciones de ayuda humanitaria y de derechos humanos alertaron esta semana del avance de una “hambruna masiva” en Gaza, después de más de 21 meses de conflicto armado. Según los datos del Ministerio de Salud de Gaza, bajo control del grupo terrorista Hamas, la ofensiva militar de Israel ha causado la muerte de 59.676 palestinos, en su mayoría civiles. Por su parte, el ataque de Hamas en territorio israelí el 7 de octubre de 2023 provocó 1.219 muertes, principalmente entre la población civil, y la captura de 251 personas como rehenes, de las cuales 49 siguen en Gaza, incluyendo 27 que, según el ejército israelí, habrían fallecido.
La Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) describió la crisis en Gaza como “provocada por el hombre”, mientras que Israel rechazó cualquier responsabilidad por el agravamiento de la situación. Israel impuso un bloqueo de ayuda al enclave palestino en marzo, el cual relajó parcialmente dos meses después, pero mantuvo al margen el sistema de distribución de la ONU.
Además, los líderes de Alemania, Francia y el Reino Unido repudiaron “cualquier intento de anexión israelí de los territorios palestinos ocupados” y advirtieron que “las amenazas de anexión, los asentamientos y la violencia de los colonos socavan las perspectivas de una solución negociada de dos Estados”. Exigieron que el ejército israelí se retire de las zonas ocupadas en Gaza y que los líderes de Hamas abandonen el enclave, como elementos clave para avanzar hacia una solución política.
Al llamar a Israel a “levantar de inmediato las restricciones al flujo de ayuda y a permitir de forma urgente que la ONU y las oenegés humanitarias actúen contra la muerte por hambre”, los gobiernos europeos reafirmaron su “firme oposición a todos los esfuerzos por imponer la soberanía israelí sobre los Territorios Palestinos ocupados”.
El comunicado tripartito del grupo conocido como E3 –Alemania, Francia y el Reino Unido– también exigió la liberación inmediata de todos los rehenes israelíes aún en manos de Hamas y remarcó que “el desarme de Hamas es imperativo y Hamas no debe tener ningún papel en el futuro de Gaza”.
Las autoridades de los tres países expresaron su compromiso de trabajar con la ONU y otros países para desarrollar un plan “específico y creíble” de transición que permita instalar un sistema de gobernanza en Gaza, garantizando la seguridad y la llegada de ayuda humanitaria. Plantearon que esto “debe estar acompañado por la retirada de las fuerzas israelíes y la salida de los líderes de Hamas”, como pasos hacia la implantación de una solución negociada basada en dos Estados.
Mientras Francia anunció el jueves su intención de reconocer al Estado palestino durante una reunión de la ONU en septiembre, otras potencias europeas y Estados Unidos continúan presionando para un cese del fuego inmediato y una negociación política que ponga fin al sufrimiento de la población civil y abra la posibilidad de una paz duradera en la región.
(Con información de AFP, EFE, EP y Reuters)
Diplomacy / Foreign Policy,Europe,THE HAGUE
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Los Angeles Mayor Bass says ‘hell yeah’ she regrets Ghana trip after wildfires ravaged city
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass continued to express regret for her controversial Ghana trip ahead of the devastating fires earlier this year in a recent interview with Vice News.
«I was asked, ‘Do I regret going?’ Hell yeah. I mean, let me just do a comparison. If you are out of town and your kid or a member of your family gets sick or hurt, it doesn’t matter where you were or why you were there. You feel horrible,» Bass said in an interview with Vice News earlier this month.
«I’m really not trying to give excuses, but there was no way in the world I knew that the city was in danger when I left,» she later added. «Absolutely no way. And if you think about it through, if you take a step back, and because I did ask the chief when I came back, you know, like ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ and basically the response was ‘Because we have Santa Anas all the time and nobody expected hurricane-force winds.’»
The mayor faced intense scrutiny for the presidential delegation’s visit to Africa even though there were warnings of the fire ahead of time. The Los Angeles Times reported that her team was aware of the fire risk before her trip.
She ended up returning the day after the fires began ripping through Los Angeles neighborhoods, like the Pacific Palisades, where thousands of buildings were destroyed.
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Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass addressed her regret over her Ghana trip during the LA fires. (PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
«Well, I mean to be with honest with you. Well, I didn’t get briefed. That’s true. But I think that, again, people did not anticipate the historic wind. And it wasn’t just LA. It was the county too.»
«What typically happens is that if there’s going to be a big weather event, there are these briefings that happen and, uh, it’s either initiated by the fire department or the emergency department,» she said. «I was used to the fire chief calling me and telling me, you know, this is getting ready to happen. Come over. I need to brief you and all, you know, everything goes into motion. That didn’t happen in the county, meaning LA and LA County.»
On her flight back, she said she was on the phone almost the entire 12-hour flight back to the U.S. from Ghana.
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The aftermath of the fire in Pacific Palisades and along the Pacific Coast Highway. Officials said that at least 10 people were killed in all the Los Angeles fires, and 5,300 structures were destroyed in the Palisades fire. (David Hume Kennerly/Getty Images)
«Well, they’re telling me what’s happening in the fire. We were preparing the emergency declaration. They were talking to the mayor, the council president who serves as acting mayor while I’m gone. I don’t remember if I talked to him or not then, but because there were just a lot of phone calls. Sometimes a lot of people. I think I even did a news interview, but all of that was while I was on the way home,» she said, noting that she had phone access on the plane because it was a military plane, and she did not realize that the Sky News, who she went viral for not answering his questions, was even on the flight.
Bass ousted Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Kristin Crowley from her position in February, and Crowley unsuccessfully appealed her removal.
«Our firefighters support Chief Crowley because she stood up for the men and women of our department,» United Firefighters of Los Angeles City posted to X at the time.
In the interview, Bass claimed there were «lies told» about the budget and fire engines.
LOS ANGELES MAYOR SLASHES FIRE DEPARTMENT DEI BUREAU IN PROPOSED BUDGET MONTHS AFTER WOKE BACKLASH
Pali High School rests across the street from homes destroyed in the Palisades fire in Pacific Palisades on Jan. 7, 2025. (Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
«Yes, there were broken fire engines. We find out later that those fire engines were there broken because they’re used for spare parts. But there were 40 fire engines that were idle because they didn’t have the staff that [Crowley] sent home. And the budget cut and I don’t I don’t know the reasons for it, and then the budget cut that never happened,» she added.
«Yes,» Crowley notably responded in an interview at the time of the fires when asked if city leadership «failed» her when it came to resources.
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«What we did when we did the budget was we put money aside for fire because we were in labor negotiations. If the budget was signed before then, but when the labor negotiations were done, we put it back in the budget. Which is a common thing. We’re doing that right now,» Bass said.
When asked about the after-action report for the fire, Bass said she would ‘look and see, but they should be about finished now.»
Fox News Digital reached out to Bass’ office and Crowley. Fox News Digital also reached out to the Los Angeles Fire Department, but they did not immediately comment.
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Trump shrugs off France’s recognition of Palestine as Rubio, prominent Republicans blast move
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President Donald Trump on Friday dismissed French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state — a notably gentler response than the sharp condemnation from Secretary of State Marco Rubio and other top Republicans, who blasted the move a day earlier.
«What he says doesn’t matter,» Trump told reporters at the White House. «He’s a very good guy. I like him, but that statement doesn’t carry weight.»
Macron took to X on Thursday to announce his intention for France to recognize a Palestinian state at the United Nations General Assembly next September.
Macron took to X on Thursday to announce France’s formal recognition of the Palestinian State at the United Nations General Assembly in September. (TERESA SUAREZ/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
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Macron cited the need for an «immediate ceasefire» as well as the release of all hostages and humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza in his reasoning for France’s move. He also claimed that Hamas must be demilitarized and Gaza rebuilt in a letter to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas he shared on X.
«The French people want peace in the Middle East,» wrote Macron in the letter translated to English on X. «It is up to us, the French, together with the Israelis, the Palestinians, and our European and international partners, to demonstrate that it is possible.»
The letter claimed that «peace is possible» while Macron said he is working to convincing other partners to follow suit.
Recognition of Palestine remains largely symbolic as it does not automatically grant UN membership or full diplomatic ties. Around 150 out of 193 UN member states recognize Palestine as a sovereign state.
Trump’s words were much gentler than the strong rebukes by Secretary of State Marco Rubio as well as Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., on Thursday.
Rubio called France’s recognition «reckless» and a «slap in the face» to victims of the October 7 Hamas attack shortly after Macron made the announcement on Thursday.
«The United States strongly rejects French President Emmanuel Macron’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly,» Rubio wrote on X.
«This reckless decision only serves Hamas propaganda and sets back peace. It is a slap in the face to the victims of October 7th.»
President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands during a joint press conference in the East Room at the White House on Feb. 24 in Washington, D.C. Trump on Friday dismissed Macron’s plan to recognize a Palestinian state. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
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Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., joined Rubio in sounding off against Macron.
«The French government’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state is curious and disturbing on multiple levels. I am certain this will embolden Hamas and make a ceasefire more difficult,» Graham wrote on X.
Graham also railed against what he said were the shortcomings of such a plan, asking a series of rhetorical questions paired with sarcasm.
«Who’s in charge? What are the borders and boundaries? What is the governance structure? Does Hamas stay involved politically or militarily? Is the West Bank and Gaza part of a single state? Are they allowed to have an army? Does the education system change?» Graham wrote
«Other than these few missing details, it seems like a foolproof plan!»
Cotton also blasted the moves as a «shameful endorsement of terrorists.»
«The best way for this conflict to end is to back Israel in its righteous mission of rescuing the hostages and defeating Hamas,» Cotton said.
Israeli officials responded swiftly and sharply to Macron on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials responded swiftly and sharply.
«We strongly condemn President Macron’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state next to Tel Aviv in the wake of the October 7 massacre,» Prime Minister Benajamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Palestinians mourn relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital morgue in Deir al-Balah, Tuesday, July 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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«Such a move rewards terror and risks creating another Iranian proxy, just as Gaza became. A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel — not to live in peace beside it. Let’s be clear: the Palestinians do not seek a state alongside Israel; they seek a state instead of Israel.»
Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Minister Yariv Levin called the move «a black stain on France’s history and a direct boost to terrorism.»
He added: «The Land of Israel belongs to the people of Israel, and even President Macron’s declaration will not change that.» Levin called for Israel to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, calling it «a just and historic response to the shameful decision by the President of France.»
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