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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.
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«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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Israel’s military said Wednesday that one of its F-35I «Adir» stealth fighter jets shot down an Iranian Air Force Yak-130, marking the first time the advanced aircraft has downed a manned fighter in combat.
«The historic shootdown over the Tehran skies is a testament to the strength of the Israeli Air Force and to your personal determination,» said Maj. Gen. Tomer Bar, the commander of the Israeli air force.
«The war continues – return home safely. Get some rest,» he told the pilots. «The next mission is already waiting for you.»
The F-35I is Israel’s customized version of the U.S.-made F-35 Lightning II, a fifth-generation stealth fighter that anchors the country’s air fleet.
An Israeli air force F-35I Adir multirole fighter aircraft flies over the Negev Desert after taking off from a military base en route to the Gaza Strip on Oct. 14, 2023. (Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images)
According to the F-35 program’s official website, Israel became the first country to select the aircraft through the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales process, signing a letter of agreement in October 2010.
The site says the Israeli air force gave the jet the Hebrew name «Adir,» meaning «Mighty One,» and received its first F-35 on June 22, 2016.
The Yak-130 is a Russian-made, two-seat combat training aircraft designed by the Yakovlev Design Bureau, according to United Aircraft Corporation, the state-owned Russian aerospace company that manufactures the jet.
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A Russian-made Yak-130 subsonic two-seat advanced jet trainer and light attack aircraft maneuvers during a flying display on the third day of the Farnborough International Airshow in Hampshire, England, on July 11, 2012. (Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)
It made its maiden flight in 1996 and is currently in active production.
Iran’s air force received its first Yak-130 training aircraft in September 2023, according to Press TV, Iran’s state-run English-language broadcaster.
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F-4 and F-14 jets from Iran and Russian MiG-29 aircraft perform a demonstration flight at the 9th International Iran AirShow on Kish Island, Hormozgan, Iran, on Nov. 27, 2018. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
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In November 2023, Brig. Gen. Mahdi Farahi, Iran’s deputy defense minister, told Tasnim, a semi-official Iranian news agency, that plans had been finalized for Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jets, Mil Mi-28 attack helicopters and Yak-130 trainers to join the country’s armed forces.
Tasnim reported that Iran previously acquired MiG-29 fighter jets from Russia in the 1990s.
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INTERNACIONAL
Gun rights expert says Minnesota Dems tried to block her testimony on firearm bills to ‘avoid’ policy debate
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A Second Amendment expert is accusing Minnesota Democrats of attempting to sideline policy advocates as they push for passage of a pair of gun control bills, arguing the lawmakers are leaning on emotional appeals instead of debating the measures’ real-world impact.
Amy Swearer, a senior legal fellow at Advancing American Freedom who specializes in gun policy, told Fox News Digital in an interview that Democratic members of a Minnesota House panel appeared to arbitrarily reject her written testimony ahead of a key hearing on the bills and resisted allowing her to testify in person. Swearer was ultimately able to testify for about two minutes.
«I think really at the core of it, that’s what they wanted to avoid, to the extent that they could keep this focused on the Annunciation shooting, and to prevent people like myself from coming in and saying, well, first of all, these policies would not have prevented a single death,» Swearer said.
Displays of rifles at the gun show held Sunday at the Stillwater armory. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Democratic offices of the committee did not respond to multiple requests for comments since Friday.
The hearing included heavy moments during which parents of victims and victims themselves of last year’s shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis testified in support of the bills. The shooter, who later died by suicide, killed two young children and injured more than two dozen others.
«Parents in our community don’t sleep all the way through the night anymore,» Jackie Flavin, who lost her 10-year-old daughter Harper in the shooting, testified. «Because when we send our children out into the world, we know that there are weapons out there capable of turning an ordinary morning into something unthinkable in seconds.»
In reaction to the mass shooting in Minneapolis at Annunciation Church, students rally at the capitol demanding state and federal lawmakers pass bans on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. (Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The two bills, as they are currently written, are stalled in committee after receiving a 10-10 tie vote along party lines at the close of the contentious hearing.
Swearer said the committee rejected her written testimony, which included an analysis of multi-victim shootings in the state, because it contained hyperlinks, which was against committee rules. She accused Democrats on the committee of selectively enforcing that rule against her but not against others.
«I want to be clear, that was very emotional. It was difficult. These were grieving people, and understandably so, but that I think very clearly is what the Democrats wanted to focus on, the emotion of it,» Swearer said. «They did not want this to turn into a battle of actual experts on policy.»
The bills were part of a sweeping gun control package introduced by Democratic Gov. Tim Walz in response to the church shooting.
One of the bills would broadly ban future sales of many «semiautomatic military-style assault weapons» by redefining the firearms under state law and would impose new restrictions on current owners of such guns. The other would prohibit the manufacture, sale, transfer, and possession of large-capacity ammunition magazines, which the bill defines as those with more than ten rounds.
Swearer, who was invited to the hearing by the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, said the bills were unconstitutional.
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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a debate at the CBS Broadcast Center Oct. 1, 2024, in New York City. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
«They’re problematic from start to finish,» she said, adding that the first bill was «one of the most restrictive gun bans I have ever seen in terms of the definition.»
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The Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus’s director of governor relations, Anna Leamy, also testified against the bills during the hearing and noted that Swearer and other «national experts and everyday Minnesotans» were limited from participating, which Swearer said «goaded» Democrats into allowing her to speak for two minutes.
The National Foundation for Gun Rights said its executive director, Hannah Hill, was also told she could not testify. Committee chairs typically limit witness participation at hearings for time purposes, but those restrictions can spur accusations of selectively suppressing certain voices.
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El Congreso de Filipinas aprobó este miércoles seguir adelante con un proceso de destitución contra la vicepresidenta Sara Duterte, lo que podría frustrar su carrera hacia el máximo cargo del país.
La hija del expresidente Rodrigo Duterte, encausado por la Corte Penal Internacional, anunció recientemente su candidatura para las elecciones presidenciales de 2028.
Ya había sido objeto de un proceso de destitución en la Cámara de Representantes el año pasado, pero la Corte Suprema lo desestimó por cuestiones de procedimiento.
Este miércoles, un comité del Congreso filipino aprobó por amplia mayoría remitir una acusación contra Sara Duterte a la Cámara de Representantes.
Se acusa a Sara Duterte de malversación y corrupción durante su gestión, así como de haber proferido una amenaza de muerte contra su antiguo aliado y actual presidente Ferdinand Marcos.
Según la Constitución filipina, si la Cámara de Representantes aprueba las acusaciones, esto activaría un juicio en el Senado.
Un veredicto de culpabilidad inhabilitaría a Duterte para ejercer cargos públicos y la apartaría de la contienda presidencial de 2028.
Su padre Rodrigo Duterte, presidente entre 2016 y 2022, enfrenta acusaciones de parte de la CPI por crímenes contra la humanidad durante la “guerra contra la droga” emprendida en su mandato que dejó miles de muertos.
El alto tribunal en La Haya celebró audiencias la semana pasada para determinar si se abre un proceso contra él.
Aunque todavía se avecina una audiencia de causa probable, Michael Tiu, profesor adjunto de Derecho en la Universidad de Filipinas, dijo a AFP que creía que nada descarrilaría el camino hacia una votación en la Cámara.
“Con la diferencia de 54-1 en la votación del comité, creo que es imposible que estas quejas de impeachment sean desechadas, dado que hay una gran diferencia y muchos vieron que las quejas tenían mérito”, dijo.
Los analistas han advertido que el anuncio presidencial de Duterte pesará mucho sobre los legisladores, obligados a evaluar las repercusiones de un voto contra alguien que aún puede ocupar el cargo más alto del país.
La supuesta amenaza de muerte contra Marcos surge de una conferencia de prensa nocturna en la que Duterte afirmó haber contratado a un asesino para matar al presidente y a miembros de su familia si él la mataba primero.
Aunque la vicepresidente dijo más tarde que los comentarios fueron malinterpretados, el legislador Gerville Luistro dijo el miércoles que las supuestas amenazas podrían desestabilizar las instituciones.
“Tienen peso. Crean miedo”, dijo.
Duterte y Marcos han estado involucrados en una pelea política de alto riesgo que estalló pocas semanas después de su victoria en las elecciones presidenciales de 2022, cuando a la vicepresidenta se le negaron sus carteras de gabinete favoritas y en su lugar se la nombró secretaria de Educación.
El mes pasado, el comité de justicia desestimó un par de denuncias de impeachment contra Marcos, dictaminando que las acusaciones de corrupción por un escándalo que involucraba proyectos falsos de control de inundaciones carecían de fundamento.
(con información de AFP)
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