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Pauline Hanson’s daughter Lee working for a NSW One Nation senator remotely from Tasmania without ministerial approval

Exclusive: Lee Hanson also appears to be regularly campaigning for party during work hours, social media showsListen to Guardian Australia’s podcast The Populist hereGet our new political email, free app or daily news podcastPauline Hanson’s daughter, Lee Hanson, has been working in Tasmania as a senior adviser to a New South Wales One Nation senator without the required ministerial approval, Guardian Australia can reveal.Under work base arrangements that apply to the staff of all MPs, a personal adviser such as Hanson can only be allowed to work in a location other than Canberra or the parliamentarian’s home base with approval from the special minister of state. Continue reading...

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Datacentre giant accused of using AI while lobbying for Victorian minister’s support for hyperscale factory

Exclusive: Correspondence requests state MP Melissa Horne to lobby on NextDC’s behalf – but contains alleged AI-created errorsGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Victorian jobs minister has accused one of Australia’s largest datacentre companies of using artificial intelligence while requesting she lobby her colleague to approve a massive expansion of its “hyperscale AI factory”.Correspondence between Victorian cabinet minister Melissa Horne and the chief executive of ASX-listed company NextDC, Craig Scroggie, reveals increasing sensitivity to community concerns about datacentres before the state election. Continue reading...

Explosive device found on drone shot down in Lithuania, says minister - as it happened

The European Commission’s president warned that recent actions in Denmark and Lithuania are ‘not isolated incidents’Russian warship fires flares at Danish helicopter as Nato jets shoot down drone over LithuaniaUkrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha responded to the incident in Denmark, declaring Kyiv’s “full support” after “unacceptable actions targeting a Danish helicopter.”“Moscow continues its attempts to destabilise Europe, not just Denmark. Joint and decisive action is required and Ukraine is ready to contribute to all efforts aimed at strengthening the protection of Europe from Russian threats,” he said. Continue reading...

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'Extraordinarily dire' signs spark fears of imminent US crash: 'This could be it'

A U.S. market crash could be just around the corner “directly as a result” of a recent Middle East development and a confluence of other factors, political analysts Krystal Ball and Saagar Enjeti warned on Monday.Last week, the Yemeni militant organization the Houthis gained significant control over the Bab al-Mandeb Strait — a critical global shipping chokepoint in the Red Sea — after seizing control of Yemen’s west coast and Mayyun island, which divides the strait into two channels. The Saudi Arabian East-West oil pipeline was also damaged in an attack originating from Iraq, threatening 4% of global oil supply.The developments come as oil prices continue to surge to what Ball called “extraordinarily dire” levels amid the months-long disruption of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.Experts have already warned that the disruption to trade through the Bab al-Mandeb Strait could inflict a global “inflationary shock,” but Enjeti warned that a confluence of other factors specific to the United States could soon send the U.S. economy into freefall.“This could be it,” Enjeti warned in an episode of the political program “Breaking Points” that aired on Monday.Specifically, Enjeti pointed to the extent to which the artificial intelligence (AI) industry is propping up the U.S. economy, with Deloitte finding that “AI-fueled tech investments” accounted for “about half” of real U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth since 2025. With AI tech leaders unanimously calling for a “slowdown” in recent days amid fears that the rapidly developing tech could "destroy humanity,” the combination of Iran-war-caused inflation and slowdowns in AI investments could be catastrophic, Enjeti warned.“Let's say you have a unilateral tech slowdown, which is propping up the entire U.S. economy, [and] people wake up to diesel going $6.23 a gallon — it was $6 last week, and that was the all-time high — that's where we're at!” Enjeti said. “You've got crushing consumer sentiment, you've got $4.31 a gallon in gasoline, $6.23 diesel... that, combined with the genuine downturn in the U.S. stock market, [and] we are living in a whole [different] universe at that point. That would actually lead to... I can't even imagine. You would have Federal Reserve behavior, unemployment could skyrocket.”The tools and circumstances that have kept the U.S. market somewhat stable throughout President Donald Trump’s deeply unpopular war against Iran, Ball warned, were also close to expiring.“There were all sorts of cushions that were in place: China, which dramatically reduced their [oil] buying, our Strategic Petroleum Reserve that we were drawing [from], [the Saudis] were able to use this East-West pipeline to get more barrels out of the region,” Ball noted. “Now, it feels like all of those previous pieces which cushioned the blow are falling away, and Trump's ability to market manipulate has also seemingly fallen away.”

Ex-Sri Lankan President Draws Attention With Frail Appearance At Rally, Skips Speech

Footage from the event showed several men standing close to him and steadying him as he made his way to his seat at the front.