The Tories have pledged to tear up the requirement in the Equality Act for public-sector bodies to promote equality and diversity following the murder of Henry Nowak.

The post Tories Pledge to Scrap Diversity Rule After Nowak Murder appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Labor MP Ernest Wong and restaurateur Jonathan Yee are facing court over allegedly circumventing election funding laws

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New South Wales prosecutors have launched proceedings against two state Labor officials after they allegedly disguised donations to Chris Minns during his election campaign almost a decade ago.

On Tuesday, the NSW Electoral Commission revealed the director of public prosecution had begun proceedings against former Labor MP Ernest Wong and restaurateur Jonathan Yee. The commission commenced an investigation in 2019 into a “potential scheme to circumvent” election funding laws during the campaign to elect Minns for the seat of Kogarah.

Liberals and Nationals grappling with surging support for Pauline Hanson’s party, which threatens to replace them as Australia’s main conservative party

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The new Liberal president, Tony Abbott, has backed preference deals with One Nation as he declared the party wouldn’t win the next election by being “slaves to focus groups” and just a “little less woke than Labor”.

The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, all but confirmed he was open to such deals with Pauline Hanson, declaring the party was prepared to cooperate with “whoever we can to get rid of this rotten Labor government”.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's pro-EU Civil Contract party has won the country's parliamentary elections with 49.81% of the vote. The result came despite pro-Russian opposition and Russian electoral pressure, with 100% of ballots processed, according to News.am and the Central Election Commission. 

The victory is a clear public endorsement of Pashinyan's turn toward European integration and away from the post-Soviet Russian sphere — a turn that has placed Armenia, like Ukraine before it, in the position of a former Soviet republic actively choosing the EU over Moscow's preferred order.

Previously, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Armenia of a "Ukrainian scenario" over its EU push at the recent EAEU summit. 

Vote breakdown

Four political forces enter the new Armenian parliament. Pashinyan's Civil Contract leads with 49.81%, followed by Samvel Karapetyan's pro-Russian "Strong Armenia" alliance at 23.29%, the "Armenia" electoral bloc at 9.94%, and the Prosperous Armenia party as the fourth force in parliament.

Karapetyan, a Russian-Armenian oligarch and founder of the Tashir Group, ran on a platform to restore closer ties with Moscow.

Post-Soviet context and EU push

Armenia, a former Soviet republic that gained independence in 1991, has been a member of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU).

The relationship cooled sharply after the 2023 Azerbaijani military operation that ended Armenian control of Nagorno-Karabakh, with Yerevan accusing Russia and its CSTO of failing to deliver promised security guarantees.

Pashinyan's government has since suspended Armenia's participation in CSTO meetings, signed a bilateral strategic partnership charter with the US, and accelerated EU integration efforts.

The EU announced a €50 million support package for Armenia on 4 June, days before the election.

Russia's response and "Ukrainian scenario"

Putin's "Ukrainian scenario" warning, delivered at the EAEU summit shortly before the election, was a direct threat that Russia would consider treating Yerevan's EU pivot the way Moscow has treated Ukraine's: economic pressure, hybrid operations, military threats.

Despite both, Armenia voted for Pashinyan and the EU path by a roughly two-to-one margin over the largest pro-Russian alternative.

In charge for 14 years at the Home Office and 10 at Hampshire police, the Tories co-authored the Henry Nowak tragedy, says Clive Pinder. But Kemi Badenoch has shown she is determined to do something about it.

The post The Tories Co-Authored The Henry Nowak Tragedy. Can Kemi Badenoch Tear up the Script? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

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Is Australian music at risk of extinction? Here’s what the data tells us

The music that charts in Australia has changed considerably over the past couple of decades – rock is out, country is in and old tracks are new again.

Because of Richard’s brilliant research, advanced Melanoma went from a death sentence to a curable disease. As a result of that breakthrough, in a country with the highest melanoma rates on earth, thousands of Australians are alive today. …

After being diagnosed with brain cancer, Australians got to know Richard as a man of warmth and hope. He faced his disease with optimism, with a smile, and with a deep sense of purpose. Just a few months ago, living with stage four brain cancer, he was still riding his bike through Tasmania, raising money for a cure.

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Australian borrowing personal loans in record amounts

Australians are borrowing record amounts in personal loans as a long-term buildup in living costs wipes out savings buffers.

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