Defends

Humpback stranded on sandbank was unlikely to survive, experts had said, recommending it be left to die in peaceGerman authorities have defended their decision to allow a risky rescue attempt of a stranded whale to go ahead, despite experts warning it was “inadvisable” because the animal was hurt and unlikely to survive.The saga of the whale, known as Timmy, had gripped Germany since the beached humpback was spotted stranded on Timmendorfer beach, a sandbank in shallow waters near the coast, nearly two months ago. Continue reading...

Agency says FBI director ‘followed all applicable ethical guidelines’ in giving out personalized bourbon bottlesThe FBI said that agency director Kash Patel “followed all applicable ethical guidelines” after a report in the Atlantic alleged that he distributed customized bourbon whiskey bottles as gifts.In an article published on Wednesday, the Atlantic described Patel as travelling with a stock of “personalized branded bourbon” that he allegedly hands out frequently to people around him. Continue reading...

Residents south of the refinery in Corio warned to shelter inside due to smokeGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastNationals leader Matt Canavan defended the Coalition’s planned crack down on immigrations as “fair and reasonable” and that migrants would understand the policy.Asked on 7.30 last night how Australia’s migrant communities would see the plan, Canavan referred to the “rigour” of the naturalisation process his Italian grandparents went through in the 1950s and his own publicised Section 44 high court citizenship saga (which he said ultimately proved him to be a “dinky-di Aussie”). He said:It’s fair and reasonable that we set high standards to join the club of Australians and I’m sure migrants here today want to see that …We have a Government that has put its head in the sand now and has not listened to the Australian people that clearly want change.I think we should discriminate on values …We shouldn’t discriminate on colour, religion, sexuality, gender, but surely … we should discriminate on people who don’t support democracy, who profess support for terrorism or violence, who don’t believe in equality between male and female genders. People who have those views I don’t want them in our country.I’ll comment that the Robert Frost line in that poem was delivered in irony.But we’ll return to that another day along with many other questions, thank you for joining us … Continue reading...

Vice-president effectively tells Leo to stay in his lane after the pope criticized the White House over the Iran warJD Vance has weighed into Donald Trump’s feud with Pope Leo, effectively telling the pontiff to stay in his lane after the head of the Catholic church criticized the White House over the Iran war.“It would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on in the Catholic church and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy,” the vice-president said in an interview on Fox News on Monday night. Continue reading...

Luba Grigorovitch, one of four MPs promoted to Jacinta Allan’s cabinet, says she has ‘no regrets’ over friendship with former CFMEU bossLuba Grigorovitch, one of four Victorian Labor MPs promoted to cabinet, says she has “no regrets” about her past friendship with disgraced construction union leader John Setka, despite the opposition labelling her appointment “appalling”.The Victorian Labor caucus met on Tuesday and voted to elevate Grigorovitch, the member for Kororoit, along with Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke, Eureka MP Michaela Settle and Box Hill MP Paul Hamer, to cabinet. Continue reading...

PM rejects claim plan is integration with EU ‘by stealth’, saying changes will happen only if parliament passes lawUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has defended plans for the UK to align more closely with some EU rules without parliamentary votes, saying a closer relationship with Europe “is in the UK’s best interest”, particularly given the international turmoil over the Iran war.Speaking to the BBC after the Guardian revealed that ministers were planning to use so-called Henry VIII powers to dynamically align with EU rules by default, Starmer argued that, nearly 10 years after the Brexit referendum, it was time to “look forward”. Continue reading...

The former Little House on the Prairie star said husband was ‘last person in world who would hurt a child’Melissa Gilbert has staunchly defended her husband and fellow actor Timothy Busfield in her first interview since New Mexico prosecutors charged him with child sexual abuse in early February.In part of a conversation scheduled to be broadcast on Monday on Good Morning America but circulated in advance as a preview, Gilbert told ABC host George Stephanopoulos that she believed the Emmy winner whom she married in 2013 to be “the last person in the world who would hurt a child”. Continue reading...

• Trump's AI adviser David Sacks defended the decision to allow UAE access to powerful American semiconductor technology, calling it a turning point for establishing US tech dominance globally. • The UAE's $1.4 trillion investment and economic framework with the US, announced last year, continues as planned with accelerated deployment and funding in AI, energy, advanced manufacturing, and critical infrastructure. • Trump's 2025 visit to the UAE resulted in plans for a 5GW UAE-US AI Campus, a major joint infrastructure initiative.

Greg Bovino says Trump’s immigration crackdown hasn’t gone far enough in exit interview with the New York TimesAs his retirement looms, Gregory Bovino, the US border patrol’s former commander-at-large, has contended that efforts to curb illegal immigration by Donald Trump’s administration have not gone far enough – showing no remorse over federal agents’ killings of two US citizens in Minneapolis in January.“I wish I’d caught even more illegal aliens,” he told the New York Times on Tuesday in an exit interview, during which he also referred to the Republican president as “the Trumpster” and acknowledged his retirement at the end of March was not entirely voluntary. Continue reading...

Producers say alleged victim of grooming was ready to tell his story and show raises urgent issues around online safetyChannel 5 has defended its controversial drama about the downfall of Huw Edwards, saying it raises the “urgent” issue of grooming and online safety and gives voice to his alleged victim, who worked with the programme to tell his side of the story so “no one who has been silenced feels they are alone”.Starring Martin Clunes as the disgraced former BBC newsreader, the drama charts the claim of a relationship and texts between Edwards and a vulnerable young man who was at the centre of a scandal reported by the Sun in 2023, which alleged the presenter made payments to a 17-year-old for sexually explicit images.Power: The Downfall of Huw Edwards will air at 9pm on 24 March on Channel 5. Continue reading...