Victor

Labor under pressure to scrap group voting tickets as Avi Yemini details plan to funnel votes to conservative parties at state election A rightwing provocateur’s plan to register the “Free Palestine party” and use it to funnel votes to conservative parties in Victoria’s state election has renewed concern over the state’s voting system.Avi Yemini, a former Israeli solider and self-styled investigative journalist who creates content for his YouTube channel Rebel News Australia, on Tuesday announced plans to register the party, which he said would “flow our preferences on to parties that want to free Palestine from Hamas” in the November poll. Continue reading...

Exclusive: State government commits to strengthening laws as Higgins labels Albanese government’s response to women’s safety issues ‘disheartening’Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Victorian government will strengthen laws regarding the use of victim-survivors’ confidential communications after a push by advocates including Brittany Higgins, who described her experience of having counselling records subpoenaed as a “violation”.In an interview with Guardian Australia, Higgins was also critical of the federal government’s lack of action following a sweeping review into the justice system’s responses to sexual violence, saying it had “completely fallen off the agenda”.Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html Continue reading...

In latest stage of £42m restoration project, 30-strong team removed mast from Nelson’s Battle of Trafalgar flagshipThere is only one correct way to extricate a 15-tonne wrought iron mast from one of the world’s most famous and beloved warships – very slowly, and with extreme care.Which is precisely what a 30-strong team, led by shipwrights and riggers, did on Monday night into Tuesday morning, when they lifted the foremast from HMS Victory as part of a £42m conservation project. Continue reading...

Tees Transporter Bridge and a former working men’s club in Barrow-in-Furness among sites at risk of decay or neglectTeesside’s Transporter Bridge, a disinfecting station in Hackney and a former working men’s club in Barrow-in-Furness have been included on a list ringing alarm bells for Victorian and Edwardian heritage.The Victorian Society has published its annual top 10 endangered buildings list, intended as a way of drawing national attention to at-risk places in England and Wales. Continue reading...

Follow the day’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe shadow treasurer, Tim Wilson, has condemned the booing of welcome of country remarks at Anzac Day events on Saturday.Wilson offered some of the strongest criticism of the hecklers to be delivered by a Coalition frontbencher. In a post on X yesterday, he wrote:Thank you to all our veterans who fought for our country. ANZAC Day is a a day to honour all those who fought and died for our country. Booing any Australian who served or their story is unacceptable, disrespectful and unworthy of the ANZAC legacy.The story of this land began thousands of years ago. Project Australia is a continuing story of one land, one people with one destiny. Let us be worthy of our full inheritance, and those that sacrificed for respect based on our common humanity & the equal dignity of all people.It is incredibly disappointing and completely inappropriate to boo at an Anzac Day service. Whatever your views on a welcome to country, ANZAC Day is our most sacred day … If you have strong views about that, there are many other ways in a free country that you have an opportunity to express your views. Continue reading...

• The New York Mets snapped a 12-game losing streak Wednesday night with a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins at Citi Field, ending their two-week-long skid when Luke Weaver struck out Byron Buxton for the final out. • Shortstop Francisco Lindor was removed from the game with left calf tightness after scoring from first base in the fourth inning and will undergo an MRI to determine the extent of the injury. • The victory marks a crucial turnaround for the struggling Mets, who had not won since early April and faced mounting pressure during their extended drought.

• House Republicans openly questioned President Donald Trump's mid-decade redistricting strategy on Wednesday, following a Democratic victory in Virginia on Tuesday that threatens the GOP's slim House majority. • The Virginia vote paves the way for as many as four Republican seats to be lost, intensifying GOP concerns about the redistricting war Trump sparked. • Republican lawmakers are now expressing misgivings about the strategy, signaling potential fractures within the party over Trump's aggressive electoral positioning ahead of the November midterms.