Thursday, October 17
Defence spending gets $50 billion boost over next decade

Defence spending gets $50 billion boost over next decade

The Australian government will invest an extra $50.3 billion into defence over the next decade as part of a long-awaited revamp of the nation's armed forces strategy. The funding boost comes following last year's Defence Strategic Review, which argued Australia needed to modernise its current military structure it said was designed for a "bygone era". "The optimistic assumptions that guided defence planning after the end of the Cold War are long gone," Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said when announcing the funding boost and the National Defence Strategy this afternoon. Australian defence spending will increase by $50 billion over the next ten years. (Department of Defence via AP) "Our environment is characterised by the uncertainty and te...
Geoff Brock steps down from South Australian ministry, sparking cabinet reshuffle

Geoff Brock steps down from South Australian ministry, sparking cabinet reshuffle

After suffering three heart attacks and requiring four bypass surgeries, Geoff Brock has left South Australia's cabinet on his doctor's advice. The minister for local government and veterans' affairs choked back tears as he made the announcement today, which sparked a cabinet reshuffle. "I recognise it's time to step back in the best interests of my health, my family and my constituents," Brock said. "If I'm not going to do something properly, I don't want to do it at all." The independent MP has served in two Labor cabinets. First, he was rewarded by then-premier Jay Weatherill for handing Labor government back in 2014. Then he served in Peter Malinauskas's cabinet after the 2022 election. The 74-year-old will remain the member for the mid-...
Judge declines to delay Trump’s New York hush money trial over complaints of pretrial publicity

Judge declines to delay Trump’s New York hush money trial over complaints of pretrial publicity

The judge in Donald Trump's hush money criminal case turned down the former president’s request to postpone his trial because of publicity about the case. It's the latest in a string of delay denials that Trump has gotten from various courts this week as he fights to stave off the trial's start on Monday with jury selection. Among other things, Trump's lawyers had argued that the jury pool was deluged with what the defense saw as “exceptionally prejudicial” news coverage of the case. The defense maintained that was a reason to hold off the case indefinitely. Judge Juan M. Merchan said that idea was “not tenable.” Trump “appears to take the position that his situation and this case are unique and that the pre-trial publicity will never subside. However, this view...
Miss Universe organisation disputes reports of Saudi Arabia’s participation in 2024 pageant

Miss Universe organisation disputes reports of Saudi Arabia’s participation in 2024 pageant

The Miss Universe Organisation is disputing a flurry of what it calls "false and misleading" reports of Saudi Arabia's participation in its 2024 pageant — news that, were it true, would have marked the Middle Eastern country's debut. "No selection process has been conducted in Saudi Arabia, and any such claims are false and misleading," the pageant said in a statement provided to CNN and released on its official website. "While Saudi Arabia is not yet among those countries fully confirmed (as) participating this year, we are currently undergoing a rigorous vetting process qualifying a potential candidate to be awarded the franchise and assigned national director," the statement continued. "Saudi Arabia will not have this opportunity to join our prestigious pageant un...
NATO’s next challenge: How to reverse years of underfunding defense

NATO’s next challenge: How to reverse years of underfunding defense

The 75-year history of NATO can be described in three acts, each defined by existential threats to Western security. First, there was the Cold War and the Soviet threat. Act Two came in the 1990s and 2000s, when NATO deployed troops for the first time in Bosnia and Kosovo, followed by Afghanistan and Iraq. From 2014 onwards, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s first invasion of Ukraine and ISIS’s self-proclaimed caliphate brought armed threats right back to the alliance’s borders at a time when the United States and its allies were slowly retreating from the world. NATO’s fourth act may be defined by a crisis that has unfolded in slow motion. For over a decade, allies have chronically underspent on defense while the West’s adversaries modernized and bolstered their own military capabiliti...
Angelina Jolie alleges ‘history’ of Brad Pitt’s physical abuse prior to 2016 plane ride in new Miraval lawsuit filing

Angelina Jolie alleges ‘history’ of Brad Pitt’s physical abuse prior to 2016 plane ride in new Miraval lawsuit filing

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s fight over the French winery they once owned together is coming to a head and reigniting older conflicts, as new legal documents allege a “history of physical abuse of Jolie” on the part of Pitt prior to their fateful plane ride in 2016. On Thursday, Jolie filed a motion with the Los Angeles Superior Court, a copy of which CNN has obtained, wherein she claims that she attempted to sell Pitt her stake in the Miraval winery and that their negotiations ultimately broke down after Pitt conditioned the sale on Jolie signing an NDA that “prohibited Jolie from speaking (other than in court) about Pitt’s abuse of Jolie and their children by attempting to tie Pitt’s personal reputation to Miraval’s business.” This week’s new filing stems from Pitt’s 2022 lawsuit, in...
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