Author: James Martin
12.30am EDT 00:30 Zelenskiy calls for direct talks with Putin Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for direct talks with his Russian counterpart as the key to ending the war. Ukraine and Russia have held several rounds of talks via videoconferencing, but so far without a major breakthrough, and Zelenskiy reiterated that direct talks with his Russian counterpart “in any format” were now needed. Without this meeting it is impossible to fully understand what they are ready for in order to stop the war.” Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has called for direct talks with Russian president Vladimir Putin as the…
The Morrison government failed to follow through on a promised $2m to facilitate consultations with traditional owners over its controversial plan to allow fracking in the Beetaloo Basin, an inquiry has heard.The federal government has handed fracking companies tens of millions of dollars to accelerate exploratory drilling in the basin as part of its “gas-led recovery” from the pandemic, despite evidence that exploiting the region’s gas would drive up Australia’s emissions by 13%.Before production can take place, consent must be secured from traditional owners across the vast area that makes up the Beetaloo.The Northern Land Council, tasked with liaising with…
A man who was trapped 15ft (4.5m) underground for two days in a San Francisco Bay area storm pipe the width of a large pizza was rescued in an effort that lasted hours and involved at least 50 firefighters, police officers and rescue personnel, officials said Monday.Officials freed the man from the 16in (40cm) pipe around 9.30pm on Sunday, said Steve Hill, spokesperson for the Contra Costa county fire protection district.“When we finally got him out of the ground, he was beyond exuberant. He was beyond happy to be above ground,” Hill said.The man in his mid-30s was not injured…
Volodymyr Zelenskiy urges direct talks with Russian president amid US fears Moscow could order chemical weapons attacksRussia-Ukraine war: latest updatesUkrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy urged direct talks with Vladimir Putin, saying: “Without this meeting it is impossible to fully understand what they are ready for in order to stop the war.” He also said his country will never bow to ultimatums from Russia and cities directly under attack, including the capital, Kyiv, and Mariupol and Kharkiv would not accept Russian occupation.Russian accusations that Kyiv has biological and chemical weapons are false and illustrate that Vladimir Putin is considering using them himself,…
The number of people in the UK using drugs to combat anxiety is soaring, driven by major increases among women and young adults, new research shows.Women are more than twice as likely as men to be diagnosed with anxiety and prescribed medication including antidepressants to relieve its symptoms, the study found.“It may be that women are more likely to seek help for anxiety, or are more willing to take medication for their mental health, and are therefore more likely to be prescribed anxiolytics [anti-anxiety drugs]”, said Dr Charlotte Archer, the study’s lead authory.The finding that more women are diagnosed with…
Two women have died after “being subjected to serious violence at a secondary school in the southern Swedish town of Malmö.It was not immediately known what had happened but police said there had been no reports of gunfire.“Two women in their 50s have died as a result of being subjected to violence,” a police statement said on Monday evening. “The women were employed at the school. Relatives have been notified.“An 18-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder. The man is a student at the school.”The incident, took place at Malmö latinskola, a big secondary school in the country’s…
History was made Monday, as the first Black woman ever nominated to the US supreme court testified to the Senate judiciary committee. But before Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson could speak at her confirmation hearing, she first had to listen to a lot of white men.The Senate confirmation hearings for Jackson started Monday, giving the judge and every member of the judiciary committee the opportunity to deliver remarks about her nomination.In her opening statement, Jackson took the opportunity to thank her parents, husband and two daughters, all of whom sat behind her in the hearing room as she delivered her remarks.…
The woman with whom Ben Roberts-Smith was having an affair – and who is at the centre of an allegation of domestic violence against him – is expected to give evidence in his defamation trial Tuesday afternoon.The trial has spent weeks focused on Australian SAS missions in Afghanistan, with a series of former comrades giving evidence about actions on operation, but it will shift its focus to Australia as the woman, anonymised in court documents as Person 17, to enter the witness box.Roberts-Smith, a recipient of the Victoria Cross and one of Australia’s most decorated soldiers, is suing the Age,…
4.31pm EDT 16:31 Free tickets to Shane Warne’s state memorial service will become available from 3pm today, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews says. Dan Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) We’ve got some details locked in for Warnie’s memorial at the MCG. The service will begin at 7pm, 30 March. Free tickets will be available for booking from today at 3pm, at https://t.co/qXOL7WTyrkAnd don’t worry – if you can’t make it, the memorial will be livestreamed. March 21, 2022 4.26pm EDT 16:26 Daniel Hurst Space must not become “a new realm for conflict”, Peter Dutton will say as he launches the Australian defence force’s new…
1. What makes a Minsky moment?The term refers to the end stage of a prolonged period of economic prosperity that has encouraged investors to take on excessive risk, to the point where lending exceeds what borrowers can pay off. At that point, Minsky wrote, there’s an increase in “speculative and Ponzi finance.” When a destabilizing event as simple as an increase in interest rates occurs, investors can be forced to sell assets to raise money to repay loans. That in turn sends markets into a spiral amid a demand for cash. There have been attempts to distinguish between a Minsky…