Russian woman arrested and charged in the US after spy allegations
A Russian woman has been arrested and charged with conspiring to act as an agent of Russia in the US “by developing relationships with US persons and infiltrating organisations having influence in American politics.”
The Department of Justice said the woman carried out her activities in the US at the direction of the “Russian official”.
In a statement, the women’s lawyer, Robert Driscoll, said she was not an agent of the Russian Federation but was instead in the US on a student visa, graduating from an American University.
Ten people dead after a launched operation in Masaya
An operation launched by government-backed paramilitary groups in Masaya has left at least ten people dead.
Nicaraguan Association for Human Rights head Alvaro Leiva says four riot police and six civilians, including a ten-year-old girl, during the operation to clear protesters’’ barricades.
The political unrest in Nicaragua has lead to the deaths of more than 280 people in the past three months, the vast majority of them civilians.
NT camp dog population control
Camp dogs have become part of the landscape, a part of family life, and Aboriginal communities in many remote towns in the Northern Territory, but it can be tricky to control overpopulation of these animals.
Animal Management in Rural and Remote Indigenous Communities have developed a census tool to better track and treat camp dogs and cats in the area, offering the animals medicine and desexing services.
Albury-Wodonga's first LGBT+ Aboriginal event
Three Indigenous men from Albury-Wodonga closed local NAIDOC Week celebrations with the region’s first LGBT+ Aboriginal event, Dragioke.
‘Dragioke’ gained local sponsorship and sold out within two weeks without promotion, which the performers say is encouraging and indicated acceptance.
Performer Mitch Hibbens, a Wiradjuri man, says access to similar when he was younger and grappling with being a gay Indigenous man would have greatly helped his well-being.
Proposed underwater graveyard site on the Gold Coast
A proposed underwater graveyard could soon find Gold Coast residents spending their after-life underwater.
The city is seeking solutions to a shortage of burial plots, examining the construction of a site under the Broadwater or the Spit where cremated remains would rest.
The plan has been under investigation since January, with a site of a similar approach off the coast of Miami seems to be inspiration for the council.
A Brisbane company Microba has developed a new testing protocol for a range of digestive problems
The Brisbane-based company Microba has developed a new testing protocol for a range digestive problems.
The test involves taking a faecal sample and mailing it to a laboratory which can use DNA sequencing to reveal the state of gut microorganisms.
Senior scientist Dr Alena Pribyl says the process, which is an Australian-first, is similar to bowel cancer screening test, but though it is informative, it is not medically diagnostic.
11am Zedlines
This is Patrick and Ha-Teya with your 11am Zedlines.
10am Zedlines
This is Patrick and Ha-Teya with your 10am Zedlines.
Human Rights Watch report suggests Myanmar's government "should promptly address illegal land confiscations"
A Human Rights Watch report has suggested Myanmar’s government “should promptly address illegal land confiscations, compensate aggrieved parties, and reform laws to protect people against future abuses.”
Myanmar government and military officials have seized land from farmers over the past 30 years “while providing them with no or inadequate compensation”, said the 33-page report on Tuesday.
Farmers who had protested the lack of compensation or refused to leave their land often faced criminal prosecution.
Israel prevents gas and fuel deliveries from entering the Gaza Strip
Israel has prevented gas and fuel deliveries from entering the Gaza Strip a week after shutting down the Kerem Shalom crossing, the only commercial crossing into the Strip.
Initially, only items deemed humanitarian were allowed into Gaza, including fuel; however the Israeli defense ministry announced will remain open only for food and medicine on a case-by-case basis.
The UN and Gisha, the Legal Centre for Freedom of Movement, describe the act as collective punishment, with Gisha further describing it as morally depraved.