Good afternoon. After one of the most complex preference counts in Australian history, electoral analysts havecalled the seat of Calwell in Melbourne’s northern suburbsfor Labor candidate Basem Abdo. A record number of votes for minor parties and independentsplaced the preferential voting system in Calwellunder strain, but Greens preferences eventually secured Labor’s 94th lower house seat.
Born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents – his father left a village in the occupied West Bank after the six-day war in 1967 –Abdo’s family sought refuge in Jordanduring the Gulf war before migrating to Australia in 1991.
Meanwhile, the AEC will conducta partial recount in the seat of Goldstein, after a request for a full recount by the incumbent independent MP, Zoe Daniel. At the end of the full distribution of preferences, the margin was 260 votes in favour of Liberal challenger Tim Wilson. The partial recount will re-examine all first-preference ballot papers for Wilson and Daniel as well as all informal ballot papers, but won’t include a fresh distribution of preferences.
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As Dan Patch spoke to a reporter, his partner, Heather Middleton,found their calf wandering around their flood-stricken property.The couple had been evacuated from their Ghinni Ghinni property the week earlier and were forced to leave behind their livestock as the deadly deluge hit the NSW mid-north coast.
“It is outrageous that there be a blockade of food and supplies to people who are in need in Gaza … People are starving. The idea that a democratic state withholds supply is an outrage.”
Insome of his strongest comments since Israel’s war in Gaza began,Anthony Albanesecalled the Israeli government’s “excuses” for stopping critical food and medical supplies into the Palestinian territory “completely untenable”. The prime minister said he had conveyed Australia’s “deep concern” to Israel’s president over what the UN says may constitute “the cruellest phase of this cruel conflict”.
The NSW SES commissioner, Mike Wassing, says of the 572 dwellingsassessed as uninhabitablearound the Taree, Wingham and Glenthorne areas, 384 are homes. That number is expected to rise. Meanwhile, the federal government has announced70 Australian defence force personnelwill be deployed to the mid-north coast to assist with the cleanup.
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Holiday bookings to Japan are down – could a 90s manga comic’s earthquake prediction be to blame?
A grim prediction made in a manga first published a quarter of a century agois being blamed for a dramatic fall in holiday bookings to Japanfrom several Asian countries. Flight reservations from some of Japan’s key tourism markets have reportedly plummeted, with some linking the fall to The Future I Saw, a Japanese graphic novel based on the “prophetic” dreams of its author, Ryo Tatsuki.
Today’s starter word is:JAM.You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word.Play Wordiply.
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