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Neo-Nazi Joel Davis charged with inciting hatred over ‘Abolish the Jewish lobby’ rally at NSW parliament

Davis, 32, arrested on Wednesday and charged with inciting hatred and causing fear. Arrest comes after police criticised at royal commission into antisemitism

Prominent neo-Nazi Joel Davis has been charged with alleged hate speech following a protest by the National Socialist Network outside New South Wales parliament.

About 60 members of the now-disbanded group stood in formation on Macquarie Street on 8 November last year, allegedly holding a large banner that read: “Abolish the Jewish lobby.”

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© Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP

© Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP

© Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP

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Rewilding giants: captive elephants rehomed in Europe’s first sanctuary

Julie, once a circus elephant, and Kariba, from a Belgian zoo, are to be moved to a former ranch in Portugal

Europe’s first large-scale elephant sanctuary, which is opening to offer a more natural environment for some of the 600 animals still held in captivity across the continent, is to receive its first arrivals.

Julie, Portugal’s last circus elephant, will be moved next month to the animal charity Pangea’s multimillion pound sanctuary in the Alentejo, 200km (124 miles) east of Lisbon, close to the border with Spain.

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© Photograph: Nicolas Coulon/Crolle/Pangea

© Photograph: Nicolas Coulon/Crolle/Pangea

© Photograph: Nicolas Coulon/Crolle/Pangea

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UAE’s ruling royal family benefits from more than €71m in EU farming subsidies

Al Nahyans’ control over farmland in Europe has meant they receive proportion of payments to farms

The United Arab Emirates’ ruling royal family is benefiting from tens of millions in EU subsidies to grow crops destined for the Gulf, it can be revealed.

A cross-border investigation by DeSmog and shared with the Guardian found subsidiaries controlled by the Al Nahyans collected more than €71m (£61m) in six years for farmland it controls in Romania, Italy and Spain.

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© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

© Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images

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Cut UK speed limits to reduce Iran war impact on consumers, thinktank urges

Cap of 20mph in towns and cities and 60mph on motorways would cut fuel demand and combat rising prices, IPPR says

Britain should lower speed limits for drivers as part of a package of measures to reduce the impact of the Iran war on consumers, a thinktank has said.

Capping legal speeds at 20mph in towns and cities and 60mph on motorways would help reduce fuel demand and combat soaring oil prices triggered by conflict, according to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR).

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© Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

© Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

© Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

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New Hungarian PM’s voters want action on climate and LGBTQ+ rights, poll finds

Exclusive: Voters remain split on issues critical to EU, such as support for Ukraine and dependence on Russian energy

More than three-quarters of Hungarians who voted for Péter Magyar in last month’s election want his government to do more to address the climate crisis, and more than 70% want him to protect LGBTQ+ rights, a poll has found.

Magyar’s opposition Tisza party won a supermajority in the vote, bringing an end to Viktor Orbán’s 16 years in power. The new prime minister will be sworn in on Saturday, weeks after the results set off celebrations in Budapest and Brussels.

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© Photograph: Márton Mónus/Reuters

© Photograph: Márton Mónus/Reuters

© Photograph: Márton Mónus/Reuters

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French professor accused of ‘gigantic hoax’ after inventing Nobel-style prize

Authorities investigate Florent Montaclair over award given to himself and others including Noam Chomsky

At a ceremony at the French national assembly attended by Nobel prize winners, former government ministers, MPs, decorated scientists and academics, all attention was on a previously unknown literature professor.

Florent Montaclair, then 46, a balding, bespectacled figure in an ill-fitting suit and rosé-coloured shirt, was receiving the 2016 Gold Medal of Philology - the study of linguistics – from an international society of the same name.

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© Photograph: Lionel VADAM/PHOTOPQR/L'EST REPUBLICAIN/MAXPP

© Photograph: Lionel VADAM/PHOTOPQR/L'EST REPUBLICAIN/MAXPP

© Photograph: Lionel VADAM/PHOTOPQR/L'EST REPUBLICAIN/MAXPP

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Gas companies will be forced to set aside local supply under major Labor shakeup

Albanese government announces east coast gas reservation policy, which will require producers to set aside 20% of export volumes

Gas companies will be forced to set aside 20% of exports for domestic use under a reservation scheme designed to shore up supplies and bring down prices for households and businesses on the east coast.

The federal government announced the design of the reservation scheme on Thursday as part of a wider overhaul of the mechanisms regulating the gas sector.

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© Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

© Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

© Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

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Australian director Phillip Noyce shoots feature film for Saudi Arabia celebrating ‘heroism of security men in combating drugs’

Exclusive: Regime, which executed 243 people last year for drug offences, accused of investing in entertainment to whitewash its human rights record

The acclaimed Australian film-maker Phillip Noyce is being paid by the Saudi regime to make a feature film portraying the repressive state’s narcotics officers as heroes.

The Watchful Eyes, based on a real Saudi ministry of interior narcotics case, is billed as a dramatic depiction of the “heroism of security men in combating drugs”.

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© Photograph: Supplied by Noyce.

© Photograph: Supplied by Noyce.

© Photograph: Supplied by Noyce.

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LA mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt reposts scathing AI-generated ad

Ex-TV star launches viral video a day before debate with mayor Karen Bass and city council member Nithya Raman

Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt reposted a scathing AI-generated ad on X on Tuesday, which cast the city as a bleak hellscape under its current leadership.

In the viral video, created by film-maker Charlie Curran, flames engulf the Hollywood sign; a socialist militia patrols the streets; and California’s political brass, including governor Gavin Newsom, mayor Karen Bass and former vice-president Kamala Harris, are depicted as royal bourgeois who care little for their subjects’ plights.

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© Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters

© Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters

© Photograph: Daniel Cole/Reuters

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Argentina races to find origins of cruise ship hantavirus outbreak, amid reports some passengers have returned to US

Argentina, where the MV Hondius cruise departed, consistently ranked by WHO as having highest incidence of hantavirus in region

Officials and experts in Argentina are scrambling to determine if their country is the source of a deadly hantavirus outbreak that has gripped an Atlantic cruise ship, amid reports that a number of passengers have already returned to their home countries.

Argentina, where the cruise to Antarctica departed, is consistently ranked by the World Health Organization (WHO) as having the highest incidence of the rare, rodent-borne disease in Latin America. Investigators there are working to contact trace the source of contamination.

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© Photograph: ARGENTINE HEALTH MINISTRY/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: ARGENTINE HEALTH MINISTRY/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: ARGENTINE HEALTH MINISTRY/AFP/Getty Images

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US says migration has made Europe an ‘incubator’ for terrorism in new counter-terrorism strategy

The 16-page report was led by Trump-ally Sebastian Gorka, and places drug cartels in the Americas at the centre of counter-terrorism efforts

The Trump administration has accused Europe of being an “incubator” for terrorism fuelled by mass migration, in a new counter-terrorism strategy unveiled on Wednesday.

The strategy also focuses on rooting out “violent left-wing extremists” including “radically pro-transgender” groups, as Trump’s conservative administration steps up its political attacks on opponents.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

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Federal authorities arrest 18 people in Los Angeles raid amid drug crackdown

Justice department targets MacArthur Park, which has long struggled with fentanyl use, overdoses and homelessness

Federal authorities arrested 18 people in Los Angeles in a crackdown on drugs in MacArthur Park, the Department of Justice announced on Wednesday.

The DoJ said it was targeting an “open-air drug market” in the park near downtown, which has long struggled with fentanyl use and overdoses and has at times had large encampments of unhoused people.

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© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

© Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

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