Blow the Truth

Lesbian Day of Visabilty White House Media: Celebration of Lesbian Day of Visibility, the White House hosted a roundtable conversation with trailblazing lesbian and LGBTQI+ senior leaders from the White House and the broader Biden-Harris Administration. The roundtable included lesbian and queer advocates, community leaders, leaders across the federal government, several of whom are the first out lesbians to hold their position, including Ambassador Chantale Wong, Director of the Asian Development Bank, who is the first out lesbian to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate to an ambassador post; Admiral Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary for Health, who is a lesbian and the first openly transgender woman to achieve the rank the four-star admiral in any of the country’s uniformed services; White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre; and Deputy White House Communications Director Pili Tobar. The roundtable was convened by White House Gender Policy Council Director Jennifer Klein. ...

Putin Meeting with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Photo: The Kremlin, Moscow President of Russia Vladimir Putin : Mr Secretary-General, I am very happy to see you. As one of the founders of the United Nations and a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Russia has always supported this universal organisation. We believe the UN is not simply universal but it is unique in a way – the international community does not have another organisation like it. We are doing all we can to support the principles on which it rests, and we intend to continue doing this in the future. We find the expression of some of our colleagues about a world based on rules somewhat strange. We believe the main rule is the UN Charter and other documents adopted by this organisation rather than some papers written by their authors as...

  Each Way Albo This week’s Newspoll, conducted April 20-23 from a sample of 1,538, gave Labor a 53-47 lead, unchanged from last week. Primary votes were 37% Labor (up one), 36% Coalition (up one), 11% Greens (down one), 4% UAP (steady), 3% One Nation (down one) and 9% for all Others (steady). 54% were dissatisfied with Scott Morrison’s performance (up two), and 42% were satisfied (down one), for a net approval of -12, down three points. Anthony Albanese gained two points to be at -12 net approval. Morrison led as better PM by 46-37 (44-37 previously). Newspoll figures are from The Poll Bludger . After a rise to -9 net approval last week, Morrison fell back into negative net double digits. But Albanese only recovered two points of net approval after last week’s 11-point crash, which was the biggest poll to poll drop for an opposition leader since Bill Shorten lost 16 in February 2015. Although last week’s Newspoll was stable at 53-47 to Labor, all other polls last ...

President Putin during the meeting on economic issues (via videoconference). The President held a regular meeting on economic issues via videoconference President of Russia Vladimir Putin : Good afternoon, colleagues, We have agreed to hold regular meetings on the situation in the Russian economy and monitor changes in key macroeconomic indicators that characterise business, investment activity and labour market dynamics. Naturally, this work is of special importance because based on the detailed analysis and consideration of potential risks, we have taken and will take measures on additional support for our people, industries and companies, as well as the economy as a whole. I would like to emphasise that the economy continues to stabilise. Inflation has slowed; weekly price increases have approached normal levels, and pric...

Deadly Evacuation From Kabul Airport By Stephen Engelberg ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. Series: A Closer Look Examining the News On Aug. 26, 2021, a suicide bomber detonated a vest packed with explosives and ball bearings in the packed crowd outside Kabul’s international airport. Shrapnel sliced through the air, killing 13 American service members and an estimated 160 Afghan civilians. In the hours after the attack, officials reported that a second assailant had sprayed the crowd with automatic weapons fire, increasing the casualty toll in what was one of the deadliest attacks on American forces in the 20 years of war in Afghanistan. As so often happens in such cases, the U.S. military’s initial account raised more questions than it answered. The Marines scrambling to evacuate civilians as Taliban forces swept into...

Cross River Rail A station box excavated at a record-breaking depth of 50 metres beneath Brisbane has been completed as part of the construction of Brisbane CBD’s first new train station in more than 120 years. Acting Premier and Minister for State Development Steven Miles said the station box for the new Cross River Rail underground station on Albert Street was about 50 metres deep at its lowest point – almost double the previous record of 26 metres set during Queen’s Wharf construction. “This dig, in the heart of the CBD, has smashed the previous record, making it the deepest in Brisbane’s history,” Mr Miles said. “This milestone for Cross River Rail is yet another example of the sheer scale of this project. “To give an idea of the size, if this was an underground carpark, it would be about 15 levels deep, with excavation generating enough spoil to fill 19 Olympic-sized swimming pools. “The Myer Centre carpark just up the road has a depth of 22 metres, and this is over double that. “...

  Emmanuel Macron has been reelected as President of the Republic of France for a second five-year term. He defeated far-right candidate Marine Le Pen in the second round of the presidential election only hours ago, winning about 58.8% of the votes against 41.2% for his opponent. While votes are still being counted, about 30% of the French electorate did not vote. This is perhaps the highest abstention rate at a presidential elections since 1969. While most political watchers were expecting a narrower Macron victory, many in France were genuinely scared by the lack of nationwide mass demonstration against Le Pen and the far right ahead of Sunday’s vote. The possibility of having Le Pen elected was higher than ever before. What are the key consequences of Macron’s reelection for both France and Europe? Continuity amid dissatisfaction Providing Macron’s party La République en Marche! can win the lower house election in June – which it is predicted to do – the first ma...