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  • Russia is ramping up its attempts to kill opponents in Europe, intelligence officials say

    Russia is ramping up its attempts to kill opponents in Europe, intelligence officials say

    For Russian opposition activist Vladimir Osechkin, even routine daily tasks like dropping his children at school or picking up groceries require a call to local law enforcement. Since 2022, he has lived under constant French police protection after authorities concluded the Kremlin was plotting to kill him, and new unsealed court documents obtained exclusively by the Associated Press reveal how close that plot came to execution.

    In April 2025, a four-man team of Russian nationals staked out Osechkin’s home in the southwestern French seaside resort of Biarritz for hours, capturing detailed photos and video of the property as pre-operational surveillance for a planned assassination, the documents confirm. This is not an isolated incident: Osechkin recalls years earlier, a telltale red dot, consistent with a firearm’s laser sight, appeared on the interior wall of his residence, an early warning of the danger closing in.

    Osechkin’s case is just one thread in a far broader pattern of targeted violence and plots stretching across the European continent. Over the past two years alone, European security officials have disrupted multiple planned attacks: Lithuanian authorities foiled two separate assassination plots last year targeting a pro-Ukraine Lithuanian citizen and a Russian opposition activist; German security services broke up two plots, one aimed at the chief executive of a German arms manufacturer supplying Kyiv and another targeting a senior Ukrainian military official; Polish authorities arrested a suspect in 2024 over a plan to assassinate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during a visit to the country; and that same year, a defected Russian helicopter pilot was shot and killed in Spain, with Russian intelligence operatives identified as the prime suspects.

    Three senior Western intelligence officials from separate countries confirmed to AP that what was once a sporadic program to eliminate Kremlin opponents abroad has exploded into a systematic, widely expanded campaign of targeted killings following Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence matters, all three officials agreed that Russian security services have grown dramatically bolder in their selection of targets, expanding beyond the traditional list of defectors and double agents to include opposition activists, independent regional campaigners, and even foreign citizens who openly support Ukraine’s war effort. One senior European intelligence official stressed that the campaign is not random: “There is political authorization.”

    Intelligence analysts, senior counterterrorism officials, and Lithuanian prosecutors link this stepped-up campaign to Russia’s broader asymmetric war against European nations that back Ukraine. Since the invasion began, AP has mapped more than 191 confirmed acts of sabotage, arson, and disruptive attacks across Europe that Western officials attribute to Russian actors. In most of these incidents, Russian intelligence relies on low-cost local proxies rather than deploying its own trained officers — a model Moscow has now adapted for its assassination campaign, according to court documents and official briefings.

    When contacted by AP for comment on the reports, Putin’s spokesperson Dmitry Peskov declined to comment, saying he saw “no need” to address the claims. Russian officials have consistently denied any involvement in targeted killings of opponents abroad.

    Digging into the details of the plot against Osechkin, court records show three of the four detained suspects traveled to Biarritz specifically to surveil the activist, with the explicit goal of killing Osechkin to intimidate all anti-Kremlin opponents residing in France. All four suspects were born in Russia’s Dagestan region; one has a long record of violent criminal convictions, while another told investigators he fled Russia after being arrested by the Federal Security Service (FSB) to avoid being forcibly conscripted and deployed to fight in Ukraine. Osechkin, who founded a prominent human rights organization focused on exposing abuse in Russia’s prison system, said threats against him escalated sharply after he expanded his work to document Russian war crimes in Ukraine and help Russian soldiers defect to avoid combat. He relocated to France in 2015 and entered police protection in 2022 after intelligence confirmed his life was in immediate danger. “If it weren’t for them, I probably would have been killed,” Osechkin told AP.

    Half a continent away in Lithuania, another target, Ruslan Gabbasov, an activist campaigning for independence for Russia’s Bashkortostan region, survived a 2025 plot after a lucky discovery. Gabbasov found an Apple AirTag tracking device hidden on the undercarriage of his car in February 2025. Lithuanian police left the device in place and tracked the surveillance team back to their network. Weeks later, as Gabbasov attended a national independence day celebration with his wife and five-year-old son, police called and warned him not to return home. The next day, investigators told him a gunman had been waiting outside his residence overnight, ready to kill him on his return. Lithuanian authorities offered Gabbasov a chance to enter witness protection: to change his name, relocate, and abandon his political activism entirely. He refused, noting that he is seen as a leading voice for independence aspirations in his resource-rich home region, which has sent thousands of men to fight in Ukraine. “I can’t betray them all by simply disappearing, especially out of fear,” Gabbasov said. “If I stop my work or hide, that’s exactly what the Kremlin wants — that’s their win.”

    Lithuanian pro-Ukraine activist Valdas Bartkevičius was also offered the same deal after authorities uncovered a plot to plant a bomb in his home mailbox in March 2025. He also rejected going into hiding, saying that withdrawing from public life would amount to “social death.” Bartkevičius, who has gained attention for his high-profile anti-Russia actions, including a protest at a Soviet war memorial, said he will not stop his work fundraising for Ukraine’s military.

    To date, Lithuanian prosecutors have charged 13 people from at least seven countries in connection with the two plots against Gabbasov and Bartkevičius, part of a group of at least 20 suspects detained, charged, or identified across Europe in assassination-linked cases over the past 12 months. Prosecutors confirm the suspects were acting on direct orders from Russian military intelligence, and many have ties to Russian organized crime networks that have also been linked to arson and espionage plots across the European Union.

    Security analysts say the shift to using proxies stems from a major change after the 2018 poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, England. That attack, which the UK government proved was carried out by Russian military intelligence officers, prompted Western nations to expel more than 300 Russian diplomats, most of whom were covert intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover. That mass expulsion made it far riskier and more difficult for Russian intelligence officers to operate openly on European territory, according to Cmdr. Dominic Murphy, former head of counterterrorism at London’s Metropolitan Police and lead investigator on the Skripal case.

    While most publicly reported plots since 2022 have been foiled by European security services, one senior Western intelligence official noted that proxy operatives are generally less skilled and less resourced than trained Russian intelligence officers, which contributes to the higher rate of failed attacks. Even so, the official explained, the plots achieve key Russian goals even when they fail: they intimidate opponents into self-censorship, force European law enforcement to devote massive ongoing resources to protecting potential targets, and signal the Kremlin’s willingness to punish dissent anywhere in the world.

    Pointing to the 2024 killing of defector Maxim Kuzminov in Spain, who was publicly threatened by masked Russian servicemen on state-controlled television before his death, the official said it is clear that when the Kremlin prioritizes a target, it can still carry out an assassination in Europe despite the increased security pressure. For this reason, potential targets will never be fully safe, the official warned: “Even if you thwart an operation once, you still need to be ready in case they strike again.”

  • AFL 2026: Carlton coach Michael Voss has recalled George Hewett for Brisbane on Friday

    AFL 2026: Carlton coach Michael Voss has recalled George Hewett for Brisbane on Friday

    In a high-stakes selection reversal that has caught AFL circles by surprise, Carlton Blues have announced that star inside midfielder George Hewett – the club’s reigning best and fairest winner – will return to the senior lineup for Friday night’s clash against the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba. The recall comes just five weeks after coach Michael Voss made the controversial call to drop Hewett following Carlton’s shocking Good Friday defeat to North Melbourne.

    After being sent to the Victorian Football League (VFL), Carlton’s reserve competition, Hewett refused to let the setback derail his form. Over the course of a month-long wait for a senior recall, the ball-winning specialist put in a string of dominant performances at the lower level, notching no fewer than 24 disposals in each of his five VFL outings. His standout display came last weekend against St Kilda, where Hewett racked up 31 possessions and kicked two goals to force the selection hand of Carlton’s coaching panel.

    Speaking ahead of the crucial round clash, Voss made it clear that Hewett’s specific skill set is exactly what the Blues need to counteract the Lions’ vaunted midfield unit. “He’ll play; he’s been really strong over the last couple of weeks,” Voss told reporters. “He’s added a couple more things into his game in the last few weeks which we’ll hopefully see in this game. He’s been a really valuable teammate for us, you bang the door down to selection through form and he’s certainly done that. We know what we get with George, he’s very reliable. You’ve got to factor in what our balance is looking like (and) he brings a strong contest game. When we talk about Brisbane, they’re strong around stoppages and we’ve got to get our hands on the ball first.”

    The recall comes amid one of the most turbulent opening stretches to a season in recent Carlton history, with off-field controversy and on-field inconsistency plaguing Voss and his playing group. The club has faced intense public scrutiny following the ongoing Elijah Hollands saga, while repeated second-half collapses in senior matches have left the Blues languishing with underwhelming early-season results. Last week’s late fade-out, in particular, left Voss frustrated and demanding improvement from his entire squad.

    Voss acknowledged that a upset win over the high-flying Lions at the Gabba would provide a massive boost to his side’s flagging morale, but stressed the team cannot afford to look past the process of putting together a full four-quarter performance. “It’d be pretty large, but you don’t think about outcome, that’s stating the absolute obvious about what we’re trying to do here,” he said. “What we do have to focus on is getting our game together, we have to stay connected throughout the whole game to give ourselves the best chance to win. This is a pretty tough environment to win in, they’re a very good side (and) we’re going to have to do a lot right.”

    Addressing the team’s recent struggles, Voss admitted the slow start to the season has been frustrating, but framed the setbacks as an opportunity for the group to grow and refine their game plan. “It’s been frustrating, but at the same time, we’ve used those moments to find marginal gains to get better. That’s where we’re at as a team, and you’re living on that knife’s edge a little bit in terms of performance. To have a quarter like we did last week, it’s extremely disappointing. You’ve got to go to work on your game, we let ourselves down defensively. We’ve got to be better, and we have to ask more from one another throughout this game.”

  • Westpac economist urges government to cut ‘life admin’ burden on women

    Westpac economist urges government to cut ‘life admin’ burden on women

    Ahead of the upcoming Australian federal budget, Westpac’s top economist has sounded a sharp warning about growing government overreach and called for sweeping policy reforms to unlock economic potential for Australian women and older workers. In a high-profile address to the National Press Club, chief economist Luci Ellis made a targeted case for rolling back unnecessary bureaucratic complexity, arguing that ballooning regulation and administrative burdens are disproportionately holding back Australian women, while breeding a culture of “learned helplessness” across the community.

    Ellis pointed to the rapid, unplanned expansion of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) as a defining example of well-intentioned policy gone awry. Launched with the core mission of supporting Australians living with permanent, severe disabilities, the scheme has since expanded to cover a far broader range of services, creating layers of unnecessary administrative work that falls heaviest on family members — most of whom are women. Even well-meaning additional regulation, she emphasized, ultimately adds unnecessary complexity to daily household life.

    “Policy circles are seeing a growing expectation that government must step in to solve every problem, and that expectation has driven exponential growth in the size and scope of the public sector,” Ellis explained in her speech. She highlighted the tangible downstream impacts of this shift: a growing share of household income going toward taxes, an ever-expanding regulatory footprint across industries, and a mounting “life admin” burden that falls disproportionately on women.

    Ellis drew on a wide range of examples to illustrate the scope of regulatory bloat, from the multiple layers of approval developers must secure from overlapping government agencies to the ever-expanding length of Australia’s Income Tax Assessment Act. In a memorable, lighthearted jab at the growing complexity of public policy, she referenced a lyric from iconic feminist artist Avril Lavigne: “why did you have to go and make things so complicated.”

    Beyond regulatory bloat, Ellis warned that constant government intervention every time a challenge arises risks creating a state of “learned helplessness” across the community. She also called out outdated misconceptions about women’s workforce participation and population ageing that continue to hold back Australia’s economy, arguing that current policy is built on flawed assumptions that do not reflect modern demographic and labor market trends.

    “If the government wants to harness the full economic opportunity of an ageing population and a workforce that includes more older workers and more women, it should prioritize removing barriers to women entering, re-entering, and remaining in the workforce for as long as they choose and are able,” Ellis said.

    She emphasized that getting the NDIS back on a sustainable footing and refocusing it on its core mission of supporting severely disabled people would go a long way toward reducing the unpaid care burden falling on Australian women, who currently carry a disproportionate share of responsibility for both caring for children and ageing parents. As an alternative to the current NDIS model, Ellis suggested that well-funded school-based support, with training for both teachers and parents, could better support many children currently on the scheme, without adding layers of extra administrative work that require parents to attend multiple provider appointments.

    Ellis added that reducing administrative burdens for families should be a non-negotiable core principle guiding all federal and state government initiatives, not just disability policy. She also called for targeted overhauls of tax and retirement policy to better support women who take career breaks for caregiving, noting that much of Australia’s existing economic policy framework is built on the outdated assumption that an ageing population will automatically lead to a shrinking workforce.

    “Budgets, intergenerational reviews, and all types of public policy should be revised to reflect actual demographic and labor market trends, rather than outdated first-generation assumptions about ageing,” she said. The Labor government is set to unveil its fifth federal budget on May 12, with policymakers facing growing pressure to address cost-of-living pressures and unlock long-term economic growth.

  • Victory in Iran is nothing short of finishing it off

    Victory in Iran is nothing short of finishing it off

    In the volatile geopolitical landscape of the Middle East centered on Iran, there is an old, unwritten rule: if you have to publicly explain that you have achieved victory, you have already suffered a quiet defeat. That unforgiving standard now applies to President Donald Trump’s stunning last-minute reversal: just one day after launching Operation Freedom, a U.S. Navy escort initiative for commercial cargo transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the president announced he was putting the mission on hold. The sudden policy shift has left observers baffled, as has Trump’s claim that a breakthrough peace deal with Tehran’s ruling regime is within close reach.

    It is worth noting that fixating on the president’s frequent policy shifts can quickly become disorienting. No external observer has access to the full scope of classified intelligence that Trump reviews daily; only the president himself knows his ultimate strategic objectives and the path he intends to take to reach them. That said, retired U.S. Marine Colonel Grant Newsham, author of *When China Attacks: A Warning to America*, draws a parallel between this moment and several landmark missteps in recent U.S. foreign policy history—ones that have echoed through global security for decades.

    Newsham compares the early halt to the Hormuz mission to 1991, when President George H.W. Bush ended the first Gulf War just 72 hours too soon, leaving Saddam Hussein’s regime intact and setting the stage for decades of conflict and a second U.S. invasion a dozen years later. The same ominous feeling arose in 2001, when President George W. Bush allowed Osama bin Laden to escape the Tora Bora mountains in Afghanistan rather than closing the net and eliminating the al-Qaeda leader. A similar missed opportunity played out in the 1990s, when the U.S. had a clear opening to halt the Kim family regime’s nuclear weapons program in North Korea, but President Bill Clinton declined to act—with backing from former President Jimmy Carter, who infamously declared Kim Il Sung “a good man we can do business with.”

    More recently, Newsham points to missteps during Trump’s first term that fit the same pattern. When Chinese telecommunications giants Huawei and ZTE—widely accused of functioning as arms of Beijing’s intelligence apparatus—were on the brink of collapse from U.S. sanctions, Trump stepped in to relieve pressure and allow the firms to rebuild. The same goes for TikTok, the popular short-video app repeatedly flagged as a continuous Chinese intelligence collection and influence operation, which the first Trump administration ultimately failed to ban or force a sale of.

    Across these cases, Newsham argues, American leaders have lost the ability to follow through on defeating adversaries, instead choosing to redefine “victory” to match incomplete, half-finished policy outcomes.

    A particularly troubling element of the current shift, Newsham notes, is the Trump administration’s reported willingness to allow Pakistan to mediate any future deal with Iran. Pakistan, he argues, has long been firmly aligned with Beijing, taking strategic direction from China on key regional issues. This dynamic is analogous to the Biden administration relying on Russia to mediate U.S.-Iran talks—a move that ignores basic geopolitical realities: it is critical to correctly identify which nations are genuine allies and which are not.

    Pakistan has a long track record of double-dealing that undermines U.S. interests, from its duplicitous behavior throughout the 20-year U.S. campaign in Afghanistan to its decade-long hosting of Osama bin Laden after his 2001 escape. Islamabad has also waged a sustained terror campaign against India for years, a campaign that rivals the destructive activities of Iran’s Quds Force. Newsham questions why a nation with this track record would be trusted to mediate a deal critical to U.S. national security.

    To be fair, Newsham acknowledges that the president has access to intelligence that outside commentators do not, and there could be sound justifications for pausing Operation Freedom. Perhaps the U.S. is facing a shortage of interceptor missiles, and leaders fear Iranian strikes on critical desalination plants operated by Gulf Cooperation Council nations. Maybe the United Arab Emirates, which has already suffered Iranian attacks on its oil infrastructure, intervened to request a hold on military escalation.

    Even so, the sudden about-face defies explanation: less than 12 hours before the pause, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman General Michael Cain publicly announced plans for a multi-layered defense “Red, White and Blue Dome” to protect shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. That proposal was abruptly pulled off the table within a single day.

    Another possible explanation is that Trump believes he can reach a favorable deal with self-identified “moderates” within the Iranian regime. But Newsham pushes back on this: nearly 50 years of dealing with the Islamic Republic should have taught U.S. leaders that genuine moderates do not hold power in Tehran—most Iranians who favor liberalization live in exile abroad. The ruling regime that just brutally suppressed domestic unrest, killing an estimated 40,000 protestors, has not changed its core ideological or strategic goals.

    Geopolitical windows of opportunity do not stay open forever, Newsham warns, and this moment to neutralize Iran’s nuclear and regional threat may be closing—closing at the hands of the U.S. itself. Even if a deal is reached, Tehran has a long track record of breaking its international commitments. The regime will almost certainly rebuild its military capabilities, continue its push for a nuclear weapon, reactivate its network of regional proxy militant groups, and brutally eliminate all domestic opposition—the same opposition that Trump publicly promised “help is on the way.”

    The regional and global ripple effects of this reversal are already taking shape, Newsham argues. Chinese leader Xi Jinping had been thrown off balance by the strong U.S. military display and demonstrated political will during recent operations in Venezuela and the opening stages of the Iran conflict. Now, Xi will have little reason to fear U.S. resolve. He will learn that the U.S. rarely follows through on its threats, and that Beijing only needs to hold out and outwait American political will.

    For U.S. allies across the Middle East and Indo-Pacific that counted on Washington to see the mission through and confront aggressive regional powers, this reversal will sow deep uncertainty and mistrust. In the end, Newsham concludes, it will not take long for the outcome of this policy shift to become clear. If the Trump administration finds itself having to convince the world that it won in Iran, that old unwritten rule still holds: the explanation itself is proof of defeat.

  • Tokyo leads Asia stock surge on growing Mideast peace hopes

    Tokyo leads Asia stock surge on growing Mideast peace hopes

    A sweeping risk-on rally swept through Asian equity markets on Thursday, with Tokyo’s benchmark index leading sharp gains across the region as two key catalysts — rising hopes for a negotiated end to the US-Iran conflict and a resurgent wave of artificial intelligence investment — lifted investor sentiment to multi-week highs.

    The upward momentum followed a dramatic shift in geopolitical tone earlier this week, after US President Donald Trump announced that a deal to end hostilities between Washington and Tehran was within reach. Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Trump confirmed that constructive talks had taken place over the preceding 24 hours, noting that “it’s very possible that we’ll make a deal.” If Iran agrees to the terms already outlined, he said, the war would end immediately; a rejection would see US bombing resume at “a much higher level and intensity.”

    US-based news outlet Axios later reported, citing two unnamed senior US officials, that both negotiating teams have edged close to finalizing a concise one-page memorandum of understanding. The draft agreement would end active hostilities, reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz, and establish a framework for follow-up negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program. The Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint that handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s daily crude oil supplies, has been effectively closed to commercial shipping since early March, tightening global energy markets and pushing oil prices sharply higher.

    Iran has not yet formally accepted the US proposal. Foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told local Iranian media that the offer remains “still under review,” while parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf — who has led Iran’s negotiation team — warned that Washington’s approach amounted to an attempt to “force us to surrender.” Still, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who mediated early exploratory talks hosted in Islamabad last month, said he remained “very hopeful” that a breakthrough could be reached.

    The rising prospect of de-escalation triggered sharp swings across global commodity and financial markets this week. Oil prices, which fell roughly 10% over the preceding two trading days on hopes of the Hormuz strait reopening, held steady on Thursday: West Texas Intermediate traded flat at $95.08 per barrel, while Brent North Sea Crude edged up 0.1% to $101.32 per barrel. Lower energy price expectations have also eased persistent inflation concerns, lifting gold prices more than 3% in Wednesday’s session and driving a broad rally in bonds.

    In equity markets, the positive geopolitical shift aligned with a fresh wave of investor enthusiasm for AI-related assets, building on record gains from Wall Street in the prior session. Strong quarterly earnings from leading US tech giants including Microsoft, Apple and Alphabet reignited buying pressure for technology stocks across Asia, amplifying the risk-on rally.

    Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 led regional gains, surging 5.7% to close at 62,915.87 as Japanese investors returned from an extended public holiday. SoftBank, Japan’s leading technology investment firm, rocketed more than 15% on the day, while key chip industry players Tokyo Electron and Advantest notched double-digit gains. In Seoul, the benchmark Kospi extended the prior day’s rally to close above the 7,000-point milestone for the first time in history, with Samsung continuing its upward march after recently crossing the $1 trillion market capitalization threshold. Major markets across Hong Kong, Shanghai, Sydney, Singapore, Taipei, Wellington, Manila and Jakarta all posted solid gains on the day.

    Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management, noted that the confluence of positive catalysts created near-perfect conditions for a broad market rally. “Traders aggressively embraced the idea that the Iran war may finally be shifting from missile trajectories to negotiation tables, while the AI frenzy simultaneously poured jet fuel onto the risk rally,” he said. “The result was one of those rare sessions where nearly every macro domino fell in perfect sequence. Oil collapsed, bonds rallied, the dollar sank, gold exploded higher, and stocks surged.”

    Japanese investors also remained focused on currency movements this week, amid persistent speculation that Japanese authorities have intervened in foreign exchange markets to prop up the yen, which has faced downward pressure from surging oil prices and safe-haven flows into the US dollar. The yen hit a 10-month high against the greenback on Wednesday, fuelling rumors of official support. Local Japanese media reported last week that the government spent between $32 billion and $38 billion buying yen in the market, citing data from the Bank of Japan. Atsushi Mimura, Japan’s top currency official, declined to comment on the speculation when asked by reporters Thursday. The dollar traded at 156.23 yen on Thursday, down slightly from 156.39 yen at the close of Wednesday’s session.

  • AFL 2026: Collingwood coach Craig McRae defends Scott Pendlebury over games record selfishness claims

    AFL 2026: Collingwood coach Craig McRae defends Scott Pendlebury over games record selfishness claims

    One of the Australian Football League’s most enduring careers is poised to hit a historic new high this weekend, but the road to Scott Pendlebury’s record-breaking milestone has been marred by public debate – and Collingwood head coach Craig McRae is pushing back hard against critics of the club’s planned celebrations.

    This Saturday night when Collingwood takes on Geelong, the 38-year-old veteran midfielder will tie Brent Harvey’s all-time AFL record of 432 senior games, a mark the North Melbourne great set during his decorated career. Controversy has erupted in recent days over the club’s choice to rest Pendlebury for Collingwood’s round match against Hawthorn, with widespread expectation he will also sit out the following week’s away clash against Sydney to break the record in front of Collingwood’s home fans. Additional criticism has centered on the gold-colored number 10 jumper Pendlebury is set to wear for the record match, a departure from Collingwood’s iconic black-and-white uniform.

    Prominent Collingwood champion Tony Shaw is among the high-profile figures who have publicly questioned the club’s approach to the milestone, leading to accusations that the plan prioritizes individual glory over team success. Speaking to reporters this week, McRae cut a frustrated and confused figure over the backlash, arguing that the club’s choice to center its milestone plans around Pendlebury does not undermine the team’s competitive priorities.

    McRae pointed out that Pendlebury has a long-standing pattern of resting after five-day turnarounds between matches, noting the veteran would not have been physically fit to take the field against Hawthorn regardless of the milestone schedule. “I haven’t given (the gold number) much thought, and I reckon you could see all shades of grey around what this looks like,” McRae told reporters. “If we’re just considering that someone is bigger than the team – for that one day, can’t we celebrate one person?”

    The coach rejected the core claims of critics, emphasizing that the milestone celebration will not alter how the team approaches the match against Geelong. “It doesn’t mean he’s going to play outside the rules, it doesn’t mean he’s going to play differently to our game plan, and it doesn’t mean the team is going to try and give him the ball all the time,” McRae explained. “We just want to celebrate this one person, and if it’s a jumper with a different colour, I think we’re probably reading a bit too much into it.”

    McRae added that Pendlebury himself has consistently downplayed the occasion, sticking to his long-standing mantra of focusing on the game rather than off-field fanfare. “I know Pendles will say this, and he says this all the time when we have big games: ‘Let’s not play the occasion, let’s play the game’,” McRae said. “I think for this one time, let him have the occasion celebrated and we’ll play the game – in essence, I know he will play the game for what it’s worth. But let’s celebrate the occasion for him when it comes.”

    In other team news, McRae provided a positive update on fan-favorite small forward Bobby Hill, who has been working his way back to full fitness following an extended injury layoff. Hill is on track to play a full four-quarter match in Collingwood’s reserve side in the Victorian Football League this Saturday, despite a minor illness that kept him sidelined from team training this week.

    McRae said he has deferred all decisions around Hill’s return timeline to the club’s high-performance fitness staff, but confirmed the young forward has made clear progress over the past two weeks. “I think Bobby is progressing, I am sort of leaving it up to high performance for when he is fit and available,” McRae said. “He didn’t play a full game last week. As much as we like what he’s doing on the field, he’s still got a hell of a lot of work to do. We’re anticipating that (he plays a full game in the VFL), he hasn’t trained today, he trained last night with the VFL. He’s been a bit ill this week, but we’re anticipating that full game.”

  • Woman scammed Medicare $1m for gigs, fast food and sporting events

    Woman scammed Medicare $1m for gigs, fast food and sporting events

    A former medical receptionist from South Australia has been handed a four-year-and-three-month prison sentence after orchestrating a years-long fraud scheme that siphoned nearly $1 million in public funds from Australia’s national healthcare system, Medicare. Lauren Tozer, 43, of Sheidow Park, carried out the deception while working at an Adelaide gynaecologist’s clinic, abusing her access to the practice’s official computer system to submit hundreds of false benefit claims between September 2020 and July 2024.

    South Australia’s District Court heard that Tozer crafted the scheme to target Medicare, filing claims for treatments and services that were never provided to any patient, and diverted the nearly $997,000 in payouts into a personal bank account that only she controlled. Over the course of her initial offending, which stretched more than three years, Tozer submitted 538 fraudulent claims, steadily escalating the value of each false request to maximize her illegal gains.

    The scam nearly came to an end in December 2023, when the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care sent Tozer an official notification of an open investigation into suspicious Medicare claims, inviting her to participate in an interview as part of the probe. Tozer declined the interview and immediately halted her fraudulent activity — but the pause in offending was only temporary. Just six months later, in May 2024, she resumed submitting false claims, adding another $15,892 in illegal payouts between late May and early July 2024, even after being formally alerted to government scrutiny.

    Court documents detailed how Tozer spent the stolen public funds on lavish personal spending, splurging thousands of dollars on concert tickets, major sporting event admissions, hotel accommodation, interstate travel, frequent dining out and daily fast food purchases. Records showed she spent more than $11,000 through major Australian ticketing agency Ticketek alone on entertainment and sports between January and September 2023. Bank records also revealed regular spending on retail goods, electronics and gambling, according to court testimony.

    Tozer, a mother of four children including two teenage dependents, had previously argued through her legal counsel that a prison sentence would cause undue harm to her minor children. But Judge Nicolas Alexandrides ruled that the scale, duration and calculated nature of the fraud made any non-custodial sentence inappropriate. The judge noted that while Tozer claimed to have hit rock bottom and changed her ways after receiving the 2023 investigation notice, her decision to restart the scam just months later proved she had no genuine intention of ending her criminal activity.

    “The amount of money defrauded from the commonwealth is very significant,” Judge Alexandrides told the court during sentencing. “While I accept you experienced difficult financial circumstances, the scale and duration of your offending went well beyond satisfying the immediate needs of yourself and your family. The false claims evolved over the period of the offending in a way that suggests your aim was to maximising return on each payment. This resulted in the escalation of the monetary value of your fraudulence.”

    Tozer will be eligible for parole after serving two years and two months of her sentence, after pleading guilty to two counts of obtaining financial advantage by deception.

  • Southeast Asian leaders will reaffirm core values in veiled Mideast war rebuke

    Southeast Asian leaders will reaffirm core values in veiled Mideast war rebuke

    As Southeast Asian heads of state prepare to gather for their annual regional summit in Cebu, the Philippines on Friday, a leaked draft declaration obtained by the Associated Press shows the bloc is set to adopt a sweeping contingency plan that prioritizes international law, national sovereignty, and unobstructed navigation – a move widely interpreted as a quiet pushback against the escalating Middle East conflict that has sent ripple effects across the globe.

    The 11-nation bloc, which admitted East Timor as its 11th full member in October 2024, will formally approve the plan during the gathering hosted by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., this year’s ASEAN chair. Marcos has already scrapped the lavish ceremonial traditions that typically accompany the summit, a choice made to acknowledge the harsh global economic headwinds hitting regional communities.

    Beyond upholding core international principles, the plan outlines concrete crisis mitigation measures to address energy shortages and other cross-border disruptions triggered by the ongoing Middle East war. The summit’s core agenda centers on three critical priorities: shoring up regional energy security, stabilizing food supply chains, and protecting the more than 1 million Southeast Asian workers and seafarers currently based in the conflict zone. Already, two Filipino workers and an uncounted number of other Southeast Asian nationals have been killed in the fighting, forcing thousands of migrant workers to evacuate back to their home countries with government assistance.

    Southeast Asia, a dynamic 680 million-person region with robust economic growth, already grapples with a host of persistent security flash points: decades-old territorial disputes in the South China Sea, a five-year devastating civil war in Myanmar, and a recent deadly border clash between Thailand and Cambodia. Even so, regional leaders have singled out the Middle East conflict as an urgent outsized threat, due to its far-reaching global economic fallout and direct risk to regional citizens.

    The Asian Development Bank sounded an early alarm in March, roughly one month after hostilities broke out in the Middle East, warning that prolonged disruption to regional energy supplies could curb economic growth and drive up inflation across Asia and the Pacific. The bloc relies heavily on Middle Eastern oil and gas exports to power its industrial and consumer economies, leaving it extremely vulnerable to supply chain disruptions and shipping lane blockages.

    The draft declaration reaffirms ASEAN’s commitment to upholding foundational rules-based order, stating: “We emphasized the importance of upholding international law and ensuring that regional cooperation remains anchored in dialogue, trust and respect for sovereignty.” It goes on to commit the bloc to maintaining “open, transparent and predictable markets as well as secure and open sea lanes, and ensure freedom of navigation, the safe, unimpeded and continuous transit passage of vessels and aircraft in straits used for international navigation.”

    All these measures are framed as a way to “preserve the unimpeded flow of essential goods, including food, energy and key inputs, in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” the draft reads. ASEAN leaders will formally affirm their shared commitment to strengthening regional resilience through coordinated action.

    Key actionable steps in the contingency plan include the potential ratification this year of a regional agreement enabling coordinated emergency fuel sharing, advancing development of an integrated regional power grid, diversifying crude oil import sources across the bloc, accelerating adoption of electric vehicles, and exploring new energy technologies including civilian nuclear power. The bloc is also drafting a dedicated ASEAN crisis communication and coordination protocol to ensure a cohesive, rapid, and unified regional response to future global and regional shocks.

  • Australian state overturns Melbourne ban on World Cup watch party

    Australian state overturns Melbourne ban on World Cup watch party

    A last-minute policy reversal has cleared the way for Australian soccer fans to gather for public 2026 FIFA World Cup viewings at Melbourne’s iconic Federation Square, after an initial ban on the popular big-screen events sparked widespread public and official outcry earlier this week. The decision to scrap the ban came directly from Jacinta Allan, Premier of the state of Victoria, who intervened Thursday to undo the restriction put in place by the Melbourne Arts Precinct, the public body that manages the downtown public space.

    The Melbourne Arts Precinct had justified the ban by pointing to a history of unruly fan behavior at past Socceroos watch parties, most notably the unauthorized use of flares by a small subset of attendees. But the original ruling drew immediate condemnation from Australia’s top soccer governance body, Football Australia, which argued the ban would deprive thousands of supporters of the opportunity to collectively cheer on their national team in a shared, communal setting. Fans also pushed back hard against the restriction, framing it as an unnecessary overreaction that would ruin a beloved World Cup tradition.

    In an official statement announcing the reversal, Allan made clear she rejected the original ban’s reasoning entirely. “I disagree with the decision — and I am overturning it,” she said. The premier acknowledged that a small number of attendees at any large public gathering may act out, but stressed that robust security measures would mitigate any risk. “There’s always a risk of bad behaviour from a few dickheads at every public gathering, but police and security will be on site and there’ll be zero tolerance for it,” Allan added. “The World Cup should bring us together, not keep us apart.”

    The Socceroos, Australia’s men’s national team, are set to kick off their 2026 World Cup campaign in Vancouver on June 13, where they will face off against Turkey. Six days after the opening match, the team will take on tournament co-host the United States in Seattle, before wrapping up their group stage play against Paraguay in California on June 25.

    Following the premier’s intervention, Katrina Sedgwick, director of the Melbourne Arts Precinct, said the organization welcomed the state’s decision to bring the public watch parties back to Federation Square. “We look forward to seeing the Socceroos back on the world stage, and on the Big Screen next month,” Sedgwick said in a statement, confirming the space would be prepared as a safe viewing venue for fans.

  • K-pop stars BTS draw 50,000-strong crowd in Mexico

    K-pop stars BTS draw 50,000-strong crowd in Mexico

    Global K-pop phenomenon BTS has once again demonstrated its unparalleled cross-cultural popularity, drawing a massive crowd of roughly 50,000 adoring fans to the main square outside Mexico’s National Palace in Mexico City this Wednesday. The band made an appearance on the palace balcony to greet waiting supporters following a closed-door meeting with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.

    The iconic septet recently stepped back into the global spotlight back in March, ending an almost four-year hiatus that saw all members complete their mandatory South Korean military service. This return has already sent shockwaves through the global entertainment industry: all tickets for BTS’ upcoming three stadium concerts in Mexico City, scheduled for May 7, 9 and 10, sold out in just minutes, with more than 135,000 passes snapped up by eager fans.

    During the balcony appearance, group leader Kim Nam-joon delighted the gathered crowd by addressing them in Spanish, saying, “I love you, I adore you. Thank you very much!” After the meeting, President Sheinbaum announced she had already extended an invitation for the group to return to Mexico next year, and later shared a photo of herself with the band holding their latest album *ARIRANG* on her social channels.

    Lizeth Zarate, event coordinator for the Zócalo — Mexico City’s central public square that sits directly in front of the National Palace — confirmed the estimated crowd size of 50,000, which included fans who traveled from across the country just for a chance to see the group in person, even those who could not secure tickets to the sold-out concerts.

    For many fans in the crowd, the brief appearance was a once-in-a-lifetime moment. “They’re my whole world,” 25-year-old office secretary Estefany Victoriano told Agence France-Presse. Eighteen-year-old Zoe Perez, one of the many fans shut out of concert ticket sales, told reporters she was overcome with emotion at the sight of the band. “I’m speechless, and it’s a very beautiful feeling to see them in person. Since I couldn’t get tickets, well, it makes me a little emotional,” Perez said, her voice breaking as she spoke.