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There was an odd atmosphere on Capital Hill . or signup to continue reading A taut electric vibe tussled with a summery last-day-of-school looseness. Haggard correspondents intoned philosophic, wearily resigned to their designation as villains in the febrile digital colosseum of political combat. With an unholy crush in the Senate - 31 bills passed on one day and 45 for the week - nervous but footloose lower house MPs killed time. Ministers floated between offices, affecting calm in that way trial lawyers do after closing arguments when everything hangs on a curmudgeonly judge or an inscrutable jury. The Speaker, Milton Dick, expressed his thanks to the sprawling complex's thousands of staff for keeping operational what Anthony Albanese described as "the most visited building in Australia". And it certainly seemed "most-visited" at Aussies on Thursday morning - the roiling social hub where over three decades, Dom Calabria and his father Tony have furnished coffee and meals to stressed press gallery journos, MPs, PMs and frontbenchers, and an infinity of lobbyists and public officials. In their ritual post-question time speeches before the summer break - a bilateral nod to civility dubbed "the hypocrisies" by one scribe - Albanese and Peter Dutton praised old Tony's 28-year stint at Aussies. "Tony is the man who did so much to enhance the seat of democracy here," Albanese remarked warmly to his fellow "Italo-Australian" looking up to the public gallery where three generations of Calabrias watched on. Dutton lauded the ailing 84-year-old's migrant story having emigrated at just 14. "He has worked every day since then, he has educated his children, he has provided a role model and has given that love to his family that has created a remarkable legacy," Dutton said. In other comments, Albanese revealed that he and Dutton did not hate each other after all. He noted that while he had visited Morrison's office only once as opposition leader (a startling factoid since the global pandemic occasioned a bipartisanship likened to wartime), Dutton had been into Albanese's prime ministerial suite, well, "more often than I'd like". Cue laughter. Yet coursing impatiently under all this ersatz chumminess, was the existential fight to come. Each knows that within months, one will be up, the other, finished. Since the Second World War, it has occupied the Treasury benches for just 29 years. Nonetheless, Labor goes into next year's election comforted by electoral history and shielded by an unofficial "Swiss G]guard" of community independents. But that historical precedent - every first-term federal government since 1932 has secured a second term - may amount to nothing in this disintermediated age of antisocial media and permanent grievance. For the 93 years since the rookie Scullin Labor government crashed along with everything else in the Great Depression, incumbency has been a winged keel. Australian voters have tended to pick and stick, at least once. Now though, around the democratic world in 2024, the vogue is to "pick then kick". But what about that Swiss guard of independents? Albanese's worst-case scenario is that one or all of the first-term teals lose. Another risk is that some back a Dutton executive. Currently Labor has 78 seats to the Coalition's 58. Dutton needs a net gain of 18 seats to govern in his own right. A huge task. Polls suggest the most likely outcome is a minority parliament. Labor could lose half a dozen seats to Dutton's Liberals and still be close enough to credibly seek crossbench commitments for supply and confidence. But what would the teal independents do - who would they prefer to form government? The lesson from the minority Gillard period is that indies who hold conservative seats but back progressive governments face extinction themselves. In this light,, it may be instructive to consult the AEC's "two-party preferred" exercise, in which it allocated all 151 "Reps" seats to either of the two major parties (irrespective of whether the seat actually fell to a third party). Unsurprisingly, it shows that preferences for either of the two majors (ahead of the other) favoured the Liberals by the following percentages in teal seats: Curtin (5.4), Goldstein (4.8), Kooyong (4.1 ), Mackellar (8.6), Warringah (1.4), Wentworth (5.9). These pro-Liberal margins may even expand in a 2025 election devoid of the unpopular Morrison. Yet this cuts both ways. In formerly safe Labor Fowler, Dai Le (assuming she survives) would have to ignore a strong Labor proclivity in her seat to back a Dutton-led minority government. Another outlier is Alexander Downer's erstwhile stronghold of Mayo, held by the centre-right indie Rebekah Sharkie. Her Adelaide Hills seat actually favoured Labor by 1.6 per cent in 2022. In all three of the Queensland seats filched by the Greens in 2022, voters preferred Labor - even the two secured from the LNP, Brisbane and Ryan. Nationally, the polls show a busy and productive Labor trailing Dutton's detail-light rhetorical assault over cost of living and immigration. The hardline Queenslander is a more effective political communicator than even his own colleagues thought when they overlooked him in 2018. In 2025, Labor remains the narrow favourite. But its hardheads recognise that no opposition leader is unelectable, no historical precedent immutable, and no seat lead impregnable. Mark Kenny is The Canberra Times' political analyst and a professor at the ANU's Australian Studies Institute. He hosts the Democracy Sausage podcast. He writes a column every Sunday. Mark Kenny is The Canberra Times' political analyst and a professor at the ANU's Australian Studies Institute. He hosts the Democracy Sausage podcast. He writes a column every Sunday. Advertisement Sign up for our newsletter to stay up to date. We care about the protection of your data. Read our . Advertisementwinner777 。

The 26-year-old man charged in last week’s killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO appeared in a Pennsylvania courtroom Tuesday, where he was denied bail and his lawyer said he'd fight extradition to New York City, where the attack happened. Luigi Nicholas Mangione was arrested Monday in the Dec. 4 attack on Brian Thompson after police say a worker at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, alerted them to a customer who resembled the suspected gunman. When arrested, Mangione had on him a gun that investigators believe was used in the attack and writings expressing anger at corporate America, police said. As Mangione was led into the Hollidaysburg courthouse Tuesday, he struggled with officers and shouted something that was partly unintelligible but referred to an “insult to the intelligence of the American people.” He left hours later without saying anything and was driven away. Mangione is being held on Pennsylvania charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. Manhattan prosecutors have charged him with five counts, including murder, criminal possession of a weapon and criminal possession of a forged instrument. What's the latest? Wearing an orange jumpsuit, Mangione mostly stared straight ahead during the hearing, occasionally consulting papers, rocking in his chair, or looking back at the gallery. At one point, he began to speak to respond to the court discussion but was quieted by his lawyer. Judge David Consiglio denied bail to Mangione, whose attorney, Thomas Dickey, told the court that his client did not agree to extradition and wants a hearing on the matter. Blair County (Pennsylvania) District Attorney Peter Weeks said that although Mangione will create “extra hoops” for law enforcement to jump through by fighting extradition, it won’t be a substantial barrier to sending him to New York. What evidence has been gathered? In addition to a three-page, handwritten document that suggests he harbored “ill will toward corporate America,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Monday that Mangione also had a ghost gun, a type of weapon that can be assembled at home and is difficult to trace. Officers questioned Mangione, who was acting suspiciously and carrying multiple fraudulent IDs, as well as a U.S. passport, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. Officers also found a sound suppressor, or silencer, “consistent with the weapon used in the murder,” she said. He had clothing and a mask similar to those worn by the shooter and a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching one the suspect used to check into a New York City hostel before the shooting, the commissioner said. What do we know about Mangione? Mangione, who comes from a prominent Maryland family, was valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and had degrees from one of the nation’s top private universities. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania. Mangione's grandfather Nick Mangione, who died in 2008, was a successful real estate developer. One of his best-known projects was Turf Valley Resort, a sprawling luxury retreat and conference center outside Baltimore that he purchased in 1978. One of Luigi Mangione’s cousins is Republican Maryland state legislator Nino Mangione, a spokesman for the lawmaker’s office confirmed. From January to June 2022, Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a “co-living” space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Honolulu. Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for owner and founder R.J. Martin, said that Martin had learned that Mangione had severe back pain from childhood that interfered with many aspects of his life. Friends in Hawaii widely considered Mangione a “great guy,” and pictures on his social media accounts show a fit and smiling young man on beaches and at parties. Mangione likely was motivated by his anger at what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press. He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive healthcare system in the world and that the profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin, based on a review of the suspect’s handwritten notes and social media posts. The shooting and a quick escape Police said the person who killed Thompson left a hostel on Manhattan's Upper West Side at 5:41 a.m. last Wednesday. Eleven minutes later, he was seen on surveillance video walking back and forth in front of the New York Hilton Midtown, wearing a distinctive backpack. At 6:44 a.m., he shot Thompson at a side entrance to the hotel, fled on foot, then climbed aboard a bicycle and within four minutes had entered Central Park, according to police. Another security camera recorded the gunman leaving the park near the American Museum of Natural History at 6:56 a.m. still on the bicycle but without the backpack, police said. After getting in a taxi, he headed north to a bus terminal near the George Washington Bridge, arriving at around 7:30 a.m. From there, the trail of video evidence runs cold. Police have not located video of the suspect exiting the building, leading them to believe he likely took a bus out of town. Police said they are still investigating the path the suspect took to Pennsylvania. “This just happened this morning," Kenny said. "We’ll be working, backtracking his steps from New York to Altoona, Pennsylvania,” Kenny said. Associated Press reporters Jamie Stengle, Lea Skene, Matt O'Brien, Sean Murphy and Cedar Attanasio contributed to this report. Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. The business news you need Get the latest local business news delivered FREE to your inbox weekly.

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The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) Bengaluru hosted a two-day capsule course on Cement for quality personnel on Thursday, December 19 and Friday, December 20, 2024. T. Nagamani, Director, BIS, Bengaluru Branch Laboratory, in her address emphasised the role of quality in business success and highlighted that the programme is a free capacity building initiative for quality personnel, recognising them as the backbone of the industry. Nagaraja K.C., Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering Department, the Acharya Institute of Technology, Bangalore, who was the chief guest of the event, in his address said that the key industry challenges include the misleading labelling of added minerals and the environmental concern related to unsustainable practices in construction. The two-day event also featured practical demonstrations, laboratory visits and a workshop, said a BIS release. Published - December 25, 2024 12:07 am IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit technology (general)Yankees reportedly agree eight-year, $218 million deal with pitcher Fried

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Bengals kicker Cade York and his Cowboys cheerleader girlfriend will be bitter rivals on Monday Night FootballAustralia's proposal to ban under-16s from social media platforms is "rushed", social media companies claimed Tuesday, expressing "serious concerns" about potential unintended consequences. The landmark legislation would force social media firms to prevent young teens from accessing their platforms or face fines of up to Aus$50 million (US$32.5 million). Platforms such as X, Snapchat, TikTok, and Meta have criticised the 24-hour time frame given for stakeholder comments, claiming a lack of consultation and inadequate details about how the legislation would work. X said in its submission that it had "serious concerns" the ban would have "a negative impact" on children, adding it breached their "rights to freedom of expression and access to information". The company added that the proposed law was "vague" and "highly problematic" and that there was "no evidence" that it would work. Australia is among the vanguard of nations trying to clean up social media, and the proposed age limit would be among the world's strictest measures aimed at children. The proposed laws, which were presented to parliament last week, would also include robust privacy provisions that require tech platforms to delete any age-verification information collected. The government is trying to approve the law this week, before parliament breaks for the rest of the year. Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, said in its submission the ban would "fail" in its current form because there was not enough consultation with stakeholders. "More time should be taken to get this bill right," it said. TikTok raised concerns over the privacy provisions -- including that they overlapped and contradicted other legislation -- and the limited time to consult stakeholders. "Its rushed passage poses a serious risk of further unintended consequences," the company's submission said. Key details about how social media companies are expected to enforce the ban remain unclear. Some companies will be granted exemptions from the ban, such as YouTube, which teenagers may need to use for school work or other reasons. Once celebrated as a means of staying connected and informed, social media platforms have been tarnished by cyberbullying, the spread of illegal content, and election-meddling claims. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese insisted Tuesday that "social media is causing social harm". "It can be a weapon for bullies, a platform for peer pressure, a driver of anxiety, a vehicle for scammers and, worst of all, a tool for online predators," he wrote in an opinion piece. "And because it is young Australians who are most engaged with this technology -- it is young Australians who are most at risk." The laws would give families "peace of mind" that their children's well-being and mental health were being prioritised, he said. If the proposed law passes, tech platforms would be given a one-year grace period to figure out how to implement and enforce the ban. The proposal comes just months before Australians go to the polls in a general election that must be held in the first half of 2025. lec/arb/fox Get any of our free email newsletters — news headlines, sports, arts & entertainment, state legislature, CFD news, and more.

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