Westminister Rules

September 16, 2015 - Daily News Briefing

The dynamics of political party leadership in Australia’s parliamentary system.

Subscribe Now to read this post!

To read this post and thousands more articles, subscribe today!

Hungary sealed off its border with Serbia with massive coils of barbed wire Tuesday and began detaining migrants trying to use the country as a gateway to Western Europe, harsh new measures that left thousands of frustrated asylum-seekers piled up on the Serbian side of the border. Human rights activists condemned the move, with Amnesty International saying Hungary's "intimidating show of militarized force is shocking." But Prime Minister Viktor Orban defended the measures, saying he was acting to preserve Christian Europe, which he said had become threatened by the large numbers of Muslims streaming into the continent.

Search-and-rescue teams trudged through muddy streambeds Tuesday in a small polygamous town on the Utah-Arizona border, looking for a woman and four children who were missing after a devastating flash flood killed at least nine people. With more rain in the forecast, men in helmets were perched at high points along the route, watching carefully for any more floodwaters that could suspend the search in Hildale, the secluded community that is the home base of Warren Jeffs' polygamist sect.

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is shipping his space business to Florida. At a news conference Tuesday, Bezos announced that his Blue Origin space company will build rockets and launch them into orbit from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base. He expects to invest $200 million and create some 300 jobs. Bezos plans to send up science payloads and people – including space tourists and even himself.

Israeli police clashed with Palestinian protesters on Tuesday in a third straight day of unrest at Jerusalem's most sensitive holy site. Police entered the Al-Aqsa mosque compound early in the morning to disperse a group of protesters who had holed up inside the mosque overnight, said police spokeswoman Luba Samri. The protesters threw rocks, fireworks, concrete blocks and a firebomb at the officers, she said, adding that two Palestinians were arrested and five police officers were slightly injured in the violence.

French lawmakers are debating the decision to join a military air campaign over Syria, raising new questions about what a year of U.S.-led bombing of the Islamic State group has accomplished. British, Australian, and Belgian leaders are also considering expanding ongoing airstrikes in Iraq to Syria – but critics in all countries are questioning the point of widening a campaign that has failed to stem advances by the extremist organization. French reconnaissance flights in Syria began last week, and President Francois Hollande said airstrikes there would follow soon. Tuesday's parliamentary debate is not a request for permission – the government needs none – but rather an opportunity to explain its decision before a skeptical audience. Prime Minister Manuel Valls told Parliament that France will decide "alone" on it targets. He justified the decision to intervene in Syria as "self-defense" against terrorism. France has seen deadly attacks this year linked to Islamic extremists abroad.

The social media service Twitter on Tuesday introduced a feature that enables political candidates and advocacy groups to raise money directly via its mobile application, making it quicker and easier to harvest small donations from followers. Campaigns already aggressively use Twitter to spread their message, particularly during live political events such as Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate. The company says that tweets about the August 6 debates on Fox News were viewed more than 1 billion times on Twitter and across the web.

Subscribe Now to read this post!

Are you sure?

Forgot to add folder?

Tags Error

HEADING

THANK_YOU_HEADING