Evening News Bulletin 13 May 2025

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Source: SBS News

A woman charged after a deadly Toowoomba fire; Sussan Ley makes her first public comments as Liberal leader, as the new Labor government is sworn in; Australian players weighing a return to the Indian Premier cricket League.


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TRANSCRIPT:

A woman has been charged after a fire in Toowoomba last week that claimed the lives of three children.

The 36-year-old is facing three counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder, and one count of arson.

Queensland Police have confirmed the woman remains in hospital in a critical condition.

The matter is expected to be mentioned in the Brisbane Magistrates Court today, and adjourned to a future date.

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The Trump administration has welcomed a small group of white South Africans as refugees to the United States.

The admission of the group has raised concern from advocates, who say efforts to resettle others who are mostly black have been suspended or blocked, despite them fleeing war and persecution and completing years of vetting.

But US President Donald Trump has maintained he’s not discriminating on the basis of race, arguing without citing evidence that white farmers are being killed in post-apartheid South Africa.

Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau says he supports Mr Trump's position.

"We're sending a clear message that the United States really rejects the egregious persecution of people on the basis of race in South Africa. And we welcome these people to the United States and to a new future."

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International observers have urged Albania to introduce comprehensive voting reforms, citing irregularities with the process in the country's recent general elections.

Officials from the ODIHR Election Observation Mission say the election process was marked by misuse of public resources by the ruling party, a confrontational and polarising tone, and the two main political parties using divisive language, untransparent financing, and unbalanced media coverage on smaller parties.

Head of the Mission Lambert Zanier says the legal framework to address issues like campaign finance lacks effectiveness.

But Special Coordinator of the Observers Farah Karimi says that despite these problems, Albanians were still able to vote freely.

"In these parliamentary elections, the people of Albania showed deep democratic commitment. In a highly polarised and sometimes difficult environment, they turned out, they participated, and they made their voices heard."

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Anthony Albanese has been sworn in for a second term as Prime Minister at Government House in Canberra.

His Cabinet has also been sworn in after the party was re-elected in a landslide on May 3.

With vote counting nearing the finish line for closely contested seats, Labor expects to hold between 92 and 95 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives.

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Sussan Ley says she does not believe it will be an impossible task to rebuild the Liberals, following her election as the first female leader of the party.



She says the Liberals will listen to what the voters have had to say, with the latest election count suggesting the Coalition is likely to hold 42 lower house seats in the new Parliament.

"We have to have a Liberal party that respects modern Australia, that reflects modern Australia, and that represents modern Australia, and we have to meet the people where they are. And that's what I am committed to doing, and what I'm determined to do. I want to do things differently. And we have to have a fresh approach."

The new Liberal leader will first need to contend with the Nationals as they work out the finer details of a new coalition agreement, especially after leader David Littleproud flagged that party's commitment to a net-zero emissions target was up for review.

The climate policy clash risks opening up a schism within the coalition, with moderates angry that the party didn't do enough on the issue and caused it to bleed voters in metropolitan seats.

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Australian consumers could be caught in the crossfire of a US and China trade dispute, despite both countries agreeing to a 90 day tariff reduction.

It's been revealed that Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy told Treasurer Jim Chalmers the morning after Labor's election victory that the global economy had deteriorated since Donald Trump began his punitive tariffs regime.

He said Australia would not be immune to the impact of the ensuing conflict.

The Treasurer has told Channel Seven he accepts that assessment.

"We also need to recognise that there's still a lot of uncertainty, there's still a lot of volatility in the global economy that we all have to deal with."

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Cricket Australia says it will support whatever players decide to do as they weigh up a return to the Indian Premier League.

A number of players and officials came back to Australia after fighting between India and Pakistan prompted officials to suspend the IPL.

But the tournament will now resume on May 17, with 13 group matches still to be played in various cities plus four play-offs.

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