MELBOURNE (AP) – Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has become the first Australian prime minister to win a second consecutive three-year term in 21 years. Opposition leader Peter Dutton conceded defeat in Saturday’s election, saying, “We didn’t do well enough during this campaign, that much is obvious tonight, and I accept full responsibility for that.” “Earlier on, I called the prime minister to congratulate him on his success tonight. It’s a historic occasion for the Labour Party and we recognize that,” he added. The Australian Electoral Commission’s projections gave Albanese’s ruling center-left Labour Party 70 seats and the conservative opposition coalition 24 seats in the 150-seat House of Representatives, the lower chamber where parties need a majority to form governments. Unaligned minor parties and independent candidates appeared likely to win 13 seats. Australian Broadcasting Corp. respected election analyst Antony Green predicted Labor would win 76 seats, the coalition 36 and unaligned lawmakers 13. Green said Labor would form a majority or minority government and that the coalition had no hope of forming even a minority government.

 

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INGLEWOOD (AP) – Two female employees of a Southern California technical college were shot on campus and taken to the hospital in an incident that authorities attributed to workplace violence. The shooting occurred around 4 p.m. in an office at the Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology campus in Inglewood, where Mayor James Butts said the suspect was believed to be a former employee. Aerial TV video showed a heavy police presence outside the campus in the city, which abuts Los Angeles to the southwest. One of the victims was in critical condition, Butts said. The Los Angeles County Fire Department confirmed on the social platform X that two people were taken to the hospital.

 

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NEW DELHI (Reuters) – At least six people were killed and 55 were injured in a stampede at an Indian temple in the western coastal state of Goa where hundreds of devout Hindus had assembled, police official said on Saturday. The stampede occurred on Friday night during the annual Shri Lairai Zatra festival in Shirgao village, which is popular for its events including fire-walking. “Devotees were witnessing a religious ceremony and the frenzy caused during the rituals triggered a stampede,” said V.S. Chadonkar, a police officer in Goa’s state capital Panjim. “Six people lost their lives and at least eight were critically injured,” he said. Stampedes during large Hindu religious gatherings are routinely reported in India, as huge crowds gather in tight spaces often ignoring safety protocol.

 

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TUNIS (Reuters) – Former Tunisian Prime Minister and deputy head of the Ennahda Movement, Ali Laarayedh, was sentenced to 34 years in prison on terrorism-related charges, media reports said Saturday. Tunis Afrique Presse, (TAP), citing judicial sources, said Laarayedh and eight other defendants were charged with aiding the formation of a terror organization, joining such a group within Tunisia, and facilitating the travel of Tunisian youth abroad to join terror groups. The case is known as the “human trafficking trial.” All defendants were sentenced to terms ranging from 18 to 36 years for allegedly trafficking individuals to regions where the Daesh terror group is active.

 

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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – At least seven people were killed and 20 injured and the last remaining hospital and pharmacy in South Sudan’s Fangak county were destroyed in bombings, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres said on Saturday. MSF said a bomb was dropped on the pharmacy, burning it to the ground and damaging the hospital, followed by another drone bomb on Old Fangak, a town in the Greater Upper Nile region, where at least seven people were killed. “Old Fangak Hospital is the only hospital in Fangak county, serving a population of over 110,000 people who already had extremely limited access to healthcare,” MSF said in a statement. It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack or what the motive was. South Sudan has formally been at peace since a 2018 peace deal ended a five-year civil war between forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and those loyal to First Vice President Riek Machar. However, the March arrest of Machar on charges of trying to stir up a rebellion has sparked international concern that conflict could flare anew.

 

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ATHENS (Reuters) – A 38-year woman was killed after an explosion in northern Greek city of Thessaloniki early on Saturday, police officials said, adding that a criminal investigation is under way. “It appears that she was carrying an explosive device and planned to plant it a bank’s ATM,” a senior police official told Reuters “Something went wrong and exploded in her hands,” the official added.