Australia closes Iran embassy citing deteriorating security environment
SYDNEY, June 20 (Reuters) - Australia has suspended operations at its embassy in Tehran due to the deteriorating security environment in Iran and has directed the departure of all Australian officials, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Friday.
Australia's ambassador to Iran will remain in the region to support the government's response to the crisis, Wong said.
"We are continuing planning to support Australians seeking to depart Iran, and we remain in close contact with other partner countries," Wong said in a statement.
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The Herald Scotland
20 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
Inside NYC's voting system to rank candidates
With so many options, New Yorkers will choose their next mayor like they pick ice cream in the summer. The city's ranked choice system allows voters to choose their top five candidates for mayor, plus top picks in other city races. Even if your top choice doesn't make it, you can still get flavors, or candidates, you prefer. Ranked choice "allows for people to vote in a way that expresses how they feel," said Susan Kang, an associate professor of political science at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. The system aims to give voters more choices in a crowded field of nearly a dozen Democratic and a handful of Republican mayoral hopefuls in closed primaries for both parties. It also hopes to bring up candidates from underrepresented backgrounds, often without access to vast campaign war chests. The system, first approved by voters in 2019, has been used in elections around the country - from Alaska to Maine, and from San Francisco to tiny Woodland Hills, Utah (population 1,571). Other places, including Washington, D.C., more recently adopted it. Australians use the system. Winning New York City's Democratic primary is almost always a ticket to City Hall in a city that's about two-thirds registered Democrats. Primary lessons: Trump rules, Dems are revved. NYC's melee is next. How Cuomo v. Mamdani shows ranked choice voting Andrew Cuomo, New York's longtime governor who resigned in 2021 after multiple women accused him of sexual harassment, had led comfortably in polls. Many voters see Cuomo, 67, as an experienced moderate executive who can fight President Donald Trump. But with ranked choice, state Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, the 33-year-old democratic socialist calling to freeze rents, has inched ever closer to Cuomo. That's because under ranked choice, a candidate has to get over 50% of votes. While polls have Cuomo ahead, he's unlikely to win most first-round votes. At each round, candidates with the fewest votes get eliminated. Voters who ranked less supported candidates first will have their subsequent choices allocated to their next ranked candidate. New York first used ranked choice voting in 2021. With many candidates vehemently opposed to Cuomo, their supporters' next-round votes can help Mamdani, who is endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive star. The process continues until there are two candidates left. Cuomo is favored to win, though polling has tightened between the former governor and Mamdani. Cross-endorsements, cooperation The city's first time using ranked choice, in 2021, resulted in the narrow, eighth-round victory of Eric Adams, the swaggering, scandal-plagued mayor. (Adams dropped out of the 2025 Democratic primary, opting to seek re-election as an independent.) Back in 2021, Adams' last standing opponent, Kathryn Garcia, received a late endorsement from Andrew Yang, another candidate. Yang supported ranked choice during a failed 2020 presidential run. "The ranked choice voting system enables you to take advantage of being someone's second- or third-place vote," Yang, now a third-party advocate, told USA TODA. "A smart candidate will try and capitalize on that." In 2025, there are more cross-endorsements between Mamdani and other candidates to Cuomo's left, such as city Comptroller Brad Lander and former lawmaker Michael Blake. Ranked choice challenges Under this relatively new system, voters need to know how to correctly rank their choices. In a 2023 study, Lindsey Cormack, an associate professor of quantitative social science at Stevens Institute of Technology, found higher levels of voided ballots in lower income areas and communities with lower educational attainment. There were also issues among people who speak a language other than English. "Anytime you change a system, you make it nominally harder, or at least the capacity for errors goes up, because there's just more boxes to tick," she said. Complicating matters, the primaries use ranked choice, but the general election does not. Nor do state or presidential elections. Only growing beyond June 24 primary election Politicians and experts agree that, with time, voters can get used to their new system. For now, ranked choice appears to continue expanding across cities and states. In November, Washington, D.C., approved ranked choice voting. Christina Henderson, one of the district's at-large representatives and a Brooklyn native, has supported ranked choice to help people dissatisfied with polarized politics. "If provided the right information, they can make the right choice for themselves," Henderson, an independent, said. "Now, the key is providing the right information." New York City's primary is June 24. Early voting is underway. Eduardo Cuevas is based in New York City. Reach him by email at emcuevas1@ or on Signal at emcuevas.01.
Daily Mail
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
3AW host Neil Mitchell sounds the alarm about Jim Chalmer's tax plan
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The Independent
33 minutes ago
- The Independent
Israel-Iran latest: Trump to decide on US action over conflict within two weeks, White House says
US president Donald Trump has said he will make a decision on whether to strike Iranian nuclear facilities within the next two weeks. Mr Trump said he would make the call on whether to order US warplanes to strike Iranian nuclear sites depending on whether Tehran engages in talks over ending its nuclear weapons programme. 'Based on the fact that there's a substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place with Iran in the near future, I will make my decision whether or not to go within the next two weeks,' he said. It comes after Israel 's defence minister Israel Katz vowed that Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei 'cannot continue to exist' said after the latest wave of Iranian missiles struck an Israeli hospital. Mr Katz said the military "has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist". US officials said this week that Mr Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Mr Khamenei. 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Katie Hawkinson20 June 2025 00:30 German chancellor urges Israel to use restraint: report German Chancellor Friedrich Merz privately urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to use restraint in the campaign against Iran, according to reports from The Wall Street Journal and Reuters. The German chancellor said he supports Israel's attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities while emphasizing the importance of a diplomatic solution, according to Reuters. Katie Hawkinson20 June 2025 00:10 Lammy calls for de-escalation over Iran-Israel conflict The Foreign Secretary said he will join European leaders in Geneva on Friday for talks with the Iranian foreign minister as the UK continues to call for de-escalation over the Iran-Israel conflict. David Lammy met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at the White House on Thursday and said they discussed a deal to find a diplomatic solution. Mr Lammy said: 'The situation in the Middle East remains perilous. We are determined that Iran must never have a nuclear weapon. 'Meeting with Secretary of State Rubio and special envoy to the Middle East Witkoff in the White House today, we discussed how a deal could avoid a deepening conflict. 'A window now exists within the next two weeks to achieve a diplomatic solution. 'Tomorrow, I will be heading to Geneva to meet with the Iranian foreign minister alongside my French, German and EU counterparts. 'Now is the time to put a stop to the grave scenes in the Middle East and prevent a regional escalation that would benefit no one.' 19 June 2025 23:45 White House: Trump to decide on Iran action 'within two weeks' Alexander Butler19 June 2025 23:30 Ukrainians who fled from war to Israel facing new conflict 'I don't stop seeing dreams that I'm hiding somewhere, running from Shahed drones, bombs, and looking for shelter somewhere,' said a Ukrainian woman whose new life has been shattered: Jane Dalton19 June 2025 22:45
