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Court ruling prohibits a quarter of all abortions in the US

A US court has prohibited sending a common drug through the mail, in a move that will dramatically reduce access to abortion across the country.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans issued a sweeping national ban on mailing prescriptions of mifepristone.

The drug, formerly known as RU486, is the most common method of terminating a pregnancy in the USA, as well as in Australia.

READ MORE: US to withdraw 5000 troops from Germany, fulfilling Trump's threat

Mifepristone is a medication used in most abortions in the US.

It is taken along with misoprostol as part of a medical termination of a pregnancy.

After the US Supreme Court struck down a constitutional right to an abortion in 2022, seeking a mifepristone prescription across state lines has become common.

Women in states where abortion is illegal would access the pills via a telehealth appointment across state lines.

About a quarter of abortions in the US are made after such a telehealth appointment.

But the ruling by the appeals court would mean pregnant women would need to receive the pills in person.

Abortion is illegal with limited exceptions in much of the US, especially in the southeast of the country.

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Protesters demanding abortion rights outside the Indiana statehouse last month.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren described the ruling as being done by "a conservative court packed with Trump-appointed judges".

"This is a page straight out of extremist Republicans' anti-abortion playbook," she said.

"Let me be clear: the abortion pill is safe and effective."

The ruling was made by a three-judge panel, all appointed to the court by Republicans.

Democratic Senator Patty Murray said the judges' decision was "infuriating and infantilising".

"A patient in rural Washington who was going to receive her medication by mail, now has to find a clinic, take time off work, arrange childcare, and travel – sometimes hours – for a pill she could have safely taken at home," Murray said.

"A woman managing a miscarriage will be forced to make that same trip in the middle of one of the worst weeks of her life."

READ MORE: US to withdraw 5000 troops from Germany, fulfilling Trump's threat

Senator Elizabeth Warren grilled Robert F Kennedy in a committee hearing yesterday.

Meanwhile, Republican Senator James Lankford celebrated the decision.

"The Biden administration endangered the lives of women and girls by removing safeguards for mifepristone," he said.

"Today's Fifth Circuit decision takes a big step to right this wrong. Let's make sure women and girls are protected from this dangerous drug."

Louisiana Attorney-General Liz Murrill described the ruling as a "victory for life".

"The Biden abortion cartel facilitated the deaths of thousands of Louisiana babies (and millions in other states) through illegal mail-order abortion pills," she said. 

"Today, that nightmare is over."

While the ruling was made in Louisiana, it applies nationwide.

It is likely to be appealed to the US Supreme Court.

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Trump accuses congresswoman of marrying her brother

US President Donald Trump has accused a member of Congress and frequent critic of his of marrying her own brother.

In a speech given in Florida, Trump repeated a long-disproven myth about Minnesota Representative Ilhan Omar.

"I believe she married her brother, which is totally illegal," Trump said.

READ MORE: US to withdraw 5000 troops from Germany, fulfilling Trump's threat

Donald Trump has pulled troops out of Germany in response to criticism from Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

"Although, it's a lovely couple, actually, but it's a little bit on the illegal side."

Trump then pretended to be speaking as the couple.

"'Darling, I love you very much.' 'Goodnight, brother. Let's go to bed'," he said.

"Isn't she despicable."

Omar has denied the rumour of her marrying her brother since it began circulating on the internet in 2016.

The rumours appeared to accuse Omar's then-husband of being related to her, which was not true.

She did not mince her words when responding to Trump's comments today.

"This unhinged rant would solicit anger if it wasn't coming from a criminal, who has 34 felony convictions, held accountable for rape and accused of being a pedo," she wrote on X.

Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar.

"I still don't know how anyone would willingly humiliate themselves like this but here we are. 

"(By the way), the pedophile protection party should find new material for their deflection."

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Omar has represented Minneapolis in Congress since 2019.

As one of the most progressive politicians in Washington, she has frequently been the focus of Trump's ire.

"She comes here from Somalia and she tells us how to run the United States of America," he said.

"She says 'the constitution gives me certain rights and I demand I be given those rights'."

"Get the hell out. What a phony."

READ MORE: US elections suspended so government can redraw the district lines

Ilhan Omar was welcomed to her hometown of Minneapolis by a crowd of supporters.

Omar was born in Somalia before moving to a refugee camp in Kenya as a child. 

They arrived in the US in 1995 when she was 12 or 13. Five years later she became a US citizen.

When Omar was allegedly assaulted at an event in January, Trump said she probably set it up herself.

Omar was sprayed with a foul-smelling brown substance while speaking in Minneapolis.

"She probably had herself sprayed, knowing her," Trump said the next day.

In the same speech Trump said it was "treasonous" to suggest the US was not winning the war with Iran.

"We get the radical left to say, 'We're not winning, we're not winning.' They don't have any military left. It's unbelievable," the president said.

"It's actually, it's actually, I believe it's treasonous, okay. You want to know the truth – it's treasonous."

READ MORE: How death threat charge could put Trump and his allies in hot water

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New Zealand: Government Support For Flood Hit Communities

The Government is making a contribution of $150k to Mayoral Relief Funds to help communities in the lower North Island impacted by last week’s flooding, Minister for Emergency Management Mark Mitchell announced today. “The Government will provide $100,000 to the Mayoral Relief Fund for those impacted by the flooding in Wellington City, and $50,000 for […]

US to withdraw 5000 troops from Germany, fulfilling Trump’s threat

The United States will withdraw about 5000 troops from Germany in the next six to 12 months, the Pentagon said, fulfilling President Donald Trump's threat as he clashes with the German leader over the US war with Iran.

Trump had threatened to withdraw some troops from the NATO ally earlier this week after Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the US was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticised Washington’s lack of strategy in the war.

Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said in a statement that the “decision follows a thorough review of the Department’s force posture in Europe and is in recognition of theatre requirements and conditions on the ground.”

READ MORE: Trump says deadline for Congress to approve Iran war doesn't apply

Donald Trump has pulled troops out of Germany in response to criticism from Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Germany hosts several US military facilities, including the headquarters of its European and Africa commands, Ramstein Air Base and a medical center in Landstuhl, where casualties from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq were treated. US nuclear missiles are also stationed in the country.

The number of troops leaving Germany would be 14 per cent of the 36,000 American service members stationed there.

Nico Lange from the Center of European Policy Analysis told The Associated Press earlier this week that they primarily serve US interests, including “the projection of American power globally,” rather than helping with the defence of Germany.

Trump ignored questions from reporters about the withdrawal on Friday as he boarded Air Force One in Ocala, Florida, following a rally to tout his economic agenda.

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Ramstein Air Force Base has been a major US presence in Germany for decades.

Trump made a similar threat in his first term, saying he would pull about 9500 of the roughly 34,500 US troops who were then stationed in Germany, but he didn’t start the process and Democratic President Joe Biden formally stopped the planned withdrawal soon after taking office in 2021.

The mercurial US leader has mused for years about reducing the American military presence in Germany, and has railed against NATO for its refusal to assist Washington in the war, which began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Trump wrote Wednesday on social media that the U.S. was reviewing possible troop reductions in Germany, with a “determination” to be made soon. On Thursday, he was still thinking about Merz, posting that the German leader should “spend more time on ending the war with Russia/Ukraine” and “fixing his broken Country” than concerning himself with Iran.

American allies in NATO have braced for a US troop withdrawal since Trump took office, with Washington warning that Europe would have to look after its own security, including that of Ukraine, in the future.

Depending on operations, exercises and troop rotations, around 80,000-100,000 U.S. personnel are usually stationed in Europe. NATO allies have expected for more than a year that the US troops deployed after Russia launched its all-out war on Ukraine in February 2022 would be first to leave.

READ MORE: How death threat charge could put Trump and his allies in hot water

Donald Trump has faced increasing criticism of his handling of world affairs.

Ed Arnold, an expert in European security at the Royal United Services Institute, or RUSI, in London, said Europe is more concerned about issues like a US redeployment of Patriot missile systems and ammunition from Germany to the Middle East.

In October, the U.S. confirmed that it would reduce its troop presence on NATO’s borders with Ukraine. The move to cut 1500-3000 troops came on short notice and unsettled NATO ally Romania, where the military organisation runs an air base.

READ MORE: US elections suspended so government can redraw the district lines

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New Zealand: Christchurch Industrial Development Fast-Tracked

A regionally significant industrial land development in Christchurch has been granted Fast-track approval, Infrastructure Minister Chris Bishop and Regional Development Minister Shane Jones announced today. This is the 20th project to be approved under the Fast-track process and the seventh project in the South Island. Ngāi Tahu Property Development Holdings (NTP Development Holdings Limited) lodged […]