Tag Archives: oceania

Top court fight looms over woman’s terror flag charge

A woman accused of carrying the Hezbollah flag at a pro-Palestine rally will be the first person to challenge the validity of federal anti-terror laws.

Sarah Mouhanna has pleaded not guilty to causing a public display of a prohibited terrorist organisation symbol following a protest in the Sydney city centre on September 29, 2024.

The 20-year-old is the first person to contest national laws introduced in 2023 to stop the display of prohibited terrorist organisation symbols in public places, a court heard.

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20-year-old Sarah Mouhanna walking to court.

Magistrate Christine Haskett said the constitutional challenge meant she could not deal with the matter, which should instead be elevated to the nation's highest court.

"I'm just concerned you've put the cart before the horse," she said.

"The High Court is the ultimate authority when dealing with the constitution. I don't have any power to deal with it."

But the commonwealth prosecutor argued the magistrate had both the power and the jurisdiction to deal with the constitutional issue, even if her decision could later be overruled by the High Court.

He said there was no guarantee the nation's highest court would hear the case and delays would result in "further fragmentation" of a matter that had been ready to proceed to a hearing.

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A crowd of pro-Palestinian protestors in Sydney holding signs and flags.

Both state and federal attorneys-general had been made aware of the constitutional challenge and did not move to oppose it in the local court.

Haskett noted the case was significant and Mouhanna was unlikely to be the only person charged with the offence given weekly protests occurring around the nation.

"It is a major constitutional issue," she said.

The magistrate elected not to hear the case and adjourned it until November 18 after Mouhanna flagged an intention to escalate the fight to the High Court.

"We're now considering our options in a more superior court," her solicitor Hisham Karnib said after the hearing.

Mouhanna was charged after a large pro-Palestine protest that followed the expansion of Israel's offensive in Gaza into the Hezbollah stronghold of southern Lebanon.

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Sussan Ley wants apology from Anthony Albanese for wearing Joy Division T-shirt

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has made an extraordinary speech calling for an apology from the prime minister for wearing a popular rock band's T-shirt when he touched down in Australia after last week's visit to the United States.

Albanese was snapped disembarking from his Air Force charter jet on Thursday wearing a tee of Unknown Pleasures, the 1979 debut album of British post-punk band Joy Division.

In parliament today, Ley – who has previously spoken about her own "punk phase" she went through – gave a speech calling for Albanese to apologise for his choice of shirt, saying it was a "profound failure of judgment".

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Opposition leader Sussan Ley during Question Time at Parliament House in Canberra on Tuesday 28 October 2025.

"The prime minister stepped off the plane proudly wearing a T-shirt with the name of a band, Joy Division, whose origins are steeped in antisemitism," the opposition leader said.

"The name was taken from a wing of a Nazi concentration camp where Jewish women were forced into sexual slavery.

"At a time when Jewish Australians are facing a rise in antisemitism, when families are asking for reassurance and unity, the prime minister chose to parade an image derived from hatred and suffering."

The origins of Joy Division's name have been well-known for some time now. 

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during Question Time in the House of Representatives at Parliament House in Canberra on October 9, 2025.

Originally called Warsaw, the band changed its name, with its new moniker taken from the name given to the wings of Nazi concentration camps where women were forced into prostitution.

The band discovered the name from House of Dolls, a novella written by Holocaust survivor Yehiel De-Nur.

Some of Australia's biggest retailers, including Knart and JB-HiFi, have sold, or continue to sell, Joy Division T-shirts.

However, Ley said Albanese should apologise for and explain why he wore the shirt.

"He cannot claim ignorance, he was told about the dark origins of this band on a podcast in 2022," she said.

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The T-shirt is sold widely across Australia.

"He even admitted, 'that is very dark'… so to wear that name across your chest is not just a statement of musical taste, and it is more than bad taste, it raises questions about values."

Albanese is currently on another diplomatic trip outside of Australia, visiting Malaysia during the ASEAN Summit.

9news.com.au has contacted his office for comment.

Formed in 1976, Joy Division split in 1980 following the death of vocalist Ian Curtis, but still influenced a raft of other bands, including U2, the Cure and Soundgarden. The remaining band members reformed as New Order.

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Jamaica braces for the strongest storm on the planet this year

Hurricane Melissa to batter Jamaica as the island's strongest storm on record in almost two centuries.

Melissa was set to pummel Jamaica on Tuesday (local time) as a catastrophic Category 5 storm with maximum sustained winds of 280km/h and stronger gusts, making it the strongest storm on the planet this year.

The storm was expected to make landfall early on Tuesday and slice diagonally across the island, entering near St Elizabeth parish in the south and exiting around St Ann parish in the north, forecasters said.

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Hours before the storm, the government said it had done all it could to prepare as it warned of catastrophic damage.

"There is no infrastructure in the region that can withstand a Category 5," Prime Minister Andrew Holness said.

"The question now is the speed of recovery. That's the challenge."

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A woman video chats with a friend ahead of Hurricane Melissa's forecast arrival in Kingston, Jamaica, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Landslides, fallen trees and numerous power outages were reported ahead of the storm, with officials in Jamaica cautioning that the cleanup and damage assessment would be slow.

A life-threatening storm surge of up to four metres is expected across southern Jamaica, with officials concerned about the impact on some hospitals along the coastline.

Health Minister Christopher Tufton said some patients were relocated from the ground floor to the second floor, "and (we) hope that will suffice for any surge that will take place."

The storm already was blamed for seven deaths in the Caribbean, including three in Jamaica, three in Haiti and one in the Dominican Republic, where another person remains missing.

Jamaica braces for catastrophic damage

Melissa was centered about 240 kilometres southwest of Kingston and about 530 kilometres southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba.

The system had maximum sustained winds of 280km/h and was moving north-northeast at 4km/h, according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami.

"We will get through it together," said Evan Thompson, principal director at Jamaica's meteorological service.

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Cooks prepare meals at a shelter set up in a school ahead of Hurricane Melissa's forecast arrival in Old Harbour, Jamaica, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Colin Bogle, a Mercy Corps advisor based near Kingston, said most families are sheltering in place despite the government ordering evacuations in flood-prone communities.

"Many have never experienced anything like this before, and the uncertainty is frightening," he said.

"There is profound fear of losing homes and livelihoods, of injury, and of displacement."

Matthew Samuda, Jamaica's water and environment minister, said he had more than 50 generators available to deploy after the storm, but warned people to set aside clean water and use it sparingly.

"Every drop will count," he said.

Melissa takes aim at Cuba

Melissa also was expected to make landfall in eastern Cuba late on Tuesday as a powerful hurricane.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo and Holguin provinces, while a tropical storm warning was in effect for Las Tunas.

Up to 51 centimetres of rain were forecast for parts of Cuba, along with a significant storm surge along the coast.

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People take shelter at a school ahead of Hurricane Melissa's forecast arrival in Old Harbour, Jamaica, Monday, Oct. 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Cuban officials said Monday that they were evacuating more than 600,000 people from the region, including Santiago, the island's second-largest city.

Melissa also has drenched the southern regions of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, with a tropical storm warning still in effect for Haiti.

The hurricane was forecast to turn northeast after Cuba and strike the southeast Bahamas by Wednesday evening.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the southeastern and central Bahamas, and a tropical storm warning was issued for the Turks and Caicos Islands.

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