Good afternoon. The Albanese government has said it has no knowledge of the Trump administration’s plan to deport an Iranian-born man from US immigration detention to Australia, despite him having no link to the country.
Reza Zavvar, a 52-year-old permanent US resident who arrived when he was 12, is being held in detention near his Maryland home due to a historical conviction for marijuana possession which dates back to the 1990s. While Zavvar cannot be sent back to Iran due to risk of persecution, documents provided by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement suggest he could be sent to Australia or Romania.
A spokesperson for the Albanese government said there was no new agreement for transfer of US immigration detainees to Australia and it had not been approached by the Trump administration in relation to Zavvar’s case.
Top news
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Kathleen Folbigg compensated after spending two decades in jail for wrongful convictions
In pictures
Spaceships modelled on jellyfish, 3D-printed homes, polyamorous relationships and vegetarian diets are among the ways in which experts have envisaged making interstellar travel feasible. The ideas from scientists, engineers, architects and social theorists came in response to a global competition to develop plans for “generation ships”, self-sustaining crafts capable of supporting up to 1,500 people on a 250-year journey to a habitable planet.
What they said …
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“It is time for action, not just worried looks” – Peter Rodgers
The former Australian ambassador to Israel was one of 16 former Australian ambassadors and diplomats to sign an open letter urging Anthony Albanese to end weapon and component exports to Israel and recognise a Palestinian state. The letter says repeated calls for a two-state solution make “no sense when only one state exists, and that heavily armed state, Israel, is engaged in apartheid, war crimes, and potential genocide of almost totally defenceless people”.
Full Story
Can Trump be shamed into supporting human rights?
After three decades at the helm of Human Rights Watch, the former executive director Kenneth Roth has written a memoir about his time campaigning against human rights violations around the world – including in the Palestinian occupied territories. He speaks with Nour Haydar about why he thinks there’s always a strategy to pressure governments into supporting better human rights outcomes.
Before bed read
When Cleonie Quayle’s grandchildren were placed in her care, she stopped full-time work and started making and selling jewellery. On Wednesday evening, the Malyangapa Barkindji woman won a National Indigenous fashion award for her first piece of clothing: a dress made from hundreds of gold-tipped jacaranda seed pods, inspired by the resilience and recovery journey of her daughter, Chloe – also known as the rapper Barkaa.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: ANNA. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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