ASIO’s Director-General of Security Mike Burgess revealed foreign spies are continually seeking to penetrate the Australian government, adding the organisation rendered a number of them “inoperative” over the past year.
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A “significant number” of foreign spies have been discovered operating on Australian soil in the past 12 months, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) has revealed.
ASIO's Director-General of Security Mike Burgess revealed foreign spies are continually seeking to penetrate the Australian government, adding the organisation rendered a number of them “inoperative” over the past year.
“Last year, for example, one of ASIO’s investigations focused on a nest of spies, from a particular foreign intelligence service, that was operating in Australia,” he said during his annual threat assessment.
Picture: Kym Smith
Mr Burgess said the group had successfully recruited an Australian Government security clearance holder who had access to sensitive defence information. After the discovery ASIO confronted the foreign spies and removed them from the country.
“In the last twelve months, a significant number of foreign spies and their proxies have either been removed from Australia or rendered inoperative. I can’t give you exact details for obvious reasons, but I’m talking about a number in double figures,” he said.
Spanish health officials are investigating three cases of people who suffered from thrombosis after receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine, one of whom died.
More than a dozen countries have suspended the use of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine over blood clotting and side effect fears.
Spain's investigation announcement comes just days after the country joined the growing list of nations who have paused the rollout of the vaccine.
Health Minister Carolina Darias told the death and thrombosis cases "could be related to the vaccine or not'.
While she said she “understood the concerns”, the minister stressed Spain has so far recorded just three cases of blot clots out of the 975,661 people who received the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Picture: Justin Tallis/AFP
A five-year-old girl has tragically died after being struck by a car in Sydney's west on Wednesday night.
Emergency services were called to Rooty Hill Road North in Plumpton at about 7.20pm yesterday following reports two pedestrians, a 37-year-old woman and her five-year-old daughter, had been hit by a Toyota Tarago.
"They were conveyed by NSW Ambulance paramedics to Westmead Hospital with the woman being in a serious but stable condition and the child in a critical condition," NSW Police said.
"The child later died at Westmead Hospital."
The 64-year-old male driver was taken to Westmead Hospital for mandatory testing and is assisting police with their inquiries.
A Federal Government media adviser has resigned after Tasmania’s Greens leader claimed he directed a “vile insult” at her.
Cassy O’Connor used parliamentary privilege to call Liberal staffer Andrew Hudgson a “sexist pig” and claim he used an appalling slur when talking about her with colleagues, ABC News reports.
Ms O’Connor told the Tasmanian Parliament on Wednesday night that she had a “personal story to tell about a vile insult Mr Hudgson directed at me” in 2019 when he was working for then-Premier Will Hodgman.
She said her media adviser Alice Giblin had overheard Mr Hudgson calling her a “meth-head c***” while she was doing an interview nearby.
Mr Hudgson had been employed as media adviser to federal Assistant Treasurer and Housing Minister Michael Sukkar but a government spokesman said he was asked to resign from the role soon after Ms O’Connor’s statement.
Huge areas of the east are already sodden with warnings of flash flooding in place for parts of central Queensland.
Now forecasters have warned a second band of heavy rain is creeping from west to east across the country that could extend the deluge and deliver more flooding in the week to come.
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsA Severe Weather Warning for Heavy Rainfall has been issued for the Mid North Coast from Thursday. Heavy Rain may also spread to the Lower Hunter, Sydney & Illawarra during Friday & Saturday. Video: https://t.co/bhWGI3fU9p plus stay on top of warnings: https://t.co/umpEv2SIXg pic.twitter.com/KyH1ZQaWKd
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) March 17, 2021
Some locations could see three times’ March’s rainfall descend in just a few days. It’s almost certain that most parts of the NSW coast and into southern Queensland will at least surpass their average monthly rain in the coming week.
“Huge amounts of rain could fall over the next eight days,” Sky News Weather senior meteorologist Tom Saunders said.
– Benedict Brook
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiemh0dHBzOi8vd3d3Lm5ld3MuY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL2JyZWFraW5nLW5ld3MvbGl2ZS1icmVha2luZy1uZXdzLWF1c3RyYWxpYS9saXZlLWNvdmVyYWdlLzAyOGMzMjllNTMzMjYzOGY2NGE0MDk1MGNkMjNkZjJj0gEA?oc=5
2021-03-17 20:03:02Z
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