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ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Indian police say fake ambassador ran bogus embassy for micronations
Indian police say they have arrested a man who spent a decade posing as the ambassador for a number of micronations. Harshvardhan Jain ran the operation out of a rented house in Ghaziabad, on the outskirts of New Delhi, police said. He claimed to be representing Westarctica, Seborga, Paulovia and Ladonia among others. Police say they found cash, luxury cars, rubber stamps, passports, identity cards, and diplomatic car number plates at the property. "He also used a lot of manipulated photographs with renowned people to racketeer and gain commission from people," said Sushil Ghule, a senior police officer with Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force. Mr Jain is in police custody. Investigations are underway to determine how many people he duped and if anyone travelled overseas. He had been running the operation since 2016, and said he was appointed the honorary consul of Westarctica and an advisor to Seborga, Indian media reported. Mr Jain is believed to have used his made-up designations to lure people into securing jobs abroad, then charging them to open bank accounts and buy properties. They all describe themselves as micronations. Micronations are entities that claim to be sovereign states; they are not recognised by established governments and are not considered a threat. Westarctica is located in the west of Antarctica. It is led by Grand Duke Travis McHenry, who laid claimsto the region in 2001. Seborga is a village in Italy, near the border with southern France. While geographically located in Sweden, Ladonia's website says it does not have "strictly defined borders". There is not much information on Paulovia. There are about 130 micronations across the globe, with Australia home to over a third of them. They include the once-famous Principality of Hutt River, which has now been ceded back to the Commonwealth. Hutt River was formed in 1970 after a stoush with the West Australian government over wheat production quotas. More recently, a political protest over the perceived lack of action around same-sex marriage led to the establishment of the Gay and Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands. ABC/Reuters
ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
NT chief minister flags capping coronial spends after Walker inquest cost revealed
The Northern Territory government is considering making changes to the Coroners Act in an effort to drive down the costs of coronial inquests. WARNING: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name of an Indigenous person who has died, used with the permission of their family. The plan comes after the almost three-year coronial inquest into Kumanjayi Walker's death in police custody in Yuendumu was revealed to have cost almost $8 million. Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro told ABC Radio Alice Springs the amount spent and the length of the inquest "didn't meet the community's expectations". "As a government, we're responding by saying 'What can we reasonably do … to put some limits or restrictions around endless time frames and endless costs?'" The chief minister said "dragging on" the proceedings for so long "had added trauma to the family, trauma to the police force, and the community". In a statement, NT Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby said the money poured into the coronial inquest could have been better spent for Territorians. "As we work through the findings and recommendations, I will be considering how to ensure coronial processes are more efficient and deliver faster outcomes for families and the community." The government costs of the Kumanjayi Walker inquest were revealed in response to a question on notice during NT budget estimates last month. In it, the attorney-general's department stated almost $5.5 million of the almost $8 million total was spent by the NT Police Force, with the figure including legal costs, flights and accommodation. The ABC understands the force imported senior silks from interstate to work on the inquest. About $1.9 million was spent by the coroner's office, and Ms Boothby has since said another $557,798 was spent by the territory's health department. In its budget estimates response, the attorney-general's department also said the average cost of a coronial inquest in the Northern Territory in 2024-25 was $6,120 — calculated by dividing the total inquest spend of $1.73 million in that timeframe, by the 283 coronials that were finalised. Coronials include any coroner investigations into unexpected or suspected deaths in the NT, only some of which lead to public hearings. Comparing the Walker inquest — which did have a public hearing — to the average figure determined by the department, Ms Finocchiaro said its costs had blown out. "The question is, is three years and $8 million a justified use of taxpayer-funded money for the outcomes that [the inquest] will deliver?" she said. The Walker inquest was initially meant to run for three months but stretched out due to a string of legal appeals, led predominantly by former NT police officer Zachary Rolfe, who argued many of the issues the coroner explored were irrelevant. Mr Rolfe also urged Coroner Elisabeth Armitage to stand aside from the investigation, claiming she was biased, leading to further delays. Neither Ms Finocchiaro or Ms Boothby have indicated any of the specific changes the government may make regarding the legislation. Also speaking to ABC Radio Alice Springs, Bill Doogue — a lawyer who represented Mr Walker's Warlpiri community during the inquest — said the NT government's proposal to look at changing the act was "absurd". Mr Doogue said the coronial inquest was "necessary", "handled exceptionally well", and that scrutiny should instead be on the costs incurred by NT police. He said at the inquest the Walker family was represented by two legal teams while the police force had seven. "Why are all these [government department] teams being given funding to have silks, kings counsel, to have all the great lawyers they had?" he said. "The delays in this case were caused by those teams, it wasn't caused by the community. "The Indigenous people at the coronial were not funded at all to have lawyers — the lawyers who were there, were there on the goodwill of the profession." Mr Doogue said discussions around changing the Coroners Act took away from the real issues raised by the inquest, noting the chief minister had not yet announced whether the government would be accepting the coroner's 32 recommendations. "She's distracting from the important issue, which is that the NT police had all the hallmarks of institutional racism," he said. "That is what should be dealt with."
Sydney Morning Herald
7 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Australia news LIVE: Gaza ceasefire talks collapse; Marles and Wong to meet UK counterparts in Sydney; Hulk Hogan dead at 71
Latest posts Latest posts 6.58am Trump rejects wanting to destroy Musk's companies as Tesla shares plunge Donald Trump denied he was seeking to ruin the business empire of his onetime ally Elon Musk as retribution for their dispute over the US president's signature tax law. 'I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE,' Trump posted Thursday on social media, though it was unclear exactly what comments he was responding to. 'The better they do, the better the USA does, and that's good for all of us. We are setting records every day, and I want to keep it that way!' the president added. Shares of Tesla lost more than 8 per cent in New York during the first trading session since the company reported a steep decline in revenue and Musk warned of difficult times ahead for his electric vehicle maker. The stock had declined 18 per cent this year through Wednesday's close. 6.54am Ghislaine Maxwell meets DOJ amid Epstein saga Deputy US Attorney-General Todd Blanche held a meeting with sex-trafficker Jeffrey Epstein's imprisoned associate Ghislaine Maxwell at the US attorney's office in Tallahassee, Florida, ABC News reported on Friday AEST. The meeting was widely anticipated, after Blanche announced earlier in the week that he had reached out to Maxwell's lawyers to see if she might have 'information about anyone who has committed crimes against victims.' Maxwell is serving a 20-year term at a federal prison in Tallahassee, after a jury convicted her of helping Epstein to abuse underage girls. She is appealing her sentence. The meeting is part of an ongoing Justice Department effort to cast itself as transparent following fierce backlash from parts of President Donald Trump's base over an earlier refusal to release additional records in the Epstein investigation. AP, Reuters 6.50am What's making news today By Daniel Lo Surdo Hello and welcome to the national news live blog. My name is Daniel Lo Surdo, and I'll be helming our live coverage this morning. Here's what is making news today: Gaza ceasefire negotiations have collapsed in Qatar, with United States mediators returning home after blaming Hamas for the breakdown in talks. The departure of American negotiators follows the same move from Israeli Benjamin Netanyahu hours earlier, with US special envoy Steve Witkoff saying his team would 'now consider alternative options' to secure stability in the region. Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong will meet their United Kingdom counterparts in Sydney, two days after this masthead confirmed Australia had paid the United States another $800 million towards the AUKUS submarine deal under review by the Trump administration. It comes as the Albanese government lifts its import ban on US beef, a key restriction raised by Trump for his proposed sweeping tariffs on Australian goods. Professional wrestling icon Hulk Hogan has died at the age of 71. Hogan was pronounced dead at a Florida hospital after authorities responded to a call about a cardiac arrest on Thursday morning (local time), with local police saying there were 'no signs of foul play or suspicious activity' associated with Hogan's death. US President Donald Trump was among those paying tribute to Hogan, saying his cultural impact was 'massive'. The Australian sharemarket is expected to retreat on Friday, as Wall Street hangs near its records in afternoon trading. The ASX fell on Thursday, with Macquarie shares among the biggest laggards on the bourse. It comes as Trump visited US Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell on Thursday afternoon (local time), two days after Trump labelled Powell a 'numbskull' who will be 'out pretty soon'.
