Russia steps up its efforts

The bombing of a bridge to the Russian-occupied territory of Crimea has prompted the Kremlin to rush new weaponry to the frontline of its war with Ukraine.

A spokesperson for Russian President, Vladimir Putin, denied Russia was on the backfoot in the ongoing Ukraine war.

He said as proof of Russia ascendency a fleet of new tanks (main picture) would be heading to eastern Ukraine as soon as possible.

He denied Russian troops had retreated in recent weeks or that Ukraine was advancing and reclaiming lands formerly held by the Russian Army.

“Our troops are currently actively disengaged in a unplanned program of de-advancement and we expect them to continue making territorial gains in coming days,” the spokesperson said.

“Unfortunately those gains are expected to be in the direction of the Ukraine-Russia border.”

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Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has committed to reintroducing the Howard Government’s controversial WorkChoices industrial relations regime.

Mr Dutton told a news conference this morning that the decision was in line with his commitment to reverse, if elected in 2025, any decision taken by the Albanese Government to abandon the Morrison Government’s tax cuts including those for high income earners.

He said the opposition parties stood by the former government’s tax reform plans in full and he attacked the current public discussion being fuelled by the government as a cover for  modifying the tax cuts in the 2022 or 2023 federal budget.

Mr Dutton rejected arguments that the tax cuts should be modified because economic and financial circumstances had deteriorated since they were developed in 2018.

“The coalition parties proposed the tax cuts, we legislated them, and we don’t break our promises,” Mr Dutton said.

“We also legislated the WorkChoices policy and we are not in the business of breaking promises,” he added in a very low voice before rushing to his Commonwealth car without taking questions.

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Denmark’s Queen Margrethe has announced a plan to defuse the controversy over her decision to scrap from 1 January the use of senior royal tiles by the children of her second son Prince Joachim.

The Queen has faced a family backlash after she announced that four of her grandchildren would no longer be able to call themselves Prince or Princes from 1 January 2023.

They would also be barred from being referred to as His or Her Royal Highness as part of the Queen’s desire to “slim down” the Danish monarchy.

A royal family spokesperson said: “A compromise has been reached and Prince Joachim’s children would be allowed to use a symbol approved by Her Majesty (pictured below) when referring to themselves or when referred to by others.

 “Her Majesty sees this as a sensible and workable solution and should settle any unrest within her family.”