Australia’s minister for women is set to retire from politics, a major blow for the embattled minority government amid accusations it has a problem with female representation ahead of crucial national elections.

Cabinet minister Kelly O’Dwyer – the latest in a string of female politicians to quit the ruling Liberal-National coalition – said on Saturday she would not recontest her lower house seat at the upcoming poll, due by mid-May.

Just a few months ago, O’Dwyer was reported by Australian media as warning in a closed meeting that the Liberals were widely viewed by voters as “homophobic, anti-women, climate-change deniers”.

Ms O’Dwyer – one of six women in the coalition’s 23-person frontbench – said her decision was made for personal reasons and that she wanted to spend more time with her children.

The surprise departure of the senior MP is a massive setback for Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his coalition, already reeling from poor opinion polls, criticisms about its lack of gender diversity and numerous scandals.

Most recently, married Nationals MP Andrew Broad said he would not recontest his seat after becoming embroiled in a scandal involving a “sugar baby” online dating service – where an older man pays to maintain a high-end lifestyle for a younger, beautiful companion.

Ms O’Dwyer was a supporter of former moderate PM Malcolm Turnbull, who was ousted by the more right-leaning Morrison in a party coup in August.

Since then, Mr Morrison’s government has lurched from crisis to crisis, and lost its one-seat parliamentary majority in October after losing Turnbull’s vacated seat in a by-election to an independent.

Its hold on power was further eroded when one of Turnbull’s supporters, Liberal MP Julia Banks, said she was quitting the party to become an independent.

Several high-profile Liberal women had also said during the battle to oust and replace Turnbull that they were bullied and threatened to vote a certain way.

On Sunday thousands joined a ‘Women’s March’ in cities across Australia, protesting violence against women and the murder last week of a 21-year-old Israeli student who was killed on her way home from a comedy night. 

Brexit will not harm the information-sharing relationship between Britain and America’s spy agencies, a leading US intelligence official has told The Telegraph. 

Anthony Vassalo, a senior figure at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence – the top body in US intelligence – said he expected no “material change” after the UK leaves the European Union. 

The comment, which comes with Britain locked in uncertainty about the shape of Brexit, will allay fears that the country’s close intelligence-sharing links with America could be damaged. 

Concerns about the impact of Brexit on public safety have emerged in recent weeks, with Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, warning that Theresa May’s withdrawal agreement would “threaten the national security of the country”.

The UK and US are both part of the ‘Five Eyes’ intelligence alliance, along with Australia, New Zealand and Canada, which sees the countries readily share classified material. 

During a rare briefing with journalists to mark the publication of the Trump administration’s new national intelligence strategy, US officials outlined their plans for the coming four years. 

Mr Vassalo, the associate deputy director of national intelligence for mission integration, responded when asked by this newspaper if Brexit would impact the UK-US intelligence-sharing relationship. 

“I think that operationally, tactically, the work that’s done in the field, the work that’s done back here, in terms of integrating across the allies and … partners, goes on,” Mr Vassalo said.

“I haven’t noticed any material change in any of that, and I wouldn’t expect to.” 

The remark is likely to be welcomed by Eurosceptics who argue that the negative impacts of leaving the EU have been over-exaggerated by those wishing to remain a member of the bloc. 

The UK-US intelligence relationship has not been without strains since Donald Trump took over the presidency in January 2017. 

His former press secretary Sean Spicer once quoted reports saying that GCHQ, Britain’s secret listening post, spied on Mr Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign.

A GCHQ spokesman called the suggestion “nonsense”.  Leaked photographs from the 2017 Manchester Arena attack crime scene, published in US media shortly after the incident, also caused friction.

British officials demanded an investigation and Amber Rudd, then home secretary, said she had been “irritated” by leaks. 

The Telegraph has also previously revealed that UK spy chiefs are battling against Mr Trump’s proposal to release classified information linked to the Russian election meddling investigation over fears it could expose sources and methods of intelligence gathering.

A translator for the German armed forces was arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of spying for Iran.

In what could become a serious scandal for the German military, the arrested man is suspected of passing highly sensitive information to Iranian intelligence over a number of years.

The 50-year-old suspect, named only as Abdul-Hamid S, is a German citizen of Afghan heritage. He was arrested in the Rhineland region of Germany.

He worked as a translator and cultural advisor to the German military, which has some 1,100 troops serving with international forces in Afghanistan, where they are training local armed forces and police and assisting them in the conflict with the Taliban.

He had access to classified information about German troop deployments in Afghanistan and other matters.

“Abdul Hamid S. is strongly suspected of having worked for a foreign intelligence service,” the German federal prosecutors’ office said in a statement.

The arrest comes a week after the European Union accused Iran of plotting to carry out assassinations in several European countries and ordered new sanctions against Iranian intelligence.

Iran has one of the most sophisticated and aggressive intelligence apparatuses in the Middle East and is known to operate on European soil.

The arrest is a fresh security blow for Germany after an officer in its own BND intelligence service was discovered passing secrets to the US in 2014.

Markus R was sentenced to eight years in prison after being convicted of passing secret information to the CIA from 2009 to 2014 in exchange for payments of €90,000 (£80,000). He was caught after he also attempted to sell secrets to Russian intelligence.

Abdul Hamid S could face up to ten years in prison if he is convicted of spying.

US President Donald Trump laid out a White House feast fit for a government shutdown on Monday: silver platters heaped high with McDonald’s quarter pounders and the red-and-white burger wrappers of Wendy’s.

White House chefs normally would serve much fancier fare underneath the stern gaze of the portrait of Abraham Lincoln in the State Dining Room. But they are furloughed, staying home without paychecks as Trump fights with Congress over funding the federal government.

The White House said Trump himself sprang for what he pronounced to be "great American food" for the visiting Clemson Tigers, winners of the US college football championship.

"We have pizzas, we have 300 hamburgers, many, many french fries, all of our favorite foods," Trump told reporters, as one White House worker still on the job lit tapered candles.

"I want to see what’s here when we leave, because I don’t think it’s going to be much," Trump said, before the players, dressed in dapper suits, flooded the room and piled their plates high.

About a quarter of the federal government has been shut down for the past 24 days after Trump dug in on a campaign pledge to build a wall on the southern border with Mexico, demanding $5.7 billion from Congress for the project. Democrats have rejected his demand.

Trump told the players afterward that he did not want to postpone the event until after the shutdown – which is already the longest in history – ended. 

Authorities in Louisiana said they are searching for an "armed and dangerous" 21-year-old accused of killing his parents and three others in two separate but related shootings Saturday.

Authorities say Dakota Theriot first shot and killed three people – the woman believed to be his girlfriend, her brother and father – in Livingston Parish before taking her father’s truck, driving to neighboring Ascension Parish where he shot and killed his parents.

"We are totally focused on finding him. We’re following every lead that we come up with," said Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard during an evening news conference streamed online.

Theriot was being sought on first-degree murder and other charges. He was believed to be driving a stolen 2004 Dodge Ram pickup, gray and silver in color.

Authorities have identified the victims in Livingston Parish as Billy Ernest, 43; Tanner Ernest, 17; and Summer Ernest, 20. Ard said Summer Ernest and Dakota Theriot were in a relationship and that Theriot had been living with her family for a few weeks.

But he said after talking with Summer’s mother, there was no indication of any red flags ahead of Saturday’s multiple shootings.

Authorities earlier identified the other two victims as Theriot’s parents – Keith, 50, and Elizabeth Theriot, 50, of Gonzales.

They were shot in their trailer on Saturday morning.

"The father was gravely injured at the time we found him and has since passed away," said Ascension Parish Sheriff Bobby Webre. But before he died, Webre said authorities were able to get a "dying declaration from him, and only enough information to let us know that it was his son that committed this act."

Webre said there were indications that Theriot was traveling east and maybe was in another state by now.

"We’re going to work every lead. We’re going to follow every tip," he said during the evening news conference.

Ard said Dakota Theriot is believed to be armed with at least one handgun.

"We do not have a motive. It is still undetermined," Ard said.

Crystal DeYoung, Billy Ernest’s sister, told The Associated Press that she believes Theriot had just started dating her niece, Summer Ernest.

"My family met him last weekend at a birthday party and didn’t get good vibes from him," DeYoung said. She said she wasn’t sure how her niece and Theriot met, but that she believed the relationship was relatively new.

"My mom is a good judge of character and she just thought he was not good," DeYoung said of Theriot.

DeYoung said she skipped the birthday party and didn’t meet Theriot herself. DeYoung said Summer and Tanner Ernest were two of Billy’s three children. He was also raising his wife’s children.

DeYoung said Theriot doesn’t have a vehicle and she’s not sure how he ended up at the Ernest home on Saturday, but after the killings, he took off in her brother’s truck.

There were also two young children in the home at the time. DeYoung said a 7-year-old took the baby out of the house and went to a neighbor’s.

DeYoung said her brother, niece and nephew were good people.

"They all had very good hearts. They trusted people too much," she said, as she began crying. "They all loved unconditionally."

Charlenne Bordelon lives near the house where the Ernests were killed. She told The Advocate newspaper that two young children from the house ran to her home. They were uninjured and asked for help after the shooting.

Bordelon said Theriot was the older daughter’s boyfriend and that he’d recently moved in with the family but she did not know him.

A Facebook page appearing to belong to Dakota Theriot was filled with defensive and sometimes angry posts. He shared someone else’s post in June that said "wish i could clear my mind jus for one day" (sic) with a sad face emoji.

In May, he reposted something saying, "If you have a problem with me, tell me. Not everyone else."

He also shared someone else’s post that said, "I don’t care what people say about me I know who I am and I don’t have to prove anything to anyone."

Webre said Dakota had lived with his parents briefly but was asked to leave the residence and not return.

"I would not approach this vehicle. We feel no doubt that Dakota is going to be armed and dangerous, and we need to bring him to justice really quick," Webre said.

Webre said Dakota Theriot had some run-ins with law enforcement in other parishes that he described as misdemeanor-type incidents that did not include violence: "Certainly nothing of the magnitude that we’ve seen today."

Webre said there was no reason to think Theriot was now targeting someone else but warned that because he’s armed and dangerous: "Anybody he comes into contact with could be a target."

Wayne Rooney was arrested in America for "public swearing and intoxication" last month and ordered to pay a $25 fine, court records have revealed.

The DC United star and former England captain was apprehended by Washington Airport Authority police officers on December 16th in Loudoun County, Virginia.

Public swearing and intoxication is catagorised as a minor offence, known as a class 4  misdemeanor in the US. He was released without bail and paid the small fine on January 4th, according to legal documents. 

It was unclear whether or not the 33 year-old was picked up at the airport but the striker had posted a photo of himself at an event in Saudi Arabia in the days prior to the arrest.    

The Manchester United captain, was  also arrested in September 2017 for driving under the influence in Wilmslow, Cheshire, England. He pleaded guilty and received a two-year driving ban and paid a £170 fine. Rooney also agreed to undergo a drink-driving rehabilitation that could reduce his driving ban.

In 2018, he began a three-and-a-half year contract with MLS team DC United where he has quickly become a favourite of the fans, scoring 12 goals to drag the team into the play-offs.

His spokesman said the footballer was apprehended after a lengthy flight from the Gulf state where he was on a one-day business trip.

"During the flight Wayne took a prescribed amount of sleeping tablets mixed with some alcohol consumption and consequently was disorientated on arrival. He was approached by police who arrested him on a minor misdemeanour charge," the spokesman said.

"He received a statutory automatic fine and was released shortly afterwards at the airport. The matter is now at an end.

"Wayne would like to put on record his appreciation for the manner he was treated by all involved."

Rooney, who is still banned from driving in the UK after he was caught drink-driving, set off the alarm but did not breach airport security, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Police said.

"Mr Rooney was charged with public intoxication and transported to Loudoun County Detention Centre to be held until sober," a statement added.