D-Day: 75th Anniversary commemorations in UK
Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II and US President Donald Trump during an event in Portsmouth to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Photo: Photo / AFP
The Queen has paid tribute to the "heroism, courage and sacrifice" of those who died in the D-Day landings.
She was joined by 16 world leaders, including US President Donald Trump, in Portsmouth to commemorate the 75th anniversary of history's largest combined land, air and naval operation.
Veterans of the landings in Normandy to liberate western Europe also attended.
Quoting a broadcast by her father, King George VI, at the time of the operation in World War II, the Queen said the veterans of D-Day demonstrated "more than courage and endurance", showing "unconquerable resolve".
"The fate of the world depended on their success," she said. "Many of them would never return, and the heroism, courage and sacrifice of those who lost their lives will never be forgotten."
On Thursday, further memorial services are planned to mark the 75 years since the D-Day landings on 6 June 1944 - the start of the campaign to liberate Nazi-occupied north-west Europe.
- BBC
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Kiwi victim of Darwin shooting rampage
A man killed in the Darwin shootings this week was a New Zealand national, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed.
Four men were shot dead and a woman injured after the gunman went on a rampage across Darwin's CBD earlier this week, before being arrested by Northern Territory police.
New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed one of the victims was a New Zealander.
The ministry said it was in contact with local authorities but for privacy reasons would not be providing any further information.
The New Zealander - Robert Courtney, 52 - was working as a Mindil Beach Casino Resort security guard. A spokesman for the casino said Mr Courtney was a valued member of their security team.
- ABC
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ABC reacts to Police raids
ABCs editorial director Craig McMurtrie speaks to media after Australian police raided the headquarters of public broadcaster in Sydney on June 5. Photo: Photo / AFP
An Australian police raid on public broadcaster ABC risks having a chilling effect on freedom of the press, its editorial director says.
Police officers from the Australian Federal Police ( AFP) left the ABC's Sydney headquarters more than eight hours after a raid began over allegations it had published classified material.
It related to a series of 2017 stories known as the Afghan Files about alleged misconduct by Australian troops in Afghanistan.
ABC editorial director Craig McMurtrie told Morning Report the message the raids sent to sources and whistleblowers who wanted to reveal things in the public interest was concerning.
The AFP's Acting Commissioner Neil Gaughan says officers undertook the raids of their own volition, and they had not been initiated by any member of Government.
The raids have drawn criticism from rights groups, who say it is a clear attack on press freedom.
Commissioner Gaughan says the raids were part of an investigation relating to a an unauthorised leak of national security information to journalists.
- ABC
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"Not enough" progress on US-Mexico talks says President Trump
Mexican and U.S. officials are set to resume talks in Washington tomorrow, aimed at averting an imposition of tariffs on Mexican goods, with Donald Trump saying "not enough" progress on ways to curb migration.
Frustrated by the lack of progress on a signature issue from his 2016 election campaign, Trump unexpectedly told Mexico last week to take a harder line on illegal immigration or face 5% tariffs on all its exports to the United States starting on Monday, rising to as much as 25% later in the year.
Vice President Mike Pence chaired the meeting on Thursday with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard to make the case that Mexico needed to do more to stop a surge in Central American migrants crossing the border.
- Reuters
Sudan in standoff as protests continue
Sudan's military rulers have offered to resume talks with opposition groups , two days after security forces mounted a deadly raid on a protest camp, however the opposition has now rejected that invitation.
Medics linked to the opposition said the death toll from an Army and militia crackdown had risen to 108 and that it was expected to increase. State news agency SUNA puts the number much lower, at 46, citing a health ministry official.
The latest violence follows weeks of wrangling between the ruling military council and opposition groups over who should lead Sudan's transition to democracy.
Its the worst outbreak of violence since the army ousted President Omar al-Bashir in April, after months of protests against his 30-year rule.
- Reuters
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Pell conviction should stand: Prosecutor
Cardinal George Pell. Photo: AFP
Former Vatican treasurer George Pell's conviction on child sex offences should stand because a victim's account was truthful, a prosecutor told an Australian court today, the final day of the cardinal's appeal hearing.
Pell was sentenced in March to six years in jail after a jury found him guilty of five sexual offences against two 13-year-old choirboys at St Patrick's Cathedral in the late 1990s, when he was archbishop of Melbourne.
The 77-year-old, the highest ranking Catholic cleric worldwide to be convicted of child sex offences, is mainly appealing on the grounds that the verdicts were unreasonable based on the evidence, including the account of one of the victims.
His lawyers also argue that the trial judge erred in blocking the defense from showing a video animation depicting where people were in the cathedral after mass.
- Reuters
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