Good morning. It’s Thursday 26 May and here’s a round up of the latest news.
Penny Wong to meet Fiji PM
But Federated States of Micronesia president David Panuelo is pushing back on the draft communique issued by China, saying his nation would argue it should be rejected because of fears it could spark a new Cold War between China and the West.
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US shooter displayed ‘no significant warning signs’
It came after he shot his grandmother at his home.
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But Texas Governor Greg Abbott says the shooter had no history of criminal behaviour or mental health problems, and says a series of social media posts in the minutes leading up to the attack were the only alert.
Law enforcement officers speak of Robb Elementary School following a mass shooting. Source: Getty / Brandon Bell
US president Joe Biden is calling for , and is planning a trip to Texas in the wake of the massacre.
75 missing after boat sinks
The International Organisation for Migration says 24 people were rescued from the boat, which departed from the beaches of Zawara in Libya and sank off the coast of Sfax.
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Hundreds of thousands of people have made the perilous Mediterranean crossing in recent years, and in recent months, dozens have drowned off the Tunisian coast with an increase in the frequency of attempted crossings from Tunisia and Libya towards Italy.
Russia experiencing ‘heavy losses’
After failing to seize Kyiv or Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv, Russia is trying to take the rest of the separatist-claimed Donbas’ two provinces, Donetsk and Luhansk, and trap Ukrainian forces in a pocket on the main eastern front.
Russian forces have reportedly stepped up hostilities in the direction of Liman, and directed artillery fire towards the settlement of Severodonetsk.
But a spokesperson for the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Shtupun, said Russian forces have had “no success” and “suffered losses” during their attacks.
Reparations ‘urgently needed’ for Stolen Generations survivors in Western Australia
The anniversary of that report and the national apology to the Stolen Generations is being marked today, 26 May.
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“And we’re now feeling the impact of removal still. And when you think of Western Australia, the population of Stolen Generation peoples and their descendants are more than half of the (Indigenous) population. The equity issues are not improving.”
