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Ticker

Ukraine

USA

Rare earths deal eases tension

The White House and Ukraine have made significant progress toward reaching an agreement that would provide the US with access to Ukraine’s rare earth minerals and tighten the long-term relationship between Kyiv and Washington, according to a person familiar with the matter. The progress in talks comes after President Donald Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky traded sharp rhetoric this week about their differences over the matter.

AP

Fire

Australia

Caution still urged as fires ease

Warnings have been downgraded for fires burning in multiple states but emergency services are urging caution as hot, gusty conditions continue. A grassfire in central Victoria’s Willowmavin was burning out of control on Saturday evening but an emergency warning for residents to take shelter had been downgraded to advice level.

AAP Newswire

China

New Zealand

Chinese warships conduct second live-fire drills

New Zealand says the Chinese navy has conducted a second live-fire exercise in international waters near the Pacific nation, a day after it held a similar drill between Australia and New Zealand that forced airlines to divert flights. “Reporting from the New Zealand Defence Force that the Chinese naval Task Group has advised of a second window for live firing activity, on Saturday afternoon,“ a spokesperson for Defence Minister Judith Collins said in a statement.

Reuters

Search

Australia

Family link claim as Beaumont children search resumes

A family member of a key suspect in the Beaumont children’s disappearance was related to the trio by marriage, it has been claimed. The evidence was made public on Saturday as the decades-long search to find Jane, Arnna and Grant Beaumont, who vanished without a trace during an outing to an Adelaide beach on Australia Day in 1966, resumed.

AAP Newswire

Ukraine

Europe

US, Russia planning second peace talks

A second meeting between representatives of Russia and the United States is planned for the next two weeks, the RIA state news agency says, citing Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov. Moscow and Washington held their first talks on ending the nearly three-year war in Ukraine earlier this week, aimed at restoring relations and preparing to conclude the conflict.

Reuters

Weather

Australia

Fresh cyclone threat brewing

A cyclone may soon loom on the horizon for a flood-hit region where multiple people have died in recent weeks from a deadly infection linked with heavy rain. Serious health fears have also been raised in the north as locals try to recover from weeks of wet weather.

AAP Newswire

Court

USA

DNA evidence frees man after 30 years behind bars

A Hawaii man who spent 30 years in prison for a murder he long denied committing has declared the day of his release “Freedom Friday” and says he is eager to visit his mother after a judge ordered him released because of new DNA evidence. There were gasps and cries in the courtroom when Judge Kirstin Hamman said, “And the judgement and sentence is vacated and the defendant is ordered to be released from custody,” before a Zoom feed broadcasting the hearing suddenly turned off.

AP

History

World

Archaeologists push to restore Syria’s vast heritage sites

Experts are returning to Syria’s war-ravaged heritage sites, hoping to lay the groundwork for restoring them and reviving tourism, which they say could provide a much-needed boost to the country’s decimated economy after nearly 14 years of war. Once-thriving landmarks like the ancient city of Palmyra and the medieval Crusader castle of Crac des Chevaliers remain scarred by years of conflict, but local tourists are returning to the sites, and conservationists hope their historical and cultural significance will eventually draw international visitors back.

AP

Military

USA

Trump fires military chief

President Donald Trump has abruptly fired Air Force General CQ Brown as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, sidelining the history-making fighter pilot. The ouster of Brown, only the second Black general to serve as chairman, is sure to send shock waves through the Pentagon. His 16 months in the job had been consumed with the war in Ukraine and the expanded conflict in the Middle East.

AP/Reuters

China

Australia

PM blasted for ‘weak’ response to ‘gunboat diplomacy’

Anthony Albanese has bristled at suggestions he should get Beijing on the phone after China’s military carried out a live-fire exercise off the Australian coast and stoked international tensions. The prime minister said senior Defence officials continued to monitor three Chinese warships after they were spotted moving south about 280km off Sydney, in international waters, on Thursday.

AAP Newswire

Election

New Zealand

Farmer announces bid to be Hastings mayor

Fourth-generation Hawke’s Bay farmer Marcus Buddo is putting his hat in the ring to be mayor of Hastings District. It’s the first time the 30 year old Hastings District Councillor from Poukawa has entered the mayoral race, and he’s launching his campaign in Havelock North on Saturday. ”I want to see people who wish to call Hawke’s Bay home, afford to be able to live here. I want to see grandparents have the chance to see grandchildren grow up on their doorstep.

RNZ

Attack

Europe

Man arrested after stabbing at Holocaust memorial

German police have arrested a suspect in the stabbing at Berlin’s Holocaust memorial that seriously injured a man two days before a watershed national election. Berlin’s police department gave no details on the identity of the suspect or his possible motive. ”Our forces have detained a suspect in the vicinity of the crime scene,“ city police posted on X. “Investigations continue.“

Reuters