Good morning. It’s Friday 3rd June, and here’s a round up of the latest news.
Queen Elizabeth marks 70 years on the throne
Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of London to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee.
Crowds lined the Mall as the Trooping the Colour got underway to mark her record-breaking 70 years on the throne.
She has reigned for longer than any of her predecessors.
The Queen appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace during a military parade.
Senior members of the royal family including Prince Charles, William and Kate arrived on horseback or in open carriages to huge cheers.
London resident Carly Martin was among those who turned out to celebrate the occasion.
“We’ve basically come to make memories. It’s only going to happen once, you’re never going to see this again in your lifetime, at least not in mine maybe not even in my daughter’s,” she said.
“Why not, it’s on my doorstep. It would be stupid not to come and appreciate the Queen, 70 years it is all I have ever known.”
Buckingham Palace has released a statement saying the Queen will not attend a jubilee service at St Paul’s Cathedral after experiencing some discomfort while watching the parade.
Australia joins Platinum Jubilee celebrations
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth, as Platinum Jubilee commemorations begin around the world.
Mr Albanese said the monarch was a show of stability throughout her many decades on the throne.
He sais his own birth was “somewhat potentially delayed” because on the way to the hospital his mother insisted on seeing the tribute to the Queen during her second visit to Australia in 1967.
Mr Albanese lit a beacon in the Queen’s honour at Regatta Point in Canberra.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese lights the beacon for celebrations of Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee in Canberra, 2 June 2022. Source: AAP / MICK TSIKAS
“Australians hold Queen Elizabeth in respect and affection, even as the bond between our nations is no longer what it was at the dawn of her reign,” he said.
“No longer parent and young upstart. We stand as equals, more importantly, we stand as friends.
“The Queen has been a good friend to Australia, in joyous moments like this one and through our darkest days of trouble and trial.”
Foreign minister heads to Tonga
Foreign Minister Penny Wong is heading to Tonga, after visiting Samoa, where she met with the country’s prime minister.
Senator Wong voiced her support for Samoa’s decision to defer consideration of a regional security agreement with China.
Samoan Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa said it was a misrepresentation that they had signed onto a proposal from the Chinese government.
She said the signings that took place in the country last week were bilateral programs that started a number of years ago.
“It was a formalising process, which is a normal process,” she said.
“It just seemed a bit abnormal because the minister of foreign affairs was here and there was this particular proposal from the Chinese, that they were seeking regional agreement on.
“So our decision was that you cannot have a regional agreement when the region hasn’t met to discuss it.”
Communications could be limited during Senator Wong’s visit to Tonga due to a ruptured undersea cable that was damaged during the explosion of an underwater volcano.
Concerns mount for Cheng Lei’s welfare
The Australian partner of a journalist who has been detained in China for nearly two years said she is being denied the chance to speak with her family and consular staff, and her health is declining due to a poor prison diet.
Journalist Cheng Lei, who was born in China and has Australian citizenship, was first detained in August 2020 on suspicion of sharing state secrets.
She was tried in Beijing in March, but Australian diplomats weren’t allowed inside the courtroom.
Australian journalist Cheng Lei at the Web Summit in Lisbon, Portugal in 2019. Source: Getty
Ms Cheng’s partner, Nick Coyle, said consular meetings have been suspended indefinitely, apparently due to China’s tough coronavirus restrictions.
“I find that just totally unacceptable. I mean these monthly consular visits have literally been what’s kept her going for 20 months,” he told Sky News.
“She’s been able to make no phone calls with anybody, she’s had what maybe three visits from her lawyer to prepare just for the trial, she’s had not one phone call with family, with her children.”
Russia occupying almost 20 per cent of Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russia now occupies nearly 20 per cent of his country’s territory.
Mr Zelenskyy said Ukraine needs to defend itself against almost the entire Russian army.
He said Kyiv is grateful for the military said it has recently received but added that “weapons supplies should be stepped up” even further.
“As of now, nearly 20 per cent of our territory is under the control of occupiers – almost 125,000 square km. It is more that the territory of Benelux countries altogether,” he said.
“Nearly 300,000 square km are polluted with mines, unexploded ordnance. Nearly 12 million Ukrainians became internally displaced people, including more than five million – mainly women and children – who went abroad.”
It comes as Russia has accused the United States of adding ‘fuel to the fire’ after President Joe Biden announced a $971 million weapons package for Kyiv that would include advanced rocket systems with a range of up to 80 kilometres.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Ukraine had promised it would not use the systems to hit targets inside Russia.
Mr Biden hopes extending Ukraine’s artillery reach will help push Russia to negotiate an end to a war in which thousands of people have been killed, cities and towns flattened and more than six million people forced to flee the country.
