Welcome, readers, to Afternoon Update.
The Washington DC national guard will begin deploying on the city’s streets, a day after Donald Trump ordered their arrival and took control of the city’s police force, calling Washington DC a “lawless” city despite official crime statistics saying otherwise.
Defence officials said a small number of the roughly 800 guard members planned for the mission had already been mobilised, with more expected to arrive in the coming days.
About 850 officers and agents took part in a “massive law enforcement surge” across Washington DC on Monday night and made nearly two dozen arrests, the White House has said. The violent crime rate in the city is at a 30-year low.
Top news
Man faces court after pregnant woman and partner found dead in Melbourne’s south-east
Police gun ‘unintentionally discharged’ during arrest of man at Sydney airport
Commonwealth Bank posts record $10.25bn profit and reveals plan to clamp down on coal lending
Use of AI could worsen racism and sexism in Australia, human rights commissioner warns
In pictures
“Small and deceptively cute, but definitely not harmless” is how scientists have described a new species of ancient whale, from a 25-million-year-old fossil found on Victoria’s surf coast. This early species, called Janjucetus dullardi, was an extremely unusual animal, said Dr Erich Fitzgerald, senior curator of vertebrate palaeontology at Museums Victoria Research Institute.
What they said …
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“I think Netanyahu has gone way too far. I think he has lost the plot.” – Christopher Luxon
The New Zealand prime minister spoke about his Israeli counterpart on Wednesday, saying what was happening in Gaza was “utterly, utterly appalling”. A day earlier, MP Chlöe Swarbrick was ordered to leave the New Zealand parliament during a heated debate that was called after the centre-right government said it was weighing up its position on whether to recognise a Palestinian state.
Full Story
Will Trump and Putin decide the future of Ukraine?
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will meet on Friday in Alaska for a high-stakes summit on the Ukraine war. But the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, will not be there, and European leaders fear damaging concessions could be made without Ukraine at the table.
Our global affairs correspondent, Andrew Roth, speaks to Reged Ahmad about whether this meeting between two strongmen could end the war in Ukraine.
Before bed read
Do you want to know who might be starring, cameoing or in some way appearing in the upcoming sequel to The Devil Wears Prada? Well, you might not have a choice. Ever since filming on the Anne Hathaway/Meryl Streep reunion commenced in New York a few weeks ago, set photos and accompanying news items have become plentiful. Jesse Hassenger poses the question: is the Hollywood hype machine starting too early?
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: ICY. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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