What you need to know
Thank you for following our rolling coverage of breaking news from Australia and around the world.
Here are the top headlines:
- Three Islamic State-linked women have been arrested by police after arriving back in Australia last night. One has been charged with membership of a terrorist organisation while the others are expected to be charged with slavery-related offences.
- The US is awaiting a response from Tehran on the latest peace proposal to end the war.
- Pope Leo and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met at the Vatican, where they “renewed the shared commitment to fostering good bilateral relations,” the Vatican said in a statement.
- Major supermarkets and retailers which host Ecobatt battery collection bins are seeking answers after an investigation by this masthead revealed that Ecocycle is facing allegations of “systemic and routine” malpractice and has been evading the audits that would shed light on its recycling practices.
Rubio meets with Pope Leo at the Vatican
Pope Leo and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio jointly committed at a meeting on Thursday to improving relations between the Vatican and Washington, at a time when President Donald Trump has repeatedly attacked the pontiff.
Leo and Rubio “renewed the shared commitment to fostering good bilateral relations,” the Vatican said in a statement after the first meeting between the pope and a Trump cabinet official in nearly a year, amid an atmosphere of tension with Washington.
Leo, the first US pope, drew Trump’s ire after becoming a firm critic of the US-Israeli war on Iran and the Trump administration’s hardline anti-immigration policies.
Rubio’s meeting with Leo is a sign of a “strong” relationship between the Vatican and the US, State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said. Rubio spent two-and-a-half hours at the Vatican before driving away in a convoy under tight security. He also met with senior Vatican officials, including top diplomat Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin.
Three ‘ISIS brides’ arrested after returning to Australia
Three Islamic State-linked women have been arrested by police after arriving back in Australia, where one has been charged with membership of a terrorist organisation while the others are expected to be charged with slavery-related offences.
Amid political rancour about whether they should have been allowed to travel to the country, four women and nine children arrived in Sydney and Melbourne on Thursday evening and were greeted by police at the airport.
Grandmother Kawsar Abbas, 54, and 31-year-old daughter Zeinab were taken into police custody after arriving at Melbourne Airport in a family group of 11 people.
Janai Safar, 32, who returned to Sydney with her nine-year-old son, was arrested after police boarded the plane. She was taken to Mascot Police Station, where she was charged with entering a prohibited area and being a member of a terrorist organisation, with both offences carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years. She will appear before Downing Centre Local Court on Friday.
What you need to know
Thank you for following our rolling coverage of breaking news from Australia and around the world.
Here are the top headlines:
- Three Islamic State-linked women have been arrested by police after arriving back in Australia last night. One has been charged with membership of a terrorist organisation while the others are expected to be charged with slavery-related offences.
- The US is awaiting a response from Tehran on the latest peace proposal to end the war.
- Pope Leo and US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met at the Vatican, where they “renewed the shared commitment to fostering good bilateral relations,” the Vatican said in a statement.
- Major supermarkets and retailers which host Ecobatt battery collection bins are seeking answers after an investigation by this masthead revealed that Ecocycle is facing allegations of “systemic and routine” malpractice and has been evading the audits that would shed light on its recycling practices.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
