1. Australian police to arrive at MH17 crash site this weekend
Australian police are set to arrive at the MH17 crash site in Eastern Ukraine this weekend. The police will be accompanied by Australian soldiers, Prime Minister Tony Abbott confirmed at a press conference late on Friday.
A ceasefire in a 40km radius around the site has been negotiated between the Ukrainian military and the rebels, to allow the investigation to occur.
The Prime Minister stressed that the mission, which hopes to secure the site from rebels and looters as well as gather forensic information, is strictly humanitarian. “All we want to do is claim our dead and bring them home,” he said.
Australia, in consultation with the US and the Netherlands, will decide whether to engage in a global military operation to the MH17 crash site in Ukraine this weekend.
2. French soldiers secure black box from Air Algerie crash
French soldiers have secured the black box from the Air Algerie crash in Mali on Thursday. French President Francois Hollande told reporters that one of the two black boxes on the plan had been located.
All 116 passengers on board the flight died when it crashed in Mali, near the Burkina Faso border. Over half of the passengers were French.
It is currently unclear as to whether the crash was caused by some sort of foul play or terrorism, or just by the bad weather in the region, although officials are leaning towards the latter.
3. First Australian bishop charged with child sex offence appears in court
The first Australian Catholic bishop to be charged with a child sex offence has appeared in court. Bishop Max Davis appeared in Perth Magistrates Court yesterday to face allegations that he indecently assaulted a 13-year-old boy while teaching at St Benedict’s College New Norcia in 1969. Davis denies the charges.
Bishop Davis is currently the head of the Catholic Diocese of the Australian Defence Force, a non-geographical diocese which provides services to the Australian army, air force and navy. However, Davis was not an ordained priest when the alleged assaults occurred.
Top Comments
An ANU academic has weighed into the Jihadist debate; unlike in the UK, Islamic leaders in Australia are "deafeningly silent" on the matter.
http://news.anu.edu.au/2014...
The media silence about ISIS' recent actions in wiping out an entire culture in the city of Mosul is deafening.
Non-Muslims have been ordered to
A) pay a large (affordable) fine
B) Convert
C) Die
Thousands are fleeing instead. Many have already been raped and murdered. All this over the last few days and largely no mention in the media. Mamamia, can you PLEASE write an article about this?
#standwithIraq
Whoops, I meant unaffordable for the fine.
Yep - the slaughter of Christians in northern Africa and the Middle East is chilling. We really aren't hearing much about it.