Key Points
- China United States leaders to meet in South Korea
- Police find intent in gang-linked murder of Sydney mother
- Billy Dowling and Harry Takis make strong starts in Asia-Pacific Amateur Championships
TRANSCRIPT
A bilateral meeting between the leaders of China and the United States is confirmed, following uncertainty around whether the talks would proceed.
There has been an escalation in trade tensions between the two powers, after China's government dramatically expanded curbs on exports of rare earths minerals.
President Trump quickly threatened to retaliate with tariffs and other measures but has since expressed optimism about reaching a trade deal with China.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says Mr Trump is travelling to Malaysia tonight.
He'll also visit Japan and South Korea, which is where he will meet President Xi on Thursday after addressing the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit.
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A former Australian ambassador to Russia says the only way to stop the war in Ukraine is to force Russia to stop via measures such as sanctions.
US President Donald Trump is targeting Russia's two biggest oil companies with sanctions, prompting global oil prices to rise by nearly five per cent on Thursday and India to consider cutting Russian imports.
Former Australian ambassador to Russia, Peter Tesch, told ABC's Breakfast program that US President Donald Trump needs to apply the same pressure to Russia as he has in the Middle East.
"The United States is the only country that really has sufficient levers to pull, to really demonstrate to Russia that the costs of the war to Russia will only increase. And that requires a certain number of measures - such as the decision to apply sanctions to Russia's major source of war revenue - oil and energy exports. And I think it's very clear that the US is still enabling as it should, Ukraine to conduct strikes against the sources of the threat."
Mr Tesch added that he was concerned by other powers like China and North Korea colluding with Russia.
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Police allege the organised crime gang responsible for the murder of a mother in Sydney's southwest in April, always intended to kidnap and murder the victim.
The body of 45-year-old Thi Kim Tran was found in a burned-out car in Beverly Hills in Sydney's southwest on April 17, while her 8-year-old son was left with injuries after being beaten with a baseball bat.
Investigators allege her husband was involved with an organised crime gang in Melbourne.
The men- aged 20, 21 and 32 - have each been charged with murder and other offences, including to conspire and agree to murder any person.
Detective Superintendent Joe Dewey is Homicide Squad Commander, and said the syndicate attempted to communicate with the husband in an attempt to retrieve their alleged stolen drugs.
"When that failed, they had always planned to attend that victims' residence. We will allege that regardless of what happened it was their intention to attend that address, kidnap the victim and murder her.”
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Legal experts, engineers, public housing residents and others have criticised the Victorian Government's plan to demolish all 44 of Melbourne's Public Housing Towers.
The state government says the towers are not fit for purpose, however *analysis released by architects and engineers argues that retrofitting the towers would be both cheaper and more eco-friendly.
At an event on Thursday night, a public forum made collective calls for the state Labor government to commission and release detailed evaluations of all the tower's structural conditions.
The demolition will lead to the relocation of more than 10,000 residents, with over 60,000 people currently on the priority waitlist for public housing in Victoria.
Speaking to SBS outside the Flemington towers, locals like Fiacre have been protesting the demolition site.
"Ultimately, I think what so many people who are opposed to this want is the government to build public housing and the government to, you know, remain the provider of, you know, social housing, whatever it may be, but that means it has to be public housing, because, yeah, the private sector doing it leads to worse outcomes for tenants.”
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And in golf, rising Aussie golf stars Billy Dowling and Harry Takis have made strong starts in their Asia-Pacific Amatuer Championship title.
Queenslander Dowling was joint-leader after the first round at the Emirates Golf Club's Majlis Course on, shooting a six-under 66 to share the opening-day spoils with 17-year-old Vietnamese prospect Khanh Hung Le and Thailand's Fifa Laopakdee.
Australia's number one-ranked amateur Takis was just a shot behind among four players who fired 67s on the celebrated course.
Dowling is well-placed to follow in the footsteps of fellow Australian winners of the Asia-Pacific, with any victory booking him a spot at the Augusta and the British Open in July.
