In this bulletin, Laos' ambassador summoned amid reports of lesser charges in a methanol poisoning case; Democrats accuse Trump of spreading election lies and in football, calls for FIFA to pay tribute to two people shot dead by US immigration officers.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Laos' ambassador summoned amid reports of lesser charges in a methanol poisoning case
- Democrats accuse Trump of spreading election lies
- Calls for FIFA to pay tribute to two people shot dead by US immigration officers
Australia's Special Envoy Pablo Kang is on his way to Laos to personally deliver Australia's calls for a thorough and transparent investigation into the deaths of two teens from methanol poisoning.
The country's Ambassador to Australia has also been summoned after reports emerged local authorities would not be laying serious charges over the deaths of Melbourne teens Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles, who were killed along with four others after drinking tainted shots in 2024.
The families say they have been advised by the Department of Foreign Affairs the charges to be brought will only include lesser offences, including operating a business illegally.
Bianca's father, Mark Jones, says the pending charges are entirely unacceptable.
"To anyone of any reasonableness just is not right. There is people out there who are perpetrators of this who caused our beautiful girls to pass away and the others. So someone needs to pay a reasonable penalty for killing our daughters."
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A parliamentary inquiry has heard testimony from First Nations health workers in Alice Springs who say racism has direct links to poor health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The national inquiry is examining the nature, prevalence and impact of racism, hate and violence towards First Nations people, including trends over time.
General Manager of Clinical Services at the Central Australian Aboriginal Congress, Leshay Chong, says stereotypes which characterise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as violent, incapable or a burden on society cause significant harm.
"They affect the way Aboriginal people are viewed, treated, and responded to across systems, including health, education, employment, justice, and social services. The impacts of racism are not only social impacts, they are health impacts. Experiencing racism contributes to stress and poorer health ca- outcomes. For Aboriginal people, racism adds another layer to the impacts of colonization, dispossession, intergenerational trauma, and ongoing disadvantage."
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Democrats are accusing Donald Trump of spreading misinformation and confusion, after he used a prime time address to once again raise doubts about the results of past elections.
The US President has also claimed he has records showing thousands of non-citizens on voting rolls, despite multiple studies and investigations showing non-citizens casting ballots in elections is exceedingly rare.
House Administration committee Democrat Joseph Morelle says Trump's claims of voter fraud and foreign interference are an effort to cast doubt on 2026 elections before they happen.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer echoes this position.
"Donald Trump's speech tonight has nothing to do with the 2020 election. It has everything to do with the 2026 elections. He's scared to death that he will lose in 2026, and so he's trying to change the subject, and it's the same tired old lies about the 2020 election that no one has bought for six years, but he's going back to them because he is just so afraid of what's going to happen in 2026."
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Three hundred golden statues of Mozart have been installed at the Mozarteum Foundation in Salzburg to celebrate the composer's 270th birthday.
The statuettes are less than a metre tall.
Mozarteum foundation director, Linus Klumpner, says 100 statues are being held in reserve in case of theft.
"Two were already got stolen within the last few hours. It’s really like that – we already witnessed it yesterday at the very beginning. There was an immediate interaction between the people and the small statues in the Mirabell Gardens. And that’s the beautiful thing , because we consciously want to attract a broader range of visitors, who are not finding their way to the museums, who don’t have the chance to visit the concerts because they might only be here for a day."
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And to sport,
Human Rights Watch says FIFA should stage a minute's silence before the World Cup final for the two people shot dead by US immigration agents this month.
A Colombian man was killed in Maine on Monday [[13 July]], while a Mexican man was killed in Houston last week, both during traffic stops as part of President Donald Trump's immigrant crackdown.
Advocates have raised a number of concerns about other human rights issues during the World Cup including the lack of affordable ticket prices, the exclusion of people with disabilities, and the denial of visas to travel for matches.
Lily Dong Li Rosengard, from the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, says members of the LGBTIQ+ community have also encountered barriers in accessing World Cup games.
"The central test of whether LGBTI people could safely travel, attend matches, work, volunteer, report, gather, protest peacefully, and return home without fear is the central test for this World Cup. And sadly, this has not been the case."
