TRANSCRIPT
- At least 16 people have died in a bus accident in Mexico
- Donald Trump denies sharing confidential information with an Australian billionaire
- Max Verstappen takes pole position at the Qatar Grand Prix
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At least 18 migrants, mostly from Venezuela and Haiti, died early Friday in a bus crash in southern Mexico.
Mexico's National Immigration Institute says the dead include two women and three children, and that 29 people were injured.
Conflicting reports among Mexican authorities assert the death toll is 16 and some victims were hailing from Peru.
The bus rolled over onto its side on a curvy section of highway, and the cause of the crash is under investigation.
State police say a total of 55 migrants were aboard the vehicle.
It was the latest in a series of migrant deaths in Mexico amid a surge in migrants travelling toward the US border.
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Former US President Donald Trump says reports he disclosed secret information regarding American submarines are false, but he will always encourage countries such as Australia to purchase American weaponry.
A report this week suggested the former president told Australian billionaire Anthony Pratt confidential information about US nuclear submarines during a meeting at Mr Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, of which Mr Pratt is reportedly a member.
American media reported Donald Trump told Mr Pratt sensitive information in April 2021, including how many warheads the subs routinely carry and how close they can get to a Russian submarine without being detected.
Mr Trump is currently being investigated for allegedly hoarding classified documents after leaving office.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump labelled the report "false and ridiculous".
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Both sides of the referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament campaign are making their final appeals on the last weekend before Australians head to the polls.
A week out from the referendum, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese outlined what Australians could do to help their Indigenous counterparts, who suffer from higher mortality rates and worse education outcomes.
Australians are being asked whether they want to put an Indigenous advisory body called the voice into the constitution.
It would be a permanent body but hold no veto right and the parliament will have the power to change the model and how it functions through legislation.
Mr Albanese asks voters to give indigenous Australians what he calls the "opportunity to achieve the better future that they seek".
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Leaders of the European Union met yesterday to discuss how to handle migration.
EU leaders published a joint declaration issued following an informal summit in Granada, in Spain, whose government currently holds the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.
Spanish acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez praised the agreement reached on Wednesday by a majority of the EU’s interior ministers that unlocked a draft of a new overarching migration pact to be presented to the European Parliament.
Another topic of the Granada summit was enlargement of the European Union.
Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, says the Union must show exemplary conduct in order to welcome new members.
"What is essential in my opinion is to identify which is our responsibility, the 27 of us, to be in order, to prepare on one hand (for further EU expansion). It is essential to be clear with member states on what they must do to be ready. And what is in my opinion important is to stop procrastinating. What is important in my opinion in the current context of war unleashed by Russia against Ukraine is that we must show to those who want to join us that we are serious."
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Imprisoned Iranian women's rights advocate Narges Mohammadi won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday in a rebuke to Tehran's theocratic leaders and a boost for anti-government protesters.
The award-making committee says the prize honoured those behind recent unprecedented demonstrations in Iran and called for the release of 51 year-old Ms Mohammadi who has campaigned for three decades for women's rights and abolition of the death penalty.
Farhan Haq, the Deputy Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, said the prize was a reminder of the importance of women's struggles.
“The Secretary-General said that today’s Nobel Peace Prize, awarded to Narges Mohammadi, is an important reminder that the rights of women and girls are facing a strong pushback, including through the persecution of women human rights defenders, in Iran and elsewhere. This Nobel Peace Prize is a tribute to all those women who are fighting for their rights at the risk of their freedom, their health and even their lives."
Ms Mohammadi is serving multiple sentences in Tehran's Evin Prison amounting to about 12 years imprisonment.
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And to sports, in Formula One, Max Verstappen took pole position for what could be a Qatar Grand Prix title parade tomorrow.
The Dutch 26-year-old Red Bull driver needs only three points to wrap up the championship and can score them if he finishes sixth or higher in a standalone sprint today.
So relaxed and confident was the Dutchman of his time that he did just the one lap in the final phase and still ended up 0.441 faster than Mercedes' George Russell, who will start alongside on the front row.
If the qualifying session lacked some of the usual tension due to the sprint format, it introduced an element of chaos with a string of laps deleted for exceeding track limits and drivers heading to see the stewards for other potential breaches.
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton commented on his own performance:
"This is great for the team, firstly, to to be on the first two rows, second and third I think is great for the team. Difficult at the beginning of the session but yeah tricky conditions out there with the wind but yeah, ultimately it was a pretty average session for me."
