TRANSCRIPT
- A Stolen Generations survivor says the new redress scheme in Western Australia is an important moment for healing
- Concerns over the new aid model in Gaza
- Australian Chris Harper wins stage 20 of the Giro d'Italia
Stolen Generations survivor Tony Hansen says the newly announced redress scheme in Western Australia is an important celebration of Reconciliation Week's theme this year: Bridging Now to Next - connecting the present with the past.
28 years after the Bringing Them Home report recommended reparations, the Western Australian government this week announced a redress scheme for survivors of the forcible child removal policies that began in the early 1900s and lasted into the 1970s.
Living survivors would be eligible for $85,000 under the scheme, with the distribution of payments to begin later this year.
Mr Hansen has told SBS, this an important moment of healing - and it is important that the scheme is implemented in a culturally appropriate way.
"I was removed in 1970 and released in 1985 - not because I committed a crime but for the colour of my skin. For me, it (this redress scheme) is a celebration. So I really want all Australians to understand this ain't ancient history. This is out shared history. And Australians need to know this. We don't have healing centres. Most of the time, we're meeting on a Friday around a grave site. I think moving forward, we will have an opportunity to have a healing centre."
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The UN World Food Program says nearly 80 aid trucks travelling through southern and central Gaza have been looted by hungry civilians.
The nearly three-month Israeli aid blockade on Gaza has pushed the population of over two million to the brink of famine.
While pressure slightly eased in recent days as Israel allowed some aid to enter, aid organisations say far from enough food is getting in.
A new US-backed plan to distribute aid using military contractors was implemented by Israel this week as the only option for aid distribution in Gaza.
The number of sites have been limited to four, compared to 400 sites spread across Gaza used by the UN.
Sean Carroll is the president of Anera, the biggest US-based non-government aid group.
He told NPR, the organisation has aid trucks waiting at the Gaza border, but access has been blocked by Israel.
"When you have armed personnel manning humanitarian sites, and you have people desperately hungry and in need of aid; and not enough aid to meet the need that's a very volatile combination."
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Alf Clausen, the Emmy-winning composer who composed the music for The Simpsons, has died aged 84.
Over 27 years, he scored the music for more than 550 episodes of the Simpsons using a live 35-piece orchestra.
His daughter Kaarin Clausen says Alf died on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles after struggling with Parkinson's disease for about a decade.
Clausen, who also scored TV series, including Moonlighting and Alf - and was nominated for 30 Emmy Awards, 21 of them for The Simpsons, winning twice.
In a statement, Al Jean, an early Simpsons writer who was one of the key creative figures on the show in the 1990s, says "Clausen was an incredibly talented man who did so much for The Simpsons".
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In cycling, Australian Chris Harper has won the penultimate stage of the Giro d'Italia with the ride of his life.
Harper, a 30-year-old stalwart for Australian team Jayco AlUla, enjoyed his first ever individual grand tour victory with an epic solo effort in the 20th stag, finishing one minute 49 seconds clear of the field.
It is a wondrous moment for Harper, a 12-year pro, as he rode clear of a breakaway near the top of the climb and then held on for his first race victory for nearly six years.
He says he didn't set out to win the stage, but he saw an opportunity to get clear of the breakaway - and he took it.
"The fact that it is such a long hard stage. It's not really about doing massive power anymore. It is just about being able to sustain the effort. And that is something that has always been a bit of strength of mine. And yeah, I think I showed that today. I had an up and down Giro. I started the Giro feeling well, and then had a rough second week. And to be able to turn it around - and finish it on such a positive note - I'm really happy."
British rider Simon Yates has taken the race lead from Mexico's Isaac Del Toro, ahead of him by three minutes and 56 seconds.
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In sports, Paris Saint-Germain fans are celebrating the team's first Champions League title.
The team beat Inter Milan 5-nil in the final to claim their third trophy this season, after earlier winning the Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France.
19-year-old Desire Doue is one of the youngest players to score in a Champions League final - finding the back of the net twice in the game.
Football fan Kevin Jicquel says it is almost too hard to believe it's finally happened.
"It’s the best day of my life. I’ve been waiting for this final for 20 years. We’ve lost so many times, we had superstars all the time and it never worked. Now we have the dream team with a dream director, a dream president, a dream coach."
Paris Saint-Germain Coach, Luis Enrique coached Barcelona to Champions League success in 2015.
He says to achieve this result is a dream come true.
