Daily News Roundup

TUESDAY,  OCTOBER 30

The US military will deploy more than 5,200 troops, including armed soldiers, to bolster President Donald Trump’s efforts to secure the border with Mexico as a caravan of migrants treks toward the frontier, a senior US general said.

Then ABC reports General Terrence O’Shaughnessy, the head of US Northern Command, said 800 US troops were already en route to the Texas border and 5,200 would be headed to the south-west region by the week’s end, far higher than the 800 to 1,000 initially forecast.

“That is just the start of this operation. We will continue to adjust the number and inform you of those,” General O’Shaughnessy said.

“But please know that is in addition to the 2,092 that are already employed from our National Guard troops.”

The Pentagon previously declined to comment on potential troop numbers, saying that planning was still under way for a mission that risked drawing the US military into a politically charged operation just days ahead of the November 6 mid-term congressional elections.

Mr Trump, who has seized upon the Central American migrant caravan in campaign rallies ahead of the vote, said on Twitter that the military would be waiting for the procession — suggesting a far more direct role in confronting the migrants than US defence officials have previously suggested.

“Many Gang Members and some very bad people are mixed into the Caravan heading to our Southern Border,” Mr Trump tweeted.

“Please go back, you will not be admitted into the United States unless you go through the legal process.

“This is an invasion of our Country and our Military is waiting for you!”

A caravan of mostly Hondurans, estimated to number between 3,500 and 7,000, who left their country in mid-October are now in southern Mexico. Since then, two more caravans of migrants have set off.

Some migrants have abandoned the journey, deterred by the hardships or the possibility instead of making a new life in Mexico. Others joined it in southern Mexico.

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A miserable word has helped put a smile on the face of a wordsmith as he won his fourth World Scrabble Championship title.

As Scrabble fans marked 70 years of the world-famous board game, New Zealander Nigel Richards, 51, clinched victory when he played the word “groutier” to win the title, reports the ABC and Reuter.

The crucial word, which means “grouty” and can be defined as cross, sulky or sullen, scored 68 points, allowing Richards to win by 575 points to 452 over Californian Jesse Day.

After his win at the championships held at at Westfield, London, Richards said: “I am absolutely thrilled to have won two World championships this year, including French and English.

“It was a closely fought championship and Jesse was a very impressive opponent to play.”

The words “zonular”, which was worth 100 points and means “like a zone”, and “phenolic”, which scored 84 points and means “a synthetic resin”, were among the highest-scoring words in the final. Both were played by Richards.

Day played the other highest-scoring word when he used “maledict”, meaning “utter a curse against”, to score 95 points.

Malaysia-based Richards began playing Scrabble in 1995. He won his three previous World Scrabble Championship titles in 2007, 2011 and 2013, and also won the French World Championship in 2015.

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Two Victorian police officers have garnered worldwide attention after wading into the ocean to rescue a drowning kangaroo.

Vision of the rescue at Safety Beach on the Mornington Peninsula on Saturday afternoon was shared widely on social media and picked up by news outlets across the globe.

The kangaroo  eventually recovered under the watch of a wildlife expert, reports the ABC and AAP.

However, one of the rescuers, Senior Sergeant Kirby Tonkins, wasn’t pleased with all aspects of his new-found fame.

“I’m the one without a shirt on, and the footage isn’t very kind, I must say,” he told Channel Nine.

The marsupial got in the ocean about 5:00pm on Saturday before it came back to land where a bystander covered it in a blanket.

However, it hopped back into the surf and got into trouble in the swell, going under the waves numerous times.

Senior Sergeant Tonkins and Senior Sergeant Chris Russo then ran into the water to rescue the animal.

Senior Sergeant Russo said they managed to revive the unconscious marsupial once they got it to shore.

“He had less than a minute. He went under and as he came up you could see foam coming out of his nose, he was drowning,” he told News Corp.

After the officers resuscitated it, they wrapped it in a blanket and took it to the station to be checked by an expert.

While Victorian police said the kangaroo eventually recovered well, Michelle Thomas from the Animal Wildlife Shelter said the animal was worse for wear immediately after the incident.

“He was very cold, he was still a bit wet and a bit disorientated, so he really didn’t give me too much of a fight,” she told Channel Nine.

 

This daily news roundup is curated with stories from ABC News.