Daily News Roundup

THURSDAY, JUNE 6

Australian Federal Police officers spent more than eight hours raiding the ABC’s Sydney headquarters yesterday, leaving with two USB sticks holding an unknown number of electronic files just after 8:00pm.

The raids were over a series of stories in 2017 called the Afghan Files that revealed allegations of unlawful killings and misconduct by Australian special forces in Afghanistan.

AFP technicians password-protected the files before they were removed and police will be unable to access them until a review period is over.

The ABC’s lawyers have two weeks to analyse the documents to determine any privilege claims and assess whether they will challenge the terms of the search warrant.

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Queen Elizabeth has reminisced that when she attended the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings in occupied France 15 years ago that many people thought it would be the last anniversary involving veterans.

“But the wartime generation, my generation, is resilient and I’m delighted to be with you in Portsmouth today,” said the Queen at 75th anniversary celebration in Portsmouth attended by about 300 veterans, all in their 90s.

Her Majesty recalled her father, King George VI, saying before the invasion that “what is demanded from us all is something more than courage and endurance; we need a revival of spirit, a new unconquerable resolve”.

“That is exactly what those brave men brought to the battle, as the fate of the world depended on their success,” said the Queen.

“Many of them would never return, and the heroism, courage and sacrifice of those who lost their lives will never be forgotten.

‘It is with humility and pleasure, on behalf of the entire country – indeed the whole free world – that I say to you all, thank you.”

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Prince Charles, British Prime Minister Theresa May, US President Donald Trump, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attended the event.

About 300 World War II veterans and 700 other people including active servicemen and women were also there.

D-Day, officially known as Operation Overlord, began when the Allies launched an aerial bombardment on the German lines in Normandy before dropping 18,000 troops there on the night of June 5, 1944, to prepare the way for the seaborne invasion of occupied France.

The following day Operation Neptune succeeded in landing 132,000 ground troops on the beaches.

About 3000 Australians, including 2500 airmen and 500 Navy sailors took part in the operation.

Fourteen Australians were killed including two Navy sailors and 12 airmen.

Royal Australian Navy Lieutenant Commander Scott Roberts made a reading at the service.

“We look with confidence to the day when all peoples may live with free lives, untouched by tyranny, and according to their varying desires and consciences,” he said.

“We came here in hope and determination. We leave here friends in fact, in spirit and in purpose.”

Twenty different aircraft overflew the service including a WWII-era Spitfire, a Hawker Hurricane, a Sentinal R1 reconnaissance aircraft and the RAF’s nine member aerobatic team the Red Arrows, who fly Hawk T.1s.

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Police divers have joined the search for a toddler who disappeared on a cattle station in remote Far North Queensland two days ago.

A major search using police, SES and Indigenous rangers yesterday found no sign of him

Two-year-old Ruben Scott was playing with a puppy in the garage before he went missing from the homestead on Koolatah Station, about 100 kilometres east of Kowanyama in Cape York, late on Tuesday afternoon.

Police and SES crews arrived from Cairns yesterday to scour the area for the boy but failed to find any sign of him.

Mustering helicopters, ringers from nearby stations, aerial drones and Indigenous rangers from Kowanyama were also involved in the search.

With the station backing onto a lagoon and the Mitchell River, police divers are also being flown in to the area today to search the waterways where crocodiles are known to habitate.

“It’s always a concern in any search, but especially with a young one involved.”

He said another six SES personnel were travelling to the search area today.

“We hear the mum is very distraught and out there all the time, encouraging searchers,” he said.

“Lots of people and lots of resources covered the primary area, which is 2 kilometres around from where he was last seen, but it was definitely expanded out from that as well with no result.

“The conditions are obviously good for searching. They’re probably not fantastic for the young child, especially overnight with the cooler temperatures.”

Ruben’s mother Natasha Scott took to Facebook to thank everyone, saying that she had “every person that can help, helping to find him”.

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For someone who claims he abhors “fake news”, US President Donald Trump is quite happy to spread it when it involves his alleged popularity.

He was at it again during his UK visit when despite clear evidence to the contrary, he said the crowds gathered in London were in support of him, not protesting.

Mr Trump has dismissed protests against his visit to the UK as “organised flops”, saying that the larger crowds were made up of his supporters.

He tweeted: “I kept hearing that there would be ‘massive’ rallies against me in the UK, but it was quite the opposite.

“The big crowds, which the Corrupt Media hates to show, were those that gathered in support of the USA and me.

“They were big & enthusiastic as opposed to the organized flops!”

According to The Trump Babysitters group, tens of thousands of protesters were involved in demonstrations against the president on Tuesday – fewer than an estimated 250,000 who gathered when the US leader visited the UK on July 13 last year – while a Trump supporter admitted they were “a minority”.

Other protesters gathered in Trafalgar Square before marching to Whitehall, with sellers of toilet paper with Mr Trump’s face printed on it and a five-metre talking robot of Mr Trump sitting on a gold toilet becoming a focal point for onlookers.

Supporters of Mr Trump also took to the streets but in smaller num,bers than those opposed to him..

There were a number of clashes between pro and anti-Trump groups throughout the day.

One Trump supporter was surrounded by an angry group of protesters shouting “Nazi” in Parliament Square, with video footage posted on social media showing a milkshake being thrown at him before a scuffle broke out.

Further protests against Mr Trump are planned in Ireland, where the president flew to yesterday with a a demonstration by the Stop Trump Ireland coalition  planned in Dublin.