What we learned today, Sunday 15 June
This is where we’ll leave the blog today. We’ll be back with more live news for you tomorrow morning. In the meantime, here were the top stories from today so far:
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, described the situation in Iran and Israel as “perilous” and “risky” and told Australians in the region to shelter in place. Wong spoke on Insiders this morning, as both nations launched more military strikes.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said he didn’t expect Australia to have any military role in the growing Middle East conflict. During a visit to Seattle on his way to the G7 summit in Canada on Monday, Albanese said officials were monitoring the situation but there had been no request for defence involvement.
In more G7-related news, Albanese also managed to shore up a meeting with the US president, Donald Trump. They’ll catch up on the sidelines of the summit in Canada on Tuesday. Tariffs are top of the agenda, but the Aukus deal is now looking shaky so that is likely to feature as well.
Updated
Second boy charged over ‘unprovoked’ stabbing and assault
A second boy has been charged over a violent assault and “unprovoked” stabbing that left a 70-year-old good Samaritan and a 16-year-old boy seriously injured, AAP reports.
The 70-year-old man was set upon by two teenagers at a chemist in Melbourne’s south-east after he intervened when they tried to leave with stolen items on Friday evening.
The Dandenong North man suffered serious upper body injuries in the altercation and was taken to hospital.
Police say the youths then approached a 16-year-old teenager waiting at a bus stop in nearby Dingley Village about two hours later and allegedly stabbed the boy in an “unprovoked attack” and assaulted him as he tried to escape.
The boy was taken to the Alfred hospital with serious lower body injuries and remains in a stable condition.
Officers arrested a 16-year-old boy who handed himself in on Saturday and charged him with armed robbery, two counts of intentionally causing injury and theft from a shop, theft and common law assault.
He will face a children’s court on Sunday.
The teen’s 19-year-old alleged accomplice was arrested at a Bonbeach home and taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries sustained from one of the incidents and expected to be interviewed once released.
Victoria police say they seized a record number of knives following a series of high-profile stabbings and a shopping centre fight that prompted the state government to fast-track a proposed ban on the sale of machetes.
Updated
