Welcome, readers, to Afternoon Update.
Today marked the final day of hearings into the 2022 Wieambilla massacre, with the Queensland coroner, Terry Ryan, hearing emotional statements on behalf of the families of the victims. Ryan is scheduled to hand down his findings at a later date.
Judy McCrow, the mother of slain police constable Rachel McCrow, has told the hearings that her daughter’s last message to them was “I love you, I love you, I love you”, shortly before she was shot dead.
Many of those to give statements called for immediate reform to prevent a similar incident happening again. The mother of Const Matthew Arnold, 26, the first killed in the shooting, said the 16-day inquest “has revealed the critical operational failings that could have prevented this tragedy”.
Officers McCrow and Arnold and civilian Alan Dare were murdered by three conspiracy theorists on the afternoon of 12 December 2022 in an ambush.
Top news
Albanese caught on camera joking over Pacific funding | The Australian PM was caught on camera in Tonga joking with a US official about going “halvies” on the cost of a newly announced Pacific policing plan. Anthony Albanese has since urged journalists to “chill out” over the “private conversation”.
Body found at NSW beach identified | Police have launched a homicide investigation into the death of Wendy Hansen, whose remains were found in dunes at a beach near Coffs Harbour, hundreds of kilometres away from where she was last spotted.
Qantas profit down 16% | Qantas Airways has posted a $2.1bn annual underlying profit amid a surge in demand for budget Jetstar fares and mounting public anger at its service and ticket policies. Jetstar recorded a 23% increase in earnings, from $404m to $497m.
Greece tourist port flooded with hundreds of thousands of dead fish | The floating carcasses created a silvery blanket across the port of Volos and a stench that alarmed residents and authorities, who raced to scoop them up before the odour reached nearby restaurants and hotels.
Houthis to allow access to stricken tanker amid fears of oil spill | Yemen’s Houthi group has agreed to allow access to a damaged crude oil tanker in the Red Sea, after the militants attacked the Greek-flagged vessel last week. Any spill has the potential to be among the largest from a ship in recorded history.
Japan prepares for ‘major disaster’ as storm makes landfall | Japan’s strongest typhoon of the year, Typhoon Shanshan, made landfall at about 8am local time, bringing torrential rain and winds of up to 252km/h, strong enough to destroy homes – and with more than 250,000 houses already without electricity.
Australians on day one of the Paralympic Games in Paris | The wait is over for 160 Australian para athletes set to compete across 17 of the 22 sports at the 2024 Paralympic Games as the action gets under way. Marvel at the official opening ceremony here.
Latrell Mitchell hit with huge fine over white-powder photo | Mitchell will pay $20,000 in NRL-imposed fines and $20,000 upfront to the Rabbitohs, with Souths to trigger an additional $80,000 in fines if their star player reoffends.
Ludacris sparks alarm by drinking unfiltered glacier water | Video of the rapper turned actor tasting the glacial water caused concern with some warning it might be contaminated with a parasite. An expert on glaciers from the University of Alaska said the online brouhaha “was ludicrous”.
In pictures
Young wildlife photographer of the year preview
Selected from almost 60,000 entries from 117 countries and territories, the 100 winning images will be on display at the Natural History Museum in London.
What they said …
***
“I am not big enough to make that happen.”
Senator Jacqui Lambie’s quest to get “ordinary people” into politics at state level is over, after her party imploded in Tasmania five months after an election.
In numbers
Warm weather and extremely windy conditions led to a spate of calls to emergency services around Australia, with Fire and Rescue NSW receiving almost 1,000 calls to triple zero. Severe weather warnings remain in place across southern parts of the country.
Before bed read
Unemployment is rising and Australia’s economy is weak – but don’t hit the recession alarm just yet
Are we headed for a recession? The answer is complex – although for young people it already feels like one, writes Greg Jericho.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: CHA. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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