Queen Elizabeth II has died:
On Thursday, Queen Elizabeth II died peacefully at her Scottish estate. The UK’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss, who was appointed by the Queen on Tuesday, said the monarch was the rock on which modern Britain was built, who had "provided us with the stability and strength that we needed" going on to offer her devotion to the new king. King Charles III, for his part, said the death of his beloved mother was a "moment of great sadness" for him and his family and that her loss would be "deeply felt" around the world. An official state funeral is expected to be held in the next two weeks.
Ukraine retakes territory in Kharkiv region as Russian front crumbles:
Ukrainian forces are seizing areas of previously Russian-held territory in the east in a breakthrough that could be a turning point in the war. Vitaly Ganchev, head of the Russian-backed administration in the Kharkiv region, said on state television that "The enemy is being delayed as much as possible, but several settlements have already come under the control of Ukrainian armed formations." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy later said Kyiv's forces had liberated over 30 settlements in the Kharkiv region so far and that fighting continued in the eastern Donbas region and the south. Such advances have largely been unheard of since Russia abandoned its assault on Kyiv in March, shifting the war mainly into a grind along entrenched front lines. The city is an important target due to connecting several of the main railway lines supplying troops at the front. Western military analysts say the advance could shut the supply lines Moscow has relied on and potentially leave thousands of Russian troops encircled. In the latest reported strike on civilians, Ukrainian officials said Russia had fired across the border, hitting a hospital in the northeastern Sumy region on Friday morning, though Russia denies targeting civilians. The Ukrainians broke through in the east a week after Kyiv announced the start of a long-awaited counter-offensive hundreds of kilometers away at the other end of the front line, in the southern province of Kherson. Ukrainian officials said Russia moved thousands of troops south to respond to the Kherson advance, leaving other parts of the front line exposed. Russia's RIA agency quoted Russian-appointed Kherson authorities as saying some Ukrainian troops were captured and some Polish tanks they were using were destroyed. Ukraine has been using new Western-supplied artillery and rockets to hit Russian rear positions in the south, with the aim of trapping thousands of Russian troops on the west bank of the wide Dnipro River.
Australia sets new climate target in landmark bill:
Australia's Climate Change Bill aims to slash emissions by at least 43% by 2030 (GETTY IMAGES)
Australia, one of the world's biggest emitters per capita, has set a climate target to bring it more in line with other developed countries. The country has long faced demands for a higher goal as well as a ban on new fossil fuel projects in the country, but critics say government plans to reach the target are lacking detail. The former government had angered allies with its short-term emissions reductions target, which was about half what the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says is needed if the world has any chance of limiting warming to 1.5C. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had lauded the Climate Change Bill as an end to a decade of climate policy inaction. The Labor government's climate bill cleared the Senate by 37 votes to 30 after accepting minor amendments by independent David Pocock. The Greens party calls this a "small step" in tackling the climate crisis. Most also want a ban on new coal and gas projects, a necessary step in achieving the climate goal. The current bill could take Australia's carbon emission from 24 tons per person down to 14.
Sources:
Queen Elizabeth II has died - BBC News
Ukraine retakes territory in Kharkiv region as Russian front crumbles | Reuters
Australia sets new climate target in landmark bill - BBC News