Afternoon Update: Zachary Rolfe says racist language rife in NT police; Barnaby Joyce takes a week off; and Gaza death toll to pass 30,000

Zachary Rolfe apologised for his own use of racist language in text messages, which have been revealed in earlier hearings. Photograph: Aaron Bunch/AAP

Good afternoon. The use of racist language is “normalised” in the Northern Territory police, Zachary Rolfe – the former police officer who shot and killed Kumanjayi Walker in 2019 – told an inquest in Alice Springs.

Rolfe apologised for his own use of racist language in text messages, alleging he had been gradually introduced to racist talk at the force. He also claims that an elite squad of NT police gave an annual racist mock award to the member who “behaved most like an Aboriginal”. But he told the inquest he did not believe Aboriginal people were treated differently by the force.

Rolfe was found not guilty of Walker’s murder in 2022.

Top news

Fresh allegations in Beau Lamarre investigation | New South Wales police will allege in court that Sen Const Beau Lamarre made “partial admissions” about the alleged double murder of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies to an acquaintance before he turned himself in to police last week. Police divers were examining dams near Goulburn today as the search for the bodies of the missing Sydney couple continues.

Date set for Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyers to quiz witnesses about alleged rape | Lehrmann’s lawyers will grill witnesses in June as they seek to have allegations he raped a woman in Toowoomba in 2021 dismissed without proceeding to trial. The former Liberal staffer is facing two charges of rape relating to an incident in Toowoomba in October 2021. The 28-year-old, who is on bail, is yet to enter a plea although his legal team have indicated he will deny the allegations.

Barnaby Joyce takes a week off | Joyce will take the week off from parliament after being filmed lying on a Canberra pavement earlier this month in an incident he described as a “big mistake”.

Andrew Forrest derides nuclear energy ideas | The mining billionaire has savaged the Coalition’s nuclear energy push, saying “these misinformed, unscientific, uneconomic, plucked-out-of-thin-air bulldust of nuclear policies of politicians masquerading as leaders helps no-one”.

Australian tourist missing in Zimbabwe park | The 67-year-old tourist went missing in Zimbabwe’s Victoria Falls national park, home to one of the world’s natural wonders, on Friday. Zimbabwe’s national parks authority says a team, including police, sniffer dogs and drones, have been sent to search for the tourist.

Gaza death toll set to pass 30,000 | The death toll in Gaza is likely to pass the grim milestone of 30,000 this week, as negotiators try to pin down a ceasefire and hostage-release deal, and the Israeli government presses ahead with plans for an attack on Rafah. Meanwhile, a man identified as a US air force member was left in a critical condition after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington DC. A video posted online showed a man in a uniform shouting “Free Palestine” as he burned. In Australia, Labor and the Coalition joined forces to vote down a Greens Senate motion calling for the “Australian government to end its support for the state of Israel’s invasion of Gaza”.

Houthi attacks raising costs for UK retailers | More than half of UK retailers and exporters have been affected by the disruption to Red Sea trade from Houthi rebel attacks on cargo ships, research by a leading business lobby group suggests. The price of shipping a container from Asia to Europe has gone up by as much as 300% for some businesses, while logistical delays have added up to three to four weeks to delivery times.

Church massacre in Burkina Faso | At least 15 people have been killed and two others injured in a “terrorist” attack on a Catholic church during Sunday mass in Burkina Faso, a senior church official has said. Burkina Faso is part of the vast Sahel region, which has been locked in a battle against rising violent extremism since Libya’s civil war in 2011.

Full Story

‘Genocide isn’t a crime that grows old’: a special Guardian Australia/Four Corners investigation

Thirty years after one of the worst atrocities of the 20th century, Guardian reporter Ben Doherty travels to Rwanda to investigate claims by Rwandan authorities that two men they believe are living in Australia allegedly participated in genocide. In this special episode of Full Story, we hear what was discovered in this year-long joint investigation from Four Corners and Guardian Australia. Listen to this 38-minute episode.

What they said …

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“Pork barrelling is happening right now during the Dunkley byelection, and before long the government and the opposition will be campaigning for the next federal election. We need these simple and reasonable reforms now to help rebuild public trust in government spending and to ensure public money is invested wisely and effectively.” – Helen Haines, independent MP

The MP for Indi introduced a bill today to outlaw pork barrelling, saying she was “throwing down the gauntlet to the government”.

In numbers

That’s according to the Lowy Institute’s 2024 Global Diplomacy Index.

Before bed read

A man now living as a driving instructor in Brisbane is alleged by Rwandan authorities to have taken part in the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Survivors are seeking answers while he has described allegations against him as “false” and part of a “smear campaign”. Others in the divided Rwandan diaspora have said the allegations are politically motivated. Rwanda’s National Public Prosecution Authority has sent an indictment – which the Guardian/Four Corners has not seen – to the Australian government and says it is seeking his extradition or prosecution in Australia.

“The Guardian/Four Corners do not suggest the man is guilty, only that these serious allegations deserve further investigation by an appropriate authority.” Read the investigation.

Daily word game

Today’s starter word is: ROTE. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.

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