Russian space agency congratulates SpaceX on launch

Saturday's launch was the first of American astronauts from US soil since the mothballing of the US shuttle programme in 2011 that left Russia's more basic and reliable Soyuz spacecraft solely responsible for transporting crews.

Astronauts since then have all trained at Star City outside Moscow and studied Russian before blasting off from Baikonur launchpad in Kazakhstan.

The Russian space agency has also earned large sums by ferrying astronauts: a seat in the Soyuz costs NASA around $80 million…….

https://www.sbs.com.au/news/russian-space-agency-congratulates-spacex-on-launch

Rosa Louise Park

Rosa Park sitting in her iconic spot at the front of the bus one year after her arrest on December 21 1956. Behind Parks is UPI reporter Nicholas C. Chriss. At the time of this photograph, Montgomery's public transportation system was legally integrated—thanks largely in part to her.

Rosa Parks , née Rosa Louise McCauley, (born February 4, 1913, Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S.—died October 24, 2005, Detroit, Michigan), African American civil rights activist whose refusal to relinquish her seat on a public bus to a white man precipitated the 1955–56 Montgomery bus boycott in Alabama, which is recognized as the spark that ignited the U.S. civil rights movement.

Iran mours death of George Floyd

Iranian people mourn the murder of American-African men, former President Ahmadinejad tweeted and condemned the US government

Crew Dragon Capsule

It's hard to tell from this photo, but the Crew Dragon capsule is 27 feet tall.(SpaceX)

With the commercial space program, NASA hopes to reduce reliance on Russia to transport astronauts, which would be considerably cheaper for the agency as well as kick start a new era in American space travel.

https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/northern-ky/space/2020/05/22/5-things-to-know-about-spacexs-crew-dragon 

Elon Musk becomes a legend in his own lifetime

CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - MAY 30: U.S. President Donald Trump acknowledges SpaceX founder Elon Musk after the successful launch of the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the manned Crew Dragon spacecraft at the Kennedy Space Center on May 30, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Earlier in the day NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley lifted off on the inaugural flight and will be the first people since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011 to be launched into space from the United States. (Photo by Saul Martinez/Getty Images)

Godspeed

Russian Orthodox Church prays for the end of Covid-19

Patriarch Kirill, head of Russia's Orthodox Church, drives the holy icon of the Virgin Mary around the city streets in a procession of cars to pray for the end of the coronavirus outbreak in Moscow, Russia

Picture taken April 3, 2020. (Reuters/Patriarchal Press Service/Oleg Varov)

Patriarch Kirill, the head of Russia's influential Orthodox Church, drove a holy icon around the streets of Moscow in a procession of cars on Friday, as the country fights to halt the spread of the coronavirus.

The icon of the Virgin Mary was driven 109 kilometers in a procession of sleak black cars shown on state television and was brought to a cathedral in Moscow for a service.

https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/04/04/russian-church-leader-tours-moscow-with-holy-icon-to-halt-coronavirus.html

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay

Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay become the first two people to reach the summit of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953 

Hillary waved Norgay on, because it was his country.

On this day exactly 67 years ago, at 11:30AM on May 29, 1953, Edmund Hillary of New Zealand and Tenzing Norgay, a Sherpa of Nepal, become the first explorers to reach the summit of Mount Everest, which at 29,035 feet above sea level is the highest point on earth.

Derek Chauvin’s mugshot

Migratory birds hunted

More than 30 shorebird species that cross oceans each year to visit Australia , including this Far Eastern curlew seen here in in Mai Po marshes in Hong Kong, are being hunted during their migrations. A study that analysed decades of records from 14 countries found that more than 17,000 birds from 16 species were probably being killed at just three areas – Pattani Bay in Thailand, West Java in Indonesia and the Yangtze River delta in China.

Photo: John and Jemi Holmes

Yarra Valley, Melbourne, Victoria

Photo credit: worldtriplocation 

Renison Bell, Tasmania

Photo credit:  theotherwayhome

Rust, Germany

People wearing protective masks enjoy the Blue Fire roller coaster at Europa-Park, Germany's largest theme park, in Rust, on May 29, 2020 during the reopening day after several weeks of lockdown measures taken to curb the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, caused by the novel coronavirus. 

PATRICK HERTZOG, AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

President Trump Holds Press Conference In White House Rose Garden

WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 29: U.S. President Donald Trump is flanked by administration officials while speaking about U.S. relations with China in the Rose Garden at the White House May 29, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump did not take questions regarding the current situation in Minneapolis following the death of George Floyd and todays arrest of Derek Chauvin the former Minneapolis police officer who knelt on Floyd’s neck for an extended time causing him to die. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Wicklow, Ireland

OASIS: Vaughan Yates with children Pearl (6), Bonnie (2) and her twin brother Oli (2) from Ashford enjoying the re-opened Mount Usher Gardens, Ashford, Wicklow. Ireland.

 Photograph: Nick Bradshaw

40 shipping containers lost from tanker off NSW coast

INSPECTOR GADGET: Workers from logistics company Qube inspect toppled containers on board the Singapore-flagged container ship APL England at the Port of Brisbane, Australia. An investigation is under way into the loss of 40 shipping containers from a tanker in heavy seas off the New South Wales coast.

Photograph: Dan Peled/EPA

George Floyd protesters burn Minneapolis Police Station

The governor of the US state of Minnesota activated the National Guard on Thursday to ensure safety and peace amid protests over the death of George Floyd.

Protesters set fire to the entrance of a police station. Officers watched from two blocks away but did not intervene. Fire crews attempted to put out other fires but did not go near the police station.

Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters

Kolkata, India

Workers wearing PPE wait for customers in a salon-cum-beauty parlour after authorities allowed them to open during an extended nationwide lockdown to slow the spreading of coronavirus

Photograph: Rupak de Chowdhuri/Reuters

George Floyd protests in New York

Protesters clash with police during a rally against the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed when a white police officer knelt on his neck. Floyd’s death was captured in a video that went viral

Photograph: Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Dominic Cummings' Hubris

London, UK

Dominic Cummings, the special adviser to Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, leaves his home. Calls for Cummings’ resignation have increased since news broke that he violated lockdown regulations when he and his wife, both suspected of showing Covid-19 symptoms, travelled across the country to self-isolate at a family’s property

Photograph: Will Oliver/EPA

Hong Kong, China

Protesters hold a British National (Overseas) passport and Hong Kong colonial flag in a shopping mall during a protest against China’s national security legislation for the city. The British government says t it will grant hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong residents greater visa rights if China doesn’t scrap a planned new security law for the semi-autonomous territory

Photograph: Kin Cheung/AP

Moscow, Russia

A changing of the honour guard ceremony by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Alexander Garden by the Kremlin Wall

Photograph: Vladimir Gerdo/Tass

Could News Corp Australia die when Rupert does?

Rupert Murdoch established his global empire from a single Adelaide afternoon newspaper he inherited from his father in the 1950s and challenged the establishment by turning around struggling mastheads and taking on massive debt.

But Mr Cox doubts that an ageing Mr Murdoch would sentimentally prop up the company's fading interests in Australia and might be under pressure to concede the local business is unviable.

"That is certainly the case. Rupert Murdoch is now in his mid-80s, he won't last much longer," Mr Cox said……

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-29/news-corp-going-digital-is-the-latest-sign-of-murdoch-struggles/12299350

Uni Student Drew Pavlou suspended for two years

Student activist Drew Paylou, critical of the University of Queensland's links to Chinese Government organisations says he has been suspended by the university for two years for organizing an on- campus pro-Hong Kong rally that turned violent.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-29/drew-pavlou-suspended-university-queensland/12302350

Fortescue and Andrew Forrest lose High Court appeal

The Yindjibarndi people celebrated in Roebourne today after the news was delivered from the High Court. (ABC News: Susan Standen)

Yindjibarndi Aboriginal Corporation's legal representative Tina Jowett said it was a "brilliant outcome" for the traditional owners.

Fortescue Metals Group lost its High Court bid against a native title determination covering one of its iron ore mines.

Andrew Forrest

The company was seeking to contest the exclusive possession rights of the Yindjibarndi people over land in the Pilbara that includes the site of its multi-billion-dollar Solomon mine hub.

She said the Yindjibarndi had "never got a cent" from FMG.

"Having that huge mine built in their land … they deserve to get compensation so they can benefit their community," she said……

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-05-29/fortescue-andrew-forrest-native-title-yac-high-court-decision/12299700

President Trump Signs Social Media Executive Order

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks while holding up a copy of the New York Post newspaper before signing an executive order in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, May 28, 2020. Trump called out a single Twitter employee Thursday in a tweet complaining that the platform's decision to fact check his tweets on mail balloting could "taint" the U.S. election.

Photographer: Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Nairobi, Kenya

Nurses participate in a Zumba aerobic fitness program as a way of helping them to cope with working situations during the coronavirus outbreak within the Infectious Disease Unit grounds of the Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.

Port al-Faw, Iraq

A youth holds up fish. Coronavirus has meant local businesses no longer have to compete with Turkish, Iranian or Chinese imports. Those countries, as well as Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Kuwait, typically flood Iraqi markets with inexpensive products at prices local producers cannot compete with

Photograph: Hussein Faleh/AFP/Getty Images

Johannesburg, South Africa

Newly delivered temporary residential units in Wilgespruit. About 70 families have been living for years in the adjacent tented camp, and have now been relocated in the temporary units in time for winter

Photograph: Marco Longari/AFP/Getty Images

President Xi Jinping casts his historic vote

Reuters / Thursday, May 28, 2020

Chinese President Xi Jinping casts his vote on the national security legislation for Hong Kong Special Administrative Region at the closing session of the National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China.

REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins    

Nantong, China

Trucks drive on the Hutong Yangtze River Bridge during a load test

Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Derek M. Chauvin

George Floyd protest

Reuters / Wednesday, May 27, 2020

A woman holds her inhaler and leans on another person after being sprayed with mace by police officers during a protest near the Minneapolis Police third precinct after a white police officer was caught on a bystander's video pressing his knee into the neck of George Floyd, an unarmed black man who later died at a hospital, in Minneapolis, Minnesota. REUTERS/Eric Miller    

Hong Kong security law

Hong Kong’s Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said only terrorists and separatists would be targeted by the new security law and would not breach a pledge to respect Hong Kong’s autonomy until 2047.  CNN

Space mission scrubbed

Nasa astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken head to launch Pad39A to board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket before the mission was scrubbed due to poor weather CREDIT: NASA/BILL INGALLS /REUTERS

Moscow, Russia

MOSCOW MASK: A woman wearing a face mask walks past a mural of the Russian commander Mikhail Kutuzov in Moscow, Russia. Coronavirus restrictions in the city will be eased from June 1st. Photograph: Yuri Kochetkov/EPA

Paris, France

A man and a woman demonstrate dining under a plastic shield in a restaurant of Paris. As restaurants in food-loving France prepare to reopen, some are investing in lampshade-like plastic shields to protect diners from the virus. The strange-looking contraptions are among experiments.

THIBAULT CAMUS, AP

George Floyd Protest

Hundreds of protesters gathered on Tuesday evening to demand justice for George Floyd, an African American man who died after a white police officer knelt on his neck as he lay on the ground during an arrest. Footage of the incident showed Floyd shouting ‘I cannot breathe’ and ‘Don’t kill me’

Protesters and police face each other. A video of Floyd’s arrest has sparked a fresh furore in the US over police treatment of African Americans

Photograph: Richard Tsong-Taatarii/AP

Kyoto, Japan

A couple takes a stroll in the bamboo grove in Arashiyama after the country lifted the nationwide state of emergency introduced because of the coronavirus pandemic

Photograph: Dai Kurokawa/EPA

Frimley, England

A nurse takes a video of a newborn in the maternity ward at Frimley Park hospital in Surrey to send to the parents because of restricted visiting hours during the coronavirus pandemic

Photograph: Steve Parsons/Pool/Reuters

Rome, Italy

Young doctors and medical students protest in front of the Italian parliament because of concerns about the fragility of the country’s health system

Photograph: Angelo Carconi/EPA

NSW Premier freezes public servants pay rise

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian last week said her government was seeking a freeze on pay rises for MPs.  Yesterday she extended that freeze to the entire NSW public service of almost 410,000 workers, including teachers and nurses, to temporarily save about $3 billion

Jacinda Ardern takes 20 per cent pay cut

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and her ministers have taken a 20 per cent pay cut for six months to show solidarity with those affected by the coronavirus outbreak.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison was on Tuesday asked whether he might take a hip-pocket hit to show Australians "we're all in this together", as he often declares.

"I have no plans to make any changes to those arrangements," he told the National Press Club in Canberra.

"I'll just keep doing a good job, that's my plan, and I will be accountable to Australians for that job." he said.