Hello. It’s Wednesday, May 25 and you’re reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of today’s news.
Let’s start here
More than a dozen children and a teacher have been killed in a shooting at a primary school in the US state of Texas.
The state’s governor says the suspect, an 18-year-old, is also dead.
Uvalde’s Consolidated Independent School District said an active shooter was reported at Robb Elementary School, which has an enrolment of just under 600 students.
Local police are expected to give a further update soon.
Something you’ll be hearing about today
China’s Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, will today embark on a pretty significant trip to the Pacific, travelling to eight countries across the region in 10 days.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin confirmed that the minister would visit Solomon Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Timor Leste over the coming fortnight.
The tour will be closely watched by Australian officials who are anxious about China’s move to cement commercial, strategic and security ties with Pacific Island nations, particularly after the security pact signed with Solomon Islands last month.
News while you snoozed
- A man has been taken to hospital with injuries to his hand after a shooting at Roselands in Sydney’s south-west. Police are investigating whether the incident is linked to the recent spate of gangland violence in Western Sydney
- English Premier League footballer Kurt Zouma has pleaded guilty to kicking and slapping his pet cat in a video that became public earlier this year. The 27-year-old West Ham player has apologised and agreed for his two Bengal cats to be re-homed.
What Australia has been searching for online
- Alex de Minaur. The Aussie has suffered a heartbreaking, five-set loss to Hugo Gaston in the first round of the French Open, leaving Jason Kubler as the only Australian left in the men’s draw, with Ajla Tomljanovic and Daria Saville still alive in the women’s.
- Aquaman. DC Films representatives say they considered replacing Amber Heard for Aquaman 2 not because of her ongoing court battle with Johnny Depp, but out of concern that she lacked chemistry with the film’s star, Jason Momoa.
One more thing
There have been multiple incidents in the news lately of incidents at childcare centres, and it has some parents asking why regulations in the industry can’t be as strict with sign-ins as the school system.
There are minimum standards that must be met, and some centres even go beyond those standards, but there’s no requirement to let centres know if a child is not attending.
- Three-year-old Nevaeh Austin is recovering after being left on a bus at Gracemere’s Le Smileys Early Learning Centre
- That came after the death of a boy in 2020 after he was left on a bus outside a Goodstart Early Learning Centre in Cairns
- Last week Carindale childcare centre Citipointe Childcare was fined $18,000 after a toddler went missing in bushland after an excursion
Brisbane mum Tara Mainwaring says that, since her oldest son started primary school, she has realised there are stricter protocols in place there to track students’ movements.
“Their processes are very streamlined and we’re confident that someone can keep track of our kid the whole time he’s there, no matter where in the school he may be,” she says.
When asked if daycare procedures were not as strict as schools, regulatory body Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority said: “There are robust requirements in place to ensure that the attendance of children is accurately recorded when they are delivered to and collected from an education and care service.”
There’s heaps more on the rules and regulations here.
You’re up to date
Thanks for reading.
ABC/wires
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