Headline Reads
3 top stories from home and away
By P.M. Fadden
Associate Editor
WORLD VIEW – Boy, 12 arrested mid-Aussie roadtrip
Police in Australia arrested a 12-year-old boy 14 hours into an unexplained cross continent drive.
The Perth-bound youngster was stopped in mining town, Broken Hill, more than 800 miles from starting point, Kendall, New South Wales, after authorities spotted the vehicle’s dragging rear bumper, reports SKY News.
Inquiries continue as to how the boy came to be driving the vehicle and why he was travelling to Perth.
NATIONWIDE – Border Wall Looms
President Donald Trump announced expectation for Mexico to pay for a promised wall along the nation’s southern border, states Reuters News, resuscitating a campaign pledge that has roiled U.S. relations with Mexico.
The Republican president’s demand that Mexico pay for the border wall triggered a diplomatic crisis during the first week of his presidency, causing fellow President Pena Nieto to scrap a planned White House visit while Washington proposed wall funding come from a 20 percent tax on goods from Mexico.
Trump chose a strategic return to earlier Mexico demands on a morning in which he simultaneously pressured congressional Democrats to include border wall funding in “must-pass” spending legislation needed to keep the embroiled U.S. government open beyond Friday.
FRONTIER FOCUS – Arctic Fly-bys Hot Topic
Alaska Dispatch News reports Russian aircraft to have entered international airspace north of Utqiagvik, the northernmost Alaska community formerly known as Barrow.
The event marks the fourth consecutive day this week that Russian military aircraft have approached the coast of Alaska.
Of the latest encounter, U.S. military officials stated having seen no indication of the Russian craft being armed and declined to comment on weapons status of U.S. planes when intercepting the Russian aircraft.