Australia
S&P/ASX 200 lifts strongly for a third day; market near 10-week high
S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) closed 1.81% higher at 5559.5 today on hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine.
The index is near a 10-week high after the experimental vaccine from Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) showed promising early signs.
Resources sector shines[hhmc]
Improving commodity prices helped the resources sector to strong gains for a second day as iron ore hit the $US96-a-tonne mark, up 3%.
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX:FMG) is at an all-time high, rising 4.4% to $13.87.
BHP Group Ltd (ASX:BHP) rose 5.6% to $35.05 and Rio Tinto is up 4.7% to $94.52.
Australian explorers with a price increase today include Element 25 Ltd (ASX:E25) (+100%), Anson Resources Ltd (ASX:ASN) (+30%), Tempus Resources Ltd (ASX:TMR) (+7%), Legend Mining Limited (ASX:LEG) (+11%), Salt Lake Potash Ltd (ASX:SO4) (+9%) and Pensana Rare Earths Plc (ASX:PM8) (+13%).
Oil continues to rise[hhmc]
Emperor Energy Ltd (ASX:EMP) shares doubled and Carnarvon Petroleum Limited (ASX:CVN) rose 7% as energy stocks are continu..

S&P/ASX 200 (INDEXASX:XJO) closed 1.81% higher at 5559.5 today on hopes for a COVID-19 vaccine.
The index is near a 10-week high after the experimental vaccine from Moderna Inc (NASDAQ:MRNA) showed promising early signs.
Resources sector shines
Improving commodity prices helped the resources sector to strong gains for a second day as iron ore hit the $US96-a-tonne mark, up 3%.
Fortescue Metals Group Limited (ASX:FMG) is at an all-time high, rising 4.4% to $13.87.
BHP Group Ltd (ASX:BHP) rose 5.6% to $35.05 and Rio Tinto is up 4.7% to $94.52.
Australian explorers with a price increase today include Element 25 Ltd (ASX:E25) (+100%), Anson Resources Ltd (ASX:ASN) (+30%), Tempus Resources Ltd (ASX:TMR) (+7%), Legend Mining Limited (ASX:LEG) (+11%), Salt Lake Potash Ltd (ASX:SO4) (+9%) and Pensana Rare Earths Plc (ASX:PM8) (+13%).
Oil continues to rise
Emperor Energy Ltd (ASX:EMP) shares doubled and Carnarvon Petroleum Limited (ASX:CVN) rose 7% as energy stocks are continuing to stand out for a second day thanks to solid gains in oil prices.
The price of oil surged 8.1% last night to US$31.82 per barrel on optimism that the easing of lockdown restrictions would boost oil demand.
Security software solutions provider Cipherpoint Ltds (ASX:CPT) shares closed 23% higher and Paradigm Biopharmaceuticals Ltd (ASX:PAR) ended the day 7% higher.
Proactive news headlines:
PNX Metals high-grade gold results confirm potential upside at Fountain Head
PNX Metals Ltd (ASX:PNX) has received additional high-grade gold hits from reverse circulation (RC) drilling which confirm further continuity of high-grade mineralised zones at Fountain Head Gold Project in the Northern Territory. All assays from the 59-hole RC program have been received with results of up to 2 metres at 4.46 g/t gold from 114 metres, 2 metres at 6.62 g/t from 144 metres and 1-metre at 12.54 g/t from 64 metres.
Archer Materials will begin US pilot plant tests next month on bulk halloysite-kaolin sample
Archer Materials Ltd (ASX:AXE) has taken another step towards commercialising the Franklyn Halloysite-Kaolin Project in South Australia with a bulk sample arriving in the US for tests by a leading kaolin minerals industry laboratory. This sample collected from drilling at the Franklin project has been received and prepared with pilot plant processing trials due to start in mid-June and results expected by June 30. Resulting halloysite and kaolin samples will then be sent to potential downstream customers for product testing and verification purposes.
PolarX plans follow‐up drilling for gold-copper at Zackly East in Alaska
Polarx Ltd (ASX:PXX) intends to start a substantial drilling program in July to follow-up previous high‐grade gold and copper intersections at Zackly East prospect within its Alaska Range Project. A small, initial drilling program returned hits grading up to 3.1 g/t gold and 0.6% copper. PolarX managing director Frazer Tabeart said there was immense potential to grow the overall Zackly resource.
Admedus begins anti-calcification comparison study for ADAPT®
Admedus Ltd (ASX:AHZ) has begun a preclinical study which will compare anti-calcification properties of its proprietary ADAPT® treated tissue with other bovine and porcine tissues used in commercially available SAVR and TAVR valves. Calcification plays a significant role in the failure of bioprosthetic and other tissue heart valve substitutes.
Element 25 shares jump 95% after Butcherbird PFS highlights robust, short lead time opportunity
Element 25 Ltd released a pre-feasibility (PFS) for its Butcherbird Manganese Project in Pilbara, WA which highlights a robust, short lead time start-up opportunity. The PFS contemplates the export and sale of manganese concentrate from the project over a long mine life and delivers outstanding economic metrics further confirming the potential for the project to be Australias next significant manganese mine.
EmpeRead More – Source
Australia
Saudi women in Sydney: Sisters’ bodies lay undiscovered for a month

Australian police are baffled after the bodies of two Saudi women, believed to have lain undiscovered for a month, were found in a Sydney apartment.
Sisters Asra Abdullah Alsehli, 24, and Amaal Abdullah Alsehli, 23, were found dead on 7 June in separate beds at home in the suburb of Canterbury.
Police, who were called to the property for a welfare check, said the women are believed to have died in early May.
But despite “extensive inquiries”, they still do not know how or why.
The sisters moved to Australia from Saudi Arabia in 2017 and may have sought asylum, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Police refused to confirm this, saying they do not comment on residential status.
A human rights organisation said it should be established whether the women fled Saudi Arabia because of domestic violence or harsh laws governing women. However, there is no evidence this is the case.
Police said they had been in contact with the women’s family, which is assisting them with inquiries.
Lina al-Hathloul, head of monitoring and communications at Saudi human rights organisation ALQST, said it “would not be the first case” of Saudi women who were killed abroad after fleeing domestic violence.
“There are no protections for women who are victims of domestic violence in Saudi Arabia, so they flee abroad,” she told the BBC.
She added: “I’m not saying that is the case here, just that we need a thorough investigation. It is frustrating not to have any information.”
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, there had been signs that something was wrong.
Last year, the women told their building manager they thought someone was tampering with their food deliveries, the paper reported.
A plumber who visited the apartment also said he believed there was “something mysterious” going on, and that police had been called in the past over concerns for the women.
New South Wales Police issued a renewed plea to the public on Wednesday, saying “any piece of information” could be the key to solving this case.
The local community is close-knit, police said in a statement, asking anyone who may have known or seen the women to come forward.
A report from Australian current affairs programme Four Corners in 2019 found 80 Saudi women had tried to seek asylum in Australia in recent years. Many of them were fleeing male guardianship laws.
Read from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-62331116
Australia
Australia election: Why is Australia’s parliament so white?

Australia
Scott Morrison effectively ditches his promise to establish a federal anti-corruption commission

Scott Morrison has effectively abandoned his promise to establish a federal anti-corruption watchdog, confirming he would only proceed with legislation in the new parliament if Labor agreed to pass the Coalition’s heavily criticised proposal without amendments.
Morrison pledged before the 2019 election to legislate a federal integrity body in the parliamentary term that has just ended. The prime minister broke that promise, failing to introduce his own proposal before the 46th parliament was prorogued.
On the hustings on Wednesday, Morrison was asked – given his previous undertaking to create the body – whether he would promise to put his proposal to a vote in the next parliament in the event the Coalition won the 21 May election.
Morrison declined to make that promise. “Our position on this hasn’t changed,” the prime minister said. “Our view has been the same – when the Labor party is prepared to support that legislation in that form, then we will proceed with it.”
The prime minister has attempted to inoculate himself from criticism about breaking an election promise by saying he tabled the integrity commission proposal in the parliament.
Tabling an exposure draft, which is what the prime minister did, is not the same as introducing finished legislation to the House of Representatives or the Senate that is then debated and voted on.
As well as repeatedly fudging what happened in parliament, Morrison has also created the impression the proposal can only proceed if Labor agrees to its passage without amendments.
All governments routinely introduce legislation for debate without any undertaking that it will be passed by the opposition. Labor favours a stronger model than the Coalition’s proposal.
Morrison’s lack of urgency on the issue created tensions within government ranks. Late last year, the Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer crossed the floor to support independent MP Helen Haines’ bill to establish a federal integrity commission. Archer accused the government of “inertia” over the issue.
At that time, Archer said she was “perplexed” at her own government’s failure to release a revised bill almost three years after it was promised before the last election.
While Morrison clearly wants to move on from the issue, he will face renewed pressure from crossbench independents if the coming election is close enough to deliver a hung parliament.
A number of independents running against Liberals in metropolitan seats have made it clear that establishing a credible national integrity commission will be a key demand in the event any new government – Liberal or Labor – is seeking agreements for confidence and supply.
Haines blasted Morrison’s comments on Wednesday. “Mr Morrison broke an election promise to introduce an anti-corruption commission and his pathway to creating one is still as vague as it was in the last parliament,” she said.
The crossbench independent said it was “nonsense” for the prime minister to claim that he could not proceed unless Labor agreed with the Coalition’s proposal without seeking any amendments. “It would appear we are in the same void as we were before,” Haines said.
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