Victorian MP Adem Somyurek has been sacked from cabinet and resigned from the Labor Party as it was preparing to kick him out over branch-stacking allegations.

Staff members of Victorian ministers Marlene Kairouz and Robin Scott are being investigated in relation to the allegations surrounding Mr Somyurek. Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews wants to elevate his parliamentary secretary to the ministry after sacking Somyurek.

Meanwhile disgraced former NSW Labor minister and convicted sex offender Milton Orkopoulos has been charged with more than a dozen fresh sexual assault offences spanning the 1990s.

Another 12 people tested positive for COVID-19 in Victoria overnight. Seven of those people are from one family and are linked back to a GP who tested positive for the virus but had seen patients.

A DNA test linked a Queensland woman to a needle found in a strawberry punnet, a court has heard. My Ut Trinh, 52, was a person of interest early in the investigation into deliberate strawberry contamination in 2018.

In AFL Carlton have rallied behind Eddie Betts after the AFL forward called out racist abuse he received on social media.

Three-in-five Australians are excited about the prospect of dining out and catching up with larger groups of family and friends as coronavirus restrictions are relaxed. But 75% of people are still uncomfortable about attending large public events, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

NT Chief Minister Michel Gunner says he will on Friday advise on the likely date for the re-opening of the Territory's borders. It is widely tipped the borders will re-open in mid-July.

WORLD

The world's pandemic death toll has risen to 433,066. There are just under eight million confirmed cases. Nevertheless borders and businesses are continuing to open across the globe as coronavirus restrictions ease.

Restrictions are being relaxed in Europe, however Spain is waiting until June 21 before opening its borders to foreign tourists and Greece is quarantining those arriving from high-risk areas including the U.S. and U.K.

The Czech Republic and Denmark both have restrictions in place, depending on where the tourists are coming from. Read more here

Meanwhile Beijing has reported its second consecutive day of record new numbers of COVID-19 cases.

In England non-essential stores are reopening after 83 days of lockdown.

Scotland and Wales are being more cautious before resuming normal trading. Non-essential stores in Northern Ireland reopened on Friday.

Staying in the UK and it's three years since the devastating fire that killed 72 people at London's Grenfell Tower. Local residents, campaigns and politicians have all marked the anniversary.

In America, the death of Rayshard Brooks, a black man killed by a white police officer in Atlanta, was a homicide caused by gunshot wounds to the back, the Fulton County Medical Examiner's office says.

A newly-discovered species of Madagascan spider has been named after climate change activist Greta Thunberg.

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