1.The Pope has called on every Catholic parish, convent, monastery and sanctuary in Europe to host at least one refugee family.
In an effort to show leadership on the issue, Pope Francis has also announced that the Vatican’s two parishes had already made plans to take in two refugee families.
CNN reports that Pope Francis made his plea at the end of prayers in Rome on Sunday.
“The two parishes in the Vatican these days will welcome two families of refugees,” he said, without saying who the lucky families might be.
Refugees are streaming into Europe from war-torn Syria, where ISIS continues to wreak havoc.
After leaving Hungary over the weekend, many went on to Austria, which opened the borders to 11,000 migrants on Sunday alone, and from there to Germany.
Thousands of Germans and Austrians lined the streets to welcome the weary travellers with fresh food, bottles of water, toys for their children and wild applause.
The BBC reports that Germany and Austria opened their borders to the refugees after widespread public protests against Europe’s handling of the refugee crisis.
“I said to myself, I have to do something,” one volunteer handing out drinks told The New York Times.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is meeting with her government today to figure out what to do with the influx. The nation may have to open its borders to as many as 800,000 new arrivals before the crisis ends.
2.In a move designed to encourage all fathers to proudly support all their children, rugby league champion Greg Inglis has revealed his love for a little boy called Riley, conceived during a brief romance with a high-school sweetheart five years ago.
In an Instagram post on Fathers’ Day, Inglis put up photographs of Riley, who was conceived during a relationship break from his long-time partner – now wife – Sally.
Sally and Greg were married in 2010 and have an 18-month-old son, Nate.
Greg said he had been keeping Riley’s existence secret to respect the mother’s wish for privacy but on Instagram wrote: “During a well-publicised break in 2009 from my beautiful partner Sally, who is now my lovely wife, I briefly reconnected with my high school sweet heart. The result being this awesome and outgoing boy named Riley.
“Now that he has started school, we need Riley to know that I’m proud to call him my son.”
He also used the revelation as an opportunity to send a message to other dads on Father’s Day.
“I hope all you dads out there who read this and know they can do better, stand up and be the best father you can be to your child/children,” he said.
3.Johnny Depp’s wife, Amber Heard, is not expected to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court in Queensland today to face charges over the alleged illegal importation of two Yorkshire terriers, Boo and Pistol.
Amber is accused of bringing the two canines into the country earlier this year via private jet, without declaring them on the in-flight manifest.
News Ltd says Amber won’t appear and her lawyers will seek an adjournment.She could face up to 10-years jail time and a fine of $100,000 if found guilty.
The dogs were allegedly smuggled into the country while Depp was filming the latest instalment of the Pirates of The Caribbean franchise on the Gold Coast.
Johnny Depp is currently attending the Venice Film Festival, where he told reporters that: “I killed my dogs and ate them under direct orders from some kinda, I dunno, sweaty, big-gutted man from Australia” after they were discovered in the house he was renting on the Gold Coast.
In fact, the dogs were spirited out of the country aboard a private jet and continue to live a life of luxury.
4.A judge in Illinois has thrown out a lawsuit bought by a white woman who sued after she was accidentally impregnated with the sperm of an African American man.
The Washington Post reports that Jennifer Cramblett filed suit against Midwest Sperm Bank in 2014 because she was artificially inseminated with sperm from the wrong donor.
Her daughter, Payton, is now of mixed race, and Jennifer complained in her lawsuit that she had to go into African American neighborhoods to have the girl’s hair cut.
Her lawsuit alleged that the mistake caused her and her family “stress, pain, suffering and medical expenses”.
She said she feared Payton, now three, would grow up feeling like an “outcast”.
Attorneys for the sperm bank had argued that “wrongful birth” lawsuits are usually about children born with birth defects. Payton is healthy but Jennifer said “she was unprepared to raise an African American child.”
“Getting a young daughter’s hair cut is not particularly stressful for most mothers, but to Jennifer it is not a routine matter, because Payton has hair typical of an African American girl,” the lawsuit said.
“To get a decent cut, Jennifer must travel to a black neighborhood, far from where she lives, where she is obviously different in appearance, and not overtly welcome.”
