"She is entitled to express her views." Israel Folau has called on his supporters to stop trolling Magda Szubanski, & more in News in 5.

-With AAP.

1. “She is entitled to express her views.” Israel Folau has called on his supporters to stop trolling Magda Szubanski.

Former Wallaby Israel Folau has defended prominent gay rights activist Magda Szubanski after she launched a fundraising campaign that countered his.

Szubanski launched her ‘For Love’ campaign last week, bringing together leaders from a number of faiths and the LGBTQI community with an aim to raise $500,000 to be divided between the Children’s Council Foundation and Twenty10, which provides health, legal, and housing services to people of diverse sexualities and gender identities.

The campaign has made her the target of online abuse and on Saturday, journalist Julia Baird came to her defence.

Mamamia’s daily news podcast The Quicky investigates the unravelling of Israel Folau. Post continues below audio.

If indeed anyone considers Magda to be an enemy, which makes no sense. She has consistently, courageously spoken for the rights and welfare of her own community, not against anyone else’s.

— Dr Julia Baird (@bairdjulia) June 29, 2019

“A note for those who support Folau’s desire to protect & assert Christian faith: you cannot preach peace in the language of war. Or love in the language of hate. Jesus said to love your enemies, not troll them,” she wrote.

“If indeed anyone considers Magda to be an enemy, which makes no sense. She has consistently, courageously spoken for the rights and welfare of her own community, not against anyone else’s.”

On Sunday, Folau unexpectedly agreed with Baird and called on his supporters to stop trolling her and to “have this important discussion with love in our hearts”.

Hey everyone I totally agree with @bairdjulia – please stop the anonymous online attacks on @MagdaSzubanski who has entered this debate very respectfully. She is entitled to express her views – let’s all have this important discussion with love in our hearts.

— Israel Folau (@IzzyFolau) June 30, 2019

Speaking on The Project last Tuesday, Szubanski said she hopes to raise $500,000, having launched the campaign in response to Folau’s, which was set up to help fund his legal battle with Rugby Australia.

“Some friends and I had a feeling – I can’t believe I’m up here talking about this stuff again. I would love to leave this subject behind,” Szubanski explained.

“We would like to have a response to Israel Folau that’s not combative… We hope to raise $500,000, 10 per cent of which will go to Twenty10 which is an organisation I’m the patron of. It works a lot with kids often from diverse backgrounds who are kicked out of home because of, you know, basically because of their sexuality.”​

Folau’s has raised more than $2 million in donations through the Australian Christian Lobby fundraising platform after his GoFundMe page was banned because he had breached the website’s terms and conditions.

2. “A balm on our bleeding hearts.” Family of missing backpacker Theo Hayez thanks Australia.

The family of Theo Hayez hold out hope that Belgian and Australian police will find out what happened almost a month after he vanished from Byron Bay.

The 18-year-old backpacker was last seen on CCTV walking through the popular seaside NSW town after leaving the Cheeky Monkey's bar about 11pm on May 31.

The last "ping" from Theo's phone was recorded on June 1 in the area around the Cape Byron Lighthouse.

Dog, foot and aerial searches have failed to locate his clothing or phone, which volunteers feel could be key to learning his fate.

The 18-year-old's parents separately arrived in Byron Bay earlier in June to join the search.

The family has spent the last few weeks with a small army of locals who have conducted dozens of searches in rugged bushland and blanketed social media with missing posters.

Belgian police are expected to accompany NSW Police as observers in searches around Byron Bay in coming weeks after arriving on the weekend.

Theo's cousin Lisa Hayez welcomed their arrival, saying the family hopes they can help find answers.

"It's going to help us, the most people on the case the better it is," she told reporters in Byron Bay on Sunday.

"I know they're going to do it. If the Australian police and Belgian police work together it's going to be faster and everything. That's the point."

Byron Bay Detective Chief Inspector Matt Kehoe said last week was difficult for police and volunteers as bad weather temporarily suspended searches.

"We have been working closely with Belgium authorities since the early stages of Theo's disappearance and I look forward to working closely with them in coming weeks," he said in a Facebook update on Friday.

A month after Theo's last signs of life, Laurent Hayez again thanked volunteers for continuing to search for his son.

"The support they bring to us (gives) us the force to keep face," he said.

"Without all the support in Belgium and here in Australia I think we would be on the couch with tissues crying every day."

Mr Hayez, in his first media appearance almost two weeks ago, pleaded with encrypted messaging service WhatsApp to divulge Theo's communications.

WhatsApp provided what it could to investigators - limited metadata - but a spokesman told AAP they are unable to decrypt and pass on the content of Theo's final known messages.

On Sunday Mr Hayez declined to comment further on the official investigation, saying simply that the family "trusts the police".

"Thank you to all of you, thank you to the Australian people," he said.

"A beautiful country, a beautiful people."

Ms Hayez, who was already in Australia when her cousin disappeared, described the young man as a "really happy guy".

"(Theo) is just an amazing young boy, really happy, friendly, always interested about anything," she said on Sunday.

Ms Hayez said the young nature-lover had just graduated school and took a year off study to travel around Australia before deciding what to study at university.

Theo's family will remain in Byron Bay indefinitely, she said.

"We don't plan to go home or anything," she said.

"We'll just see how we go."

Police searches will resume as weather clears with specialist resources travelling to Byron Bay to help traverse the most rugged terrain, Det Chief Insp Kehoe said.

"Sadly we are no closer to knowing what happened to Theo but we will continue to work for the answers that his family so desperately need," he said.

3. Donald Trump just became the first US leader to set foot in North Korea to meet Kim Jong-un.

US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shake hands at the demilitarized zone (DMZ), before both leaders step into North Korea https://t.co/nQM59lmTfV pic.twitter.com/MWaoPmjcH5

— CNN (@CNN) June 30, 2019

Donald Trump became the first sitting US president to set foot in North Korea when he met its leader Kim Jong-un in the Demilitarized Zone between the two Koreas and agreed to resume stalled nuclear talks.

The meeting, initiated a spur-of-the-moment tweet by Trump that Kim said took him by surprise, once again displayed the rapport between the two.

But they are no closer to narrowing the gap between their positions since they walked away from their summit in Vietnam in February.

The two men shook hands warmly and expressed hopes for peace when they met for the third time in just over a year on the old Cold War frontier that for decades has symbolised the hostility between their countries, which are technically still at war.

Trump, escorted by Kim, briefly crossed a military demarcation line into the North side of the Joint Security Area (JSA), patrolled by soldiers from both Koreas.

Moments later, they returned to the southern side and joined South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a brief chat, marking an unprecedented three-way gathering.

Trump and Kim then held a closed-door meeting for almost an hour.

"We just had a very, very good meeting," Trump said after the talks. "We'll see what can happen."

He said both sides would set up teams to push forward stalled talks aimed at getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, adding "speed is not the thing".

Pope Francis, making his weekly address in St Peter's Square, praised the meeting. "I salute the protagonists, with a prayer that such a significant gesture will be a further step on the road to peace, not only on that peninsula, but for the good of the entire world," he said.

Trump and Kim met for the first time in Singapore in June last year, and agreed to improve relations and work towards the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

But the second summit in Hanoi broke down after the two sides failed to narrow differences between a US demand for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and a North Korean demand for sanctions relief.

Kim looked relaxed and smiled as he chatted with Trump amidst a throng of press photographers, aides and bodyguards.

Trump said the two leaders "moved mountains" to arrange the last-minute meeting.

"I was surprised to see you expressed an intent to meet," Kim told Trump, referring to Trump's offer for a meeting in a tweet on Saturday.

Trump came to South Korea after attending the G20 summit in Osaka, Japan.

"This is an expression of his willingness to leave behind the past and work towards a new future," Kim said.

Kim said it would be a great honour if Trump visited his capital of Pyongyang. The two agreed to visit each other's country "at the right time", Trump said.

"To cross that line was a great honour," Trump said, referring to his brief incursion into the North Korean side of the DMZ. "It's a great day for the world."

But there has been little sign that North Korea and the United States are any closer to narrowing differences on the nuclear issue.

Trump said he had "plenty of time" and was in "no rush" to reach a deal.

"We want to get it right," he said.

North Korea has pursued nuclear and missile programs for years in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions, and easing tensions with North Korea is one of the US president's top foreign policy priorities.

The DMZ was set up after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a truce, leaving North Korea and a US-led UN force still technically at war.

4. Israel Folau and Rugby Australia headed to court.

The dispute between Rugby Australia and Israel Folau is destined for court after the parties failed to reach an agreement over the former Wallaby's sacking.

Representatives from both parties met at the Fair Work Commission on Friday for a mediation hearing as part of Folau's unfair dismissal case.

"We are disappointed that we were unable to reach settlement with Rugby Australia today," Folau's lawyer George Haros told reporters in Sydney.

"It appears as though that unless things change, we'll be heading to court."

RA and NSW Rugby Union also said they were disappointed with the outcome.

"We remain confident in our processes and will continue to do what is required to defend the values that underpin our game," RA said in a statement.

Folau had hoped RA would apologise for terminating his multi-million dollar contract over a social media post in April condemned as homophobic.

The 30-year-old's post paraphrased a Bible passage saying "drunks, homosexuals, adulterers, liars, fornicators, thieves, atheists and idolaters" would go to hell unless they repented.

The committed Christian argues he was unfairly dismissed on religious grounds, and is seeking $10 million in damages from RA and wants his contract reinstated.

An online fundraiser supported by the Australian Christian Lobby this week raised about $2.2 million to fund his legal battle.

5. Newly-elected NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay says she's "more than a match" for Gladys Berejiklian.

"A big tent, with a big heart" - that's how new Labor leader Jodi McKay wants the state party to operate, under her reign. @lizziedaniels #9News pic.twitter.com/M3XsXhB6Z2

— Nine News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) June 30, 2019

Newly-elected NSW Labor leader Jodi McKay says she's "more than a match" for Premier Gladys Berejiklian, and she's not going to be pretend the two women are anything alike.

Ms McKay's election on Saturday was a landmark moment in NSW politics, making it the first time the premier and opposition leader have both been women.

"I'm not going to pretend I'm Gladys -- I am not," the Strathfield MP told reporters in Sydney's inner-west on Sunday.

"We're very different ... I care very deeply about people.

"I believe that if you are in politics you are there to serve people, and I think people have fallen through the cracks and they've been left behind."

Ms McKay emphatically won the ballot against Chris Minns, getting 60.5 per cent of the vote, some three months after Michael Daley quit following Labor's state election loss.

The former journalist said the Labor party is united in "getting rid of" the Berejiklian government, amid questions of division between its own members.

She described the government as "really hollow" and "transactional".

"This morning I've received so many calls and texts from my party colleagues, some of them who didn't support me, who just want us to get on with the job because we have unity in a purpose to get rid of this government," Ms McKay said.

"I know that my colleagues are very much committed to ensuring a Labor win in 2023."

Ms McKay, who grew up in Gloucester on the NSW mid-north coast, highlighted her "record of standing up to powerful and vested interests" during her month-long campaign for the top job.

She said reaching out to rural NSW, western Sydney and multicultural communities would be a priority under her leadership, and education policy was a "critical issue".

"I want to talk about people ... and there are issues like homelessness in my area and also in areas right across Sydney that have to be addressed," she said.

Ms McKay pledged to channel the competency, trust and "extraordinary vision" of former premier Neville Wran in an attempt to beat Ms Berejiklian in four years.

"He also got out of Macquarie Street and he travelled," she said.

"He spoke about who he was, what he wanted to do and how the Labor party could help everyone in this state, and that is the type of leader that I want to be."

The late Mr Wran won four elections as Labor leader, serving as premier from 1976 until he resigned in 1986.

Federal Labor leader Anthony Albanese offered his congratulations to Ms McKay on Sunday morning.

"A progressive woman of integrity and principle with experience and great connections to communities," Mr Albanese tweeted.

The NSW Labor deputy leader and shadow cabinet is yet to be decided - awaiting a caucus vote on executive roles on Tuesday - but Ms McKay said Mr Minns will "absolutely" be part of her new look team.

Mr Daley "certainly hasn't asked" to be in the shadow ministry, she said.