Aust toll at 65

As many as 65 Australians have been killed in fighting in Syria and Iraq, out of 200 who have joined the conflict since 2012. Justice Minister Michael Keenan told a security conference in Canberra yesterday another 200 Australians were being investigated for providing support to individuals and groups in the Syria-Iraq conflict or were seeking to travel there. ‘‘Despite the degrading of Isis and the shrinking of the so-called caliphate, the attraction of the conflict in Syria and Iraq to some Australians continues,’’ he said. Ecuador and Colombia joined in a letter yesterday that says US policy is causing Cubans to enter countries illegally and is putting them in a ‘‘situation of vulnerability’’. Their letter is addressed to US Secretary of State John Kerry. Washington grants automatic residency rights to any Cuban who sets foot on US soil.