Friday June 21 will be remembered as the day Prince Philip died, Cardinal Pell was sentenced and Theresa May’s Brexit deal was voted down. 

There’s an understanding in journalism that bad news tends to drop on a Friday afternoon. This has been proven indisputably true today after RNZ sent out a series of push notifications that included reports of royal deaths, Jami-Lee Ross facing a fraud investigation and a Brexit deal being shut down. 

It makes today one of the darkest in news both here and around the world, coincidentally (or not) timed with the winter solstice. In case your phone was switched off, or you don’t subscribe to RNZ push notifications, here are just five of the biggest stories from today, June 21, according to RNZ.

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, dies aged 99

The husband of Queen Elizabeth II died today, at the grand age of 99. RNZ has reported that Boris Johnson, who is the UK prime minister, said the late Prince “inspired the lives of countless young people”. 

British MPs have voted against Theresa May’s revised Brexit deal

British politics is in turmoil after an amended Brexit deal put forward by the *checks notes* current British prime minister Theresa May has been rejected, RNZ reported. Live coverage of this monumental news story can be found here.

Cardinal George Pell sentenced to six years in jail

Disgraced Australian Cardinal George Pell, who died in 2023, has been sentenced to six years in jail. 

SFO to investigate Jami-Lee Ross’ complaint on National Party donations

Jami-Lee Ross, the independent MP and former National whip, is preparing to face a Serious Fraud Office investigation into a complaint over a donation to his ex-party.

Apologies, we’ve had a problem with our push notifications

RNZ reports it has been “inadvertently sending out historical push alerts”, and apologised to readers. The Spinoff now understands this may mean the above news stories we’ve just shared are out of date, and apologises as well.