TRANSCRIPT
The United States government has shut down after politicians and President Donald Trump failed to break a budget impasse over Democrats' demands on health care funding.
Government operations began closing down at midnight local-time in Washington DC - meaning hundreds of thousands of government employees will stop work..
The President has threatened to punish the Democratic Party and its voters for the stalemate by targeting progressive government programs and forcing mass public sector job cuts.
The President of the National Federation of Federal Employees, Randy Erwin says valuable skills are being lost from the federal workforce under the Trump administration.
"We are doing damage to our ability to recruit and retain the talent that we need in this government for decades to come because people will remember being disrespected in this way. You know, people don't want to sit in a constant state of agitation or being fired, being fired for doing their jobs, being fired because somebody knows what your politics are. You know, there are political witch hunts happening in this government that never happened before."
---
An Australian expert on international human rights, Chris Sidoti, is urging the federal government to cut military ties with Israel.
Addressing the National Press Club, he warned the Albanese government risks being complicit in genocide, if it fails to act.
Mr Sidoti is one of three commissioners which found Israel's war crimes in Gaza constituted genocide in a landmark report released last month.
Israel has repeatedly denied accusations of genocide.
Mr Sidoti says the federal government needs to do more - to ensure there are no Australian components in the military equipment used by Israel in Gaza.
"I accept and welcome the fact that we don't provide munitions and weapons. But we must also look at components. And here we are talking about the components for the F-35 fighter jets, which we know have been used by the Israel military in Gaza since the October 7, 2023. This is certainly part of a broader international deal with Lockheed Martin. We can't rely on the fact that this is part of an international deal - and others are providing components, and we don't need to worry about it."
---
An estimated 60 lives have now been claimed by a powerful earthquake on Philippine island of Cebu.
The shallow, 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck last night [[Tue night 39 Sept]] in the sea near Bogo, a city of 90,000 people.
National disaster authorities report nearly 150 people are injured; and some 22 buildings damaged or destroyed.
Rappler journalist John Sebastian Sitchon told SBS News, local hospitals have been overwhelmed by patients requiring treatment.
He also says he fears the death toll may rise further.
"We are hoping that the death tolls definitely do not rise, but we are expecting for a bit more bad news, considering that there are some hospitals here that are very much in need of renovation and repair. Some of them are actually in the process of repairs right now, and so we're worried about the patients inside those public hospitals, because we don't exactly have the best health care system."
---
In sports, AFL star Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin says the preparations for his debut at next month's New York City Marathon are going well, after he completed a 30-kilometre qualifying run in Alice Springs.
He is taking part in the race, along with NRL legend Johnathan Thurston, as ambassadors for the Indigenous Marathon Project Squad of First Nations runners.
Franklin says the six months of training hasn't been easy.
"It is a lot of hard work. I think when anyone thinks of doing a marathon or a long run. You can' t just do it. You need to put in the work, you need to run. Consistently run everyday, which I have absolutely loved. It is part of my routine now. The endorphins you feel after you run is pretty special. And I will keep running until I can't anymore. It is a very addictive thing."
More than 156 athletes have graduated from the Project since it started 16 years ago.
It was created by former world marathon champion, Rob de Castella to help achieve change in First Nations communities through running and the impacts on health, wellbeing and leadership.
