TRANSCRIPT:
- MP Gareth Ward fighting his potential expulsion from state parliament in a Sydney court;
- One person killed in a wildfire in France;
- Popular Tottenham star Son Heung-min officially ends his 10-year stay at the club.
An appeal is being heard today against Supreme Court orders preventing the New South Wales parliament from expelling MP Gareth Ward after his sexual assault conviction.
The injunction prevents State Parliament's lower house leader Ron Hoenig and Speaker Greg Piper from moving a motion to remove the disgraced MP.
Mr Ward has lodged a separate appeal against his conviction for sexual intercourse without consent and three counts of indecent assault, and he will be automatically expelled from the Parliament if that appeal fails.
But in the meantime, both Premier Chris Minns and Opposition Leader Mark Speakman say his presence in Parliament is 'unconscionable'.
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A group of former Australian diplomats have signed an open letter urging the Prime Minister to speed up action on Gaza.
The signatories include former ambassador to Israel Peter Rodgers, former ambassador to Japan John Menadue, and former diplomat Alison Broinowski, who have argued in the letter that to call repeatedly for a two-state solution makes no sense.
They say that is because Israel is heavily armed and those in Gaza are almost totally defenceless against what they have described as acts of apartheid, war crimes, and potential genocide.
Today, Anthony Albanese has told reporters he IS still actively pushing for a two-state solution.
"I have long said that I want to see Israelis and Palestinians to be able to live side by side in peace and security and there are proposals, obviously, at the moment around and discussions taking place between world leaders. I think the entire international community is distressed by what we're seeing happening in Gaza."
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At least one person has died in wildfires burning throughout the south of France.
Another 13 have been injured in what authorities say is a still active fire that's burned through 13,000 hectares so far and destroyed multiple homes, after it started on Tuesday afternoon in the village of Ribaute in the Aude region.
The environment ministry says the region has been experiencing a lack of rainfall in recent months, while French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou has blamed climate change for the multiple large fires Europe has seen over the northern hemisphere summer.
"And today's event is linked to global warming and drought. We need to think about this with local elected officials and professional leaders, with parliamentarians and the government, we need to think about what tomorrow might bring."
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US President Donald Trump says his government will impose a 100 per cent tariff on semiconductor chips imported into the country.
The announcement was made during an Oval Office meeting with Apple chief executive Tim Cook.
Mr Trump says those actively building factories in the US will be exempt from the import taxes.
"If for some reason you say you're building and you don't build then we go back and get, we add it up, it accumulates and we charge you at a later date. You have to pay and that's a guarantee."
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On road testing has revealed that some of Australia's best selling electric vehicles are failing to meet their advertised standards.
The Australian Automobile Association says it tested five cars in a first of its kind trial using a 93 kilometre circuit of damp and dry conditions around Geelong in Victoria.
The findings come one week after its Real World Testing program revealed 25 out of 30 petrol and hybrid vehicles tested had consumed more fuel than their lab results showed.
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Medical specialists, cultural guides and local medicos are teaming up for a Top End trek to tackle rheumatic heart disease, a condition that affects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people the most.
Indigenous Australians are 64 times more likely to have rheumatic heart disease than non-Indigenous, with women and young people most affected.
The Deadly Heart Trek will visit nine communities, focussing on education, early diagnosis and treatment of the disease and its precursor acute rheumatic fever.
The trek's cultural lead Aunty Vicki Wade says it's a national shame that this disease has been eradicated in every developed country except Australia.
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To sport and in football news,
Son Heung-min has officially ended his 10-year stay at Tottenham.
He has arrived in the US where he will play for the Los Angeles F-C in a record breaking transfer, just months after he captained the Spurs to Europa League glory under the management of Ange Postecoglou.
The South Korea captain has given fans an emotional farewell on Tottenham's Instagram.
"I know it sounds very surprising, it sounds very hard. I feel like I need a new chapter. It's probably one of the hardest decisions I've ever made so please don't be disappointed. I will always be in your history books. As a kid you welcomed me and, as I grew up, I'm leaving you but there's always good timing. This is the right time to say goodbye and I love you all."
