TRANSCRIPT:
- Australians in Iran urged to leave as diplomatic ties are cut over antisemitism allegations;
- Serious injuries feared after a school bus crash in Victoria;
- Australians in New York begin their US Open campaigns.
A school bus has rolled at Stonehaven west of Geelong in Victoria, closing a highway and seriously injuring several people.
Local media have reported a student on the bus has died but this is yet to be confirmed by authorities.
Ambulance Victoria says paramedics are on scene and prioritising their patients.
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A mass search is underway for a man who fled into bushland after the killing of two officers in rural Victoria.
Chief Police Commissioner Mike Bush says that since the shootings took place there have been no confirmed sightings of the suspect, identified as 56-year-old local man Dezi Freeman.
He says the force has dedicated mass ground and air resources to find the man.
"Anything is possible. He knows that area. Even though we have experts in the area, he will know the area better than us. So, that's why we are putting in every expert, and supported by local knowledge."
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Australians in Iran have been urged to leave after the federal government cut diplomatic ties with the country.
Iran's Australian ambassador has been expelled after ASIO revealed it had evidence Iran had directed two antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong says travellers should avoid going to Iran because the Australian government no longer has an embassy there.
Senator Wong says their response is entirely justified - even if Iran is not the only country to try and influence events in Australia.
"I think we should assume that other regimes seek to influence our democracy in many ways, including through misinformation and disinformation. I think we're all adults, we all look at what is happening on social media, and through other channels, and we all know that. Which is why- whether it's media, government... all of us...we have to work to make sure we hold on to our democracy, and make sure it is resilient. And that is, in part, why the government has done this."
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Hamas has challenged Israel's account of an air strike on a Gaza hospital that killed 20 people, including five journalists.
Israel has said its initial investigation has found six militants were among those killed in the attack - and that the strike was aimed at destroying what officials believed was a Hamas camera used to monitor troops.
But Hamas says one of the six Palestinians who Israel alleged were militants was killed in al-Mawasi some distance from the hospital, and another was killed elsewhere at a different time.
The back and forth has come as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed an expanded assault on Gaza City, amid widespread protests within Israel that's seen tyres set on fire and highways blocked.
"We are now coming from a cabinet meeting. I don't think I can expand too much, but I will say one thing: it started in Gaza and it will end in Gaza. We will not leave these monsters there, we will release all our hostages, we will ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel.”
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In the US, advocates have sued the state of Texas over a new map drawn by the Republican controlled house.
It adds five new districts favouring Republicans who hope it will help them keep control of Congress in next year's federal midterm elections.
But the NAACP and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights allege that the map has been drawn along racial lines, and has been designed to weaken the electoral influence of black voters.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson says that white voters in Texas control over 75 percent of the state's congressional districts, despite making up only 40 percent of the population.
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Palaeontologists have made one of the most significant fossil discoveries in Australia, unearthing a near-complete ichthyosaur in rural Queensland.
The 7.1 metre skeleton was found by a fossil hobbyist while fossicking on her neighbour's property in the state's west - and is estimated to be around 90 per cent complete, making it one of best preserved of its kind in the country.
Palaeontology Curator at Townsville's Queensland Museum Tropics, Espen Knutsen, hopes the find will pave the way for further discoveries in the area.
"You can't go out there a year without finding new stuff, and a lot of the time it's not as great as this one. But with the vast areas Queensland and Australia has to offer, I would be surprised if there is not still stuff sitting there waiting to be picked up."
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To sport and in tennis news,
Alex de Minaur has made it to the second round of the US Open in New York with a victory over fellow Australian Chris O'Connell.
The two-time Open quarter-finalist did not face a solitary break point as he ousted O'Connell in straight sets on the Grandstand.
Meanwhile compatriot Alexei Popyrin will face the top-ranked man in the world, Jannik Sinner, in the second round of the U-S Open on Friday.
He says he's more than ready.
"I've always brought my best level against players that were older than me, or better than me, or higher-ranked than me. I'm able to go toe-to-toe with the top guys. I know I am."
