New South Wales escalates bird flu surveillance as testing confirms case of deadliest strain; The Prime Minister flies to Fiji, seeking a signature for another strategic treaty; And in the World Cup, France defeat Paraguay to reach the World Cup quarter-finals.
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TRANSCRIPT
- New South Wales escalates bird flu surveillance as testing confirms case of deadliest strain
- The Prime Minister flies to Fiji, seeking a signature for another strategic treaty
- France defeat Paraguay to reach the World Cup quarter-finals
Testing has confirmed the deadliest strain of bird flu - H-5-N-1 - has been found in a bird from Hawks Nest in New South Wales.
The testing was undertaken at the CSIRO national testing laboratory, with the state's government escalating surveillance of wildlife in the wake of the result.
Five hundred people have been trained to detect birds suspected of carrying the virus and are actively looking on the mid-north coast of New South Wales in particular.
State Minister for Agriculture, Tara Moriarty says there is not yet evidence of domestic spread of bird flu.
"But I do want to really stress to people it is one bird in New South Wales. The genetics do same to be the same as the flu of the birds in Western Australia, but there is no evidence these birds have interacted with each other. They may have come from the same place, but there is no evidence they have interacted with each other across Australia."
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Weeks after signing an historic defence deal with Vanuatu, the Prime Minister is poised to sign another landmark treaty in the Pacific.
Anthony Albanese will arrive in Suva, the Fijian capital today and is expected to sign the Vuvale Union agreement with his Fijian counterpart Sitiveni Rabuka tomorrow.
He will then push on to the Solomon Islands on Tuesday to progress negotiations on a new treaty with Honiara, as part of a three-day Pacific tour.
Mr Albanese will also meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Melbourne later in the week.
The trip is seen as a strategic push for Australia to grow its influence in the Indo-Pacific, as it vies with China to excerpt control in the region.
The Indian prime minister will spend three days Down Under from Wednesday for the annual leaders' summit between the two nations.
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National NAIDOC Week celebrations are being held across Australia this week to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
This year's theme is 'Fifty Years of Deadly', celebrating more than five decades of NAIDOC Week.
NAIDOC Co-Chair and Pertame man Steven Satour says NAIDOC week brings a rich and varied program of events to communities across the country.
"So many communities have such different ways of celebrating and bringing people together, we've got some commonalities, we've got flag raisings and marches and local NAIDOC awards all across the country. But we see people getting really creative their ideas on events. Having pets coming together, football carnivals, all different ways of coming together, it's really incredible to see."
NAIDOC Week runs from today to next weekend.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has accused Israel of trying to undermine the US-Iran ceasefire agreement, while praising Pakistan's role in brokering the deal.
Speaking alongside Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in Istanbul, Mr Erdogan says the agreement had eased tensions across the region, but claims Israel is continuing actions that threatened its success.
"We are closely monitoring the Israeli administration's provocations aimed at undermining the agreement. The Zionist leadership, which ties its political survival to the continuation of conflicts in the region, is not leaving Lebanon and Syria alone. Israeli occupation forces are also continuing their inhumane and unlawful attacks against the oppressed in Gaza."
Pakistan's Prime Minister thanked Türkiye for supporting the peace process, saying the agreement marked a new chapter for regional stability.
The comments come as Türkiye prepares to host a NATO summit in Ankara next week.
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To sport and in the World Cup, Kylian Mbappe has scored the only goal as France beat Paraguay one-nil in sweltering conditions in Philadelphia to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for a fourth straight tournament.
With temperatures approaching 39 degrees, Mbappe converted a 70th-minute penalty after a VAR review awarded France a spot kick.
Paraguay, fresh from its shock penalty shootout win over Germany, frustrated France for much of the match but couldn't find an equaliser.
France will now face Morocco in the quarter-finals and remain unbeaten at this year's tournament, with five wins from five matches and a 14-2 goal difference.
"A fourth consecutive quarter final appearance for France, they had to fight for it. A closer battle than they would have expected, it is the end of the road for Paraguay."
