An elderly couple fight for life after a violent home invasion in northern New South Wales; Israel and Lebanon strike a new US-backed ceasefire deal; And in sport; Italian Matteo Arnaldi in his first Grand Slam semi-final at the French Open.
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TRANSCRIPT
- An elderly couple fight for life after a violent home invasion in northern New South Wales.
- Israel and Lebanon strike a new US-backed ceasefire deal...
- And in sport, Italian Matteo Arnaldi in his first Grand Slam semi-final at the French Open.
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An elderly couple is fighting for life after a suspected home invasion in northern New South Wales.
Police allege a 34-year-old man broke into a rural property near Torrington, south-west of Tenterfield, shortly after midnight and stabbed a 75-year-old man and his 72-year-old wife.
The couple have been flown to Gold Coast Hospital in a critical condition, while the 34-year-old is under police guard in Armidale Hospital.
Superintendent Chris McKinnon says the resident shot the younger man as he allegedly tried to get back into the house.
"He certainly did his best, obviously under very difficult circumstances, to defend himself and his partner. So it's quite impressive that he was able to do that, given the extent of the injuries that he suffered."
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The federal government says the new US tariff proposal for 60 countries including Australia is unjustified and unwarranted.
The United States is proposing tariffs of up to 12.5 per cent on countries it claims are not doing enough to end modern slavery in their supply chains.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is blaming an "ideological disagreement" for the decision and says the new taxes will not be positive for U-S consumers.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says Australia has robust laws to tackle modern slavery.
"Well, we maintain the position that these tariffs are unwarranted, they're unjustified, and they're inconsistent with our free trade agreement with the US, and we've made that case repeatedly. Now, when it comes to the specifics of the modern slavery laws, we've got a world leading legislation in place already to combat the the evils of modern slavery."
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Israel and Lebanon have agreed to renew a fragile ceasefire aimed at reducing tensions along their shared border.
The agreement has been announced in a joint statement with the United States after talks in Washington.
The ceasefire is contingent on a complete cessation of fire from the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia and the evacuation of all of its operatives from the South Litani Sector.
Israeli Ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter says Hezbollah fighters must move north.
"They have to go back to the north... We will guarantee them safe passage as long as they leave. But after a certain amount of time, which is not very long, if they don’t make their way back to the north, then they know exactly what’s coming.”
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The head of the World Health Organization says an Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo may have been spreading undetected for up to six months before it was identified.
Authorities have confirmed 60 deaths from 344 cases in eastern Congo, while neighbouring Uganda has reported 15 infections, including one death.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus is urging countries to lift blanket travel restrictions, warning they are disrupting supply chains and hampering how the situation is being addressed internationally.
Mr Ghebreyesus says the response is improving, but community mistrust and insecurity are still making the outbreak harder to control.
"Community mistrust is a serious barrier, some community leaders told me that they believe Ebola is not real. Building trust with the communities is therefore critical in bringing the outbreak under control."
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Astronomers in outback Australia have moved a step closer to understanding how the Milky Way galaxy came to be.
They have generated a visual map of the galaxy's magnetic fields, using information from the SKA Observatory telescope in remote Western Australia, more than 700 kilometres from Perth.
Researchers from the Observatory and CSIRO say the telescope can generate data at the rate of 100 trillion bits per second, or more data at a faster rate than Australia's entire internet traffic.
A similar map was compiled by researchers in the northern hemisphere 17 years ago, but it could not capture all of the Milky Way because the best view is from the southern hemisphere.
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To sport,
Italian Matteo Arnaldi has reached his first Grand Slam semi-final after compatriot Matteo Berrettini retired injured during their French Open quarter-final.
Berrettini appeared troubled by a hip injury and withdrew while trailing in the second set.
Arnaldi will now face fellow Italian Flavio Cobolli, guaranteeing Italy a place in the men's final.
The result comes despite the earlier exit of world number one Jannik Sinner.
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