Climate experts say COP summits ‘no longer fit for purpose’, US Republicans oppose releasing report on sexual misconduct claims against Trump's attorney general pick, An outstanding performance from Ronaldo takes Portugal to the Nations League's quarter-finals.
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts.
TRANSCRIPT
- Climate experts say cop summits ‘no longer fit for purpose’.
- US Republicans oppose releasing report on sexual misconduct claims against Trump's attorney general pick.
- And in football, an outstanding performance from Ronaldo takes Portugal to the Nations League's quarter-finals.
----
The United Nations has received a letter calling for urgent reforms to the COP climate summit, arguing it is 'no longer fit for purpose' in its current state.
An open letter signed by prominent figures like the former UN Secretary General, a former UN climate chief and a series of other leaders and experts in the field, says things cannot go on as they are.
The letter offers seven suggestions for reform, the first of which calls for an improvement of the host selection process.
Yeb Sano is the Executive Director at Greenpeace Southeast Asia and says the conference should not be funded or fuelled by corporate interest.
"It is a big problem when the fossil fuel industry is involved in climate negotiations and in hosting the spaces where we have to deal with pushing ambition in this process. And therefore, all COPs, I must say, should be rid of vested interests. And therefore, one of the ways that can be done, without undermining the larger work that we're trying to do here and all parties are trying to do here, is to prevent corporate capture of these spaces and make sure that COPs are public funded instead of being funded by big corporate money"
----
The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Mike Johnson, says that Congress should not release a report investigating allegations of sexual misconduct against Matt Gaetz.
Mr Gaetz was nominated by President-elect Donald Trump for the post of attorney general and has bow resigned from congress on Wednesday.
This ended the three-year investigation against him in the House Ethics Committee.
Politicians from both parties say they want to see the House Ethics Committee's unpublished report on Gaetz, the move being part of a process for senators to evaluate Trump's nomination for attorney general and other posts.
Mike Johnson claims there is no longer a reason to release it.
"We are not issuing ethics reports on people who are no longer members of Congress. I think it would open a Pandora's box. I think it's a very important rule that should be maintained. It's been broken once or twice. It should not have been because that would be a Pandora's Box. I think it's a very important tradition to maintain."
Mr Gaetz denies any wrongdoing.
----
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese commented on the absence of Chinese President Xi Jinping from the APEC summit sessions in Peru.
The world leaders are meeting in Lima for the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum.
The Prime Minister says that is not an Australian matter.
"I don't know why he's not not here. That's a matter for President Xi."
Xi Jinping is due to meet the US president Joe Biden tomorrow.
----
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says ‘the war will end sooner’ under Donald Trump's administration in the United States.
He praised the talks he had with the Republican, despite fears that he might reduce military support for Ukraine.
Zelenskyy said he had a ‘constructive interaction’ with Trump during a telephone conversation they had after the Republican's victory in the US presidential elections.
President-elect Donald Trump, who has already questioned the tens of billions of dollars in US military aid going to Ukraine, has boasted that he could end the war in a day, but has yet to explain how he will do so.
----
Firefighters have had to battle a massive blaze that broke out in an abandoned warehouse in Melbourne overnight.
About 150 residents of an adjacent apartment block were forced to flee their homes.
Residents have told the ABC they panicked when the blaze started.
"Like everyone was shock and shaking, didn't know what to do. It's scary, like for hours, we were staying here, waiting for police and the firefighter to finish their job"
Police are still investigating the cause of the fire.
----
A stunning overhead kick from Ronaldo helped qualify Portugal for the quarter-finals of the Nations League.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored a penalty and an overhead kick as Portugal beat Poland 5-1 to book a place in the quarter-finals.
But Portugal took their time to secure victory, with the three goals that sealed the match coming in the final 10 minutes
Meanwhile, Scotland picked up their first win in nine games to keep their hopes of staying in the top flight alive.
Spain, who had already secured top spot in Group A4, beat Denmark 2-1 in Copenhagen.
France, Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal have already secured one of the eight places in the quarter-finals.
