Authorities call for drivers to be more careful during the dangerous holiday season; Venezuela frees 10 American prisoners in exchange for a close ally of its president; And in football, Rhyan Grant says he has no regrets about remaining in the A-League Men.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Authorities call for drivers to be more careful during the dangerous holiday season;
- Venezuela frees 10 American prisoners in exchange for a close ally of its president;
- And in football, Rhyan Grant says he has no regrets about remaining in the A-League Men.
The holiday season is notorious for seeing a rise in serious incidents on the road in Australia.
This year, the death toll on roads nationwide has risen by over 6 percent.
New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Anthony Cooke told SBS Kurdish that drivers must be more patient and careful during the holidays:
"If everybody respects that there are other people on the road, and we drive carefully looking out for ourselves and also what other people are doing, then it's much, much less likely that we would get into any trouble. That means we will all be safe, and we will all be able to enjoy the seasons and holidays together, with each other, without loss of life."
He also warned people against the use of mobile phones while driving.
Mr Cooke also points out that domestic violence and break-ins also tend to be on the rise during the festive season.
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The United States has freed a close ally of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in exchange for the release of 10 Americans imprisoned in the South American country and the return of a fugitive defense contractor.
That contractor is known as “Fat Leonard” and he's at the center of a massive Pentagon bribery scandal.
The deal represents the Biden administration's boldest move yet to improve relations with the major oil-producing nation and extract concessions from Maduro.
That step followed a commitment by Maduro and an opposition faction to work toward free and fair conditions for the 2024 presidential election.
Joe Biden comments on the largest release of American prisoners in Venezuela’s history:
"It's ok because it freed American people who have been held illegally and we have made a deal with Venezuela that they'll hold free elections, so far they’ve maintained the requirement, and that’s it."
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The CSIRO's annual economic report on the costs of building electricity generation in Australia says renewable energy is the cheapest form of energy whereas nuclear is the most expensive.
The annual GenCost Report is conducted in conjunction with the Australian Energy Market Operator and takes into consideration all aspects of energy generation such as transmission and storage.
These additions were made after the opposition party launched criticisms against the report for previous failures to include these factors in their cost estimation.
The Federal Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen says that even if nuclear energy costs do fall by 20-30 they will still cost three times as much as renewable energy.
"The opposition has some questions to answer today about whether they will continue with their ideological, fact free attraction to nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is a fantasy wrapped up in a pipe dream for Australia, it also is not available by 20-30, So if the Opposition think that they are going to play a role in Australia meeting 20-30 targets they are engaging in a fantasy."
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New data has shown the prevalence of vaping among twelve to seventeen year olds has quadrupled over the past five years.
The Australian Cancer Council report looks into data from the Australian Secondary Student's Alcohol and Drug Survey and has found that almost one third of twelve to seventeen year olds have at least tried vaping.
The Cancer Council report says people who vape are three times more likely to start smoking cigarettes than those who don't.
Cancer Council CEO, Professor Tanya Buchanan says young people don't want to smoke and have been graphically warned of the consequences, but says many don't fully understand the consequences of vaping.
As of January first 2024, the Federal ban on disposable vape imports will come into effect and the Federal government says it will introduce more measures to end the sale of illegal vapes in Australia is stopped at every level.
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And in football,
Rhyan Grant insists he has no regrets about remaining in the A-League Men as the Sydney FC stalwart celebrates another career milestone.
Grant is 32, and made his debut 15 years ago this weekend.
He is in line to notch up his 307th appearance for Sydney at home against Western United on Saturday.
The rightback, who has won 21 caps for the Socceroos, holds the club's appearance record and his trademark mullet and habit of scoring crucial goals have endeared him to Sky Blues supporters.
