Thousands attend pro-Palestinian protest across Australia; Hamas militants free two of the 200 people they took hostage and in rugby union, New Zealand's All Blacks beat Argentina 44 to 6.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Thousands attend pro-Palestinian protest across Australia
- Hamas militants free two of the 200 people they took hostage
- New Zealand's All Blacks beat Argentina 44 to 6
Protesters have gathered across Australia to show their support for Palestinians affected by the Middle East conflict and to urge immediate government action to achieve a peaceful resolution.
Thousands of people have marched through the Sydney C-B-D with others attending similar protests in Perth, Hobart and Brisbane.
Palestinian Action Group Sydney co-organiser Josh Lee told the protest anti-Semitic chants are not welcome at the demonstration.
"So, we need to reiterate again, no forms of racism, anti-Semitism included, these things are not welcome in our protest, not welcome in our movement, they've never been part of our movement, and we know that there are many Jewish people in the world who bravely stand with the Palestinian people."
More protests by Palestinian supporters are expected to take place in Melbourne and Adelaide on Sunday.
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The father of a freed American hostage Natalie Ranaan says she's doing well following two weeks in captivity, after she and her mother were abducted in Israel by Hamas militants and held in Gaza.
Uri Ranaan says that after seeing the news that an American mother and daughter would be released by Hamas, he spent the day hoping it would be his daughter, Natalie Raanan and her mother, Judith Raanan.
The women are the first hostages to be freed since Hamas gunmen launched attacked towns on southern Israel, killing 1400 people, mainly civilians, and taking around 200 hostages.
Israeli has since begun a campaign of retaliatory airstrikes that Gaza's health ministry, which is run by Hamas, says has left more than 3500 people dead, another 12,000 wounded and displaced around 1 million out of a population of 2.3 million.
Mr Ranaan says that he has been waiting for the release of his daughter and ex-wife for what feels like a "very long time".
"I haven't been sleeping for two weeks. Tonight, I'm going to sleep good. I spoke with my daughter earlier today she sounds very good. She looks very good. She was very happy. And she's waiting to come home. I spoke earlier with President Biden. I thank him for his concern, for his helping with the release of them."
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The families whose loved ones died in the worst road disaster in Australia for nearly 30 years have attended a service in their memory.
A public gathering has been held in Singleton, the country town home to many of the ten wedding guests who were killed and 25 who were injured when their coach crashed in the Hunter Valley in June.
The crash, on the bend of a highway on-ramp, occurred late at night as guests were being driven home from the reception, with the bus driver, who faces charges over the crash, remaining before the courts.
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Queenslanders impacted by a large bushfire burning in the central Deepwater region near Gladstone will get government financial assistance.
Federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt says hardship grants will provide $180 for individuals and up to $900 for a family of five to cover essential items including food, clothing and medicine.
This comes after people forced to flee their homes have finally been allowed to return after firefighters spent days battling the blaze, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning high fire dangers loom across inland Queensland.
Meanwhile, at least seven homes have been destroyed in bushfires on the NSW Mid-North Coast, as authorities warn of serious fire risks in the coming days.
New South Wales RFS Deputy Commissioner Peter McKechnie has told Channel 9 it's been a busy period.
"Look there's a lot of work - each day we've had between 700 and 900 firefighters out there doing all they can to secure the edges of those fires before we get into this next round of weather."
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Celebrations of the 50th birthday of the Sydney Opera House have continued, with the iconic building being illuminated with a laser light show.
Today, the Opera House is having its first open day in eight years, with 37,000 people having signed up for a free tour.
Local resident Stephen Johnson says the Opera House is a building that has stood the test of time.
"The Opera House is one of the most iconic and recognisable buildings in the world. It was born out of a wild crazy idea, which has been turned into one of the most astonishing buildings. It's hosted an amazing number of performances and performers over 50 years and at the end of it, it stands today and hasn't really aged. It's just an absolutely iconic building."
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In rugby,
The winner of England and South Africa's World Cup semi-final will face New Zealand as the All Blacks look to extend their record to a fourth tournament title.
New Zealand have remained on course as scoring machine Will Jordan grabbed a hat-trick of tries in a 44-6 drubbing of Argentina.
The Springboks, who are reigning champions and the number one ranked team in the world, are big favourites heading into their semi-final against England in Paris on Sunday.
England are hoping to redeem themselves after their loss to South Africa in the 2019 final in Japan, which followed one of the greatest all-round performances in their history, a 19-7 victory over New Zealand in the semi-finals.
