Nine people die after severe storms on east coast, United Nations appoints new coordinator for humanitarian aid to Gaza, Manchester United come back from two goals down to beat Aston Villa 3-2.
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TRANSCRIPT
The number of people who have lost their lives as a result of the severe storms that have hit the east coast of Australia has risen to nine, including a nine-year-old girl.
According to authorities in Queensland, a third body has been discovered after a boat that carried 11 people capsized in Moreton Bay.
One of the three who have died in the incident has been identified as local rugby player David Logan, while another has been confirmed as school teacher Steven Tait.
Meanwhile, social media have been flooded by videos of people showing the heavy thunderstorms that have hit parts of Queensland.
Jonathan How from the Bureau of Meteorology says condition are expected to ease but there is still a risk of severe thunderstorms right across the east coast.
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Sigrid Kaag, the Dutch former deputy prime minister and a Mideast expert, has been appointed as the United Nations' coordinator for humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza.
The announcement by U-N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres follows the Security Council’s adoption of a resolution on Friday requesting him to quickly appoint a senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, where more than 2 million civilians are in desperate need of food, water and medicine.
Mr Guterres says Ms Kaag, who speaks fluent Arabic and five other languages, brings a wealth of experience in political, humanitarian and development affairs as well as in diplomacy to her new post.
She is expected to start on January 8.
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A senior World Health Organisation official says almost all hospitals in Gaza Strip had stopped functioning following a devastating airstrike on refugee camp on Christmas Eve.
Speaking from the Joint Humanitarian Operations Center in Rafah, Sean Casey has recounted what he describes as carnage as large numbers of severely injured people arrived at the Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza.
“We heard about significant casualties arriving in Al-Aqsa hospital. And what we found when we got there was that there had been 100 plus patients brought in with serious injuries within a very short period, within about 30 minutes they said, plus about 100 deaths that were brought into the hospital around the same time. And we heard from one of the doctors at Al-Aqsa hospital that they had a stream of patients following that for about the next 12 hours, a significant number of patients.”
The United Nations human rights office said the continued bombardment of middle Gaza had claimed more than 100 Palestinian lives since Sunday.
The office noted that Israel had ordered some residents to move there.
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US carrier Spirit Airlines has apologised for placing a six-year-old boy on the wrong flight and sending him over 260 kilometres away from his family.
The boy was originally meant to travel to Southwest Florida International Airport along with the rest of his family.
But the six-year-old, who was given over to the care of cabin crew by his parents, was placed on a flight which went to Orlando.
After expressing their concerns to the crew, the family finally located the child after he called them once his flight had landed in the wrong destination.
The airline has apologised for the incident, saying the boy was under the care and supervision of the cabin crew the entire time.
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The organisers of Sydney's New Year's fireworks celebration say they are planning the best show yet.
This year, the event organisers say the focus will be firmly anchored around First Nations traditions and for the first time in the event’s history, visual animations created by artificial intelligence will be projected throughout the evening on the pylons of Sydney Harbour Bridge.
With over a million people expected across the various Sydney Harbour vantage points, things are set to kick off at around 9pm.
City of Sydney Major Events executive producer Stephen Gilby says he hopes the event will give people the opportunity for a fresh start.
"I guess, Sydney New Year's Eve is really always about new beginnings. And I think this year has been quite trying for some people, and particularly in some parts of the world, and we're really wanting to focus on this being a fresh start and a new start full of hope and joy. And that's the message that we really want to transmit to the world."
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In football,
Manchester United have gone to hell and back as they fought from a 0-2 deficit to claim a 3-2 win against Aston Villa at Old Trafford for the Premier League.
The visitors were up by two at half time and looked as prime favourites to return home with an easy three points.
But the home side found their way back into the match with a brace by Alejandro Garnacho and eight minutes before the end, Rasmus Hojlund gave United the victory with his first Premier League goal.
Manchester United manager Eric ten Hag says his team was already playing good football from the first half.
"Just slightly we made an adjustment in half time. But our game already (in) the first half was okay. We got down by two set plays where we, maybe, lose a little bit focus. Or was very smart from Aston Villa, you can also see it in that way. But keep playing, believing that you will win. At first get the 2-1 and the we will see what happens. And also you see then, they get nervous."
Meanwhile Liverpool have moved past Arsenal, who have a game to play, to the top of the table after their 0-2 win at Burnley.
