Israel to allow temporary aid deliveries through its border with the Gaza Strip; Over 100 flights are cancelled in Sydney amid a severe weather warning in the state; And in basketball, a new Victorian government grant gives young African Australians an opportunity to better participate in sport.
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TRANSCRIPT
In this bulletin,
- Israel to allow temporary aid deliveries through its border with the Gaza Strip;
- Over 100 flights are cancelled in Sydney amid a severe weather warning in the state;
- And in basketball, a new Victorian government grant gives young African Australians an opportunity to better participate in sport.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced Israel will allow temporary aid deliveries through its border with the northern Gaza Strip.
It comes just hours after a phone call between the Prime Minister and United States President Joe Biden, during which Mr Biden says he called for an immediate ceasefire.
Aid will be able to be delivered through a port around 40 kilometres north of Gaza.
International pressure has been mounting on Israel after it took responsibility for a strike which killed seven employees of a US-based charity, World Central Kitchen.
Amnesty International Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel spokesman Mohamed Duar told SBS the opening of the crossing shows how much power the United States has.
"The opening of the crossing demonstrates just how much power the Biden administration has in this crisis, and how America can in fact protect and defend civilians. Amnesty International demands immediate humanitarian aid access at scale to protect the 2 million civilians that are currently trapped in Rafa. 95 per cent of people living in famine in the world today are currently in Gaza. A ground invasion by Israeli forces is imminent, and there is a grave risk of genocide."
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The Australian Government has been briefed by the Israeli military on the investigation into the death of Zomi Frankcom.
Israel Defence Forces spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner says the report on the strike against seven World Central Kitchen aid workers would be made public within 24 hours.
Colonel Lerner says the IDF are sorry for the very grave mistake, saying it was caused by misidentification of the vehicles.
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More than 100 flights travelling in and out of Sydney airport have been cancelled.
A severe weather warning in in place for Sydney, Illawarra, the Blue Mountains and Hunter Valley, with heavy rainfall and damaging winds expected to continue throughout the day.
In a statement, a Sydney Airport spokesperson said: “Due to storm activity, there have been flight delays and cancellations. We encourage passengers to check with their airline regarding the status of their flight.”
SES Commissioner Carlene York says people should put off unnecessary travel today.
"So at the moment out there, the roads are quite dangerous, heavy rain. So I'm asking people to drive towards those conditions and if it's not a necessary trip to put it off to another day, the SES are putting out lots of warnings to be ready to our communities in those areas, particularly the metropolitan area and out around the Hawkesbury Nepean area. Those communities out there at the Hawkesbury Nepean area have obviously suffered floods many times before, but it's always important to stay up to date with our information."
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A former Channel 7 producer claims Bruce Lehrmann promised access to documents from his aborted rape trial when signing an exclusive contract with the network.
Former Spotlight producer Taylor Auerback told a Federal Court defamation trial Lehrmann leaked text messages extracted by police from alleged victim Brittany Higgins' phone.
He told the court the messages came from a document compiled ahead of the ex-Liberal staffer's trial for allegedly raping Ms Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.
The criminal trial against Bruce Lehrmann was abandoned due to juror misconduct, and there have been no findings against him. Mr Lehrmann maintains his innocence.
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And in sport,
A new government grant is giving African Australians an opportunity to better participate in sports and recreation in the city of Wyndham in Victoria.
As part of the Building Safer Communities Program, a basketball clinic has been set up for young South Sudanese Australians aged between 12 and 25 years old.
The Junubi Wyndham Community Support Group is a coordinated, community-led approach to enhance youth and community engagement and to respond to local community issues and needs.
This young player explains why she loves the program.
"It's really fun I like all the coaches they're really nice. The activities are good too. It's good because I can learn new things and I can work on stuff."
