TRANSCRIPT
- Homes lost and properties damaged in raging western Victoria bushfire
- The WHO aims to evacuate scores of patients from Gaza's second largest hospital
- In hockey, Blake Govers leads the Kookaburras to a 4-1 victory over Ireland.
Homes in western Victoria have been reported lost as reinforcements start arriving to bolster firefighters battling a large bushfire.
Thousands of residents from almost 30 communities near Ballarat have been told to "leave now," with emergency warnings and watch-and-act alerts issued.
Approximately 1,000 firefighters and 15 water bombing aircraft have been battling the blaze.
Victorian Country Fire Authority chief officer Jason Heffernan tells the ABC damage assessments are being carried out.
"We're getting early reports unfortunately of some home losses and as well as multiple sheds and of course given a rural agricultural area, I do expect fence loss, stock loss and the like. We've had specialist rapid damage impact assessment teams on the ground from seven o'clock this morning from Fire Rescue Victoria which will be going through that that area and trying to firm up those numbers."
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Police say the suspicious disappearance of Victorian woman Samantha Murphy is likely linked to one or more parties, as they begin a targeted search of an area based on mobile phone data.
The 51-year-old mother of three left her home in Ballarat East on February 4 to go jogging and has not been seen since.
Her disappearance is being treated as suspicious.
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Community organisations are calling for additional funding for homelessness services ahead of a joint housing minister meeting today.
Homelessness Australia, the Australian Council of Social Service, and the Australian Services Union have urged the government to renew $73 million in funding that is set to expire in June.
The organisations claim 295 people are being turned away from homelessness services each day due to lack of resources.
Federal, state, and territory leaders will meet virtually this afternoon to discuss a new give year housing and homelessness plan.
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The World Health Organisation and partners have so far carried out three evacuations from Gaza's Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, transferring 51 patients to southern Gaza.
The agency's lead for health emergencies, Ayadil Saparbekov, says the UN's global health agency aims to evacuate more of the roughly 150 patients stranded in Gaza's second-largest hospital.
“We’ll continue to coordinate with our partners including the health authorities, the Palestinian Red Crescent society and others to see if we can refer more patients out of Nasser Hospital to other hospitals in the south, however it's a very difficult and high-risk mission."
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Free-to-air TV bosses have joined forces to campaign for stronger anti-siphoning laws.
The heads of Channel 7, Nine, and Ten are to appear before a parliamentary hearing into laws that guarantee free-to-air broadcasters are offered the rights to major sporting broadcasts before they go behind a paywall.
The proposed legislation would also require free-to-air channels to be given prominence on Smart TVs over subscription services.
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Hockey player Blake Govers has returned to the Kookaburras line-up and scored twice in a 4-1 victory against Ireland in the FIH Pro League in India.
Australia remains undefeated with six wins out of six matches in the competition.
