Australia and the United States announce regional security strengthening measures; A new House Speaker is finally elected to the US Congress; Australian all rounder Glenn Maxwell shatters the record for fastest World Cup century.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Australia and the United States announce regional security strengthening measures
- A new House Speaker is finally elected to the US Congress
- Australian all rounder Glenn Maxwell shatters the record for fastest World Cup century
Australia and the United States have pledged an innovation alliance that will deepen ties across space exploration, clean energy, research and defence.
Speaking after a White House bilateral meeting, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and US President Joe Biden reaffirmed their diplomatic partnership.
The leaders have placed a strong emphasis on emerging technologies and cutting-edge research, with an almost A$10 million commitment to the CSIRO and its American counterpart.
The two leaders also discussed ways of improving the relationship with China.
"It is good that various senior representatives in the US administration have had meetings with their Chinese counterparts in recent times because dialog is always a good thing. Through dialog comes understanding and comes a diffusion of tension. We want a peaceful and secure region, but we want one as well that is based upon the rule of law."
Part of a state visit intended to deepen an alliance that's increasingly viewed as a critical counterweight to China's influence in the Pacific.
Mr Albanese is tending to Australia's relationship with China.
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Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock says the latest set of quarterly inflation data came in a little higher than its most up-to-date forecasts.
Ms Bullock was asked to appear before the Senate Economics Committee where she was questioned about the latest Consumer Price Index from the Bureau of Statistics.
Ms Bullock says the quarterly consumer price numbers were more or less in line with expectations.
"It's input prices really. Electricity costs, rents, wages. You will recall that award wages increased in the September quarter. Those sorts of things are all building into services inflation."
Petrol, rent, new builds and electricity helped fuel the 1.2 per cent lift over the three months to September, as captured in the Australian Bureau of
Statistics' quarterly consumer price index, up from 0.8 per cent in the June quarter.
Annual inflation moderated to 5.4 per cent from six per cent.
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Republicans in the United States have nominated Mike Johnson to lead the House of Representatives.
Mr Johnson, of Louisiana, is the fourth Republican this month to win the party's nomination for the speaker's chair, which has sat vacant since Kevin McCarthy was ousted on October the 3rd.
First elected in 2016, Mr Johnson will be the least-experienced House Speaker in decades.
Mr Johnson took to the floor to address his colleagues.
"I want to tell all my colleagues what I told the Republicans last night. I don't believe in any coincidences in a matter like this. I believe in scripture, the Bible is very clear. That god is the one that raises us those in authority. He is the one who raised each of you, all of us."
Mr Johnson is best known as the author of an unsuccessful appeal by 126 House Republicans to get the Supreme Court to overturn election results in states that Donald Trump had lost in the 2020 presidential election.
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Firefighters are confident they can protect the southern Queensland town of Tara from a ferocious blaze that has already claimed one life.
About 60 fires were burning across Queensland late on Wednesday, with high to extreme fire danger ratings expected for central and southern inland areas in the coming days.
About 350 people have been forced to flee their homes west of Brisbane as firefighters battle an erratic blaze that has burned more than 11,000ha, destroying at least five houses.
The blaze has proven difficult to combat due to wind changes, with flames reportedly up to 15m high.
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Australian all rounder Glenn Maxwell has defied illness to shatter the record for fastest World Cup century.
The 35-year-old smashed South Africa blaster Aiden Markram's previous mark of 49 with an extraordinary 40-ball ton against the Netherlands in Delhi that set up Australia's 309-run win.
Markram had claimed the record, previously held by Ireland's Kevin O'Brien since 2011, against Sri Lanka on October 7, but the star had it for just 18 days.
Maxwell says he had not even felt like playing due to illness but exploded into action.
"I got to be honest I was sitting in the change room and I did not want to bat. It was a bit different to the last game where I was way too eager to get out there. I did not have many high hopes. I had been really crook the last few days."
