TRANSCRIPT
- The polls open in Queensland - with the race for Premier tightening
- United States president Joe Biden formally apologises to Native Americans
- Cricket Australia has overturned David Warner's lifetime leadership ban for ball tampering
Queenslanders are voting today in a state election which is expected to be very close.
Queensland's leadership hopefuls have made their final pitches to voters as a new poll shows Labor has made gains and narrowed the Liberal National Party's (LNP) lead.
Premier Steven Miles and Opposition leader David Crisafulli of the LNP are neck and neck for preferred state premier.
Mr Miles says voters need to think carefully about the future of abortion rights if Mr Crisafulli becomes premier.
"I know that Queensland women will be asking themselves, 'Am I sure, am I sure that they won't change our abortion laws', and unless he can guarantee there won't be a conscience vote then David Crisafulli can't assure Queensland women that the law won't change and the state won't force them to stay pregnant even if they don't want to be."
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The United Nation's human rights chief says the war in Gaza's “darkest moment” was unfolding in the north of the territory.
Volker Turk says the Israeli military is subjecting an entire population to bombing, siege and risk of starvation.
He called on world’s leaders to act, saying states had a duty under the Geneva Conventions to ensure respect for international humanitarian law.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation says it has lost contact with its team at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia in Gaza.
Nearly 43-thousand Palestinians have been killed in the war between Hamas and Israel, following the October 7 attack on Israel in 2023, when around 1200 people died.
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Global financial crimes watchdog has placed Lebanon on its grey list of countries under special scrutiny.
Lebanon has been in a financial crisis since 2019 that has been left to fester by the country's leaders and now faces growing damage from Israeli airstrikes and ground operations against Hezbollah.
The president of the Financial Action Task Force, said Lebanon has until 2026 to tackle its problems because of the conflict with Israel.
Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister says the country's placement on the grey list was an expected move with Lebanon making progress in implementing many recommended actions.
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United States president Joe Biden has formally apologised to Native Americans for the government-run boarding school system that for decades took Indian children from their parents by force.
Mr Biden says the system is a "sin on the soul of the U-S" and it will always be a blot on American history,
In his first presidential visit to Native Country, Mr Biden spoke about the abuses and deaths of native children caused by government policies.
The US president also says there is no excuse that it took 50 years to make an apology.
Democrats hope the visit will boost the chances of vice president Kamala Harris winning next month's presidential election.
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The Australian South Sea Islander people have marked 30 years since the Australian government recognised them as a distinct cultural group in 1994.
South Sea Islanders are the descendants of Pacific Islanders, some of whom were kidnapped and forced to work in the sugar cane industry in Australia, a practice known as blackbirding.
Chair of the Australian South Sea Islander Port Jackson association, Emelda Davis, says they've celebrated the anniversary with the annual Sugar Festival in Sydney.
"Sugar Fest, oceanic culture, history, and music was an initiative that was born in collaboration with the city of Sydney back in 2019 and baby steps we've been building and I guess moving into national organisations or institutions such as the Botanical Gardens to help, I guess share the culture because it is a shared history and bringing our descendants together, but also re-connection with our First Nations and Pacific Island families and broader communities."
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And in sport,
Cricket Australia has overturned David Warner's lifetime leadership ban for ball tampering after he appealed.
An independent three-member review panel unanimously ruled to overturn the captaincy ban imposed on Warner for his leading role in the ball-tampering saga.
The panel found Warner was contrite over the "Sandpapergate" scandal in South Africa in 2018.
The cricketer told a hearing yesterday [[Oct 25]] he had "let every single person down" in Cape Town.
