TRANSCRIPT
- A Guantanamo Bay panel recommends a 23-year detention for those connected to the Bali Bombings
- The Hague is set to rule on whether to order Israel to suspend its military campaign in Gaza
- The Socceroos’ Coach confident of victory against Indonesia in the Asian Cup quarter-finals
A military panel at Guantanamo Bay has recommended 23 years in detention for two Malaysian men in connection with deadly 2002 bombings in Bali.
The recommendation follows guilty pleas earlier this month under plea bargains for longtime Guantanamo detainees Mohammed Farik Bin Amin and Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep.
Guantanamo military commission spokesman Ronald Flesvig confirmed the sentencing recommendations.
202 people were killed including 88 Australians in two nearly simultaneous bombings at nightspots on the resort island of Bali.
The two defendants have denied any role or advance knowledge of the attacks but under the plea bargains admitted they had over the years conspired with the network of militants responsible.
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Thousands of Townsville residents are still without power as northern Queensland begins to clean up following ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily.
Damaging winds and rainfall totals from 100-150mm hit regions on Thursday evening but minimal property damage was recorded.
Around 66,000 customers experienced a power outage at the peak of the cyclone's coastal crossing but as of this morning, 48,000 households remained without power.
Ergon Energy deployed 600 crews to continue restoration efforts and said the focus would be on Townsville which had the majority of outages.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles said power outages were also affecting phone networks and water supply for around 10,000 households.
He's credited there being no loss of life to Queenslanders' emergency preparedness.
"We're still monitoring the impact of flooding on the channel country, as well as the Western Cape. So there could still be impacts there. But certainly our heavily populated areas are now largely in the clear and that's that's really good news. It's a credit to how well prepared everybody was that we've not seen any loss of life."
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The Hague is set to rule on whether to order Israel to suspend its military campaign in Gaza as officials push ahead with efforts to negotiate a new deal for a ceasefire and release of more Israeli hostages.
On the ground, the Israeli military is still engaged in intensive battles in the heart of Khan Younis.
Gaza officials say Israeli strikes killed 20 Palestinians queuing for food aid in Gaza City, 11 people in central Gaza's refugee camp and at least 50 people in the prior 24 hours in Khan Younis.
This comes as Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, expressed his disappointment with the global organisation.
"To this day, to this day no UN institution has condemned the October 7th massacre. It's shocking. Even the International Court of Justice - justice, for heaven's sake, did not see it morally fitting to condemn Hamas' barbaric massacre against our children and people. This silence is unfathomable."
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A jury has awarded former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll an additional A$126.65 million in damages after accusing former President Donald Trump of damaging her reputation by calling her a liar after she accused him of sexual assault.
This morning's ruling is the second in nine months in which a jury addressed Ms Carroll's claim that Mr Trump assaulted her in a New York City department store in 1996.
Another jury last May found Mr Trump liable for sexual assault and ordered him to pay AU$7.6 million.
This defamation trial is over statements Mr Trump made about Ms Carroll when he was president.
He continues to insist he is innocent.
"I don't even know who this woman is. I have no idea who she is, where she came from. This is another scam. It's a political witch hunt, and somehow we're going to have to fight this. We cannot let our country go into this abyss. This is disgraceful. ... The whole thing is a scam and it's a shame and it's a disgrace to our country."
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Coach Graham Arnold is confident the Socceroos can find their goal-scoring form against Indonesia and book their ticket to the Asian Cup quarter-final in style.
Australia will enter Sunday's round-of-16 clash as top of group B but off the back of scratchy form.
The Socceroos scored just four goals in three group games as they struggled to break down packed defences.
But ahead of Arnold's 50th match at the helm since taking the reins full-time in 2018, he was adamant his charges were "just about to click".
