TRANSCRIPT
- Palestinian officials say at least 17 people have died in the latest fighting in Gaza.
- A Tasmanian man jailed for possessing child abuse material generated by artificial intelligence.
- Wins for Fremantle and Carlton
Palestinian officials say Israel has conducted a sustained aerial and ground bombardment of the Gaza Strip, killing dozens of Palestinians as fighting raged around Gaza City's main Al Shifa hospital.
Palestinian health officials say two Israeli strikes on the Al-Shejaia suburb in eastern Gaza City killed 17 people, while an Israeli air strike on a house in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip killed eight people.
The Israeli military says its forces continued operations around the Al Shifa complex while trying to avoid harm to civilians, patients, medical teams and medical equipment.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the go ahead for a new round of tals on a Gaza ceasefire which he says will be held in Doha and Cairo in the coming days.
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A Tasmanian man has been jailed at least 10 months after police found hundreds of files depicting child abuse on his computer, including content generated using artificial intelligence.
Police raided the 48-year-old's home in May in the state's Tamar Valley region after multiple reports from the the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children about an Australian downloading child abuse material from a website and social media platform.
Police found hundreds of files depicting child abuse on his computer, including a significant amount that was generated using artificial intelligence.
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More than $23 million dollars has been raised in the annual Good Friday Appeal for the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.
Executive Director of the Good Friday Appeal Rebecca Cowan has told Nine Radio it's a record result.
"This year's appeal is incredible. We had so many people get behind it and throughout the whole day, just the community, patients, families, everyone supporting and donating what they were able to donate and it's just incredible result."
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The Vatican says Pope Francis skipped the traditional Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum to protect his health.
His absence has added to concerns about his frail condition.
Francis had been expected to preside over the Way of the Cross procession, which re-enacts Christ’s Passion and crucifixion, and had composed the meditations that are read aloud at each station.
But just as the event was about to begin, the Vatican announced that Francis was following the event from his home at the Vatican.
Brian Hopp from the United States says he's glad Pope Francis decided to prioritise his health.
“I definitely don’t think it was a decision taken lightly, I think a lot was taken into it and I think he probably prioritised his health for Easter which I think is a very responsible thing to do. I know he has been going through a lot this year so I don’t expect him to be able to make every event. It is still a beautiful ceremony celebrating, well not celebrating, but giving grace to Good Friday so I think it was the best.”
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The head of the US central bank says he wants to see more evidence of lower inflation before cutting interest rates.
Inflation has fallen in the United States from a peak of 9.1 per cent in June 2022 to 3.2 per cent last month.
The Federal Reserve wants to see annual price increases falling towards its target of 2 per cent.
Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says the bank doesn't want to cut rates prematurely.
"We don't see it as likely to be appropriate, that we would begin to reduce interest rates until the committee, the Federal Open Market Committee, is confident that inflation is moving down to 2% on a sustained basis. And what do we need to do to get that confidence? It's just more good inflation readings like the ones we were getting last year."
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The first African-American man to win the best supporting actor Oscar has died at the age of 87.
Louis Gossett Junior won the Acadamy Award in 1983 for his role as Gunnery Sergeant Emil Foley in An Officer and a Gentleman.
He also collected an Emmy in 1978 for his role in the TV mini-series, Roots.
No cause of death has been given by his family.
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In the AFL,
Fremantle has beaten Adelaide by 35 points in Perth and Carlton has defeated North Melbourne by 56 points at the MCG.
In today's matches, Essendon is up against St Kilda and Port Adelaide takes on Melbourne.
