The extent of the flood damage in Queensland soon to become clear, a man charged with murder over the disappearance of Aboriginal woman Allison Bernard; and in football, Socceroo Aziz Behich lands a loan deal to join Cristiano Ronaldo at a Saudi club.
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TRANSCRIPT
- The extent of the flood damage in Queensland soon to become clear
- A man charged with murder over the disappearance of Aboriginal woman Allison Bernard
- Socceroo Aziz Behich lands a loan deal to join Cristiano Ronaldo at a Saudi club
The full extent of southeast Queensland's flooding damage may soon be revealed with rain finally set to ease.
Thousands lost power, more than 20 schools were closed, roads were cut and 39 swiftwater rescues were completed as severe weather lashed the area.
Some of the worst hit were north of Brisbane in the Moreton Bay area and the Sunshine Coast, while Lockyer Valley further west was also inundated.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles says the aim today is to carry out flood damage assessments.
"I ran into SES volunteers there who had I seen in Cairns, the Gold Coast, Townsville and now here in Moreton Bay. That is a testament to the dedication of our volunteers. But also a symbol of how hard they worked this disaster season. It really has been very busy. They are out there today doing disaster assessments on 399 propertiesat Bray Park - thought to be affected by the flooding."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been visiting flood-impacted areas.
He says seeing how emergency services and volunteer organisations have responded has been inspiring.
"That is the sort of spirit that we consistently see that at the worst of times, we see the best of the Australian character and here in Queensland, we see the strength of the fortitude and resilience that Queenslanders have, but the determination to help each other, and that is a fantastic thing."
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A man has been charged with murder over the disappearance of a 23-year-old woman in a remote Cape York community more than a decade ago.
Aboriginal woman Allison Bernard was last seen at Archer River Quarry on February 10 in 2013, around 11pm.
She had been at the Exchange Hotel in Coen earlier that evening and was expected to return home to Kowanyama, but never arrived.
A 62-year-old man was charged with murder.
He is due to appear in the Cairns Magistrates Court on Wednesday.
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To the Middle East, Hamas says it has received a new proposal for a ceasefire and release of hostages in Gaza, presented by mediators after talks with Israel, in what appeared to be the most serious peace initiative for months.
A senior Hamas official says the proposal involved a three-stage truce, during which the group would first release remaining civilians among hostages it captured on October 7, then soldiers, and finally the bodies of hostages that were killed.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not indicate how long the stages would last or what was envisioned to follow the final stage.
It marks the first time since the collapse of the only brief truce of the war so far, in late November, that details were released of a new proposal being considered by both sides.
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US President Joe Biden says he has made a decision on how to respond to the drone attack in Jordan that killed three US soldiers, but he has refused to provide more details.
An Iran-backed militia group has claimed responsibility for the attack at a US military base.
Mr Biden has been weighing his options and the expectation has been that there will be retaliatory strikes, but the timing of the response has been unclear.
Speaking to reporters as he left the White House on a campaign trip to Florida, he says he holds Iran responsible for supplying the weapons used in the attack.
"I do hold them responsible in the sense that they're supplying the weapons to people who did it... I don't think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That's not what I'm looking for."
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Socceroos defender Aziz Behich is set to play alongside Portuguese superstar Cristiano Ronaldo after he secured a loan deal to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr until the end of the season.
The 33-year-old's signing was announced barely an hour after South Korea beat Saudi Arabia on penalties to tee up an Asian Cup quarterfinal clash with the Socceroos.
He will head to the Gulf state once the Socceroos' Asian Cup campaign is over.
