Universities Australia welcomes an inquiry into sexual consent laws; The death toll from the flooding in Libya reaches 11,300; Future Matildas matches to be broadcast on free-to-air.
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- Universities Australia welcomes an inquiry into sexual consent laws
- The death toll from the flooding in Libya reaches 11,300
- Future Matildas matches to be broadcast on free-to-air
Universities Australia has welcomed a parliamentary inquiry report on sexual consent laws, saying it is an "important step in the ongoing work to address the societal issue of sexual harm".
The group, which represents 39 universities, says "members have an unwavering commitment to combat this scourge" of sexual harm.
It says it is working with a campaigner against family violence to develop ways to strengthen university governance.
Chair of the inquiry, Liberal senator Paul Scarr says the committee was unanimous in its support of 17 recommendations for reform, including the immediate creation of an independent task force to address a woeful culture of sexual assault response.
"That the dedicated and courageous advocates, the university students who have suffered from sexual violence on campus should hold the view that the process of making complaints and how universities and the regulator deal with such complaints is causing great trauma to the victims of sexual violence. In the strongest terms, the commitee says that this is a shameful state of affairs. It is unacceptable."
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The Federal Police Association says it believes The Australian Federal Police has been one of several government agencies affected by a major cyber attack in April.
The initial target of the cyber breach was national law firm HWL Ebsworth, with leaked data about government departments and agencies subsequently published on the dark web.
The AFP was a client of the law firm.
The stolen information includes the identities and email addresses of AFP officers.
The breach is being investigated.
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United States President Joe Biden's son Hunter Biden has been criminally charged with deceiving a gun dealer into selling him a firearm.
It's the first time a sitting president's child has been prosecuted.
The indictment charged Hunter Biden with three criminal counts related to lying about the fact he was using illegal drugs at that time, which would have banned him under the law from owning a firearm.
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The speaker of Libya's eastern administration led parliamentary tributes to flood victims on Thursday, and ordered the government to restore the situation to normal within six months.
The death toll soared to 11,300 in Libya's coastal city of Derna.
In the parliament eastern city of Benghazi, a minute of silence was observed to mourn the victims.
Some members recited verses from the Quran.
Parliament speaker Aguila Saleh says the government must restore normalcy over the next few months.
“We call on the government to do more to save citizens, arrange housing, treatment, and decent living, and compensate them for the damage they have suffered. The government is required to restore everything to how it was and better, within a period not exceeding six months."
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Human impact has led the world to exceed six of the nine "planetary boundaries", according to a new report by an international team of 29 experts.
The study has found the safe limits for human life in areas such as the integrity of the biosphere, climate change and the use and availability of fresh water have already been exceeded.
Increased deforestation, excessive use of biomass, and the proliferation of man-made products like plastic are among the main concerns.
The director of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Johan Rockström, says the authorities have been ignoring scientific evidence.
"It's a double failure because, not only are we not acting on the scientific evidence we have, on many of these boundaries we have global frameworks. We have a Paris Agreement. We have a biodiversity agreement. So it's not as if we're sitting in the dark. What this research that we now publish adds, I think is this, you know, the necessity of really solving problems across all the Earth systems."
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Future Matildas matches will be broadcast free-to-air, after being added to the anti-siphoning list.
The list gives priority to free-to-air broadcasters to acquire the rights to major sporting events.
It comes after strong criticism from fans who could only access all 64 matches - during the Women's World Cup - on streaming platform Optus Sport with a subscription.
Federal minister for communications, Michelle Rowland, says the government recognises the need for events of national importance to be freely accessible.
