Aid organisations urge Foreign Minister Penny Wong to push for a Gaza ceasefire; UN agencies call urgently for more aid to Gaza; and Alex de Minaur into the second round of the Australian Open.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Aid organisations urge Foreign Minister Penny Wong to push for a Gaza ceasefire
- UN agencies call urgently for more aid to Gaza
- In tennis, Alex de Minaur into the second round of the Australian Open
Aid organisations want Foreign Minister Penny Wong to push for a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas during her visit to the Middle East.
Senator Wong will meet regional counterparts during her visit to Israel and the West Bank, along with Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.
Aid group Amnesty International said Senator Wong's visit to the region should be focused on ways for a ceasefire to be undertaken.
Amnesty International spokesman Mohamed Duar says the 100 days since the start of the war had seen a "chilling disregard of human rights".
He says the group has "repeatedly documented war crimes being committed by all parties to the conflict".
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Multiple UN agencies are warning that Gaza urgently needs more aid or its desperate population will suffer widespread famine and disease.
While the UN agency chiefs did not directly point a finger at Israel, they said aid delivery is hobbled by the opening of too few border crossings, a slow vetting process for trucks and goods going into Gaza, and continued fighting throughout the territory.
Israel plays a deciding factor in all of those things.
The World Food Program, UNICEF and the World Health Organization says new entry routes need to be opened to Gaza, more trucks need to be allowed in each day, and aid workers and injured people need to be allowed to move around safely.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says it is unacceptable that lifesaving aid is being blocked from reaching its destination.
"The aid operation faces major impediments to distribution within Gaza. This includes repeated denials of access to the north, where hundreds of thousands of people remain. Since the start of the year, just 7 of 29 missions to deliver aid to the north have been able to proceed. Large stretches of agreed routes cannot be used due to heavy fighting and debris. With unexploded ordinance also threatening convoys."
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Northern Australia is set to experience more wild weather, as rain and strong winds mean further flooding is expected in multiple states and territories.
Parts of the Northern Territory and Queensland are due to on Tuesday experience dangerous winds and flash flooding.
This is caused by a monsoon trough extending from the northern Kimberley of Western Australia to the Cape York Peninsula, as well as a tropical low over the Northern Territory.
In some cases, the centres due to receive more rain, are still working to clean up following Tropical Cyclone Jasper.
Flood warnings have been issued for the Cape York Peninsula and Gulf of Carpentaria, and for the Northern Territory's northwest.
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Residents in Western Australia are being urged to update their bushfire plans, with at least two houses now lost to the blazes raging north-east of Perth.
Firefighters have been battling fires right across the state, with at least 6,000 hectares already consumed by flames.
WA Minister for Emergency Services Stephen Dawson says the fires at Gingin and Chittering have now been contained and controlled, while the blaze at Bindoon is almost under control.
But, he warns, there is still a long way to gothis summer.
"As I said at the beginning of this fire season it will be a long one. It will be hot, dry and dangerous and we're certainly seeing that so far. I do urge Western Australians to take proper precautions when going outdoors and also to follow the bushfire advice and the alerts through the Emergency W-A website. I again urge everyone to create a bushfire plan, download the My Bushfire Plan app onto your phone. It takes less than 15 minutes but it could save your life and the life of your loved ones."
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Television drama Succession heads into the strike-delayed Emmy Awards as the favourite for many of the top honours.
The HBO series about the cutthroat Roy family leads all nominees with 27 nods for its fourth and final season.
The red-carpet gala is to be broadcast live from downtown Los Angeles from 12pm [[Tues 16 Jan AEDT]].
Succession is considered the favourite for the top honour of best drama series, which is an award it has already won twice.
The favourite for best comedy series is less clear, with Ted Lasso and restaurant dramedy The Bear top picks for the award.
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In tennis, new world No. 10 Alex de Minaur is through to the second round of the Australian Open.
Canadian Milos Raonic was forced to retire injured in the third set, allowing de Minaur to advance to next stage of the tournament where he will face Italy's Matteo Arnaldi.
De Minaur triumphed 6-7 (6/8), 6-3, 2-0.
De Minaur told Channel Nine, he is happy with the way he's been playing - and the plan is to keep it up.
"Keep going. I mean it is pretty simple, nothing changes. I've ticked a milestone, but I still want to get better. I still want to improve. I still want to get the absolute most out of myself and yeah, hopefully, I'm not done yet."
