Bashar al-Assad makes his first public statement since leaving Syria; Experts issue a warning over the rise of Islamophobia in Australia; And in sport, Australia takes control of third test against India at the Gabba.
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TRANSCRIPT
In this bulletin;
- Bashar al-Assad makes his first public statement since leaving Syria;
- Experts issue a warning over the rise of Islamophobia in Australia;
- And in sport, Australia takes control of third test against India at the Gabba.
Syria's former president, Bashar al-Assad, has issued his first statement since being ousted from power.
In a statement, he says he had no plans to leave the country after the fall of Damascus a week ago, but the Russian military evacuated him from their base in western Syria after it came under attack.
He says "at no point" did he consider "stepping down or seeking refuge", adding he remained in the capital Damascus until the early hours of Sunday, December the 8th.
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Experts are urging authorities to address skyrocketing reports of Islamophobia with the same level of urgency as a rise in antisemitism.
In the western Sydney suburb of Sefton, on Sunday residents woke to Islamophobic graffiti plastered on a busy road underpass.
The Islamophobia Register, which tracks reports of abuse and assaults towards Australian Muslims, has recorded more incidents of Islamophobia in a single year following October 7 2023 than in the entire eight years before.
The register saw a 1300 per cent increase in reported acts of Islamophobia in the three weeks post-October 7 and current levels of harassment are still around 530 per cent above average.
Dr Nora Amath, Executive Director of the register, says it is often Muslim women who are the targets.
"So incidents could be that they're just going about their everyday business where they're shopping with their children in their pram and getting verbally and physically assaulted while the child is in the pram. So we've had cases like that in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, as well as Brisbane. So that is probably a very common incident that's reported to us as well as attempts to remove the headscarf from them. We've seen a lot of graffiti as well."
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Treasurer Jim Chalmers says consular support is being provided to those involved in the Fiji alcohol poisoning incident.
Seven tourists, including four Australians, were transferred to hospital during their stay at a resort on the island nation, after falling ill while having drinks.
The cause of their hospitalisation has not yet been made public, with five of the seven patients already discharged.
Two of the Australians involved in the incident have returned home.
Dr Chalmers has thanked Foreign Affairs staff members for their swift response.
"We are thinking of the friends and family of the people who are affected. This is no doubt a very distressing time for them. DFAT (The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade) officials are in contact with those affected Australians and they are providing consular assistance. I wanted to thank and acknowledge the very fine people of DFAT for the effort that goes in, in situations like this."
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The Federal Treasury says the upcoming mid-year budget update will reveal a further $14.6 billion in extra savings.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers had warned earlier this week that necessary government spending in essential services are putting pressures on the budget.
It has been revealed that the total amount spent on maintaining those services comes to $8.8 billion.
Dr Chalmers is set to deliver the full mid-year budget update on Wednesday, with economists predicting it may be the last surplus delivered by Labor for a while.
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In cricket,
India's first innings woes have continued, allowing Australia's pace attack to take control of the third Test at the Gabba.
While rain may have the final say in deciding the current match, if the trend continues India will struggle to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
At stumps on the third day India were four to 51 and still trailing by 394 runs on the first innings.
This is now the eighth Test in a row in which India's batsmen have disappointed in the first innings, stretching back to their two-Test series against Bangladesh in September.
