Flood warnings remain in place in Far North Queensland; the Pope will allow priests to administer blessings to same-sex couples; and in sports, the Champions League round of 16 draw comes up with interesting pairings.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Flood warnings remain in place in Far North Queensland
- The Pope will allow priests to administer blessings to same-sex couples
- The Champions League round of 16 draw comes up with interesting pairings
Heavy and intense rainfall that has battered far-north Queensland is beginning to ease, but the Bureau of Meteorology says flood warnings are still in place.
Major flood warnings are current for the Herbert, Murray and Daintree Rivers, with moderate alerts in place for the Tully and Barron Rivers, and a minor warning for the Mulgrave.
Senior meteorologist Lauren Boekel advises residents to stay across updated warnings, and says there is still a high risk shower and storm activity will continue to deliver significant amounts of water to the affected areas.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles says weather conditions made the evacuation of the town of Wujal Wujal impossible, but a new rescue will be attempted this morning.
"In some positive news the Cairns water treatment plant is now operating and is providing safe, clean water to the Cairns CBD and also to the Cairns hospital. I want to thank the technicians who did a really great job of getting that operating again, it meant we don't have to evacuate patients out of Cairns hospital. The defence force has been providing fantastic support, when and as needed."
Queensland police have reminded people they should never attempt to drive through floodwaters.
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United States officials say they've urged Israel to make the war in Gaza more "surgical" and move to "lower intensity operations".
On a visit to Tel Aviv, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated US support for Israel and says his country offered its ally some insights into fighting terrorist groups.
"We also have some great thoughts about how to transition from high intensity operations to a lower intensity and more surgical operations. So we had great discussions on all of those issues."
Israel has said it's targeting what it calls terrorist infrastructure.
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United States officials say they've urged Israel to make the war in Gaza more "surgical" and move to "lower intensity operations".
On a visit to Tel Aviv, Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin reiterated U-S support for Israel and says his country offered its ally some insights into fighting terrorist groups.
"We also have some great thoughts about how to transition from high intensity operations to a lower intensity and more surgical operations. So we had great discussions on all of those issues."
Israel has said it's targeting what it calls terrorist infrastructure.
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Oil multinational BP says it is suspending all shipping through the Red Sea due to the "deteriorating security situation".
About 15 per cent of world shipping traffic transits via the Suez Canal, the shortest shipping route between Europe and Asia.
Several major shipping firms - including Maersk - have begun to sail around Africa instead.
Analysts say that that will add costs and delays, which are expected to increase over coming weeks.
A spokesman for the Houthis in Yemen says ships travelling in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea are safe except those that belong to Israel.
The Houthis launched a drone attack on two cargo vessels in the area on Monday as part of a series of missile and drone strikes on shipping which it says are a response to Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip.
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Pope Francis has allowed Catholic priests to administer blessings to same-sex couples, as long as they are not part of regular Church rituals or liturgies.
The decision was made official in a document issued by the Vatican.
The document says the Catholic Church continues to view marriage as between a man and a woman, but says the change should be a sign that "God welcomes all".
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Scamwatch says Australians have lost more than 7 million dollars to online shopping scams over the year to November.
Now, just one week out from Christmas, major telcos and the national consumer monitor are warning people to take extra care when shopping for gifts online.
Telstra says it's seen a 66 per cent increase in SMS scams compared to the year before.
Darren Pauli, a cyber security expert for Telstra, says scammers will try anything to get people's money, from dodgy QR codes and impersonating reputable companies to requesting payment via direct deposits.
"Something arrived in someone's post, by registered post, in the mailbox. That was a letter and it had a number to call and a URL on there. So it was sort of mixed domains there. You've got post, phone number - and it was a scam!"
