In this bulletin, exploding walkie-talkies kill 14 and injure at least 450 in new attacks across Lebanon, the U-S central bank cuts official interest rates for the first time in more than four years, Chinese Super League side Shandong Taishan defeats the Central Coast Mariners.
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TRANSCRIPT:
- Exploding walkie-talkies kill 14 and injure at least 450 in new attacks across Lebanon.
- The U-S central bank cuts official interest rates for the first time in more than four years.
- Chinese Super League side Shandong Taishan defeats the Central Coast Mariners...
Walkie-talkies and solar energy equipment have exploded in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon in what appears to be a second wave of attacks in the region.
The Lebanese Ministry says at least 14 people have been killed and more than 450 were injured.
Footage shot in the aftermath showed destroyed devices bearing the brand Icom, a Japanese company.
The Israeli government has not commented on the explosions in Lebanon, neither accepting nor denying responsibility.
The walkie-talkie attacks come a day after hundreds of handheld pagers used by Hezbollah exploded in Lebanon and Syria, claiming at least 12 lives and injuring almost 3,000 people.
Meanwhile, Israel's Defence minister Yoav Gallant says the country is "opening a new phase in the war", and the "centre of gravity is shifting to the north".
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The White House says it's still involved in intensive diplomacy to prevent a second front of war from opening up on the border with Lebanon.
The United States central bank has cut official interest rates for the first time in more than four years.
The U-S Federal Reserve reduced its key lending rate by half a percentage point bringing official interest rates down to around 4.8 percent, down from a two-decade high of 5.3 percent.
The large rate cut signals an end to its fight again inflation in the U-S, which has come down to 2.5 percent.
The Fed is the world's most influential central bank with its decisions influencing the cost of borrowing around the world
However, the Reserve Bank of Australia is not expected to follow suit until next year because of persistent inflation.
Later this morning, the latest official unemployment figures will be released.
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The accidental release of a secret review into Australia's military justice system is drawing criticism following it's removal from the Royal Commission's website.
The report examining the office of the Inspector General of the A-D-F made recommendations to make the agency more independent in an effort to combat perceptions the independent umpire was too closely linked to the A-D-F's top authorities.
The report states that the office of the Inspector General is "umbilically linked" to the command structure of the defence force.
The review was accidentally leaked to the Royal Commission website before being removed, but was later made public by the government after circulating online.
Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie has been calling on the release of the reports for months and is blaming Defence Minister Richard Marles for the mishandling of the review.
Greens Senator David Shoebridge, whose office found the report online, accuses the government of attempting to hide the evidence.
"The question defence minister Marles must face now is, did he order the editing of the Royal Commission website? Is this really how he's responding to a three year Royal Commission which which only has integrity because of its independence? Is he really responding and his department responding to it by removing uncomfortable evidence from the Royal Commission? Because that's what happened yesterday."
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Labor's Help-to-Buy bill has been delayed for two months after negotiations between Labor and the Greens reached a stalemate.
The Greens and the Coalition secured a two month delay on the draft law.
The Help-to-Buy scheme pledges to give 40,000 first-home buyers access to cheaper deposits through a shared equity scheme with the federal government.
The bill is the second housing legislation to be delayed in the Senate this week after tense debate saw the Build to Rent bill stalled for negotiations on Tuesday.
The Greens are arguing the Help-to-Buy bill will push up rent and house prices and say more protections are needed for renters and more funding is needed for public housing.
Senate Opposition leader Simon Birmingham says it is simply bad policy.
"Our view is, you're better off focusing on the fundamentals to actually get the cost of building houses down, get the ability to develop them up, and control and deal with population pressures, rather than this dubious billion dollar government scheme."
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In football,
The Central Coast Mariners have been defeated 3-1 by Chinese Super League side Shandong Taishan in their A-F-C Champions League Elite debut.
Mark Jackson's side found themselves trailing just after eight minutes, but brought things level at the last seconds of the first half with a successful penalty kick by Mikael Doka.
The Australian side continued to push forward searching for a second goal but were punished by their opponents on the counterattack on the 74th minute.
The final score was formed two minutes before the end of the 90, sealing the Mariners' defeat.
