TRANSCRIPT:
- Wild weather continues to pound the New South Wales mid north coast, with residents on flooding alert;
- The UK imposes sanctions on Russia without waiting for the US;
- Australia makes its presence felt at the Margaret River Pro.
Residents remain on high alert this morning as rising floodwaters threaten towns in the New South Wales mid north coast region.
The flooding is the result of heavy rainfall that is expected to continue into today as a coastal trough makes it way north.
The State Emergency Service says it has conducted 58 rescues in the wild weather, after more than 2700 incidents were reported by residents.
New South Wales Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib says communications have not yet been severely affected by the downpour.
"The Public Safety Network is still holding, and of course at this stage we don't have any issues with communications going down. But we also have that contingency there which is the Cells on Wheels, the mobile cell tower."
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Britain and the EU have imposed more sanctions on Russia, without waiting for the US to join them.
London and Brussels have said their new measures zero in what they have described as Moscow's "shadow fleet" of oil tankers and financial companies that have helped it avoid the impact of other sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine.
The leaders of Britain, France, Germany and Poland had jointly travelled to Kyiv earlier in May, saying then that they had new sanctions against Russia ready to go.
The announcement comes a day after US President Donald Trump spoke to Vladimir Putin without winning a promise for a ceasefire in Ukraine, and despite intense lobbying for Washington to join in on the sanctions.
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Air strikes have killed at least 50 people in Gaza overnight as Israel presses its war against Hamas.
Local health officials say the strikes fell across Gaza, with two homes where women and children were residing and a school housing displaced families among the sites hit.
Israel's military has not yet commented on the strikes.
But it has told those in southern Gazan city of Khan Younis to evacuate to the coast as it prepared for what it called an "unprecedented attack".
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Australia is offering to drop a luxury car tax in exchange for better meat access to European markets as Trade Minister Don Farrell prepares to meet EU counterpart Maros Sefcovic in the latest round of trade talks.
The offer is part of negotiations between Australia and the EU, who have been working to seal a free trade agreement and a defence pact.
Australia is pushing Europe to drop barriers preventing the importation of Australian beef and lamb and is hoping the luxury car tax offer will get the deal over the line.
But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has declared an agreement will only be signed if it is in Australia's interests.
"Our objective is to support an expansion of free and fair trade. And during the last term of government, the deal with the UAE is perhaps the template for free trade agreements, that is in Australia's interests... And we will wait and see."
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Queensland Health is being sued by a group of Aboriginal people who allege they have faced racial discrimination in the state's medical system for decades.
The law firm JGA Saddler is leading the class action, which alleges First Nations people in the North West and Torres and Cape Hospital and Health Services region have experienced the denial or withdrawal of adequate treatment, had their medical concerns dismissed, or received substandard medical care between 1996 and 2024.
The suit alleges this is in breach of the Queensland Racial Discrimination Act. s
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R-B-A Governor Michelle Bullock says the Reserve Bank's board is confident in their decision to cut interest rates by 25 basis points.
The rate cut on Tuesday has brought the cash rate to 3.85 per cent, a level it has not been on since May 2023.
Ms Bullock says the global outlook remains uncertain, describing the US president's ever-changing tariff pronouncements as a rollercoaster.
But she says the board has made the right decision given all current indicators.
"We were confident it was the right thing to do in the circumstances. I think what we can say is directionally we're confident that was the right thing to do. How confident are we that we know what's going to come and what we might have to do in the future? That's I think where the uncertainty comes in and also, as I said earlier, the unpredictability."
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To sport and in surfing news,
Australia's Jacob Willcox has eliminated world number one Italo Ferreira from Brazil in the men’s Round of 32 at this year's Margaret River Pro.
Mr Willcox says he is still reeling from beating one of his idols.
"Oh, I was stoked to surf against Italo (Ferreira), like he's one of my favourite surfers, he's such a talent and so amazing to watch out there, and I don't know, yeah, I was fired up."
Australian wildcard Mikey McDonagh has also had success, taking down current world number two Yago Dora with a strong debut.
But Jack Robinson and Ethan Ewing have been Australia's biggest casualties, both making shock exits on day two of the competition.
