TRANSCRIPT:
- The Nationals defend their split from the Liberals amid hope for a reunion;
- Donald Trump repeats genocide claims in a meeting with South Africa's President;
- Calls to reverse the falling number of First Nations A-F-L players.
Residents are being urged to heed evacuation warnings as a slow-moving trough dumps rain along Australia's east coast, leaving thousands of people stranded.
The New South Wales Department of Education says 145 schools remain closed across the Mid North Coast, Hunter and Central Coast regions.
A Departmental spokesperson has issued a statement that says parents must keep their kids at home if they have been told the school is not open.
New South Wales Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison meanwhile says some roads are just not safe to drive on.
"There are fines for people who drive through flood waters if that is found to be negligent which it is. You know that if you go through 30 centimetres of water, the power of that can move your car off the roadway.”
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At least three children are among the five people killed in a suicide bomb attack on a school bus in Pakistan.
Authorities say the bus was carrying around 40 children and was on its way to an army-run school in Pakistan's Balochistan province when it was struck by a car bomber.
No group has yet claimed responsibility, but Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti says suspicion is likely to fall on ethnic Baloch separatists who are part of a long-running insurgency in the region.
"I told you earlier that there was information suggesting that they would want to link this defeat in the war to Balochistan, and attempt something similar here. But we did not expect the enemy to stoop so low that innocent children have now become their targets."
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Donald Trump has repeated what critics say are unfounded claims about white farmers being targeted in a genocide during a meeting with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in the White House.
The US President played a video and printed articles he says shows evidence that back up his claims during the meeting.
Mr Ramaphosa has pushed back, saying he had not seen the video before, and that while crime is an issue in South Africa, it is mostly black people who are murder targets.
"It will take President Trump listening to the voices of South Africans, some of whom are his good friends, like those who are here. When we have talks between us around the quiet table, it would take President Trump to listen to them. I'm not going to be repeating what I've been saying."
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The man who led the Nationals during its last divorce from the Liberals believes the coalition partners will eventually reunite.
Ian Sinclair was leader of the Nationals during the coalition's five-month split in 1987, which was triggered by then-Queensland premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen's push to enter federal parliament.
Mr Sinclair says he is confident the latest trial separation will not last forever.
But Nationals leader David Littleproud has defended his actions, telling SBS he doesn't agree with former PM John Howard's assessment that the separation was a stupid move.
"We're getting plenty of tourist advice from people of the past, but this is about the present, and this is about the future, particularly for people in regional areas who we fought very hard for at the last election to make sure there was suite of policies that would change their lives and, in fact, in some cases, saved their lives."
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Eleven culturally significant objects are returning to Country in Australia after almost a century away.
The ten glass spearheads and a kangaroo tooth headband have spent the last almost 100 years at the Fowler Musuem in California.
The objects had been collected from Larrakia Country in the Northern Territory in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and donated to the museum.
It's understood elders have been working with the museum and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies to have the objects returned since 2021.
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A Victorian Liberal party member has declined to apologise for a stunt that saw a farmer drop cow poo outside the state premier’s office as part of a budget protest.
MP Bev McArthur has confirmed she was with the farmer who delivered the cow dung to the doorstep of Premier Jacinta Allan’s office, but has described it as a harmless stunt.
But manager of government business Mary-Anne Thomas has not seen the humour, writing instead to state parliament's privileges committee to request an investigation into the pair for bringing "discredit" on parliament.
She has also called on Opposition Leader Brad Battin to condemn the incident, which he has declined to do.
"It's not something I would have done, but what I do know is yesterday, people were very, very angry when it comes to the new taxes that are impacting on farms across Victoria."
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Two of football's Indigenous greats have expressed hope the Sir Doug Nicholls Round can spark action to reverse the falling number of First Nations players on AFL club lists.
Indigenous champions Michael Long and Stephen Michael say the AFL industry should do more to promote and support First Nations talent amid a sharp decline in numbers at the top level.
A record total of 87 Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander players were on AFL club lists in 2020, but that number has fallen each year since.
