TRANSCRIPT
- Thousands told to evacuate amid bushfires in Victoria
- The United Nations warns more people in Gaza could die from disease than war
- International football star Dani Alves found guilty of sexually assaulting a young woman
Thousands of people in 28 Victorian communities have been told to evacuate a large fire zone amid an out-of-control blaze.
An emergency warning has been issued for the communities west of Ballarat with concerns about a wind change expected to sweep the area.
Authorities have suggested conditions should ease this morning.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan says residents should be constantly looking for updates on their local conditions.
"Please continue to monitor your local situation very carefully, whether it's through the emergency app, the Victorian Emergency App, whether it's through listening to local radio, staying connected into your local communities. Please continue to monitor your own local conditions and also to please respect those road closures. Please respect that there are many firefighters out there on the ground who need to have that space to do the work in those local areas."
New South Wales police have revealed they are searching for police officer Beau Lamarre in connection with the disappearance of two Sydney men.
It comes after a significant amount of blood was found in one of their homes and in a skip bin along with some of their possessions.
Former Channel Ten reporter Jesse Baird and his Qantas flight attendant partner Luke Davies disappeared from Sydney's east on Monday and have not been heard from since.
The World Health Organisation warns infectious diseases in the Gaza Strip may ultimately cause more deaths among Palestians than the ongoing Israeli hostilities.
So far, the UN health agency has confirmed 200,000 cases of diarrheal diseases, which marks an increase of more than 20 per cent compared to last year.
The WHO has also confirmed a hepatitis-A outbreak with around 8,000 cases
WHO Regional Emergency Director Richard Brennan says there is an almost complete or imminent collapse of the health system in Gaza, with poor sanitation and access to clean water a major issue.
Israel's war in Gaza has driven around 80 per cent of the population of 2.3 million from their homes.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on October the 7th, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage.
Israel's national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has called for more restrictions on movement of Palestinians after a shooting attack near a West Bank settlement.
Three Palestinians have opened fire at motorists near an Israeli checkpoint in the occupied West Bank near Jerusalem, killing one person and wounding seven others.
The Minister says he expects to have more checkpoints and restrictions put in place.
"A very big disaster was prevented here, thanks to the fact that all police officers in the Israeli police are carrying weapons. I remind you, that six months ago I said clearly that the right to life outweighs the right to freedom of movement of residents of the Palestinian Authority. The right to life of Jewish residents outweighs the freedom of movement of the residents of the Palestinian Authority."
Meanwhile, four tonnes of aid including medicines, fuel and food has been air-dropped to Tal Al-Hawa Hospital in northern Gaza.
The United Kingdom-funded aid was delivered by the Jordanian Air Force.
The federal government has announced it will provide $3 million in funding for a program which aims to increase understanding of the indicators of violence and how to respond to disclosures of abuse.
It's specifically aimed at faith leaders and culturally and linguistically diverse communities in an effort to end violence against women and children.
On average in Australia, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner, while two of every five women have experienced violence since the age of 15.
Multicultural Women's Alliance Co-Founder Professor Supriya Singh says changing those statistics will mean grassroots support because funding is currently difficult to find.
"What you have is a few organisations, heavily funded and a lot of small culturally sensitive services, that actually are struggling for funding to keep their offices. Some of them have had to close down even though they were delivering very highly needed services."
Queensland Premier Steven Miles says he hopes the state will become Australia's renewable energy superpower after announcing a $570 million battery industry investment.
Mr Miles says it's part of a multimillion dollar strategy which is forecast to contribute $1.3 billion to the state's economy and create 9100 jobs by 2030.
He says the five-year plan will deliver jobs in battery technologies and manufacturing and supercharge industry innovation, commercialisation, investment and supply chain growth.
And in sport,
Former Barcelona and Brazilian footballer Dani Alves has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison by a Spanish court after being found guilty of sexual assault.
The 40-year-old is one of the most decorated footballers in history.
He had denied sexually assaulting the woman in December 2022.
His lawyer had asked for him to be acquitted and Alves can appeal against the sentence.
