TRANSCRIPT
- An Australian tourist reported missing near Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.
- Authorities in Victoria warn residents to remain on alert as firefighters battle a bushfire.
- And in sport, The Matildas defeat Uzbekistan in the Olympic qualifiers.
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An Australian tourist has gone missing in Zimbabwe, in the national park surrounding the famous 108 metre drop of Victoria Falls.
Zimbabwe National Parks and Wildlife Management Authority spokesman Tinashe Farawo says a "fully-fledged team" is looking for the 67-year-old throughout the vast rainforest.
Mr Farawo says rangers have deployed sniffer dogs, drones and trackers on the ground to look for the tourist.
Such incidences are rare in Victoria Falls, a destination that attracts thousands of tourists from across the globe each year.
It comes a few months after a German tourist, who went missing in Matusadona National Park in northern Zimbabwe was found alive and in good health three days after he was reported missing in October.
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Firefighters battling a large blaze in western Victoria have been aided by cooler weather conditions - but residents have been warned to remain on alert.
The bushfire has now torn through nearly 16,000 hectares and destroyed at least three homes.
Premier Jacinta Allan has surveyed some of the regional towns affected by the fire from the air with local authorities.
She is urging locals to continue to be aware of the risks.
"There's currently 700 people out on the fire ground, out actively working on this fire. But it is a big and wide fire front that has many points, many points that are active, and it is also continuing to cause concern with some of those spot fires that are up to kilometres and kilometres ahead of that main fire front."
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Talks are continuing in Paris on a possible ceasefire agreement in Gaza.
Israel has not publicly commented on the talks, which are expected to continue through the weekend, but senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan has said the group has not changed its stance in the latest push to reach a deal, and still demands that a truce end with a complete Israeli military pull-out.
Mediators are ramping up efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza to avoid an incoming ground assault on the city of Rafah, where more than a million displaced people are sheltering.
White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby says he hopes the talks will lead to an extended truce.
"We continue to work at this very, very hard. We believe that the discussions and negotiations to date have been constructive. Obviously, they have not been they have not been conclusive because we don't have a deal in place. But the fact that these negotiations are still ongoing and that people are, in fact, sitting together to try to hash it out is a good thing."
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The body of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been handed over to his family following his unexpected death in prison nine days ago.
A spokesperson for Navalny says the transfer took place in the remote Arctic city of Salekhard.
Navalny's mother Lyudmila had earlier said that Russian investigators were refusing to release his body from the morgue until she agreed to lay him to rest without a public funeral.
In a video recorded before the release of the body, Navalny's widow Yulia Navalnaya had accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of "torturing" the corpse of a political opponent.
"Today is the ninth day since my husband died. Nine days since Putin killed Alexei Navalny. But murder was not enough to Putin. Now he is holding his body hostage, mocking his mother, forcing her to agree to a secret funeral. Otherwise, otherwise, just think about it, they threaten that they will do something with Alexei's body, something will happen to it because, I quote, "time is working against us". They threaten to bury him themselves, right in the colony where they killed him. For several days they are literally torturing Alexei's mom."
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To football,
And the Matildas have beaten Uzbekistan 3-0 in the first of a two-legged playoff to decide who makes it to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Michelle Heyman scored the first goal in the 73rd minute of the match, just ten minutes after getting onto the field, while Mary Fowler and Caitlin Foord scored within minutes of the final siren, securing Australias victory.
Heyman has recently re-joined the Matildas to replace captain Sam Kerr who is out on injury following an ACL tear.
Heyman told reporters after the game that she feels right at home playing back with the Matildas.
"I am so happy, it's just so nice to be back with the girls, back playing for my country, and to come on and score a goal is a dream come true. It's what I wanted and I'm so happy to get it done.”
