A light plane crash kills three members of an aerial firefighting crew in Queensland, the Prime Minister arrives in Shanghai to a warm welcome, and in sport, the Gay Games launch in Hong Kong, the first time the event's been held in Asia.
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TRANSCRIPT
- A light plane crash kills three members of an aerial firefighting crew in Queensland
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrives in Shanghai to a warm welcome
- The Gay Games launch in Hong Kong, the first time the event's been held in Asia.
Three members of an aerial firefighting crew have died after their light plane crashed in remote northwest Queensland.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) says the aircraft had been engaged to conduct line scans and was travelling from Toowoomba to Mt Isa when it crashed.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Fire and Emergency Services Minister Mark Ryan have released a statement expressing their sympathy to the family, friends and colleagues of the crew.
They say the three had been playing a critical role in saving lives and protecting property by their intelligence and mapping work from the air to help firefighters on the ground.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has touched down in Shanghai on the first leg of his visit to China, becoming the first Australian leader to visit the country since 2016.
He has received a red carpet welcome by China's top diplomat in Australia, Xiao Qian, as well as Australia's ambassador to China Graham Fletcher.
His trip has garnered significant attention because the relationship between China and Australia has experienced a challenging period over the last few years.
But Mr Albanese says his much-anticipated visit to China marks a "very positive step" in stabilising strained bilateral ties.
"What I say is we should cooperate with China where we can, disagree where we must and engage in our national interest.... It is in our national interest to make sure that we have that engagement and dialogue, which is always positive, which is always good."
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Israel has admitted responsibility for an attack on a convoy of ambulances outside a major hospital in the Gaza Strip which has killed 15 people and injured at least 50 others.
Israel's military says the strike at the Al-Shifa Hospital was targeting Hamas, which it says is using ambulances to transport fighters and weapons.
Hospital director Mohammad Abu Selmeyah says those killed and injured were mainly people standing by the hospital gate, rather than inside the ambulance.
Chief of surgery Dr Marwan Abusada says the hospital is overrun with people hurt in the fighting.
"Always it is the same scene. No vacancy in the inpatient department to admit any patients. Most of the patients have had surgery and they are waiting to be transferred to the inpatient department. Unfortunately we are providing (for them) here. It is a horrible situation."
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A remote Indigenous community in Western Australia is renewing its calls for the state government to improve the quality of local drinking water.
A report by local supplier Water Corporation has found that over the past decade, nitrate levels peaked at nearly 40 milligrams per litre in 2020 in the Laverton shire.
That is 15 times higher when compared with the Perth suburb of Wanneroo.
Wongatha Wonganarra elder Annette Stokes has told SBS it's frustrating to residents that the problem hasn't been addressed.
"Sad and angry because you know, we spoke to them lots of times around the table too, and explained all that we can. We were saying fix it, help us fix it. With our elders and our young people, they are coming up with kidney problems - and it's a terrible thing."
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To sport,
The Gay Games have kicked off in Hong Kong, the first time the event has been held in Asia.
Over 2,300 participants from 45 countries are expected to take part in sporting and cultural events, including dragon boat racing and mahjong.
The opening ceremony has gone ahead despite opposition from anti-LGBTQ lawmakers and human rights activists, with the government declining to send officials and warning the organisers in August that the Games must be conducted in a “lawful, safe and orderly manner”.
During the opening ceremony, organisers and participants have unfolded a white sheet called an "AIDS quilt", while reading out the names of AIDS victims.
Co-President of the games, Joanie Evans, says it's a cherished tradition.
"This memorial was started when it was, it's like, to have our own AIDS quilt at the Gay Games. So it's sort of developed over the years, so it's not just for people who have passed away through HIV and AIDS, it's for anybody that we've lost, so that it's a way of remembering those that are no longer here, so that we can have their memory continue with us as we are going along. So it's a very poignant moment, to remember those who have gone on before."
