TRANSCRIPT
- The UN responds to reports of 40 dead in an Israeli air strike on a UN school in Gaza
- Nine chairman Peter Costello denies striking a journalist at Canberra airport
- Socceroos coach Graham Arnold says the field in Bangladesh was unacceptable in his side's World Cup qualifying win
The United Nations says there is nowhere safe in Gaza for civilians, after a fatal air strike on a school.
Hamas says 40 people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a UN school in Gaza, which the UN says was being used as a shelter for 6,000 people.
Israel says its air strike was targeted and 30 Hamas fighters were inside at the time, although they don't yet know how many of them were killed.
Israel says Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters are deliberately using UN facilities as operational bases.
But Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, says the incident is yet more proof that, despite Israeli assurances, people in Gaza are simply just being shunted from one dangerous place to another.
"It's just another horrific example of the price that civilians are paying, that Palestinian men, women and children who are just trying to survive, who are being forced to move around in sort of a death circle around Gaza, trying to find safety, are paying."
**
Western leaders have gathered on the beaches of northern France, to mark 80 years since the D-Day landings.
Some of the surviving veterans have returned to Normandy for a series of commemorations to pay tribute to the immense sacrifices made by the tens of thousands of troops during the World War Two campaign.
The Allied invasion, which began on June the 6th in 1944, led to the defeat of the Nazis and the end of the war.
Speaking in Normandy, United States President Joe Biden used the opportunity to draw comparisons to Russia's current war in Ukraine.
"In memory of those who fought here, died here, saved the world here, let us be worthy of their sacrifice. Let us be the generation that went, history is written about our time in 10, 20, 30, 50, 80 years from now, it'll be said: when the moment came, we met the moment."
Earlier in the day, King Charles and French President Emmanuel Macron laid wreaths at the British Memorial in Normandy.
The monarch, joined by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, paid tribute to the sacrifices made by Allied soldiers.
"We recall the lesson that comes to us again and again across the decades: free nations must stand together to oppose tyranny."
With war again raging on Europe's borders, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also there to celebrate the heroic actions of 80 years ago.
**
Nine chairman Peter Costello says he did not strike a journalist at Canberra airport yesterday afternoon.
Footage posted on The Australian's website shows their reporter Liam Mendes asking Mr Costello about recent harassment allegations at Nine.
Mr Costello appears to approach the journalist, who then falls backwards, saying, "you have just assaulted me... You have just pushed me; it's all on camera."
When asked about what took place, Mr Costello told journalists in Parliament House that he did not lay a finger on him, adding that the airport is a public place that he was entitled to walk through.
"When I came through Canberra airport, there was a reporter walking backwards, with his phone, filming. As I walked past him, he walked--backed into an advertising placard and he fell over. I did not strike him. If he's upset about that, I'm sorry. But I did not strike him."
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New South Wales Police will have strengthened powers to tackle knife crime after controversial so-called "wanding" laws passed the state parliament.
After a spate of high-profile stabbings in Sydney, including the Bondi Junction shopping centre attack in April where six people were killed with a knife, police will now be able to use a hand-held metal detector without warrants in certain locations.
These include shopping precincts, sporting venues and public transport stations.
The bill passed the New South Wales parliament despite the opposition voting against it, arguing that it did not give police enough power.
**
In football, Socceroos coach Graham Arnold says the field his side had to play on in their two-nil World Cup qualifying win over Bangladesh was unacceptable.
An own goal from a deflected Ajdin Hrustic strike in the first half, and a headed Kusini Yengi goal in the second half, have kept Australia undefeated in their qualifying campaign.
But the waterlogged pitch at Bashundara Kings Arena in Dhaka is the main talking point.
Yengi says the grass was too long, and the pitch too muddy.
Arnold says the field was dangerous, and he was worried about players getting injured.
"The field was dangerous. I'm not passing responsibility that it was the field that we only won two-nil. We had the chances to score five or six, seven. But, some of the tackles, potential injuries...were stressing me out."
The Socceroos now play Palestine in Perth on Tuesday to round out this stage of World Cup qualifying.
They have already qualified for the next stage.
