Concerns the middle east conflict is spreading, after a strike on an Egyption gas port; A report reveals Australia is the largest lender in the Pacific; And in football, Germany will play the Matildas in a friendly match on the 10th of October.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Concerns the middle east conflict is spreading, after a strike on an Egyption gas port
- A report reveals Australia is the largest lender in the Pacific
- And in football, Germany will play the Matildas in a friendly match on the 10th of October.
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Explosions have struck Egypt's Mediterranean gas port of Damietta, where a drone hit a US-owned floating storage tanker, raising fears the Middle East conflict is spreading.
British maritime security company Ambrey says the drone strike sparked a fire that spread to a second vessel.
The crews were evacuated and the blaze was brought under control.
No group has claimed responsibility.
The attack came hours after the United States and Saudi Arabia launched strikes on Iran-backed paramilitary groups in Iraq.
Iran later confirmed it had fired missiles at U-S bases in Jordan and targeted ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Washington says the strikes in Iraq were in retaliation for drone attacks on Saudi oil facilities launched from Iraqi territory.
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Two Israeli strikes have destroyed residential areas in northern and central Gaza.
No casualties have been reported in the attacks on Deir al-Balah and Gaza city, which residents say came fifteen minutes after evacuation orders were issued.
A fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in the Gaza Strip last October, but Israel has continued to carry out near-daily strikes that have killed more than 1,200 people, according to the Gazan Health Ministry*.
Abdul Rahman Al-Zeer, a Gaza city resident whose house was damaged by the latest strikes, says people are exhausted by the constant blasts.
“We are not seeing any ceasefire. Looking at this scene, at this widespread destruction, there is no ceasefire. I do not see any ceasefire. Every minute there is shelling, every minute there are attacks, every minute people are being killed and becoming martyrs."
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Australia remains the largest lender in the Pacific region, according to the latest Pacific Aid Map report by the Lowy Institute.
The report studies influences of major powers in the region through their financial support, including loans and grants.
It found Australia disbursed $2.16 billion of aid in the Pacific, more than three times that of New Zealand, which is the second largest contributing nation, followed by the United States and China.
Riley Duke is a Research Fellow at the Lowy Institute and a report author.
He tells SBS News that traditionally, Australia focuses on providing grants to the Pacific, but now being a key loan lender allows Australia to have more say in the region.
"This push into providing loans, it's an important development for Australia, because it means Australia can provide much larger sum of money for big infrastructure projects, and the Pacific has a very high need, sort of big gap when it comes to funding infrastructure such as bridges, roads and airports, all very important things for pacific economy, but things that external financing can help."
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A digital rights group is calling on governments and medical regulators to intervene, after a new report found only 15 per cent of reviewed clinics disclose A-I scribes in their privacy policies.
According to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, nearly half of all G-PS use A-I scribes to take notes when seeing a patient.
However, Digital Rights Watch reviewed 60 clinics' privacy policies, and only four made many mention of A-I scribes.
Digital Rights Watch's Head of Policy Tom Sulton says the group also approached seven A-I scribe companies, and only two responded to their questions about data practices, and none were willing to disclose the A-I models they use.
“There are regulators you will expect to step in and pay attention to A-I scribes used by doctors, like the Theraputic Goods Administration or the Office of Australian Information Commissioner. They are currently not doing very much of that, it means the companies that are making scribe softwares and the clinics that are deploying and the doctor thare using it are operated in a place where they don't have enough rules to ensure that what's being done is being done in the patients' best interest."
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To sport and in football,
With only five international windows remaining before the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil next year, Football Australia says warm up and friendly matches against what they're calling 'high calibre opposition', will help prepare the Matildas for the major competition
Germany will play Australlia in a friendly match on the 10th of October.
Germany are two-time Women's World Cup winners, eight-time European champions and five-time Olympic medallists.
The Matildas beat Germany in their last encounter in October 2024, which included a wonder strike from Kyra Cooney-Cross and a debut goal from Clare Hunt.
