Key Points
- Officials in Sudan will accept a truce if RSF fighters withdraw from civilian areas
- ABS report reveals 9.5% rise in public sector wages
- Six arrested outside politically charged Aston Villa Maccabi Tel Aviv match
TRANSCRIPT
The Sudanese army says it will accept a truce if Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces fighters withdraw from civilian areas and disarm.
Earlier today, the RSF agreed to a humanitarian truce proposed by U-S and Arab mediators for a humanitarian ceasefire, saying it is open to talks about ending hostilities.
It's the first sign of peace after more than two years of violence.
Mujahid Bahr-el-Din is among those displaced by the fighting.
“We hope that things would go back to what they used to be and for people to go back to their lands. War is not good, I swear to God, people were destroyed, youths were lost, and families were lost. We don’t have anything to say, we just want the country to be fixed. We wish the country would be fixed, for people to return to their lands and to live in peace and security.”
Both the RSF and the Sudanese army have agreed to various ceasefire proposals in the past, but none have succeeded.
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The latest Australian Bureau Statistics report reveals a nine-point-five per cent increase in the federal public sector’s wage and salary bill.
Health Minister Mark has defended the $250 billion-dollar public sector wages.
He has told Channel Seven they have been increasing public service numbers in where service levels need to improve.
"Well I think the governor of the Reserve Bank made it clear that the public demands/the public spending was less of a contribution to what was happening with prices across the economy. So, that story that I know Sussan Ley has been trying to get up is contradicted by the Reserve Bank governor. Our wages deal for public servants I think is very reasonable that's in line with community standards about 11 per cent over three years is a pretty moderate wages deal."
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A man has died in a workplace incident at a construction site in the New South Wales Hunter region.
Emergency services were called to the M1 to Raymond Terrace extension project site on the New England Highway at Tarro, shortly before midnight last night.
Police say the 45-year-old man was standing behind a parked truck, when he was hit by a material transfer vehicle travelling towards the truck.
He died at the scene and is yet to be identified.
The truck driver involved has been taken to Maitland Hospital for mandatory testing.
SafeWork New South Wales has been notified; police have established a crime scene and commenced an investigation into the incident, and a report will be prepared for the Coroner.
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New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has announced $23 million dollars investment to tackle youth crime.
This, as the New South Wales government begins coordinating efforts to end reoffending in regional communities.
The Premier says the government is in partnership with local organisations to put children on a better path.
"What we are trying to do with this program is listen to the community, understand what it is worth and then put some money into it. We are very interested in this program, there are some similar initiatives in other towns that we would love to back.”
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Education Minister Jason Clare has announced the number of Australian students starting university next year will be at record levels - at approximately 9,500 people.
The federal government’s universities accord set a target for 80 per cent of the workforce to have a tertiary qualification by 2050, up from about 60 per cent today.
The additional places will be allocated by the Australian Tertiary Education Commission and will mark 4.1 per cent growth on 2025 numbers.
Mr Clare also announced a new investment in the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield.
"This Fairfield hub has been open now for more than a year but what it does now, the services it provides for young people here in Fairfield is much more than before because of 3.2 million dollars that we're investing in this hub, to provide more kit and more people to help young people in our local community to get the skills that they need, that we need."
Labor has also announced an extra $66.9 million dollars to more than double the number of university study hubs in suburbs and towns across the country.
Another seven of the hubs will be opened before the end of the year in Fairfield and Liverpool in New South Wales, Northam in Western Australia, Beenleigh in Queensland, Kangaroo Island in South Australia, Sorrell in Tasmania as well as Norfolk Island.
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To football and in the Europa League, half a dozen people have been arrested outside a politically-charged game between Aston Villa and Israeli club, Maccabi Tel Aviv in the UK.
West Midlands Police say six people were taken into custody, some for alleged racially aggravated public offences, as an otherwise largely peaceful protest took place outside the stadium in Birmingham.
Aston Villa beat the visiting team two-nil, which Maccabi fans were stopped from attending.
Itai Gal is a Maccabi fan who says the game would have been peaceful if both teams' supporters could have participated.
"I think that it will be as peaceful as any other game in the United Kingdom. I think there will be... look, again I say, we have nothing against Aston Villa as a club or their fans. We wanted to come and take part of a celebration of football for us tonight and we've been robbed of our opportunity to do so."
