Key Points
- US announces sanctions on two Russian oil companies
- House price growth speeds to fastest rate in four years
- Australian women's cricket team beat England at World Cup
TRANSCRIPT
US President Donald Trump has announced new sanctions targeting Russia's two largest oil companies - in a move to push President Vladimir Putin to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine.
Mr Trump says he hopes the new sanctions will make Russia's President Vladimir Putin reasonable about ending the war.
President Trump also defended his decision to not provide Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles, saying it would take too long to train the Ukrainian military to use them.
Earlier, Russia and Ukraine exchanged overnight missile strikes, a day after the U-S President said a meeting planned with Mr Putin in Budapest would be postponed indefinitely.
Ukrainian officials say Russia’s attacks killed six people, including two children.
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Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie says although she welcomes the critical minerals deal announced during Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's visit to Washington earlier this week, it will be difficult to get environmental approvals.
Ms McKenzie spoke on Channel Nine's Today program.
"Mission accomplished for team Australia, a great deal. Obviously, the delivery is going to be really difficult. The skillsets in getting the environmental approvals through - we need to get these projects up and going in warp? speed and we don't have a great track record."
She also commended Australia's ambassador to the U-S, Kevin Rudd - saying his work behind the scenes took months of painstaking negotiations to get the critical minerals deal done.
It follows US President Donald Trump's exchange with Mr Rudd this week in Washington, about negative comments made by Mr Rudd in 2021 about the US President.
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Two men have died after they were swept into the ocean off Frankston in Melbourne's southeast, during wild winds conditions.
The men - who are yet to be formally identified - were found unresponsive in the water yesterday.
Victoria Police say they were brought back to shore using a police helicopter but they could not be revived.
In a statement, the city's mayor Kris Bolam says the devastating event is a reminder of the power of nature and the real risk posed by severe weather.
Bureau of Meterology's senior Meterologist Dean Narramore says it's wild weather in eastern Australia this week is unusual.
"Spring is normally one of our most volatire seasons, particuarly that October November period, still got the clashes between the cold air to the south, and the heat to the north, we get some very strong system moving through, this is a little bit more unusual in the sense we are talking about, many locations are approaching or exceeding record heat north to this low, so it's definitely a more unusal low and a stronger low that we normally see this time of year."
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House prices are rising at their highest pace in four years with Sydney poised to hit a median of $2 million by the close of 2026.
After significant growth of 3.4 per cent in the September quarter, the median harbour city house value sits at $1.7 million.
If that growth repeats over the next year, Sydney house prices will sit at $2 million before the end of 2026.
Domain economics chief Nicola Powell says it was only 12 years ago the city broke through the million-dollar benchmark.
She spoke to Channel Nine this morning and predicts that pricing will rise over spring.
“We're expecting prices to continue to rise over spring, and particularly around that property price cap..across all of the capital city for Sydney it's around $1.5 million and we are expecting price pressure to come in."
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The federal government has launched the first round of testing for the operational readiness of Western Sydney international airport, ahead of its opening in 2026.
Transport Minister Catherine King says they are testing the flight paths today.
"We've got the flight paths being tested today with the Cessna (plane) coming through and CASA supervising those flights, we've got baggage handling - which you can see that's starting the new system running - all in readiness for the airport operating for freight at the middle of next year and for the first passengers at the end of 2026."
She says the airport is doing an amazing job, generating thousands of jobs in construction - with 50 per cent drawn from local workers in Western Sydney.
Ms King says next week's tests will involve firefighting services and emergency personnel.
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And in cricket, stand-in Australia captain Tahlia McGrath has high praise for teammate Annabel Sutherland, saying she's one of their hardest trainers and that her planning with the game is meticulous.
Earlier today Australia won another World Cup, shattering England's spirits once again in a six-wicket rout.
After the match, McGrath was asked about areas of concern for the team as Australia prepares for its last group game.
"Certainly, lots to improve on in this game. We'll review it as any but for us it's that belief from any position win that we can win, fine tune a few areas and still keeping that belief and that momentum going."
Speaking on injured captain Alyssa Healy's progress - McGrath says the player is tracking well and being monitored by her physiotherapist.
