Reports that US officials have spoken with mediators about the Iran war; A second doses of bird flu vaccinations given to at-risk wildlife in South Australia; Nathan Cleary calls on fans to stop social media abuse.
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TRANSCRIPT:
- Reports that US officials have spoken with mediators about the Iran war;
- A second doses of bird flu vaccinations given to at-risk wildlife in South Australia;
- Nathan Cleary calls on fans to stop social media abuse
US President, Donald Trump, says United States officials have spoken with mediators trying to end Washington's war with Iran.
He says the US will win the Iran war "very soon," and gas prices will "come tumbling down."
Speaking from the Oval Office, Donald Trump has told reporters Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.
REPORTER: “Has your team spoken to Iran today?”
TRUMP: “Yeah they have.”
REPORTER: “They have to mediators?”
TRUMP: “Yeah. They have.”
REPORTER: “Anything else you can share…”
TRUMP: “No, no.”
REPORTER: “…about any movement on Iran talks?”
TRUMP: “No, no, we're going to win. As far as I'm concerned. It's going to be one way or the other. It's going to be… it's going to go pretty quickly too.”
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The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo have surpassed 8,000.
The case numbers include almost 4,000 deaths [[3,901]] with a case fatality rate of 48.4 per cent.
The World Health Organisation is warning the outbreak remains large, geographically expanding and marked by sustained transmission.
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Pope Leo has dedicated his first encyclical to artificial intelligence and protecting humanity in its wake.
Several AI giants, including Anthropic, have called for a slowdown in development to give safety measures time to catch up to the fast-moving technology.
US President Donald Trump has called concerns about AI going rogue a “hoax".
But the Pontiff says concerns about artificial intelligence going rogue should be taken seriously, and that safety issues raised by AI experts should be discussed and acted on.
"If someone were to ask me, 'am I in panic mode'? No, I'm not. I sleep at night. I do think that the concerns raised by many of the experts, specialists in AI, should be taken seriously. I don't think that is 'fake news', as some have said, to try and cause whether financial or some other kind of benefit."
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Independent Senator David Pocock says the Federal Government needs to take some responsibility for rising inflation and interest rates.
The Reserve Bank is today tipped to raise interest rates to a 15-year high of 4-point-6 per cent.
Persistent high inflation, which remains above the RBA's target range, is an influence on the decision to raise rates.
Senator Pocock has told Channel 9 it will be a tough time for households if that is the case.
"You add in groceries and all the other cost of living pressure, clearly government spending is part of this, you can't blame it all on the war in the middle east. But one of the things I get frustrated we're not talking about enough about is if you look at the profits these big gas multinationals are making, if you look at the profits AMPOL has announced, almost 500% increase in profits at a time when Australians are paying through the nose for petrol and diesel."
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The Greens are expected to elect a new leader by Thursday this week after Senator Larissa Waters stepped down from the top job to manage her health.
Ms Waters was elected unopposed after Adam Bandt lost his seat at last year's election, but Senators Sarah Hanson-Young and Mehreen Faruqi had both been viewed as contenders.
Ms Faruqi is currently the deputy leader after being elected in a contested ballot, while Senator Hanson-Young is the Greens Manager of Business in the Senate.
A replacement will be elected through a party room process, with no vote for members, and while leaders are typically chosen by consensus, it could be put to a vote.
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A wildlife park in South Australia says it's completed bird flu vaccinations on almost 150 native birds.
The second round of injections have been completed at Cleland Wildlife Park west of Adelaide, on a range of vulnerable species like orange-bellied parrots, regent honeyeaters and red-tailed black cockatoos.
The wildlife park says there have been no signs of adverse reactions to the vaccine and the birds will continue to be closely monitored following their boosters.
There have been more than 650 [[652]] bird flu detection events in Australia.
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A pay phone in the N-S-W south coast town of Narooma has been officially heritage listed.
It's been added to the National Trust Register for the role it played during the Black Summer bushfires.
After mobile reception went down, the payphone saw locals and tourists line up to check in with family and friends, with almost 1,000 calls made in two months from the payphone outside Narooma Plaza on the Princes Highway.
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To sport and in NRL news,
Penrith Panthers star Nathan Cleary is pleading with fans to stop peppering Newcastle Knights hooker Phoenix Crossland with social media abuse.
Cleary has undergone emergency surgery on a compound fracture and dislocated ankle after a hip-drop tackle from Crossland in Sunday's preliminary final.
Cleary says Crossland has apologised for the tackle and says he has nothing but respect for his fellow player.
Crossland is due to appear at the NRL judiciary tonight, with the New Zealander almost certain to cop a ban.
