TRANSCRIPT:
- Humanitarian visas granted to Palestinian families in Australia;
- At least five killed in an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon;
- Melbourne Storm's Ryan Papenhuyzen back at full strength ahead of the upcoming N-R-L grand final.
The Home Affairs Minister has issued the first humanitarian visas to Palestinian families arriving in Australia, after almost a year of pressure on the issue.
The visa lasts for three years and allows for study and work rights, as well as access to Medicare.
Tony Burke says he changed their visas after meeting with at least a dozen Palestinian families in recent weeks to consider their situations on a case by case basis.
The Palestine Australia Relief and Action group has welcomed the move, Founder and Executive Director Rasha Abbas telling SBS, it has been a long time coming.
"Obviously we would have liked for this move to the humanitarian visa to have happened earlier. We as the community have carried the burden of supporting those families for almost a year now, and it's been really difficult. However, we are actually happy that we finally have those families being offered the humanitarian visa."
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At least five people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon, after the military launched a ground offensive in search of Hezbollah targets.
Security officials say they died after a building was hit in Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp.
Israeli strikes have also reportedly killed three civilians in the Syrian capital of Damascus and eleven at a refugee camp in Gaza.
The latest offensive has prompted Turkiye's President Taayep Erdogan to declare the UN General Assembly should step in, if the Security Council cannot bring the situation under control.
"The international community cannot remain silent any longer to Israel's banditry that sets flame to the whole region. If the (United Nations) Security Council does not show the necessary will, the General Assembly should rapidly implement its authority to use force as in the Unity for Peace resolution dated 1950."
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the conscription of 133,000 new servicemen in the country's autumn draft.
The decree calls for the draft of citizens aged 18 to 30 years of age who are not in the reserves.
The head of Russia's conscription office, Vice-Admiral Vladimir Tsimlyansky, has said the terms for the conscript remain the same: 12-month service in military units in Russia.
The announcement comes as Russia marks the second anniversary of laying claim to four annexed regions in Ukraine.
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The government has released a list of exactly what can and CAN'T be paid for under the National Disability Insurance Scheme, ahead of new legislation coming into force on October 3.
The N-D-I-S will continue covering supports such as assistance animals, access to employment or higher education, help with travel and other resources.
But now, costs such as rent, holidays and alternative practices including tarot card reading, shamanic healing and hypnotherapy can no longer be claimed.
N-D-I-S Minister Bill Shorten says that there'll be a transition period in place for many of the listed items - but certain things have never been okay.
"First of all, there are some things which it's unlawful to spend your NDIS money on now, and we've made that really clear. So there's no transition period for spending it on illicit drugs, on sex workers or on alcohol. It's just not, never has been, the purpose of the scheme, and that's not on. But what we recognise is two things; one is that there might be people who've got a particular therapy in their plan, which was viewed to be okay, which subsequently this list says, is not something which will be funding going forward."
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Campaigning has begun in earnest in Queensland as the countdown to the October 26 state election begins.
The government went into caretaker mode this morning after Premier Steven Miles paid a visit to Governor Jeannette Young.
Opposition Leader David Crusafilli has claimed underdog status, pointing to Labor's winning 11 of the past 12 state elections.
Meanwhile the Premier has flown to Townsville to give his first pitch to voters, with seats in north Queensland in play, and experts predicting a big swing to the opposition.
"David Crisafulli and the L-N-P, they're playing small target politics, trying to avoid answering the hard questions they expect to be able to slip into power with just slick slogans and sound bites - but they're hiding their real agenda."
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Indigenous women in New South Wales are being advised to have breast screenings every two years from the age of 40, instead of 50.
That's on the back of research led by the Cancer Institute of New South Wales which has found that Indigenous women are diagnosed with breast cancer on average four years younger than the overall female population.
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Melbourne Storm fans are celebrating at the sight of Ryan Papenhuyzen being back at full speed ahead of the upcoming N-R-L grand final against Penrith.
The 26-year-old fullback has had a horror run of serious leg and ankle injuries.
But he's declared he is back at top speed and in the same form that brought him the 2020 Clive Churchill Medal as best player in Melbourne's last grand final win.
