TRANSCRIPT
- A statue of Queen Victoria in Sydney's CBD has been hit with what appears to be red paint
- Israel's military has defended its decision to strike more targets in Beirut
- Broncos weighing up Ezra Mam's future after the five eighth allegedly failed a roadside drug test
A statue of Queen Victoria in Sydney's CBD has been hit with what appears to be red paint.
The vandalisation of the statue outside the Queen Victoria Building has come hours before King Charles and Queen Camilla tour Sydney for a meet and greet on the last day of their Australian tour.
Charles will also travel to Redfern as part of the Sydney leg of the tour to meet with Indigenous elders.
It comes a day after being shouted at by Indigenous senator Lidia Thorpe, a protest that she has refused to apologise for.
"I did it for truth telling. Global truth telling about the royals who caused so much devastation to not only our people in this country, but indigenous people around the world."
_
Israel's military has defended its decision to strike more targets in Beirut, saying Iran has been using institutions to help fund Hezbollah.
Israel's air force has carried out several strikes on the suburbs of Beirut, hitting least 15 branches of the Al Qard Al-Hasan financial group.
Spokesman Daniel Hagari says Israeli strikes had killed the main Hezbollah leaders responsible for transferring money between Iran and Hezbollah, and they intend to keep going.
Without providing evidence, he has said Iran is sending suitcases of cash by planes to its Iranian embassy in Beirut, and that a financial institution in Beirut is using customers' deposits to finance attacks against Israel.
"Hezbollah's financial network is based on two main sources of income: money from the Iranian regime and money from the Lebanese people. Iran's Quds forces transfer money to Hezbollah from Iranian oil sold in Syria... Hezbollah main financial arm is the al-Qard al-Hassan Association. It provides financial services to Lebanese civilians and pays the salaries of Hezbollah's operatives."
_
It has been revealed that New South Wales Police have conducted over 100 strip searches a year at train stations.
New data obtained by the Redfern Legal Centre shows nearly 900 strip searches have taken place at train stations between 2016 and 2024, with a disproportionate number conducted on First Nations people.
Supervising solicitor Samantha Lee says subjecting children to this invasive procedure in such a public space is appalling.
The Redfern Legal Centre is calling on the state government to take immediate action to reform strip search laws.
_
Australians attempting to access pornographic websites and certain online games will be subject to age tests under online safety proposals that could come into effect in 2025.
Five organisations representing industries such as social media and search engines have revealed the safety measures today, and are seeking public feedback before submitting them to the eSafety Commissioner in late November.
The Draft Online Safety Codes, designed to protect children from explicit material, could mean messaging services automatically detect and blur nude images and dating services expressly prohibit sexual extortion attempts.
Tools to let users block pornographic images sent to them would be required under the codes, as well as ways to report breaches, and terms and conditions to prohibit sexual extortion, grooming and non-consensual intimate image sharing.
_
To sport,
Brisbane boss Dave Donaghy has refused to guarantee the future of Ezra Mam at the Broncos, following the star five-eighth's involvement in a traffic collision.
Donaghy says it is too soon to tell if Mam has played his last game for the club.
Mam is currently awaiting the result of a secondary sample test after he allegedly failed a roadside drug test following a head-on car crash.
Police allege the 21-year-old was driving without a licence.
