TRANSCRIPT:
- Talks underway in London on a formal AUKUS bilateral treaty;
- Concern mounting on vaccination rates as cases of Mpox hit record levels in Australia;
- Riding legend Grace Brown wins a second gold medal at the cycling worlds in Switzerland.
Australia's Defence Minister has arrived in London for talks on a nuclear submarine treaty.
UK Defence Secretary John Healey says the UK is keen to sign a formal bilateral agreement with Australia that would "bind" their AUKUS alliance into law.
The UK and Australia are two thirds of the AUKUS security partnership with the United States, which was established in 2021.
Speaking from London, Defence Minister Richard Marles has again talked up the acquisition of nuclear power submarines under AUKUS, which he says would be one of the biggest advances in Australia's military history.
"The gravity of this is not lost on Australia. The significance for our nation in acquiring this capability is indeed enormous."
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The government says it's not considering divestiture powers despite a troubling report into the supermarket sector by the consumer watchdog.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has found low income households are spending a fifth of their take home pay on groceries, and that the cost of a typical basket of supplies has gone up by more than 20 per cent overall in the past five years.
Coles and Woolworths control two thirds of the supermarket sector.
A-C-C-C deputy chair Mick Keogh says there is concern about major supermarkets were abusing their powers - but Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh says divestiture powers won't address those concerns.
"We don't see other countries engaging and breaking up supermarkets, and the Albanese government doesn't see that as being a primary solution in this instance. We do see that divestiture powers exist in some countries, not in others. Australia has it in the energy sector, but not more broadly. But even when they exist, they're very rarely used. There's little point adding a tool to the competition armory which isn't going to be used."
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Mpox has hit record levels in Australia, with cases increasing the most since July.
Department of Health figures show there have been 724 cases across Australia this year, with just over half [[54 per cent]] of cases in New South Wales and 35 per cent in Victoria.
Most of those cases [[616 of 724]] were recorded between July and today.
The rapid spread has raised concerns about low levels of mpox vaccination.
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New fighting has broken out in Sudan’s capital, even as the death toll jumps up from the country’s cholera outbreak.
It's understood the operation is aimed at taking control of areas of Khartoum that had been in the hands of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
The ground campaign has come ahead of an address to the United Nations General Assembly in New York by army leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan.
The army spurned US-led talks in Switzerland last month aimed at improving humanitarian access and charting a course towards a ceasefire in Sudan.
The general has now told the UN he wants peace - but also an end to the R-S-F occupation, which he says is being propped up by countries in the region with funding, weapons and mercenaries.
"Countless crimes have been committed. Ethnic cleansing. Forced displacement and genocide. All of this has been committed by the rapid support forces, the RSF, which should be considered a terrorist group. This militia is continuing to perpetrate crimes and it is most unfortunate that it is receiving the support of some states in the region, states which are providing funding and mercenaries for their own political and economic benefit in flagrant violation of law and international will."
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Forecasters are warning of a potential nightmare surge on the southeast coast of the US, as an enormous storm heads its way from the Gulf of Mexico.
Helene has now strengthened into a category four hurricane, which typically has sustained winds over 210 kilometres an hour that can severely damage homes, snap trees and down power lines.
The governors of Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia have all declared emergencies in their states.
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A traditional healing ceremony has been held in Darwin for the families of three United States Marines who died during a training exercise over the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory.
Tiwi elders have welcomed the grieving parents into Tiwi culture and kinship by gifting them skin names, in a ceremony attended by both US marines and Australian troops.
Tiwi Traditional Owner Jennifer Ullungura Clancy says it's a commemoration of the lives lost on their land.
"We share with them so that they can be free you know say a last goodbye to their loved ones because they haven't said goodbye since the day it happened."
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Australian rider Grace Brown has won a second gold medal at the world cycling championships in Switzerland.
Brown won the medal for the relay event with Brodie Chapman.
Brown had already won the women's individual time trial - her third title in two months having also claimed individual time trial gold at the Paris Olympics.
It's part of the farewell tour for the 32 year old rider, who says she won't change her mind about retiring after her final race - the women's road event - on Saturday.
