TRANSCRIPT
- Israel continues its air bombardment of residential areas of Lebanon's capital.
- Hurricane Helene kills at least 40 in the United States.
- And in sport, Socceroos defender Alessandro Circati ruptures his ACL in World Cup qualifier blow.
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The Israeli military has continued an air bombardment of Lebanon's capital Beirut, hitting densely-populated residential neighbourhoods in the city's south.
While rescue workers say its difficult to assess the situation and recover bodies from the rubble so far, at least six people were confirmed dead and 91 others wounded in the earlier attack which saw six buildings levelled.
The death toll is expected to rise significantly.
Israel says it was a precise attack on Hezbollah's headquarters which they claim is embedded somewhere underneath the civilian-filled Dahiyeh neighbourhood.
Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency's representative in Syria, Gonzalo Varga Llosa, says well over 30,000 people have fled Lebanon to Syria over the last three days.
"Now, these, of course, are people who are fleeing bombs and who are crossing into a country that has been suffering from its own crisis and violence for 13 years now. We can imagine. Oh, well, maybe we can't imagine, you and I, just, what an incredible, difficult choice to make, that is."
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In the United States Hurricane Helene has left a path of destruction across Florida and the entire southeastern U-S killing at least 40 people in four states.
The Category 4 hurricane was travelling at 225 kilometres per hour when it made landfall late Thursday with damage extending hundreds of kilometres to northeast Tennessee.
Fifty-four people were moved to the roof of the Unicoi County Hospital as water rapidly flooded the facility.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis says the damage in many areas goes beyond power outages.
"Some of these things are going to potentially need to be totally rebuilt in some areas for the power transmission. That's just that just takes longer than if you're just having to hook up lines for generation."
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A man has been charged with murder over the death of a woman in the New South Wales Hunter Valley.
Emergency services were called to a property in Pokolbin, about an hour's drive west of Newcastle, over reports of welfare concerns just after 6pm last night.
The 46-year-old woman was found with significant injuries and police say in a statement that she could not be revived.
A crime scene was set up and 47-year-old man arrested at the property.
He was taken to a local police station and charged with murder.
The man was refused bail and is set to face court today..
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Australia's economy could benefit from a landmark stimulus package unveiled by Chinese authorities.
The People's Bank of China this week slashed interest rates in a bid to remedy poor economic growth flagging further fiscal stimulus in a move celebrated by markets globally, including in Australia.
Australia's largest trading partner has struggled to recover from COVID-19, weighing down commodity prices crucial to the strength of the federal budget.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who has been in Beijing since Thursday meeting with his Chinese counterparts, says the steps taken to boost China's economy were a good development for Australia.
Market analyst for IGTony Sycamore says we are likely to hear more announcements from China in coming days.
"This point it is not the big bazooka which everyone wants to see, but it does show that Chinese authorities are taking the growth slowdown seriously and we expect to see further easing announcements in the week ahead."
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Socceroos defender Alessandro Circati has ruptured his ACL in an early blow to new coach Tony Popovic's bid to turn Australia's World Cup qualification campaign around.
Italian club Parma confirmed Circati, 20, injured his left knee at training on Friday.
He is expected to have surgery, which would rule him out of Australia's entire third round of qualifying, which finishes next June.
Parma Calcio medical staff confirmed Circati suffered an injury during the team's training session, rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
