TRANSCRIPT
- Volunteers make a grim discovery in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
- Australian wine exports make a big comeback after the lifting of Chinese tariffs.
- And in cricket, Australia chasing a rare South Asian Test series win in Sri Lanka.
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In Syria, the remains of 26 people have been found by a civil defence group in two separate basements in a Damascus suburb.
The remains, which are believed to include men, women, and children, show evidence of gunshot wounds and burning, and are believed to be civilians who fled the nearby Al-Assali neighborhood when fighting escalated and the Assad government imposed a siege in 2013.
The government employed airstrikes on civilian areas, torture, executions and mass imprisonment to maintain control over Syria and suppress opposition groups during the country's 13-year civil war.
Nearby resident Mohammad Shebat says the discovery adds to the growing tally of mass graves unearthed since Assad's fall in December.
"They used to gather and trap people in basements, burn them with tires and leave their bodies. There are many basements like this, not just this one. It (Damascus) has many more basements like this."
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Caroline Kennedy has urged senators in the US not to confirm her cousin Robert F Kennedy, who is nominated to become the secretary of health.
The outgoing ambassador to Australia has told the senators Robert Kennedy Junior's views on vaccines are disqualifying.
She has accused him of discouraging immunisations even while vaccinating his own children, and of profiting from a lawsuit against pharmaceutical company Merck over access to Gardasil, its human papillomavirus vaccine that prevents cervical cancer.
"Overseeing the FDA, the Nia, the CDC, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services agencies that are charged with protecting the most vulnerable among us is an enormous responsibility and one that Bobby is unqualified to fill."
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Australian wine exports to China have bounced back in a big way in the lead up to Lunar New Year celebrations.
A new report from Wine Australia reveals that in the nine months since China removed its tariffs on Australian wine, 83 million litres worth $902-million have gone to mainland China.
That’s almost half of the global Australian wine exports for the 12 months to December 2024.
Wine Australia's market insights manager Peter Bailey has told SBS Small Business Secrets that the Chinese market still has even more potential.
"Even before the tariffs were introduced, imports from other countries were declining, but Australia was still growing. So, I think what it shows is that Australian wine is very well regarded within the China market and hence, since the tariffs have been removed, there's been a lot of pent up demand to get Australian wines back into that market."
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The Australian government has formally launched an updated disability strategy they say will help to build a more inclusive nation.
Under the strategy, governments across the country have established new Targeted Action Plans (TAPs) that focus on community attitudes, safety, rights and justice, and inclusive homes and communities.
The prevention of homelessness forms a critical part of the strategy, in the wake of previous research that has suggested people with disability are missing out on the long term, stable housing they need, and that one in three disabled Australians are priced out of the market.
Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth says housing is among the issues that people with disability have identified as being of critical importance.
"Hearing from the disability community was so important when we started looking at what was working and how we could make the strategy better... The updates to the strategy reflect what we've heard since the original launch of the strategy three years ago, including through the Royal Commission."
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To sport and in cricket news,
Australia is looking to improve their dismal record on the subcontinent by claiming an elusive Test series victory in Sri Lanka.
Stand-in captain Steve Smith has admitted beating India in the finale of the recent home summer took some of the pressure off the two-match series, which begins in the Sri Lankan coastal city of Galle this afternoon.
Having conquered India for a first series win in a decade, Smith and the Australians are now eyeing the chance for success abroad.
But success in Asia has been hard to come by; with a 1-0 defeat of Pakistan in 2022 marking Australia's only series win in any of India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates or Bangladesh in the past 10 years.
