TRANSCRIPT
- US President Joe Biden to host a Quad summit next week
- Queensland Premier Steven Miles makes his final pitch to voters
- Australia close to reaching the finals in the Davis Cup
United States President Joe Biden has invited Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the leaders of India and Japan to his hometown for a Quad summit next week.
Mr Biden will host Mr Albanese, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delaware.
The Quad is a diplomatic partnership between Australia, India, Japan, and the United States.
The summit in the United States will be the fourth face to face meeting of Quad leaders.
Mr Biden has been spending more time in his home state since he dropped his bid for re-election in July and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris to win the US presidential election.
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The countdown to the Queensland election has begun, with Premier Steven Miles making his final pitch to voters.
Mr Miles appeared to make his last stand as Queensland's 57th parliament wraps before the upcoming elections on the 26th of October.
He warns Queenslanders the stakes are high.
This comes as the Liberal party threatens to end Labor's nine-year reign.
Mr Miles has been premier for nine months since the tearful resignation of Annastacia Palaszczuk in December.
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Australia is set to provide $3 million dollars of humanitarian relief for Vietnam.
This comes as the country grapples with the aftermath of its strongest typhoon the region has seen in decades.
Authorities say the death toll has risen to 226 people, with 104 people still missing.
The destructive floods are also spilling into neighbouring countries such as Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.
Hoang Van Ty is a farmer that has stayed back to take care of his property. This, while his family joined mass evacuations.
“My crops are all ruined. My rice field was almost ready for harvesting but now it is all destroyed. All the crops are gone so I lost everything.”
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Ukraine has accused Russia of using strategic bombers to target a civilian grain ship in the Black Sea near Romania.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the vessel, carrying grain to Egypt, was hit by a Russian missile after leaving Ukrainian waters, with no casualties reported
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called it a brazen attack on food security and navigation.
Ukraine's navy says Russian Tupolev Tu-22 bombers launched several cruise missiles, marking the first strike on a grain ship since Russia’s invasion in 2022.
This came as Mr Zelenskyy met with International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan to discuss enforcing arrest warrants for Russian officials accused of war crimes.
In August, Ukraine ratified the Rome Statute, a step towards joining the ICC.
"As I said previously, it's very important for us (ratification of Rome Statute). We are fighting for democracy, for freedom, for our wellness and we want to be closer to all our allies. For us it was very important. And I'm happy that our parliament decided also to participate in this decision."
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UNRWA’s commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini says humanitarian staff, premises and operations have been disregarded since the beginning of the war on the 7th of October.
This comes following an incident where six UNRWA staff were killed in double Israeli air strikes on a school in central Gaza, alongside at least 12 others.
It’s the biggest death toll for UN workers in a single incident since the war began.
William Deere is the UNRWA Washington Office Director.
"The United Nations provides the Israelis with GPS data on where, every location, all of our locations. And to dispel another rumour, the UN just doesn’t just get up in the morning and decide to drive somewhere in Gaza. Every one of those movements is coordinated with the Israeli Defence Force."
The Israeli military says it was targeting Hamas militants it accuses of planning attacks from inside the school.
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The nation's media regulator will be given the authority to crack down on tech companies such as Meta and X, for misinformation and disinformation on their platforms.
This comes as new laws introduced by the federal government will see social media companies placed under scrutiny for allowing the spread of fake news.
The legislation would give the Australian Communications and Media Authority new powers, where it would be authorised to demand the social platforms keep their records and hand them over.
Michelle Rowland is the Communications Minister.
"This bill seeks to strengthen the voluntary code by providing regulatory backstop. The bill will empower the ACMA to review the effectiveness of digital platform systems and processes and will improve transparency about measures platforms have in place to protect Australians from mis and disinformation on their services."
The federal government is also introducing a new separate legislation to outlaw what's known as doxxing - where people who maliciously publish personal details about someone online, could face a jail sentence of up to seven years.
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Australia's tennis team is close to reaching the Davis Cup finals after winning their second group-stage match in three days against a weakened Czech Republic in Valencia.
Lleyton Hewitt's team, runners-up in the past two tournaments, are now strong contenders for the 'final-eight' in Malaga this November.
Thanasi Kokkinakis, playing in the Number 2 singles spot, secured a 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 victory over teenager Jakub Mensik, continuing his strong form.
