TRANSCRIPT:
- South Australia's Parliament defeats a bill that would have banned late term abortions;
- Over a dozen killed in an Israeli strike on Beirut;
- Australia's hockey goalkeeper collects in a landmark Indian auction.
The federal government has announced it will provide Ukraine with 49 Abrams tanks to boost its defences against Russia's invasion.
This assistance is worth $245 million and brings Australia's total value military assistance to Ukraine to $1.3 billion.
Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy says Australia is committed to supporting its ally.
"Australia has been steadfast in our support for Ukraine. We will continue prioritising Ukraine as a recipient of Australian Defence Force material, and we'll keep working with Ukraine to make sure this assistance we provide a safe, usable, and making a difference."
.
The southern suburbs of Beirut have been rocked by Israeli air strikes for the first time in six days.
Lebanon's Health Ministry says at least 16 people have been killed in the city of Nabatiyeh, including the mayor.
Israel's military says it was attacking an underground Hezbollah weapon's stockpile and had posted a warning ahead of the move on social media platform, X.
.
Over half of the population in Sudan have been facing acute food insecurity since the outbreak of a domestic conflict between two rival military factions in the country in April last year.
The United Nations says that 8.5 million people in the country are in the grip of an emergency food crisis, with its Food and Agriculture Organisation warning around 2.5 million people in the country could die from hunger by the end of this year as fighting between the Sudanese Army and its rival, the Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group, continues.
It's understood that most locals have lost their jobs since the conflict began, leaving many to rely on humanitarian aid from international organisations to survive.
This resident says the situation is desperate.
"Life is so hard. We have no drinking water, and the flatbread shops are also facing water shortages. We are out of food and water, falling into despair. The prices are also surging. Products that used to cost only 1,000 Sudanese pounds now charge 10,000."
.
South Australia's Parliament has narrowly voted down a bill that would have made it illegal to terminate a pregnancy after 27 weeks and six days.
The final vote was nine in favour and ten against.
The controversial proposal had drawn criticism from opponents inside and outside parliament, and labelled an "extreme right-wing culture war bill" by SA Health Minister Chris Picton.
Ahead of the vote, the South Australian Abortion Action Coalition had staged a demonstration outside parliament, which included women dressed as handmaids.
Brigid Coombe from the Coalition says the fight to protect reproductive rights remains an ongoing concern.
"Always in Australia we have had an undercurrent of anti-abortion activists, often getting their ideas from the United States - which is not a very good place to get their ideas from because the way that American law operates against women means they have in fact a very high maternal mortality."
.
A new drug for the treatment of dementia has been refused approval for domestic use.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has reportedly issued an initial rejection for Lecanemab, despite it being approved in the UK and a number of other countries.
Dementia Australia CEO Professor Tanya Buchanan says the decision will deprive Australians of the choice to access the potential benefits of the new treatment.
UK Alzheimers Society director of research Dr Richard Oakley has previously said it is not meant to be a cure, but it is effective in its own way.
"This is not a wonder drug that stops or reverses or cures anyone, this slows the decline. What it is, it is the first time in the UK that we have ever seen a treatment that can slow down the progression of what is actually the UK's biggest killer."
.
Police in the Northern Territory say the number of women being killed by their partners is at its highest since the early 2000s.
Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst says there are currently seven open investigations into deaths that have allegedly taken place since the first of June.
Opposition Attorney-General Chansey Paech says the Top End government needs to urgently spend the $180 million it's promised to respond to domestic violence.
"The money needs to be on the frontline. It needs to be supporting women's shelters across the Northern Territory, ensuring that remote territorials have access to safe houses, that there is education available, that there is emergency assistance available."
.
Five Australians have been snapped up in an auction to take part in the inaugural women's Hockey League India.
National Hockeyroos goalkeeper Jocelyn Bartram is among them, with the Odisha Warriors paying $26,000 for her to play in the five-week tournament.
[[More than 250 Indian players and 70 internationals nominated for the auction. Hockeyroos striker Alice Arnott is one of the higher-profile names to go unsold.]]
