TRANSCRIPT
- Vote counting underway in Sri Lanka's first election since mass protests.
- Joe Biden hosts leaders of the Quad alliance in Delaware.
- And in sport, Brisbane secures their spot in the 2024 AFL Grand Final with a win over Geelong.
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Millions of voters in Sri Lanka have cast their ballots in the country's first presidential elections since mass protests unseated the country's leader in 2022.
Sri Lanka's former president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country in Jul 2022, after tens of thousands of protesters stormed his home and office in a display of anger over the country's economic crisis.
There are 38 candidates running in the election, with a three-way race between President Ranil, main opposition leader Sajith Premadasa and Anura Kumara Dissanayake.
Voter Visaka Dissanayake says she hopes a new government will make things better after a challenging few years.
“(Vote) for a strong government, strong leader, who will set the path for economic recovery. We have now come out of a very difficult situation. So, I hope the economic recovery will continue, and also to have law and order and peace and harmony in the country.”
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is meeting with Quad leaders today after a one-on-one with United States President Joe Biden yesterday.
The Australian and US leaders will be joined by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida at the 2024 Quad Leaders' Summit in Delaware.
The South China Sea and Indo-Pacific security are expected to be significant topics of conversation, with Mr Albanese previously signalling the leaders would discuss further support to developing nations.
Energy security, conflict in the Middle East and Ukraine and climate change are also expected to be high on the agenda.
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A New Zealand pilot is free after being kidnapped for more than one and a half years by armed separatists in West Papua.
Phillip Mehrtens was kidnapped by a faction of the West Papua National Liberation Army in February 2023, after he landed a small commercial plane in the remote Nduga area.
The separatist group handed Mr Mehrtens over to a rescue team in the Nduga area, after announcing earlier this year a desire to demonstrate commitments to upholding human rights and peaceful conflict resolution.
Health checks and psychological exams were conducted before he was handed over to the Cartenz Peace Taskforce, a joint security taskforce that was set up by the Indonesian government to deal with separatists in Papua.
Spokesperson for the taskforce, Bayu Suseno, says Mr Mehrtens he is in good physical shape, considering his ordeal.
"I met Mehrtens, and we talked briefly and he said he is happy that he's able to breathe fresh air after being held hostage for so long. Generally, his health conditions are good, although recently he had asthma but now his condition has improved."
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Firefighters in New South Wales have conducted backburning, after a large bushfire swept through Sydney's Northern Beaches on Saturday.
The 80-hectare blaze saw residents take shelter after an emergency warning was issued at 3pm on Saturday.
The fire service warn residents they will see more smoke as a result of the back burning but say there are no reports of injuries or damage.
New South Wales Rural Fire Service Inspector Ben Shepherd says planned burns have been delayed because of recent weather conditions.
"Yeah, look there's no doubt that over the past three years, our opportunities to do burns just haven't been there. In fact, even if we look back to autumn and winter, we've only just come out of this incredible wet spell. So even when we've moved in through June and July, it was still wet, what we've seen across especially Sydney over the last four weeks is a rapid drying out, we've seen some very strong winds, we're now seeing the obviously the actual tables turn in the other direction."
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To the AFL now...
Brisbane has secured their spot in the 2024 AFL Grand Final against the Sydney Swans with a 10-point upset over Geelong at the MCG.
The Cats failed to capitalise after going 25 points up early in the third term with the Lions roaring back to win 14.11 (95) to 12.13 (85) in the preliminary final.
Chris Fagan's side will meet Sydney on September 28 in the first grand final featuring two non-Victorian clubs since 2006.
It will be Brisbane's second successive grand final appearance, following a four-point defeat to Collingwood last year.
