TRANSCRIPT
- Humanitarian workers say three-day pauses in Gaza war are not enough to deal with the crisis
- The death of an Indigenous teen in a WA detention centre is to be investigated
- A third gold medal for Australia at the Paris Paralympics
Humanitarian workers say the temporary halts to military operations by Israel in Gaza is a welcome first step that needs to go even further.
The Israeli forces have announced they will be making three-day pauses in their movements around the enclave to allow for emergency treatment to be provided to children with polio.
The World Health Organization said there is an outbreak of the disease in Gaza that could spread to other regions if not treated immediately.
The peak health body has announced a three-phase roll-out of 640,000 vaccinations in the enclave starting from the first of September.
Executive Director of Doctors Without Borders Australia, Jennifer Tierney, tells SBS a permanent ceasefire is necessary to address the full scale of the health crisis in Gaza.
"These three-day pauses are welcome as a means to be able to execute the vaccination campaign. However they are the absolute tip of the iceberg on the humanitarian medical needs. And a ceasefire, and a permanent ceasefire is needed to be able to restore hospital facilities, to be able to set clean water back up, to set up homes for people, to be able to give them shelter, to be able to rebuild the infrastructure, to be able to deliver appropriate medical care."
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The Premier of Western Australia has announced there will be an investigation into the death of an Indigenous teenager at Banksia Hill detention centre.
He is the second person to lose their life in youth detention in the state in less than a year.
He was found unresponsive in his cell just after 10pm on Wednesday night.
Corrective Services Commissioner Brad Royce says the 17-year-old had been in an intensive supervision unit because of concerns for his health, and had been checked by staff ten times in the hours before his death.
"All the staff were wearing radios. They wore all their alarms and they had body-worn cameras on. I've reviewed the footage and I'm satisfied that their actions around what they're doing and the way they called for support was appropriate. On this occasion, we were unable to save the young man, but I can say that my staff gave it everything they could."
Premier Roger Cook has admitted the youth detention system is "not good enough" and needs improving.
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Officials are expecting a busy night in Brisbane tonight thanks to a number of major events taking place.
There's a local NRL Derby at Suncorp stadium, and the popular Riverfire Fireworks display is taking place on the Brisbane river in the city centre.
A crew of 30 people has spent around 1,500 hours getting more than 12 tonnes of fireworks ready.
Translink spokesman Roman Gafa tells Radio 4BC they've put an extra 130 buses into service, and passengers will be able to travel for free on trains and buses for two hours after the fireworks finish.
"There's going to be over half a million people in the city, a full house at Suncorp Stadium for the Dolphins home match against the Broncos. So it will be a big night. Be patient, you'll get home. May take a little bit longer than normal, but you'll definitely get home without any problems."
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Former US president Donald Trump has announced all invitro fertilisation treatments will be funded by government if he wins the upcoming elections.
IVF treatments have become a controversial issue in the run-up to the US presidential election, with Republicans struggling to contain backlash over a court ruling that declared that all embryos should be considered children.
Mr Trump has said parents will be able to claim tax refunds from all expenses related to their newborn children, without elaborating on how his administration would cover those costs.
"I'm announcing today in a major statement that under the Trump administration, your government will pay for, or your insurance company will be mandated to pay for, all costs associated with IVF treatment, fertilisation for women, IVF treatment. Because we want more babies, to put it very nicely. And for this same reason, we will also allow new parents to deduct major newborn expenses from their taxes so that parents that have a beautiful baby will be able... So we're pro-family. Nobody's ever said that before. But the IVF treatments are expensive. It's very hard for many people to do it."
During his speech in Potterville, Michigan, Mr Trump also announced he will be supporting several oil drilling, refinery and power plant projects.
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At the Para Olympics, cyclist Emily Petricola has won Australia's third gold medal of the games in Paris.
She's beaten New Zealander Anna Taylor in the C-4 3-thousand metre individual pursuit final and successfully defended her Paralympic title.
The 44-year-old says the three years leading up to the Paralympics have been 'so hard' and she's grateful that she got this result for the people who worked with her for that period.
And Australia's Para cyclists also claimed gold in the men's C45 1,000 metre time trial, with Korey Boddington taking the win.
