Morning News Bulletin 13 November 2024

SBS NEWS OK AUDIO 16X9 DAY.png

Source: SBS News

A driver has killed 35 people in China after ramming his car into a crowd; the Archbishop of Canterbury resigns over a church abuse scandal, and in rugby league, Roosters coach Trent Robinson calls for harsher penalties for dangerous tackles.


Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with

TRANSCRIPT
  • A driver has killed 35 people in China after ramming his car into a crowd
  • The Archbishop of Canterbury resigns over a church abuse scandal
  • Roosters coach Trent Robinson calls for harsher penalties for dangerous tackles
      A driver has killed 35 people and injured another 43 when police say he deliberately rammed his car into people exercising at a sports centre in the southern Chinese city of Zhuhai.

      Police detained a 62-year-old man following the incident last night, on the eve of the Chinese Army's major aviation exhibition which is hosted each year in the city . 

      Police say he was discovered in the car with a knife, with wounds to his neck thought to be self-harm injuries.

      A preliminary investigation shows he was dissatisfied with the split of financial assets in his divorce.
       —
      The Archbishop of Canterbury has resigned over a child sex abuse scandal.

      Justin Welby tendered his resignation a few days after a report into a child abuser associated with the Church of England.

      It criticised Archbishop Welby for a failure to report abuser John Smyth to the authorities.

      In his resignation statement, Justin Welby says when he was told in 2013 that police had been informed of the abuse, he wrongly believed an appropriate resolution would follow.

      Smyth died in South Africa in 2018.

      Defence Minister Richard Marles has held the first bilateral defence meeting with his counterpart from the Philippines, pledging to expand security ties between the two countries.

      The meeting with Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro in Canberra comes as the countries attempt to counter  China's growing influence in the Asia-Pacific region.

       The pair have now agreed to bolster a defence agreement between the countries, which will see a memorandum of understanding updated in 2025.

       Australia will also send defence engineers to the Philippines in early 2025 to help with infrastructure.

       Mr Marles says the Albanese government has made this relationship a priority.

       "What we have really seen grow over the last two years is the strategic dimension of our relationship based on our shared strategic alignment and our shared values. At the end of the day, building the most interoperable defence forces between Australia and the Philippines is in the interest of Australia, it's in the interest of the Philippines and it speaks to a partnership which is going from strength to strength."

      United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has told world leaders at the COP29 summit to pay up to prevent climate-led humanitarian disasters.

      He says time is running out to limit global destruction.

      Nearly 200 nations have gathered at the annual U-N climate summit in Azerbaijan  focused this year on raising hundreds of billions of dollars to fund a transition to clean energy  and limit climate damage.

      But many world leaders are not present including from the US and China.

      Regardless, Mr Guterres says now is the time for the world to act with urgency.

      "We are in the final countdown to limit global temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius and time is not on our side. COP29 must tear down the walls of climate finance. Developing countries must not leave Baku empty-handed. A deal is a must. And I'm confident it will be reached."
      __
      An Australian-led study has found using L-E-D lights on the underside of a surfboard could protect against shark attacks with researchers now working on a prototype.

      The study from Maquarie University has found attaching lights to the bottom of surfboards and kayaks could lower the risk of great white shark attacks.

      The experts took inspiration from a natural occurrance where animals emit light from the underside of their body to break up their sillouette and become less of a target to predators.

      Dr Laura Ryan says when lights were used to cover the underside of the foam seals, it disrupted the great white shark's ability to see the decoys against the sunlight above.

      "Really bright light is also not what a white shark recognises as prey. They're looking for a dark object on a lighter background so producing light is not really what the white shark knows to be prey. Some of our best performing decoys we actually didnt get any interactions on. So we were pretty amazed with how well the lights were working to prevent white sharks from biting these decoys."
       —
      In Rugby League,

      Trent Robinson has called for the NRL to be harsher with players who commit high tackles from kick-offs, saying send-offs are the first step towards better player safety.

      The NRL has all but ruled out any significant changes to kick-offs for 2025, after the issue was placed back on the agenda following several opening-tackle concussions last season.

      The matter remains a complex one for the sport, given the importance of the high-impact collision as both a spectacle and important territory aspect for the game.

      But Roosters coach Robinson says sending off players for such incidents would help deter dangerous tackles.

      Share