TRANSCRIPT
A UN committee has found Australia violated a human rights treaty by detaining asylum seekers on Nauru after granting them refugee status.
The UN Human Rights Committee ruled Australia breached provisions against arbitrary detention and denying the right to challenge detention in court.
Australia has argued that the alleged violations did not occur within its jurisdiction, but committee member Mahjoub EL Haiba says in statement the committee has found that that the Nauru facility falls under Australian jurisdiction due to Australia's role in constructing and financing the centre.
“A State party cannot escape its human rights responsibility when outsourcing asylum processing to another State. ... Where a State exercises effective control over an area, its obligations under international law remain firmly in place and cannot be transferred. ... It was established that Australia had significant control and influence over the regional processing facility in Nauru, and thus, we consider that the asylum seekers in those cases were within the State party’s jurisdiction under the ICCPR."
Since 2013, people attempting to reach Australia by boat have been sent to offshore detention centres, including the facility on Nauru.
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The debate over the cost of living is heating up, with a federal election imminent.
Opposition Treasury spokesman Angus Taylor claims the average Australian is $8000 worse off than 18 months ago.
But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is visting marginal seats in several states, refutes that, saying the Opposition did not back Labor's $300 energy rebate for households, and has yet to propose its own cost-of-living plan.
"Well, Angus Taylor should reflect on the fact of how people would be had they not had energy price relief, that they opposed. He needs to tell every taxpayer that he opposed every taxpayer getting a tax cut, he wanted it to just come to people like me and Roger, but wanted people working at a health clinic like this, and urgent care clinic to miss out. That's what Angus Taylor wanted."
The latest the election can be held is the 17th of May.
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U-S President Joe Biden has announced that federal resources and additional funding have been approved to help California combat its devastating fires in which five people have so far died, and thousands of structures have been damaged.
He says funding will cover 100 per cent of costs for 180 days, including hazardous materials removal, temporary shelters, first responder salaries, and life-saving measures, in the aftermath of what he calls the worst fires to hit Los Angeles, ever.
"I also want everyone in Southern California to know we're going to keep at it. We're sticking with this. We expect there may be a temporary break in the wind, but in some areas, the winds are likely to continue well into next week. ... To the families who have been impacted by this disaster. You're living through a nightmare. I know. I promise you we're going to help you get through this and eventually recover and rebuild."
Vice President Kamala Harris, whose California home is in the evacuation zone, but undamaged, had this to say.
"We are beyond the point of calling it fire season. We really and we're seeing this around the country that whereas years before we would talk about a particular season of extreme weather, we are seeing that it doesn't matter what month of the year, we should be ready."
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According to Palestinian sources close to the talks, U-S and Arab mediators have made some progress towards brokering a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, though an agreement has not yet been finalised.
Qatar, the U-S, and Egypt are leading efforts to end the 15-month conflict and secure the release of hostages held by Hamas before U-S President Joe Biden's term concludes.
As negotiations continued in Qatar, the latest Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip killed at least 23 people.
Malak Abu Awad lost her brother and nephews in one of the strikes.
She says the talks have become almost meaningless to ordinary people.
"Forty-six thousand martyrs, what remains? Today, we lost six people on the same day. Every day there is hope in negotiations, hope that there will be a truce, or that the war will end. We have spent a year and two months waiting for a truce, and every time the hope is in vain. There is no truce. On the contrary, we wake up to more martyrs and lose more of our loved ones."
According to Gaza's health ministry, this brings the total number of Palestinians killed in the past 24 hours, to 76.
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A couple who were among a group of hikers who happened upon a man missing since Boxing Day say they were surprised to have been the ones to come across him.
Jessica Dart and Joshua Dart were enjoying their day hiking with friends at Kosciuszko National Park when they heard 23-year-old Hadi Nazari, calling for help while hurriedly sliding down a hill towards them.
Ms Dart says she immediately recognised who he was.
"As he got closer, I was like, I just seen his picture that morning, actually, in the National Parks office. so like his face was fresh in my mind. and then started to think, that looks a lot like the guy from the news, actually. And then he was yelling like, 'I haven't eaten in seven days. I've been out here for seven days.' And then once we were in earshot, like I said, what's your name, and he said Hadi and then in that moment we all just, like, looked at each other like, oh my God this is the guy."
After contacting emergency services, Ms Dart says Mr Nazari explained how he got lost.
"He couldn't really piece together what had happened. He just said that he went off to take some photos, and then before he knew it, he just kind of lost his bearings, and then started walking in what he thought was the right direction, and realised it wasn't. And then i think, like from the sounds of it, he was pretty much walking the whole time he was out there and then along the way ditched different pieces of his stuff to lighten the load a little bit."
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Multiple states are experiencing a heatwave, with some areas expecting temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius.
Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, and Western Australia are preparing for severe summer conditions this weekend.
W-A and Queensland have endured heat for weeks, but the Bureau of Meteorology's Miriam Bradbury says the heat is now spreading to the southeast.
Although not as intense as last weekend, severe heatwave conditions are expected in parts of New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, central Australia, and W-A.
Tasmania will see daytime highs in the low 30s and nighttime temperatures in the high teens.
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The head of men's tennis has strongly denied claims Jannik Sinner received favourable treatment and expressed confidence the sport will endure even if the world Number One faces a lengthy doping ban.
A-T-P chairman Andrea Gaudenzi says the doping case had been handled by the book and, like Novak Djokovic, who criticised the lack of transparency, he was not informed of the controversy beforehand.
Sinner has arrived in Melbourne to defend his Australian Open title under a cloud of uncertainty, as W-A-D-A appeals a one-month ban for twice testing positive for an anabolic steroid last March.
Sinner says he is pleased to be back in Melbourne ahead of the Australian Open.
"For sure it is a different feeling, but we are all happy to start the season again here in Australia, Melbourne. It is a very nice tournament with some beautiful people. It is called the happy slam so we are all very happy to be back here. Hopefully all the players together can play some good tennis which I think is the most important part."
