In this bulletin;
- A new report finds Islamophobia is on the rise in Australia;
- The NSW premier defends a plan to demolish vacant properties in flood-ravaged Lismore;
- And in sport, Australian Athletics unveils a 20-strong lineup for the World Athletics Indoor Championships.
A new report by Monash University shows incidents of abuse perpetrated against Muslim Australians more than doubled between January 2023 and November 2024.
It reveals Muslim women and girls were targeted in 60 per cent of physical assaults, 79 per cent of verbal assaults and all spitting incidents — almost all of which were committed by men.
The data was taken from hundreds of reports made to the Islamophobia Register of Australia and collected by Monash researchers, who also studied 18-thousand posts made on social media platform, X.
A quarter of all incidents recorded in the study account for abuses against people who visibly represented pro-Palestine sentiment, following the Hamas-led attack on Israel in October 2023.
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New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has defended his government's decision to demolish formerly vacant, water-damaged homes in Lismore, where squatters have been residing amid flooding caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
The northern New South Wales properties were bought by the government after the devastating 2022 floods because they were considered hazardous.
Those residing in the Pine Street homes say they will resist any eviction, but Premier Minns insists the squatters are putting their own lives and the safety of State Emergency Service volunteers at risk.
Mr Minns says the government must abide by the rules and denies the collective's demands to move to the top of the queue for social housing.
"We are not going to be in a situation any longer where we are putting people in harms way, when the government has spent nearly a billion dollars trying to relocate people out of harm's way, out of the flood zone, out of a situation where SES volunteers are having to risk their own lives to keep people safe. Now, we're not going to solve the state or northern rivers housing challenges by locating people on flood-prone land. It's dangerous, it shouldn't have happened, and we needed to make a decision."
He added that calls to relocate hundreds of homes to safer locations were impractical in the current circumstances.
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The Kremlin says it's awaiting details from Washington about a proposal for a 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine before it can respond.
As Moscow considers the plan, Russian President Vladimir Putin has visited Russia's Kursk region for the first time since Ukrainian forces attacked it and seized some of its territory last year.
The visit follows a report from Valery Gerasimov, head of the Russian General Staff, who told Mr Putin that Ukrainian troops in the Kursk region were now surrounded.
During a tour of a control centre used by Russian troops, he says Russia should treat Ukrainian soldiers captured as prisoners of war in Kursk as terrorists.
"All people who are currently on the territory of the Kursk region, commit crimes here against the civilian population, oppose our armed forces, law enforcement agencies and special services, in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation are considered terrorists."
Mr Putin also says Russian forces should completely liberate the region from the Ukrainian troops as soon as possible.
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In sport,
Australian Athletics has unveiled a 20-strong lineup of Olympic medallists and rising stars to compete at the 2025 World Athletics Indoor Championships in China.
Reigning champion and dual Olympic silver medallist Nicola Olyslagers will return to the indoor stage to defend her high jump crown.
She'll be joined by Paris bronze medallist and 2022 world champion Eleanor Patterson.
Up-and-coming sprinters Torrie Lewis and Lachlan Kennedy will make their championship debuts, marking a resurgence of the sport in the Australian landscape.
Meanwhile, Olympic silver medallist Jessica Hull will chase a third major championships medal in the 3,000 meter event, as she looks to cement her status as a middle-distance powerhouse.
The event will be streamed live on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand from 21-23 March.
