In this bulletin;
- Queensland recovering from one of the worst power outages ever caused by a natural disaster
- Labor wins a third term in WA elections
- The Waratahs surge to best start since 2009 with dominant win over Force.
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Western Australian Premier Roger Cook says he's ready to get back to work after the WA Labor Party secured a third term in the state election.
According to ABC News, WA Labor was on track to win 41 seats, the Liberals five and the Nationals four.
Polls predicted a 12 to 13 per cent swing to the Liberals, but the party failed to retrieve its previous strongholds as hoped.
Liberals leader Libby Mettam says the rebuild of the W-A Liberal Party will continue.
Premier Roger Cook says the community has voted for the sensible option.
"Friends, for eight years, our WA Labor team has delivered sensible, stable government focused on strong financial management. We relentlessly pursue the creation of jobs and the delivery of infrastructure and services that people need and at times of global uncertainty, the WA community has put its trust in our WA Labor team for the next four years. "
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More than 200,000 homes remain without power and the threat of a tropical cyclone is not yet over despite the system being downgraded.
Ex-cyclone Alfred moved as a tropical low from Queensland’s Bribie Island, sweeping across the coast and inland towards the state’s southwest on Sunday.
Queensland Premier David Crisafulli says Alfred has created a power outage of historic proportions.
"Since the start of this event, there have been 330,000 homes and businesses without power. That’s roughly three-quarters of a million Queenslanders affected. To put it into perspective, this is the largest power loss from a natural disaster in Queensland’s history."
Though weakened, the storm remains powerful, lashing Brisbane with heavy rain and strong winds on Saturday night, including gusts of 100 kilometres per hour in Redcliffe and over 70 kilometres per hour at Brisbane Airport.
Forecasters warn of up to 700 millimetres of rain and destructive winds continuing through Monday.
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The spokesperson for a mosque in Western Sydney says his community feels their safety is being overlooked after an incident which saw a flag at the mosque cut down with a knife.
Police confirmed in a statement that officers from Bankstown Area Command are investigating the incident.
CCTV footage seen by SBS News shows a man standing on a Ute and using a knife to cut down the flag, which he then carries away.
A spokesperson for the Sefton Mosque and Ale Yassin community centre, Sheikh Mohammad Hourani, says his community feels unsafe and they are unsure of what next steps to take.
"It's falling on deaf ears. So, it's been reported. They said, okay, leave it with us, but we've seen no impact from anyone. I've forwarded the email to the Bankstown Mayor. I've forwarded it to ASIO, I've forwarded it to other different agencies, and I've heard nothing back, which is very heartbreaking. If it was a different religion that was placed in this circumstance, I'm pretty sure the media would have jumped onto it."
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A war monitoring group says violence between Syrian security forces and loyalists of ousted President Bashar Assad has killed more than 200 people over two days.
The violence has taken place in the coastal province of Latakia, which is home to the Alawite minority and a stronghold of the Assad family, which belongs to the sect.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says civilians have been executed in the violence.
UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen has urged all sides to "refrain from actions that could further inflame tensions and escalate conflict".
Syria's interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, says Syria plans to pursue what he calls remnants of the Assad regime and bring them to trial.
“We will continue to pursue the remnants of the fallen regime, those who refused but to continue their oppression and tyranny, those who committed crimes against the people, and those who seek to undermine security and civil peace. We will bring them to a fair court.”
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To sport now, the New South Wales Waratahs have worked to secure a milestone 34-10 Super Rugby Pacific win over the Western Force, marking their best season start in 16 years.
Despite losing captain Jake Gordon and in-form Number 8 Langi Gleeson in the first half, they dominated with six tries to one, opening the season with three straight victories for the first time since 2009.
After finishing last season at the bottom, the Waratahs now sit second on the ladder under new coach Dan McKellar, bolstered by a squad featuring 12 Wallabies.
