source : the age
Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Thursday, August 6. Here’s what is making news today:
- Australia has more than 100 confirmed detections of the H5N1 bird flu strain, according to the Department of Agriculture, as the government says it is doing everything it can to prevent spillover into the agricultural industry.
- The federal government is seeking to enforce stricter regulations on illegally modified e-bikes following a surge in incidents and injuries caused by the vehicles. Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh will reveal more details about the changes today.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be forced to cede ground on gambling reform after alarming testimony about addicts lured with drugs, escorts and thousands of dollars in free bets convinced the Senate that Labor’s laws were not good enough. The Coalition is likely to push the government into stricter regulations of gambling inducements – offers like bonus bets that encourage people to wager – as well as a tightening of advertising rules.
- Overseas, a woman has been arrested after four men were stabbed in central London overnight. The Metropolitan Police said early indications suggest it was a mental health-related incident and that scissors were recovered at the scene.
- Iran said Wednesday it is in the “final stage” of drafting an agreement with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz, and US President Donald Trump has said a deal could be announced this week that could potentially reopen the critical waterway, ease pressure on the world economy and help bring an end to the war – but the agreement is likely to be contingent on the US lifting its blockade on Iran’s ports.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged allies to send more interceptor missiles after another large-scale wave of Russian strikes on Kyiv and the surrounding region that Ukraine’s depleted air defences failed to stop.
Moscow fired 115 drones and 24 ballistic missiles on Wednesday, the BBC reported. Most of the drones were shot down, but Kyiv did not intercept any of the missiles. Twenty-one people were killed, and dozens more were injured.
Moscow is exploiting Ukraine’s critical shortage of US-made Patriot interceptors, the sole air defence weapon in its arsenal able to shoot down ballistic missiles.
“Ballistic interceptors are what could have saved the lives of those killed today,” Zelensky said on social media. “It is very important for our partners to understand that delays in supplying them, or a reluctance to hand over anti-ballistic systems, lead directly to such horrific casualties and destruction.”
It is unclear how many Patriots Ukraine has left, and the US stockpile has reportedly been eroded by the Iran war. An AP analysis estimates that Washington’s inventory has declined by at least 65 per cent from its pre-war level, but the Pentagon says it retains a deep Patriot arsenal.
AP
The federal government is looking to impose stricter regulations on e-bikes that would see some vehicles deemed high-risk barred from entering Australia.
The Albanese government and the ACCC are developing a new set of standards aimed at reducing the number of injuries and incidents involving illegally modified electric bikes.
It follows a move by the NSW government in March to move to the European safety standard, which enforces stricter regulations about which e-bikes are allowed on roads.
Assistant Minister for Productivity and Competition Andrew Leigh is expected to unveil more details about the changes later today.
A drone with explosives has been found at Germany’s Leipzig-Halle Airport, and the device has been defused, authorities say, in an incident that the country’s top security official said posed a “new quality of danger”.
Both the runways at the major freight hub were closed and several flights, including one passenger plane, were diverted after a flying object was sighted shortly before midnight on Tuesday (German time).
The second flying object collided with a freight aircraft after it aborted a landing at Leipzig-Halle because the runway was closed, police said. The plane flew to Hanover, about 200 kilometres away, where officials found slight damage.
Police later said an airport employee discovered a drone with “an unknown explosive device” near the airport’s south runway. Photos from the scene showed police technicians with an explosives-detector robot close to a Ukrainian cargo plane.
London: A woman has been arrested after four people were stabbed in London’s Covent Garden, a bustling area in the centre of the capital that is full of attractions and popular with visitors.
The Metropolitan Police said early indications suggest it was a mental health-related incident and that scissors were recovered at the scene. Police said four men aged 34, 39, 42 and 52 were found with stab wounds and a 47-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of possession of an offensive weapon and assault.
The injured were taken to a trauma centre following the incident on Wednesday afternoon (London time) on Endell Street. Two were discharged, and two remained with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.
“While still at an early stage of the investigation, we would like to reassure the community that we currently believe this to be an isolated, mental health-related incident,” Chief Superintendent Jason Stewart said.
Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Thursday, August 6. Here’s what is making news today:
- Australia has more than 100 confirmed detections of the H5N1 bird flu strain, according to the Department of Agriculture, as the government says it is doing everything it can to prevent spillover into the agricultural industry.
- The federal government is seeking to enforce stricter regulations on illegally modified e-bikes following a surge in incidents and injuries caused by the vehicles. Assistant Minister Andrew Leigh will reveal more details about the changes today.
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be forced to cede ground on gambling reform after alarming testimony about addicts lured with drugs, escorts and thousands of dollars in free bets convinced the Senate that Labor’s laws were not good enough. The Coalition is likely to push the government into stricter regulations of gambling inducements – offers like bonus bets that encourage people to wager – as well as a tightening of advertising rules.
- Overseas, a woman has been arrested after four men were stabbed in central London overnight. The Metropolitan Police said early indications suggest it was a mental health-related incident and that scissors were recovered at the scene.
- Iran said Wednesday it is in the “final stage” of drafting an agreement with Oman over the Strait of Hormuz, and US President Donald Trump has said a deal could be announced this week that could potentially reopen the critical waterway, ease pressure on the world economy and help bring an end to the war – but the agreement is likely to be contingent on the US lifting its blockade on Iran’s ports.
