TRANSCRIPT
- Hezbollah's leader vows to retaliate against Israel
- Vice President Kamala Harris choses her running mate
- Fourteen year-old skateboarder Arisa Drew becomes Australia's youngest Olympic gold medallist
The leader of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group says they will retaliate for last week's Israeli airstrike in Beirut that killed a top commander "no matter what the consequences are."
Hassan Nasrallah says Hezbollah could either act unilaterally or in unity with its allies in the so-called "axis of resistance" that includes Iran and its proxies in Iraq, Yemen and Syria.
Tension has been rising in the Middle East since last week's attacks, blamed on Israel, that killed Hezbollah's top military commander Fouad Shukur in Beirut and a Hamas political leader in Iran.
Israel said it killed Shukur but did not claim or deny the rocket attack that killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh who was visiting Tehran.
Hassan Nasrallah says the Israelis chose escalation by carrying out assassinations.
“No one can ask, whether in Lebanon or outside Lebanon, to treat the aggression that happened last Tuesday as an ordinary aggression in the context of the battle that has been going on for ten months. So our response is coming, God willing. Our response will be strong, and effective. Between us and them (Israel), there are only the days, nights and the field.”
Israel says it has launched an air strike against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
The Lebanese health ministry says four people died in the strike on a house in the town of Maifadoun, around 30km from the Israeli border.
And Hezbollah has launched drone strikes on towns in northern Israel, injuring two people.
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Vice President Kamala Harris has picked Minnesota Governor Tim Walz to be her running mate.
The Minnesota Governor and former high school teacher will become vice-president if Ms Harris beats Donald Trump in November
Mr Walz, who grew up in the small town of West Point, Nebraska, was a social studies teacher, football coach and union member before he got into politics.
He won the first of six terms in Congress in 2006 from a mostly rural southern Minnesota district, and used the office to champion veterans issues.
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Unions New South Wales has warned the state government faces legal challenges for its decision to order all non-frontline public servants to work from their offices by default.
The notice outlining the changes did not prescribe a required pattern of attendance and says individual agencies would be responsible for designing and monitoring their policies.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns says arrangements such as part-time work and role-sharing could still be offered, but that the return to offices is needed to promote teamwork, mentoring, and a sense of shared mission inside the public sector.
Unions New South Wales secretary Mark Morey says members of the union have been "stunned" by the shift, particularly working mothers who have made big life decisions on the basis of remote work, including childcare and transport arrangements.
State opposition leader Mark Speakman says he agrees workers should return to the office, but that the transition needed to be better managed.
"And we need to have local businesses in CBDs like Sydney having the circulation that creates business. There is a vacancy rate at the moment in the Sydney CBD of over 11 per cent. They haven't planned this process properly and they certainly haven't been giving clear instructions to other senior public servants to make sure they're falling into line. So of course, we want public servants back to work."
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A walk of fame has been unveiled in the inner west Sydney suburb of Newtown, honouring Indigenous artists among other significant Australian performers.
Aboriginal dance company Bangarra Dance Theatre is on the first of 30 bronze plaques to be installed on Enmore Road to highlight the legacy of the Enmore Theatre, built in 1908.
Bangarra premiered their first show at the Enmore Theatre in 1994 - and launched their National tour of Mathinna there in 2008.
Raquel Kerdel, community engagement manager at Bangarra, told NITV it is wonderful to be honoured in this way.
"We will be the first plaque on what will be on our Australian Walk of Fame here. And I think that it is really fantastic that the first one is of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander performing arts company. And having our footprint here in the Inner West."
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A 14-year-old has become Australia's youngest Olympic gold medallist.
Skateboarder Arisa Drew claiming that honour after winning gold in the women's park event at the Paris Olympics.
In other results, Australia's Boomers are out of the Olympics after losing 95-90 in their quarterfinal against Serbia.
And Australia has broken the men's team pursuit world record.
Oliver Bleddyn, Sam Welsford, Conor Leahy and Kelland O'Brien finished in 3 minutes 40 seconds ((3:40.730)) to beat the Olympic champions Italy.
The Australians face Great Britain in the final tomorrow morning.
