Midday News Bulletin 16 December 2024
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TRANSCRIPT
- The Grand Mufti of Australia says Islamophobia must be addressed as police investigate anti-Islam graffiti in Sydney.
- HSBC Australia sued over its handling of scam claims.
- And in the A-League, A dramatic draw between Melbourne City and Auckland FC.
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The Grand Mufti of Australia and New Zealand, Dr Ibrahim Abu Muhammad, has urged authorities to treat everyone in Australian society equally.
New South Wales police are investigating a potential hate crime after Islamophobic graffiti was painted on a busy underpass in Sydney’s west, which has been condemned by Premier Chris Minns as disgusting.
The site on Hector Street in Chester Hill – close to numerous halal restaurants and grocers – has been cordoned off.
Grand Mufti Dr Ibrahim Abu Mohammed told SBS Arabic, it is important the incident is taken seriously.
“Using the analogy of the authorities as if they were the mother, I say that you must stand at the same distance from all Australian citizens. Whoever lives in this country is an Australian citizen who has all the rights that are established and recognised for any human being, no matter how high his level, and thus we are dealt with on the same scale.”
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Banking giant HSBC is being sued by Australia’s corporate regulator over alleged failures to protect hundreds of customers who lost money in scams.
Australian subsidiary of the global bank is being sued in the Federal Court over allegations it mishandled 950 reports of unauthorised transactions over nearly five years until August 2024.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleges that the total customer losses amount to $23 million, including cases of customers losing $90,000 or more.
Court documents allege that things escalated after the scammers gained access to accounts by impersonating HSBC Australia staff.
“This is the first case of this kind taken by ASIC. We allege HSBC Australia’s failures were widespread and systemic and that the bank failed to adequately protect its customers. HSCBC Australia took on average 95 days to restore customer’s full access to their own bank accounts. One customer did not have access restored for 542 days.”
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Schools in Damascus have reopened for students, a week after Bashar al-Assad was toppled by rebel forces.
The world is carefully watching to see if Syria’s new rulers can stabilise the country after a 13-year civil war fought along sectarian and ethnic lines destroyed the country.
In Jawdat al-Hashemi school the new national flag used by the rebels was raised in the school yard amid cheering students and teachers.
This student says he is overjoyed to be back in school.
“I am optimistic and very happy. I used to walk in the street scared that I get drafted to military service. I used to be afraid when I reach a checkpoint.”
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Multiple states are experiencing an extreme heat wave as temperatures exceed 40 degrees, bringing one of the hottest December days in years.
Parts of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland are expected to reach the high 40s while the Northern Territory faces severe to extreme heatwave conditions for much of the next three days.
High bushfire risks are expected across Australia’s southeast with extreme fire danger warnings in place.
The extreme temperatures will be short-lived for New South Wales and Victoria, with heatwave conditions forecast to ease on Monday night.
Jason Heffernan, from the Victoria Country Fire Authority, says it’s important to stay vigilant and up to date with alerts.
“If fires do start in the landscape they will be hard to suppress, they will spread very quickly, and fire resources will be focused on fire suppression, so we’re going to need the community to do their bit as well in giving us a hand to making sure that you are ready.”
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In the A-League, Melbourne City and A-League Men leaders Auckland FC have have had to settle for a dramatic 2-all draw.
Auckland FC’s remain unbeaten, but Melbourne City are the first team to take points off the A-League newcomers.
Auckland remain top of the table by two points, while City are fourth and six points off the pace heading into the Melbourne Derby.
Melbourne City coach Aurelio Vidmar says he believes a draw was a fair result.
“That first half was some of the best football we played all year. And dominant enough in every aspect, a part from scoring a second goal. And then when you don’t it’s normal that they come out in the second half and try and change it. And we struggled to keep the ball. We were too impatient. We didn’t move quick enough. We were a little bit slow to the jewels.”
