Morning News Bulletin 14 July 2024
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- At least 90 people are reported dead and 300 injured in an Israeli air strike near Khan Younis
- Two men in north Queensland die in a house fire police say is suspicious
- Barbora Krejcikova claims her second Grand Slam singles title by defeating Jasmine Paolini at Wimbledon
At least 90 people are reported dead and 300 injured in an Israeli air strike near Khan Younis which Israel says targeted senior Hamas leader Mohammed Deif and his deputy Rafa Salama.
The attack took place in the al-Mawasi area which the Israeli military had designated as a humanitarian zone.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he approved the operation but says there’s “no certainty” that either man has been killed.
“The State of Israel, through the IDF and the Shin Bet, attacked Gaza today with the aim of thwarting Mohamed Deif and his deputy, Rafa Salama. There is still no absolute certainty that the two have been eliminated, but I want to assure you that one way or another we will reach the top of Hamas.”
Deif has long been at the top of Israel’s most-wanted list and is believed to have escaped multiple Israeli assassination attempts.
He has been in hiding for more than two decades and is believed to be paralysed.
One of the only known images of him is a 30-year-old ID photo released by Israel.
Salah Qudwa was in the refugee camp when the strikes hit.
“I was sitting safely in my tent, when suddenly the tents around me and this building were hit. We started running, I got out of the tent and ran on the streets, the bombardment was ongoing. We came here where this street begins – it had also been hit, the whole street was full of bodies, body parts. We started running. Are these the humanitarian areas that (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu talks about? There are no humanitarian areas or safe areas.”
Two men in north Queensland have died in a house fire that police say they are considering suspicious.
Emergency services attended the Townsville property on Friday after the blaze erupted in the afternoon.
Firefighters attempted to save two 18-year-old men trapped inside the house but both suffered serious injuries and later died in hospital.
Two other men were inside the home but were not injured in the fire.
Members of the Muslim community have participated in a mass blood donation drive in Western Sydney in memory of Faraz Tahir, the security guard who died trying to save shoppers from a knife attack at Bondi Junction Westfield earlier this year.
He was a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community Australia, which hosted the event in Western Sydney over the weekend.
Adnan Qadir is President of Ahmadiyya Muslim Youth Association.
He tells SBS, the pandemic years disrupted the habit of blood donation for the community – and the event is a reminder of why it is important to be a blood donor.
“This is something which our members, thousands of our members do each year. But with this particular event, it just sort of provides new hope and inspiration for them to come across and be part of it. So in that way, it is just kind of a refresher for all those members that hey, you do that, keep doing it for a number of years. Especially after COVID years, there are people who are in need of blood. And this is kind of a reminder for them to make sure to keep doing it. And we keep giving this gift across.”
The French Sports Minister has gone for a swim in the Seine River just two weeks before the Paris Olympics.
Amelie Oudea-Castera took the plunge in an effort to raise hopes that the river will be clean enough for competitors to swim in ahead of the Olympics.
Swimming in the Seine has been banned since 1923, largely due to concerns about health risks posed by the unclean water.
However, a $2.26 billion state-backed plan to clean up the river before the Olympics has seen several years of work on wastewater management to lower the river’s bacterial contamination from faecal waste.
Ms Oudea-Castera says the swim was a dream come true.
“There’s indescribable emotion. In fact, we’ve been dreaming of this, waiting for this, there was a huge amount of work being done for years now by an entire group of people, and we are succeeding. Thanks to the Games, we will be stepping up to the challenge of making the river swimmable.”
In tennis, Barbora Krejcikova has claimed her second Grand Slam singles title by defeating Jasmine Paolini in a gripping final at Wimbledon.
Krejcikova beat Paolini 6-2 2-6 6-4.
The Czech doubles specialist had dominated the opening set with a near-perfect display but was then rocked by dazzling Paolini fightback which sent the showpiece into a decider.
A nervous third set swung Krejcikova’s way when she broke serve at 3-3 and she went on to complete victory on her third match point, adding the Wimbledon title to the French Open crown she captured in 2021.
“I mean, for me it was good. I mean, it was a good start to the match. I was happy with the first set. Then in the second I think she improved. I think she kind of, like, all the stress and everything just went away, and she started to be more smooth and started to play better. I still had my chances there, but I didn’t convert them. Yeah, then the set was tough to come back. In the third we were holding the serves. I mean, I was just fighting for every single ball. I believe that I’m going to get the opportunity to break her, and I did.”
