The Nightly live news: Jewish leaders say community lives in fear after ‘failure’ to stop anti-Semitic attacks
Keep up to date on the fallout from the widely condemned “anti-Semitic” arson attack in the eastern Sydney suburb of Woollahra as well as the latest in Australian politics and world news.
Key Events
Israel’s ambassador to Australia denounces rise in anti-Semitism
Israel’s ambassador to Australia has said the “rising tide of antisemitism must end now.”
Amir Maimon made his plea to Australia on his X account on Wednesday morning following another shocking attack in a prominent Jewish suburb of Sydney.
“Yesterday, I visited the charred remains of the Adass Israel Synagogue. This morning, another despicable attack targeting Jews in Woollahra,” he wrote.
The ambassador added that he had spoken with NSW Premier Chris Minns, who he said was committed to fighting anti-Semitism and safeguarding the Jewish community.
Mr Minns on Wednesday condemned the actions of “horrific humans” after Sydney’s eastern suburbs were rocked by a second act of anti-Semitism in just three weeks.
In the latest overnight attack in Woollahra, a car was torched and two homes vandalised with anti-Semitic graffiti.
Homes burn as wildfire prompts evacuations in Malibu
Thousands of Southern California residents were under evacuation orders and warnings on Tuesday as firefighters battled a wind-driven wildfire in Malibu.
The blaze burned near celebrities’ seaside mansions, horse farms and Pepperdine University, where students watched as flames raced down hillsides and the sky turned deep red.
More than 8,100 homes and other structures were under threat, including more than 2,000 where residents were ordered to evacuate.
Another 6,000 people were warned to be prepared to flee at a moment’s notice as Santa Ana winds with gusts reaching 64 km/h made for erratic fire conditions.
Resources sector worries about mining tax while PM labels it ‘fiction’
The resources sector wants the Prime Minister to publicly rule out a mining tax even if Labor has to negotiate a minority government agreement after the next election.
There are fears within the industry that a new tax plan could be struck with new imposts if the crossbench demand them.
However, Anthony Albanese has given the Minerals Council of Australia a personal assurance he has no such plans and his office described it as a “fiction”.
Polish PM says Ukraine, Russia peace talks possible within months
Peace talks on the war in Ukraine could possibly commence during the European winter with Poland’s prime minister saying he has outlined a series of planned meetings.
Poland has been one of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters since Russia’s 2022 invasion and is keen to play a leading role in peace talks
Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Poland would be heavily involved in any talks when it takes up the European Union’s rotating presidency on January 1.
“I will have a series of talks concerning primarily the situation beyond our eastern border,” he told a government meeting.”
Telstra fined millions after triple-zero calls transferred to wrong numbers
Telstra has been fined millions of dollars after failing to transfer people to police, firefighters and paramedics during a 90-minute outage at its emergency call centre.
Among the calls for help was for a person suffering a cardiac arrest, who died by the time their triple-zero call was returned.
Contingency plans were initiated when the outage struck in the early hours of March 1, with Telstra transferring triple-zero calls to a list of backup phone numbers which had not been updated.
Corporate regulator suing Rex, directors over breaches
Troubled regional airline Rex has been accused of misleading and deceptive conduct by the corporate regulator.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is taking the carrier to the NSW Supreme Court, after further alleging Rex contravened its continuous disclosure obligations.
The commission is pursuing former executive chair Lim Kim Hai over the disclosure breach, claiming Mr Lim and board members John Sharp, Lincoln Pan and Siddharth Khotkar contravened their directors’ duties.
“Our case will allege serious governance failures at Rex,” commission chair John Longo said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Rex’s directors had a responsibility to take reasonable steps to ensure the company complied with the law and we will seek to hold them to account.
“We will allege four of Rex’s directors breached their duties because they failed to take steps to ensure the market had accurate information about the company’s financial performance.”
Brazilian President rushed into surgery for bleed on the brain
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has been rushed to Sao Paulo for emergency surgery to drain a bleed on his brain.
The emergency surgery was linked to a fall in October, a medical note published by the government says.
The operation was successful and the 79-year-old Mr Lula is “well” and being monitored in the intensive care unit.
There have been increasing health concerns about the ageing president, a standard bearer of the Latin American left who is halfway through his third non-consecutive term.
Desperate search as former rugby international missing in flood waters
A former England rugby union international is believed to have died after going missing in a flood-affected area during a storm in northern England.
Tom Voyce, 43, is suspected of having drowned after trying to drive through a ford on Saturday night, Northumbria Police said.
It is thought his car was swept away by the river’s current. The car has been recovered by police, but Voyce is still missing.
Terror as apartment building collapses killing at least eight people in Cairo
An apartment building has collapsed in Egypt’s capital, killing at least eight people, authorities say.
The health ministry said in a statement that the collapse of the six-storey building in Cairo’s western neighbourhood of Waili also injured three people.
Cairo governor Ibrahim Saber ordered the evacuation of neighbouring houses as a precautionary measure, according to a statement from his office.
It was not immediately clear what caused the building, which was constructed in the 1960s, to collapse.
Anthony Albanese speaks out about latest anti-Semitic attacks in Sydney
Fresh from his visit to the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne which was razed by alleged arsonists, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has woken to another anti-Semitic attack in Sydney.
The PM commented on the attacks in Wolloahra on Wednesday morning saying: “The incident in Sydney is an outrage and another anti-Semitic attack.
“I will be briefed by AFP Operation Avalite officials this morning.
“I stand with the Jewish community and unequivocally condemn this attack.
“There is no place for hatred or antisemitism in our community.”
