Good afternoon. Hong Kong is the latest corner to be afflicted by the climate crisis, with the Chinese city inundated with its heaviest rain since records began in 1884.
Hong Kong reported 158.1mm of rainfall in the space of an hour, causing widespread flooding and disrupting road and rail traffic. The climate crisis also came to the fore in New York, where climate protesters briefly disrupted the US Open women’s semi-final to draw attention to the issue.
- Wild weather pummels Australia’s south-east | Damaging gusts of wind, storms and hail have hit South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales as an active cold front crosses the south-east. Friday night will bring a reprieve to much of south-east Australia, with winds expected to ease. “It will stay windy for many this afternoon, and we will start to see those winds more broadly fall away tonight and overnight,” the Bureau of Meteorology said.
- Dutton rejects Nationals’ net zero push | Dutton has warned the Coalition “won’t be departing” from the policy after Barnaby Joyce labelled the cost “utterly untenable”. Joyce is expected to use this weekend’s federal Nationals conference to push for the policy to be scrapped.
- Tuberculosis outbreak in South Australia | More than 700 people have been screened and 13 cases confirmed in the outbreak on South Australia’s remote northern Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara lands. The state’s health minister, Chris Picton, said tuberculosis was preventable and curable and the government was committed to stop the cluster growing.
- Seatbelt camera glitch in Queensland | A design fault in Queensland’s mobile phone and seatbelt cameras led to almost 2,000 people being incorrectly fined and more than 600 drivers losing their licence. The transport minister, Mark Bailey, said he was made aware of the issue on Wednesday, with his department requesting urgent legal advice.
- Victorian teachers protest against workforce shortages | Teachers, principals and education support staff gathered on the steps of the state parliament calling out the state Labor government’s “alarming failure” to tackle the teacher shortage crisis in the state. The Australian Education Union said advertised vacancies in public schools had reached “unprecedented levels” of 2,600 last week.
- US Open semi-final interrupted by climate protester | The semi-final between Coco Gauff and Karolina Muchova was halted for 45 minutes after one protester glued their feet to the floor of the stands at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
- Mali jihadists kill at least 64 people | Attacks by suspected jihadists hit an army base and a passenger boat on the Niger river in northern Mali, a Malian official has said. A group affiliated with al-Qaida has claimed credit.
- Jimmy Fallon apologises over toxic workplace allegations | Fallon reportedly apologised to staff on the Tonight Show after Rolling Stone published allegations from current and former employees claiming a toxic work environment behind the scenes of his late night program. “It’s embarrassing and I feel so bad. Sorry if I embarrassed you and your family and friends,” he said.*This is an excerpt from today's Afternoon Update newsletter. Sign up here to get the full version delivered to your inbox every weekday.
