The World Today
UN condemns Israeli strikes
ABC listen, podcasts, radio, news, music and more. Hello and welcome to the world today. It's Friday, the 11th of October. I'm Stephanie Smail coming to you from the lands of the Terbil and Juggera people in Brisbane. Today, the cleanup begins. Florida residents assess the damage from Hurricane Milton, with power still cut to millions of homes and businesses. And residents in a small town in Victoria buy up military technology to protect their community from flooding. I feel like we'll come again. Well, I've had three floods in 30 years here. This gives me great sense of security. It gives me peace of mind that I'm not going to have such a drastic cleanup at the end of it. Israel's deadly attack on Lebanon continues, with strikes in central Beirut, killing at least 22 people and injuring more than 110. In the country's south, two United Nations peace keepers have been injured during condemnation from the UN. The death toll continues to rise in Gaza, too, after an Israeli strike on a school where people were sheltering. David S Court prepared this report. Residents of Beirut gather around a destroyed apartment complex in the middle of the city, the site of another Israeli missile strike. Lebanese health authorities say at least 22 people have been killed and around 117 others injured. In southern Lebanon, UN forces say an Israeli tank fired at an observation tower, injuring two soldiers from Indonesia. Andrea Tenetti is a United Nations spokesperson. There was an agreement with all the troop contributing countries that it's important for the UN to be there to fly the UN flag, and we continue to monitor the situation we are there because the security council has asked us to be there. So we are staying until the situation becomes impossible for us to operate. The UN also claimed that Israeli troops fired at a nearby position, damaging vehicles and a communication system, and on Wednesday deliberately fired at and disabled, cameras monitoring the area. So three incidents in a day, in 24 hours. This is highly concerning, not only because the peacekeepers are there, but because this was done by most probably a deliberate attack against our troops, which is a violation or a grave violation of international humanitarian law. The Israeli military says it instructed UN forces in the area to move to protected spaces before opening fire. Ian Langford is a former brigadier and peacekeeper with the Australian Defence Force and United Nations. He has worked in Israel and Lebanon and was present at the last Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon in 2006. Will any attack on UN personnel or infrastructure is a violation under international law? It's often the case that both, if not all parties to these conflicts, are anxious about the UN reporting on them in terms of their own operational security. So both parties see a threat to their own forces if the UN are able to monitor and report and they see that as a security risk. Ian Langford recalls the deaths of a UN peacekeeper during the war in 2006, saying it is inevitable that officials will sometimes get caught in the crossfire. It suggests to me that the role of the United Nations in terms of monitoring and reporting in accordance with their Security Council resolution is seen as a threat to safety by both Hezbollah terrorists and IDF forces in their ground operations in southern Lebanon. And throughout every conflict in that region, really since the 1970s, the UN has unfortunately been inadvertently targeted and often seen as a threat. As the conflict escalates up north, there's more despair in Gaza after an Israeli strike on a school sheltering displaced people killed at least 27. If the car Hamuda was displaced from Jabaliyah, a city in Palestine located four kilometers north of Gaza City. Where should we go? They forced us to leave our homes. We headed to tents. They bombed the tents. In houses, they bombed the houses. In the streets, they bombed us. In the markets, they bombed us. In the schools, they bombed us. A reminder that while much attention has turned to Lebanon, Israeli bombing and death continues throughout Gaza. David S. Court reporting, "Hurricane Milton has taken at least 10 lives and left a trail of destruction in Florida. The system has now blown out into the Atlantic, allowing emergency services and residents to start surveying the damage. Authorities say they've avoided the worst-case scenario, but their warning the cleanup will be vast and costly." Elizabeth Kramsi reports. In Palmetto, Florida, southwest of Tampa, Natasha Dooka has returned home to survey the damage. "I didn't warn you so what we have." "Oh my gosh." The roof has been peeled off. Clothes and debris hang from the rafters. "So this is home and it's gone. Home is gone. So home and home number. So do you. I'm very emotional." The young family of seven had evacuated to a government shelter. She doesn't think they would have survived otherwise. "I don't think we would have because we don't have a ceiling. So imagine being in a house with no ceiling, no roof, no protection, nothing. It wins at a hundred and one. No, I don't think we'll still be here." In Gulfport, southwest of Tampa, a Christian Burke stayed in his home despite a mandatory evacuation. It's designed to withstand a Category 5 hurricane, but he won't be doing it again. "It's really impossible to describe, you know. I just kept seeing it's unexplainable what it looks like and it was. It just witnessing that power was just…" At least 10 people were killed when Hurricane Milton ripped through Florida. Around 3 million homes and businesses are without power. Flood waters left boats stranded in backyards. Along with debris from Hurricane Helene just two weeks ago. But Milton was, in some ways, less severe than expected. Alan Archer is the chief meteorologist of Continental Weather Corporation in Tampa, Florida. He's currently about five hours northwest in Tallahassee. "One time, a couple of days ago, we had 180 mile an hour winds, like 225 kilometer. Well, as it came approaching Florida, it did weaken so much. So it came ashore as a 120 mile per hour, 205 kilometer per hour hurricane, which is considered a major hurricane. But what happens is once they get to be very intense, like this one was at one time, then the wall of water that it produces out of the Gulf of Mexico, it never really dissipates. And so as a result, here comes a 15-foot wall of water, slamming along the beaches." Tempe Bay managed to escape that huge surge of sea water, which hit further south. Alan Archer says what was surprising was the severity of the 45 tornadoes recorded during the day. "It was the most tornado warnings in any one given day that were issued in the state of Florida. This one just happened to spin up a lot of tornadoes. And unfortunately, these were some of them were big. We don't get big tornadoes in Florida produced by hurricanes. Usually they're real small, they're a very short duration. These were the big guys." Around 80,000 people headed to government shelters in the hours before the storm rolled through. Summer Smith is an anchor for WWSB ABC television in Florida. "So the school service shelters, and they are built with very strong walls, concrete block, and they're built to sustain very powerful winds, so very safe, so that's where people go." She says the biggest concern for residents now is the long journey to rebuild. "A lot of these places are businesses, like restaurants and hotels. We are entering into our tourism season. They will not be able to be ready for that. So losing income is the big concern. And there was such a large amount of homes and businesses damaged. It's now getting the materials and find the manpower to do it as well." News anchor Summer Smith ending that report from Elizabeth Cramsey. On ABC radio across Australia, streaming online and on the ABC Listen app, this is the world today, thanks to your company. In New South Wales, people facing serious domestic violence charges will now be monitored around the clock. The electronic monitoring devices are designed to help authorities keep tabs on would-be perpetrators while they're on bail. It's part of an almost quarter of a billion-dollar package to address the state's domestic violence rates. Kathleen Ferguson reports. "Government's around the country are under growing pressure to crack down on domestic violence perpetrators. Today, New South Wales has announced its latest measure. Proucar is the deputy premier." "The new regime of electronic monitoring will apply for serious offences of domestic violence perpetrators. This is the first time in New South Wales history that these ankle bracelets will be applied to people who have been charged, not convicted." The historic reform to bail will apply to all of those who have been accused of serious domestic violence offences and given bail. It follows another bail reform which puts the onus on the alleged offender to prove why they should receive bail, not on the prosecutor to argue against it. Proucar says perpetrators are now on notice. "This will send a message to anyone charged with serious domestic violence offences. You will be being watched so you better be on your best behaviour." So how will it work? Analak Chantavong is the Minister for Corrections. "A led serious domestic violence offenders who are granted bail will be watched 24/7 days a week around the clock. Any breaches of the bail conditions will result in corrections to immediately notify New South Wales Police for the appropriate response to be taken." About 90 alleged domestic violence offenders are expected to be wearing devices at any one time. Analak Chantavong says the department has stepped up its resourcing to ensure the new measure is a success. The state government this year committed more than $200 million towards addressing domestic and family violence in its budget. It's introduced a range of measures with the monitoring devices the latest to be implemented. Jodie Harrison is the Minister for Women and for the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault. "We've made a number of changes, and they just leave Lee over the last few months in relation to strengthening our bail laws, strengthening our apprehended domestic violence order laws where there's breaches occurring. We've introduced serious domestic violence offender prevention orders. And in addition to that, we saw on the 1st of July the implementation of the coercive control offence as a criminal offence." Family and friends of Molly Tieshurst have been advocating for this bail condition. The young mother's body was found in Forbes earlier this year and her former partner was later charged with her alleged murder and for breaching an ABO. The Women's Safety Commissioner Hannah Tonkin says this latest measure is welcome but there's more work to do. "This will give victim survivors of domestic and family violence who are overwhelmingly women and children greater peace of mind while they wait for their matter to be dealt with by the courts. Electronic monitoring by itself cannot keep victim survivors safe but it is a critical part of a broader plan to support their safety planning." New South Wales Deputy Premier Pro-Car agrees. "This is something that needs to be attacked from all angles and we are attempting to do that from every angle." The LNP in Queensland has announced if it wins the state election it will also introduce the monitoring scheme. The ACT Domestic Violence Crisis Service says it's watching closely to see if the program would work there. Kathleen Ferguson reporting and if you're in an abusive situation or know someone who is call 1-800-RESPECT. That's 1-800-737-732 if it's an emergency called 000. When a record flood threatened northern Victoria two years ago residents in a small town on the Murray River built their own 18-kilometre flood levy with no help from authorities. Residents there are still fighting to protect their homes with one local sourcing military technology to use as a flood barrier. It's an Australian first as Shannon Schubert reports. "So I'll show you the level of water that was in our outer lounge and I'm keeping the cupboard because I want to be reminded that this is how deep it was." It's been two years since Tuesday browse property near the Murray River in Turumbary was inundated in an historic flood event. "It's nearly two years and we're still cleaning up. We're still finding things." At the time in October 2022 she found herself stranded on her property near the Murray River for three months and had to use a kayak to get fresh water. "Anyone coming to visit you'll need to bring a boat because this is the driveway." When she realized the extent of the damage she knew she couldn't live through it again. "There was about a few weeks there, I thought this is too much. I can't do this and I certainly can't do it again and yes I did. I did think I just get out of here to sell." But instead she decided to find a solution. Inspired by an industrial flood barrier deployed during the Riverland floods she decided to look into it. "So I verified that they were good, that they were useful for them. Then I contacted the agent which was in England who put me on to America who then said speak to India because they're manufactured in India in the end had some sent out. And that was a big deal in itself who import duty and had to get a customs agent." Defense cell is a geotextile fabric cell that holds sand. When the cells are connected together they form a lightweight barrier system. It's used by militaries and governments around the world as a flood and security barrier. It's ballistics and bullet proof. One cell is equivalent to 300 sandbags. While you need a tractor to fill it, it's faster to fill than hundreds of sandbags. "A flood will come again. I've had three floods in 30 years here. This gives me great sense of security. It gives me peace of mind that I'm not going to have such a drastic clean up at the end of it. So I'm expecting these for the last 10 years." The Australian supplier of defense cell thinks she's the first Australian resident to import it for personal use. And Ms. Braille isn't the only Turumbary resident looking for solutions. "Quite different to a couple of years ago." Helen Williams was one of the 100 locals who worked tirelessly for weeks on an 18 kilometer levee during the October 2022 flood. "After 50 years of asking different government departments for assistance to help repair our flood bank that probably had worn down to somewhere around like 30 to 50 centimetres high, we heard that the river was coming up bigger at us and to expect flooding. As a community, we knew that the cavalry wouldn't be coming for us because they hadn't for the last 50 years. It was time for us to take action." Looking ahead, Ms. Williams says the community isn't asking for much from authorities, but they're frustrated about parts of the levee bank being removed. The council says that was done to improve traffic safety and allow access for the public school bus. Parks Victoria also plans to remove two further parts of the levee for camper access. It says it will improve visitor safety and emergency services have been told where the gaps will be. The local community wants reassurance that next time there's a flood, they'll get the warning and support they need when they need it. "Give us some surety that in the future that there's a particular flood level in Eituca, which is about two days of water away from us when it hits that level, that they action things that we need put in place." Turumbary resident Helen Williams, ending that report from Shannon Schubert. There are calls to revisit the way speeding fines are handed out in Australia, with questions about whether you should pay what you can afford instead of a flat price. In countries like Finland, speeding fines are proportional to your income, with one Finnish driver recently fined the equivalent of nearly 200,000 Australian dollars. Luke Radford explains. 25-year-old Aaron O'Connell was driving through Melbourne's CBD when he passed by a speed camera. He was 10 kilometres an hour over the speed limit. The fine was $200. For many people, that would be an inconvenience, but for Aaron, the timing couldn't be worse. "At the time, well, I was attempting to start a business. And so I used my vehicle for my daily job. And at the time, obviously, I didn't have too much work going. I was just beginning. I received the fine fair enough. You know, I was over the limit, but basically it created a snowball effect after that, because I wasn't able to afford it." Australia's fine system is flat. Everyone pays the same amount for the same offense. But that's not the case for every country. In some, like Finland, the fine is proportional to your income. For Aaron, that could have made a big difference. "I completely understand that everybody has to have a consequence. And I, you know, not necessarily saying that I don't agree with the fine, but as I say, if there was an option for a cheaper, well, not cheaper, you know, just a more wage-based outcome. And that would have been, I think, you know, I still would have learned the same lesson." It's something progressive think tank the Australian Institute has investigated. In a new report, the Institute argues Australia should adopt a system similar to that used in Finland. Alice Grundy is one of the report's authors. "At the moment, speeding fines are incredibly unfair. It doesn't matter how much income that you have coming in, you will pay the same speeding fine. And so that basically means that in a cost of living crisis, people on low incomes have to choose between paying their medical bills and paying a speeding fine. And what we're calling for is a proportional speeding fine system." So in practice, what would that look like? Alice Grundy says the fines would be tiered. "The Finnish system have what they call a fine floor. And that means there's a minimum amount that a low income earner would pay. So across Australia, that would mean that the lowest fine somebody would pay would be $32. Whereas if you're a high-income earner and you're really speeding, then it could mean that you would be paying $2,000 for a speeding fine." Not everyone is a fan of the proposal. Peter Curry is a spokesperson for Australian Mutual in RMA. "Look, the NME has never supported that approach. The reason we have an enforcement program and the merit system program is to discourage dangerous behaviour. And death doesn't care how much you take home at the end of the week." Peter Curry also argues that any change that reduces the punishment for speeding is unhelpful while authorities are trying to reduce deaths on the road. "You're never going to get a perfect system. We don't believe that the system that's being used in Finland should be introduced in Australia, particularly in the current environment where we have in New South Wales, for example, the road toll is up compared to last year, almost on par now, but it's up one or two deaths. But nationally, it's up 89 percent." There have been some recent moves to tweak the fine system, like in New South Wales, where people on Centrelink can apply for a 50 percent discount on their speeding fine. As for broader Finland-style changes, it seems that could be a long way down the road. Luke Radford reporting. There's a push for Australian schools to change the way they support neurodivergent students. New data shows the number of Australians being diagnosed with conditions like autism has never been higher, and experts and young people say supporting different learning stars will benefit everyone. Eliza gets your reports. For high school graduate Bella Marsh, the classroom wasn't always an easy place to be. The autistic teenager often felt she had to adapt her behaviour to fit in. "So, masking, I would change kind of like my personality or like the way that I would, you know, behave or what I would say or how I would say things even." And rigid approaches to assessments meant she couldn't always demonstrate what she knew about a subject. "There's so many grades that I got where I was like, 'Oh, I really understood that topic. I just couldn't do it in that mode.'" Her former classmate, Austin Both, also has autism. He's always been interested in planes, but he says his teachers often tried to get him off the flight trackers and into work that had nothing to do with planes. "Seeing as now I'm actually studying to become an aviation professional and fly planes, it would have been great to have some work where I could have chosen to do like a physics assignment about planes and vectors and stuff and it would have even helped improve my skills now I'm in university." Both Bella and Austin feel more flexibility and creativity in the school curriculum and more freedom to choose how they learn would help neurodivergent students. "Everyone's different for neurodivergent students. It's not just like one size fits all." According to data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in 2022 more than 290,000 Australians lived with autism. That's just over 1% of the population and a 40% increase on the recorded numbers of autistic Australians in 2018. The ABS also reports that just under 7 in 10 students with autism reported experiencing difficulty at their place of learning. Graham Forbes taught both Bella and Austin and recently completed a master's dissertation about the experiences of autistic students. "Unfortunately what we do in the main in supporting our neurodivergent students is we focus on their weaknesses." Mr Forbes advocates for a more flexible approach to learning. "So you take a topic, deal with the individual and say okay your visual learning is really good, here's a way how you can go about that." While some Australian schools are making strides towards more inclusive education, advocates like David Tong from Victorian Support Organization amaze say more can be done. "We hear a lot about children and young people that are in mainstream education but they're not attending, they can't attend, it's not fully inclusive." He welcomes the idea of more flexible approaches to learning but points out they require more time and energy from teachers who are already overstretched. He argues instead of throwing more teachers and money into schools, Australia needs a sustainable solution. "It's a basic human right that every child and young person has access to a safe health educational environment." Following the Royal Commission into violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with a disability, Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has said more needs to be done to support students with neurodivergent conditions in the mainstream school system. "Aliza Getzi and Sarah McLean reporting and that's all from the World Today team, thanks for your company, I'm Stephanie Smail." Hi I'm Sam Hawley, host of the ABC News Daily podcast. When Donald Trump won the 2016 election, the world was shocked because polls had predicted an easy win for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. They were wrong. So what do the polls show this time and can we trust them? Today, the science behind the polls. Look for the ABC News Daily podcast on the ABC Listen App. (dramatic music)