TRANSCRIPT
- Former teacher Chris Dawson appeals a conviction over a sexual relationship with a schoolgirl
- Political crisis deepens in France after a no-confidence vote
- And in sports, the Ladies Professional Golf Association updates rules on transgender athletes
Chris Dawson is seeking to overturn his conviction for sexual activity with one of his teenage students.
It follows a failed bid in June to appeal the murder conviction for his wife, Lynette Dawson in January 1982.
The 76-year-old was convicted at Sydney's Downing Centre District Court in June 2023 of a historical charge of carnal knowledge as a teacher of a girl over 10 and under 17.
His total sentence for the charge was mostly rolled into his full 24-year sentence for the murder conviction, merely adding one year to his non-parole period.
His first possible release date will be in August 2041, when he will be 93.
The matter of Dawson's legal challenge on carnal knowledge came briefly before the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal today.
A two-hour hearing was scheduled for late March.
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Michel Barnier has become the first Prime Minister of France to be ousted in a no-confidence vote since 1962.
MPs backed a no-confidence vote in the National Assembly, toppling the government led by Mr Barnier three months after he was appointed by President Emmanuel Macron.
The development has plunged the European Union's second-biggest economic power deeper into a political crisis.
Green party member Cyrielle Chatelain says MPs felt this was the best option.
"Tonight, Michel Barnier's government has fallen. I am aware that in many homes that followed the debates all day, whether on TV or on their smartphones, to know what was going to happen, well, there is concern, there is concern that once again France is without a government, once again we don't know when the budget will be adopted. What I want to tell them already is that we carried out this no confidence vote consciously and seriously. We were aware of its consequences, and if we did it, it is because we know that we can propose another path."
The government is likely now to transition to caretaker mode.
It’s up to Mr Macron to nominate a new prime minister, although he has no specific deadline.
The president has expressed his intention to act swiftly, within the next 24 hours.
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The Palestinian ambassador in Canberra has welcomed Australia's latest position to support a UN resolution calling for Israel to withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank.
Australia was among 157 countries to support the resolution.
The text also recognises "inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, primarily the right to self-determination and the right to their independent state".
Palestinian ambassador Izzat Abdelhadi told SBS Arabic this position reflects Australia's increasing recognition of 'the right of the Palestinian people'.
He says it's time the international community recognised Palestinian statehood.
"This is adherence and commitment to the international law. This expresses actually a trajectory of Australia to increasingly recognise the rise of the Palestinian people. I think now it's important for the international community, including Australia, to act quickly to recognise the state of Palestine."
The vote marks Australia's return to the position for the first time in more than two decades.
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The Opposition leader has condemned the Labor government's proposal for an offshore wind farm in the New South Wales Upper Hunter region.
Peter Dutton says the Prime Minister and Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen should visit the local communities and explain why they are not being listened to over their opposition to the plans.
Mr Dutton says there's been no regard for the local environment in these plans and pledges to drop the proposal if he wins the next election.
He insists Australian business and communities require a strong power base to function adequately.
"We want renewables in the system, but we want a sensible mix. And with the government's renewables only policy at the moment, they've got no regard for the fact that there's been a 300% increase in the number of manufacturing businesses that have closed in Australia over the last two years. Ask yourself why? Well, for a number of reasons, but primarily because they're just going to Malaysia or to Wyoming or elsewhere where energy is about a third. The cost it is in Australia."
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In sports, the Ladies Professional Golf Association has becoming the latest sporting body to update its gender policy.
The new rules will take effect from 2025 to ban athletes from competing who were assigned male at birth.
Similar rules will apply to United States Golf Association events, including the US Women's Open, and will prevent Scottish-born American Hailey Davidson from seeking membership of the LPGA Tour.
In a statement, the Commissioner of the Ladies Professional Golf Association, Mollie Marcoux Samaan, says the new policy is reflective of "an extensive, science-based and inclusive approach".
The association says it spent more than a year gathering stakeholder views and also examining the medicine, science, sport physiology and gender policy law.
The updated policies would rule out eligibility for golfer Hailey Davidson.
On social media, Hailey Davidson says it is devastating to have what she called her greatest life achievement taken away.
