Morning News Bulletin 20 November 2024

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TRANSCRIPT
Ukraine fires US-supplied long-range missiles at Russian territory
In Hong Kong, jail terms of up 10 years handed to 45 pro-democracy protesters
And in Tennis, Roger Federer pays tribute to a retiring Rafael Nadal.
The Russian government says Ukraine has fired US-supplied long-range missiles at Russian territory.
Russia’s defence ministry says the strike targeted the Bryansk region.
It says five missiles were shut down and one damaged, with missile debris starting a fire at a military facility.
The incident marks the first time Ukraine has used the longer-range American weapons to strike targets deep inside Russia.
The development comes as Russia approved changes to its nuclear doctrine.
It will now treat an attack from a non-nuclear state, if it is backed by a nuclear power, as a joint assault on Russia.
In a press conference marking 1,000 days of war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declined to confirm or deny the attack, but he says Ukraine will use all weapons at its disposal to counter Russia’s actions.
“One thousand days, I think it’s enough to understand that (Russian President Vladimir) Putin doesn’t want any peace. Even (on) this day, this is a fact, not some such words or something like this, not rhetoric, even (on) this day they killed our civilians. Even especially on this day, they presented (a) nuclear weapons strategy. Why? They didn’t present peace strategy. Did you hear (about) it? Did you read about it? No, of course. Of course, (a) nuclear weapons strategy because he wants just to make chaos in the world. He wants to destroy Ukraine, not only, and others, some other countries of NATO, and etc. I don’t want to go (into this topic) deeply (or) further into this and don’t want to repeat very simple things. Putin wants war, (for) as long as possible. The longer (there is a) war, the longer he (Putin) will be in the Kremlin. It’s very understandable. This is his goal to destroy us. All of us.”
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The families of 45 pro-democracy activists who have been jailed in Hong Kong’s largest national security trial have expressed their frustrations with what they’ve called an unfair process.
Australian dual national Gordon Ng is among the jailed activists.
He has been given a sentence of seven years and three months for his role in Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy protest movement.
Jail terms of between four and 10 years have been handed to the other 44 activists.
Chan Po-Ying, the wife of one of the jailed activists says her husband committed no crime.
“The whole trial is unfair, because what they have done is to do what the basic law has laid down, that it is their right to put pressure to the administration. I don’t know – what is their criminal offence?”
In a statement, Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong says the Australian government is gravely concerned by the sentence and is calling on China to cease the suppression of freedoms of expression, assembly, media and civil society.
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There has been a third attack on a crowd in China in nine days.
Authorities in China’s southern Hunan province say several students and adults are injured after a car was driven into a crowd of people outside a primary school.
The incident happened just over a week [[11 Nov]] after a driver rammed his vehicle into a crowd at a sports centre in Zhuhai in southern China, killing 35 people and severely injuring 43, in the deadliest mass attack in China in a decade.
Psychotherapist Sami Wong says the series of attacks will have an emotional impact on bystanders and survivors – and it is important that support is provided.
“So given that people are still adjusting themselves after the pandemic, dealing with financial pressures and social changes, and also all the post-traumatic effects coming out from the pandemic, and I think they’re still finding it very challenging to deal with it and to manage it. So I think it’s very important to understand that how much they can better manage themselves emotionally and also mentally. And of course, they need a lot of support.”
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The Chief International Correspondent for SBS News, Ben Lewis, has been honoured with a prestigious Walkley Award for excellence in journalism.
The judges declared him the winner of the Television/Video News Reporting category for his coverage of the October 7 attacks.
Posting on social media, Mr Lewis thanked colleagues in Israel for their support as well as Sydney-based colleague Claudia Farhart, who produced his stories for SBS World News.
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In Tennis, Roger Federer has paid tribute to his retiring rival, Rafael Nadal.
Federer says the Spaniard challenged him like no other player and he has made the tennis world proud during a career lasting over two decades.
The 22-time Grand Slam champion announced last month he would end his tennis career after the Davis Cup final.
Nadal is part of the Spain side that will begin their Davis Cup campaign against the Netherlands later today.
He says he is at peace with his decision to retire.
“At the end, it is about a feeling that I have been thinking for a long time. And for me today, it doesn’t make sense to keep going knowing that I don’t have the real chance to be competitive the way that I like to be competitive. Because my body is not able to give me the possibility to do that very often.”