Midday News Bulletin 21 July 2024

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In this bulletin, Bangladeshi-Australian students hold a rally in support of protests in Bangladesh; a man has died an a woman critically injured during a fight in Melbourne; and in sport, Australian Rhiannan Iffland scores a spectacular win at the 2024 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series.


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TRANSCRIPT

  • Bangladeshi-Australian students hold a rally in support of protests in Bangladesh
  • A man has died an a woman critically injured during a fight in Melbourne
  • Australian Rhiannan Iffland scores a spectacular win at the 2024 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series
**

Bangladeshi-Australian students have held a rally in support of students protesting the government in Bangladesh.

The protest in the heart of Sydney's Bengali community in Lakemba has hoped to bring awareness to the violence overseas.

At least 114 people were killed this week during student-led protests against government job quotas.

Students have called for an end to a quota system that reserves 30 per cent of public service jobs for children of veterans from the 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.

In response, Bangladeshi police have imposed a strict nation-wide curfew with a “shoot-on-sight” order as military forces patrolled parts of the capital.

One of the student organisers of the Sydney protest, Rubayat Hasan, tells SBS News that he's worried for his family in Bangladesh.

"I'm very worried. My younger brother, he's also a university student, he is also in the protest, so I'm very worried about my family and also my friends, whoever is joining them. We can't communicate with them what's going over there because all the internet and wifi, everything is blocked. We can't reach them, even they can't reach us. They're facing a lot of problems. They're getting beat from the government and the police and the situation is out of hand now.

The Department of Foreign Affairs' SmartTraveller service has urged Australians to reconsider any travel plans to Bangladesh amid the ongoing violence.

**

A man has been arrested following the death of another man in Melbourne, while a woman is in hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Emergency services were called last night to a house in Bentleigh East, in Melbourne's southeast, where a man was found with critical injuries.

Police say a physical altercation took place between two males and a female.

One of the males, who is yet to be formally identified, died at the scene.

The female was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.

A 20-year-old Bentleigh East man was arrested at the home, with police now investigating the circumstances of the incident.

**

The Albanese government has ruled out de-registering the CFMEU after allegations of criminal wrongdoing.

The union's construction division has been accused of taking kickbacks, being linked to organised crime and employing standover tactics on worksites, in a series of Nine newspaper reports.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has promised to tear what she called the "rotten culture" of the CFMEU "out by its roots".

Ms Allan announced an independent review into the troubled construction industry yesterday, to be led by Greg Wilson, who has previously served as acting commissioner of the Victorian Public Sector Commissioner.

Federal Assistant Minister for Climate and Energy Jenny McAllister says Opposition leader Peter Dutton's calls for Labor to de-register the union will not help address the situation.

"It's pretty difficult to take lectures from Peter Dutton about this. Most of the alleged behaviour that's been reported over the last week occurred during the period when the Coalition was in office. There were plenty of opportunities for the government he was part of to deal with some of the issues that are now being addressed by a Labor government. De-registration is not a solution. De-registration would allow this same group of people to continue the same things that they are presently doing without regulatory oversight. It's hard to see how this helps the situation."

**

Donald Trump has held his first campaign rally since he survived an attempted assassination, returning to the battleground state of Michigan alongside his new running mate JD Vance.

Exactly a week after the July 13 shooting in Pennsylvania left Trump with a bloodied ear while killing one man in the crowd and injuring two others , the former president opened the rally to a huge crowd.

"They keep saying he's a threat to democracy. I'm saying, What the hell did I do to democracy? Last week I took a bullet for democracy. What did I do against democracy?"

Mr Trump was joined by Ohio Senator JD Vance at the pair's first event together since they became the Republican Party's nominees at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

The senator mocked Vice President Kamala Harris who criticised Mr Vance's calls for a nation-wide abortion ban earlier this week.

"Kamala Harris said something to the effect that. That I have no loyalty to this country. Well, I don't know, Kamala. I did serve in the United States Marine Corps and build a business. What the hell have you done? Other than collect a check?"

Republicans have begun to target Kamala Harris with their attacks as pressure mounts on President Joe Biden to drop out of the election race and allow his Vice President to run in his stead.

**

In sport, Australia's Rhiannan Iffland has soared to a spectacular win at the fourth stop of the 2024 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series in Northern Ireland.

In the cold, wet and windy conditions at the picturesque Causeway Coast, the 32-year-old from Newcastle picked up 9.0s from the judges in each of the first three rounds, before a huge final dive sealed her impressive win over Ginni van Katwijk.

The Dutchwoman claimed a career-best second place and her first ever podium place.

Rhiannan Iffland, the dominant force in the women's competition over the last eight years, also picked up an extra point for the competition's best dive to extend her advantage in the overall standings, edging her closer to a record-extending eighth King Kahekili trophy.

The Australian told Red Bull TV she didn't let the rough weather conditions bother her.

"In the training, as you said, the wind was just constantly gusting and it was hard to get the dives off. It's cold but you have to be resilient. To be honest it's easier in the competition because you know that 'this is your moment. This is when you need to deliver'. And that's all that was going through my head so that got me through it for sure."

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