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Hundreds of people have been rescued by helicopters and boats after flooding in the Australian state of New South Wales.

Heavy rain and thunderstorms hit parts of the state, some of which were still recovering from similar floods just days earlier.

Cowra, which is about 166 miles west of Sydney, got 121mm of rain in the 24 hours to Monday morning – the highest rainfall in 118 years, according to official data.

In the 48 hours to Monday morning, there was 165mm at Tuena in Southern Tablelands, 127mm at Forbes Airport, and 118mm at Orange, while in neighbouring Victoria, Mount Hotham received 144mm and Tallandoon had 133mm.

The New South Wales State Emergency Service said it had performed 222 flood rescues and received 909 requests for help in the 24 hours to Tuesday morning.

This included around 150 people rescued on Monday from Eugowra and nearby Molong, 67 of them by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service.

Many of those rescued had been clinging to trees or sitting on rooftops.

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State Emergency Service Chief Superintendent Dallas Burnes said people in Eugowra were shocked at how quickly the water level had risen.

“The velocity was extremely fast – too fast in many cases to put boats in the water – hence the evacuations we performed yesterday with the 12 assets we had on hand via helicopter,” he told Nine’s Today programme.

‘Lucky to be alive’

Libby Noble was near Eugowra and said her family farmhouse had been flooded to at least kitchen bench height.

She told The Sydney Morning Herald that the farm was left completely underwater, while her 85-year-old mother-in-law was in the family home when it was washed away.

“The house was picked up and washed back there with my mother-in-law inside it,” she told the newspaper.

“She is very lucky to be alive.

“It’s truly inconceivable.

“Sure, Eugowra does flood, but never like this, and never in these areas.”

‘I was hanging on for dear life’

Her mother-in-law told ABC: “I was ringing (emergency number) 000 and the water was getting higher and higher, and then I had to stand on a chair to get out of the water, and I was there for hours.

“I was looking out the window and no one came.

“Eventually, I saw a couple of men wading through the water where it was the road and I banged on the window and yelled, and they saw me, and they came down and got me out.

“It was freezing cold because I’d been standing there for hours.

“I didn’t have much time to think.

“I was hanging on for dear life and hoping for the best and I thought this is it.”

Second flood in as many weeks

Forbes, about 270 miles west of Sydney, is battling its second flood in as many weeks, with the Lachlan River expected to reach 10.8 metres – levels not seen since flooding in 1952.

Evacuation orders had to be brought forward by two hours after flood water rose more quickly than expected.

About 600 properties in the town – which has a population of around 8,000 – are likely to be inundated.

Mayor Phyllis Miller told the Australian Broadcasting Corp: “They can’t believe this could happen twice in such a short period of time.

“I’m an optimist in my life, but this is really heartbreaking.”

Volunteers arriving from overseas

New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said the federal government will deploy an additional 100 defence personnel to help in what is the biggest flood rescue operation in the state’s history.

Volunteers have arrived from New Zealand and the state has also asked for help from the US and Singapore, he added.

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UN Security Council backs Trump peace plan for Gaza

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UN Security Council backs Trump peace plan for Gaza

The United Nations Security Council has passed a US resolution which endorses Donald Trump’s peace plan for Gaza.

Russia, which had circulated a rival resolution, abstained along with China on the 13-0 vote.

The resolution endorses the US president’s 20-point ceasefire plan, which calls for a yet-to-be-established Board of Peace as a transitional authority that Mr Trump would head.

Read more: What does Trump’s Gaza peace plan look like?

US ambassador Mike Waltz said the resolution was “historic and constructive”, but it was “just the beginning”.

“Today’s resolution represents another significant step towards a stable Gaza that will be able to prosper and an environment that will allow Israel to live in security,” he added.

Pic: Reuters
Image:
Pic: Reuters

The proposal gives no timeline or guarantee for an independent Palestinian state, only saying “the conditions may finally be in place” after advances in the reconstruction of Gaza and reforms of the Palestinian Authority – now governing parts of the West Bank.

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It also says that the US “will establish a dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for peaceful and prosperous co-existence”.

The language on statehood was strengthened after Arab nations and Palestinians pressured the US over nearly two weeks of negotiations, but it has also angered Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He has vowed to oppose any attempt to establish a Palestinian state, and on Sunday pledged to demilitarise Gaza “the easy way or the hard way”.

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From October: How will peace plan unfold?

Hamas: International force is ‘in favour of’ Israel

In a statement rejecting the resolutions’ passing, a Hamas spokesperson said that it “falls far short of the political and humanitarian demands and rights of our Palestinian people”.

“The effects and repercussions of this war continue to this day, despite the declared end of the war according to President Trump’s plan,” they added.

“The resolution imposes an international trusteeship mechanism on the Gaza Strip, which our people, their forces, and factions reject.”

The spokesperson then said that “assigning the international force with tasks and roles inside the Gaza Strip, including disarming the resistance, strips it of its neutrality, and turns it into a party to the conflict in favour of the occupation”.

Read more:
Trump asks Israeli president to ‘fully pardon’ Netanyahu
Inside Jordan warehouse holding Gaza aid ‘refused entry by Israel’

The Palestinian Authority, however, issued a statement welcoming the resolution and said it is ready to take part in its implementation.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death after lethal crackdown on uprising

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Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death after lethal crackdown on uprising

Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been sentenced to death.

It comes after the 78-year-old was found guilty of ordering lethal force in a crackdown on a student-led uprising that ended her 15-year rule.

The former leader, who is now exiled in India, was tried in absentia by the Dhaka-based International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) after the United Nations said up to 1,400 people may have been killed in last year’s violence.

Bangladesh‘s health adviser in the interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured.

Following a months-long trial, Hasina got a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.

In a statement released after the verdict, Hasina said the ruling was “biased and politically motivated” and “neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters”.

“I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where evidence can be weighed and tested fairly,” she added.

“I wholly deny the accusations that have been made against me in the ICT. I mourn all of the deaths that occurred in July and August of last year, on both sides of the political divide. But neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters.”

The students initially started protesting over the way government jobs were being allocated, but clashes with police and pro-government activists quickly escalated into violence.

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August 2024: Protesters celebrate Sheikh Hasina’s resignation

The court revealed conversations of Hasina directing security officers to drop bombs from helicopters on the protesters.

She also permitted the use of lethal weapons, including shotguns at close range for maximum harm, the court was told.

Hasina, who previously called the tribunal a “kangaroo court”, fled to India in August 2024 at the height of the uprising.

She is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence.

Hasina is also the aunt of former UK government minister, Tulip Saddiq, who resigned from her Treasury job at the start of this year.

Ms Siddiq had faced calls to step down over links to her aunt and was also said to be facing a corruption trial in Bangladesh.

She told Sky News in August the accusations were “nothing more than a farce” and said she had never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities.

The ICT, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court located in the capital, delivered its four-hour verdict on Monday amid tight security.

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What was behind the protests?

The packed courtroom cheered and clapped when the sentence was read out.

The tribunal also sentenced former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan – also exiled in India – to death.

A third suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to five years in prison as he became a state witness against Hasina and pleaded guilty.

The ruling is the most dramatic legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader since independence in 1971 and comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in February.

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July 2024: Bangladesh protest has ‘become a war’

Foreign ministry officials in Bangladesh have called on India to hand over the former prime minister, adding it was obligated to do so under an existing treaty between the two nations.

India’s foreign ministry said it had noted the verdict concerning Hasina and “remained committed” to the people of Bangladesh.

“We will always engage constructively with all stakeholders to that end,” the ministry added in a statement.

During the verdict, protesters had gathered outside the former home-turned-museum of Hasina’s late father demanding the building be demolished.

Read more from Sky News:
Hundreds of tonnes of ‘revolting’ waste dumped next to river
Arctic air to bring risk of ice and snow to the UK this week

Protesters gather outside the former home of Sheikh Hasina's late father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Pic: AP
Image:
Protesters gather outside the former home of Sheikh Hasina’s late father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Pic: AP

Police used batons and stun grenades to disperse the crowd.

Paramilitary border guards and police have been deployed in Dhaka and many other parts of the country, while the interim government warned any attempt to create disorder will be “strictly” dealt with.

Hasina’s Awami League party called for a nationwide shutdown in protest at the verdict.

The mood in the country had been described as tense ahead of Monday’s ruling.

The protests escalated during the summer of 2024. Pic: AP
Image:
The protests escalated during the summer of 2024. Pic: AP

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

At least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles were set on fire across Bangladesh during the past few days.

Local media said two people were killed in the arson attacks, according to the Associated Press.

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Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death for crimes against humanity

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Former Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina sentenced to death after lethal crackdown on uprising

Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister, has been sentenced to death after being convicted of crimes against humanity.

It follows a months-long trial in the country that found her guilty of ordering a deadly crackdown on a student-led uprising last year.

The former leader, exiled in India, was tried in absentia after the United Nations said up to 1,400 people may have been killed in the violence.

Bangladesh’s health adviser under the interim government said more than 800 people were killed and about 14,000 were injured.

The students initially started protesting over the way government jobs were being allocated, but clashes with police and pro-government activists quickly escalated into violence.

The court revealed conversations of Hasina directing security officers to drop bombs from helicopters on the protesters.

She also permitted the use of lethal weapons, including shotguns at close range for maximum harm, the court was told.

Hasina, who previously called the tribunal a “kangaroo court”, fled to India in August 2024 at the height of the uprising, ending 15 years of rule.

In a statement released after the verdict, Hasina said the ruling was “biased and politically motivated” and “neither I nor other political leaders ordered the killing of protesters”.

“I am not afraid to face my accusers in a proper tribunal where evidence can be weighed and tested fairly,” she added.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

August 2024: Protesters celebrate Sheikh Hasina’s resignation

The 78-year-old is the daughter of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who led the country to independence.

The International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh’s domestic war crimes court located in the capital Dhaka, delivered its four-hour verdict amid tight security.

Hasina received a life sentence under charges for crimes against humanity and the death sentence for the killing of several people during the uprising.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

What was behind the protests?

The packed courtroom cheered and clapped when the sentence was read out.

The tribunal also sentenced former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan – also exiled in India – to death.

A third suspect, a former police chief, was sentenced to five years in prison as he became a state witness against Hasina and pleaded guilty.

The ruling is the most dramatic legal action against a former Bangladeshi leader since independence in 1971 and comes ahead of parliamentary elections expected to be held in February.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

July 2024: Bangladesh protest has ‘become a war’

Foreign ministry officials in Bangladesh have called on India to hand over the former prime minister, adding it was obligated to do so under an existing treaty between the two nations. India has not yet made any response.

Paramilitary border guards and police have been deployed in Dhaka and many other parts of the country, while the interim government warned any attempt to create disorder will be “strictly” dealt with.

It comes after Hasina’s Awami League party called for a nationwide shutdown as part of a protest against the verdict.

The mood in the country had been described as tense ahead of Monday’s ruling.

The protests escalated during the summer of 2024. Pic: AP
Image:
The protests escalated during the summer of 2024. Pic: AP

Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

At least 30 crude bomb explosions and 26 vehicles were set on fire across Bangladesh during the past few days.

Local media said two people were killed in the arson attacks, according to the Associated Press.

Hasina is also the aunt of former UK government minister, Tulip Saddiq, who resigned from her Treasury job at the start of this year.

Read more from Sky News:
Hundreds of tonnes of ‘revolting’ waste dumped next to river
Arctic air to bring risk of ice and snow to the UK this week

Ms Siddiq had faced calls to step down over links to her aunt and was also said to be facing a corruption trial in Bangladesh.

She told Sky News in August the accusations were “nothing more than a farce” and said she had never been contacted by the Bangladeshi authorities.

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