Russia hit out at Ukraine at the International Court of Justice on Monday, as the two warring countries squared off in a legal case over Moscow's claim that "genocide" in eastern Ukraine was a pretext for last year's invasion.

The Hague

Russian forces have invaded Ukraine from land, air and sea with strikes causing widespread damage. Global leaders have condemned the move and imposed sanctions.

Ukraine Invasion

Ukraine battles Russia in the international courts

So, Russia is trying to convince the court that it does not have jurisdiction in this case. This case brought only two days after the invasion of Ukraine, basically using legal acrobatics. Russia is, of course, using genocide as the pretext for the invasion of Ukraine. And Ukraine has come to this court and turned that argument upside down and said, we are saying that you cannot use the convention this way, you cannot falsely accuse us of committing genocide in Ukraine, and therefore you're violating that same convention. Now, we've heard from the Russian ambassador-at-large here this morning. He did the opening statement. We're hearing things that we hear a lot from Russia when it addresses international courts, that rhetoric about Ukraine or being war criminals, being Nazis. That is what we were hearing today. But now we're also getting to the meat of the case, the legal meat of the case, and that is basically that this convention just does not say that you can lie about another country committing genocide or falsely accuse another country of committing genocide. That is the main argument being put forward by Russia here today. I must say, the legal team has changed a bit over the years. They used to have a real hot shot team. Now we're hearing from a guy who just graduated with his PhD two years ago. But Russia up today, Ukraine having a chance to respond tomorrow. Now, Fernand, this isn't the only case where Ukraine is taking Russia to court. Tell us about the others. Yes, so at this court, which is the International Court of Justice, where states can take other states to court, there's also another lingering case that was started already over the 2014 annexation of Crimea. That is also playing out here. After hearing for that case in June, one of the Ukrainian lawyers said that they're committing lawfare rather than warfare, so they're taking Russia to battle where they can. Of course, the International Criminal Court also here in The Hague has a case against an arrest warrant out for Vladimir Putin for his role in the abduction of children. There's also a court case at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. But this case is also interesting because there's this record international involvement. Thirty-three member states have filed in support of Ukraine in this case against Russia. I mean, that rarely happens. The last time was in 2010 when Australia got some support from New Zealand, and the time before that was in 1951. So I think Ukraine really feels that it has backing from 20% of the UN member states in this case. But of course, it is up to the court case, up to the judges to decide. But this is not the only place where these two will be facing off in court, and it surely won't be the last.

Pope Francis has suggested in a letter to five conservative cardinals that there could be ways to bless same-sex unions within Catholicism and suggests that such blessings could be studied if they are not confused with sacramental marriage.

Città del Vaticano

Pope says Catholic Church could bless same-sex marriages

Republican Kevin McCarthy has been ousted as the Speaker of the House of Representatives in an extraordinary showdown. Those who voted him out include Democrats and members of his own party.

Washington

McCarthy ousted as U.S House Speaker

Thai police arrested a teenage gunman suspected of killing two foreigners and wounding five people on Tuesday in a shooting spree at a luxury Bangkok mall, the latest high-profile gun violence to rock the country in recent years.

Bangkok

Tourists killed in Thailand mall shooting, teen arrested

Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud trial got underway with jury selection on Tuesday (October 3), nearly a year after his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange's collapse shocked markets and tattered his reputation. 

New York

Bankman-Fried Trial

Bankman-Fried's fraud trial begins in New York

The United Nations Security Council has authorized the deployment of a multi-national security force to Haiti. It's designed to help the Haitian police battle heavily armed gangs that have become increasingly powerful there. It's not clear when the force will arrive, or who, other than Kenya, will contribute to it.

UN approves international force to aid Haiti

U.S. House Republican Matt Gaetz has filed a motion to oust Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Gaetz and other hardline Republicans were angered that McCarthy relied on votes from the Democrats to pass a last-minute temporary deal to avert a government shutdown.

Republican files motion to oust U.S House Speaker

At least three people have been killed and several others injured in a shooting attack at a shopping mall in Thailand's capital Bangkok. The Prime Minister said police arrested the suspected gunman. Police said the suspect is 14 years old.

Three killed in Bangkok mall shooting

It's day two of the Conservative Party conference in the United Kingdom and disagreements over the economy have taken centre stage. The government has ruled out pre-election tax cuts despite the urging of some from the party fringes.

Manchester

UK Tories rule out pre-election tax cuts

Thirty-one-year-old Sam Bankman-Fried heads to trial in New York in what prosecutors say is one of the largest fraud cases in U.S history. He is accused of misusing money made from his cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, ultimately leading to its collapse.

Crypto on trial, as Sam Bankman-Fried faces fraud charges

Happening before the cameras, the world saw a combative Trump at a civil fraud trial in New York. The state's attorney general is accusing him of inflating the value of his assets by billions of dollars to secure massive loans.

Trump Arrest

Trump 'combative' during first day of fraud NYC trial

The scientists who provided the foundational research that lead to mRNA vaccines — the first vaccines against COVID-19 — have won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Philadelphia

Nobel prize to scientists who laid groundwork for COVID vaccines

Locals have told of the frantic moments when they rushed to help a woman who'd been attacked by a shark off the jetty at Beachport in the state's south east. The woman is in a stable condition in hospital with wounds to her foot, leg and hand.

Beachport

Woman seriously injured in SA shark attack

The property market is continuing to soar with house prices set to hit a new record high. It's putting home ownership further out of reach for first homebuyers.

Adelaide

House prices continue to rise, hit record highs

EU ministers convened in Kyiv on Monday in their first ever meeting outside the bloc. They marked their support for Ukraine after both a pro-Russian candidate won an election in Slovakia and the U.S. Congress left Ukraine war aid out of its spending bill.

Kyiv

Kyiv brushes off U.S, Slovakia wobbles in EU visit

Moderate U.S. Republicans and Democrats approved a spending deal just hours before a U.S. government shutdown deadline on Saturday. The bill, presented by House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, has further infuriated hardline Republicans already seeking to push him from his post.

Speaker McCarthy risked his job to avoid shutdown

U.S. President Joe Biden is pressing congressional Republicans to back a bill to provide more aid to Ukraine, after the stopgap-funding bill that kept the government open left aid to the country out. 

Biden calls on Republicans to back Ukraine spending bill

Early voting for the Voice to Parliament referendum begins in half of Australia's states and territories today, with the remaining jurisdictions to follow tomorrow. It's less than two weeks before the country's first referendum in almost 25 years. 

Canberra

Voice to Parliament

Voice referendum pre-polling underway

More than a dozen people have been killed in a fire in adjoining nightclubs in Murcia in southeast Spain, emergency services have confirmed, adding that rescuers were still searching for people unaccounted for after the blaze.

Murcia

Nightclub fire in Murcia kills at least 13 people, more missing

In Ukraine, new legislation goes into effect on Sunday mandating women with medical backgrounds to register for military service. The country is preparing for what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is describing as 'a long war'. 

Ukraine mandates military service for female medical personnel

Pakistani security forces have cracked down on Pakistan Taliban armed group, also known by the acronym TTP. The group is blamed for rising violence in the country. It includes remnants of al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS), and has intensified attacks recently.

Islamabad

Pakistan: Taliban crackdown after terror blast

Dianne Feinstein, the longest-serving female member of the United States Senate, has died at the age of 90.

Dianne Feinstein: Longest-serving woman in U.S senate dies

A United Nations spokesperson says the UN is sending a humanitarian team to Nagorno-Karabakh this weekend as more than 100,000 refugees have now arrived in Armenia from neighbouring Nagorno-Karabakh. It comes after Azerbaijan retook control of the enclave in a military offensive.

Baku

More than 100,000 flee Nagorno-Karabakh region

The consumer and competition watchdog is calling for a major overhaul of Australia's childcare system. A draft report by the ACCC has found Australian parents pay almost twice the OECD average for childcare despite large government subsidies for the sector. 

ACCC calls for enforceable caps on childcare fees

The United Nations is sending a mission to the Nagorno-Karabakh region- its first access there in nearly 30 years. The mission is to identify the humanitarian needs of residents there.

Zangilan

Fears 100,000 refugees fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh

Ethnic Armenians fleeing Nagorno-Karabakh — 90,000 of them and counting — just keep coming. They mourn the lives they left behind, traumatized by the conflict they're fleeing in the contested region that is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan.

Goris

UN mission to visit Nagorno-Karabakh after military offensive

A Nevada grand jury indicted Duane (Keefe D) Davis in the fatal drive-by shooting of rapper Tupac Shakur in 1996. Davis, who was a witness to the Las Vegas shooting, was arrested 27 years after the hip-hop icon was killed.

Los Angeles

Witness to Tupac Shakur's killing indicted for murder

The New York City area is under a state of emergency after the remnants of tropical storm Ophelia dumped 15 centimetres of rain, flooding roads and subway tunnels.

SEE THE FULL STORY

Ukraine Invasion