Hundreds of protesters have gathered in San Francisco Wednesday as heads of state and representatives from big corporations meet for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit. The "No to APEC" coalition is comprised of various organizations including environmental groups, civil rights groups, and pro-Palestine demonstrators. 

San Francisco

Various protests erupt near APEC Summit in San Francisco

All right, we're at 5th and Mission here in San Francisco. And behind us, you can see a group of several hundred protesters. This group is called the No to APEC Coalition. It's comprised of members of various organizations, environmental groups, civil rights groups, and pro-Palestine groups as well. So what we've seen out here, they've shut down this intersection. Beyond this group where you see the fences, that's where there is the APEC summit going on. And occasionally we will hear some booing and jeering in the crowd. And that means that there's protesters trying to stop some of the delegates from APEC from walking through here. So here, let's turn the camera around. Well, there's some delegates right there, but over at this corner, you can see they've got their signs and they're trying to block people from getting into the secure perimeter so that they can attend the APEC conference. Now we've seen this happen several times in the last 10 minutes or so. They end up San Francisco police end up escorting those delegates up the street, presumably around into a different area so that the delegates can get in. The delegates are actually very easy to spot. They're the only ones around here wearing suits. So you see a lot of cheering and a lot of booing. And every time that happens, we know there's something going on like there is here at this corner at 5th and Mission. I also want to point out San Francisco police, just in the last 10 minutes, we've seen dozens of officers just arrive in riot gear. Once these officers arrived, some of the organizers with the microphone and the megaphone reminded the protesters here, don't push anyone. You have a right to be here on the street, but you don't have a right to push anyone. We want to keep this protest going. Obviously, organizers of this protest don't want there to be some sort of conflict or confrontation with police. They just want to get their message across. Now behind this group, you can see some of the fencing here. Beyond that is where the APEC conference is taking place. It's very difficult for people to get through. You have to have a credential. And you see some of the people laying down, the protesters laying down here as a form of protest. Meanwhile, off to my left, Chip, let's go over here because there's another group of delegates to APEC who are trying to get through and the protesters are blocking them from doing that. So when that happens, you can see all the people in the suits walking up mission, getting escorted by San Francisco police to get around this protest. But this is expected to continue throughout the morning. We're going to be out here and we'll have another update for you in the next hour and morning or two. We'll send it back to you guys.

Hong Kong's first district elections saw a turnout of 27.5 percent, the government said Monday, a record low for a race that had shut out all opposition candidates. China has barred pro-democracy candidates from entering the race this year, reserving the ballot for "patriots."

Sha Tin

Hong Kong elections witness record low turnout

Elon Musk has reinstated far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones on the social media platform X, a year after vowing never to let him return. Jones, who claimed that a December 2012 school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that killed 20 children and six educators was a hoax, was banned from the platform in 2018 for violating its "abusive behavior policy."

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The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon is warning the escalation in hostilities along the Israeli border could widen. The Israeli army has carried out multiple air strikes on frontline villages in some of the fiercest bombardment yet. The Lebanese armed group Hezbollah is also stepping up attacks against Israeli military outposts. 

Beirut

Israel-Gaza War

Violence escalates between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah

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Canberra

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Mackay

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Israeli tanks battled their way to the centre of Khan Younis in a major new push into the heart of the main city in the southern Gaza Strip which is sheltering hundreds of thousands of civilians who fled other parts of the enclave. 

Israeli tanks reach center of Khan Younis

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Foreign investors who leave their homes vacant will be slugged with a six-fold increase to penalties as the Federal Government seeks to free up more housing stock.

Foreign investors to be penalised for leaving homes vacant

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Friday approved two gene therapies for sickle cell disease, making one of them the first treatment in the United States based on the Nobel Prize-winning CRISPR gene editing technology.

Maryland

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Israel bombing of the Gaza Strip has intensified in an expanded phase of its war against Hamas. This is after the United States wielded its U.N. Security Council veto to shield its ally from a global demand for a ceasefire.

Jerusalem

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EU lawmakers and policymakers have reached a deal on rules regulating the use of artificial intelligence, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on the X social platform.

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New York

United States vetoes UN vote on immediate Gaza ceasefire

Israel's military says it has struck 450 targets in Gaza over the past 24 hours, roughly double the figure it's typically reported since the end of the truce with Hamas. It marks a new expansion of the war.

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Russians and Belarusians who qualify in their sport for the Paris 2024 Olympics can take part as neutrals without flags, emblems or anthems at the event next year, the International Olympic Committee has ruled.

Paris

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Cyclone preparations are underway in north Queensland. Communities in North Queensland are bracing for Category Four Jasper to approach mainland Queensland by mid-next week.

Townsville City

North Queensland braces for Category Four cyclone

The Hamas-run health ministry reported 40 dead in strikes near Gaza City on Friday, and dozens more in Jabalia and the main southern city of Khan Yunis. So far, the fighting in the Palestinian enclave has left 17,487 people dead, according to the ministry's latest published figures. 

Hamas health ministry says over 17,000 dead in Gaza

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday told soldiers who had fought in Ukraine that he would run for the top job again in the 2024 election - a move that will allow the former KGB spy to stay in power until at least 2030. 

Moscow

Ukraine Invasion

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Ahead of a U.N. Security Council vote on a resolution for a ceasefire in Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in his strongest public criticism of Israel's conduct of the war on Hamas in south Gaza, said there was a gap between the government's declared intentions to protect civilians and the casualties.

Washington

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2023 has been declared the hottest year in recorded history a month earlier than scientists would usually confirm the evidence. Temperatures are now nudging one and a half degrees Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels, giving the UN climate talks in Dubai a heightened sense of priority.

Council of the City of Sydney

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The Department of Justice filed new criminal charges against U.S. President Joe Biden's son, Hunter, indicting him for allegedly failing to pay $1.4 million in taxes while spending millions of dollars on a lavish lifestyle. 

Delaware

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Two months since the initial Hamas attack on southern Israel, doctors in Gaza are treating many times the number of patients they are equipped to handle, and a UN official says there is no safe place for humanitarian operations to continue.

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan visited Greece and met with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Thursday. The two leaders agreed to reboot their relations, establishing a roadmap designed to usher in a new era of closer ties between the two NATO allies but historical foes. 