AAP Rolling News Bulletin Feb 03, 1130

Rolling News Bulletin 1130 AAP Rolling News Bulletin for Feb 03 at 1130

Jordan US (WASHINGTON, D. C.) The United States has carried out retaliatory airstrikes in Iraq and Syria against more than 85 targets linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guard and the militias it backs, after a deadly attack in Jordan that killed three US troops and injured some 40 others. The strikes on Friday are believed to be the first in a multi-tiered response by President Joe Biden's administration to the attack last weekend carried out by Iran-backed militants. While the US strikes did not target any locations inside Iran, they are likely to increase concern about tensions escalating in the Middle East amid a widening fallout from Israel's more than three-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas militants in Gaza. The US military said in a statement the strikes hit targets including command and control centres, rockets, missiles and drone storage facilities, as well as logistics and munition supply chain facilities.

Rain Qld (BRISBANE) Northwest regions already battling floods are preparing for another soaking this weekend, with ex-Tropical Cyclone Kirrily set to return. After hammering the region days earlier, the former cyclone is set to pass through again with heavy rain before tracking south along the Queensland- Northern Territory border. A severe weather warning has been issued for the border regions, encompassing the Carpentaria, Barkly and Simpson districts to the west, as well as Queensland's Gulf Country, North West and Channel Country. Some areas could receive as much as 300mm of rain in 24 hours, with six-hour totals between 90 and 150mm likely, the Bureau of Meteorology warned on Saturday. In the 24 hours to 9am on Friday, 332mm of rain was recorded at Queensland's Westmoreland Station, near the Gulf of Carpentaria.

Heat (SYDNEY) Doctors are encouraging Australians to be alert to the signs of heat-related illness this weekend as searing temperatures are forecast for a large part of the nation. Parts of the ACT, NSW, South Australia and Victoria will experience the 40C temperatures that had many West Australians sweltering this week. Healthdirect chief medical officer Dr Nirvana Luckraj offered advice on preventing an emergency. "The best way to prevent heat-related illness is to drink plenty of water and to stay as cool as possible," she said. "Heat-related illnesses include dehydration, heat cramps, heath exhaustion, a worsening of existing medical conditions and in the worst cases, heat stroke." Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines said the very warm weather that had affected Western Australia this week was moving to the east of the country.

Plutus (SYDNEY) A final person has been sent to jail over the $105 million Plutus tax evasion scheme, dubbed the biggest tax fraud in Australian history. Christopher Guillan, 36, was sentenced to four and a half years behind bars with a non-parole period of 2 years and 3 months in the NSW Supreme Court on Thursday. He is the fifteenth person to be sentenced over the fraud having pleaded guilty to two counts of dealing with proceeds of crime. Chief of the ATO-led Serious Financial Crime Taskforce, John Ford said on Friday the sentence brings an end to the biggest tax fraud in Australia's history. "It was a blatant attempt to rob the Australian community of money that could otherwise be invested in community services such as health and education," he said.

Farmer Movie (SYDNEY) Writing, producing and starring in a movie with no experience might sound like something out of a film script, but Leila McDougall is determined to raise awareness about farmer suicide after "losing too many people". The farmer, mother, teacher and event organiser can now add producer, writer and actor to her resume with the upcoming release of Just a Farmer. McDougall plays Alison, who is left to manage an ailing farm and an alcoholic father-in-law after her husband's death by his own hand. Motivated by her parent's own mental health battles and the struggles of friends, Victorian farmer McDougall wants to highlight the lack of support for those left behind after suicide. "I really hope that this film makes a difference, I really hope that people will talk about suicide," she said.

Psychedelic (MELBOURNE) MDMA may be known as the "party" drug ecstasy and magic mushrooms associated with hippies, but the psychedelic substances now offer hope to Australians living with severe mental illness. Melbourne psychiatrist Eli Kotler is among a handful of Australian doctors able to prescribe psychedelic medication in limited circumstances, and he's the first to admit they have an almost "mystical" appeal. In what some consider a controversial treatment, they work by switching off particular parts of the brain which allows a patient to process overwhelming aspects of their lives and confront issues head-on, he said. "It can be a traditional psychiatric model to try and repress the difficult feelings associated with the trauma like fear, whereas a psychedelic assisted therapy approach is to actually face the trauma," Dr Kotler told AAP.

Obit Weathers (LOS ANGELES) Carl Weathers, a former American footballer who became a Hollywood action movie and comedy star, playing nemesis-turned-ally Apollo Creed in the Rocky movies, has died aged 76. Matt Luber, his manager, said Weathers died on Thursday. His family said he died "peacefully in his sleep". As comfortable flexing his muscles on the big screen in Action Jackson as he was joking around on the small screen in shows like Arrested Development, Weathers was perhaps most closely associated with Creed, who made his first appearance as the cocky, undisputed heavyweight world champion in 1976's Rocky, starring Sylvester Stallone. "It puts you on the map and makes your career, so to speak. "But that's a one-off, so you've got to follow it up with something. Fortunately those movies kept coming, and Apollo Creed became more and more in people's consciousness and welcome in their lives, and it was just the right guy at the right time," he told The Daily Beast in 2017.

Mideast Unrest (GAZA) Satellite imagery analysed by the United Nations Satellite Centre shows that 30 per cent of Gaza Strip's buildings have been destroyed or damaged in the Israel offensive in the densely populated Palestinian enclave. Israel's assault, launched in response to attacks by Hamas militants in southern Israel on October 7, has killed more than 27,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in the Hamas-run territory. Air strikes, shelling and demolitions have razed entire city districts, including much civilian infrastructure. "In total, a staggering 69,147 structures, equivalent to approximately 30 per cent of the Gaza Strip's total structures, are affected," the United Nations Satellite Centre, UNOSAT, said. It said 22,131 structures in the enclave have been identified as destroyed, with an additional 14,066 deemed severely damaged and 32,950 having sustained moderate damage.

In sport ...

Div World Aust (LONDON) Australia's Alysha Koloi says she's in total shock at becoming a world champion diver. The 22-year-old has unexpectedly triumphed in the women's one-metre springboard on the opening day of the world titles in Doha, Qatar. The event was Koloi's first outing at her maiden senior world championships. "I'm still shocked ... this is a big surprise," Koloi said. "It's my first worlds - I'm stoked." Koloi, a former gymnast who only started diving eight years ago after watching her younger sister Sophie in the sport, entered the event for a hit-out ahead of her 3m springboard competition at the championships. But she took the lead on the fourth of her five dives and held on in the final round to finish with a winning total of 260.50 points.

AC24 Aust (DOHA) The Socceroos have been left to rue what might have been after let