What we learned, Wednesday 8 February
With that, we will wrap up the blog for the evening. Amy Remeikis will be back with you first thing tomorrow to do it all again.
Here are the major developments of the day:
Four Australians are unaccounted for following the devastating earthquake in Turkey. Australia will deploy an urban search and rescue team of up to 27 personnel to the country to assist local authorities.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has confirmed the move she flagged last year – that she has blocked a coalmine proposal backed by the mining magnate and former MP Clive Palmer.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has assured her visiting Indonesian counterpart that Australia will push for “open communications, transparency and predictability” at a time of increasing tensions between China and the US.
A man and a woman have died after being pulled from the water unconscious on the New South Wales Central Coast.
Nine has secured exclusive rights for the next decade of Olympic Games, receiving the baton from Seven West Media for the first time since 2014.
Updated
Two people drown on NSW Central Coast
A man and a woman have died after being pulled from the water unconscious on the New South Wales Central Coast.
Police say just before 4.20pm today, emergency services were called to Frazer Beach on the Central Coast, following reports two people had been pulled from the water unresponsive.
Witnesses began CPR before NSW Ambulance paramedics arrived but they couldn’t be revived.
The two people are yet to be formally identified but are believed to be in their 40s, police say.
Police have started inquiries into the incident, with a report to be prepared for the coroner.
Updated
