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A food entertainer's campaign of "tremendous ferocity and insult" towards a rival Instagram identity has cost him more than $300,000.

In the first matter to proceed to trial under reformed defamation law, the NSW District Court found Fouad Najem caused serious harm to a man he'd never met by falsely calling him, among other things, a pedophile and racist.

Issac Martin – a 31-year-old known as Sir Eats-A-Lot to his 300,000 Instagram followers – said the posts left him turning down jobs and avoiding certain areas of Sydney out of fear he would be assaulted.

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"The extreme nature of the allegations is an important factor," Judge Judith Gibson said on Monday.

"There are few more hated criminals in Australia than paedophiles. They are not even safe in gaol. To call a person a paedophile is at or near the top of the list of serious allegations. Allegations of being a racist are repugnant, but not in the same class."

Najem denied his four videos from April had the capacity to convey the meanings alleged or that they caused serious harm but raised no substantive defences, the court said.

While represented in pre-trial matters, he did not serve any evidence or attend the trial to defend the allegations.

In one video, using images of Martin's promotional work for the NRL Indigenous All Stars match, the plaintiff was called a "pedo dog" and a racist dog whose habit is "attacking Muslims" and who "hates multiculturalism", the court was told.

Gibson said the "most disturbing aspect" of the "campaign of tremendous ferocity and insult" was Najem's call-to-arms to supporters, insulting Martin and his wife in such a manner as to dehumanise him.

Najem directly contacted Martin to tell him he was "going to end (him)" and then told followers "I WANT EVERYONE TROLLING THIS C—"

"This is the pedagogy of hate," the judge said.

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Finding Najem's motivation was to discredit a competitor and strong evidence of an extensive grapevine effect, Gibson said Najem's repetition of the claims as recently as October 9 could amount to serious harm in itself.

Martin complained to police and the Australian Cyber Security Centre in April before deciding to sue for defamation over the most severe statements.

"When the police system didn't work for us, I felt civil action was my last option to both restore my reputation (and) protect my family from such unnecessary attacks online," Martin told AAP.

"To this date, no apology has ever been afforded to myself or my wife for the vile abuse and harassment he continued to share.

"I'm not sure he himself accepts that what he's done is wrong yet."

Martin said he struggled to cope with it as an adult and was concerned children had to deal with this type of behaviour daily.

"The argument it 'wasn't that bad' isn't good enough, because it wasn't that bad until it was," he said.

The court did not name Najem's accounts so as to not draw further eyes to the claims that are "so sensational, abusive and profane that they should not be reproduced without the most compelling reasons".

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Martin was awarded $306,656 in damages, including aggravated damages and interest. Najem was also permanently restrained from repeating the claims.

The case is the first to proceed to trial since Australian defamation laws were reformed to weed out cases where legal costs outweighed damages. Plaintiffs are now required to show their reputation has suffered serious harm.

Israel's prime minister has issued a scathing rebuke of Australia after Foreign Minister Penny Wong formally reversed the previous government's recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital.

Australia's ambassador has also been summoned by the Israeli government following the decision.

Prime Minister Yair Lapid labelled the move "hasty" and said the Australian government's handling of it was unprofessional.

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"In light of the way this decision was made in Australia, as a hasty response to an incorrect report in the media, we can only hope that the Australian government manages other matters more seriously and professionally," he said in a statement on Tuesday afternoon.

"Jerusalem is the eternal and united capital of Israel and nothing will ever change that."

Earlier on Tuesday, Wong reiterated Australia is committed to a two-state solution in which Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist.

"We will not support an approach that undermines this prospect," she said today.

"Australia's embassy has always been, and remains, in Tel Aviv."

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She reiterated Australia remained a steadfast supporter of Israel and an "equally unwavering" supporter of the Palestinian people.

The Morrison government recognised Jerusalem as Israel's capital in 2018, following a similar decision from the Trump administration in America.

Today Wong criticised the former government's motivations in recognising Jerusalem.

"You know what this was? This was a cynical ploy, unsuccessful, to win the seat of Wentworth in a by-election," she said.

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Wentworth, in Sydney's eastern suburbs, has one of the largest Jewish populations of any electorate in Australia.

In spite of the recognition of Jerusalem in 2018, Australia's embassy remained in Tel Aviv.

Israel considers Jerusalem to be its capital, though the city remains the focal point of conflict because of its religious significance to Jewish, Muslim and Christian people.

Wong noted that Australia was one of the first countries to recognise Israel in 1948, and that it was a Labor prime minister, Ben Chifley, who did so.

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A mother desperately screamed "please don't let my baby die" after accused killer Lucy Letby allegedly injected the newborn with a fatal dose of air, a UK court has heard.

Letby, a former nurse, is charged with murdering seven babies and attempting to murder another 10 between 2015 and 2016 at Countess of Chester Hospital in Chester.

Her trial has now entered its sixth day, with a jury hearing evidence relating to the nurse's first two alleged victims – a set of twins born in early 2015, according to the BBC.

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Letby is accused of injecting "an excess amount of air into the bloodstream" of Child A – which proved fatal – and then attempting to murder his sister, Child B, the same way the a day after.

Manchester Crown Court heard that the twins' parents were both told "you need to come quick" by a staff member at the hospital after Child A suffered a "sudden collapse" hours after his birth.

The baby's mother was then heard screaming: "Please don't let my baby die, please don't let my baby die."

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But despite doctors' efforts, the one-day-old boy couldn't be saved.

His parents never got to hold him alive.

The next day, Child B suffered a similar collapse to her brother, also while Letby was on duty.

"Not my baby, not again," the mother was heard saying.

Both parents rushed to the neonatal unit where a nurse told them Child B had stabilised, but the incident was a "very similar situation" to the day before.

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Child B's skin was found very discoloured and mottled, which one consultant said they "had never seen before".

Letby's trial is expected to last weeks, if not months.

Police launched an investigation into the deaths of a number of babies at the hospital in May 2017.

Letby was arrested three times in connection with the deaths before she was charged in November 2020.

Letby has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

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More than 80 schools across Victoria are closed due to the ongoing flooding crisis as thousands of VCE students begin to prepare for exams.

As a result, Premier Daniel Andrews has said flood-affected students will receive assistance and support for their end-of-school exams.

He said the "derived examination scores" would be approved on a case-by-case basis, and would help take the pressure off students and families.

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"I'm going to make sure that the only thing that contributes to your final score, your ATAR, is your hard work, your resilience, not those difficulties you are facing right now," Andrews said.

"It's going to be incredibly difficult for students who can't be at home and they can't remotely learn either because teachers are being flood affected as well.

"Schools are being flood affected. More than 80 of them closed. The automatic application of the derived examination will mean students are not disadvantaged."

It comes as 59 early learning centres were also closed in Victoria today.

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In response, Andrews said families directly affected by the floods would be able to send their three and four-year-olds to kindergarten for free for term four.

"We are stepping in to provide help for vital early childhood education services, and helping families with kinder-aged children," he said.

Singapore has pledged support for Australian authorities in their investigation of the massive Optus data breach.

Optus is owned by Singaporean telecommunications giant Singtel, which is majority owned by a government investment fund.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong discussed the Optus cyber hack during talks in Canberra today.

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Lee said Singapore was taking the data breach seriously.

"Agencies have also reached out to the Australian counterparts and stand ready to provide support to the Australian government should our assistance be needed," he said.

"Singapore takes the data breach very seriously.

"We expect all Singapore companies to comply fully with domestic laws wherever they operate and cooperate with the domestic regulators."

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The incident resulted in nearly 10 million people having details stolen.

Albanese said the Optus hack was a stark reminder for companies to comply with Australian privacy laws.

"It's a wake-up call to all companies about data retention and about the need to be vigilant in making sure the provisions of the Privacy Act are complied with," he said.

"I appreciate the (Singaporean) prime minister being co-operative on this issue."

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Optus confirmed earlier this month that at least 2.1 million personal identification numbers have been stolen.

The telco also announced an external review by international services company Deloitte into the massive cyber attack.

Following investigations, Optus said of the 9.8 million customers whose data was hacked, it believes 7.7 million do not need to replace documents.

The 2.1 million personal ID details include 150,000 passport and 50,000 Medicare numbers.