TRANSCRIPT
- Anthony Albanese says Australia supports a ceasefire in the Middle East
- Tensions rise again between North and South Korea
- Jannik Sinner defeats Ben Shelton in the Shanghai Masters
Anthony Albanese says Australia maintains its support for a ceasefire in the Middle East, despite statements from the United States on the Lebanon incursion.
US State Department officials have said the Biden administration is supportive of ground offensives by Israel into southern Lebanon against the militant group Hezbollah.
Mr Albanese says he also backs Israel's right to defend itself.
But the Prime Minister has told Sky News Australia he still supports the US position - which includes de-escalation.
"The United States have consistently said that there needs to be an agreement. And there were negotiations with Israel and Hezbollah prior to the current escalation - and you need a de-escalation in order to have a diplomatic solution."
**
At least 45 people have been killed in Israeli military strikes on Gaza in the past 24 hours as Israeli forces press on with a raid on the Jabalia refugee camp in the enclave's north.
The Israeli military says the raid, now in its sixth day, is intended to stop Hamas fighters staging further attacks from Jabalia and to prevent them regrouping.
It has repeatedly issued evacuation orders to residents of Jabalia and nearby areas, but Palestinian and UN officials say there are no safe places to flee to in the Gaza Strip.
UNWRA chief Philippe Lazzarini says at least 400,000 people are trapped in the area.
Resident Bilal Hassanein says the situation is beyond terrible.
"We cannot obtain all the food we need. There is no medicine for the hospitals. There is no support for the doctors in the hospitals. When injuries occurred, some kept bleeding, some died and some lived. There is no medicine. Everything has been stopped in the Gaza Strip."
**
North Korea has vowed to block its border with the South, in another sign of rising tensions on the Peninsula.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency has reported their military would completely cut off roads and railways linked to South Korea, and fortify their "side" with strong defence structures.
It's unclear how the announcement will affect ties with South Korea since cross-border travel and exchanges have been halted for years.
But South Korea's military has said it would not tolerate any attempt by North Korea to change the status quo.
**
A Senate report has found that Australia's international student sector needs to be allowed to grow sustainably despite concerns about course caps.
The report, addressing the federal government's proposed limits on overseas students, says the cap should be legislated with just a few amendments.
Education providers have expressed concern that caps would lead to both job and revenue losses, while some experts argue there could be wider impacts on the economy and community.
Independent Senator David Pocock tells SBS the bill is targeting international students for problems that are not their fault.
"This bill is immigration policy dressed up as education policy. I'm very concerned that there are going to be unintended consequences from this bill that impact the economy, that impact domestic students. There's a range of things in this bill that people agree with around integrity and standards at universities, but this is really about net overseas migration, which I think we should be dealing with. But this is just scapegoating international students."
**
New data shows the prevalence of a highly infectious eye disease among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children has declined by 87 per cent.
According to an Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report, active trachoma among Indigenous children aged five to nine from at-risk communities was 1.8 per cent in 2023, a decrease of 14 per cent from 2007.
The report has also showed an increase in cataract surgeries among adults.
Institute spokesperson Jo Baker says most blindness and vision impairment among First Nations people is from preventable or treatable conditions.
**
It's been reported that US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has had as many as seven private phone calls with Vladimir Putin since leaving office in 2020.
Mr Trump also allegedly secretly sent the Russian president COVID-19 test machines during the pandemic.
The allegations are contained in the new book of legendary Washington political journalist Bob Woodward, called War.
Both the Kremlin and Mr Trump have denied the allegations, with vice presidential candidate JD Vance having this to say.
"What little I know about Bob Woodward is that he is, I'm gonna use - I'm gonna use a word here. He is a hack."
Mr Trump's relationship with Mr Putin has been scrutinised since his 2016 campaign for president, when the then-candidate memorably called on Russia to find and make public missing emails deleted by Hillary Clinton, his Democratic opponent.
**
And in tennis, Italy's Jannik Sinner has defeated 22-year-old American Ben Shelton at the Shanghai Masters, after losing to him in the fourth round of last year's tournament.
Sinner is now through to his seventh A-T-P Masters 1000 quarter final of the year where he will face off against Number 5 Daniil Medvedev.
