TRANSCRIPT
- Australia joins other countries in condemning Israel's planned Gaza City takeover.
- Azerbaijan and Armenia sign US-brokered peace deal.
- And in sport, A-League club Western United says they will fight the decision to have their licence withdrawn.
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Australia has signed a joint statement with several Western nations rejecting Israel's decision to expand its military operations in Gaza and re-iterating calls for a two-state solution.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong signed alongside her counterparts from Germany, Italy, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, saying Israel's plan violates international law.
The statement also says Israel's proposal would aggravate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, endanger hostages' lives, and further risk mass displacement of civilians.
Germany’s government has also announced it has suspended the delivery of weapons that could be used in the fighting.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected international concern over his plan to take complete control of the Gaza Strip.
He accused Germany of rewarding Hamas in a statement responding to its decision to stop selling arms to Israel for use in Gaza.
The statement also reiterated Mr Netanyahu's earlier assertion on Fox News that Israel does not intend to occupy Gaza.
"Well, we don't want to keep it. We want to have a security perimeter. We don't want to govern it. We don't want to be there as a governing body. We want to hand it over to Arab forces that will govern it properly without threatening us."
Arab nations including Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, among others, have condemned Israel's plan.
Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says it will cost the lives of the hostages that are still alive.
"To assume that now we are going to reach out for what remained of Hamas and rescue the hostages is a fantasy. It will not happen. And it is totally unacceptable and unforgivable."
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Azerbaijan and Armenia have signed a US-brokered peace deal that would boost bilateral economic ties after decades of conflict during a meeting with President Donald Trump.
If the deal between the South Caucasus rivals holds it would be a significant accomplishment for the Trump administration - and likely to rattle Moscow, which sees the region as being within its sphere of influence.
President Trump announced the deal flanked by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
"It's a long time - 35 years - they fought and now they're friends, and they're going to be friends for a long time. I want to congratulate these two visionary people."
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been at odds since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh, a region mostly populated by ethnic Armenians but located within modern Azerbaijan, broke away from the country with support from Armenia.
Azerbaijan took back full control of the region in 2023, prompting almost all of the territory's 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia.
The peace agreement includes exclusive U-S development rights to a strategic transit corridor that the White House says will facilitate greater exports of energy and other resources.
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United States President Donald Trump says he expects some form of land swap to be a feature of any ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine.
It comes as Mr Trump has announced he will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska next Friday to try and broker an end to the war.
The Wall Street Journal reports Mr Putin told U-S officials he would agree to a complete ceasefire if Ukraine agreed to withdraw its forces from eastern Donetsk.
Mr Trump says the swapping of territories would be to the betterment of both countries.
"Well, you're looking at territory that's been fought over for three and a half years with, you know, a lot of Russians have died, a lot Ukrainians have died. So we're looking that, but we're actually looking to get some back and some swapping. It's complicated. It's actually nothing easy. It's very complicated. But we're gonna get some backed. We're gonna some switched. There'll be some swopping of territories to the betterment of both."
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To sport now, and in football…
Western United have vowed to fight the stripping of their A-Leagues licence as the embattled club teeters on the brink of folding.
Football Australia withdrew the licence on Friday, saying the owners had failed to satisfy key financial criteria.
In response, United issued a statement saying the decision was disappointing and will be appealed immediately.
It says plans to raise capital by selling the club are being progressed.
United have been in financial turmoil for months, with players and staff paid late in April, May and June while superannuation payments were also delayed.
They have also been unable to register players due to a FIFA ban related to an ongoing dispute with former striker Aleksandar Prijovic.
