TRANSCRIPT
In this bulletin;
- A court is set to decide if pro-Palestinian protest at Sydney Opera House will go ahead;
- A man's been charged with starting the deadly Pacific Palisades fires in January;
- And in netball, The Diamonds clinch victory in three-game series against South Africa.
A New South Wales court is set to determine whether a pro-Palestinan rally will be allowed to go ahead outside Sydney's Opera House this weekend.
The Palestine Action Group has planned a march this Sunday which would see thousands walk from Sydney's Hyde Park to the Sydney Opera House forecourt to mark two years of Israel's assault on Gaza following the October 7 attack.
Organisers and opponents of the rally have had to wait overnight for a decision from the New South Wales Court of Appeal with a panel of three judges set to hand their decision down this morning.
New South Wales Police have challenged the planned protest, saying the Opera House forecourt is ill-equipped to handle the number of demonstrators organisers expect.
Amal Naser from the Palestine Action Group says the rally has significant meaning.
"We would like to emphasise the genocide is ongoing, today more people have been killed in Gaza by Israel escalating genocide or campaign, and Israel has announced there's no commitment to end the war on their part, despite discussion of a peace deal. We can see no end to this genocide, and that's why it's urgent right now for us to protest, to demand Australian government abide by international law obligation to prevent and punish Israel from this genocide."
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Californian authorities have charged a 29-year-old man with starting a deadly fire that erupted in January into the most destructive blaze in Los Angeles history.
The fire, which erupted on January 7, destroyed much of the wealthy Pacific Palisades neighbourhood, killing 12 people and destroying more than 6000 homes.
Federal law enforcement officials accuse Jonathan Rinderknecht of lighting a fire on New Year's Day that was initially extinguished by fire crews, but continued to smoulder underground before reigniting during high winds.
Rinderknecht was arrested in Florida on Tuesday and is due to appear in court on Wednesday, local time.
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Hamas has handed over a list of hostages and Palestinian prisoners to be freed in a swap, as peace talks in Egypt's resort town continue.
The arrival of senior US and Israeli figures also bolstered the talks, including US special envoy Steve Witkoff, Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, and Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, a close confidant of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said the indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas had made "a lot of headway" and that a ceasefire would be declared if they reached a positive outcome.
"There are four targeted issues (in Gaza talks). Discussions are currently ongoing on their details. A lot of headway has been made on certain items. There are a couple of other matters . There are currently efforts underway to clarify them, perhaps in the coming hours. These four items are as follows. So, if an agreement is reached today, a ceasefire will be declared."
There will be a meeting in Paris on Thursday, including European, Arab and other states, to discuss Gaza's post war transition, and Washington is also likely to be represented.
Israel has also reduced its offensive against Gaza, following the US President's demands, but crucial details of the peace plan are yet to be hammered out, including around the post-war administration for the Gaza Strip and the fate of Hamas.
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The Department of Home Affairs have detailed recent efforts to help counter targeted efforts from foreign governments to intimidate and harass members of diaspora communities in Australia.
The Department confirmed they've made 26 community engagements between February and August to combat these attempts to intimidate, silence, coerce or harm migrants - acts known as transnational repression.
During Senate estimates, Greens senator David Shoebridge asked Hamish Hansford, the Head of National Security at Home Affairs, which communities are most affected.
SHOEBRIDGE: "And which communities are fairly most vulnerable at the moment, even if it's just indicated by the number of reports?"
HANSFORD: "Well, I can tell you that our officers have engaged with the Chinese Australian community on 10 occasions, with Iranian Australian community on two occasions within that time period, Indian Australian for four occasions, Cambodian Australian on one occasion, and Eritrean Australian communities on three occasions. But that's not then confirming that's the priority list. That's just a matter of fact of who we've engaged."
Mr Hansford also confirmed he's aware of a number of cases of transnational repression of Australia's Pakistani community.
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In netball,
The Diamonds have clinched victory in their three-game series against South Africa with a game to spare after cruising to a 67-40 victory in Wollongong.
Despite the win, coach Stacey Marinkovich is adamant there's still plenty of room to improve with the Constellation Cup against New Zealand on the horizon.
Fresh off an 11-point win in Bendigo, Australia took a 2-0 lead in the series to extend their unbeaten record against South Africa to an extraordinary 48 wins from as many matches.
