Disagreement between world leaders over an immediate Gaza ceasefire; another rate increase could be on the cards, with this week's RBA decision; and in sport, Australia's Cricket World Cup momentum continues with victory against defending champions, England.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Disagreement between world leaders over need for immediate Gaza ceasefire
- Another rate increase could be on the cards, with this week's RBA decision
- Australia's Cricket World Cup momentum continues with victory against defending champions, England
Australians have attended Palestinian rallies for a fourth weekend in a row.
The rally sites have included Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.
It comes as diplomatic efforts continue, with Arab leaders using a summit in Jordan to push for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the leaders, and says he thinks an immediate and complete ceasefire would allow Hamas to regroup.
He says the US instead supports what he calls a more limited "humanitarian pause" in the fighting to allow for the release of hostages held by Hamas and the delivery of aid.
At the Sydney protest earlier today, Palestinian activist Assala Sayara told SBS, it is imperative a ceasefire is negotiated immediately.
"We are heartbroken. It is not easy to see your people and your family being killed in cold blood. We are saddened. We are frustrated. We are mourning, and we are grieving. These are lives. These are lives that have equal blood to every single human in this world. It doesn't mean if they're Palestinian, they don't have a right to live."
Meanwhile, the federal government says it is continuing efforts to evacuate the remaining 67 Australians in Gaza, after 25 Australians were allowed through the the Rafah crossing earlier this week.
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Queensland police say the families of three aerial firefighters who died in a light plane crash in the remote northwest of the state have been notified.
Authorities were called to the scene yesterday afternoon, following reports of a crash near a mine site northwest of McKinlay, near Cloncurry.
The aircraft was en route to Mt Isa from Toowoomba to conduct mapping of recent bushfires in outback Queensland.
Superintendent Tom Armitt says police could remain at the scene of the crash for a number of days to investigate.
"It's far away from the large centres where these specialists come from. So we need to fly everybody in to bring them to the site to do their examinations. So there's a short delay, obviously people will be arriving tomorrow. So we expect to be there a number of days until that's completed. We really feel for the families of the victims. At this stage, we're in the very, very early stages of our investigation. We can't provide any technical answers as to why this has occurred."
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau says it will also investigate the crash over the coming days.
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Firefighters are continuing to battle multiple fires in Western Australia, after lightning strikes sparked several blazes south of Perth.
Strong winds and high temperatures created challenging conditions for firefighters who at one stage were dealing with four emergency warnings.
An emergency warning remains in place for the southern part of Serpentine and northern parts of the Shire of Murray, south of Perth.
The bushfire is moving in a south westerly direction and is not contained or controlled.
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Borrowers could be hit with another round of interest rate pain, as a result of the central bank’s Melbourne Cup Day monetary policy meeting.
The Reserve Bank of Australia gathering on Tuesday follows the recent release of a firmer set of inflation data, which has created speculation around a 13th interest rate hike since May 2022.
Economists at all of the big four banks are tipping a 25 basis point increase, which will lift the key cash interest rate to 4.35 per cent.
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In cricket, Australia has moved to within one win of booking a semi-final spot at the Cricket World Cup, after a 33-run victory over defending champions England.
England is now officially eliminated from the World Cup, while Australia is now on a five-game winning streak at the tournament.
With matches to come against Afghanistan and Bangladesh, the five-time champions are odds on to make the semifinals.
Australia posted a competitive total of 286, though only Marnus Labuschagne made a half century.
But England fell short, with Adam Zampa the star with the ball - claiming three wickets.
Zampa says he is stoked with the result.
"Tonight is as satisfying as it feels after an ODI in terms of my ten overs, bowling mainly to lefties. Malan, Stokes, Ali - they're quality players. And sit back to know they went for 20 runs off 10 overs. My length control was as good as it's been. So yeah, it was a really satisfying one."
