In this bulletin;
- The US House of Representatives set to vote on a Tiktok crackdown bill;
- Australia's rental affordability crisis the worst it's been in 17 years;
- And in NRL, Anthony Mundine has urged Latrell Mitchell to focus on footy rather than "disrespect".
TRANSCRIPT
United States President Joe Biden says he would sign legislation that gives China's ByteDance about six months to divest the popular TikTok short video app.
It comes as former US President Donald Trump has raised concerns about a ban of the service used by 170 million Americans.
The US House of Representatives plans to vote next week on the TikTok crackdown bill after a committee on Thursday unanimously approved the measure.
Mr Trump has expressed objection to banning tiktok saying it would double Facebook's business.
US House Minority Leader and Leader of the House Democratic Caucus Representative Hakeem Jeffries says the legislation's approval is impressive considering past disagreements on the topic.
"With respect to the TikTok related legislation. That was a strongly bipartisan vote. That is impressive in nature in any instance, but particularly as it relates to something in the social media space, which hasn't always been easy for Democrats and Republicans to find common ground."
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A lack of available properties is a key factor behind Australia's worst rental affordability crisis in 17 years, according to a senior economist at PropTrack.
Australia is facing its worst rental affordability crisis in 17 years, with soaring rent prices outpacing income growth, affecting millions.
The latest PropTrack Rental Affordability report finds households on the median income of $110,000 per year could only afford 39 per cent of available properties to rent.
PropTrack's senior economist, Angus Moore, says surging rents have significantly outpaced wages, a disparity growing since the pandemic hit.
"The reason we are seeing such challenging conditions for affordability at the moment is that there just aren't enough rentals for the number of people looking to rent. Rental vacancies are incredibly low across the country at the moment, and that's putting a lot of pressure on rents. To put it in perspective relative to pre-pandemic median advertised rents on real estate.com nationally were up."
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Hong Kong has published its draft of a new national security law, with tougher penalties for anyone convicted of sedition and state secrets and several other crimes.
The draft, which includes new laws surrounding treason, espionage and external interference, is being closely watched by foreign diplomats and businesses.
They fear it could further dent freedoms in the financial hub, which has already been subjected to a China-led crackdown on dissent that has sent many pro-democracy politicians and activists into jail or exile.
The Legislative Council started debating the bill on Friday amid tight security, and several members of the largely pro-Beijing body said they expected it to be passed into law before mid-April.
The bill includes sentences of up to life imprisonment for treason, insurrection and sabotage, 20 years for espionage and 10 years for crimes linked to state secrets and sedition.
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Victoria Police say an officer was confronted with a "terrible dilemma" on Friday night before he shot dead a woman who was stabbing her mother.
Emergency services were responding to reports of a in Melbourne's northeast suburb of Lower Plenty last night.
Police say they asked the woman to stop and drop the knife but that she refused and continued stabbing.
Emergency responders attempted to treat the mothers injuries but both women died at the scene.
Victoria Police Acting Superintendent Scott Colson says he stands by the officers actions.
"What occurred last night was an absolute tragedy for our members and the community and the victims, no member wants to go to work, expecting or wanting to draw their firearm. It's a terrible situation, which they dread. But from what I know from attaining the scene last night. They were confronted with a terrible dilemma and they've acted absolutely appropriately within their training, and within the guidelines, and for that I have my fullest support, along with the broader organisation."
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In NRL,
Anthony Mundine has urged Latrell Mitchell to focus on footy rather than "disrespect" when speaking on Spencer Leniu's racial slur towards Ezra Mam.
On Friday night, Mundine levelled a social media clash at fellow Indigenous sporting icon Mitchell, who had questioned the older athlete for telling Mam to toughen up.
Sydney Roosters player Leniu called Brisbane's Mam a slur the NRL's opening round in Las Vegas and faces a long ban from the NRL judiciary, which he's expected to front on Monday.
Leniu has since apologised and claimed not to have intended to racially vilify Indigenous man Mam.
