In this bulletin;
- Faith groups call for hate speech reforms to be pushed back;
- The US to suspend immigration visa applications from 75 countries;
- And in sport, Australia's Willie Peters tipped to become England's new national rugby league coach.
Faith group leaders are calling for a vote on hate speech reforms to be pushed back, saying the time frame prevents proper scrutiny.
The draft legislation is to be debated on Monday when parliament returns early, with the bill to include a defence for people quoting directly from a religious text, and a plan to create a principle-based test for conduct that incites racial hatred.
Anglican Bishop Michael Stead says the reform creates a minefield of definitions about hate, while Australian National Imams Council President Sheikh Shadi Alsuleiman says the bill could expose past lawful speech to new penalties.
But Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke has told Channel 7 he believes the government is striking the right balance.
"These arguments have been put in front of the intelligence committee over the last couple of days. The intelligence committee is a serious committee. They'll work through the detail and provide a report, I expect by the end of the week. The government will have a look at that. But the exemption is there simply to ensure that we have freedom of religion in Australia... Just to make sure that people who are not involved in hate don't inadvertently get caught up."
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The United States has stopped processing immigrant visa applications from 75 countries.
The State Department, led by Marco Rubio, says consular officers have been instructed to halt visa applications for green cards and permanent residency from those nations from January 21st.
The Secretary of State says the action is being taken because they want to confront what they allege is abuse of the public assistance system by immigrants - despite the Migration Policy Institute saying non-citizens already face significant restrictions in their eligibility for Medicaid, food stamps, and cash assistance.
Secretary Rubio says it builds on earlier immigration and travel bans as part of Donald Trump's tightening of U-S entry standards.
"This is not a punitive thing we're going out to try and make examples of it. Our visa system - who you allow to visit your country - should reflect the national interest. We said that from the very beginning. It's one of the directives that went out from the President. It's one of the things he ran on."
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Ukraine has declared a state of emergency in its energy sector after repeated Russian attacks on the country's power infrastructure.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says not enough has been done to deal with the aftermath of the attacks and the state of emergency will allow authorities more options and flexibility.
Repairs to thousands of apartment blocks are already affected by frigid weather, including night-time temperatures that dip close to -20C.
The head of the Boryspil military administration, Ruslan Diachenko, says more resources are required to address power overloads in an already broken system.
"We are operating in a 4-hour-for-12 mode: there is light for four hours, there is no light for 12. But the power system does not always allow this to be done. The network cannot withstand the load, it constantly breaks down, and therefore DTEK is working to the limit to eliminate all malfunctions around the clock, 24/7, in order to at least restore power to homes."
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A new study has found that artificial intelligence can be good for scientists - but bad for science as a whole.
Researchers at the University of Chicago and Tsinghua University in China have analysed more than 41.2 million research papers for signs of AI use, finding that the use of AI might be having a detrimental impact on scientific research.
Their study say the number of topics studied has shrunk by almost five per cent on the back of an increase in artificial intelligence in research.
The results come months after Stanford University held the world's first open conference for research created with and reviewed by AI tools, and after the Australian government released its National AI Plan with a focus on boosting use of AI technology.
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To sport and in rugby league news,
Australian Willie Peters is among the first names put forward to succeed Shaun Wane, who has stepped down as England coach nine months before the Rugby League World Cup.
Peters led Hull KR to the rare domestic treble in 2025 of Super League champions, League Leaders Shield holders and Challenge Cup winners.
The Rugby Football League says Wane's successor will be a part-time appointment, opening up the opportunity for a Super League coach to take up the post alongside club duties.
Wane's position became tenuous after he oversaw England's three-Test Ashes whitewash by the Kangaroos last year.
