Fragile Gaza ceasefire tested | Midday News Bulletin 16 October 2025

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Fragile ceasefire in Gaza tested; a court ruling finds the New South Wales government's anti-protest laws are unconstitutional; and in swimming, Ariarne Titmus retires from competitive swimming.


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Israel and Hamas continue to argue over the slow return of the bodies of deceased hostages, adding to the strain on the fragile ceasefire to end the two-year war.

The Israeli military says one of four bodies handed over by Hamas earlier this week is not that of any of the hostages who were held in Gaza.

Dr Chen Kugel is the head of Israeli Forensic Institute.

"Three deceased captives have been identified at the National Center of Forensic Medicine. Staff Sargent Tamir Nimrodi, Uriel Baruch, and Eitan Levy, may they rest in peace. They join four deceased captives who were identified here. May they rest in peace. The remains of the fourth that arrived yesterday from Gaza Strip is not associated with one of the deceased captives."

Separately, forensic experts in Gaza have started identifying 45 bodies of Palestinians that Israel handed over to the Red Cross without identification.

It isn't clear whether the bodies were those of people who died in Israeli prisons or bodies taken from Gaza by Israeli troops.

Meanwhile, the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza has resumed after a two-day break.

The Egyptian Red Crescent said it has 400 trucks carrying food, fuel, and medical supplies headed for the Gaza Strip.

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The United States is hoping to enlist Australia in a trade battle with China over the control of the global critical minerals supply.

China dominates the supply chain and last week announced plans to introduce tighter export restrictions for rare earth metals.

The minerals are crucial for products like electric vehicles, but also defence technologies including missiles and fighter jets.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told American broadcaster CNBC says the US will be seeking support from allies like Australia to counter China's plans.

"This is China versus the world. It's not a US-China problem. We're going to be speaking with our European allies, with Australia, with Canada, with India and the Asian democracies. And we're going to have a fulsome group response to this because bureaucrats in China cannot manage the supply chain or the manufacturing process for the rest of the world."

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The New South Wales Supreme Court has ruled that the state government's laws on expanded police powers are unconstitutional.

The laws were introduced to parliament in February, criminalising a range of activities outside places of worship.

It gave police new powers relating to protests in or near places of worship.

Justice Anna Mitchelmore has ruled that the police powers violate the freedom of political communication implied in Australia's constitution.

Joshua Lees launched the legal challenge on behalf of the Palestine Action Group.

He says he welcomes the court's decision, saying it is important ruling.

"We said from the beginning what Chris Minns was doing was an outrageous overreach in trying to find some new way to ban protest in New South Wales. This of course comes on the back of Chris Minns long running hostility to protest in this state, his raft of measures over many years and previous governments to try to deny our rights to protest in New South Wales."

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A new report on the wellbeing of Australians has found Australia is outperforming other developed countries in some areas, but not when it comes to housing costs.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found Australians were outperforming in tertiary education, employment and life expectancy indicators.

However, the metrics on the housing crisis show around 1.3 million low-income households experienced housing stress in 2024–25, meaning they spent more than 30 per cent of their disposable income on housing.

In the half century to 2021, home ownership rates declined from 50 per cent to 36 per cent among people aged between 25 and 29.

For 30- to 34-year-olds that number dropped from 64 per cent to 50 per cent.

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And in swimming, Ariarne Titmus has announced her from retirement from the sport at the age of 25.

Four-time Olympic gold medallist says she expected to return to swimming following a break after the Olympics, but has decided now is the time to leave.

Over her career she won 33 international medals and is the current 200 metres world record holder.

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