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Activists on board a flotilla of vessels sailing toward the Gaza Strip say the Israeli navy has begun intercepting their vessels.
The flotilla organisers have said in a statement that they had detected at least 20 vessels on their radar about 3 nautical miles ahead of the fleet.
Israel's foreign ministry says the Navy has informed the flotilla it is approaching an active combat zone and violating a lawful naval blockade.
The Global Sumud Flotilla consists of more than 40 civilian boats carrying about 500 parliamentarians, lawyers and activists including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg.
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Police in Victoria have carried out another raid in the hunt for accused gunman Desmond Freeman.
Investigators have confirmed they were in the Benalla area, about 100km west of Porepunkah, on Wednesday night as part of a planned operation.
The development comes after the force confirmed the search had been scaled back, with police numbers falling from more than 400 to about 200.
Freeman has been on the run since August 26 after allegedly shooting dead Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart-Hottart as they served a search warrant at his home in Porepunkah.
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Labor has been accused of reneging on a landmark NDIS and hospital funding deal.
Premiers say the federal government is refusing to honour an agreement struck in December 2023 by national cabinet, a move that they say would short-change states and territories out of tens of billions of dollars in health funding.
The agreement focused on terms for system-wide changes in health funding alongside reforms to the NDIS and additional support for people with a disability.
The Council for the Australian Federation, made up of all premiers and chief ministers, has called on the Commonwealth to honour the agreement and boost payments for health.
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A pay rise for aged care workers has come into effect across Australia.
It's the third pay increase in four years, and means a level two registered nurse will receive an extra $60.20 a week, while enrolled nurses will receive an additional $62.20.
The wage rise is estimated to impact 400,000 workers in the sector.
Mandy Smith from the United Workers Union says no-one should begrudge them the extra money.
"Everybody says 'oh, aged care, anybody can do it.' We have a lot of complex needs now, a lot of behaviours. Anybody who works in aged care will understand how difficult the job is."
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Russia says it doesn't recognise the re-instated U-N sanctions on Iran, and won't be enforcing them.
The so-called snapback process to revert to previous sanctions was initiated by the U-K, France, and Germany at the U-N Security Council.
These nations allege Iran has violated the deal 2015 deal aimed at stopping it from developing nuclear weapons.
The sanctions subject Iran to an arms embargo, certain asset freezes, and certain travel bans, amongst other measures.
Russia's U-N Ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, claims western nations are trying to initiate conflict with the sanctions.
"Our Western colleagues who initiated the so-called snapback, the legitimacy of which we do not recognise, they keep saying that they are open for diplomatic solutions, although they forfeited a diplomatic solution already by initiating an illegal procedure."
Iran denies violating the 2015 agreement, and denies wanting nuclear weapons.
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In the United States, a second vote on a funding bill to avert a shutdown of the government has failed.
Three U.S. Senate Democrats and one Republican crossed the political divide in order to avert the impending crisis, but it was not enough to save the short-term spending measure that would have kept government operations afloat through November 21.
Democrats say they oppose the legislation over Republicans' refusal to attach an extension of health benefits for millions of Americans that are due to expire at the end of the year.
US Senate Majority Leader John Thune say Republicans believe the issue must be addressed separately - and the shutdown is therefore the Democrats fault.
"Chuck Schumer, at the behest of a bunch of liberal, to the left activist groups, has walked his Democrat colleagues into a boxed canyon. There's no way out, folks. There's no way out."
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To sport and in AFL news,
Geelong are set to ditch their traditional Mad Monday celebrations after copping widespread criticism for some controversial costumes and questionable social media antics.
The AFL had initially opted to let Geelong's hierarchy deal with the situation in-house, but the league made it clear it wasn't happy with what unfolded.
The club has now apologised for their off-the-mark Mad Monday celebrations.
Geelong says future events won't continue in their current format.
