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TRANSCRIPT:
- Israel agrees to talks in Lebanon after a wave of attacks against Hezbollah
- Anthony Albanese to meet Singapore's leader for talks on the fuel crisis
- St Kilda's Lance Collard pleads not guilty to using a homophobic slur
Israel has announced it is entering peace talks with the Hezbollah group in Lebanon, a day after the worst bombardment of the war killed more than 300 people in the country and placed a United States-Iran ceasefire in jeopardy.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has authorised direct negotiations “as soon as possible” with the aim of disarming the Iranian-backed militants and establishing relations between the neighbours.
An hour before Mr Netanyahu's statement, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun had said he was working on a diplomatic track that was starting to be seen "positively" by international actors.
A senior Lebanese official says Lebanon had spent the last day pushing for a temporary ceasefire to allow for broader talks with Israel, describing the effort as a separate track but the same model as the US-Iran truce.
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Spain is sending its ambassador back to Iran to reopen the country's embassy as part of a push to help secure a lasting Middle East peace.
Spain has also closed its airspace to US and Israeli aircraft involved in the war, which it considers illegal.
Announcing the move, Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Albares has accused Israel of breaching the ceasefire by attacking Lebanon.
“Yesterday we saw how Israel, flouting the ceasefire and in violation of international law, dropped hundreds of bombs on Lebanon, on the very day the ceasefire came into effect. The situation in Lebanon is already a shame on humanity’s conscience. 1,750 people have been killed so far, thousands injured, and more than 1.2 million displaced in a war that is neither their own nor of their choosing, and in which the Lebanese people are not even a party of the conflict.”
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has arrived in Singapore, where he will work to shore up Australia's supply of liquid fuel for the coming months.
The one-on-one meeting comes after US President Donald Trump announced a two-week ceasefire with Iran, provided the regime immediately reopened the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.
The PM says Singapore will continue to be a crucial partner, with the impacts of the Middle East war expected to linger even if hostilities cease.
Mr Albanese says the purpose of his visit is to reinforce existing relationships.
"We provide about 32 per cent of LNG to Singapore. Singapore provides about 26 per cent of refined fuel for Australia. This is an important relationship, and at a time where fuel security is on the agenda right around the globe due to the conflict in the Middle East, this relationship is more important than ever, and I'm really looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong."
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An alleged hammer attack on a long-term hospital patient in the early hours of the morning has brought fears of unsafe hospitals into sharper focus.
A woman – identified in reports as Viki Graham - was arrested on Thursday after allegedly walking into a ward at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital just after midnight and attacking a man with a hammer, causing severe head injuries.
The Health Services Union says it has previously raised concerns about the lack of security guards available to respond to violent incidents.
Speaking outside the hospital, Sydney Local Health District chief executive Deb Willcox has said the buildings were accessible 24 hours a day in the interests of facilitating support for patients.
"Our staff do whatever they can to accommodate their loved ones and friends and families who may come at all times of the day and night. We take our other patients' interests at heart in relation to that to minimise disturbance, but we do whatever we can to enable people and visitors and friends and loved ones to see the patients."
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A judge in Canberra has made history after becoming the first Indigenous woman in Australia to be appointed to a superior court.
Kamilaroi woman Justice Louise Taylor has been named chief magistrate of the ACT Magistrates Court and will take up the position from May.
Justice Taylor was first appointed in 2018 as a magistrate after serving as a deputy chief executive officer of the ACT Legal Aid Commission and other senior roles at the Office of the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions.
Justice Taylor is known for having worked on the judicial inquiry into the conviction of former public servant David Eastman, who was wrongfully convicted of the murder of Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Colin Winchester.
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To sport now and in AFL, St Kilda forward Lance Collard faces up to 10 weeks on the sidelines if found guilty of using a homophobic slur against Frankston's Darby Hipwell during a VFL match in March.
A four-hour tribunal hearing on Thursday night didn't reach a conclusion, but a ruling is now expected today.
Collard received a six-match ban for using the same slur in 2024 - but this time, he denies using it, and has signed a statutory declaration to that effect.
Hipwell's claim is backed by teammate Bailey Lambert, but the umpire Sam Morgan was nearby the players and says he didn't hear it.
