TRANSCRIPT
- Jewish leaders describe the Prime Minister's anti-Semitism plan as "first step";
- A doctor jailed in France for poisoning patients;
- And in sport, The National Rugby League bans major player agents in end-of-year sanctions.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has responded to proposed measures to combat antisemitism announced by the Prime Minister, describing them as an essential first step.
Under new laws announced by Anthony Albanese, hate will be considered an aggravating factor in sentencing crimes related to online threats and harassment.
Organisations whose leaders are found to be engaging in hate speech that promotes violence or racial hatred could also be punished, although it remains unclear what the designation will entail.
A statement from President Daniel Aghion says Mr Albanese's announcement appears to reflect recommendations that have been made repeatedly over the last two years by the Council and the Antisemitism Envoy, Jillian Segal.
But he says effective leadership and a strong response to antisemitism has been lacking, and it is a tragedy that it took a massacre for steps to be taken.
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Australian Federal Police commissioner Krissy Barrett says the AFP has ongoing investigations into people they describe as "hate preachers".
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the government will develop a regime for listing organisations whose leaders engage in hate speech promoting violence or racial hatred.
Under the changes, there will be an aggravated hate speech offence for preachers and leaders who promote violence.
Commissioner Barrett says information on such individuals is currently being reviewed.
"These individuals who spew hatred and cause fear are on my radar, and I have had the Counterterrorism and Special Investigations command reviewing information and other material in relation to these individuals since I became the commissioner."
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Shadow home affairs minister Jonathon Duniam is demanding the government order a national security committee meeting to ask security agencies what resourcing they need.
Responding to the Bondi Beach mass shooting, Mr Duniam criticised the government for not increasing security agency funding in the last year.
He says despite the terror threat level being raised to probable last year, no extra funding has been allocated.
"The government did not allocate a single cent to the authorities the agencies that support Australia, and protect Australia in response to these. We know from sources within the AFP that staff are a breaking point, that they have upwards of 20,30 cases to watch on their watch list caseload. This is not acceptable."
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A 53-year-old doctor in France has been found guilty of poisoning 30 patients, including children, which led to the deaths of 12 people.
Frederic Pechier is to be jailed for life.
He worked as an anaesthetist in two clinics in the country's eastern city of Besancon when the incidents took place between 2008 and 2017.
His youngest victim was a four-year-old child, while the oldest victim was 89.
Pechier was found to have contaminated infusion bags of patients being treated by his colleagues with chemicals like potassium chloride or adrenaline.
Prosecutors say his goal was to psychologically hurt caregivers he was in conflict with, and to feed his thirst for power.
His lawyer says the doctor will appeal the decision.
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Leaders in the European Union are working to agree on how to loan billions of euros in frozen Russian assets to Ukraine.
The European Commission has proposed unfreezing Russian central bank assets, mostly held in a Belgian clearing house, to secure a loan to Ukraine.
However, Belgium is concerned the plan may not be legally sound, while other states such as Italy have also expressed concerns.
Belgian Prime Minister Bart de Wever says they will only agree if the risks are shared between states.
"We have three demands. I want the full mutualisation of the risk, because there is a big risk. We will suffer from enormous claims. So if we want to do this, we will have to do this altogether. We want guarantees, if the money has to be paid back, that every member state will chip in. The consequences cannot only be for Belgium. And the third demand is that every country that has immobilised assets moves together with us."
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To sport and in the NRL,
The League has banned four of the game's biggest player agents in end-of-year sanctions that will leave several stars without their usual manager for the start of 2026.
Chris Orr, Mario Tartak, Nash Dawson and Matt Desira have all received suspensions in what the NRL says are integrity matters, along with a combined $60,000 in fines.
The NRL has also threatened fines against Melbourne and the Sydney Roosters over alleged salary-cap and selection breaches.
The League claims the Roosters breached the supplementary and training cap by just over $36,000 last year [[$36,070]], while the Storm is accused of twice selecting a player who was on a training contract in 2025.
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