A new "skills in demand" visa welcomed; US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urges Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians; And in football, victory for Matildas players on the Arsenal team in their Women's Super League game against Chelsea.
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts.
TRANSCRIPT
- A new "skills in demand" visa welcomed;
- US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken urges Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians;
- And in football, victory for Matildas players on the Arsenal team in their Women's Super League game against Chelsea.
Research and policy think tank the Committee for Economic Development of Australia has welcomed migration system reform focused on long-term planning.
Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil is set to outline the federal government's response to a major review into the immigration system later today.
The Prime Minister has flagged the strategy will include a reduced migration intake, with an impact on international students.
Ms O’Neill has also announced there will be a new four-year skills-in-demand visa, with full mobility and clear pathways to permanent residence.
The visa will replace the single-employer-sponsored Temporary Skill Shortage visa that business and unions agree say is not fit for purpose.
—
The US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has urged Israel to do more to protect Palestinian civilians in its war with Hamas.
The remarks come two days after the United States vetoed a proposed United Nations demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
He told CNN, military options must be designed around civilian protection.
"What we're not seeing sufficiently is a couple of things. One: making sure that the humanitarian operators who are there, starting with the United Nations performing heroically, that there are de-confliction times, pauses, designated routes - plural. Not just one. And clarity of communication. So that people know when it is safe and where it is safe to move - to get out of harm's way before they go back home."
According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, the Palestinian death toll has surpassed 17,700.
Israel says 97 of its soldiers have died in the ground offensive after Hamas raided southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages.
—
Climate negotiators in Dubai are being urged to finalise a deal to scale down usage of fossil fuels as pressure continues to mount due to the fast approaching end of the COP28 climate summit.
Many fossil fuel lobbyists such as the leader of OPEC - a powerful oil cartel - are attempting to block any language that refers to "phasing out" fossil fuels.
Germany's climate negotiator Jennifer Morgan says the delay is also due to a number of countries who are still dependent on fossil fuels.
“It’s very clear that there is a group of countries here that does not want to phase out fossil fuels. And there is a large group of countries, which today - the high ambition coalition - had a press conference of islands, Latin Americans, Europeans who do want to have that fossil fuel phase out. So, I think in the public domain, that's pretty clear, and that they’re still far apart."
This year's summit is set to close its doors tomorrow, with the Azerbaijani capital of Baku the main candidate of playing host for next year.
—
The children of imprisoned Iranian activist Narges Mohammadi have accepted this year’s Nobel Peace Prize on her behalf in a ceremony in the Norwegian capital.
The 51-year-old was awarded the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize in October for her decades of activism despite numerous arrests by Iranian authorities and spending years behind bars.
She is currently detained in a prison in Tehran.
She is the 19th woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize and the second Iranian woman after human rights activist Shirin Ebadi won the award in 2003.
Chair of the Nobel Committee, Berit Reiss-Andersen, says the award recognises her life-long struggle in support of human rights and strong civil society.
"This year's Peace Prize recognises the brave women in Iran and around the world who fight for basic human rights and for an end to the discrimination and against segregation of women."
—
And in football, Sam Kerr's Chelsea have suffered a humbling defeat in a Women's Super League game against Arsenal.
The team won 4-1, with a lineup featuring fellow Matildas Steph Catley, Caitlin Foord and Kyra Cooney-Cross.
Kerr has rarely had such a quiet game for Chelsea, who were off the pace from the start and were dominated by an Arsenal side who have now moved on to the same amount of points, 22, atop the table and are only adrift on goal difference.
