TRANSCRIPT
- French PM Sebastien Lecornu reinstated just days after shock resignation
- Deadline looms for release of sensitive information by hacking collective
- Alex de Minaur's prospects at the Shanghai tournament come to a halt
—-
Sebastien Lecornu has been re-appointed as French prime minister and tasked with forming a new cabinet.
French President Emmanuel Macron's office delivered the news in a statement.
The crisis escalated earlier this week when Sébastien Lecornu abruptly resigned on Monday, just hours after announcing his new cabinet.
His shock departure led to renewed calls from opposition figures for Macron to resign or call for snap elections yet again.
---
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has not specifically confirmed whether Australia would send peacekeeping troops to Gaza to play a role in rebuilding the region.
Speaking on Channel Seven's Sunrise program, the Prime Minister says anyone who has witnessed the horrors of the conflict in Gaza wants to see an end to the war, following a ceasefire which commenced on Friday.
"We're not big players in the Middle East, that's the truth. But Australia will always play our role, just supporting, as we have, supporting this peace process going forward. We will talk with partners, these are early days, and this is a fragile situation of course."
This comes as thousands of displaced Palestinians are making the journey to return to the ruins of their abandoned homes, as the ceasefire took effect.
The first phase of US President Donald Trump's plan to end the war between Israel and the Hamas militant group gives Israeli troops 24 hours to pull from positions in urban areas, although they will still hold more than half of Gaza.
---
The deadline presented by a hacking collective for around 40 global firms to pay a ransom to prevent the release of sensitive information is due to end at 1:59pm today.
A group claiming to be the hackers' administration team says the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI, has seized and destroyed a publicly-accessible website run by hackers threatening to release Qantas customers' personal data within the next 24 hours.
Cybersecurity expert Susan McLean told Channel Nine that not much can be done to protect consumers' information.
"Paying a ransom is not the way to go. We know if you pay you're telling the offenders you have a capacity to pay and a willingness to pay and that's exactly what we don't want them to think. So not paying is absolutely the right thing to do, and I know Qantas and Salesforce have both said unequivocally that they will not pay anything."
Ms McLean added that some of the information seized is not that valuable, including names and dates of birth, which she says are handed over by consumers daily.
The FBI and Qantas have not publicly commented on the claims about the website seizure.
---
Thousands of firearms are being locked in interstate gun shops after being shipped cross-border to sell or store in the wake of Australia's toughest new gun laws.
The unforeseen dispersal of weapons has been triggered by Western Australia's watertight ownership regime enacted by the state's Labor government in June last year.
The rules have prompted some owners of multiple firearms to hand them in but not all.
Others are believed to have passed them on to mates, while many have offloaded them beyond WA's jurisdiction.
The rules limit the number of guns an individual can own, with farmers and competition shooters restricted to a maximum of 10 and recreational hunters five.
---
In tennis, Alex de Minaur's chances at the Shanghai tournament have come to an end after his loss to Russian Danil Medvedev 6-4 6-4 on Friday.
Though the Russian had been almost out on his feet and struggling with cramp in the tough humid conditions in his last-16 win over Learner Tien, he again resembled the man who once made it to world No 1.
It was frustration again for de Minaur as he looked to nail the 300th tour-level win of his career, carving out six break point chances only to be repelled on each occasion by the 29-year-old.
