TRANSCRIPT
- Australia's PM declines to endorse Tony Blair for a key post-war Gaza role
- Broadcasters to vote on excluding Israel from Eurovision
- Lewis Hamilton skips a testing session to sit at the bedside of his beloved dog
Australia's Prime Minister has held talks with his British counterpart on the first day of his three day visit to the UK.
The talks at Downing Street with Sir Keir Starmer centred around free trade and defence issues.
But his first formal meeting was with Tony Blair at the Global Action Summit, the former PM who has been named in Israeli media and the Economist magazine as a leading candidate to oversee a proposed provisional authority in post-war Gaza.
Mr Albanese has declined to say if Australia would support his candidacy.
REPORTER: "Would it be a good idea for him to have a role there?"
ALBANESE: "It would be a good idea for a two-state solution to be advanced and a good idea for there to be an immediate ceasefire. And certainly there are - a range of people are working hard."
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Members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) will vote on Israel's involvement in the Eurovision Song Contest later this year.
The EBU says the vote on Israel's public broadcaster, KAN, will take place in November at an extraordinary meeting of the union's General Assembly.
The vote has been arranged to settle tensions after five broadcasters announced their withdrawal from the 2026 contest if Israel takes part, the latest being RTVE in Spain.
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says he supports their decision on the basis of Israel's actions in Gaza.
"I think nobody was shocked when three years ago when Russia started the invasion of Ukraine and they were excluded from international competitions. For example, we recently saw it this past weekend in Eurovision, and therefore, Israel should not do so either."
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Domestic violence services and first responders are bracing for a surge of calls for help this weekend, as the AFL grand final is decided.
Family Violence Command acting assistant commissioner Sharon McKinnon says Victoria Police saw a sharp increase in calls over last year's three-day grand final weekend.
Other services like No to Violence, an organisation that works with men who engage in physical abuse, have put on extra counsellors in anticipation of a surge in referrals from police.
But spokesperson Phillip Ripper has told Channel Nine this week his service is not the only one expecting to see increased demand.
"Alcohol and gambling and heightened emotions can all fuel family violence. We see calls to helplines rise really significantly."
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Sculpture by the Sea will proceed this year after a last minute appeal to cover a funding shortfall.
Founding director David Handley says individuals have offered enough donations and an insurance company has arranged sponsorship to cover the $200,000 required for the annual transformation of Sydney's Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk.
The funding shortfall has been at the centre of a spat between Mr Handley and federal Arts Minister Tony Burke this week.
The Minister had said the event never applied for funding, after the founder told Channel 7 federal arts agency Creative Australia had long been indifferent to the decades-old sculpture showcase.
"It took us seven years to even get a meeting with them when we started the exhibition. We couldn't get a meeting this year. And we went from one million dollars of federal funding - not from Creative Australia - in 2022/23 to zero last year and this year."
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The Tasmanian government says a bill to compensate men convicted under the state's historic laws against homosexuality is an important step forward.
The legislation is due to be considered by the Upper House after its approval by Tasmania's House of Assembly, but is likely to pass because of widespread cross-party support.
Roughly 100 men were convicted of being gay or cross-dressing in Tasmania, with the last conviction taking place in 1984.
Attorney-General Guy Barnett says the bill's final approval would make Tasmania the first state in the country to offer compensation to those whose convictions for being gay or for cross-dressing have been expunged.
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To sport and in motor racing, seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton has confirmed he will miss the testing of next season's tyres with his Ferrari team - because his dog is seriously unwell.
Hamilton says his bulldog Roscoe is in a coma as he battles pneumonia - and his prognosis remains uncertain.
The 12-year-old dog has been a regular sight in the F1 paddock for much of Hamilton's career and has his own substantial following on Instagram of 1.3 million users.
