TRANSCRIPT
- The Israeli military completes its encirclement of Gaza City.
- The Coalition offers cautious support of negotiations with China on joining the trans pacific partnership.
- In tennis, Novak Djokovic claims a record-breaking win at the Paris Masters.
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The Israeli military says it has now encircled Gaza City, dividing the besieged Palestinian territory into two.
Israeli Defence Force spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari has described the move as an “important stage” in their war against the Hamas militant group, who have controlled Gaza since 2007.
"Today, IDF forces led by the Golani unit surrounded Gaza City... Today, there is north Gaza and south Gaza. They reached the coast line, they hold this line."
Gaza's health ministry reports that more than 9,770 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli military since recent escalations began, which follow a surprise attack on southern Israel by Hamas which killed 1,400 people.
The IDF also says it discovered an "extensive stash" of weapons as they were searching the area in the northern Gaza strip ahead of moving into position.
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The federal opposition says Anthony Albanese should tread carefully around China's bid to join a trans-Pacific trade bloc, an issue that is expected to arise when the Prime Minister meets Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing.
Premier Li Qiang has told a key international import expo that China intends to advance its accession to the group, and continue to promote the greater opening-up of market opportunities in the country.
Mr Albanese has not ruled out backing China's application to join the 12-nation Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, but also has said any country wishing to join must demonstrate it can meet the high standards of the agreement.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesperson Simon Birmingham has told Sky News that is the appropriate response.
"China has not acted in good faith with Australia on trade terms recently, so we would need to see a good period of good faith engagement before considering membership... China really has systemic barriers to be able to meet the high standards of the TPP, which include strong rules around how state-owned enterprises work in their economy. So you would need to see reform in China ahead of any membership being entered into."
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A broadcaster in the Philippines has been shot dead while he was live on air.
The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines has identified the journalist as Juan Jumalon, saying in a statement that he was attacked by unidentified assailants while broadcasting from his home in a southern Philippine town.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has condemned the killing and ordered police to conduct an investigation to bring the assailants to justice.
He has said attacks on journalists "will not be tolerated in our democracy".
This latest killing brings to 199 the number of journalists that have been killed in the Philippines since democracy was restored to the country in 1986.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists' 2023 Global Impunity Index released last week, the Philippines ranked as the eighth worst country when it comes to prosecuting killers of journalists.
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Centrelink and Medicare are set to receive a major staffing boost in a bid to cut call wait times and improve customer service.
The government will hire 3,000 new recruits to Services Australia's frontline.
The $228 million dollar boost follows a recommendation from the Robodebt Royal Commission to make customer engagement easier, more efficient and more sensitive to users.
Government Services Minister Bill Shorten says staffing levels at Services Australia were currently at their lowest per head of population ever, but Labor planned to change that.
"Aged pensioners will have to wait shorter periods of time to sort out their payments. It means that if you've got a Medicare payment and you really need that money, it will be processed more quickly. It means that if you've got a child in childcare, we'll handle your payments more quickly."
The new recruits will be employed in both capital cities and regional centres.
More than 800 people have already begun their training.
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And in tennis,
Novak Djokovic has eased past Grigor Dimitrov to claim his seventh Paris Masters title, with the top-seeded Serbian outclassing the Bulgarian 6-4 6-3 in the final.
The unseeded Dimitrov's only victory over Djokovic in 12 previous meetings came a decade ago - and although the 32-year-old put up more of a fight in the second set, he could not prevent Djokovic from taking his 40th ATP Masters 1000 title.
This has extended Djokovic's winning run to 18 matches since his defeat by Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon title clash in July.
The 34 year old says he had to fight hard to claim the match.
"I somehow managed to I guess find an extra shot over the net, and I think the match was closer than the scoreline indicates. But another amazing win for me. So I'm very proud of this one, considering what I've been through this week."
