TRANSCRIPT
- Growing inequality in Australia analysed in a new report
- The Biden administration expects Gaza ceasefire talks to resume on Thursday
- Dutch cyclist Charlotte Kool wins the first stage of the Tour de France Femmes
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A new report says ordinary Australians struggle to make ends meet, while the richest enjoy billions in untaxed capital gains.
The wealth of Australia's richest 200 people almost tripled as a proportion of national gross domestic product over the past two decades, according to analysis by the Australia Institute of the Financial Review's Rich 200 list.
The report finds the wealth of those on the list rose from the equivalent of 8.4 per cent of national GDP in 2004, to 23.7 per cent of GDP by 2024
A Productivity Commission report in May found income inequality, which was relatively stable during the pandemic, increased as the economy recovered post-pandemic.
Excessive wealth inequality can worsen social cohesion, increase political polarisation, and stifle economic growth, according to the International Monetary Fund.
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The Biden administration says it expects Gaza peace talks to proceed as planned on Thursday.
International mediators have invited Israel and Hamas to resume negotiations, after deadly strikes in the Gaza Strip and the killings of Hezbollah and Hamas leaders sparked fears of a wider conflict.
United States State Department spokesman Vedant Patel says officials believe a ceasefire agreement is still possible.
"We are also in co-ordination - we believe our partners in Egypt and Qatar are emphasising to Hamas that the onus is on them to agree to a ceasefire. We believe that headway has been made, but we need to finalise this agreement. We need to close and bridge some gaps. But we believe that agreement is possible. And that is something we're going to continue to work between the parties."
Israel continued military operations near the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis on Monday, with Palestinian medics saying Israeli military strikes on Khan Younis in the last 24 hours killed at least 18 people - and wounded several.
Meanwhile, more families and displaced persons have fled the area again, after new evacuation orders were issued.
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A security guard in London is being hailed as a hero, after he disarmed a man carrying a knife who had targeted an 11-year-old girl and a 34-year-old woman.
London's Metropolitan Police say the victims are both in hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, adding they do not believe the victims and attacker were known to each other.
One man is in custody for the attack - and police say they have ruled out the incident as being terror-related.
The 29-year-old, Abdullah, is a security guard at a nearby shop.
He told the PA news agency that it was his duty to act when he saw a child being stabbed.
"I heard a scream, and the moment I saw there was one person, roughly around, maybe, like mid 30s or early 30s, and he was stabbing a kid. So I saw that he was stabbing a kid. I jumped on him, hold the hand in which he wasn't having a knife, and then just put him down on the floor and just hold him and kick the knife away from him. And then couple of more people joined as well, and we just hold him until the police came. It took like maybe three to four minutes before arrived, and then they just took him to custody."
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To cycling now, at the Tour de France Femmes, Dutch woman Charlotte Kool has timed her sprint perfectly to win her first stage ever at the race.
After already being positioned perfectly by her team, Kool's powerful long range sprint was no match for her rivals, crossing the line ahead of her rivals Anniina Ahtosalo and Elisa Balsamo.
An unfortunate broken chain in the final hundred metres for Lorena Wiebes took her out of contention in the sprint, as she dropped to 41st on the stage.
But the day belonged to Kool, who put the finishing touches on a dream day out on her home roads in the Netherlands to don the yellow jersey and lead the overall rankings by four seconds going into tomorrow's double stage.
