Penny Wong insists she will work to ensure aid is going to the right places in Gaza; Trade unionists in Western Australia are setting up for another port blockade; Favourites survive major scares to advance to the Australian Open third round.
International aid organisations are warning that it may be a while before Palestinians in Gaza see any of the aid or relief funds being sent their way.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong is in the Middle East and says she has told Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh she expects Australia's $21.5 million humanitarian package to be used on healthcare and education services.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency Director Scott Anderson says the $6 million allocated to his agency is a welcome boost but warns it will be at least a few days before any funding reaches Gaza.
Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson says there are documented concerns about where the funding into Gaza is going.
Ms Wong says she shares the concerns of the Australian public and will work to ensure the funds aren't misdirected.
"We should ensure that our funds are used appropriately. We make that a priority. And in terms of the engagement of others, this is an issue I raise with the Palestinian Authority to express my continued expectation about these funds being used appropriately."
Trade unionists in Western Australia are planning another blockade at a Western Australian port terminal in an effort to disrupt the passage of an Israeli container ship.
Friends of Palestine Western Australia and Unionists for Palestine are calling on the ports workforce to cease work on the ship, with hopes of delaying the loading and unloading of the vessel.
The group says the Israeli shipping company ZIM is complicit in Israel's actions in Gaza.
National Secretary for the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union Christy Cain says the unions stand with the Palestinian people.
"247 Palestinians killed each day, 48 mothers killed every two hours, 117 children every five hours are slaughtered, slaughtered. And we stand by and watch. Well not on our watch, not on the maritime union, not on the CFMEU's watch, not on the blue-collar unions were not going to stand by.”
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters have set up similar blockades at ports across Australia with the hopes of stopping ZIM ship from entering.
A remote Northern Territory community has been evacuated due to impending flooding from a tropical cyclone in the Coral Sea.
Flooding has stranded motorists and killed around 100 people in Australia's Top End, while far north Queensland prepares for more disaster.
On Thursday evening [[Jan 18]], a helicopter pilot rescued three persons from a truck roof and transported them to the Victoria River Roadhouse, west of Katherine.
About 40 people from Pigeonhole, a community on Bilinara Aboriginal Land Trust surrounded by Victoria River Downs Pastoral Property, were relocated, while another 50 from Daguragu moved to Kalkarindji.
Some Pigeonhole homes are submerged, with police forecasting a week of flooding.
Ukraine's Foreign Minister has warned that artificial intelligence will threaten global security, addressing the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
Dmytro Kuleba says he fears for when countries like Russia start using such technologies in unregulated and dangerous ways.
"The next kind of levels of threats we will be facing, and Russia will not be on the side of any AI civilised, regulated thing. We will be opposing a completely different enemy, and on a broader scale, I'm sure that there will be two poles in the world in terms of approach to AI, and when people speak about a polarised world, it will be even more polarised because of the way AI will be treated. So all of this will change enormously. First, how humanity imagines its security, how diplomats try to keep things sane."
This comes as other global leaders commended on the potential of artificial intelligence, including Ireland's PM Leo Varadakar who says the technologies could have enormous benefits, particularly in health care.
Alexander Zverev, Casper Ruud and Iga Swiatek [[svee-ON-tek]] have all survived major scares to advance to the third round of the Australian Open.
Polish world number one in the Women's rankings was tested by the U-S's Daniel Collins but eventually prevailed 6-4 3-6 6-4.
In the men's singles, world number six Alexander Zverev had to dig deep to get past Slovenia's Lukas Klein, in a five-set thriller that ended with a tiebreaker.
Australia's Max Purcell also came close to pulling an upset, but world number 11 Casper Ruud proved too much in the final points, taking the crucial tiebreaker 10-7.
