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TRANSCRIPT
- Another round of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners released on the third day of a four-day pause in fighting
- Dave Sharma returns to parliament as a federal senator for New South Wales
- And in football, England and Socceroos legend Terry Venables has died aged 80.
Fourteen Israeli hostages, including nine children and three foreign nationals, have been released from Gaza on the third day of a four-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
In exchange, Israeli officials say 39 Palestinian prisoners have been released.
Crowds of Palestinians have gathered in anticipation of their return.
Among the Israeli hostages is a four-year-old American-Israeli national.
United States President Joe Biden has welcomed their release, saying he'd like to see the pause in fighting go on as long as prisoners keep coming out.
"Look, you know the deal calls for every ten hostages released to extend another day. So I'm hopeful this is not the end. It's going to continue, but we don't know. But I get a sense that... all the players in the region, even the neighbours who aren't and haven't been directly involved, are now looking for a way to end this. So the hostages are all released and Hamas is just completely, how can I say it, no longer in control of any portion of Gaza."
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Hundreds of people burst into wild celebrations in the West Bank to welcome a busload of Palestinian prisoners released by Israel.
Teenage boys released in the cease-fire deal were carried on the shoulders of well-wishers in the main square of the town of Al Bireh.
This came after Hamas earlier released 17 hostages from captivity in the Gaza Strip.
The late-night exchange was held up for several hours after Hamas accused Israel of violating the cease-fire agreement.
The delay underscored the fragility of the truce, which has halted a war that has shocked and shaken the region, caused widespread destruction across the Gaza Strip, and threatened to unleash wider fighting in the Middle East.
A released teenager, Mohammad Sabah, said he was surprised when he heard he was going to be released but described it as a "wonderful feeling":
"We were taken at seven in the morning, and around ten they told us that there was a deal and we would be released. We were very surprised, but it was a wonderful feeling, thank God."
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Former federal member of Parliament Dave Sharma will return to the legislature after securing former foreign minister Marise Payne's New South Wales Senate seat.
In a vote of Liberal Party members, Mr Sharma defeated the other candidate, Andrew Constance, with 251 votes against 206 in the final ballot on Sunday.
A former state treasurer and member for Bega, Mr Constance had been the firm favourite after being endorsed by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.
However, moderates within the party backed Mr Sharma, the former federal member for Wentworth, who lost his seat to independent Allegra Spender in the 2022 election.
He also served as Australia's ambassador to Israel from 2013 to 2017.
Mr Sharma said taking over from former Senator Payne is a privilege.
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Top diplomats from South Korea, Japan and China have discussed when to resume their leaders’ trilateral summit after a four-year hiatus.
Meeting at the southeastern South Korean city of Busan, the foreign ministers of the three countries were to exchange opinions on preparations to restart the trilateral summit, ways to improve three-way cooperation and other regional and international issues, according to Seoul’s Foreign Ministry.
Since they held their first stand-alone trilateral summit in 2008, the leaders of the three countries had been supposed to meet annually.
But their summit has faced on-again, off-again suspensions and remains stalled since 2019.
South Korea and Japan are key United States military allies, hosting a total of 80,000 U-S troops on their territories.
However, the recent meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and U-S President Joe Biden has eased the possibility of the three Asian countries resuming high-level meetings as well, as noted by South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin.
"With today's meeting as the foundation, I hope to work together to hold the trilateral summit between South Korea, Japan, and China, which is at the apex of the trilateral cooperation, at the earliest day possible."
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In football, former England and Socceroos coach Terry Venables has died aged 80 after a long illness.
Venables, a former England player, coached the national team to the semi-finals of the European Championship in 1994, before being persuaded to coach Australia, where he had played towards the end of his career for Canterbury-Marrickville Olympic.
It was hoped Venables, who also had successful spells managing Barcelona and his former club Tottenham in the 1980s, could end a 24-year wait for the Soccerroos to appear in the World Cup finals, nearly doing so in 1998.
The English Football Association and Tottenham Hotspur are among those have paid tribute to Venables, with Gareth Southgate, the current coach of England’s men’s team, describing Venables as “tactically excellent” and able to manage "everyone from the youngest player to the biggest star.”
