Australia and France announce a new bilateral military agreement; Palestinians continue to arrive at overcrowded centres following Israeli orders to evacuate, and in football, the Matildas prepare for their second friendly match against Canada.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Australia and France announce a new bilateral military agreement
- Palestinians continue to arrive at overcrowded centres following Israeli orders to evacuate
- And in football, the Matildas prepare for their second friendly match against Canada.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong and her French counterpart Catherine have announced a new bilateral military access agreement in a renewal of France-Australia relations.
The agreement grants each military access to the other's facilities and promises more joint activities between the armed forces.
In September 2021, former Prime Minister Scott Morrison's government made the shock decision to pull out of a $90 billion submarine deal with France, in favour of the AUKUS agreement with the U-S and Britain.
This led to French President Emmanuel Macron calling Mr Morrison a liar and France downgrading its strategic relationship with Australia.
The French Foreign Affairs minister Ms Colonna says since Anthony Albanese took office, Penny Wong and herself have worked to repair a relationship damaged by the diplomatic incident.
"And our task was to rebuild reset the kind of relationship we had before September 2021. But further than that, to really build a new one. We do have already a very good operational cooperation between our armed forces and we will enhance this cooperation through a reciprocal access to military facilities. This is quite important and through increased joint activities."
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Hundreds of Palestinians who followed Israel's call for further evacuations in southern Gaza have arrived at the already overcrowded Muwasi area, where they have resorted to sleeping in makeshift shelters with few supplies.
In the area where one of the camps for those displaced is located people have been building tents on the side of the road or sleeping in cars due to the lack of space.
Nesrine Abdelmoty, a local resident who has been left homeless says she and her family had moved from the north to the south for their own safety but now feel they have nowhere to go.
"We were sleeping at 5:00 am when we felt things collapse, everything went upside down. I am here only with my divorced daughter and a two-year-old baby. They told us to move from the north to Khan Younis, since the south is safer, and now, they've bombed Khan Younis. Even Khan Younis is not safe now, and even if we move to Rafah, Rafah is not safe as well. Where do they want us to go, we are tired, and will remain in our lands, houses."
The Israeli military has issued a statement defining the safe zones for the people of Gaza to evacuate.
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Two immigrants released from indefinite immigration detention following a High Court decision ending the practice have been charged after allegedly reoffending.
Opposition immigration spokesman Dan Tehan has called for Immigration Minister Andrew Giles and Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil to resign, after the Australian Border Force confirmed two individuals released had reoffended in New South Wales and South Australia.
One man remains in custody after allegedly committing a serious sexual assault.
The federal government will introduce amendments this week to laws brought in to deal with the fallout from a High Court decision that ruled indefinite detention was illegal, resulting in the release of more than 140 detainees.
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Westpac says it is working to resolve an issue that has left its customers unable to access their bank accounts online.
The bank said its mobile and online banking services remain unavailable following a routine technology update, in a post on social media platform X late on Monday evening.
Customers had previously posted to say they could not see their accounts after logging in to the bank's mobile app.
The bank released its first statement about 9pm yesterday, acknowledging its customers were "experiencing issues" accessing their accounts.
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In football, Matildas striker Caitlin Foord says Australia are now in a trial-and-error period as they prepare for their upcoming challenges.
It comes after the team was hammered 5-0 by Canada in Langford last Saturday and ahead of their second game with the Canadians on Wednesday in Vancouver.
Coach Tony Gustavsson received criticism for his decision to select a line-up of players with little experience on the national level for the previous game.
Foord says the team is trying to adapt to Gustavsson's new tactical plan.
"We're trying to trial new things and that's, in a way, our new playing style and we haven't had many trainings doing it, let alone (a) competition match against a top opponent."
