TRANSCRIPT
India's election authorities have confirmed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to serve a third term as Prime Minister, but his party looks set to lose its outright majority f.
The 73 year-old, who has been in power for ten years, had been hoping to win 400 seats in the 543 seat parliament, but latest counting shows he will fall far short of that target.
As of this morning [[5:00am Wed]], reports show that Modi's B-J-P ((Bharatiya Janata Party)) have secured around 240 of the 272 seats required to secure a majority.
————
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's biggest coalition partner says it will support a proposed hostage deal even if it means overhauling Israel's Gaza strategy.
The statement from the ultra-Orthodox Jewish party Shas, which holds 11 of the parliaments 120 seats, says there is nothing greater than the value of life, citing religious obligations as it pledged "full support" for the proposal.
Echoing their statements is the party United Torah Judaism, which holds 7 seats.
More than a third of the Israeli hostages captured on October 7th are now believed to be dead, with recent polls showing around 40 per cent of Israeli's support the recent ceasefire and hostage release deal.
In opposition to the deal are ultra-nationalist party's the Jewish Power Party and the Religious Zionism party who combined control 13 seats in parliament.
————
Foreign nationals who are permanent residents are to be able to serve in the Australian Defence Force, in an effort to address a recruitment shortfall.
But the government has been forced to clarify WHERE people could be enlisted from.
Minister for Veterans Affairs and Defence Personnel Matt Keogh [[kee-oh]] says the opportunity will be open to what he's described as 'like-minded' nations.
"So, the key thing here is that from 1 July, we'll be opening this up to permanent residents from New Zealand who have been here for a year. And then from 1 January, it will open up to Five Eyes countries and permanent residents from other countries. The key thing being that, anyone seeking to join our Australian Defence Force, whether they're Australian citizens, or these new groups of permanent residents will have to meet all of the usual vetting and security requirements."
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has been critical of the announcement, saying more clarity is needed.
"We're up to version four or five and we're not even up to the nightly news. So, I think we should see a paper released from the government which has some authority. If Minister Keogh doesn't know what he's talking about, and Richard Marles is all over the place, where on Earth is Anthony Albanese? Can the Prime Minister take responsibility for anything?"
———-
Tens of thousands of hens are set to be culled, as a deadly bird flu strain spreads to a third poultry farm in Victoria.
The positive test of Avian influenza strain H-7-N-3 was detected at a farm in the state's southwest.
80,000 hens will be euthanased to prevent the spread of the virus, threatening the supply of eggs.
——
Australian rare earth miner Northern Minerals has been hit by a cyber-attack, and some of the stolen data has been released on the dark web.
The company says it became aware of the breach in late March and contacted required authorities.
While the attack hasn't had a material impact on operations, some corporate, shareholder and staff information was compromised.
It comes as Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Monday [[JUNE 3]] ordered Chinese-linked investors to divest a 10 per cent share holding in the company.
————-
In tennis, Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the French Open because of a knee injury.
Djokovic tore the medial meniscus in his right knee in his fourth round victory over Francisco Cerundolo [[cherrun-dol-o]].
The injury gives Djokovic's quarter-final opponent, Norwegian Casper Ruud, a free pass to the semi-finals.
And it also ensures Jannik [[yannik]] Sinner will take over the world number one ranking from Djokovic, regardless of who wins the French Open.
Sinner says he's particularly proud to be the first-ever Italian man to be world number one.
He says it will really boost tennis in Italy.
"It means a lot. But I think it's great for Italy, you know. We are a great country with great coaches and players, and we can see this now. I am happy to be part of this Italian movement. People... they'll start to play tennis now more and more. Which is great to see. I think that's most important."
