Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the signing of a statement against Houthi attacks in the Red Sea sends a clear message; The federal government says it cannot confirm if an Australian man killed in south Lebanon had ties to Hezbollah; Aamir Jamal picks up a six-wicket haul in Australia's test against Pakistan.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the signing of a statement against Houthi attacks in the Red Sea sends a clear message.
- The federal government says it cannot confirm if an Australian man killed in south Lebanon had ties to Hezbollah.
- Aamir Jamal picks up a six-wicket haul in Australia's test against Pakistan.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the signing of a statement condemning attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea sends a "clear message."
Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have been attacking vessels in the busy shipping lane for months, targeting ships they say have Israeli links.
Australia has joined 11 other countries, including the United States, issuing a joint-statement calling for an immediate end to the attacks.
Mr Albanese says the attacks pose a threat to global trade.
"That statement is a clear message. To the Houthis and to anyone else who wants to cause damage with the unprovoked attacks that are occurring. This is a threat to global trade and that's why we have responded."
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The federal government says it cannot confirm publicly if an Australian man killed overseas had ties to Hezbollah.
Two Australian citizens - brothers Ibrahim and Ali Bazzi - were killed in an Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon before Christmas.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says it's been working to establish if Ali Bazzi was a member of Hezbollah, after the Shi'ite Muslim group - which Australia designates as a terrorist organisation - claimed him as one of its fighters.
The Department has declined to go on the record as to whether any links have now been established.
But its position has generally been that it does not monitor the movement of Australians overseas, and that it is bound by privacy obligations.
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Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has outlined the country's plans for the next stage of its war in Gaza, with a new more targeted approach in the northern section of the enclave and a continuing pursuit of Hamas leaders in the south.
Mr Gallant revealed the plan via a document to the press before submitting it to the Israeli war cabinet which has been divided on the country's position in Gaza after the war.
The document outlines that once control of the Gaza area has been seized from Hamas, it would then be run by a number of Palestinian bodies, so long as they appeared to be no threat to Israel.
Israel would maintain its right to operate inside the enclave but according to the statement, there would be no Israeli civilian presence once the goal of eliminating Hamas has been achieved.
The document has been issued by the Israeli Defence Minister and does not constitute the official policy of the Israeli military which remains to be confirmed by its war cabinet.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hit back at accusations that he agreed to reject more flights by Qatar Airways into the country in exchange for Qantas' support for the 'Yes' campaign in the Indigenous Voice to Parliament referendum.
The accusations came after it was revealed via one of Mr Albanese's diary entries that in November 2022, he had a meeting with former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.
Mr Albanese says that the issue of Qatar Airways was not discussed during that meeting.
"The meeting with Alan Joyce has been known about since last September. I've answered questions in Parliament where I say that, and I repeat again now, Qatar (Airways) was not raised, nor were the, what would be at any time, probably ten to fifteen different services agreements and applications from different airlines, at any time."
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Aamir Jamal has continued to prove Pakistan's shining light, picking up a six- wicket haul in only his third Test to help the visitors to a surprise lead over Australia on day three at the SCG.
Pakistan quickly took every wicket in an Australian collapse of 4-10 that ended the hosts' innings just 25 minutes after coming back from the tea break at 6-289.
All out for 299, Australia trailed Pakistan by 14 runs at the innings break - the first time since December 2020 they had been behind in a home Test match after both sides' first innings.
Aamir finished with figures of 6-69, his second six-wicket haul of the tour.
His 18 wickets are the most for any rookie Pakistan bowler in a three-Test series.
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