Key Points
- NSW Premier supports police attempting to block Opera House rally
- US president says Israel cooperating with peace talks
- Second-tier community football competition to kick off on Friday
TRANSCRIPT
The Supreme Court is hearing arguments today on whether a planned rally at the iconic Sydney Opera House should go ahead.
The New South Wales Police launched the legal action to block the protest organised by the Palestinian Action Group for Sunday marking the toll of two years of war of Gaza since the October 7 attacks.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the Jewish Board of Deputies have applied to the court to provide legal submissions* as part of the case.
Palestinian Action Group organiser Amal Naser says the group plans to fight for their right to march to the Opera House.
Police say they have concerns for public safety and are proposing alternative routes for the protest that do not include the Opera House.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns told 2GB Radio, he supports the police.
"Police are suggesting to campaign organisers, 'can't you choose another street, can't you choose another part of Sydney, we'll facilitate the march, but stay away from that for a whole range of reasons. I'm also conscious of the fact organisers seem to use the notoriety and attention associated with comments from people like me to drive attendance and say free speech is being stopped in a place like Sydney, but I back the police here."
Police argue the Opera House forecourt, which holds only 6,000 people, cannot safely accommodate a larger crowd.
A court decision is expected before Sunday’s planned rally.
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US President Donald Trump says he believes a breakthrough on a Gaza peace deal is close, describing the progress as tremendous.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Mr Trump dismissed reports of tension with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying Israel has been very positive about the negotiations.
"No, it's not true. He's been very positive. He's been very positive on the deal. Everybody is, I think every nation is. We have just about every nation working on this deal and trying to get it done, something that you could say 3000 years, if you look at it in certain ways or you could say centuries. But this is a deal that incredibly everyone just came together. They all came together. No, Israel has been great."
President Trump says both Israelis and Palestinians are eager for an end to the war, with hostage families in particular pushing for progress.
He added that even Iran had sent a strong signal in favour of the talks, which his administration hopes will deliver a long-term resolution to the Gaza conflict.
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A volunteer who joined the search for missing four-year-old Gus Lamont says he is convinced the boy is no longer on his family’s remote sheep station.
Local resident Jason O’Connell, a former State Emergency Service worker with two decades of experience, has been helping Gus’s father search the vast property, about 40 kilometres south of Yunta in South Australia’s Mid North, since the child vanished on the 27th of September.
Despite extensive ground and aerial searches, police have found no trace of the boy.
Mr O’Connell tells Seven he had never been on a search where there’s been absolutely nothing found.
"That place has gone across with a fine-tooth comb. I just don't get how he vanished like that. If he is on the property, it is somewhere really well hidden, I just pray, pops up somewhere, someone comes across him. "
Major crime detectives have since revisited the property, with police confirming the search has been scaled back but vowing to continue investigating what happened to Gus.
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Three scientists have been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Medicine for discoveries that have transformed understanding of the immune system and opened new possibilities for treating autoimmune diseases and cancer.
The prize was shared by Mary Brunkow and Fred Ramsdell from the United States, and Shimon Sakaguchi from Japan, for identifying how regulatory T-cells prevent the immune system from attacking healthy cells.
Speaking from Seattle, Ms Brunkow recalled learning about the award in an unexpected way.
" I was sound asleep, I looked at the phone and it said Sweden, it was some weird number and I just, I silenced my phone because, I mean, spam, right? And then a couple hours later there's this young woman at the front door from A-P. She knew she was not supposed to be the one to make the announcement, but it was the only way she could get in the house was to say something to my husband like your wife has won the Nobel Prize."
Ms Brunkow says the discovery, made while working in a small biotech lab, has opened a whole new area in immunology and underscored the value of publicly funded science.
Her colleague Ramsdell, reportedly hiking in Idaho, has yet to hear the news.
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In football, the Australian Championship football competition begins this coming weekend, with 16 clubs to compete in the newly formed second-tier competition.
Eight so-called 'foundational clubs' will be making their long-awaited return to the national stage for the competition which will begin this Friday, October 10th and will run until the 6th of December.
Head coach of the Marconi Stallions, Peter Tsekenis, tells SBS Italian that it'll give the community teams a chance to shine once again.
"I'm hopeful that this competition is a success, and it shows that these clubs with rich histories, and community-based, have a part to play in Australian football. So, if it is a success it'll be great for the game."
You can catch all the action of the Australian Championship live on SBS or online at SBS On Demand.
