TRANSCRIPT
- Israeli Security Cabinet gives their approval for ceasefire deal with Hamas.
- Tony Burke condemns Anti-Arab graffiti in Sydney.
- And in tennis, World-number-two Iga Swiatek vying to reach the fourth round at the Australian Open
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Israel's security cabinet has voted in favour of a Gaza ceasefire and hostage exchange agreement.
The full cabinet is currently convening for final approval of the agreement, which Qatar first announced on Wednesday.
The vote came amid concerns that the implementation of the deal would be postponed following objections by two far-right partners in Netanyahu's coalition government.
Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich voted against the agreement in the security cabinet and have repeatedly threatened to withdraw from the government over the past 15 months if the assault on Gaza were to end.
Mr Ben-Gvir says he refuses to back a deal that releases Palestinians held as prisoners in Israel, some of whom have reportedly been found guilty of violent attacks on Israelis.
"If until yesterday I was horrified by this deal, today - as more and more details are revealed - showing that life sentence terrorists are being released to Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria where everyone knows these terrorists will attempt to kill again, I am several times more horrified."
Israel's acceptance of the agreement would become official only after the full Israeli cabinet vote to come.
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A Middle Eastern Grocer has been vandalised with Anti-Arab slogans in the suburb of Wiley Park in Sydney's south-west.
Vandals spray painted the grocer in the predominantly Muslim suburb with anti-Arab slogans and made direct reference to Israel and Palestine.
In a post on social media platform X, Home Affair Minister Tony Burke made a statement condemning the attack.
The attack follows calls for political unity after a spate of antisemitic attacks in Sydney.
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United States politicians on both sides of the aisle have celebrated a ruling by the Supreme Court on Friday that has upheld a law giving popular Chinese-owned social media app TikTok until Sunday to be bought by an American company or be banned.
The justices unanimously ruled the law, passed by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in Congress last year and signed by Democratic President Joe Biden, did not violate the US Constitution's First Amendment protection against government restricting free speech.
The ruling was a blow for TikTok and for Republican President-elect Donald Trump, who takes office on Monday.
He has been seeking a last-ditch solution to save the app, years after he launched the first unsuccessful bid to ban it.
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Prime Minister of Greenland Múte Egede says Greenlandic people don't want to be American.
US President-elect Donald Trump earlier this month said that he wouldn't rule out using force or economic pressure in order to make Greenland— a semiautonomous territory of Denmark — a part of the United States.
Mr Trump said that it was a matter of national security for the U.S due to Greenland's strategic position.
Egede acknowledges the need for a strong relationship with the U-S but did not want to be part of the US.
"We will always be a part of NATO. We will always be a strong partner for, for U.S. We are close neighbors. We have been cooperating in the last eighty years and I think the future have a lot to offer to, to cooperate with. But we want to also be clear, we don't want to be Americans. We don't want to be a part of U.S., but we want a strong cooperation together with U.S."
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In tennis,
World-number-two Iga Swiatek will look to claim the scalp of a fellow grand slam champion in her pursuit of her first Australian Open crown.
The Polish five-time major winner, vying to reach the fourth round at Melbourne Park for a fifth time, is set to lock horns with 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu in the first match on Rod Laver Arena today.
Swiatek has a perfect record against the Brit, winning in straight sets twice at Stuttgart and once at Indian Wells.
But Raducanu, also 23, appears threatening, having strolled into the third round at the Open for the first time with victories over Russian 26st seed Ekaterina Alexandrova and American Amanda Anisimova.
