Global Sumud Flotilla organisers say 38 ships holding 319 activists were about 250 nautical miles from the coast of Gaza when they were intercepted

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Eleven Australians attempting to deliver aid to Gaza as part of a global flotilla have been detained by Israeli forces in international waters off the coast of Cyprus, with the government “urgently seeking” confirmation of their welfare.

On Monday local time, the Global Sumud Flotilla alleged the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) encircled 38 ships that were part of a fleet of 54 boats which left Turkey last week for the embattled strip, which remains under naval blockade by Israel.

Government’s draft news bargaining incentive scheme includes 2.25% levy on local revenues of digital giants

Anthony Albanese has urged Google, Meta and TikTok to make deals with Australian media outlets to avoid a dedicated 2.25% levy on local revenues, warning digital giants should not be able to exploit the work of journalists to boost profits.

Releasing an exposure draft for the government’s news bargaining incentive (NBI) scheme on Tuesday, the prime minister said platforms who sign new deals with publishers to pay for news content would receive offsets of between 150% to 170% from the new levy.

Leaders of Canada, Mexico and UK denounce political violence and express thanks Donald Trump and guests are unharmed

• White House correspondents’ dinner shooting – latest updates

• Full report: Suspect in custody after Trump evacuated in shooting incident

Leaders from around the world have condemned the shooting at the White House correspondents’ dinner on Saturday night as an act of “political violence” and expressed relief that Donald Trump, officials and journalists were unharmed.

The president and his wife, Melania, as well as members of the US cabinet, were evacuated from the ballroom at the Washington Hilton on Saturday after gunshots were heard from the hotel lobby.

Australia’s obsequiousness to Trump’s America has gone way beyond the national interest

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After mounting an illegal war with Israel against Iran without consulting traditional allies, Donald Trump, man-baby leader of the free world, is now throwing a grand tantrum because once reliable old friends won’t clean up his global mess.

Even by the standards of a US administration characterised by the constant redefinition of shark-jumping, the US-Israeli geopolitical madness of the past month – and the last week in particular – has stretched relations with historic partners, not least Australia, to snapping point.

Speaking after signing trade agreement in Canberra, the European Commission president warns ‘situation is critical’ for global energy supply

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The US and Iran must come to the negotiating table to immediately end the de facto closure of the strait of Hormuz and stop hostilities in the Middle East, the head of the European Commission says.

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said Iran’s efforts to block the strategic waterway via attacks on unarmed commercial vessels and critical infrastructure “must be condemned”.

Australian manufacturers can call their wares parmesan and kransky, but terms like feta, romano and gruyere will eventually be phased out

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European food, wine, cars and fashion goods will become cheaper for Australian buyers under a long-awaited trade deal, but farmers are furious about meagre quotas for meat exports.

After almost a decade of negotiations, Australia and the European Union have struck an agreement that will lead to both sides slashing tariffs and expanding trade across a range of areas.

Energy minister, Chris Bowen, says ‘we’re a long way’ from further action like fuel rationing despite shortages

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Hundreds of service stations across Australia have run out of fuel, with the federal government inking a deal with Singapore, one of the country’s biggest sources of refined petroleum, to keep supplies of diesel and petrol flowing.

Concerns are now broadening to supplies of fertiliser and other chemicals, heaping more pressure on the Albanese government’s leveraging of overseas exports of coal and gas in a bid to handle of the crisis.

Fatih Birol says effect on energy markets of Iran bombings and closure of Hormuz strait not initially understood by world leaders

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The global energy crisis caused by the war in Iran is equivalent to the combined force of the twin oil shocks of the 1970s and the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the head of the International Energy Agency has warned.

Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said the growing fallout could be seriously compounded through interuptions to the “vital arteries of the global economy”, including petrochemicals, fertilisers, sulphur and helium.

US president claims he ‘always says yes’ to Australia, Japan and South Korea, after saying he didn’t need help from trio of countries earlier this week

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Donald Trump says he is “very surprised” Australia has not sent warships to aid in opening the strait of Hormuz as the blockade of the key strategic route for global oil supply continues to affect fuel prices.

“I was very surprised,” the US president said in Washington on Friday when asked what he took issue with regarding Japan, South Korea and Australia.

Despite being stripped of his royal titles, Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor could still technically become the king: he's eighth in line to the throne. While there's a growing push within the UK parliament to remove him from the line of succession — a move which Australia and New Zealand are supporting — actually doing so is far more complicated than it might seem. Matilda Boseley explains what would have to happen in order for Mountbatten-Windsor to his lose his spot in the line of succession

• Australian government says it would support removing Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from royal line of succession

• New Zealand would back removal of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor from royal line of succession, says PM

A spokesperson for Falun Dafa – a group associated with Shen Yun - said it had received threats against Albanese if upcoming performances went ahead

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Anthony Albanese was evacuated from his official Canberra residence on Tuesday night as police responded to a bomb threat made against him in relation to upcoming performances of the Chinese group Shen Yun.

A spokesperson for Falun Dafa – a group associated with Shen Yun - told Guardian Australia that one of their colleagues had received two threats in recent weeks, written in Chinese, threatening harm against Albanese if the performances went ahead. The threats, the second of which was received this week, were reported to the Australian Federal Police and are thought to have been the reason for the prime minister to be evacuated from the Lodge and the house to be searched by officers.

Exclusive: Anthony Albanese says arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor after life of ‘absolute privilege’ will be watched closely in Australia

• Australian Politics podcast: Albanese on ex-prince Andrew, Pauline Hanson and Islamic state families

Anthony Albanese has described Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest as an “extraordinary fall from grace” but says the latest crisis facing the British royal family won’t prompt another referendum on Australia becoming a republic.

The former prince, the brother of King Charles III, was arrested overnight on suspicion of misconduct in public office.

Xiao Qian hits out at Labor’s policy to force the Chinese-owned company Landbridge to sell its 99-year lease on the port

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China’s ambassador to Australia says plans by the Albanese government to remove the Port of Darwin from Chinese ownership will put at risk future trade growth and force an intervention by Beijing.

Ambassador Xiao Qian hit out at Labor’s policy to force the Chinese-owned company Landbridge to sell its 99-year lease on the port, sparked by pre-election national security concerns from both Labor and the Coalition.

Career public servant and former chief of staff to Malcolm Turnbull to represent Australia’s interests with Trump administration from April, including progression of Aukus agreement

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The head of the department of defence, Greg Moriarty, will succeed Kevin Rudd as Australia’s ambassador to the United States.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, announced Moriarty’s appointment to the role on Sunday. A former chief of staff to Malcolm Turnbull and former Australian envoy to Iran and Indonesia, he has led the defence department since 2017. He will take up the posting in Washington from April.

The laws, in the wake of the Bondi terror attack, establish a national buyback, stop the importation of some firearms and tighten background checks

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Parliament has passed some of the most significant changes to Australia’s guns laws since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre.

Spurred by last month’s Bondi beach terror attack, the new laws will toughen background checks and fund a national gun buy-back scheme.

Almost a dozen emergency warnings remain in place across Victoria, with state premier saying ‘we are not through the worst of this by a long way’

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Australian authorities are assessing the damage after one of the worst heatwaves in years resulted in bushfires igniting across the country’s south-east, with one person dead, hundreds of homes and structures lost, thousands of hectares burned and entire towns evacuated.

A state of disaster remained in place across much of Victoria on Sunday as thousands of firefighters and emergency service workers continued to battle blazes that were expected to burn “for weeks”.

Australians of any faith or background urged to do a good deed ‘in memory and honour of those who no longer can’

When the New South Wales government asked Jewish faith leaders what they wanted after the explosion of hate that targeted their community and claimed 15 lives at Bondi beach, they requested positive action.

The idea Rabbi Nochum Schapiro presented to the emergency meeting of the NSW Faith Affairs Council convened by the minister for multiculturalism, Steve Kamper, was simple. It was for everyone to perform one mitzvah – an act of kindness.

Jewish leaders call for federal royal commission into Bondi beach attack that killed 15 people as huge crowd marks one week anniversary

• Victims of Bondi beach shooting

• Ten minutes of terror: how the Bondi mass shooting unfolded in real time – video

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Jewish leaders have called for a federal royal commission into the Bondi terror attack, as some members of the crowd booed Anthony Albanese on arrival at the commemoration marking one week since 15 people were killed on the first day of Hanukah.

The president of the NSW Board of Jewish Deputies, David Ossip, said it “cannot be disputed” that a federal royal commission was needed, to loud cheers and applause from the crowd of up to 15,000 people gathered at Bondi, where a minute’s silence was held at 6.47pm, the time the attack began.

From pop to politics, it’s been quite the year. Were you paying attention? Let’s find out …

1-5 Please pay more attention.
6-14 Very good. But spend less time looking up from your phone in 2026.
15-20 Please write this next year.

Restoring a feeling of safety for Australian Jews will take extraordinary effort. As well as stamping out antisemitism, the work should start with a national approach to managing guns

The shock and grief that already hung over Australia this week after the Bondi beach shootings has only been compounded by the funerals for the victims.

Members of Melbourne’s Jewish community gathered on Thursday to mourn Reuven Morrison. The 62-year-old met his wife, Leah, at Bondi after immigrating from the Soviet Union in the 1970s. He died there on Sunday night, having thrown a brick at one of the gunmen, trying to slow the deadly attack on joyful Hanukah celebrations. His unjust death betrays the reason Morrison chose to move across the world.