TRANSCRIPT:
- A woman in critical condition after being stabbed in a Queensland supermarket;
- Looting and price gouging charges laid in LA as the fire emergency rages on;
- An injury hit Nick Kyrgios pulling back from singles matches in Australia.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus is preparing to visit Israel this week, as negotiations continue to broker a ceasefire in the Middle East conflict.
Mr Dreyfus will meet Israeli officials during the trip, as well as visit the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
He says he will take the opportunity to call for the release of Israeli hostages by Hamas while he is there, and reiterate support for a ceasefire as endorsed by the UN's Security Council.
The visit comes as mediators say they have made significant progress in moving towards a ceasefire and a deal to release hostages.
A formal agreement is yet to be reached.
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A woman remains in hospital after being stabbed at a Queensland supermarket.
Her condition is listed as critical but stable at Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane.
Police say the 13 year old who allegedly attacked the 63 year old acted alone, and that they believe the stabbing at the Ipswich Coles store was random.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton is in Ipswich as he continues his unofficial election campaign, and has told supporters the Coalition backs an emphasis on law and order reform because of incidents like this.
"This matter is obviously before the courts so I won't make any comment in relation to it specifically. But I would point out that the Coalition has had a policy for a long time now to introduce uniform knife laws across the country. We've done a lot of work in relation to Jack's Law and working with the Beazley family. And again, one of the core strengths of a Coalition government is law and order and making sure that we can put everything possible in place to keep people safe."
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One home has been destroyed and another six evacuated after a landslide struck a coastal hill in Victoria's Mornington Peninsula.
It's understood the destroyed house in McRae was empty after it had been hit by a smaller landslide about a week before.
State Emergency Service operations manager Chris Gregory says multiple nearby homes remain a concern and are being monitored by authorities.
Victoria's acting premier Ben Carroll says there have been no previous concerns about the stability of residences in that area.
"First and foremost, my thoughts are with the family in this house, it must be devastating for them. And obviously their neighbours as well. So, this will be something that obviously the Planning Minister, the Minister for Building, all authorities will look at what's happened here (and) consult with the local council. But it hasn't been an issue that's been raised previously."
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Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth has officially unveiled the federal government's new autism strategy that it says will improve the lives of neurodiverse people.
The official launch of the strategy took place in Perth with members of the National Autism Strategy Oversight Council, which helped to draft the plan.
The seven-year plan will spend a total of $42.3 million on a range of initiatives, including $900,000 for community awareness projects to combat stereotypes and misconceptions about autism.
The Minister says the needs of vulnerable groups within the community won't be ignored in the rollout.
"Making sure that we have resources in language is some of the initiatives that we have committed to, to make sure that there is a priority for culturally and linguistically diverse people."
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At least nine people have been charged for looting properties in Los Angeles as the city continues to grapple with the fire emergency, and thousands remain evacuated.
One burglary allegedly netted $200,000, while another saw an Emmy statuette stolen.
Los Angeles District Attorney Nathan Hochman says they have also seen incidents of price gouging, where hotels and medical suppliers have charged far more than the ten percent addition they are legally permitted to do.
He says authorities are disgusted by anyone who sees the crisis as an opportunity to make money or take what does not belong to them.
"So the criminals have decided that this is an opportunity and I'm here to tell you that this is not an opportunity. You will be arrested, you will be prosecuted and you will be punished to the full extent of the law."
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To sport and in tennis news,
Nick Kyrgios says he has likely played his last singles match in front of local audiences, after crashing out of this year's Australian Open in the first round.
It was Kyrgios' first appearance at a major since making the 2022 US Open quarter-finals and then requiring wrist and knee surgeries.
But the 29-year-old Australian says he is not blaming his injury for the loss to Jacob Fearnley, declaring in his post match press conference that the young Scot was simply the better player.
