In this bulletin;
- Hamas calls for comprehensive deal to end the war in Gaza;
- Man yeilding knife dies after being shot by police in Melbourne;
- And in football, Brisbane Roar win A-League Mens fixture at home for first time in over a year.
Hamas has called for a comprehensive deal to end the war in Gaza, after rejecting Israel's offer of an interim truce.
In a televised speech, Hamas' lead negotiator Khalil Al-Hayya warned the group would no longer accept interim deals.
Instead he called for negotiations to release all remaining Israeli hostages in return for an end to the Gaza war, the release of Palestinians prisoners, and the reconstruction of Gaza.
"Netanyahu and his government use partial agreements as a cover for their political agenda, which is based on continuing the war of extermination and starvation, even if the price is sacrificing all his hostages. We will not be part of passing this policy."
Israel this week proposed a 45-day truce to allow the release of hostages, and potentially begin indirect talks to end the war.
But Hamas rejected Israel's condition to lay down it's arms.
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A man has died after being shot by police in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray last night.
Officers were called to an Albert Street shopping centre following reports of a man armed with a knife about 9pm last night.
Victoria police say two officers found the man and instructed him to drop the weapon - before he charged towards them, still holding the knife, and was shot by both officers.
The man, who is yet to be formally identified, was treated by paramedics but died at the scene.
Victoria Police Commander Timothy Tully says officers were then targeted by bystanders.
"I'm aware that post the incident there was a group of persons that challenged police in terms of abusing them and throwing bottles at police. My understanding is that those persons were not connected with the deceased male. In terms of their behaviour, that is certainly something we will look at."
Homicide Squad detectives will investigate the matter with oversight from the Professional Standards Command.
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Education Minister Jason Clare will not make any promises when it comes to extending the government's $150 rebates for energy bills at the end of the year.
Energy policy and power prices have been central to the election campaign so far, with Labor promising up to 1 million household batteries for solar energy users and further rebates on power bills, while the Coalition's focus is on saving more Australian gas for the local market.
Minister Clare told Channel 7 the government will review the situation when the rebates are due to expire.
"We'll always take responsible action to help people with the cost of living, but it's not just in that area, it's in the tax cuts that we're rolling out as well, as well as the instant tax deduction worth one thousand bucks we announced on the weekend, so in all sorts of ways it's important to help Australians with the cost of living."
Deputy Opposition leader Sussan Ley avoided directly confirming or denying the Coalition's support for energy rebates, instead pointing to the Coalition's plans to shore up Australian gas reserves.
"Our short to medium term plan on Aussie gas for Aussie households, will see retail gas and electricity powers come down by 7 and 3 per cent respectively. Which is important because we want to see prices come down. And of course longer term our nuclear gas and renewable policy will see a 44 per cent reduction."
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Pope Francis has visited inmates at Rome's main prison to mark Holy Thursday at the beginning of Easter.
The Pope spent about 20 minutes at Regina Caeli jail meeting with about 70 prisoners.
It's not the first time he has visited prison inmates on Holy Thursday.
Speaking to journalists outside the prison, he said every time he visits a prison, he asks himself, why them and not me?
The pontiff is still recovering from a life threatening bout of pneumonia but is still expected to make some other Easter-time appearances over the coming days.
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And in football,
Brisbane Roar have won an A-League Mens fixture at home for the first time in 410 days, with a 2-1 win over Western United at Suncorp Stadium.
The home side started well with Sam Klein scoring just 96 seconds into the game.
Florin Berenguer added a second goal in the 24th minute.
The result marks the first time the Roar have won in Queensland since March last year.
Western United's loss ends any of home of them chasing down Auckland F-C at the top of the table.
