TRANSCRIPT
- US President Donald Trump announces he will lift sanctions on Syria as he embarks on a tour of the Middle East;
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese heads to Indonesia on his first international trip since the election;
- The AFL appeals for unity in the fight against racism.
US President Donald Trump announces he will lift sanctions on Syria as he embarks on a tour of the Middle East ...
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese heads to Indonesia on his first international trip since the election ...
The AFL appeals for unity in the fight against racism.
United States President Donald Trump says he will order the lifting of sanctions on Syria at the request of Saudi Arabia's crown prince.
The United States imposed sanctions on Syria during the rule of Bashar al-Assad.
Mr Trump made the surprise announcement during a regional tour that began in Saudi Arabia.
His meeting with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman resulted in an agreement for the U-S to sell Saudi Arabia an arms package worth nearly AU$220 billion.
Mr Trump says it marks a step forward in the relationship between the two countries.
"Today we reaffirmed this important bond and we take the next steps to make our relationship closer stronger and more powerful than ever before. It is more powerful than ever before."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is jetting to Jakarta today [[14 MAY]] after swearing in his new-look cabinet at Government House yesterday.
He plans to meet with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, before continuing on to Rome for the inauguration of Pope Leo XIV [[fourteenth]].
While in Italy Mr Albanese says he intends to talk trade with global leaders including Canada's Prime Minister and the President of the European Commission.
"Ursula von der Leyen I will meet. We've had contact with her, the head of the European Union. Obviously, there's discussions to be held as well about trade and tariff issues with Europe as well. We tried to have a free trade agreement with Europe and it will be good to have a discussion further about whether that can be advanced."
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has rejected Liberal leader Sussan Ley's suggestion that the Labor government's approach to Jewish Australians is among the biggest threats to social cohesion.
During her first address as Liberal party leader, Sussan Ley said both Penny Wong and Anthony Albanese are intent on letting Jewish Australians down.
"We have a foreign minister, Penny Wong, who has let down Australia in the UN, and we have a Prime Minister who is intent, it seems, on letting down Jewish Australians on the streets of our cities."
Penny Wong has told SBS the Liberal leader should not be using an overseas conflict for political gains.
"There was a very clear message from Australians during this election campaign. They don't want politicians reproducing the conflict here for their own purposes. They don't want politicians using conflicts overseas for their own political purposes."
Haiti's most notorious and powerful gang leader, Jimmy Chérizier says he's going to keep fighting until his last breath.
His declaration comes as the United Nations warns Haiti is approaching a point of no return, with more than a million people displaced by gang warfare.
Mr Chérizier portrays himself as a protector of the poor, but human rights advocates say the methods he's using to try and topple the government are deadly and cruel.
His gang has been designated a terror group by the United States, but speaking to SBS he compared himself to Donald Trump.
Chérizier: "I think we have something in common."
Lewarne: "You and Trump?"
Chérizier: "Yeah. During his campaign he said 'We need to drain the swamp."
Lewarne: "We need to drain the swamp."
Chérizier: "That's the same thing I want to do in Haiti."
You can catch Prue Lewarne's full report on SBS Dateline.
The AFL is appealing for the entire industry to unite and use the fresh Indigenous round as a landmark in the code's fight against racism.
But AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon says headquarters can't fix the problem itself as fallout continues from the Willie Rioli case.
The Port Adelaide forward has served a one-game suspension for allegedly threatening opponents, with his club directly linking the incidents with racism Rioli has suffered.
Dillon's comments come as Brisbane's premiership star Callum Ah Chee praises the Indigenous round.
He says he hopes a desire to learn about Indigenous cultures will last more than one weekend.
"We can do a lot more of that outside of Indigenous around that that would be great. It's awesome, celebrating this round, but yeah, for people to learn about our culture outside of this round would be great as well."
