Good afternoon. The Australian government will recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations general assembly next month, Anthony Albanese has confirmed, saying a two-state solution was “humanity’s best hope to break the cycle of violence in the Middle East and to bring an end to the conflict, suffering and starvation in Gaza.”
In a written statement, Albanese and Penny Wong claimed Benjamin Netanyahu’s government was “extinguishing the prospect of a two-state solution” in threatening to occupy Gaza and expand West Bank settlements. Albanese said he spoke to Netanyahu last week and told him “the situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears”, citing an unacceptable civilian death toll.
More than 60,000 civilians have been killed during Israel’s campaign in Gaza, local health authorities report. Over the weekend, five Al Jazeera journalists, including prominent reporter Anas al-Sharif, were killed by an airstrike on a journalists’ tent outside al-Shifa hospital in Gaza, in what the Israel Defense Forces have admitted was a targeted assassination. The IDF claimed al-Sharif had “served as the head of a terrorist cell” for Hamas. Human rights advocates said Israel’s claim lacked evidence.
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In pictures
First Nations stars turned out in Darwin for Saturday’s National Indigenous Music awards, the closing event of the Darwin festival. Highlights included accolades for artists Emily Wurramara, Jessica Mauboy and Barkaa.
What they said …
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“I found it frustrating … that people still put a really big weight on where you went to school.” – Mark Baxter
For almost 30 years, the Sydney-based former corporate executive didn’t talk about his public school education and low socioeconomic background. Now Baxter is among those fighting to dismantle the “class ceiling” – as a new study suggests less than half of “class marginalised” workers were offered career development in the past year in Australia, compared to 76% of “privileged” employees.
Full Story
Why doesn’t Adani pay any corporate tax?
When Adani first sought government approval for its Carmichael coalmine in Queensland, a big selling point was the company’s pledge to provide $22bn in taxes and royalties. But the Australian government has not received a single cent in corporate tax. Jonathan Barrett speaks with Reged Ahmad about why it’s time for a rethink on how we tax corporate wealth.
Before bed read
I was one of those pathetic males who barely noticed cats. Then I became smitten with my kitten
The mistake my partner made was to allow me to be the one to pick up our little “fully grown” kitten from the lost cat hotel, Luke Beesley writes.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: PROM. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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