Latest news with #PalestinianStatehood
SBS Australia
2 days ago
- Business
- SBS Australia
SBS News In Easy English 2 June 2025
Listen to Australian and world news, and follow trending topics with SBS News Podcasts . The Australian government is being urged to consider using targeted sanctions against Israel over its actions in blocking aid in Gaza. Labor MP Ed Husic - and former Labor foreign ministers Gareth Evans and Bob Carr - have called for Australia to join the UK, France and Canada in signalling the use of targeted sanctions, if Israel fails to stop the renewed military offensive and lift all of the restrictions on aid. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has so far rejected the calls, saying he is focused on "peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians" rather than soundbites. Mr Husic has also urged the federal government to consider backing Palestinian statehood at a UN conference on a two-state solution* to be held in New York later this month [[17-20 June]] . Activist Reem Borrows, from Palestine Australia Relief and Action, told SBS Arabic much stronger intervention is needed from the Australian government. The Business Council of Australia has called on the federal government to have a focus on supporting innovation in its strategy to regulate A-I. In a new report, the group warns against over-regulation, saying the country has vast land resources that could be used for data centres for AI. The report says that Australians, more than people in many other countries, express nervousness about AI, and that could lead to over-regulation. There are no specific laws or regulations that directly regulate AI in Australia. The federal government is considering different reform options to mandate guardrails for AI systems deemed to be high risk, including introducing a new AI Act. In the United States, multiple people have been injured in an attack in the city of Boulder in northern Colorado. Witnesses say a man threw bottles that apparently contained flammable liquid, which hit the ground and exploded in flames. A suspect is in custody and police are investigating what FBI officials immediately called a targeted terror attack. However, local authorities say it is too early to know the motive of the attack. The Queensland government has launched a new tourism campaign ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. A key focus of the plan achieving the goal to deliver 45 new ecotourism experiences by 2045, including new dark sky tourism experiences, light footprint accommodation and agritourism. Premier David Crisafulli says the plan would launch Queensland as a truly global tourist destination over the next 20 years, maximising the opportunity of the 2032 Games. Exit polls released on the second round of Poland's presidential election shows the contest is too close to call. Official results are due later today. Two exit polls shows the pro-European Warsaw mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski very marginally ahead of the historian and former amateur boxer Karol Nawrocki. Mr Trzaskowski has claimed victory in front of cheering supporters in Warsaw. Mr Nawrocki says it is too early to call the election result, but he believes he will win. In football, Joe Montemurro will be the new coach of the Matildas. He's signed a three year deal to be coach of the national side through the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, a period which will also inlcude the 2026 Asian Cup on home soil, and the 2027 World Cup in Brazil. The 55-year-old Aussie was most recently coach of French side Lyon. He's previously coached English side Arsenal, Italian side Juventus, and A-League side Melbourne City to women's league titles. Montemurro's hiring ends the long search for a successor to Tony Gustavsson, who left after the Olympics last year. Interim coach Tom Sermanni will coach tonight's [[Mon 2 June]] game against Argentina in Canberra. Montemurro will take over after that, with his first game in charge being against Slovenia in Perth later this month.
Asharq Al-Awsat
2 days ago
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi FM: Israel Blocking Ramallah Meeting Proof of Extremism
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah said the Israeli government's refusal to allow a delegation of Arab ministers to the occupied West Bank showed its "extremism and rejection of peace". His statement came during a joint press conference in Amman with counterparts from Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain, after they met as part of an Arab contact group that was going to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. "Israel's refusal of the committee's visit to the West Bank embodies and confirms its extremism and refusal of any serious attempts for (a) peaceful pathway. It strengthens our will to double our diplomatic efforts within the international community to face this arrogance," the minister said. On Saturday, Israel said it would not allow a planned meeting on Sunday that would have included ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Palestinian Authority officials said. Prince Faisal's visit to the West Bank would have marked the first such visit by a top Saudi official in recent memory. Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said blocking the trip was another example of how Israel was "killing any chance of a just and comprehensive" Arab-Israeli settlement. An international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, is due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the conference would cover security arrangements after a ceasefire in Gaza and reconstruction plans to ensure Palestinians would remain on their land and foil any Israeli plans to evict them. Israel has come under increasing pressure from the United Nations and European countries which favor a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, under which an independent Palestinian state would exist alongside Israel.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Australia under pressure to join international push for Palestinian statehood led by Emmanuel Macron
Australia is under pressure to join an international push to recognise Palestinian statehood as the French president, Emmanuel Macron, rallies global support for a new Middle East peace pact. France has been lobbying western nations – including Australia and the UK – before a United Nations-backed summit in New York this month designed to accelerate momentum for a two-state solution. Speculation has been growing that France, which is co-chairing the conference with Saudi Arabia, will use the conference to recognise Palestine in an attempt to kickstart the peace process. Last week Macron said recognition of Palestine was 'not only a moral obligation' but 'also a political necessity' as he urged European nations to 'harden our collective stance in the coming hours and days' on Israel if the humanitarian crisis in Gaza were allowed to persist. France, along with Australia, the UK and the US, does not recognise Palestine, in contrast to the position held by 147 of the 193 UN member states. 'Beyond the humanitarian tragedy, what is at stake is the very possibility of a Palestinian state,' Macron said on Friday in Singapore. 'We clearly see that some are trying to make a Palestinian state impossible. But what we are defending is a political outcome to the situation.' In a statement to Guardian Australia, a French ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson confirmed it was working with international partners – including Australia – on its four priorities for the summit in New York from 17 to 20 June. These are recognition of a state of Palestine, normalisation of relations with countries in the region, reform of the Palestinian Authority and disarmament of Hamas. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'President Macron would like this possible recognition to be part of a wider political dynamic that will enable progress to be made, on the one hand, in establishing a Palestinian state and, on the other, in Israel's regional and international integration,' the spokesperson said. 'We are striving to bring as many states as possible on board with these objectives, and we know that Australia is a country with strong affinities for this issue and is strongly committed to it.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion A spokesperson for foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said Australia was 'engaging with the organising countries and partners ahead of the conference'. 'The two-state solution conference has an important role in progressing the political, economic and security issues that need to be addressed to implement a durable and lasting two-state solution,' the spokesperson said. Echoing a speech by Wong last year, the spokesperson said Australia 'no longer sees recognition of a Palestinian state as only occurring at the end of negotiations but rather as a way of building momentum towards a two-state solution'. Prof Don Rothwell, an international law expert at the Australian National University, said the summit was a 'novel process' that 'reflects the view of France and a number of like-minded states that there needs to be a different approach taken to try to resolve this issue'. Speculation of a looming shift in the federal government's position intensified last week after Anthony Albanese described Israel's blockade of food and aid into Gaza as an 'outrage' in his strongest rebuke of Benjamin Netanyahu's government yet. 'It is outrageous that there be a blockade of food and supplies to people who are in need in Gaza … People are starving,' the prime minister said. 'The idea that a democratic state withholds supply is an outrage.' It's understood Albanese has spoken to the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, and Wong has spoken to her counterpart, Gideon Sa'ar, in the past fortnight. The shadow foreign affairs minister, Michaelia Cash, said the opposition supported a Palestinian state but only at the end of a peace process, which would include the release of hostages held by Hamas. 'There can be no recognition of a Palestinian state with Hamas still in control of Gaza,' she said. 'To recognise Palestinian statehood now would be rewarding terrorism. 'International leaders should be applying maximum pressure on Hamas to immediately and unconditionally release all remaining hostages and surrender all terrorist capabilities.' The Executive Council of Australian Jewry president, Daniel Aghion, said Palestinian recognition without a concurrent plan to end Hamas's rule would be a 'betrayal of all parties to the conflict'.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Arab officials put off rare West Bank trip over Israeli 'obstruction'
Top Arab diplomats, who had planned to make a rare visit to the West Bank, have decided to postpone the trip due to "Israel's obstruction", Jordan said on Saturday. An Arab delegation led by the Saudi foreign minister had originally planned to travel from Jordan to the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in what would have been the first such high-level visit since Israel occupied the Palestinian territory in 1967. "The committee decided to postpone the visit to Ramallah in light of Israel's obstruction of its mission by refusing the delegation entry through airspace in the occupied West Bank controlled by Israel," the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said. The ministers slammed the reported Israeli decision, calling it a "flagrant violation of Israel's obligations as the occupying power," the ministry added in a statement posted on the social media platform X. There was no official Israeli comment on the visit. The delegation includes the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and other countries, the Saudi state television Al Ekhbariya reported earlier this week. The broadcaster quoted the Palestinian ambassador to Riyadh as saying the team planned during the Ramallah visit to discuss drumming up international support for Palestinian statehood ahead of a conference on a two-state solution to the Palestinian problem, including the creation of a Palestinian state alongside with Israel. Saudi Arabia and France are due to co-chair the conference in New York on June 17-20. The Israeli media outlet ynet quoted an Israeli official as saying that "such a state would undoubtedly become a terrorist state in the heart of the land of Israel."
Al Jazeera
3 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
Arab ministers condemn Israel's ‘ban' on planned West Bank visit
The foreign ministers of five Arab countries who had planned to visit the occupied West Bank this weekend have condemned Israel's decision to block their plans. The ministers condemned 'Israel's decision to ban the delegation's visit to Ramallah [on Sunday] to meet with the president of the State of Palestine, Mahmud Abbas', the Jordanian foreign ministry said in a statement on Saturday. Ministers from Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were expected to take part in the meeting alongside Turkiye. Israel late on Friday said it will not allow the meeting of Arab foreign ministers, who would have required Israeli consent to travel to the occupied West Bank from Jordan because Israel controls the Palestinian territory's borders and airspace. 'The Palestinian Authority – which to this day refuses to condemn the October 7 massacre – intended to host in Ramallah a provocative meeting of foreign ministers from Arab countries to discuss the promotion of the establishment of a Palestinian state,' the Israeli official said late on Friday. 'Israel will not cooperate with such moves aimed at harming it and its security.' The Israeli move came ahead of an international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood. Israel has come under increasing pressure from the United Nations and European countries which favour a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, under which an independent Palestinian state would exist alongside Israel. French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that recognising a Palestinian state was not only a 'moral duty but a political necessity'. Last week, Israeli forces opened fire near a diplomatic convoy near Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, triggering an international outcry. The convoy included diplomats from the European Union, the United Kingdom, Russia and China. The Israeli military claimed its soldiers fired 'warning shots' after the group deviated from an agreed-upon route. Israel has also allowed the expansion of illegal settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, with the government announcing plans to establish 22 new settlements, including retroactively legalising a number of unauthorised outposts. The move has been condemned by Palestinian officials and global human rights groups. The International Court of Justice declared last July that Israel's longstanding occupation of Palestinian territories is illegal, and called for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, at least 972 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and settlers across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 were taken captive. Since then, at least 54,381 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and 124,054 wounded, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. The Strip's Government Media Office has updated the death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of people missing under the rubble are presumed dead.
