Australia news LIVE: Albanese to include YouTube in social media ban; UK reveals path to Palestinian recognition

Sydney Morning Herald

3 days ago

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6.55am
UK to recognise Palestine unless Israel commits to peace
By David Crowe
Britain has heightened pressure on Israel to commit to a ceasefire in Gaza and help feed starving civilians, declaring it will recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel takes urgent steps towards peace.
In a major shift in foreign policy, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said 'this is the moment to act' on statehood for Palestinians if Israel prolonged the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
The move follows a declaration from French President Emmanuel Macron last week that France would recognise a Palestinian state at the United Nations – but the UK has placed a caveat on its plan in a bid to give Israel an incentive to act.
6.52am
Trump knew Epstein 'stole' young women from Mar-a-Lago
By Michael Koziol
US President Donald Trump has acknowledged sex offender Jeffrey Epstein 'stole' young women from the spa at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, including American-Australian victim Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide this year.
The president, who has been under sustained pressure to release more files from the Epstein investigation and detail his own knowledge of his former friend's activities, revealed he knew Epstein was poaching young women from Mar-a-Lago and gave him a warning.
After telling reporters in Scotland that he threw Epstein out of the club in the 2000s because the financier 'stole people' who worked for him, Trump was asked on Tuesday (Wednesday AEST) whether the people in question were young women.
'I don't want to say, but everyone knows the people that were taken,' he said initially. 'The concept of taking people that work for me is bad. But that story's been pretty well out there – and the answer is yes, they were [young women].'
6.49am
What's making news today
By Daniel Lo Surdo
Hello and welcome to the national news live blog. My name is Daniel Lo Surdo, and I'll be helming our live coverage this morning.
Here's what is making news today:
The main YouTube platform will join Instagram, TikTok, X and Snapchat as the social media services captured by the Albanese government's social media ban for children under 16, firming ground for a legal stoush after YouTube owners Google threatened to sue if it wasn't offered an exemption. YouTube Kids will evade the restriction, with further details to be revealed later today as the government tables rules for the ban in parliament. The ban will begin on December 10.
Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has said the Coalition wouldn't oppose Labor's student debt reduction and childcare reform bills, smoothing the path for both pieces of legislation to pass parliament. The government will continue work to progress draft laws proposing a $25 cap on medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), an election promise that comprised a key part of the health policies largely matched by the Coalition on the election campaign.
The UK will recognise Palestinian statehood in September unless Israel takes urgent steps towards peace, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has announced. In a major shift in foreign policy, Starmer said he would recognise a Palestinian state unless Israel ended the 'appalling situation' in Gaza and commit to a long-term, sustainable peace. It comes one week after France announced its plans to recognise Palestinian statehood at the United Nations in September.
US President Donald Trump has acknowledged sex offender Jeffrey Epstein 'stole' young women from the spa at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida, including American-Australian victim Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide this year. Trump confirmed on Wednesday (AEST) that young women were among the Mar-a-Lago workers poached by Epstein, which prompted Trump to issue Epstein a warning before eventually banning the disgraced financier from his club.