Hegseth has travelled to Israel to meet Netanyahu ahead of a closely contested election, Axios reported, citing sources.
Hegseth meets Netanyahu in unannounced Israel visit
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'Our worst nightmare': Threats to Australian politicians were rising before MP hit by car
In the wake of the apparent attack on MP Helen Haines, MPs have described locking their office doors, and scanning every crowd for potential threats.

Helen Haines live updates: independent MP in critical but stable condition as Asio boss warns about ‘violent rhetoric’
A joint counter-terrorism taskforce is investigating the incident, which Anthony Albanese alleged ‘wasn’t an accident’ ‘Deeply appalled’: politicians condemn alleged attack after Helen Haines critically injured Helen Haines, the principled MP respected across parliament ‘It’s very clear that this was a deliberate act’, PM says The prime minister, Anthony Albanese , said Haines’ alleged attacker “did a U-turn in order to get back to where Helen Haines was” after passing her on the road. It would appear that the driver of the vehicle that inflicted the damage to Helen Haines did a U-turn in order to get back to where Helen Haines was after passing where she was getting things from the boot or putting things into the boot of her car. So it’s clear that there was a deliberate act here, this wasn’t an accident – someone, you know, just getting off the road here. Continue reading...

Brendan Nugent named as driver apprehended over alleged attack on Helen Haines
Police allege 43-year-old Tarrawingee man who drove Toyota LandCruiser was arrested at the scene in Wangaratta Helen Haines’ alleged attacker has been named as 43-year-old Brendan Nugent, Guardian Australia has confirmed. Nugent is a long-term forestry campaigner in the state’s north east. Environment campaigners who worked with Nugent several years ago have expressed shock at his arrest. Continue reading...
Saudi Arabia cancels 2026 ‘Davos in the Desert’ amid Houthi attacks
Riyadh postpones flagship investment conference until 2027, orders government staff to work from home.

NAB to cut 2,500 jobs in massive restructure
Bank says bulk of redundancies will occur before end of year, citing challenging economy, competition and ‘rapid technological change’ Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast National Australia Bank is cutting 2,500 jobs, representing 6% of its workforce, marking another significant round of cuts in a sector heavily exposed to disruption by artificial intelligence. NAB said in a statement on Tuesday that the bulk of the redundancies would occur before the end of the year, citing a challenging economy, competition and “rapid technological change”. Continue reading...
‘Release Epstein files’, protester interrupts JD Vance’s speech
A protester demanding the release of the Epstein files interrupted US Vice President JD Vance's speech.