The US President Donald Trump has announced that after mediated negotiations in Egypt, Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first stage of his peace plan.

Australian taxpayers will fund a $600 million rescue package so mining giant Glencore can keep its Mt Isa copper smelter running for the next three years.

Vigils have been held to mark the second anniversary of the Hamas attacks on Israel which killed more than 1200 people.

The ABC has discovered more Optus customers have been unable to contact triple zero on their mobiles outside last month's two well-publicised outages.

The deadline for Hamas to accept US President Donald Trump's Gaza peace plan is fast approaching and there are reports members of the militant group are not prepared to agree to its terms.

Australia's landmark defence treaty with Papua New Guinea has been approved by PNG's cabinet after a two week delay.

The Federal Government is denying its Home Guarantee Scheme will greatly increase property prices.

The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has welcomed US President Donald Trump's proposed plan to end the war in Gaza and is urging both sides to agree to its terms.

The Federal Treasurer is talking up the government's economic management after the budget deficit for the last financial year came in about $18 billion lower than forecast.

In the United States, the former director of the FBI, James Comey, has been indicted by a grand jury on two charges of lying to Congress in 2020 about the investigation into Donald Trump's Russia links.