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Australia on Monday announced it had ended direct aid to the Palestinian Authority (PA) government over concerns the funds could be used to assist Palestinians convicted of political violence. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australia would no longer be giving its yearly funding of A$10 million (€6.9 million, $7.5 million) to the World Bank’s trust fund for Palestinian recovery and development. “I wrote to the Palestinian Authority on May 29, to seek clear assurance that Australian funding is not being used to assist Palestinians convicted of politically motivated violence,” Bishop said in a statement. “I am confident that previous Australian...

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott is facing an uphill battle after a Newspoll has revealed the Coalition’s worst polling ­figures, and Liberal MPs are divided on the leadership spill. The latest Newspoll, taken ­exclusively for The Australian, shows the Coalition’s primary vote down three points to an eight-month low of 35 per cent. Labor is up two points to 41 per cent. In two-party terms, the government’s vote went to 43 per cent with Labor on 57 per cent, which is the Coalition’s worst result since November 2009. Tony Abbott has admitted he could be removed as leader on Monday but...

8.31am: Half an hour to go. You can read a handy pointer to how a leadership spill works here (although do note the 102 partyroom has been reduced to 101 after one MP called in sick): 8.28am: Tony Abbott will need to channel John Howard’s historic 2001 recovery in the polls if is to emerge victorious, says Mathias Cormann: ‘Abbott has done this before’ 8.25am: Chris Kenny is saying on Sky that he is hearing there is strong support for the spill. 8.22am: Tony Abbott spoken briefly while leaving the church service.“We want to put the internals behind us and...

No link yet - this is breaking news based on leaks.

JOHN Howard has urged the Liberal Party to give Tony Abbott more time to improve his performance amid signs the Prime Minister will stare down a leadership spill today but risk an ongoing revolt and subsequent challenge. The former prime minister said that “obviously some things have to change” but that Mr Abbott should be given the chance to fix the problems, in an influential move in the battle over the government’s future. Malcolm Turnbull will contest the leadership if today’s spill succeeds but Liberal MPs said a majority was unlikely to vote for change today despite frustration with Mr...

JOHN Howard has criticised Barack Obama for “wading into domestic political differences on climate change” during his recent visit to Australia for the G20 leaders’ summit. The former prime minister said the US President’s speech to the University of Queensland in Brisbane “could have been phrased differently”. ..... Mr Obama’s passionate speech to a young audience ­during the G20 summit embarrassed the Prime Minister, caused outrage among members of the Queensland government and drew public criticism from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. ..... Queensland Premier Campbell Newman said he was not about to criticise Mr Obama as “our guest” but the...

Australia’s government has made its strongest criticism yet of its staunch ally Israel over the monthlong war in Gaza, with the Australian foreign minister calling the shelling of United Nations schools “indefensible.” Foreign Minister Julie Bishop welcomed the announcement of a 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire to begin on Tuesday, and urged Israel to take all necessary steps to prevent civilian casualties. …