As it happened: Israel and Hamas reach agreement on ‘first phase’ of Gaza peace plan; Housing Australia plagued by resignations, bullying accusations

A teenager who allegedly published Islamic State propaganda online and threatened to kill members of a Jewish congregation has been refused bail after a judge found he is a risk to the community.

The 18-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, sat with his head in his hands as Victorian Supreme Court judge Rowena Orr handed down her decision today.

He was charged in May by Australian Federal Police counter-terrorism officers with offences including publishing extremist material and using a carriage service to make a threat to kill.

Police arrested him after he allegedly sent an email under the name Adolf Hitler to the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation, claiming a shooter would attack the synagogue during Shabbat.

The risk of a clash with China is only getting worse, the secretary of Australia’s Defence Department has warned, as Beijing’s military grows more assertive and the two navies come into “close contact more often”.

“The risk of an incident has heightened over recent years and the trends continue to be very worrying for us,” secretary Greg Moriarty told senators in a blunt assessment of the deteriorating security outlook in the Indo-Pacific.

“The strategic balance is shifting in the region … that is changing the broad strategic concerns that we have seen in place. During a period of strategic contestation, increasing competition, there’s clearly anxiety and countries respond to that in different ways,” he said.

In February, a Chinese navy ship held a live-fire drill in the Tasman Sea without notice, forcing commercial flights to reroute. Asked during a Senate estimates if there had been any follow-up, Admiral David Johnston said he had met with his Chinese counterpart in March, and the government referred to previous representations made to the Chinese government.

US comedian Jimmy Kimmel thought his late-night show was over after ABC suspended the program following comments he made over the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk.

“A list of demands was presented to me, and I was not going to go along with any of them,” the host said at the Bloomberg Screentime conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday (LA time). “And it’s like, well, I guess we’re done. I said to my wife, ‘That’s it. It’s over.’”

In a wide-ranging interview, his first since returning to the air, Kimmel said his comments about Kirk’s killing were “intentionally and maliciously mischaracterised” by the political right.

The host of Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Disney’s ABC network became a central figure in the Trump administration’s culture wars following comments he made last month which accused Republicans of politicising Kirk’s death.

There are fresh question marks over the government’s plan to increase taxes on large superannuation accounts, with the Treasury department revealing it is examining concerns raised about the plan’s impact on the economy and super funds.

Senior Treasury official Diane Brown told a Senate estimates hearing this afternoon that the prime minister’s office had talked to the department about the yet-to-be legislated changes.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers announced in early 2023 an additional 15 per cent tax on income generated on super funds with balances of more than $3 million. It was due to start from July 1 this year but the bill has yet to be legislated.

The extra tax has prompted criticism from investors and the self-managed super sector, with claims it will hit farmers, the property market and venture capitalists, and that failing to index the $3 million threshold will mean far more than the expected 80,000 people initially forecast to pay.