Former Justice Department Special Counsel Jack Smith has defended the two criminal prosecutions he led against President Donald Trump, in an appearance before a committee in the United States House of Representatives.

Testifying in a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, Smith took questions from the House Judiciary Committee about the two criminal indictments he ultimately spearheaded.

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The first, filed in June 2023, alleged that Trump mishandled classified information while out of office. The second, in August of the same year, accused the Republican leader of seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost.

“Our investigation developed proof beyond a reasonable doubt that President Trump engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and to prevent the lawful transfer of power,” Smith told the committee.

He also fended off accusations from the Republican-led committee that his investigations had been politically motivated.

“I made my decisions in the investigation without regard to President Trump’s political association, activities, beliefs or candidacy in the 2024 election,” Smith said.

“We took actions based on what the facts and the law required — the very lesson I learned early in my career as a prosecutor.”

Smith added that the basis of his prosecutions “rests entirely with President Trump and his actions” and that he would make the same decision again today to bring charges, whether the defendant in question were a Republican or Democrat.

Smith’s appearance came as a result of a Republican-led subpoena, issued on December 3, for his testimony.

The subpoena set December 12 as the deadline for Smith to turn over documents related to the case, and Wednesday as the date for his congressional appearance.

Smith’s remarks, however, took place behind closed doors, despite his request to hold the hearing in public.

Still, portions of his opening statement were provided to news agencies, including The Associated Press.

Republicans have maintained that the cases against Trump were partisan in nature and were designed to derail his 2024 re-election bid.

“This was political. This was about going after the Republican Party, and most importantly, it was about going after our candidate for president, President Trump,” Representative Jim Jordan, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, told the TV programme Fox and Friends on Wednesday.

Formerly a prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Smith was appointed as a special counsel to the Justice Department in 2022, under former President Joe Biden.

Special counsels are selected from outside the Justice Department to prevent conflicts of interest in cases that are politically sensitive, and they operate without daily oversight from the department.

Smith ultimately dropped the two federal cases against Trump after the Republican leader’s successful re-election in 2024, as it is against Justice Department policy to prosecute a sitting president. He later resigned in January, shortly before Trump took office.

But Trump has repeatedly called for Smith to be prosecuted for his role in the criminal cases against him.

In October, for instance, Trump posted a link to an article about Smith on his Truth Social platform, accompanied by the message: “These thugs should all be investigated and put in prison. A disgrace to humanity. Deranged Jack Smith is a criminal!!!”

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has aggressively pushed for the prosecution of critics and political rivals and has continued to push the false claim that he was the true winner of the 2020 election instead of Biden.

Democrats, meanwhile, have pushed the Trump administration to make Smith’s full report into the two federal cases public.

After Wednesday’s hearing, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, Representative Jamie Raskin, told reporters that there was a reason Republicans wanted Smith to testify in private.

Had he testified in public, Raskin said, “It would have been absolutely devastating to the president and all the president’s men involved in the insurrectionary activities” on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.

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Heavy rains over the past week have compounded the already dire living conditions of the hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, UN agencies say.

Unicef spokesman Jonathan Crickx told the BBC that the weather overnight had been “horrendous”, with the rain so intense that he had seen up to 15cm (6in) of water on the ground near his office.

He said he was extremely concerned that children living in tents and makeshift shelters in wet clothing would succumb to hypothermia and other illnesses.

Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry has said one baby has died from hypothermia and at least 11 other people have died in building collapses caused by the severe weather.

UN agencies have stepped up deliveries of tents, blankets and clothes since the Gaza ceasefire began nine weeks ago, but they have said there is still not enough aid getting in.

The UN and its partners estimate that almost 55,000 families have so far been affected by the rains, with their belongings and shelters damaged or destroyed.

More than 40 designated emergency shelters were severely flooded following downpours on Monday and Tuesday, forcing many people to relocate again.

“Last night was really horrendous for the families. The heavy rains were so intense that we could see from our office and guest house 10cm, 15cm (4-6in) of water at some point. And the winds were so strong,” Jonathan Crickx, chief of communications for Unicef State of Palestine, told the BBC’s Today programme on Wednesday.

“When I drove this morning, I could see that many, many people were trying with buckets to remove some of the water.”

He noted that most of the estimated one million people living in tents and makeshift shelters had been displaced many times during the two years of war between Israel and Hamas, and that they had no or very few changes of clothes.

“When I was seeing [children] this morning, their clothes were damp. I could see parents trying to dry some of the blankets they had. But it has been raining almost all of the time in the past four or five days, so it is extremely difficult to keep the children dry,” he said.

“With temperatures about 7C, 8C (45-46F) at night, we are extremely concerned about children getting sick or even worse, dying from hypothermia.”

Many tents were also at risk of being blown away or destroyed by the strong winds accompanying the rain because they were only made from a piece of tarpaulin or plastic sheeting nailed to a fragile wooden structure, he added.

Mr Crickx said Unicef had been able to bring in more aid during the ceasefire to help children cope with the harsh winter conditions, including 250,000 winter clothing kits, 600,000 blankets and 7,000 tents, but that it was not enough.

“We are working relentlessly to bring in that aid and to distribute it, but the scale of the needs is so immense that we still have thousands of people and children who are really suffering every night,” he warned.

Gaza’s health ministry said a two-week old boy named Mohammed Abu al-Khair had died of hypothermia on Monday, two days after he had been admitted to hospital and placed in intensive care. Another 11 people had so far died after the war-damaged buildings where they were sheltering collapsed, it added.

A spokesman for the Hamas-run Civil Defence agency, Mahmoud Bassal, put the death toll higher. He said in a video that a total of 17 people, including four children, had died because of building collapses and the cold.

He added that 17 residential buildings had collapsed completely because of the wind and rain and that another 90 buildings had collapsed partially.

On Tuesday, video footage showed first responders from the Civil Defence recovering the body of a man from the rubble of a building in Shati refugee camp, north-west of Gaza City. Its roof had collapsed suddenly, according to eyewitnesses.

“We call on the world to solve our problems and rebuild the territory so that people can have homes instead of being displaced and living in the streets,” said Ahmed al-Hosari, a relative of the man, told AFP news agency.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said the collapse of damaged buildings due to the severe weather conditions was “deeply concerning”.

It stressed the need for “increased and sustained humanitarian assistance to respond to urgent and long-term needs, including food, shelter and equipment for the repair of critical infrastructure”.

Cogat, the Israeli military body which controls Gaza’s border crossings, has dismissed claims of deliberate aid restrictions as “inconsistent with facts on the ground, and the ongoing co-ordination taking place daily”.

It says that between 600 and 800 lorries carrying humanitarian supplies enter Gaza daily, and that almost 310,000 tents and tarpaulins have been delivered since the start of the ceasefire, along with more than 1,800 lorry loads of warm blankets and clothing.

The UN says a total of 67,800 tents, 372,500 tarpaulins and 318,100 bedding items have been collected from crossings over the same period.

The second phase of the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas includes plans for the reconstruction of Gaza, along with post-war governance, the withdrawal of Israeli troops, and the disarmament of Hamas.

Last week, Israel’s prime minister said the second phase was close, with only the body of one dead Israeli hostage in Gaza still to be returned by Hamas as part of the first phase.

The war was triggered by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.

More than 70,600 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since then, according to the territory’s health ministry.

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The Bundestag budget committee has approved a €52 billion ($61 billion) military expenditure package as Germany seeks to rapidly rearm in the face of the security threat posed by Russian aggression.

The budget committee is in charge of all large-scale arms purchases, which thus do not need fuller parliamentary approval.

The military outlay has been exempted from rules restricting public debt for the next few years as Germany tries to bring its fighting forces back to complete combat readiness following years of underfunding.

What will the Bundeswehr purchase with the money?

The military equipment to be purchased includes clothing and protective equipment for soldiers to the tune of €21 billion and 200 Puma infantry fighting vehicles worth €4 billion.

Rockets for the missile shield system Arrow 3, developed by Israel and the US, are also on the 29-point list of desired purchases put forward by the German armed forces or Bundeswehr.

The German armaments giant Rheinmetall is also to receive a €1.76 billion order for a satellite-based reconaissance system to support Bundeswehr forces stationed in Lithuania, on NATO’s eastern flank.

The Arrow-3 missile defense system is one of the items on the Bundeswehr’s wish list [FILE: December 3, 2025]Image: Ralf Hirschberger/AFP/Getty Images

What have German officials said?

Speaking to media in Berlin, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said the decision to approve the expenditure put the government and parliament on track to meet ambitious defense commitments.

In a statement, his ministry said: “We are sending a signal to the (NATO) alliance and our partners: Germany is leading the way.” 

“We are fulfilling our obligations to the alliance and accepting our responsibility for security and peace in Europe,” it stressed.

Edited by: Dmytro Hubenko

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Ghislaine Maxwell, a former girlfriend and longtime associate of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has asked a federal court in New York to set aside her conviction.

Maxwell is currently serving 20 years in prison for her role in a decade-long scheme to sexually exploit and abuse minor girls with Epstein.

The new habeas petition claims “substantial new evidence has emerged” that shows Maxwell did not receive a fair trial.

The Independent has reached out to Maxwell’s lawyer for comment.

Ghislaine Maxwell, a former girlfriend and longtime associate of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, has asked a federal court in New York to set aside her conviction (AP)

This latest attempt by Maxwell to get relief from the court comes as a deadline for the Department of Justice to release files related to Epstein looms.

The DOJ was compelled to release the information after Congress passed the Epstein Files Transparency Act, which President Donald Trump signed into law in November, despite initially strongly opposing the measure.

Federal prosecutors have until Friday to release documents, including records related to the Florida investigation into Epstein —which resulted in a 2008 deal, in which the disgraced financier pleaded guilty to soliciting prostitution from a minor — as well the Manhattan investigations into Epstein and Maxwell.

Federal prosecutors in New York charged Epstein with sex trafficking of minors in 2019, and weeks later he died by suicide in his jail cell.

Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of sex charges including sex trafficking of a minor.

This is a developing story…

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NEED TO KNOW

• Rihanna was spotted in Los Angeles on Dec. 16 wearing a bold off-duty Celine look
• The singer, who welcomed her third child, a daughter, with A$AP Rocky in September paired her vibrant outerwear with a glossy ombré lip look
• Rihanna made her first red carpet appearance after giving birth in November at the 2025 CDFA Awards

Rihanna is and always will be that girl.

The singer has had quite a momentous autumn, from welcoming her first baby girl with partner A$AP Rocky to taking the red carpet by storm. But now it looks like she’s open to the casual life before the holidays, and her recent off-duty look proves it.

On Dec. 16, the Fenty Beauty founder and mom, 37, was photographed in Los Angeles wearing a laid-back but cool look that reminded us why she’s the queen of designer street style.

Rihanna in Celine while out in Los Angeles.

DUTCH/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Rihanna’s outfit was California-cool with its red Celine bomber jacket and trousers adorned with a gold chain accent. She paired her top and bottoms with snakeskin stilettos, while her accessories included a New York Yankees-branded baseball cap, gold statement necklace and square sunglasses

The moment turned her outing into a streak since Rihanna and the “Fashion Killa” rapper, 37, already turned out in style at Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica, Calif., on Nov. 16. The couple bundled up in leather trench coats, but went with different outfits underneath. She also debuted a daring banged bob look.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

The “Lift Me Up” singer also proved she’s a big fan of monochromatics by coordinating her vibrant outerwear with an ombré red lip.

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky at the CFDA Awards in New York city on November 3, 2025.

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty

Rihanna, along with Rocky, has been leaning into life as a parent of three after welcoming their daughter Rocki Irish on Sept. 13. A source told PEOPLE that the couple, who’ve been together since 2020, are “over the moon” about the newest addition to their family, who they also say has “already brought a whole new energy to the family.” The performers already share sons RZA, 3, and Riot, 2.

On Nov. 3, she made her first red carpet appearance post-childbirth at the 2025 CFDA Awards, where Rocky was honored with the Fashion Icon accolade. Speaking to press, Rihanna described her Alaïa Spring/Summer 2026 ensemble as very “postpartum-forward” but with a “timeless” and “effortless” aesthetic.

She made another surprise appearance at the 2025 Gotham Awards, turning heads in a baby pink Balenciaga by Pierpaolo Piccioli gown with a lengthy train and a matching feathered cap.

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By EMMA RICHTER, US SENIOR NEWS REPORTER

Published: 16:11 EST, 17 December 2025 | Updated: 16:22 EST, 17 December 2025

Ghislaine Maxwell has formally asked a federal court to throw out her sex trafficking conviction, just 48 hours before the latest Epstein files are expected to be published.

Jeffrey Epstein’s madame, who is serving 20 years for her role in recruiting and trafficking minors for sex for him, filed a habeas petition which claims ‘substantial new evidence has emerged’ showing that she did not receive a fair trial, according to the filing reviewed by ABC News. 

Maxwell, who submitted the last-minute court filing without an attorney, wrote: ‘This newly available evidence — derived from litigation against the Federal Bureau of Investigation, various financial institutions, and the Estate of Jeffrey Epstein, as well as from sworn depositions, released records, and other verified sources — shows that exculpatory information was withheld, false testimony presented, and material facts misrepresented to the jury and the Court.’

The disgraced socialite’s last-ditch effort comes after she’s exhausted all of her direct legal appeals, and just two days before the next set of Epstein files are set to be released. 

Files started to become unsealed after the Epstein Files Transparency Act was passed by the House on November 18. It was then passed by the Senate and signed into law by President Donald Trump. 

The law has some exemptions tied to it, including allowing Attorney General Pam Bondi to withhold certain records if their publication could interfere with an active prosecutions or criminal investigations. 

This is a breaking news story. 

Ghislaine Maxwell attends a party in 2011

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Ghislaine Maxwell asks court to throw out her sex trafficking conviction just days before new Epstein drop

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Oscar winner Dame Judi Dench goes on a festive journey into her family history to discover whether one of her ancestors ever crossed paths with her hero, William Shakespeare.

The show airs on Channel 4 on the 27th of December(Image: Channel 4)

Oscar winner Dame Judi Dench will be turning detective this Christmas in a mission to discover if one of her ancestors met her hero William Shakespeare.

In Channel 4 documentary, Shakespeare, My Family and Me – airing on Boxing Day – she searches Danish archives to see if her eight times great grandfather met the bard in 1606.

Laughing out loud, she recalls her own colourful mishaps down the years acting in Shakespeare’s most famous plays.

She says: “I remember when I played Portia in The Merchant of Venice at Stratford-upon-Avon with my husband Michael [Williams], I got one of the words wrong in the script and ended up saying ‘erection’.

“We had a wind band about to play on stage with us and they left as they were embarrassed. It was exquisite agony. I was surprised I did not get the sack afterwards.

“Also, my wig flew off one night when I was in Twelfth Night. It was a very dark wig with a head-dress attached and it just went flying.”

Dame Judi hopes she will find a family connection to William Shakespare(Image: Channel 4)READ MORE: ‘I know the pain of losing my daughter through extreme violence’ says campaigning mumREAD MORE: ‘I can feel my baby kick when my pregnant partner’s not here thanks to a simple device’

Now 91, she has acted alongside a gallery of stars and fondly recalls playing Cleopatra to Sir Anthony Hopkins’ Mark Anthony.

“I absolutely adored it,” she says. “Every night I used to haul Tony up and he used to die in my lap, as he was playing Mark Anthony. After he died on stage he used to whisper to me ‘Now, I am going for a nice cup of tea’ and that would be the whole of act five.

“I love Shakespeare, but I have fallen over in nearly every play I have done.It is something to do with my balance.

“And I have had bad reviews. Once when I played Juliet in Romeo & Juliet one critic wrote ‘she conveyed about as much as an apple in a Warwickshire orchard’.”

But, since she first stepped on stage at The Old Vic in 1957 in Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the multi-award winning actress has more than redeemed herself.Most famous with younger audiences as MI6 boss M in seven James Bond films, she says with thespians of her generation the edict was “the show must always go on.”

She says: “When I started at the Oxford Playhouse, you did more than one role at a time.

Dame Judi has been acting for years

“We would do a night at Stratford and there was this taxi driver and he used to drive me to London. There was no motorway then, it was like the A34 or whatever it was and we used to think nothing of it. It was exciting just to be working.”

Dame Judi says there was never a question of pulling out of a performance.“You can’t say ‘I don’t feel like it today’. You can’t do that,” she says.

“I remember when there was the Asian flu in the 1950s. I remember coming on as Ophelia in Hamlet and I cried the whole way through the scene, but I got through it.”

Passionate about theatre, she continues: “There are very few plays I have done that I have not enjoyed.”

“Theatre is my passion. It is a learning curve, but the learning starts with the audience.

“When we do a comedy and we don’t get the laughs that is when we know something is wrong and that is why living theatre is important. It is vital to life.”

But her most famous comedy role was undoubtedly in the TV series A Fine Romance, opposite her husband Michael Williams.She recalls a funny moment off-set, saying: “Once coming down Shaftesbury Avene we had a row in the car. I was looking one way and Michael was looking the other, then this woman came up to the car window singing A Fine Romance!”

Since loosing her eyesight she has found other ways to learn her script

Sadly, her failing eyesight due to the condition macular degeneration, means she is less likely to watch live performances these days.

She says: “When I go the theatre I can’t see. Hopeless.

“I have lost my eyesight now, so I can’t read now. I have to learn [a script] by somebody teaching it to me another way. I can’t see and I can’t read a book.”

But Dame Judi looks back on her career and the talented people she has worked with extremely fondly.

She says: “I wanted to be a designer when I started out. That is what I fancied being. I went to York Art School and my parents took me to see Michael Redgrave in King Lear at Stratford-upon-Avon and the set was simply sublime.

“There was an enormous circle that went round with a big rock in the middle. There was a throne and a cave and I thought, ‘this is what design should be and I don’t have the facility for it.’”

Realising she wouldn’t make it as a designer, she decided to follow her brother into acting.

She says: “My father was a doctor and there was no television then and my mother was wonderful at playing the piano. I did get to Central School of Speech and Drama and I went straight to the Old Vic and that was my training ground.

The documentary will air on the 27th of December(Image: Getty Images Europe)

“My first role at The Old Vic was Ophelia. I learnt a lot and they kept me on.”

Like her millions of fans, Dame Judi will be enjoying festive TV over Christmas, although she has a very critical companion in her pet parrot Sweetheart – a gift from her partner, conservationist David Mills.

She says: “We watch television sometimes and the parrot suddenly goes ‘You noisy cow’. Not at me, but to the television!.

“It is a spectacular parrot, an African grey which David gave me for Christmas.”

Sweetheart belonged to a man living in Maidstone for 14 years, and Dame Judi continues: “She is called Sweetheart and is a female but talks like a man. She travels between David and me.”

Dame Judi will also mark the passing of friends she has last over the Christmas period, by spending time in the garden of her Surrey home, where she has planted memorial trees in their honour.

Like her millions of fans, Dame Judi will be enjoying festive TV over Christmas, (Image: Harry Truman)

She also has a very unusual statue of Queen Victoria. She explains: “The statue was given to me. It is higher than me. I can’t possibly reach it. After we did the movie Victoria and Abdul we were in India and there was an enormous statue of Queen Victoria and it is made of papier mache.

“After the film they said ‘do you want that statue?’ And I said no’ but then I said ‘oh, just a minute.’ She is in my garden, where she stands with an orb and sceptre and the birds like her a lot. She is quite hidden, but I know she is there.

“I plant trees for all my friends who have died and there was a beautiful designer on that film who I was fond of and was very, very clever. He died startlingly young, so beside Queen Victoria I have a tree for him. So he is there as well. It is a very very nice thing to have.”

*Dame Judi Dench’s documentary, Shakespeare: My Family and Me airs on Channel 4 on Saturday, December 27 at 9pm.

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The Finnish prime minister has apologised to Asian nations amid a growing controversy over the “slanted eyes” scandal which saw members of parliament post derogatory images.

The controversy started earlier this month when the Miss Finland title holder, Sarah Dzafce, was pictured pulling back her eyes in her friend’s social media post captioned: “Eating with a Chinese person”.

Dzafce, who is not of Asian origin, said she did not intend to offend anyone and apologised.

But the 22-year-old was nonetheless stripped of the title she had only won in September.

Finns Party MPs Kaisa Garedew and Juho Eerola reacted by posting similar pictures of themselves, Finland’s public broadcaster, Yle, reported, as did Finns Party MEP Sebastian Tynkkynen.

Mr Eerola has since apologised for his post.

Dubbed the “slanted eyes” scandal by Finnish media, the incident is the latest in a series of cases in which members of
the Finns Party, a junior partner in the governing coalition, have been accused of posting or making racist remarks.

Prime Minister Petteri Orpo of the pro-business National Coalition Party, who leads a four-party coalition that includes
the Finns, issued a statement offering his sincere apologies on Wednesday.

“These posts do not reflect Finland’s values of equality and inclusion,” Mr Orpo said in statements released by Finnish
embassies in China, Japan and South Korea.

“Our message in Finland and to all our friends abroad is that the government takes racism seriously and is committed to
combating the issue,” he said.

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The Miss Finland organisation, in a statement to Reuters, said it was apolitical but had acted in accordance with its values and principles.

Already shortly after taking office in 2023, Mr Orpo’s government faced a no-confidence vote over racist online posts and statements made by several cabinet members from the Finns Party.

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Home affairs minister says he has ‘full confidence’ in Australia’s intelligence agency

Sarah Basford Canales

Tony Burke maintains he has “full confidence” in Australia’s domestic intelligence agency as questions are raised about how the father and son duo allegedly behind the Bondi attack, and inspired by Islamic State, were able to travel to the Philippines last month without raising flags.

The home affairs minister said he had reviewed the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation’s (Asio) decisions and actions regarding 24-year-old Naveed Akram – who was charged with 59 offences including 15 counts of murder on Wednesday – since he first came to attention in October 2019 for alleged associations with individuals involved in a reported Islamic State cell.

“I’ve gone through the different decisions that have been taken in this respect, and I have confidence of the decisions that [were] made,” Burke told ABC’s 7.30 on Wednesday.

“Obviously, they are not all decisions that were made during the life of this particular government, but I’m not playing political games with any of this. And no matter who was in office at different times, I have confidence in the way decisions were taken.”

Authorities in the Philippines confirmed on Tuesday that Akram and his 50-year-old father, Sajid, who was shot dead by police on Sunday, travelled to the south-east Asian country between 1 November and 28 November. They listed Davao, in the country’s south, as their final destination in the Philippines.

Davao is the capital of the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. The island’s more remote regions, west of Davao, have been a centre of resistance for the country’s pro-Islamic State and Islamist militant groups.

Burke said he could not publicly reveal whether Asio continued to monitor Akram after the six-month examination six years ago, or whether the duo’s trip to the Philippines in November triggered a movement alert list.

“I can just answer it in the general, that is, the movement alert list is very vast, and when people come to our attention, they generally stay there for a very, very long time,” he said.

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Anthony Albanese says courage and decency of Australians can overcome ‘pure evil’

Kelly Burke

Anthony Albanese is yet to respond directly to Benjamin Netanyahu’s latest criticism of his handling of the Bondi terror attacks but he called for for unity when he addressed a multifaith memorial service at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney last night

In his speech he said everyone would join in grieving with those who lost loved ones in the attack which he again called an act of “pure evil” and praised the bystanders whose bravery in helping the victims for acts which showed the “best of Australia”.

Tonight, as we gather in one iconic Sydney location, we mourn the devastation inflicted at another. At this cathedral dedicated to our Catholic faith, we grieve for all those who were killed affirming their faith, Jewish Australians deliberately targeted on the first night of Hanukah, as they came together at that beautiful place to renew their hope, their resilience, their belief in the power of light, the darkness of terror and antisemitism was passed upon them.

Our prayers this evening are for the souls of the innocent people whose lives were so cruelly and violently stolen away at Bondi beach that Sunday evening. We pray with those who we knew and loved, including, I know, the family of Rabbi Eli who was farewelled today, everyone who has lost the centre of their universe, the love of their life, their pride and joy, we grieve for the light and laughter and strength and comfort that so many have lost. We grieve with everyone who would have shared in their happiness.

We pray that those being treated for their injuries recover, we reflect with gratitude on the bravery and skill of the police and first responders who saved lives, and we offer our thanks for the courage and selflessness of everyday Australians; people who, in a moment of deadly danger, did not hesitate to run to the aid of strangers, to shield, shelter or comfort people fleeing in fear.

Ordinary people demonstrating extraordinary courage, including the remarkable actions of Ahmed al-Ahmed, who put himself in the line of fire, wrestling a gun away from one of the shooters. People he has never met owe him their lives.

We pray for the souls of Boris and Sophia Burman and Reuven Morrison, murdered while bravely protecting others. Our nation owes them and all the heroes of Bondi a profound debt of gratitude, not just for their bravery, but also for their example, for reminding us that at the worst of times, we see the best of the Australian character.

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NSW Health says 17 patients injured in the Bondi attack remain in hospitals across Sydney.

We’re expecting updated numbers later today.

As of 7.30pm on yesterday, the numbers were:

• One patient is in a critical condition

• Four patients are in critical but stable conditions

• 12 patients are in stable conditions

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Updated at 21.09 CET

Morning, everyone. I’m Adeshola Ore and I will be bringing you live updates on the Bondi terror attack.

I’m chasing the latest patient numbers and we’re expecting the funeral for the attack’s youngest victim, 10-year-old Matilda, to be held today.

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Updated at 21.09 CET

Netanyahu renews attack on Albanese government

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has renewed his attack on the Albanese government’s alleged failure to curb antisemitism in the lead-up to the Bondi terror attack.

In the immediate aftermath of Sunday’s massacre, Netanyahu said Anthony Albanese was to blame for the attack because his government’s decision to recognise the Palestinian state had encouraged Islamist extremism and attacks on Jewish targets in Australia.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Photograph: Abir Sultan/EPA

Albanese rejected the accusations.

In a new post overnight, Netanyahu said he had spoken to Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, the father-in-law of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was killed in the attack, and with the chairman of the Israel-Australia Jewish Council, Alex Ostrovsky, who was wounded in the attack and has been discharged from hospital. He said he expressed his condolences and told them (in Hebrew, which X translated):

… that these heinous acts are a direct result of rampant antisemitism, which is fuelled by a flaccid policy of the authorities in the country and of the Australian government, which has a duty to act immediately and with all the tools at its disposal to eradicate terrorism and restore security to the Jewish communities.

I emphasised that the State of Israel stands alongside the Jewish community in Australia, and I strengthened the Chabad emissaries and all the Jews of Australia – those who stand firm, clinging to great faith and immense spirit in the face of those who seek our harm.

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Updated at 21.09 CET

Sarah Basford Canales

Tony Burke asked if moving Asio and AFP to attorney general’s department hampered intelligence

Burke was also asked whether the Albanese government’s decision in 2022 to move Asio and the Australian federal police from the home affairs department to the attorney general’s department – a decision reversed this year – had hampered intelligence.

The minister said it was his decision to return the agencies to home affairs to assist with “seamless” information-sharing.

Burke added they both had enough resources to monitor both politically motivated and religiously motivated extremism: “I’ve confirmed with the Australian federal police and with Asio again in the last 24 hours that they both have more resources than they have ever had, and believe they get a fair hearing whenever they put a resources case to government.”

Asio’s director general, Mike Burgess, drew comparisons between Islamist political group Hizb ut-Tahrir and the neo-Nazi group the National Socialist Network, warning their “anti-Israel rhetoric is fuelling and normalising wider antisemitic narratives”.

“The organisation’s condemnation of Israel and Jews attracts media attention and aids recruitment but it deliberately stops short of promoting onshore acts of politically motivated violence,” Burgess said.

The UK banned Hizb ut-Tahrir from recruiting or holding protests and meetings in 2024, joining countries such as Germany and Indonesia.

Burke said he would list the group once it met the threshold, which he said it had yet to.

“My view for a very long time has been, and as soon as I came into home affairs, I asked again. I’ve continued to ask, ‘do they meet the legal threshold?’ Because the moment they meet a legal threshold, I see them causing nothing but harm in the community,” he said.

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Updated at 21.07 CET

Home affairs minister says he has ‘full confidence’ in Australia’s intelligence agency

Sarah Basford Canales

Tony Burke maintains he has “full confidence” in Australia’s domestic intelligence agency as questions are raised about how the father and son duo allegedly behind the Bondi attack, and inspired by Islamic State, were able to travel to the Philippines last month without raising flags.

The home affairs minister said he had reviewed the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation’s (Asio) decisions and actions regarding 24-year-old Naveed Akram – who was charged with 59 offences including 15 counts of murder on Wednesday – since he first came to attention in October 2019 for alleged associations with individuals involved in a reported Islamic State cell.

“I’ve gone through the different decisions that have been taken in this respect, and I have confidence of the decisions that [were] made,” Burke told ABC’s 7.30 on Wednesday.

“Obviously, they are not all decisions that were made during the life of this particular government, but I’m not playing political games with any of this. And no matter who was in office at different times, I have confidence in the way decisions were taken.”

Authorities in the Philippines confirmed on Tuesday that Akram and his 50-year-old father, Sajid, who was shot dead by police on Sunday, travelled to the south-east Asian country between 1 November and 28 November. They listed Davao, in the country’s south, as their final destination in the Philippines.

Davao is the capital of the southern Philippine island of Mindanao. The island’s more remote regions, west of Davao, have been a centre of resistance for the country’s pro-Islamic State and Islamist militant groups.

Burke said he could not publicly reveal whether Asio continued to monitor Akram after the six-month examination six years ago, or whether the duo’s trip to the Philippines in November triggered a movement alert list.

“I can just answer it in the general, that is, the movement alert list is very vast, and when people come to our attention, they generally stay there for a very, very long time,” he said.

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Updated at 21.18 CET

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories before our morning blogger takes the reins.

The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, insists he has “full confidence” in Asio and its decisions despite the intelligence agency apparently missing the rising threat posed by the alleged Bondi gunmen. More on that soon.

Last night the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, called for unity at a multifaith event in Sydney, after a day in which he faced intense criticism over his response to antisemitism in Australia.

And Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has added fuel to that criticism with another attack on the Australian government overnight. We bring you more on this, too, in a few minutes.

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The Academy Awards will begin streaming exclusively on YouTube in 2029, the latest big change in Hollywood.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made the announcement on Wednesday, saying that it signed a multi-year deal that will give YouTube the exclusive global rights to the Oscars until 2033.

The Oscars, which is planned for 15 March, has aired for a half a century on ABC. Starting in 2029, the show will be available live and for free on YouTube.

It’s another big shakeup in Hollywood, which is dealing with studio sales and mergers, along with steep production cuts.

“The Academy is an international organization, and this partnership will allow us to expand access to the work of the Academy to the largest worldwide audience possible – which will be beneficial for our Academy members and the film community,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Lynette Howell Taylor said in a statement.

Over decades, viewership of the awards show has declined, though there was a slight uptick in 2025, with a significant number of younger viewers tuning in from cell phones and computers.

In a statement, YouTube CEO Neal Mohan called the Oscars “one of our essential cultural institutions” and said that partnering with the Academy would “inspire a new generation of creativity and film lovers while staying true to the Oscars’ storied legacy”.

ABC, which has streamed the awards since 1976, said that it was looking forward “to the next three telecasts” it will still host.

The move comes as Warner Bros Discovery on Wednesday recommended its shareholders reject a hostile takeover bid from Paramount Skydance for a rival bid from streaming giant Netflix.

Both options were seen as unfavourable for an industry that has seen drastic cuts over the past several years. Like major studios, cable networks have faced issues as the public has opted for streaming services instead.

YouTube winning rights to the Academy Awards further suggests that reliance on streaming sites will continue.

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