Scott Morrison has told the opening session of the Hillsong annual conference that Australia needs more prayer, and more love. Praying for Australia at the evangelical Christian event with his wife, Jenny, Morrison addressed the government’s growing internal debate about religious freedom by arguing that culture was more important than laws. The prime minister told the conference the government would “do what we ...

(July 8, 2019 / JNS) Despite reports of difficulty bringing Israel and Lebanon together for maritime negotiations, Eastern Mediterranean policy experts and fellows at the Mitvim Institute for Regional Foreign Policies, Gabriel Mitchell and Ambassador (ret.) Michael Harari, believe that negotiations would be significantly beneficial for both parties. It was reported last week that Israel and Lebanon were on the verge of launching direct talks, ...

The number of fully immunised Australian children has hit a record level, with close to 95% vaccinated against deadly diseases. New data for the March quarter showed immunisation rates for all five-year-olds was 94.78%, up from 94.67% in the December quarter. The coverage rate for five-year-old Indigenous children was 96.66%, outstripping the national figure. The federal health minister, Greg Hunt, ...

Energy Minister Nada al-Bustani on Saturday said the ministry is completing its campaign to remove all encroachments on the power grid that continues in Baalbek on Saturday. “It is an ongoing campaign that will cover Lebanon entirely. There are no restricted areas,” she said. Bustani was asked about a decision taken by the Cabinet to also remove encroachments in the ...

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s president on Friday reaffirmed the reconciliation among Lebanese after the 1975-90 civil war, before the funeral of a cabinet minister’s aide killed last week as political tensions flared. “Reconciliation in the mountains is fixed and we do not want Lebanon to become a country of cantons,” President Michel Aoun tweeted. Two aides to Refugee Affairs Minister ...

An Irish family facing deportation because their Australian-born son was considered a “burden” on the health system have been offered a last-minute reprieve. Anthony and Christine Hyde, and their son Darragh, 3, who has cystic fibrosis, were granted a ministerial intervention on Friday, after their pending deportation caused outrage across the country. The family moved to Australia in 2009 and ...

A Federal Court judge has raised concerns that the Australian Government is putting good relations with Nauru ahead of the health of refugees on the island. In a ruling on Friday about a refugee known to the court as CEU 19, Judge Debra Mortimer noted the Australian Government had failed to comply with a court order on June 14 to ...

United Nations human rights inspectors will have “completely unfettered access to all places of detention” when they visit Australia in coming months. This week the UN subcommittee on prevention of torture announced it would visit six countries to inspect places of detention, including Australia and Nauru. It will be the first time Australia is subject to the inspections, which it is ...

BEIRUT (Reuters) – Lebanon’s Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri decided on Monday to postpone a cabinet meeting for 48 hours to allow tensions to ease after two aides of a government minister were killed in a shooting on Sunday. In televised comments, Hariri said the judiciary would take all steps to hold accountable those behind the shooting which the minister, Saleh al-Gharib, ...

China is opening up more sectors of its economy to foreign investment amid a bruising trade war with the United States that is beginning to be felt from Asia to Europe. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang told the World Economic Forum in Dalian that China would further liberalise its manufacturing sector, including the car industry, while reducing the negative investment list that restricts foreign investment in some areas. He said ...