US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the “core objective” of America in the Middle East is to end the “cycle of violence” that has existed in the region for decades. Israel has agreed to a plan to have Israeli American hostages released in exchange for a pause in hostilities and more aid deliveries to Gaza. “Our core objectives in the region, both in terms of the conflict in Gaza and broader efforts to build truly durable peace and security,” Mr Blinken said at a press conference on Monday (local time). “To that end, I had an opportunity to meet today with the prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar on the ongoing effort to get hostages out and to create an extended pause. “This is critical to them being able to get to the formula that we’ve been talking about for putting an end to the cycle of violence that we’ve seen in the region for generation after generation, and the opportunity that actually exists to achieve it. “A clear pathway to a Palestinian state – that vision and its realisation can dramatically change the security circumstance for Israel, for the Palestinians, for all our partners in the region, and, at the same time, isolate the small amount of actors who don’t want to get there.”

ASPI Senior Analyst Dr Malcolm Davis says revelations Papua New Guinea had secret talks with China on security and policing are “very worrying”. Papua New Guinea was approached by China in September to assist with police training. “This is very worrying,” Dr Davis told Sky News Australia. “If PNG does, in fact, sign a security deal with China, invariably those sorts of security deals that Beijing promotes start with policing, end up with greater Chinese presence and potentially lead down the path to what we’ve seen in the Solomon Islands. “That would be a devastating development for Australia’s security if the Chinese military ends up with a presence in Papua New Guinea.”

US stock markets are again in record territory, according to CommSec’s Craig James. Mr James said the Dow Jones is currently up around 50 points or “one-tenth of one per cent”. “The broader standard pause 500 is up by three-tenths of one per cent,” he told Sky News Australia. “And the Nasdaq up by six-tenths of one per cent.” Presented by CommSec.

Internal sources suggest the Coalition is split on whether to support Labor’s overhauled stage three tax cuts in Parliament. Some Coalition MPs believe Peter Dutton should not fight Labor’s tax relief for middle-income earners. They believe he should instead campaign on relief for those earning over $150,000 in the next election. Sources say the Coalition will likely seek to amend legislation but will not outright oppose it. The Opposition is set to discuss Labor’s tax package today in shadow cabinet, as well as Anthony Albanese’s suspected poll-driven backflip on his election tax promise.

The Princess of Wales has returned home after two weeks in hospital. The details of her surgery have not been revealed. Kensington Palace has released a statement confirming her release. Princess Catherine is now in her Windsor home. She is expected to undergo recuperation over the coming months.

Sky News host Caleb Bond says Victoria has now reached “record levels of high school dropouts”. Mr Bond said that numbers in the Herald Sun today show that 14.1 per cent of students who started year 7 in 2018, left before they started year 12. “We have this thing now where it’s almost expected that you’ll get to year 12 and then you’ll go to university. “So we churn all of these kids through university who come out the other end with degrees they may as well wipe their bums with. “Kids who want to go and do something practical, should be encouraged to go and do something practical as early as possible.”

Sky News host Paul Murray says there has been a significant number of children who either don’t return to school or actually leave school early. His comments come as a report by The Herald Sun revealed why these children left school. “One of the reasons, well, it was all to do with the COVID pandemic,” Mr Murray said. “About the stress and anxieties of being locked up at home. “And the failures of the education system, of course, over multiple years."

Melbourne Deputy Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece says a protesting is an “extreme act”. Mr Reece told Sky News host Paul Murray that “by definition” it has to be. “You’re sort of saying, look the parliamentary process of law-making, the usual way we go about changing laws and regulations is not working," he said. “So people take to the streets to have their voice heard. “So by definition, it’s almost an extreme act.”

A woman has reportedly lost part of her leg after she was attacked by a shark. The attack occurred at a popular swimming spot in Sydney Harbour. Several ambulance units, including a helicopter rushed to Billyard Ave in Elizabeth Bay about at around 7.45pm. A woman in her 30s was pulled from the water. A New South Wales ambulance spokesperson said the woman suffered ‘serious injuries’ to her right leg in the attack.

Sky News host Paul Murray says people are “turning” on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as the tax returns Australians are likely to see won’t touch the $200 more they are spending due to the cost-of-living crisis. “The tax return that the prime minister wants you to thank him for doesn’t get anywhere near $200 a week,” Mr Murray said. “Working Queenslanders spending $200 more than they earn, well – 15, 22, 32, and 41 dollars is not going to do a damn thing. “Frankly it’s like fighting a bushfire with a bucket. “For the prime minister, he gets to say, we are doing something – if the reality is a family spending $200 more than they are earning, the tax cut doesn’t touch the sides – that’s why people are turning on the prime minister.”

History lecturer and author Stephen Chavura says no one who agrees with the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full should be allowed “anywhere near” the office of the Governor General. Both of the apparent candidates for the Governor General role, Linda Burney and Tom Calma, identify as Indigenous Australians and were advocates for the Voice to Parliament referendum. Mr Chavura told Sky News host Andrew Bolt that the Uluru Statement from the Heart “calls for two Australia’s”. “The Governor General is there to bring about unity in Australia," he said. “Any Governor General who signs up or enthusiastically agrees with the Uluru Statement of the Heart believes that Australia as it is, is a colonial project, and we need to create two sovereignties.”

Sky News host Andrew Bolt says the Albanese government’s decision to pause funding to the United Nations agency UNRWA over allegations some of its staff were involved in the October 7 attacks in Israel is “not sufficient”. Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced on Saturday that Australia will join the United States and Canada in pausing its funding to the UN agency as an investigation continues on several of its employees after claims emerged they were involved in Hamas's attacks in Israel on October 7. On Friday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said several employees were allegedly involved in the Hamas attacks on Israel. Mr Bolt said pausing the aid funding to UNRWA is "not sufficient, cutting it is”. The pause comes after Ms Wong announced last week that an additional $21.5 million in humanitarian assistance will be sent to the Middle East as the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza continues.

Sky News host Liz Storer says Gaza is one of the most “radicalised strips” of earth in the world against Israel. Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced on Saturday that Australia will join the United States and Canada in pausing its funding to the UN agency as an investigation continues on several of its employees after claims emerged they were involved in Hamas's attacks in Israel on October 7. On Friday, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees said several employees were allegedly involved in the Hamas attacks on Israel. “What’s truly disturbing about today’s revelation, which isn’t really a revelation – this is just a day of vindication because now it’s in the mainstream media so oh, now it’s true,” she said. “The truth of the matter is Penny Wong doubled funding to UNRWA in September 2022, so this is a government who has always believed in the two-state solution even now when it should be out of the question. “Who in their right mind thinks that Palestine should be recognised as a legitimate state so that they can amass a military, elect another leadership like Hamas?”

Australian Strategic Policy Institute's Malcolm Davis says the Australian government turning Taipan helicopters into scrap instead of giving them to Ukraine is a “huge, wasted opportunity”. Mr Davis told Sky News host Sharri Markson it could have assisted Ukraine's army with “battle mobility”. “To get their troops from one location to another quickly, to defend against Russian attacks. “More importantly, they could’ve been used for medevac, to save the lives of Ukrainian soldiers that have been wounded. “But instead, what we’re seeing is these helicopters being ripped apart, destroyed and buried.”

Sky News host Chris Kenny has slammed South Africa’s “topsy turvy” genocide accusation against Israel in the International Court of Justice as “grotesque”. The African nation alleged Israel knew of the number of civilians it was killing and had shown an "incontrovertible" intent to commit genocide. The United Nations court on Friday imposed temporary measures against Israel to ensure genocidal acts are not committed in Gaza but refused to call for a ceasefire. Mr Kenny stressed the only way to protect innocent Palestinians and save Israeli hostages is for Hamas to lay down its arms. “Let's be clear, we should all be vitally concerned about the loss of innocent lives in Gaza,” he said. “No matter that the numbers are unknown and no matter that Hamas has created the situation, and put innocent people's lives in danger, we all want the loss of innocent lives to stop immediately. “But here's the thing; if that's what you want, then there is only one thing that your protests should call for. “They should demand that Hamas lays down its arms and returns every single hostage being held now, before then surrendering its own leadership to Israel.”

A columnist is calling for the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, to reveal more details about her health issues. “You don’t find me sticking up for the royals very often,” Sky News host Chris Kenny said. “But there’s this columnist today saying the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, who is in hospital, we all know, having abdominal surgery, she’s in there for over a week, it can’t be something easy. “She’s demanding that she should be telling everybody what’s wrong with her because it might be a signal to other women or whatever. “I say, butt out, the woman is entitled to her privacy.”

Eminence Advisory Dimitri Burshtein says the Albanese government's decision to reform the stage three tax cuts is just a “ticking time bomb”. The Prime Minister broke a key election promise and decided to change the former Coalition government's stage three tax cuts. “They're just reinserting the 37 per cent tax bracket and it will just result in those low to middle wage earners being kicked into the higher tax bracket or higher tax brackets along the way,” Mr Burshtein told Sky News host Chris Kenny. “This tax change that’s been proposed by the government isn’t allowing people to keep more of their money, they're taking money. “This is actually a tax increase for a large cohort of people.”

Legendary Australian property developer Lang Walker, who passed away aged 78 over the weekend, was a “true leader of our industry”, says Urban Taskforce CEO Tom Forrest. “He was a man who was great at selling a vision,” Mr Forrest told Sky News Business Editor Ross Greenwood. Mr Walker’s contributions span from urban development, housing, industrial development, and retail, all of which left a lasting legacy on Australia. Lang Walker and his Walker Corporation saved and redeveloped the Woolloomooloo pier in Sydney before he turned to upscale apartments, hotels, and restaurants. Mr Walker also reinvigorated the Broadway shopping centre and has four buildings currently being built in Parramatta, effectively creating a second Sydney CBD. Outside of Sydney, the property giant made significant developments in Melbourne, Adelaide and the Sunshine Coast.

The Prime Minister has “destroyed” his credibility after making changes to the former Coalition government’s stage three tax cuts, according to Sky News host Chris Kenny. Anthony Albanese was booed by fans at the Australian Open men’s final at Rod Laver Arena on Sunday night as MC Todd Woodbridge welcomed him during the trophy ceremony. It marks a very different reaction to what the Prime Minister experienced at last year's Australian Open, where the crowd erupted into cheers. Speaking to Melbourne's Fox FM radio on Monday morning, Mr Albanese dismissed the boos as a “tradition” in Australian sport. “Sure there's all these other reasons that people might not like Albo – there’s the cost of living issues, there's weakness on Israel, some will be angry he butchered the Voice, others angry he tried it on, but in the end, we all know why he's suddenly worthy of a humiliating, public booing,” Mr Kenny said. “Because he took us for mugs. Because he said one thing and is doing another. Because he broke a promise. Because he lied. “Albanese's broken promise on tax cuts has destroyed his credibility, it has broken that bond of trust with the electorate.”

Independent Kylea Tink says changes to stage three tax cuts have left residents in her electorate concerned that the Albanese government is abandoning long-term reform in favour of short-term wins. “The sense I’m getting from the people in North Sydney is they can understand why this makes sense in the short term, but they are very concerned about the longer term reform that the stage three tax cuts were supposed to be the final part of,” Ms Tink told Sky News Australia. “That's kind of what’s getting lost here in this debate is that stage three was not designed to just hang out by itself - we’ve already had stage one, we had stage two. “This was a process of reform promised under the last government to bring our personal income scheme more into line to what it will need to be for us to move forward as an economy. “The wholesale flip on that at this particular point in time has probably got people wondering more about ... what would a Labor government see as a progressive tax reform program look like? What does it look like in three years’ time? “The people who are set to benefit from this who previously weren’t will very quickly now find themselves up in that next tax bracket, and before long, they’ll be paying the 37 per cent.”