Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council’s Joel Burnie claims Israel has had “decent success” in breaking through Hezbollah lines in Southern Lebanon. “Things are ramping up in the region,” Mr Burnie told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. “It seems as though they’ve [Israel] some quite decent success over the past week in breaking through the Hezbollah lines in the south of Lebanon in an area that was supposed to be demilitarized under Security Council Resolutions 1701.”

Vice President Kamala Harris’ interviews look less like hard-hitting discussions and more like “word cuddles”, according to Sky News host Caroline Di Russo. It follows criticism over her friendly appearances on The View, The Late Show and the Call Her Daddy podcast, while 60 Minutes pressed the Democrat candidate for answers. “She’s not great at interviews, she can do the fluff, but I thought it was really interesting,” Ms Di Russo said. “Her face just looks terrified when someone tries to press her.”

Sky News contributor James Bolt has branded Vice President Kamala Harris an “unserious candidate” after her awful responses to interview questions on her media blitz. Mr Bolt said it is “mind boggling” how bad she is at friendly interviews after her appearances on The View, The Late Show and the Call Her Daddy podcast. “Even with the friendliest interviews she could possibly have, these are still awful answers from an unserious candidate,” he told Sky News host Caroline Di Russo.

Former home affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo has reaffirmed the importance of “schedule and delivery” regarding AUKUS. “This is a very big, complex program – it’s obviously very costly, it’s intergenerational, it will span the life and professional careers of many officials and industrialists working on it,” Mr Pezzullo said. “I actually agree that there needs to be more scrutiny, focus and debate about AUKUS at that more technical level.”

Liberal MP Julian Leeser outlines why the Coalition could not agree to Labor's motion marking the anniversary of the October 7 attacks. "The reason that we in the Coalition opposed this motion is that Peter Dutton put forward a motion, a very good motion, a strong motion to the prime minister over the weekend and the prime minister came back with a different form of words … and those words included calling for a ceasefire," Mr Leeser told Sky News host Erin Molan. "There's many reasons why we couldn't support a ceasefire as the Coalition because a ceasefire just allows Hamas and Hezbollah and Iran to regroup. "A ceasefire doesn't guarantee the return of the hostages - a ceasefire doesn't stop those regimes from continuing not to recognise Israel's right to exist."

Supermarket giant Coles has opened a high-tech automated customer fulfilment centre. Sky News Business Reporter Edward Boyd revealed the brand-new centre opened in Western Sydney today after a similar warehouse in Victoria was unveiled last month. Mr Boyd spoke with Coles CEO Leah Weckert after the official opening.

Sky News host Erin Molan says there are “plenty of good things happening” between Australia and Indonesia and hopefully there will be plenty more. “What I will say is the affection held for Australians and the desire to strengthen bilateral relations across the board runs all the way to the top,” Ms Molan said. “It’s a country of nearly 300 million people, right on our doorstep – watch this space.”

Sky News host Erin Molan discusses China's decision to lift trade restrictions on Australian lobsters. "Any decision to reverse sanctions has only been made because China's objectives in implementing them have failed," Ms Molan said. "And once again, in the face of unapologetic bullying by the superpower, we've shown them that we are willing, as a nation, to tolerate any bad behaviour and treatment as long as, eventually, you keep buying stuff from us."

REA Group Economist Anne Flaherty has revealed the second half of October will see an increase in the number of auctions, marking one of the “busiest spring seasons” the Australian housing market has seen in some time. “We are going to see the number of auctions pick up even further over the second half of October,” Ms Flaherty said. “We are on track to have one of the busiest spring seasons we’ve had in quite some time.” In partnership with realestate.com.au

Donald Trump has taken the extraordinary step of calling for CBS’s license to be revoked after 60 Minutes edited parts of a Kamala Harris interview that aired earlier this week. The program was blasted on social media after clips from two versions of the same interview were released. One showing a Kamala Harris word salad and the other showing a clean and polished version which went to air during the 60 Minutes programme.

Sky News Australia host James Morrow has roasted Kamala Harris for what he says was an “unbelievably cringeworthy” exchange involving beer and Stephen Colbert. Mr Morrow took aim at Ms Harris, discussing just “how desperate” she is to “pick up male voters who, for whatever reason, are running away from her campaign in absolute droves”. “I can’t image what her advisors were thinking but I suspect that this gender gap is what led to this unbelievably cringeworthy, condescending exchange with Stephen Colbert,” Mr Morrow said. In the clip, the Democratic presidential nominee and Mr Colbert both cracked open a beer before taking a sip on national television. Mr Morrow said Ms Harris will happily “crack open a cold one on national TV to help along the media’s propaganda effort to get her over the line.”

Former Queensland premier Peter Beattie ­criticised the federal government's stance on Middle East policies. Writing in The Australian Mr Beattie said: A two-state solution in the Middle East is a daydream unless all parties accept Israel's right to exit as the first step. A peace plan will fail unless it is led by Arab Nations and Israel and with all parties ­accepting Israel's right to exist. This sentiment is echoed by Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Birmingham. Mr Beattie believes extremists from both sides of politics have hijacked the public debate on the Middle East.

A US Coast Guard aircrew has rescued a man clinging to a cooler 48km (30 miles) off the Florida coast after Hurricane Milton. The man was brought to safety by a diver during the Wednesday incident and was later taken to Tampa General Hospital for treatment, according to the Coast Guard. This follows the dramatic rescue of a 14-year-old boy by a local sheriff and his team in Tampa, who found him clinging to debris in floodwaters after Hurricane Milton struck. Hurricane Milton hit Florida’s west coast that night as a Category 3 hurricane with winds reaching 120 mph (193 kph). Though still dangerous, Milton was less severe than the Category 5 storm initially predicted.

A video of Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer feeding a kneeling podcaster a Dorito has prompted backlash online. The video was posted by “feminist” and podcaster Liz Plank on Thursday to her Instagram account. Plank’s video featuring the Michigan governor caused quite a stir online, with users slamming it as “bizarre”. Social media users also accused Whitmer and Plank of disrespecting Catholicism, with the governor feeding the Dorito similar to the Eucharist. “Very rarely do I come across a political video that I have no comment on. This Gretchen Whitmer video is so bizarre that I’m at a loss for words,” wrote one user.

CNN reporter Leigh Waldman says debris clean-up efforts are underway following the widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Milton. The hurricane made landfall in Florida, killing 12 people. “Trees toppled over, fences torn apart … it was a very destructive scene,” Ms Waldman said.

One person is dead and 12 others have been trapped 300 metres underground at a gold mine in the US state of Colorado. Officials say the lift carrying a tour group malfunctioned at the Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine in Cripple Creek. The local sheriff says the trapped tourists are safe and have chairs, blankets and water as rescuers work to fix the elevator system.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has spoken for the first time following his comments about eliminating the Electoral College vote. In Walz's interview with ABC News, set to air this Friday, he asserted "My position is the campaign's position." Following Walz’s comment, the Kamala Harris campaign publicly stated it did not share the same position as the governor. “I think all of us know the Electoral College needs to go. We need a national popular vote,” he said. Walz’s comment came during a campaign fundraiser at the home of California Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday. The Minnesota Governor made similar comments during another campaign rally in Seattle earlier. Kamala Harris was initially “open” to abolishing the Electoral College vote in her 2019 presidential run. After Harris’ campaign was pressed on the issue, they eventually stated that removing the vote was not an official position of the VP’s current campaign.

Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Birmingham has slammed the Albanese government’s “games” in parliament this week. “What we did see during this parliamentary sitting week was an awful lot of games played by the government,” Mr Birmingham told Sky News Australia. “They rolled out of complete leftfield, this wedge legislation around NBN privatisation that not a single soul had been talking about. “Now we’ve seen them establish an inquiry into nuclear energy, which again, completely out of leftfield.”

Only when the influence of Hamas and Hezbollah are weakened can there be steps towards a “peaceful” two-state solution, says Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Birmingham. This comes after former Queensland Labor premier Peter Beattie condemned the government pushing for a two-state solution in the Middle East. “If indeed the current conflict can see Hamas, Hezbollah weakened to the point where they don’t have the influence in Palestinian territories or indeed in Lebanon,” Mr Birmingham told Sky News Australia. “That might give scope actually for there to be the type of steps towards security, stability and ultimately negotiated peaceful outcomes towards a two-state solution.”

CommSec’s Ryan Felsman says the ASX 200 is expected to begin “on the back foot” when the share market opens on Friday morning. “The Aussie share market is expected to begin Friday on the back foot,” he told Sky News Australia. “With SPI futures pointing down by 20 points or 0.2 per cent.” Presented by CommSec.