Australia news LIVE: Albanese touches down in London; Trump’s warning to Americans on political violence

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) yesterday, urging world leaders to recognise the State of Palestine.

“What Israel is carrying out is not merely an aggression, it is a war crime and a crime against humanity,” Abbas said, describing it as “one of the most horrific chapters of humanitarian tragedy in the 20th and 21st centuries.”

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas virtually addressing the Two-State Solution Conference in the United Nations General Assembly Hall in New York earlier this week.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

He also highlighted settlement expansion in the West Bank, including the “Greater Israel” strategy to expand Israeli territory, which he said threatened to “divide the West Bank”, “isolate occupied Jerusalem”, and “undermine the two-state solution.”

Abbas also condemned the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israelis and said those actions “do not represent the Palestinian people, nor their just struggle for freedom and independence.”

Abbas addressed the gathering by video conference after his visa was revoked by the United States ahead of the 80th session of the UNGA.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has this morning touched down in London for a UK visit in which he is set to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.

The PM will have formal talks with Starmer and a meeting with King Charles this weekend, before he speaks at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer.Credit: AP

Albanese will join fellow prime ministers, including Carney, Pedro Sanchez of Spain and Kristrun Frostadottir of Iceland, at the conference alongside some of Trump’s most prominent American rivals.

It comes after Albanese’s debut address at the United Nations General Assembly yesterday, which the PM used to split from US President Donald Trump on key issues, including recognition of Palestine – a move Australia, the UK, Canada and Portugal all made last week.

Read more from correspondent David Crowe about what’s on Albanese’s agenda during his UK visit.

In a Q&A from the White House, US President Donald Trump issued a warning against “energising” right-wing activists and raised the spectre of retaliatory attacks against left-wing figures as he blamed progressives and Democrats for the latest act of political violence to divide the country.

The address follows an incident on Wednesday at an immigration detention centre in Texas when a detainee was killed and two others were wounded after a gunman opened fire before fatally shooting himself. “The radical left is causing the problem,” Trump said. “It’s going to get worse, and ultimately, it’s going to get back to them.”

FBI agents investigate the crime scene near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Dallas.Credit: AP

Investigators on Friday said they recovered a collection of notes from the gunman’s home that showed he harboured a deep hatred of Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, deliberately targeted ICE agents at the facility, and did not mean to hurt the detainees.

Asked about the latest incident, Trump said that “radical left rhetoric” was to blame and warned the attacks would backfire on the left. “They’re out of control … The radical left is causing this problem. Not the right, the radical left,” he said in the Oval Office.

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Friday, September 26. My name is Emily Kaine, and I will be helming our coverage this morning. Here’s what is making headlines today in Australia and around the world.

• In an address at the White House, US President Donald Trump issued a warning against “energising” right-wing activists and raised the spectre of retaliatory attacks against left-wing figures as he blamed progressives and Democrats for the latest act of political violence to divide the country. The address follows an incident on Wednesday at an immigration detention centre in Texas when a detainee was killed and two others were wounded after a gunman opened fire before fatally shooting himself. “The radical left is causing the problem,” Trump said. “It’s going to get worse, and ultimately, it’s going to get back to them.”
• Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas addressed the United Nations General Assembly overnight, urging world leaders to recognise the State of Palestine. “What Israel is carrying out is not merely an aggression, it is a war crime and a crime against humanity,” Abbas said, describing it as “one of the most horrific chapters of humanitarian tragedy in the 20th and 21st centuries.” Abbas also condemned the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israelis and said those actions “do not represent the Palestinian people, nor their just struggle for freedom and independence.”
• Nicolas Sarkozy, former French president, has been sentenced to jail for five years for conspiring to illegally finance his 2007 presidential campaign using funds from Muammar Gaddafi, late Libyan dictator. Prosecutors said Sarkozy, 70, who led the country from 2007 to 2012, made a “corruption pact” with the Libyan state for millions of euros in exchange for diplomatic favours to help Gaddafi combat his pariah reputation in the West.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has just touched down in London this morning and will meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his visit. Albanese, Starmer, and Canadian leader Mark Carney will hold talks with other European leaders at a think tank conference before heading to 10 Downing Street.