That’s all for todayBy Isabel McMillanThanks for reading the national news blog for today, Tuesday, July 21. This is where we will end the rolling coverage.Here’s a brief look back at some of the day’s biggest stories:Barnaby Joyce made headlines this morning after an odd moment during his 7.30 interview last night. Joyce was about to answer a question on the ABC program about whether he was comfortable with where his party leader, Pauline Hanson, was taking him, when he roared at a dog off-camera.Foreign Minister Penny Wong met personally with her Lao counterpart to push for more serious charges over the 2024 methanol poisoning deaths of Australian backpackers Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones. Wong and Thongsavanh Phomvihane spoke on the sidelines of ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meetings in the Philippines on Tuesday.The baby humpback whale that washed up on a Sydney beach and died last week tested negative for H5 bird flu. The newborn calf that became stranded on Greenhills Beach in Cronulla on Friday morning was later sent to Elizabeth Agricultural Institute, in western Sydney, for testing as a precautionary measure.New British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has vowed “to bring back hope” after delivering his first remarks as leader outside 10 Downing Street. The country’s seventh leader since 2016, Burnham said his generation of politicians needed to “raise our game and rise to the new challenge”.A man stabbed and injured two tourists near the ancient Acropolis in Athens, Greece’s top tourist attraction, police said. The assailant attacked a man and a woman, both Greek Americans, with a knife near the entrance of the Acropolis Museum, which lies at the foot of the Acropolis hill.Thanks again for tuning in. We’ll be back again tomorrow with your live news updates.Latest Posts5.48pm on Jul 21, 2026Wong confronts Lao counterpart over methanol deaths of Australian teensBy Zach HopeForeign Minister Penny Wong has met personally with her Lao counterpart to push for more serious charges over the 2024 methanol poisoning deaths of Australian backpackers Holly Morton-Bowles and Bianca Jones.Wong and Thongsavanh Phomvihane spoke on the sidelines of ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meetings in the Philippines on Tuesday.“I made clear that Australia expects the Lao government to ensure this investigation fully reflects the seriousness of this tragedy and that those responsible are held properly to account,” Wong said in a statement.“Our advocacy for Holly and Bianca’s families is not over. We will continue to pursue this matter with the Lao government.”Jones and Morton-Bowles, both 19, died after drinking tainted alcohol shots while staying in the party town of Vang Vieng. Four other foreigners who were drinking at the same hostel also died, while many more became seriously ill.Lao prosecutors have declined to pursue the most serious charges against the owner of Tiger brand vodka and whisky, citing a lack of evidence that it caused the tourists’ deaths.5.40pm on Jul 21, 2026 Lebanon’s president will meet with Trump to push for Israeli troop withdrawalBy Beirut — Lebanon’s president will meet with US President Donald Trump on Tuesday to wrap up a four-day visit to Washington, in a bid to bring about long-term calm in the war-torn country after months of war between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.Joseph Aoun’s landmark meeting with Trump comes as Lebanon and Israel continue to hold rare direct talks mediated by Washington. Lebanon hopes they will result in Israeli troops withdrawing from large swaths of southern Lebanon that they currently occupy, and for the Lebanese military to receive support to assert full control in areas where Hezbollah militants had held sway.Lebanon and Israel announced a “framework agreement” on June 26, setting a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon as well as the disarmament of Hezbollah, which for decades had a strong presence in the area. It also lays out steps toward an eventual peace agreement between both countries, which have never held formal diplomatic ties and have been nominally in a state of war for nearly 80 years after Israel’s establishment.The US State Department announced on Monday that operations in three villages deemed part of a “pilot zone” had begun, without giving details on what that entailed. Two of the three villages, Froun and Srifa, are not under Israeli military control and the Lebanese army is present there, while Israeli forces are in part of Zawtar al-Gharbieh.The Lebanese army in a statement said it was preparing for Israel to withdraw from Zawtar al-Gharbieh and that it had begun deploying troops to the area on Tuesday. The Israeli military said it “will adjust its force posture in one of the pilot areas in order to enable the Lebanese Armed Forces to carry out their mission,” without specifying the location.An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with military guidelines said on Tuesday that the withdrawal had not yet begun.AP5.10pm on Jul 21, 2026Israel accused of ‘extraordinary’ intervention in Labor politicsBy Matthew KnottLabor is facing calls to reinsert a demand for listed terror group Hamas to disarm into its official policy platform, as factional heavyweights seek to avoid a heated debate on the floor of the party’s national conference.The Israeli embassy in Canberra issued a lengthy statement on Monday criticising Labor’s proposed policy platform, prompting accusations from pro-Palestinian advocates that Israel was inappropriately interfering in Australian domestic politics.Foreign Minister Penny Wong insisted there was no role for Hamas in a Palestinian state.Alex EllinghausenThe latest version of the draft platform condemns the use of violence, including by Hamas, but earlier versions included an explicit reference that “Hamas must disarm and can have no role in the State of Palestine”.This demand was removed in recent weeks, alarming pro-Israel advocates within the party.Labor sources said intense discussions were under way behind the scenes before the start of Labor’s national conference on Thursday, and the call for Hamas to disarm could be added back into the document as part of a compromise deal.Read the full story here.4.39pm on Jul 21, 2026Tourists stabbed near the Acropolis in AthensBy A man stabbed and injured two tourists Tuesday morning near the ancient Acropolis in Athens, Greece’s top tourist attraction, police said.The assailant attacked a man and a woman, both Greek Americans, with a knife near the entrance of the Acropolis Museum, which lies at the foot of the Acropolis hill. The woman suffered light injuries to the leg, while the man was more seriously hurt with wounds to the arm, police said.File image of Parthenon temple at the Acropolis hill.APThe attacker was detained, while the two victims were transported to hospital by ambulance, authorities said. The identity of the attacker was not immediately clear, but police said he appeared to have been suffering from psychological problems.Such attacks are rare in Greece.The Acropolis hill in Athens hosts the nearly 2500-year-old Parthenon temple as well as other monuments, and attracts millions of tourists. Last year, about 4.6 million people visited the site.AP4.18pm on Jul 21, 2026WA treasurer says One Nation would ‘destroy the economy’ if electedBy Michael PhilippsWA Treasurer Rita Saffioti says parties like One Nation can “destroy the economy”, stating that the Pauline Hanson-led movement has no plan for WA.West Australian Treasurer and Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti.Trevor CollensSpeaking at a construction launch for the new Brabham Senior High School in the north-west of Perth today, Saffioti acknowledged that the upcoming Secret Harbour byelection would be difficult to win for the government.However, the member for West Swan took a swipe at both One Nation and the WA Liberals after being asked about the impact a visiting Pauline Hanson would have on the ballot.“One Nation has no plan for WA, no policies for WA,” she said.3.57pm on Jul 21, 2026Britain’s new PM to cut taxes on electricity billsBy The government of new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham will cut taxes on electricity bills, Downing Street said in a statement on Tuesday, as he attempts to deliver on his promises to ease a cost-of-living crisis.The British government is planning to remove the value-added tax (VAT) from domestic electricity bills from October 1, the statement said.The cost of this action for this financial year will be funded from the cancellation of the government’s £1.8 billion ($3.45 billion) digital ID program, Downing Street said.Burnham’s office had said earlier that one of his first moves as Britain’s next leader will be to scrap government plans for a digital ID scheme.3.31pm on Jul 21, 2026School chief tells antisemitism inquiry of lockdown training for three-year-oldsBy Michael BachelardThe head of the Australian Council of Jewish Schools has just given some extraordinary evidence at the antisemitism royal commission in Melbourne.Speaking about security at schools, Stephen Rothman has described the effect on children.“One of the little-known interesting aspects of [the] Bondi [terror attack] was that each of the children at the school knew exactly what to do when the attack occurred. They had all been through training for lockdown,” he said.“Where there was a lockdown at a bar mitzvah occurring in the [nearby Bondi pavilion] next door to where the massacre occurred, they knew exactly what to do – to go to the ground and go behind barriers. That’s because each of them, from the time of preschool, are trained in what you do in the case of an attack.“That doesn’t occur in any other school or any child of three years of age, four years of age, five years of age, in any other community in Australia.“I’ve had a relatively privileged life in terms of my success. I’ve, for the first time in my life, felt unwelcome, and I know that’s a feeling that most other Jewish Australians feel the same.”3.02pm on Jul 21, 2026Five people dead in mass drowning in Ohio riverBy Two women and three men were confirmed dead on Monday in an apparent mass drowning in Ohio after two people entered a river to help a struggling swimmer, followed by two more adults who made an ill-fated rescue attempt of their own, US officials said.According to the Delaware County Sheriff’s Office, the tragedy unfolded on Sunday night along the Scioto River at the O’Shaughnessy Reservoir, about 15 kilometres north-west of Columbus, Ohio’s state capital and largest city.A group of at least seven people – two sets of parents, an adult male friend and two children – were relaxing along the river’s edge around sunset, some of them fishing, when one of the adults ventured into the river to swim, according to Sheriff Jeffrey Balzer.As the swimmer began to struggle in the water, two other adults tried to assist him but began floundering themselves, and the other two adults made rescue attempts before all five people disappeared in the river, Balzer told reporters at a news conference on Monday.“It’s not unusual, I think, for one person to be struggling in the water, and other people attempt to save him, yet they don’t have the skills to do that, so we end up with multiple deaths,” the sheriff said.2.39pm on Jul 21, 2026Baby whale found on Sydney beach cleared of bird fluBy Caitlin FitzsimmonsThe baby humpback whale that washed up on a Sydney beach and died last week has tested negative for H5 bird flu.The newborn calf that became stranded on Greenhills Beach in Cronulla on Friday morning was later sent to Elizabeth Agricultural Institute, in western Sydney, for testing as a precautionary measure.A NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development spokesperson said the testing was part of the agreed national approach to monitoring and surveillance. H5N1, a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza, has devastated wildlife overseas, but is not considered a significant public health risk.A department statement said Taronga’s Australian Registry of Wildlife Health conducted a necropsy, and preliminary findings confirmed the animal to be a newborn calf that was only a few days old. It was born alive and had taken its first breaths with no evidence it had been able to feed from its mother.1 of 4