Tension has increased dramatically overnight in the Middle East with the assassination of a top Hamas military commander. Ahmed al-Jaabari was traveling through Gaza when a missile hit his car. Israel says that killed him because he was a terrorist. Airstrikes against Gaza are continuing right now, Hamas's vowed to retaliate.

 

Many European cities have been paralysed by widespread general strikes in protests against austerity measures in Italy. Riot police have fired tear gas at demonstrators, injuring seven people. In Spain, the tension's boiled over when demonstrators faced off with police, hundreds of European flights and trains have been canceled, as workers across the continent join the strike action.

 

President Barack Obama has so far avoided commenting on the events unfolding in Gaza. He's been holding his first media conferrence since winning a second term. The president has focused on domestic issues and tax policies.

 

Former prime minister Paul Keating says Australia should stop being subservient to United States and focus more on its role in southeast Aisa. In a speech in Melbourne last night, Mr.Keating says Australian will always be friends with U.S. But relations with Indonesia should be Australia's most important priority.

 

A man has been tasered and two police officers injured in a fight in Sydney's southwest. It happened outside a Kebab shop in Lakemba late last night. Police say officer had to subdue the man after he pushed a policeman through a glass window. The man has been taken to hospital with a graze to his head.