Australian leader tells activists to ‘turn the heat down’ after US Consulate vandalized over Gaza

SYDNEY (AP) — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has urged activists on both sides of the Israel-Palestinian debate to “turn the heat down” after the U.S. Consulate in Sydney was vandalized. Surveillance video showed a person wearing a dark hoodie using a sledgehammer to smash nine holes in the reinforced glass windows of the building in North Sydney early Monday. Two inverted red triangles, seen by many as a symbol of Palestinian resistance but by others as supporting Hamas, were painted on the front of the building. Albanese urged people to have “respectful political debate and discourse.” The consulate was closed Monday because of a public holiday in New South Wales state but plans to reopen on Tuesday.