Iran War Live Updates: Airstrikes Shake Beirut, and Drones Spread Fear in Tehran

Australia news live: NSW anti-slavery commissioner questions handling of Iranian football squad’s departure; earthquake felt north of Canberra

Anti-slavery chief questions process before football squad returned to Iran; Queensland police say car found near flood zone. Follow updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastBuyers would no longer have to foot the bill for costly building and pest inspections, under a plan to be announced by the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, later this morning.Allan will announce that if Labor is re-elected in November, it will develop a mandatory building and pest inspection scheme, with legislation to be introduced to parliament in 2027. Under the plan, vendors would be required to organise and pay for the inspections and make the reports available to all potential buyers.Some buyers spend thousands on multiple reports. Some roll the dice and go without. When you buy a car, the seller pays for the roadworthy. It should work the same way when you look for a home.Doing the due diligence for your big purchase should be as simple and affordable as possible. We’ll do the work to make sure our scheme is watertight and protects buyers from conflicts of interest. Continue reading...

Middle East crisis live: three ships hit in strait of Hormuz as ‘largest ever’ oil reserve release agreed by 32 countries

Thai navy responds to attack on bulk carrier; sources say Iran has deployed a dozen mines in the straitHow have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?Over in Senate question time, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has confirmed embassies in Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv and the consulate in Dubai all physically closed in the last week. Wong said the government’s number one priority is to “keep Australians safe at home and abroad”. She continued: “The dangerous and destabilising attacks by Iran put civilian lives at risk, including Australian lives.” More than 3,200 Australians over 23 commercial flights have returned to Australia since the US and Israel attacked Iran, setting off a regional conflict and grounding thousands of international flights.Wong criticised Nationals senators for “winding up people and stoking fear” to panic buy fuel. The senator said:“Petrol companies are telling us that fuel stock continues to arrive as expected and on time but there has been a large change in the pattern of demand and that is having an effect on the supply, particularly in regional communities. We have seen jerry cans coming off the shelves at Bunnings and lines at the pump.”One of the two members of the Iranian women’s football teams provided with a humanitarian visa to stay in Australia has changed her mind and contacted the Iranian embassy, according to the country’s home affairs minister.In Australia, people are able to change their mind, people are able to travel. So, we respect the context in which she has made that decision.Unfortunately, in making that decision, she had been advised by her teammates and coach to contact the Iranian embassy and get collected … As a result of that, it meant that the Iranian embassy now knew the location of where everybody was. Continue reading...

Trump puts pressure on Senate majority leader in blunt message: pass strict voter ID bill – live

President tells John Thune to force through Save America Act, which requires proof of citizenship while registering to vote and curbs mail-in votingDonald Trump said that the US-Israel war in Iran will end “soon” because there is “practically nothing left to target” in a phone interview with Axios.“Any time I want it to end, it will end,” the president told the outlet. “The war is going great. We are way ahead of the timetable. We have done more damage than we thought possible, even in the original six-week period.” Continue reading...

UN’s failure to stop Iranian attacks sending ‘dangerous signal’: Qatar

Qatar's envoy to UN condemns Iranian drone, missile strikes across the Gulf as 'clear violation of international law'.

Starmer overruled warning of ‘reputational risk’ over Mandelson appointment, files show

Newly released documents also show Peter Mandelson was offered highly classified briefings before formal vetting was completeKeir Starmer overruled officials who warned of a “reputational risk” in making Peter Mandelson US ambassador, despite being handed a dossier of evidence about the peer’s relationship with the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, documents reveal.The disclosure in newly released files will raise fresh questions about Starmer’s judgment – as well as about the vetting procedures at the highest levels of government.Mandelson was offered a severance payment of £75,000 after initially asking the Foreign Office to pay him more than £500,000;Starmer was warned before appointing Mandelson that he remained in contact and stayed with Epstein after the financier was first convicted of procuring an underage girl in 2008;Powell told an investigation that he thought the appointment was “weirdly rushed”;Starmer was reassured about Mandelson’s friendship with Epstein by Matthew Doyle, his former communications chief and a friend of Mandelson. Doyle said he was “satisfied” with Mandelson’s explanation of the relationship. Continue reading...

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Starmer’s national security adviser expressed concern about Mandelson appointment, documents show - UK politics live

Release shows that Jonathan Powell warned Morgan McSweeney about the appointment of Mandelson as US ambassadorAs reported by Nadeem Badshah this morning, the documents relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment as ambassador to the US expected to be released today will include a due diligence report by the Cabinet Office, which is believed to be two pages long.It is likely to raise questions about Keir Starmer’s judgment, with sources saying it had warned the prime minister of the serious “reputational risk” of going ahead with Mandelson’s appointment in December 2024 given his links with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.He has said, as you know that it is a little bit – it does fall into the category of too little too late, but I think they have a good, solid relationship, and hopefully they’ll be able to repair it. I go by what the president says, and the president says continuously that everybody is entitled to their point of view. But I think sometimes we detect that there’s not that feeling of gratitude.I think the president’s position is that we do plenty for Europe, plenty for the UK, in the area of trade, in the area of defence, in the area of the support we give to Nato. And I think sometimes the response back, the reciprocity back, is a little bit lacking. I would leave it at that, OK? Continue reading...

U.S. at Fault in Strike on School in Iran, Preliminary Inquiry Says

Outdated targeting data may have resulted in a mistaken missile strike, according to the ongoing military investigation, which undercuts President Trump’s assertion that Iran could be to blame.

New satirical statue depicts Trump and Epstein as doomed lovers from Titanic

Latest sculpture titled ‘King of the World’ includes plaques with pointed commentary on pair’s past associationA woman’s heart is a deep ocean of secrets. The appearance of a golden statue depicting Donald Trump and the disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein as doomed lovers from the movie Titanic is confronting Washington with a murkier mystery.The nearly 12-ft sculpture, unveiled on Tuesday on the National Mall, is the third piece of guerrilla art satirising Trump’s past relationship with Epstein attributed to The Secret Handshake, a shadowy collective whose members remain anonymous. Continue reading...