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Mar 30, 2026 - World

US troops in West Asia hit 57,000+ amid war on Iran - the largest buildup since 2003. USS Tripoli's 3,500 Marines arrived with 82nd Airborne paratroopers for a possible assault on Kharg Island, while air and naval bases in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and

Mar 30, 2026 - World

ABC News host George Stephanopoulos called out Secretary of State Marco Rubio after he said the U.S. was negotiating with "lunatics" in Iran, even though President Donald Trump had suggested new negotiators were reasonable people."You call them lunatics, but the president just had this post where he says we're in discussions with a new and more reasonable regime," Stephanopoulos told Rubio in a Monday interview on Good Morning America. "Let me try to pin you down on that. Who is this new and more reasonable regime?""Well, I'm not going to disclose to you who those people are because it probably would get them in trouble with some other groups of people inside of Iran," Rubio insisted. "Look, there's some fractures going on there internally. And at the end of the day, I think that if there are people in Iran who now, given everything that's happened, are willing to move in a different direction for their country, that would be great.""It's unfortunate the people of Iran are incredible people, the people who lead them, these this clerical regime that is the problem and there are new people now in charge who have a more reasonable vision of the future that would be good news for us, for them, for the entire world but we also have to be prepared for the possibility, maybe even the probability, that that is not the case."The ABC host pressed: "But the president said they are. Is that the case or is it not?""Well, what I mean is, yeah, you know, so you have people that are saying some of the right things privately," Rubio hedged. "Obviously, they're not going to put it out in press releases, and what they say to you or put out there for the world doesn't necessarily reflect what they're saying in our conversations.""There are clearly people there talking to us in ways that previous people in charge in Iran have not spoken to us in the past," he added. "We're going to test that proposition very strongly because we always prefer to settle things through negotiation and diplomacy. But we also have to be prepared for the fact that that effort might fail.""If it fails, the war expands?" Stephanopoulos wondered."Well, the war is about," Rubio replied before catching himself. "This operation, okay, and that's what this is, it's about very specific objectives."The secretary of state insisted that the "objective from the beginning" had been to destroy the Iranian air force, navy, missiles, and factories."We are on pace and, in fact, ahead of schedule in some of those things," he said. "And we are going to achieve those things in a number of weeks, not in a number of months."

Mar 30, 2026 - World

Flow-on effect will depend on how quickly service stations sell more expensive fuel, experts warn, leaving Easter travel plans up in the airGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAustralians expecting relief from punishing fuel prices in time for Easter travel are set to be disappointed, with the industry predicting the effects of Labor temporarily halving the excise will take days or weeks to reach some bowsers around the country.The halving of the fuel excise, which begins on Wednesday and lasts until the end of June, means the federal government will now collect 26.3c from every litre over the next three months instead of 52.6c a litre. Continue reading...

Mar 30, 2026 - World

The US president thumbs his nose at concerns about the most serious energy crisis in global history. But Australia, like other countries, is paying a high priceGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastGently, about 10 days ago, Anthony Albanese tried to send Donald Trump a message about the escalating war in Iran.In a Hobart radio interview, the prime minister said the US had achieved its original justifications and should bring hostilities in the Middle East to an end. Continue reading...

Mar 30, 2026 - World

Jack Karlson’s rallying cry of ‘democracy manifest’ added to national collection of sound recordings that hold historical, cultural and aesthetic significanceGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThirty-five years ago, when Jack Karlson was hauled into a police car outside a Chinese restaurant in Queensland, he couldn’t have known his bombastic speech would be watched by millions around the world, become a meme and now, be preserved for ever in Australia’s National Film and Sound Archive.Karlson’s declaration – “Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest! … What is the charge? Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?” – is one of nine pieces of audio that have been added to the NFSA’s Sounds of Australia collection this year, along with a pedestrian crossing signal and Missy Higgins’ 2004 hit Scar. Continue reading...