Top World News

Mar 3, 2026 - World

FOI documents show ministers ignored recommendation for fresh inquiry that could have reduced or paused farmingGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe Albanese government rushed through legislation to ensure salmon farming could continue in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour last year shortly after receiving advice warning of “substantial new information” about the industry’s environmental impact.Documents released under freedom of information laws show the environment department advised the government in late 2024 that it should revoke a 2012 decision that allowed salmon farming to expand in the vast harbour on the state’s west coast. Continue reading...

Mar 3, 2026 - World

United Australia party senator says commission findings are ‘dumb’ and he will not undergo ‘ridiculous’ sensitivity training after posting slurs onlineGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe United Australia party senator Ralph Babet has refused to accept any sanction from the parliamentary behaviour watchdog over “offensive” and “disrespectful” comments on social media, calling the findings “dumb”.The Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission reprimanded the Victorian senator for breaching the code of behaviour twice for the posts in 2024. Continue reading...

Mar 3, 2026 - World

Tens of thousands of airline passengers are stranded by the Iran war that has spread across the Gulf region, but some wealthy travelers are getting out - by paying large sums for luxury flights to Europe via airports that are safe from Iranian drone and missile attacks.

Mar 3, 2026 - World

A former senior intelligence service official said on Tuesday that Marco Rubio's latest comments about the Iran war left him and other observers "speechless."Rubio raised eyebrows with his comment on the Iran war, which largely pointed to Israel as the chief reason for the US involvement.CNN's Alayna Treene reported this:"Rubio speaking to reporters now says the 'imminent threat' the administration has referred to to justify US strikes on Iran was that they knew Israel was going to attack Tehran, and believed such an attack would prompt Iran to strike US bases and assets in the region."Pod Save The World's Ben Rhodes shared Treene's reporting and replied, "America doesn't have to go to war just because Israel was going to go to war."National security expert Danny (Dennis) Citrinowicz also chimed in, adding, "If there is a strategic risk greater than Iran itself for Israel, it is the perception that Israel pushed the United States into a discretionary and open-ended war. In the current American political environment, perception matters as much as operational reality.""Israel’s standing among younger Americans, within significant parts of the Democratic Party, and even among segments of the Republican coalition, is already under strain," he added in response to comments by Rubio.That led to ex-CIA senior official Marc Polymeropoulos to speak out. He said, "Rubio in his statement and the admin’s decision to toss this war all on Israel may have catastrophic effects on future American support for Israel."The expert further added:"I texted an Israeli friend right after Rubio’s presser and said just that-it’s a step away from essentially blaming Israel (which he did) to saying ‘blame the Jews.’ I was stunned at the abject stupidity of this tact from the admin and it left me speechless. All the anti semitic crazies feel validated now."Rubio in his statement and the admin’s decision to toss this war all on Israel may hav catastrophic effects on future American support for Israel. Below analysis is spot on. I texted an Israeli friend right after Rubio’s presser and said just that-it’s a step away from… https://t.co/ul7WsAzYp4— Marc Polymeropoulos (@Mpolymer) March 3, 2026

Mar 3, 2026 - World

China calls it unacceptable to ‘kill leader of sovereign state’, while South Africa questions ‘pre-emptive’ justificationMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe US-Israeli war on Iran has been condemned as illegal across much of the global south, with China saying it was unacceptable to “blatantly kill the leader of a sovereign state”.Many countries objected that negotiations between the US and Iran over its nuclear programme and missile capability were not given a chance to succeed before Washington and Israel began bombing, and analysts often saw the war in terms of a colonial-style exercise of might. Continue reading...