3h agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 7:35pmA recap on the latestUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio has attended a G7 meeting over the conflict. He said US objectives in Iran can be achieved without ground troops and he expects operations will be finished in the “next couple of weeks”US and Israel have attacked Iranian industrial and nuclear sites overnight. Iran’s Foreign Minister says the attacks contradict Donald Trump’s extended deadline for diplomacyThe United States and Iran are preparing for direct talks the US are hoping will be “this week”, special envoy Steve Witkoff saysLebanon faces a deepening humanitarian crisis that now risks teetering over into a “catastrophe”, the UN refugee agency warned. Since March 2, more than a million people — one in five residents — have been forced to flee their homes, said the UNHCRIran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had turned back three ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz, adding the route was closed to vessels travelling to and from ports linked to its “enemies”US and Israeli strikes on Iran have damaged at least 120 museums and cultural and historic sites across the country since the start of the war, the head of Tehran city council’s cultural heritage committee saidIran’s military has warned that hotels housing US soldiers across the region would be targets
Thanks for being with us as we continue to follow developments on the US-Israeli war with Iran.
1m agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 11:28pm
New fuel security powers to ‘give suppliers confidence’, PM says
The prime minister says the new fuel security powers will aim to secure fuel supply “where it will be cost prohibitive for private suppliers to source on commercial terms, without government support”.
“Put simply, there is a risk of a private purchase of a shipload of fuel at higher prices because there is so much uncertainty with the war in the Middle East,” Albanese says.Â
“This is about risk mitigation for them, to add to supply here.
“It will give suppliers the confidence to secure additional and discretionary cargos used to service uncontracted demand, including for regional and independent fuel suppliers.
8m agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 11:21pm
New fuel powers to be introduced to parliament on Monday
Anthony Albanese says the government will introduce legislation to parliament on Monday.
He said the new powers require amendments to the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Act.
11m agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 11:18pm
Government to underwrite the purchase of fuel shiploads
Anthony Albanese says the government is in discussion with local and international fuel suppliers to “help firm up and source new cargos required to keep Australia moving”.
“Put simply, we will use Export Finance Australia to underwrite the purchase of shiploads of fuel that will add to supply here in Australia,” he said.
“This support from the government will not be business as usual. It has to be additional supplies that are available on the international market.”
17m agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 11:12pmAnthony Albanese announces new fuel security powers
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is holding a press conference in Sydney now, where he’s announced new fuel security powers.
“We are working around the clock to make sure we deal with the fuel security issues,” he said.
“The government is taking national action to help get the fuel restocked.”
Albanese says the new powers will allow the government to “underwrite the purchase of fuel by the private sector”.
“Importantly it will also allow for the purchase of fertiliser and other essentials,” he said.
“I want us to have the strongest possible plants, so we’re ready for what may come.”
29m agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 11:00pm
One killed in Israel as army reports missiles fired from Iran
Emergency responders say a man was killed in Tel Aviv on Friday, local time, after the Israeli military reported missiles fired from Iran.
The Magen David Adom emergency service shared these images and videos on X.
45m agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 10:44pm
Multiple explosions shake Tehran, as Saudi Arabia intercepts missile
A series of explosions have shaken Tehran, an AFP journalist said. They reported about 10 intense blasts in the Iranian capital.
A plume of black smoke could be seen rising over the city after the blasts, the journalist said.
Meanwhile Saudi Arabia says it’s intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile targeting the Riyadh region.
56m agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 10:33pm
A third of Iran’s missiles and drones destroyed, sources tell Reuters
As we reported this morning, Marco Rubio said one of the United States’ war objectives is to destroy Iran’s missile and drone capabilities.
He said the US was “ahead of schedule” on most of its aims.
An Iranian missile flying towards Israel, as seen from Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank (Reuters: Ali Sawafta)
According to five people familiar with the US intelligence who spoke to Reuters, about a third of the country’s missile arsenal has been destroyed.
Another third is likely to be damaged or buried in tunnels, some of which could be recovered once fighting stops, said four of the sources.
One source said the intelligence on Iran’s drone capability was similar, with about a third most likely destroyed.
Reporting with Reuters
1h agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 10:19pm
Tehran calls US-Israeli attacks ‘intolerable’ amid diplomacy efforts
A senior Iranian told Reuters overnight that Tehran had not decided whether to respond to a 15-point proposal the US sent this week after attacks on industrial and nuclear infrastructure.
The official said Iran had expected its response to be delivered on Friday or Saturday, local time, but said the continuing strikes while the US was seeking talks were “intolerable”.
The US proposal, sent via Pakistan two days ago, is reported to include demands ranging from dismantling Iran’s nuclear and missile programmes to relinquishing control of the world’s most important trade route for energy supplies.
Reuters
1h agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 10:07pm
Yemen’s Houthis warn of joining war if Iran attacks continue
Yemen’s Houthi movement has warned it will join the the Middle East war if US-Israeli attacks continue to hit its ally Iran or if more countries join the conflict.
The Houthi have in the past attacked shipping in the Red Sea in response to regional conflicts, but have so far not intervened in the latest war.
“We affirm that our fingers are on the trigger for direct military intervention,” the group said in a statement.
The group warned it would act if another nations joined the US-Israeli fight or if the Red Sea was used for “hostile operations”.
Reporting with AFP
1h agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 9:56pm
Iran-linked group hacks FBI director’s email: US media
The email account of FBI Director Kash Patel has been hacked by an Iran-linked group, US media has reported.
Kash Patel (Reuters: Mike Blake)
The group published Patel’s personal photos and other material online.
CNN and other US media outlets, citing sources familiar with the breach, said the hack of Patel’s email was claimed by the Handala Hack Team, a pro-Iranian hacktivist group.
According to CNN, the stolen emails include personal, business and travel correspondence and appear to date from 2011 to 2022, prior to Patel being named FBI director by US President Donald Trump.
The FBI and Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Reporting with AFP
1h agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 9:46pm
🎥 Military action lights up skies in Jerusalem, Israel
ABC correspondent Allyson Horn sent us this earlier — a video of low-flying military interactions in the skies above Jerusalem.
It was captured just before midnight, local time.
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1h agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 9:32pm
Regime change in Iran ‘unlikely’
The US-Israeli war in Iran is unlikely to lead to “regime change” as the month-long conflict shows no sign of easing.
That’s according to German Chancellor Friedrich Merz,who was speaking at a forum in Frankfurt.
“If that’s the goal, I don’t think you’ll achieve it. It’s mostly gone wrong,” Merz said, referring to past conflicts like the Afghanistan war.
“I have serious doubts as to whether there is a strategy and whether that strategy is being successfully implemented.
“In that respect, it could take even longer.”
Germany has pushed back at US President Donald Trump’s criticisms of NATO members for failing to join the attacks on Iran, insisting that it is not their war.
Reporting with AFP
2h agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 9:17pmUS hopes for Iran meetings ‘this week’, Witkoff says
US President Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff says he believes Iran will hold talks with Washington “this week” to end the month-long war in the Middle East.
“We think there will be meetings this week, we’re certainly hopeful for it,” Witkoff told a business forum in Miami when asked about the Iran negotiations.
2h agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 9:07pm
G7 calls for Hormuz reopening
The G7’s foreign ministers have called for an “immediate cessation” of attacks against civilians in the war following the G7 meeting in France.
A joint statement, released in the name of all G7 members, including the United States, also “reiterated the absolute necessity to permanently restore safe and toll-free freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said after the meeting that there was “a lot of buy-in” from allies on opposing Iranian threats to impose tolling in the strait.
2h agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 8:45pm
IAEA investigates damages caused by strike on Iran facility
The UN’s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, is looking into the damage caused by a strike on Iran’s Shahid Rezayee Nejad Yellow Cake Production Facility.
That’s the uranium processing site we reported about earlier.
The IAEA said on X that no increase in off-site radiation levels had been reported.
Yellowcake is a concentrated form of uranium after impurities are removed from the raw ore.
Earlier on Friday, local time, the US and Israel launched multiple attacks on industrial and nuclear sites in Iran just hours after Israel threatened to “escalate and expand” its campaign.
2h agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 8:32pmIran’s foreign minister vows ‘HEAVY price’ for strikes on industrial sites
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has spoken overnight about the US and Israeli attacks on industrial and nuclear sites in his country.
In a post on X, he said Israel struck two of Iran’s largest steel factories, a power plant and nuclear sites, among other infrastructure that were hit earlier in the day.
Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said that the strikes posed no risk of contamination, according to state media.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned about retaliatory operations and urged workers at industrial companies in the region with US shareholders to leave their workplaces immediately.
3h agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 8:21pm
US, Israel hit Iranian nuclear facilities
The Israeli military has confirmed it hit a uranium processing site in Yazd in central Iran overnight.
It described the plant as a “unique facility” used in the “production of raw materials required for the uranium enrichment process”.
It also struck the Khondab heavy water complex in central Iran, according to the military and reports in Iranian media.
The Israeli military claims that facility was a key production site for nuclear weapons.
The attacks occurred just hours after Israel threatened to “escalate and expand” its campaign against Iran.
3h agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 8:13pm
Rubio demands allies lead post-war coalition
Marco Rubio’s comments about the war ending in weeks, and the US being able to achieve its aims without any ground troops, come after a meeting of G7 foreign ministers.
Leaders demanded an immediate end to attacks on civilians in the Iran war and urged the reopening of the strait.
You can read more from our reporter Phoebe Hosier in Washington DC.
3h agoFri 27 Mar 2026 at 8:01pmRubio says US objectives can be achieved without any ground troops
Also after the G7 meeting, Marco Rubio told reporters the United States could achieve its objectives in Iran without any ground troops.
Rubio said the US was achieving its objectives in the war — which he said were destroying Iran’s missile and drone capabilities and factories to produce those weapons, as well as its navy and its air force.
“We are ahead of schedule on most of them, and we can achieve them without any ground troops, without any,” Rubio said.
Rubio said recent deployments of thousands more troops to the region were intended to give US President Donald Trump options to respond to contingencies in the conflict, but declined to go into operational details.
Yesterday, we shared reports of Trump weighing up sending another 10,000 ground troops to the region.
Rubio also said Iran may decide to set up a tolling system for the Strait of Hormuz.
“Not only is this illegal, it’s unacceptable and it’s dangerous to the world … it’s important the world has a plan to confront it,” Rubio told reporters.
He said European and Asian countries that benefit from trade through the waterway should contribute to efforts to secure free passage through the strait once the conflict ends.