India and Pakistan urged to pull back from the brink of war

SBS Australia

07-05-2025

TRANSCRIPT
Global leaders urge India and Pakistan to pull back from the brink of war ..
Greens leader Adam Bandt expected to lose his seat
Tasmania's premier threatens to call time on the state's dream of an AFL team.
Global leaders are calling for calm as Pakistan's prime minister authorises the country's armed forces to action in retaliation for deadly Indian strikes. The United States, China and the UN have joined several European countries in expressing concern at escalations in the conflict between nuclear-armed neighbours. Casualties continue to mount, with Pakistan saying Indian strikes have killed at least 31 people, and India saying Pakistani fire has killed at least seven. European Commission spokesperson Annouar El Anouni called for de-escalation of the conflict, which centres on contested territories in Kashmir. "We do urge both sides to show restraint and take immediate steps towards de-escalation. The EU recalls the need for a negotiated, mutually agreed and lasting peaceful solution to the conflict." The flare up in violence follows a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir last month which killed at least 26 people. A spokesperson for Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Australia is engaging with India and Pakistan in response to recent developments in Jammu and Kashmir. They say Australia does not want to see escalatory actions which pose a risk to regional peace and security. The foreign ministry is urging Australians in affected areas to monitor updated Smartraveller advice. Election analysts say Greens leader Adam Bandt has lost his seat of Melbourne, which he's held since becoming the party's first lower house member in 2010. Media organisations including the A-B-C and Sky News have called the result, which is yet to be officially confirmed by the Electoral Commission. Mr Bandt's loss to Labor candidate Sarah Witty could reduce the Greens' presence in the lower house from a high point of four to zero M-Ps. The party is still in the running for the seat of Ryan, which sits within Brisbane, but they may well end up with no lower house seats. New Israeli strikes across Gaza have killed at least 61 people, including women and children, as Israel escalates its campaign in the strip. That's according to hospital officials who say the majority of the deaths occurred in schools sheltering displaced Palestinians. Ali Al-Shaqra witnessed one of the strikes. "What happened is an earthquake. The occupation (Israel) hit a school housing children. They are children. The occupation (Israel) knows the value of children because the children will reclaim what their ancestors left. So, the occupation (Israel) kills children and women. Can you see how many were killed? How many are missing? They are all children and women." This comes days after Israel approved a plan to intensify its operations by seizing Gaza, forcibly displacing Palestinians, and putting private security companies in control of distributing aid. Israel did not immediately comment on the latest attacks but says its actions are necessary to pressure Hamas into releasing more hostages. Black smoke has emerged from the Sistine Chapel chimney in the Vatican, indicating an inconclusive vote in the papal conclave. Catholic cardinals are now sequesterd away from the outside world in St Peter's Basilica as they take part in the conclave that will elect a new pope. There are 133 cardinals involved in the voting, with the winning cardinal requiring a two-thirds majority before being named the 267th pontiff. The cardinals will gather in the Sistine Chapel and vote - potentially up to four times a day - until the new pope is named. Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, says the decision is of the upmost importance. 'We are here to invoke the help of the Holy Spirit, to implore his light and strength so that the Pope elected may be he whom the Church and humanity need at this difficult, complex and tormented point in history.' Researchers say they have discovered the wreck of the Koning Willem de Tweede an 800 tonne Dutch merchant ship that was lost off the coast of South Australia in 1857. The team including the Australian National Maritime Museum say they are confident it is the Koning because its location corresponds to historic accounts of the vessel's loss, and it is the only known historic shipwreck event to have occurred on that stretch of Long Beach. Sixteen crew members were drowned when the ship sank in a storm off Robe, in South Australia's southeast. The death toll might have been greater, but more than 400 Chinese miners destined for the gold fields at Bendigo and Ballarat in Victoria had already alighted from the vessel only days before its sinking. Liberal Premier Jeremy Rockliff says Tasmania's dream of having an A-F-L team could soon be over if the state's parliament doesn't pass special legislation to build a new stadium. Mr Rockliff delivered the ultimatum on Wednesday in comments concerning the construction of a contentious 23,000-seat stadium on Hobart's waterfront. Building a stadium at Macquarie Point was a condition of Tasmania being granted an AFL licence for inclusion in the competition in 2028.
The Greens, who oppose the stadium, say the premier is trying to emotionally blackmail M-Ps into passing the legislation.