The TV star who tried to play politics just walked into a trap: PVO goes inside Basil Zempilas' bunker to reveal the brutal truths his Perth cheer squad won't want to hear
The toughest job in politics
Ambition can be a powerful motivator in politics, but when it outruns capability or misreads opportunity, it can quickly become a liability.
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Sky News
22 minutes ago
- Sky News
Israel-Iran live: Donald Trump arriving back at White House as Security Council mulls Iran action
22:23:11 Analysis: Trump facing 'biggest call of his presidency to date' Donald Trump is preparing to make the biggest call of his presidency to date, US correspondent David Blevins says. The president is due to arrive back at the White House shortly, where he'll hold a National Security Council meeting to discuss the Israel-Iran conflict. "It's very unusual for Donald Trump to spend Saturday and Sunday at the White House," says Blevins. "And equally unusual for him to be meeting with his national security team as often as he is." The US currently has a group of B-2 bombers heading from America towards the Pacific region, which could then potentially head onwards to the Middle East if Trump approves it. On Thursday, Trump said that he will decide whether the US gets directly involved in the conflict within a fortnight. In a call on the same day, Israeli officials reportedly expressed their displeasure at such a timeframe (see 21.10pm post). "All of this speaks to the challenge facing the president right now," adds Blevins. "With his own base divided, his own administration arguably divided, it's going to be the biggest call of his presidency to date." 22:21:26 Iran launches new wave of attacks on Israel - report Attack drones have been moving towards Israel "for hours" as part of Iran's latest attack, local media says. "This operation will be continuous and unsettling," a spokesperson for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is quoted by the Tasnim news agency as saying. We'll bring you more on this as it develops. 22:07:34 More buildings struck at Isfahan, nuclear watchdog says The UN's nuclear watchdog has confirmed that several more buildings at the Isfahan nuclear site have been struck amid Israel's ongoing attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities. The site in central Iran was first hit on 13 June when four buildings were damaged, with six other buildings attacked today, the International Atomic Energy Agency says. These include a fuel rod production facility, nuclear material storage and laboratory, it added. 21:51:01 Israeli strikes heard in southern Iran - report Iranian media says that Israel had launched strikes on the southern city of Shiraz, which hosts military bases. The Mehr news agency says the city's air defences have been activated and have been "engaged in fighting hostile targets and Zionist aircraft". Air defences are also reportedly being engaged in the southern city of Bandar Abbas. A little earlier, the Israeli military said it was attacking drone and weapons warehouses in the region. 21:34:24 Iran's internet partially restored after 62-hour blackout Iran's internet connectivity has been partially restored after a widespread 62-hour blackout that began early Wednesday, according to internet monitoring group NetBlocks. The outage was described by NetBlocks as the most severe and extensive internet shutdown in Iran since the November 2019 protests. In the initial hours of the blackout, only 3% of Iranian users had access to the global internet, NetBlocks reported. 21:10:01 Israel seeks swift action on Iran, sources say Israeli officials have reportedly told the Trump administration they don't want to wait two weeks to learn if the US will join the Israel-Iran conflict. Donald Trump said on Thursday that he will decide whether the US gets directly involved in the conflict within a fortnight. According to the Reuters news agency, citing two unnamed sources, Israel believes it has a limited window of opportunity to move against the deeply buried nuclear site at Fordow, the crown jewel of Iran's nuclear program. The US is the only country with bombs powerful enough to reach the facility, which is dug into the side of a mountain. Four sources said it is now increasingly likely that Israel will launch a solo military operation at Fordow. Israeli air superiority over much of Iran makes an operation more feasible, though still risky, said two of the sources. Benjamin Netanyahu, defence minister Israel Katz and military chief Eyal Zamir reportedly part in the "tense" phone call with Washington on the Israeli side. JD Vance and defence secretary Pete Hegseth participated in the call on the US side, a security source said. 20:50:01 Watch: How close is Iran to producing a nuclear weapon? Last night, Donald Trump said US intelligence agencies were "wrong" after they said they had no evidence that Iran was building a nuclear weapon. Tehran has repeatedly denied that it is seeking a nuclear weapon and the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog said this month that it has no proof of a "systematic effort to move into a nuclear weapon". But Iran is the only non-nuclear-weapon state to enrich uranium up to 60% - a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%. So, how close is it to producing a nuclear weapon? Our US correspondent Mark Stone takes a look... 20:30:01 Palestine a 'central issue' to Iran, supreme leader says Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has this evening shared a message in support of the Palestinian people. Posting on X, he said the victory of Palestinians "is something that's definite".
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
Photos of Bolivians ushering in the Andean New Year 5533 with sunrise celebrations
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference.
Telegraph
39 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Belarus frees imprisoned opposition leader after US intervention
Belarus has freed Syarhei Tsikhanouski, one of the country's opposition leaders, in a deal brokered by US special envoy Keith Kellogg in Minsk. In what is widely being seen as an attempt to build relations with the West, Mr Tsikhanouski was one of 14 Belarusian opposition figures freed from jail on Saturday after Mr Kellogg met president Alexander Lukashenko. Ihar Karnei, a longtime Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent serving a three-year term on charges of extremism, and Allan Roio, an Estonian national who was detained last year after he established an NGO to raise funds for Belarusian refugees, were also freed. Mr Tsikhanouski is the husband of Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, Belarus' most prominent opposition leader who opposes the regime from exile in Lithuania. On her official Telegram channel, Ms Tsikhanouskaya shared a video of her husband disembarking a white minibus, writing 'what our family dreamed of for these five years and what we all worked for, from the moment of his arrest, has happened.' Mr Tsikhanouski, a popular anti-regime blogger and activist known for his anti-Lukashenko slogan 'stop the cockroach', was arrested and detained after announcing plans to run against Lukashenko in the 2020 election. Following her husband's arrest, Ms Tsikhanouskaya ran in his stead, but official results of the election which many saw as a sham handed a sixth term to Mr Lukashenko and sparked the biggest protests in the country's history. More than 35,000 people were detained and all political opposition was gutted. Mr Lukashenko, who extended his rule to a seventh term in January of this year, has pardoned almost 300 people including imprisoned US citizens since July 2024, in what some have described as an attempt to heal his relationship with the West. Mr Kellogg was welcomed to Lukashenko's personal residence when he visited Minsk earlier this week in the highest-level contact between Washington and the Belarusian regime since the crackdown on post-election protests in 2020. 'You have made a lot of noise in the world with your arrival,' Lukashenko said, adding that he hoped the conversation would be 'very sincere and open.' Mr Lukashenko's press secretary told Russian state media on Saturday that he had freed the 14 prisoners following a request from Donald Trump. It is not yet clear whether Mr Kellogg's visit will lead to the lifting of US sanctions against Minsk. Many other political prisoners, among them Nobel Peace Prize winner Ales Bialiatski, Lukashenko rival Viktar Babaryka and political activist Maria Kalesnikava, remain behind bars.
