Antoinette Lattouf wins unfair dismissal case against ABC
Journalist Antoinette Lattouf has won her unlawful termination claim against the ABC after a judge ruled she was removed for her political opinions on the Israel-Palestinian conflict and was not given a fair opportunity to plead her case to the public broadcaster before it took her off the air.
In a packed Sydney courtroom on Wednesday morning, Federal Court judge Darryl Rangiah said the ABC had breached employment law 'by terminating the employment of Antionette Lattouf for reasons including that she held a political opinion opposing the Israeli military campaign in Gaza'.
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After nearly two weeks of fighting, US President Donald Trump claims to have brokered peace between Israel and Iran, though its legitimacy is still to be proven. From sneak attack to shaky ceasefire, here's how the conflict – which Trump has suggested should be called 'THE 12 DAY WAR' – between Iran, Israel and the United States has played out. Israel attacks Iran Israel attacked Iran at 3.30am local time on Friday, June 13, with explosions booming across the capital of Tehran. Israeli forces struck several locations, targeting nuclear sites, including Iran's main enrichment facility, ballistic missile and other military capabilities, as well as military commanders and nuclear scientists. Among those killed were the chief of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Hossein Salami, commander-in-chief of Iran's army, Mohammad Bagheri, and top-ranking commander Gholam Ali Rashid. Six nuclear scientists were also killed. The bombing of residential areas also claimed the lives of civilians, including children, Iranian media reported. Israel justified the attack as an act of self-defence, claiming Iran was rapidly approaching the ability to build nuclear weapons – something it's said for years. Iran, a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, has always denied having a nuclear weapons program. The White House said it wasn't involved in the attack, but that it was aware of Israel's plan. Iran vowed its 'sworn enemies' should expect retaliation and that Israel would receive 'harsh punishment'. Some missiles evaded the Iron Dome and struck targets in Israel, prompting its defence minister to warn that 'Tehran will burn' if retaliatory strikes against Israel continued. Meanwhile, Israel continued its offensive in Iran, with airstrikes pummelling surface facilities at Iran's biggest nuclear enrichment plant, Natanz, the global nuclear watchdog said. These are the types of facilities where Iran is accused of trying to make weapons-grade uranium, a key ingredient in nuclear bombs. Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, released a defiant message to Iran and promised Israel would suffer a 'bitter fate'. Civilians killed; TV station, energy assets attacked Israel and Iran increased the intensity of their attacks, exchanging waves of ballistic missiles and suicide drones, also known as loitering munitions. Residential buildings across both countries are hit, killing civilians. Israel also targeted Iranian energy infrastructure, including one of the country's largest oil refineries, Shahr Rey, the Shahran fuel depot in Tehran and the immense South Pars natural gas facility. These attacks provoked fears of global fuel shortages. One of Israel's largest oil companies shut down all refinery facilities after a power station in Haifa was damaged by an Iranian missile strike. Iran's state-run television station was attacked while broadcasting live, killing three people and sending the anchor running for cover. As the conflict wore on, Iranian state media claimed its military had shot down an advanced Hermes-900 drone before it could destroy any weapons. The Israel Defence Forces claimed to have killed two Hezbollah commanders in strikes in southern Lebanon. Trump leaves G7; mulls US involvement Trump left the G7 summit early to address the unfolding crisis, cancelling a planned meeting with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The US president joined leaders in signing a statement calling for a de-escalation in hostilities, which condemned Iran as the 'principal source of regional instability and terror', and declared that the world would not allow the country to have nuclear weapons. An exasperated Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister of Italy, was filmed rolling her eyes at the G7's roundtable meeting with Trump. A Trump returned to Washington, speculation grew that the US would join Israel's war. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on June 19 that Trump would decide whether the US would intervene in the war within 'two weeks'. But this was largely a deception, meant to wrong-foot Iran. Trump had all but made up his mind to attack Iran's nuclear facilities. Assassination plots against Iran's leader Throughout the war, Israel repeatedly threatened to assassinate Khamenei. Trump vetoed an Israeli plan to kill the supreme leader, AP and Reuters reported. He also claimed to know the whereabouts of Khamenei and suggested the US could kill him easily if it wished to do so. 'He is an easy target, but is safe there. We are not going to take him out (kill!), at least not for now … our patience is wearing thin,' Trump said on Truth Social on June 18. Meanwhile, more Iranian generals were killed in Israeli strikes. Flights cancelled, fleeing Iranians stuck in traffic While Trump mulled joining the war, the airspace over Israel and Iran remained closed (although Israel began limited flights departing the country on Tuesday). Flights throughout the region have been impacted, forcing airlines carrying Australians to Europe to change course. Thousands of Australians stranded in both Israel and Iran have requested emergency assistance from DFAT. Iranians fleeing Tehran, a city of nearly 10 million, have been stuck on gridlocked outbound highways. The chaos inside Tehran has been made worse by widespread internet outages, which have stifled communication. This had put many Iranians on edge, said Alam Saleh, a lecturer at the Australian National University who became trapped in Tehran while visiting when Israel attacked. 'It definitely makes things more concerning because people try to hear from each other, ensure that families are in touch, especially when civilian targets are bombed,' he said from Tehran. US bombs Iran The United States joined Israel's war and attacked Iranian nuclear sites, US President Donald Trump announced in a post on social media on June 22. 'We have completed our very successful attack on the three Nuclear sites in Iran, including Fordow, Natanz and Esfahan,' he said. 'A full payload of BOMBS was dropped on the primary site, Fordow.' Trump warned Iran against retaliating, and said 'future attacks will be far greater'. Six of the United States' B-2 stealth bombers dropped a dozen massive 'bunker-busting' bombs on Iran's deep underground Fordow nuclear base – where it's suspected the regime was enriching uranium to near-weapons-grade. Two bunker-busters were dropped on Natanz, and missiles from a US Navy submarine struck the Isfahan facility. Only America had the weapons capable of blowing up the well-defended and secretive Fordow facility. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Trump for his 'bold' attack and said the US 'has done what no other country on earth could do'. Iran's Foreign Minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, said the US violated international law and the United Nations charter, and Iran reserved 'all options' to defend itself. The International Atomic Energy Agency's director-general, Rafael Mariano Grossi, told The New York Times that he believed Iran might have transported its enriched uranium in a fleet of cars from the Isfahan facility. Hospital and prison targeted Through it all, Iran and Israel have continued to attack each other. Though Israel claims to have crippled much of Iran's military capabilities, the Islamic republic still manages to evade Israeli air defences and strike residential buildings. Iran's missiles hit civilian areas in Israel, including Soroka hospital in the southern city of Beersheba, injuring people. Nobody was killed in the attack. Israel on Monday targeted Tehran's Evin Prison, which historically has held political prisoners and Westerners, including Australian researcher Kylie Moore-Gilbert, from 2018 to 2020. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage to the prison. Black-and-white footage shared by Iranian state TV and Israel's foreign minister appeared to show the facility's front gate exploding in the strike. Doubt has since emerged over the video's authenticity. Iran's Health Ministry estimates that about 500 Iranians have been killed and another 3000 wounded in the Israeli strikes, but human rights organisations fear the real figure is almost double. In Israel, 24 civilians have been killed, according to the latest figures from authorities. Iran attacks US base In response to the US raid, Iran launched missiles towards the Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, which houses US troops as well as the air forces of Qatar and Britain. Explosions could be heard overhead in the Gulf state's capital of Doha as air defences worked to intercept the attack. The Qatar Defence Ministry said Iran fired 19 missiles and one made landfall, but there were no deaths or injuries. This was in part due to Iran warning the US before the attack, which enabled the evacuation of personnel. Trump said the Iranian response was 'very weak' and was both expected and effectively countered. US Vice President JD Vance said the attack appeared to be symbolic rather than malicious. 'They actually gave us some warning here … because they didn't want to kill Americans, and they didn't want to escalate,' he told Fox News. 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Loading Later in the day, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed he had agreed to the ceasefire with Iran, in co-ordination with Trump. But within hours, Israel accused Tehran of firing more missiles, violating the truce, and instructed its military to resume 'the intense operations to attack Tehran'. Iran denied the claims of a breach. How long Trump's ceasefire lasts remains to be seen. Editor's note: A video purporting to be CCTV footage of the strike has been removed from this story. It had aired on Iran state media, and was distributed by Israel's foreign minister. However, there are concerns about the source of the footage, and its veracity.
