Australia news LIVE: Interest rate cut all but guaranteed after inflation slowdown; tsunami evacuations ordered in South America
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6.54am
Why the massive Russian earthquake produced such a weak tsunami
By Katrina Miller
When one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded struck off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia on Wednesday, tsunami warning centres around the Pacific quickly leapt into action.
They quickly issued advisories for the potential of colossal ocean waves that are often generated by big earthquakes. But later in the morning, the centres began to cancel those warnings as the big waves failed to appear. What happened?
According to Diego Melgar, a geophysicist at the University of Oregon, part of the reason the tsunamis were weaker than anticipated may have to do with the size of the earthquake.
'There's big,' he said. 'And then there's really, really, really big.'
6.51am
Trump in no rush to appoint Canberra ambassador
By Matthew Knott
US President Donald Trump has shown no sign of appointing an ambassador to Canberra despite doing so for more than 50 other countries, fuelling accusations Australia is a low diplomatic priority as Trump weighs decisions on tariff rates and the future of the AUKUS defence pact.
The federal opposition has intensified its criticism of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for not securing a meeting with Trump this week after the president said he planned to increase his baseline tariff rate from 10 per cent to as much as 20 per cent.
The Trump administration has announced ambassadorial nominees for at least 52 countries, including Malta, Tunisia, the Bahamas, Latvia, Namibia and New Zealand.
The US Senate has approved Trump's nominees for ambassadors to China, Japan, Canada, Mexico, France, Israel, Britain, Ireland, Turkey and Panama, allowing those diplomats to take up their posts at embassies in their host countries.
6.49am
What's making news today
By Daniel Lo Surdo
Hello and welcome to the national news live blog. My name is Daniel Lo Surdo, and I'll be helming our live coverage this morning.
Here's what is making news today:
An interest rate is all but assured when the Reserve Bank meets next month, after inflation figures released on Wednesday found the annual rate fell to 2.1 per cent to the June quarter, marking the lowest inflation rate since early 2021. Treasurer Jim Chalmers celebrated the figures, labelling them 'absolutely outstanding'. It comes in a sitting week when Labor is working to progress draft laws that would cap medicine under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme at $25, and pass student debt reduction and childcare reform legislation.
New alerts have forced evacuations in South America's Pacific coast as fears of a devastating tsunami for the US and Japan faded on Wednesday after one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck off a sparsely populated Russian peninsula. Chile raised its warning to the highest level for most of its lengthy Pacific coast hours ago, with mass evacuations underway amid concerns of a tsunami. Warnings in the first hours after the 8.8 magnitude quake triggered immediate evacuations in Japan and Hawaii, while several people in Russia were hurt while rushing to safer ground.
The Australian sharemarket is set to fall on Thursday, after most US stocks retreated following the Federal Reserve's decision to hold its main interest rate steady. The Federal Reserve's decision is expected to frustrate President Donald Trump, who has been angrily lobbying for lower interest rates, but was widely expected on Wall Street. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell pushed back on expectations for a September rate cut, saying inflation was still above the Fed's two per cent target.
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Former Superman actor says he's joining ICE, backs Trump's immigration crackdown
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here The comic book hero that Cain portrayed in the 1990s television show Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman might have been an immigrant himself, but it seems the actor has a more hardline view on foreign arrivals to the United States . In an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, Cain revealed that he decided to join the agency after sharing one of ICE's recruitment videos on social media the day before. Dean Cain revealed in an interview with Fox News that he decided to join ICE after sharing one of their recruitment videos on social media. (Fox News) "I'm actually … a sworn deputy sheriff and a reserve police officer – I wasn't part of ICE, but once I put that (the recruitment video) out there and you put a little blurb on your show, it went crazy," Cain told Fox News host Jesse Watters. "So now I've spoken with some officials over at ICE and I will be sworn in as an ICE agent ASAP." Asked what motivated the move, Cain, who is a well known conservative in Hollywood, said: "This country was built on patriots stepping up, whether it was popular or not, and doing the right thing. I truly believe this is the right thing." Cain described the US's immigration system as "broken," saying, "Congress needs to fix it, but in the interim, President Trump ran on this. He is delivering on this. This is what people voted for. It's what I voted for and he's going to see it through, and I'll do my part and help make sure it happens." Cain's public pledge to join ICE comes amid a significant acceleration in immigration enforcement, as the Trump administration is apprehending hundreds of immigrants every day across the country. Dean Cain portrayed in the 1990s television show "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman." (Warner Bros Tv/Kobal/Shutterstock) Cain has revealed that he's joining the ranks of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency. (Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images/AFP/Getty Images) But a CNN analysis of agency data revealed a stark split in where ICE makes those arrests in blue states and red states. In states that voted for Trump, ICE agents are most likely to arrest immigrants directly from prisons and jails. By contract, in Democratic-leaning states ICE is frequently arresting immigrants from worksites, streets and mass roundups that have sparked protests and intense backlash in cities such as Los Angeles. Most of those arrested don't have a criminal record. Overall, ICE is making more arrests in red states than blue states – both in the community and, especially, in prisons and jails – the ICE data shows. World USA Donald Trump celebrity Politics immigration CONTACT US
Canberra Times
3 hours ago
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Putin hopes to meet Trump next week, possibly in UAE
A meeting between the two presidents would be their first since Mr Trump returned to office this year. And a face-to-face meeting would be the first between a sitting US and Russian president since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021, some eight months before Russia launched the biggest attack on a European nation since World War II.
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4 hours ago
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US is auctioning seized $500 million Russian yacht
The US government is auctioning off the $US325 million ($500 million) yacht Amadea, its first sale of a seized Russian luxury ship since the start of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine. The auction, which closes on September 10, comes as President Donald Trump seeks to increase pressure on Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war. The US has said it's working with allies to put pressure on Russian oligarchs, some of whom are close to Putin and have had their yachts seized, to try to compel him to stop the war. The 106-metre-long yacht, seized three years ago and currently docked in the US city of San Diego, was custom-built by the German company Lürssen in 2017. Designed by François Zuretti, the yacht features an interior with extensive marble work, eight state rooms, a beauty salon, a spa, a gym, a helipad, a swimming pool and a lift. It accommodates 16 guests and 36 crew members. Meanwhile, Eduard Khudainatov, a former chairman and chief executive of the state-controlled Russian oil and gas company Rosneft, who has not been sanctioned, claims to own it. US prosecutors say Khudainatov is a straw owner of the yacht, intended to conceal the yacht's true owner, Kerimov. Litigation over the true ownership of the yacht is ongoing. A representative of Khudainatov said in an emailed statement on Wednesday that the planned sale of the yacht is 'improper and premature' since Khudainatov is appealing a forfeiture ruling. 'We doubt it will attract any rational buyer at fair market price, because ownership can, and will, be challenged in courts outside the United States, exposing purchasers to years of costly, uncertain litigation,' said the representative, Adam Ford. The yacht has been virtually untouched since the US National Maritime Services took custody of it in 2022. To submit a sealed bid on it, bidders must put in a $US11.6 million deposit, to be considered. Ford said Khudainatov would go after any proceeds from the sale of the yacht, estimated to be worth $US325 million. 'Should the government press ahead simply to staunch the mounting costs it is imposing on the American taxpayer, we will pursue the sale proceeds, and any shortfall from fair market value, once we prevail in court," Ford said. An American aid package for Ukraine signed into law last May gave the US the ability to seize Russian state assets in the US and use them for the benefit of Kyiv, which was attacked by Russia in February 2022.
