Australia: Iran bombing reax, YouTube exempt
Australia correspondent Chris Niesche looks at how Australia responded to the US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities and questions over whether its Pine Gap communications facility was used in any way. The eSafety commissioner has called for YouTube to be included in the ban on under-16s accessing social media, due to come into effect in December. And a new study of marine sediment off WA's Montebello Islands has found plutonium levels up to 4,500 higher than the rest of the coast. The site was used in the 1950s by Britain for its nuclear tests.
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RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says Trump 'exaggerated' impact of US strikes on nuclear sites
This image grab taken from footage broadcast by Iran's IRIB news on 26 June shows the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressing the nation. Photo: AFP Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei says US President Donald Trump "exaggerated" the impact of US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites , in his first appearance since a ceasefire in the war with Israel took hold. In a statement and a televised speech carried by state media, he hailed his country's "victory" over Israel and vowed never to surrender to the United States, while claiming that Washington had been dealt a "slap" after striking Iranian nuclear sites. Khamenei's remarks come two days after a ceasefire ended a 12-day war between Iran and Israel, the foes' deadliest and most destructive confrontation in history. It also follows a stinging row in the United States over the actual extent of the damage inflicted by American strikes on key Iranian nuclear sites during the conflict. "The American president exaggerated events in unusual ways, and it turned out that he needed this exaggeration," Khamenei said. The United States "has gained nothing from this war," he said, adding that American strikes "did nothing significant" to Iran's nuclear facilities. "The Islamic republic won, and in retaliation dealt a severe slap to the face of America," he said, a reference to Iran's missile launch targeting the largest US base in the Middle East. "I want to congratulate the great Iranian nation... for its victory over the fallacious Zionist regime," he added, claiming that Israel had "almost collapsed" because of Iran's strikes. Both Iran and Israel had already claimed they won, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hailing on Tuesday a "historic victory" for Israel. In the United States, leaked intelligence this week opened up a Pandora's box of accusations and counter-claims over the extent of the damage caused by the strikes. Later on Thursday (local time), US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is due to offer a fresh assessment of the attacks. After waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites and retaliatory missile fire from Iran since 13 June, the United States bombed three key Iranian atomic facilities. An initial classified assessment, first reported by CNN, was said to have concluded that the strikes did not destroy key components and that Iran's nuclear programme was set back only months at most. Another key question raised by experts is whether Iran, preparing for the strike, moved out some 400 kilograms of enriched uranium -- which could now be hidden elsewhere in the vast country. The US administration has hit back furiously, with Trump saying the attack "obliterated" Iran's nuclear facilities, including the key site of Fordo buried inside a mountain, and that it had set the programme back by "decades". Trump said that Hegseth, whom he dubbed "war" secretary, would hold a news conference at 8am (1200 GMT) on Thursday to "fight for the dignity of our great American pilots". CIA chief John Ratcliffe said in a statement on Wednesday that "several key Iranian nuclear facilities were destroyed and would have to be rebuilt over the course of years". The Israeli military said it had delivered a "significant" blow to Iran's nuclear sites but that it was "still early" to fully assess the damage. Netanyahu announced that "we have thwarted Iran's nuclear project". "And if anyone in Iran tries to rebuild it, we will act with the same determination, with the same intensity, to foil any attempt," he said. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei told Al Jazeera that "nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure". After the war derailed nuclear talks between Iran and the United States, Trump said Washington would hold discussions with Tehran next week, with his special envoy Steve Witkoff expressing hope "for a comprehensive peace agreement". Trump told reporters that Israel and Iran were "both tired, exhausted", before going on to say that talks were planned with Iran next week. "We may sign an agreement. I don't know," he added. Iran has systematically denied seeking a nuclear weapon while defending its "legitimate rights" to the peaceful use of atomic energy. It has also said it was willing to return to nuclear negotiations with Washington. The Israeli strikes on Iran killed at least 627 civilians, Tehran's health ministry said. Iran's attacks on Israel killed 28 people, according to official figures. A state funeral will be held on Saturday in Tehran for top commanders and nuclear scientists killed in the war. - AFP
RNZ News
14 hours ago
- RNZ News
Australia to boost cyber security and provide vehicles for Solomon Islands Pacific Islands Forum
By foreign affairs reporter Stephen Dziedzic , ABC In short: What's next? Pat Conroy met Jeremiah Manele this week in Solomon Islands. Photo: Supplied / Australian High Commission, Solomon Islands Australia will provide Solomon Islands with dozens of vehicles and cybersecurity support to help it host a high-profile meeting of Pacific leaders in September, as well as ramping up funding for aerial surveillance to track illegal fishing flotillas across the region. The Pacific Minister Pat Conroy is in Honiara on Thursday, where he will announce a $20 million support package for the Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) leaders meeting. Leaders at the meeting will grapple with a host of issues, including climate finance and Australia's bid to co-host a Conference of the Parties climate meeting, a new "Oceans of Peace" security framework championed by Fiji's prime minister, and a potentially contentious review of the Pacific's diplomatic architecture. But the gathering will also inevitably be seen as a litmus test of China's sway in Solomon Islands, where Beijing has rapidly built political influence since establishing ties with Honiara in 2019. Earlier this month China's ambassador to Solomon Islands handed Acting Prime Minister Fredrick Kologetoa a $US1 million ($1.5m) donation to buy 27 vehicles which will ferry Pacific leaders around at PIF. Jeremiah Manele met Anthony Albanese in Canberra last year. Photo: Reuters / Kirsty Needham Australia's $20 million package will be broader, providing funding for about 60 vehicles, cybersecurity, road upgrades and logistics support. Australia has not directly criticised China's contribution to the meeting, but MrConroy said the Pacific was "best served by Pacific-led institutions and processes". "Australia's commitment to Solomon Islands and the broader Pacific is steadfast. We are stronger together," Conroy said. China is also expected to push for its policing teams to play a visible role providing security at the leaders meeting, something Australia will be keen to prevent, in order to burnish its credentials as a security partner for the Pacific. During an interview with the ABC on Tuesday while visiting Papua New Guinea, Conroy reiterated that China was "seeking a permanent security presence in the Pacific". When the ABC asked him if China might try to leverage its Pacific policing links to help it establish "dual use" commercial infrastructure which it could exploit for military purposes down the track - something Australian officials have warned of privately - Conroy said that was a "reasonable conclusion" to draw. "We've made it very clear that we don't think it's appropriate for nations outside the region to be looking at securing policing footholds like that," he said. The ABC has been told the pacific minister will also use his visit to Honiara to announce the government will deliver on its 2022 election promise to double funding for aerial patrols delivered under the Pacific Maritime Security Program, which he will cast as a major win for regional security. Pacific nations have become increasingly alarmed by the illegal fishing in the region, which has devastated ecosystems and livelihoods, costing them up to $500m in lost revenue over recent years. In 2022 Labor promised that if elected it would increase funding to the program by $12m a year from 2024-25, and federal government tender documents - first reported on by Reuters - suggest the government will pour a total of up to $477m into the program over the next decade. While there is only limited public data available on illegal fishing in the Pacific, analysts have previously told the ABC that vessels from China and Taiwan are responsible for much of the devastation. While in PNG Mr Conroy took a thinly veiled swipe at Beijing on illegal fishing, labelling it a "scourge" and saying countries that failed to rein in it were "literally stealing food out of the mouths of Pacific Island people". "We will use every resource available to us to outlaw that scourge," he said. "And I would urge all balanced observers to reflect on the countries that allow that activity to occur and think: Do they have the interests of the Pacific islands of the heart if they allow that illegal fishing to occur?" - ABC
RNZ News
18 hours ago
- RNZ News
UK correspondent Dan Bloom
Britain's going shopping for 12 new F-35 jets capable of carrying a nuclear payload. Photo: AFP Jack Guez UK correspondent Dan Bloom looks at the political turbulence for Sir Keir Starmer over his government's plans to push ahead with cuts to benefits for disabled people, despite opposition from nearly a quarter of his own MPs. The UK is to by 12 dual-use F-35 fighter jets that can carry conventional and nuclear weapons. The move gives the UK the ability to carry airborne nuclear warheads for the first time since the 1990s. And more than 200,000 people are set to descend on the Glastonbury music festival. Dan Bloom is Political Editor of Politico UK
