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Evening Standard
2 days ago
- Climate
- Evening Standard
Military pause not enough to ease Gaza suffering, Lammy warns
'Until the restrictions are lifted, until aid is able to get in at the scale and quantity that is needed, we need to be doing everything we possibly can to help,' he told Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show.
The National
3 days ago
- Politics
- The National
Pictures of starving children haven't shifted my support for Israel, says Kemi Badenoch
Asked about Israel's engineered famine in [[Gaza]], Badenoch claimed that Israel was 'trying to defend itself' during an interview with Sky News on Sunday. Her comments come amid widespread international condemnation of Israel for blocking aid from entering the besieged Palestinian territory, which has resulted in children starving to death. READ MORE: Pressure grows for Keir Starmer as SNP threaten to force Palestine recognition vote Speaking on Sky News' Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show, Badenoch said: 'War is a difficult situation and what I see when I see Israel is a country that is trying to defend itself, mostly from Iran and a lot of its proxies, Hezbollah, Hamas, the Houthis. I think they are in a very difficult situation. (Image: .) 'What worries me is that the length of time that this war has been going on is making it very difficult for the people in the Palestinian territories and also for Israel. 'We need to bring things to an end.' Her comments came as Israel announced a 'tactical pause' in its assault on Gaza to allow humanitarian aid into the territory beginning on Sunday. Israel has said it had allowed aid packages to be dropped into the territory from the air, which has been criticised by humanitarian agencies. Ciaran Donnelly of the International Rescue Committee said last week: 'Aid drops are a grotesque distraction from the reality of what's needed on the ground in Gaza right now. They can never deliver the volume, the consistency or the quality of aid and services that's needed.' READ MORE: Keir Starmer fiercely criticised over Gaza speech Asked about the policy on Sky News on Sunday, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray said: 'I absolutely accept and recognise that there are real limits and drawbacks with airdrops when it comes to aid, but I also think that until the restrictions are lifted, until aid is able to get in at the scale and quantity that is needed, we need to be doing everything we possibly can to help.' Keir Starmer is expected to press the case for a ceasefire when he meets US president Donald Trump in Scotland later on Sunday.
Sky News AU
3 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
'Just do it': Sky News host ‘sickened' after Abbie Chatfield signals for American incels to assassinate President Donald Trump
Influencer Abbie Chatfield is under fire for signalling to American incels to assassinate US President Donald Trump, leaving a Sky News host 'sickened' as a Senator calls on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to condemn the 'vile rhetoric'. Chatfield asked Americans 'when are you going to do it?' in a TikTok video which is now deleted. "Why isn't it already done? You, every day there is another (gun finger hand gesture shown) happening right? Awful for your country, awful right?" Chatfield said. 'Why don't we re-direct this energy to something else, you know, there's all this incels that are going 'no one wants to f*** me', so they go and do (gun finger hand gesture shown). 'You know what would actually make people respect you a little bit and maybe want to f*** you, as if you did it, as if you did it. 'You would get heaps of fan mail. Oh my god, oh my god … just do it. Like you are doing it every day anyway. Like I don't f***ing get it … like what.' Sky News host Rowan Dean suggested her 'bizarre' rant incited young men to assassinate Trump. 'So, there is lots of hand gestures of a gun. She's not explicit, so I will make that very clear,' he said on Sky News' Outsiders on Sunday. 'But the implication that I read from that was that she was saying to American young men, who are incels, who struggle to find a girlfriend or whatever, to go and assassinate President Trump. 'That seemed to be the implication behind 'just do it' and this (gun finger hand gesture shown) and that. I may be wrong and there may be a completely other explanation to what she was saying. 'But as a viewer taking it as face value, that's how I read it, and it sickened me." Fellow Sky News host Rita Panahi called for Mr Albanese to be asked about the deleted video. 'Well, I would like the Prime Minister to be asked about this because he chose to go on her podcast,' she said. 'I can guarantee you if it was a Liberal prime minister who went on someone's podcast who then uttered anything approaching that, they would be questioned about it, they would be asked to disassociate or at least pass some sort of comment on the association with that person.' Mr Albanese sat down with Chatfield for a 90-minute interview on the It's a Lot with Abbie Chatfield , prior to the federal election this year. United Australia Party Senator Ralph Babet said the Prime Minister must 'immediately' condemn Chatfield's 'vile rhetoric'. '(She is) calling for the assassination of the sitting President of the United States - our most important security ally - is not just unhinged, it's stochastic terrorism,' he said on X. has reached out to Mr Albanese's office for comment.
Sky News AU
6 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Andrew Forrest's Fortescue scraps Gladstone, Arizona green hydrogen projects, blames Donald Trump for US closure
A major Australian energy and mining company has scrapped two massive green hydrogen projects. Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest's Fortescue on Thursday informed shareholders the company was ditching its Arizona Hydrogen Project in the United States and its PEM50 Project in Queensland's Gladstone 'following a detailed review'. 'An assessment is underway to repurpose the assets and the land,' the company said. The projects' failure will blow about a US$150m ($227m) hole in the energy and mining giant's financial results. On the US project's failure, Fortescue chief executive of growth and energy Gus Pichot told analysts the shift away from green energy under Trump hurt the project's viability. 'A shift in policy priorities away from green energy has changed the situation in the US,' Mr Pichot said. 'The lack of certainty and a step back in green ambition has stopped the emerging green energy markets, making it hard for previously feasible projects to proceed. 'As a result, we cannot proceed with our investments as they stand, and will explore future opportunities for our site in Arizona.' While the company blamed the collapse on the shift in policy from the Trump administration, the Albanese government has earmarked billions of taxpayer dollars into green hydrogen in Australia. The recent shift away from green hydrogen comes as a blow to Labor's net-zero plans, which include a Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive as part of its Future Made in Australia Act. More than $6.5 billion will go toward the scheme, which provides $2 per kilogram of renewable hydrogen produced between 2027-28 and 2039-40. The policy came a year after Labor announced $2b towards its Hydrogen Headstart program, which looked to invest in large scale hydrogen projects. Fortescue's Gladstone project was originally slated to produce upwards of two tonnes of green hydrogen each day. The company cut about 90 jobs at the Queensland operation in May as it 'refocused' its efforts into the 'research and development of new technologies', a Fortescue spokesperson said at the time. The plant, which has received about $60m in federal and Queensland government support, was opened 12 months ago before Fortescue mothballed the operation around the time of the job cuts. Despite scrapping two of its biggest green hydrogen projects, Fortescue insists it 'continues to advance its green technology product portfolio'. 'Fortescue's Green Energy project pipeline continues to be progressed and refined in a disciplined manner that reflects global market conditions and policy settings,' a statement from the company reads. Sky News' Business Editor Ross Greenwood said making green hydrogen has 'always been uncompetitive' and noted the announcement did not come as a shock. 'It again shows that even though you may have ideals about green hydrogen (and) how wonderful it is, if these things do not stack up economically … you ain't gonna use it,' Greenwood said on AM Agenda. The shutdowns follow Fortescue revealing 700 redundancies in July 2024 in a sweeping restructure of the company that consolidated its mining and energy arms into one division. Mr Forrest has spent years promoting the benefits of green hydrogen, with the company originally planning on producing 15 million tonnes per year by 2030.
Sky News AU
6 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Labor needs to 'turn the ship around' in second term, AI Group's Innes Willox declares ahead of economic roundtable
Labor needs to 'turn the ship around' through its upcoming economic roundtable where the Albanese government's goals to boost productivity and investment in Australia will take centre stage. Australia's ailing productivity will be the subject of the roundtable led by Treasurer Jim Chalmers next month where leaders across business, politics and unions will discuss the nation's poor growth. AI Group chief executive Innes Willox is one of the attendees and urged the Albanese government, which has returned to parliament with a massive majority, to develop a clear picture of how to drive the nation's economy forward at the roundtable. 'This is an opportunity for the government to … get clear understandings around the big challenges that we face around productivity and investment and all the things that go into that,' Mr Willox told Sky News' Business Now. 'This is sort of like a legacy moment, a watershed moment. Not only for the government but also for the country because we have one chance here to turn the ship around and start to get things heading in the right direction.' Mr Willox was hopeful of genuine change from the Albanese government as he said there had been an 'epiphany' from some Labor members about the nation's economic future. He said it came from a novel by two US journalists titled 'Abundance' that had become popular in Canberra. The shift, Mr Willox said, was a "recognition" that "governments have indulged in process over outcomes, dollars over delivery and complexity over certainty". 'We need to turn all of that around so that we get government focused on the things that matter," Mr Willox said. 'Government in many ways, whether business likes it or not, is a partner of business, but it's a partner that has to act in the interests of business as well. 'If they don't, we're just going to continue to see a decline in living standards.' Economic and productivity reform was a lower priority during the Albanese government's first term, despite slow growth and the country sitting in a per capita recession. Labor struggled with sky-high post-pandemic inflation during its first term - which ate into household budgets. Inflation rose more than 17 per cent over about three and a half years while wages fell behind, prompting Labor to introduce an array of cost of living assistance measures such as energy bill relief. Labor will look towards fostering long term economic prosperity at the productivity roundtable from August 19 to 21. Here, the government said it will strive to "enhance economic resilience and strengthen budget sustainability".
