News and politics live updates: US launches new strikes to ‘hold Iran accountable’ as Strait dispute erupts

Iran has condemed the US’s latest wave of strikes against its forces, saying the attack had “rendered futile” the diplomatic efforts of the last few months.

“These barbaric attacks are not only a gross violation of the fundamental principles of the United Nations Charter…but also a serious threat to international peace and security,” a foreign ministry statement said.

“The US regime has also caused the return of insecurity in the strait of Hormuz and disruption of international commercial shipping by openly interfering in the process of Iran implementing the necessary arrangements in the strait of Hormuz.”

Julian Leeser says the ABC and SBS must take “systemic bias” against Israel in its reporting seriously.

The Opposition Education spokesperson said the public broadcasters must address the complaints in their coverage after the ABC admitted to making a “bad mistake” in incorrectly reporting that 14,000 babies were facing imminent starvation in Gaza.

“I know there have been complaints about the public broadcasters and their reporting of Israel for years and years … The special envoy has raised these issues. I think the public broadcasters have to take them seriously,” Leeser said.

“I think the public broadcasters actually have to be prepared to address systemic bias against Israel in their reporting, and I think they need to subject themselves to greater transparency mechanisms as outlined by the envoy.”

Mr Lesser also echoed anti-Semisim envoy Jillian Segal’s request for an independent review into the public broadcasters’ coverage of the Middle East conflict over recent years.

Pauline Hanson and One Nation’s popularity have slipped since her controversial Press Club speech with support shifting to the coalition, according to new polling.

Support for One Nation fell by three points in July to 26 per cent, while the coalition’s backing rose to 23 per cent, in a Resolve Political Monitor survey released on Sunday night.

Labor remained at 28 per cent, and support for the Greens was also unchanged at 12 per cent.

In the poll of 2252 people, conducted between July 6 and 11 for Nine newspapers, support for Pauline Hanson as preferred prime minister dropped by eight points from 33 per cent in June to 25 per cent.

Anthony Albanese made a comeback as preferred prime minister with 33 per cent nominating him, up from 29 per cent in June, with Angus Taylor sitting on 21 per cent, two points higher than previously.

- with AAP

Handwritten passenger arrival cards will be replaced by a digital option at all Australian airports, in a move hoped to make touching down a much smoother process.

The federal government will provide $56.1 million over four years to roll out the digital passenger cards to modernise airport operations across the country.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the days of scrambling for a pen after a long international flight were numbered.

“A lot of us have been in the situation at the end of a flight when the cards get handed out, and you’re you’re not always at your best at the end of a flight,” he told ABC News Breakfast.

“People are scrambling around, ‘Who’s got a pen? What’s the name of this flight again? What’s the address of the hotel that I’m meant to be staying at?’

“And then the fact that you’re dealing with pieces of cardboard just slows the process down.”

The change to a digital format follows successful trials involving more than 450,000 passengers on inbound Qantas flights into Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne since October 2024.

- with AAP

The US military has launched another wave of strikes against Iran to “hold” the country “accountable” after a dispute in the Strait of Hormuz erupted.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) made the announcement on social media, saying the fresh wave of strikes were launched at Donald Trump’s direction to “degrade” Iran’s ability to attack ships in the waterway.

“At 5 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command forces began launching more strikes against Iran to continue degrading their ability to attack civilian mariners and commercial ships freely transiting the Strait of Hormuz,” the US Central Command (CENTCOM) wrote on X.

“The Commander in Chief has directed the strikes to hold Iranian forces accountable.”

Iran state media has reported several locations in the country’s south, including Qeshm and port cities of Bandar Abbas and Hajiabad, were targeted in what officials described as attacks by an “enemy”.

According to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), between 10 and 11 projectiles struck military sites in Qeshm Island from Sunday afternoon local time.

Qeshm Governor Hossein Amir Teymouri said the strikes were confined to military targets and that no casualties has been reported on the island.

In a separate report, IRNA said a maintenance technician employed by Mobile Telecommunications Company of Iran was killed while working on Farur Island in Hormozgan province.

Two other technicians were reportedly injured in the same incident.

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said that a so-called “ISIS bride” who was issued a return permit by the Australian government may not return to Australia.

Hodan Abby and her nine-year-old daughter are believed to be the final members of a cohort which has actively petitioned the Australian Government for repatriation from Syrian detention camps since 2019.

Mr Burke in February issued a two-year Temporary Exclusion Order against Abby, blocking her return on national security grounds.

She had travelled to the airport with the most recent group to return but was denied access to the flight she had booked.

Last month her temporary exclusion order was revoked, paving the path for her return to Australia with her daughter.

On Monday, ​the ABC​ reported that Abby was an enforcer of Sharia law at the camps where she was held in Syria, alleging that she organised arranged marriages, solicited donations, and allegedly hit a woman with a hammer in 2021.

When Mr Burke was asked on ABC Breakfast on Monday if he was aware of this and if it was why a temporary exclusion order had been put in place, he did not directly answer.

“There is a reason why only one person met the threshold for an exclusion order while our authorities made sure they were ready,” he said.

​Read the full story. ​

The US has insisted “traffic is flowing” in the Strait of Hormuz despite Tehran saying the waterway is shut.

Speaking to NBC after a barrage of strikes overnight, Donald Trump said: “Yeah, it’s open. We bombed the hell out of them last night.”

“They agreed to a deal yesterday,” he added.

“A perfect deal for us. No nuclear, no this, no that, no nothing. They gave up everything, and then after that, they left the room, and then within an hour, they launched a drone at a ship.”

The President reiterated the claim to CNN, adding that the US and Iran had been close to “a deal” on Saturday.

“These people, there is something wrong with them,” he continued.

The US millitary said the Stait was open in a post to social media.

“US forces are positioned and prepared to keep it that way,” US Central Command said on X.