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TRANSCRIPT:
- Concern remains for Iran's women's footballers;
- The Australian government rejects an informal request from the US for a ship in the Strait of Hormuz;
- Australia's women's rugby side win - but still lose - at the Seven Series in the US.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he's worried about the Iranian women's footballers, after another three previously granted humanitarian visas decided to return home.
Three team members remain in Australia on temporary humanitarian visas valid for 12 months - but four women so far have retracted their decision.
Dr Chalmers has told Channel 7 he's worried about their safety - but says the group have been under extreme and extraordinary pressure.
"I don't have all of the details of the decision they've taken. I'm not gonna guess those decisions. But for our part as a government, the job was always to provide the opportunity for them to stay if they wanted to. We can't and haven't sought to compel an outcome for obvious reasons. I'm proud that we've provided that opportunity, I'm pleased that there are still a number of these Iranian women who will be staying as I understand it."
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Iran has threatened escalation across the Middle East to retaliate for American airstrikes on its energy hub, while US President Donald Trump has urged friendly nations to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
Mr Trump has posted on social media that he hopes China, France, Japan, South Korea, the U-K and others would send warships to the Strait of Hormuz.
None of the nations named by Mr Trump have given any immediate indication they would do so.
SBS News has been told no formal request has been made for Australia to send a ship to the Strait, and that the government wouldn't consider it.
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Tens of millions of voters in Vietnam are going to the polls to elect 500 members of their National Assembly - a body whose main task is to ratify decisions by the ruling Communist Party.
Voters are choosing from a list of candidates almost exclusively fielded by the Communist Party, which has ruled the country unopposed for decades.
In the current legislature, the Party holds 97 per cent of the seats.
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Australian Defence Force troops will be deployed to help with the Northern Territory floods.
Defence Minister Richard Marles has approved a request for the personnel, many of whom he says are already stationed in the Territory and have been personally impacted by the crisis.
The ADF will assist with clean-up and recovery efforts across the Territory.
But Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro says it's not possible to move from response to recovery mode YET because water levels are expected to keep rising.
"This is the highest river level that Daly River has experienced since records began. And it is still rising. So that will take time. And we are in no way able to get any further detail. We have to let that river go down before we can take any further steps.''
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A search continues this afternoon for the pilot of a helicopter that's crashed in remote terrain in northern New South Wales.
The chopper was found on Saturday in dense bushland near the township of Drake, a small village in the New England region that lies about 44 kilometres east of Tenterfield.
Officers have been told the helicopter left the Gold Coast on Friday morning bound for Mudgee.
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New data has been released today suggesting the incidence of Islamophobia in Australia is greater than that found in the United States.
The Australian National Imams Council says the figures have come from a survey conducted in February that also found Australians perceive rising anti-Islam sentiment.
The data has been released today as it's the International Day to Combat Islamophobia - a day put in place on the anniversary of a mass shooting in Christchurch that killed 51 people in 2019.
Community leader Nadeem Ahmed has told SBS Hindi a conversation on Islamophobia is especially important now, as the day has happened to fall during the holy month of Ramadan.
"I strongly believe in something that is simple: that when we protect one community from hate, we protect every community. And this is what we need to teach our children a lesson: to be kind, respect every religion, and stand up against any kind of racism."
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To sport,
Australia's women have won all three of their group games at the World Rugby Sevens event in the US.
But their hopes of taking out this year's Series have still come to an end - because New Zealand also won all of their group matches to earn a place in today's semi-finals.
That has given them an unassailable lead over Australia on the series ladder.
