The first round of US-Iran talks wrap up, with further negotiations on the table; Australia signs a $2.5 billion defence export agreement with Canada; And in sport, Australian debutante Eddie Nketia aims for Commonwealth Games gold.
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TRANSCRIPT:
- The first round of US-Iran talks wrap up, with further negotiations on the table
- Australia signs a $2.5 billion defence export agreement with Canada
- Australian debutante Eddie Nketia aims for Commonwealth Games gold
The first round of US-Iran talks in Switzerland has ended with both sides agreeing to work together towards a final peace deal within 60 days.
A joint statement from mediators Qatar and Pakistan says technical negotiations will continue this week, covering Iran's nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and efforts to end fighting in Lebanon.
"The Lucerne Summit was conducted in a positive and constructive atmosphere. Encouraging progress has been made including the creation of a mechanism for further technical talks. Building on the Memorandum of Understanding, the parties have agreed to the establishment of a High Level Committee, which will provide political oversight on the mediation. ... The High Level Committee has agreed upon a road-map towards reaching a final deal within 60 days."
The talks opened amid tensions, with Iran announcing it had again closed the Strait of Hormuz and U-S President Donald Trump warning Washington could resume military action.
Despite conflicting reports about the mood inside the talks, both U-S and Iranian officials say negotiations continued into Monday.
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel and the United States have laid the groundwork for the possible overthrow of Iran's government, as Washington and Tehran conclude the first round of peace talks in Switzerland.
The talks are aimed at turning last week's ceasefire agreement into a broader deal covering Iran's nuclear program, the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and efforts to end fighting in Lebanon.
But Mr Netanyahu has indicated Israel is not prepared to withdraw from security zones it has established in southern Lebanon, adding that recent military strikes have weakened Iran's leadership and could eventually lead to the regime's collapse.
"And they may not recover because once you deal these blows, and once the rift between the regime and the people is so deep, you cannot tell when such a regime will fall. And I think we created the conditions for its future fall. That is what will be the real triumph, when the Iranian people take their own destiny in their hands, and they knock out this brutal regime that is terrorising them and terrorising the rest of the world."
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Australia has signed a $2.5 billion defence export agreement with Canada, for Australian-developed over-the-horizon radar technology.
The agreement marks the first overseas sale of the Australian technology which allows targets to be detected at a much
greater distance than with traditional radar systems.
Defence Minister Richard Marles says it's Australia's biggest ever defence export deal, and that Canada will use the technology for a range of purposes.
"And just like Australia, Canada has large areas to surveil, and so Canada will use this to engage in surveillance over the Arctic. In total, this will support a thousand direct and indirect jobs, but actually more significantly than that, what this really means is that Australia and Canada are now partners in terms of the future development."
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The Australian Federal Police have arrested two men after seizing what they say is Australia's largest-ever cocaine haul.
The AFP says 2.7 tonnes of cocaine, worth more than $800 million on the street, was found at a semi-rural property in Sydney's west during a multi-agency operation targeting organised crime.
The drugs were hidden in underground bunkers beneath shipping containers.
Police allege the cocaine was brought into Australia near Midge Point in North Queensland before being transported to Londonderry for a Sydney-based crime group.
AFP Commander Stephen Jay says a vessel allegedly used to import the drugs has also been detained.
"We currently have a vessel which has been detained in the Solomon Islands, the MV Wealth. Solomon Islands authorities are currently examining that, we hope to get some further detail in due course as to that, so that's still very much an active line of inquiry. It goes to the point we've made previously though about the importance of our relationship with Pacific agencies and Pacific partners, because we do recognise that the Pacific is an avenue through which drugs reach our country and it's a very important thing for all of our agencies and particularly for the AFP and the ABF."
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Australian sprint star Eddie Nketia says he believes he can run even faster at the Commonwealth Games after a series of impressive performances.
Nketia will make his Australian debut in Glasgow after switching allegiance from New Zealand last year.
He is among the headline names in the 86-athlete track and field team announced on Monday.
The 25-year-old recently clocked a wind-assisted 9.74 seconds in the 100 metres, faster than the Commonwealth Games record of 9.88 set by Usain Bolt in Glasgow in 2014.
Asked if he could go faster, Nketia said he was aiming as high as possible, adding that if a world-record time was achievable, he would chase it.
