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TRANSCRIPT
- Fractures emerge with a limited Middle East ceasefire in effect
- PM says trip to Singapore will strengthen Australia's fuel supply
- Peter Bol vows to claim his first Commonwealth Games gold medal this year in Glasgow
President Donald Trump says US military ships and aircraft will remain in the Middle East; and he has threatened that attacks will resume, if Iran does not fully comply with a ceasefire.
Iran earlier stated that it would be unreasonable for peace talks to continue while Israel escalates attacks on Lebanon, with the latest bombardment killing hundreds in Israel's heaviest strikes yet.
Israeli officials and the White House have said the ceasefire does not include Lebanon, contradicting Iran and Pakistan, which mediated the truce.
The two sides also appear to have differing views on Iran's nuclear program, with Mr Trump stating Iran agreed to stop enriching uranium, while Iran's parliament speaker says Iran can continue under the ceasefire terms.
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Israel's ambassador to Australia, Hillel Newman says the Middle East ceasefire covering Iran cannot extend to Lebanon as Israel has determined the threat presented by Hezbollah still remains active.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says the ceasefire should include Lebanon to promote long-term de-escalation in the Middle East.
Dr Newman says Israel has a different threat assessment for Hezbollah in Lebanon - compared to what's happening in Iran.
"In Israel we're talking about 30 kilometres - a rocket passes 30 kilometres in seconds. So you have more than a million people in the northern part of Israel under threat, under attack all the time. They have no life. Their life is completely disrupted. Their children don't go to school. This is a looming threat, which must be removed. So the threats have a different character. The threat with Iran we have taken care of mostly."
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says his trip to Singapore will help keep fuel supply flowing by strengthening fuel access for Australia.
Australia is Singapore's second-largest supplier of liquefied natural gas and is Australia's largest supplier of refined petroleum products.
The trip will also include a meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong with discussions to include securing trade in essential supplies, covering diesel and liquefied natural gas.
"I am looking forward to a constructive meeting with Prime Minister Lawrence Wong tomorrow. This is an important relationship. We have spent four years building relationships, particularly with ASEAN leaders. Prime Minister Wong in Singapore - the relationship that we have is a critical one."
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Federal opposition leader Angus Taylor is calling on the Albanese government to implement a fuel dashboard to update Australians on fuel supplies.
The call come after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned that supply disruptions would continue, even if a ceasefire in Iran holds.
Mr Taylor says Australians need to know exactly how much fuel the country has - and how much is on the way.
"If you don't measure the crisis. You can't manage the crisis, and this government has failed to be transparent about where we sit. They have more information than anyone about how many vessels are coming to the country, what stocks we have in hand across the terminals across this country, where our service stations sit. We see these farcical press conferences. We just need a dashboard with the information there available to farmers."
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New research from the International Monetary Fund has revealed that war is the most damaging form of economic shock.
The research shows that losses to economic output as a result of conflict typically exceed those resulting from financial crises or natural disasters, with the economic consequences often lasting longer.
While countries directly involved in wars face higher costs, the research shows ripple effects reach far and wide.
Political risk analyst and Eurasia Group President Ian Bremmer says even if the war ends now, the costs will be immense.
"If the war really ends now, if the ceasefire sticks, and we're able to see a beginning of reconstruction of the damage that's been done in the region, I think we might end up looking at a total economic cost of about, let's say, 20 per cent of the global pandemic. So very significant, but something that we'll be able to live through in a year's time, for example."
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To sport and in athletics,
Australian middle-distance star Peter Bol is vowing to go one better - and finally claim his first Commonwealth Games gold medal.
The 2022 800-metre silver medallist in Birmingham, Bol will be out to crown himself as a national champion at the Australian athletics championships in Sydney. That would seal his spot at this year's Glasgow Games.
The 32-year-old has already shown glimpses of his best, kicking off the year by clocking one minute 43.89 seconds at the Perth Track Classic - the fifth time he has broken the 1:44 barrier in the past 12 months.
He heads to Sydney Olympic Park this weekend, after finishing fourth at last month's world indoor championships in Poland.
