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TRANSCRIPT
- President Trump cancels talks in Iran, as US expands blockade of Strait of Hormuz
- Governments from around 50 countries meet to discuss move away from fossil fuels
- In NRL, the Storm suffers a record loss against the Rabbitohs
US President Donald Trump has cancelled a trip to Pakistan by two US envoys who had planned to talk about the war in Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi had earlier left Islamabad without signs of a breakthrough in talks with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other senior officials.
In a social media post, Mr Trump says he called off the planned visit by his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, citing what he said was tremendous confusion within the Iranian leadership.
"You probably heard we cancelled the trip. We have all the cards, we're not going to spend 17 hours in aeroplanes all the time going back and forth to be giving a document that wasn't good enough. And so we'll deal by telephone and they can call us anytime they want. Again, we have all the cards. They have no military left, practically, they have no leaders left. We don't know who the leaders are."
Iran has ruled out a new round of direct talks with the United States; and an Iranian diplomatic source says Tehran would not accept "maximalist demands" from the US.
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The United States says its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz will expand with a second aircraft carrier arriving in the Gulf.
Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says the miltary is prepared to deal with any Iranian ships that "recklessly and irresponsibly" lay more mines.
He says President Trump has authorised the United States Navy to destroy any Iranian fast boats that attempt to put mines in the water or disrupt passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
Pete Hegseth says the United States is in control of the corridor.
"No one sails from the Strait of Hormuz to anywhere in the world without the permission of the United States Navy. To the regime in Tehran, the blockade is tightening by the hour. We are in control. Nothing in, nothing out."
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Governments from around 50 countries are meeting in Colombia’s Caribbean city of Santa Marta for a summit aimed at accelerating the shift away from fossil fuels.
The conference, co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands, brings together ministers, sub-national governments, academics and civil society groups to discuss how to move beyond oil, gas and coal.
Organisers say the gathering is intended to open space for a politically sensitive debate that has long been avoided in international climate negotiations.
Nick Robins, from the World Resources Institute, says there is growing frustration that decades of UN climate negotiations have failed to directly address fossil fuel production — the main driver of global warming,
"At last year's COP, we had a number of the big fossil fuel countries who were saying, no, we do not want to go forward on action on fossil fuels. And so, in a sense, you need to have these other tracks where you do have leaders coming together to make progress. And that actually can then help inspire this broader process. And what I like is that the Santa Marta process is for the speedboats. These are the people who want to go quickly, and the COPs are the sort of convoys, going slowly."
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National President of the RSL says he's mystifed about the motivations of those who booed and heckled during Anzac Day dawn services.
Services in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth were interrupted during Acknowledgment of Country and Welcome to Country speeches.
Police in Sydney charged a 24-year-old man for an alleged act of nuisance.
He was granted bail and will appear in court in June.
RSL National President Peter Tinley says he doesn't understand the basis for the interruptions.
"Yeah, I'm mystified, completely mystified and appalled, quite frankly that on this one day it was the opportunity for us to come together and reflect on what it is to be Australian and how enjoyable this country is that some people would feel the need to make a statement like that. I'm quite confused as to what that statement is, quite frankly. It's not clear to me."
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And to sport, in the NRL, the Storm have suffered a record loss against the Rabbitohs.
The Storm were steamrolled 48-6 by a ruthless South Sydney, who ran in nine tries to one in their Anzac Day clash to claim their first ever win in Melbourne.
The Storm were down 24-0 at half-time, committing seven errors and completing just 12 of 19 sets.
Slumping to their sixth-straight loss for the first time on his watch, coach Craig Bellamy says it was the "most embarrassed" he'd been in his football career, which covers 613 matches as NRL coach and 150 as a Canberra player.
Melbourne captain Harry Grant issued a strong defence of Bellamy, saying he has buy-in of the players.
"Look, he is a modest guy and he is probably going to look to himself for these results. But at the end of the day, no one works harder than Craig. No one works harder than Craig. You come into the club every morning and he is in here working."
