The US Navy has denied reports of food shortages on board two major vessels participating in the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Yesterday USA Today reported crew aboard the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli were not getting enough to eat.

One photo taken by a Marine showed a mostly empty lunch tray with a single scoop of shredded meat and one tortilla.

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Another showed a meal of a handful of boiled carrots, a meat patty and another piece of processed meat.

Neither would be considered enough to satisfy an average person's appetite.

But the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations has issued a statement denying the reports.

"Recent reports alleging food shortages and poor quality aboard our deployed ships are false," the statement read.

"The US Navy possesses an unmatched logistics capability to sustain operations at sea, and routine menu adjustments are simply how we optimise our endurance to keep our warships in the fight."

Parcels from family members, including food and other supplies, have also not been delivered.

But the Navy announced this morning they had lifted the hold on mail.

"Regarding mail and personal packages, a temporary hold on sending mail into theatre, due to combat operations, has been lifted," the statement read.

"Our logistical network is highly adaptable, and we remain committed to supporting our warfighters as they execute Operation Epic Fury."

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Democratic congressman Mike Levin expressed his anger in a post on Bluesky.

"This is completely unacceptable and Congress must investigate," Levin said.

 "Service members aboard the USS Tripoli and USS Abraham Lincoln are rationing food and going without fresh produce."

Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth described the reports as "more fake news from the Pharisee Press".

"My team confirmed the logistics stats for the Lincoln & Tripoli. Both have 30+ days of Class I supplies (food) on board," he said.

"Our sailors deserve — and receive — the best."

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Hegseth has begun to refer to the media as Pharisees, after the group of Jewish religious leaders now remembered as instigating the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

The reports have drawn the mockery of Iranian officials on social media.

"They want the sailors to use the toilets less!" the Iranian Embassy in the UK wrote.

The tweet seemed to reference toilet problems suffered by aircraft carrier the USS Gerald R Ford.

The USS Ford was beset by sewage problems that led to daily 45-minute queues for people wanting to use the toilet.

The carrier, with 5000 crew aboard, had been at sea since last June before being taken to Greece for repairs after a fire in the laundry facility last month.

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The NZ women’s side surged from 14-5 down at halftime to score five unanswered tries.

Donald Trump may have arranged himself a 11-figure payday after his own tax office signalled they would settle a lawsuit with him.

The US president and two of his sons have sued the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for $US10 billion ($14 billion) after his tax information was leaked to the media in 2018 and 2020.

Today both Trump and the IRS asked a court to grant a 90-day extension so they could resolve the matter.

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"The extension will promote judicial economy and allow the Parties to explore avenues that could narrow or resolve the issues efficiently," the statement to court read.

Given the president has appointed the senior staff at the IRS and the Department of Treasury and has the power to fire them, the lawsuit has raised the ire of ethics watchdogs.

One such group, Democracy Forward, has filed a brief opposing the lawsuit.

Democracy Forward CEO Skye Perryman said Trump was "seeking to further illegally line his own pockets at the public's expense".

"The president's corruption continues, this time in an attempt to take $10 billion dollars of the taxpayers' money, which threatens to make a mockery out of our justice system," Perryman said.

"Not only does the president's baseless case have significant legal defects, but there are colossal conflicts of interest at play."

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Trump had already claimed to have won the lawsuit in the days after it was filed.

"Essentially, the lawsuit's been won. I guess I won a lotta money," he said.

A former IRS contractor has already been jailed over the leak, which exposed Trump's claims of incredible business success to be in part, false.

Some years Trump paid nothing in taxes because of the vast amount of money he had lost in bad investments.

The year he ran for president he paid barely $1000 in taxes.

In February Trump suggested he might make a contribution to charity with the money he was getting from the taxpayer.

"We could make it a substantial amount," he said.

"Nobody would care because it's going to go to numerous very good charities."

Trump has a long history of promising money to charities and then not paying.

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Senator Elizabeth Warren has now introduced a bill that would stop Trump profiting from suing his own agency.

"Right out in the open, Donald Trump is suing his own IRS to try to steal $10 BILLION taxpayer dollars," she said on Bluesky.

"I just introduced a bill that would make this theft ILLEGAL."

The subject of Trump's tax returns has been a long running source of scrutiny and criticism.

Presidential candidates have for decades released their tax returns to the public.

In 2016, Trump broke that tradition on the justification that he was being audited.

There is no legal reason why a person being audited cannot do so.

Ten years later, he has still not voluntarily released any tax returns. 

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Occupants woke about 4.30am to find an unknown man inside their home.

A coroner is investigating 19 deaths in an inquiry that has been running since last year.

Australia's food system is under pressure as global tensions ripple into paddocks, with farmers already cutting back on planting and warning of higher supermarket prices.

At the centre is a supply chain few shoppers have had to think about – until now.

Fertiliser and diesel, both essential to modern agriculture, are transported through shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz.

When movement through that corridor slows, costs climb, and availability narrows, leaving farmers weighing up whether they can afford to plant at all.

Chef, farmer and author Matthew Evans said the current crisis has laid bare just how vulnerable Australia is.

"What's happening right now is a wake-up call," Evans said.

"Our entire food system relies on imported fertiliser and diesel. When that gets disrupted, everything gets more expensive, and that flows straight through to supermarket prices."

New figures from AUSVEG show more than a quarter of vegetable growers have already reduced or halted planting.

The impact won't be exclusive to farms. Tighter supply later in the year is likely to push up prices for everyday staples like bread, pasta and beer – not just fresh produce.

Toowoomba grazier and agricultural services system DIT AgTech founder Mark Peart said farmers are already adjusting their operations to stay afloat.

"Some are cutting back on fertiliser use, some are reducing stock numbers, and others are delaying or rethinking parts of their operation because the cost of diesel and inputs has become so unpredictable," he said.

Peart said uncertainty is driving those decisions, with farmers often unsure what they'll be paying or if supplies will arrive on time.

"We're also seeing a move towards efficiency – farmers are looking at ways to use less diesel, reduce labour and get more out of what they're already doing," he said.

Cutting costs can only go so far in a system built on imported fertiliser and fuel.

University of Sydney senior economics lecturer Chandana Maitra said the problem sits at the core of how Australian farms, with urea – a nitrogen-rich compound used in fertilisers – and diesel both sourced from overseas.

When shipping routes run into trouble, fertiliser becomes harder to secure. At the same time, higher fuel costs run through every stage of farming, cutting output and lifting prices.

Australia relies on imported fertiliser, much of which moves through key shipping routes such as the Strait of Hormuz, a critical global chokepoint.

The result can be broader price pressures across the economy. If sustained, this may delay interest rate cuts or keep inflation elevated for longer.

The Middle East is also an important market for some Australian agricultural exports. Ongoing instability could weigh on export earnings, while disruptions to fuel and fertiliser markets continue to drive up costs at home.

Evans said the focus now should be on how the nation responds.

"This might be the moment that finally forces us to rethink how we grow food," he said.

"Because it doesn't have to be this way."

China's move toward electrified transport and logistics shows how quickly systems can change across industries. With less diesel in the mix, its urban transport and delivery networks are less exposed when oil prices spike.

For Australian farmers, attention is now turning to the winter planting window – a key period that will determine supply later in the year.

Many are already scaling back after successive shocks, including COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine, both of which drove up fertiliser prices.

"At some point, you have to ask, how many times do we need to learn the same lesson?" Evans said.

Evans sees an opportunity at the farm gate. Healthier soils, using less fertiliser and a wider mix of crops can ease the burden on farmers in the long haul.

"It's small, practical changes that reduce costs, improve soil, and make farms less dependent on expensive inputs," he said.

Australia still produces enough food to feed three times its population and exports most of what it grows – a strong position, though one Evans said won't hold without adapting to volatile markets.

"We have the land, the knowledge and the people. What we need now is to apply that knowledge in a way that makes us less exposed to global shocks."

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Exclusive: As Prince Harry and Meghan's whirlwind Australia tour comes to an end there's one detail most Australians can agree on, according to an exclusive survey.

And it's that none of it should have been funded by taxpayers.

Some of the couple's policing costs came out of the public's pocket despite their trip being labelled as private, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

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Nearly 90 per cent of the 904 readers nine.com.au surveyed said it never should have been allowed.

"I find it almost obscene that the Australian taxpayer is funding any part of the visit when so many families are struggling," one told nine.com.au.

"They make more than enough money to cover their own expenses," said another.

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Only six per cent were on board with taxpayer money going towards the pair's policing costs.

"Police are used to protect most high end celebrities, I don't see why Meghan and Harry's tour is any different," one said.

This has been, at least in part, a money-making venture for the couple.

But most nine.com.au readers said they wouldn't pay to see Harry or Meghan, both of whom had ticketed event appearances on their Australian agenda.

Harry was the keynote speaker at the InterEdge summit, where tickets were priced at up to $2400 per person.

He is not believed to have been paid for the appearance, the Press Association reported.

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Meghan appeared at a women's only retreat hosted by Her Best Life podcast yesterday, where tickets ranged from $2699 to $3199.

She was paid, but sources claim it was only a nominal fee.

Either way, only two per cent of nine.com.au readers said they'd be willing to pay to attend either event.

One per cent were undecided, while the other 97 per cent were firmly against it.

The story might have been different had Harry and Meghan not stepped down from their roles as senior working royals back in 2020.

More than half of nine.com.au readers are still in favour of using taxpayer money to fund official royal tours, like if the Prince and Princess of Wales came to Australia.

"William and Kate are still working royals, so on official business the tax payer should pay," one person said.

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Another added that royals like Harry and Meghan who have stood down from official duties should have to "pay their own way".

Even so, close to 40 per cent were opposed to using taxpayer money for any royal visits and insisted all royals – regardless of status – should fund their own trips Down Under.

The nine.com.au poll, which runs once a fortnight, canvases the views of the Nine audience on 9Nation, which is an online community of our readers and viewers.

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Property sellers in Australia are facing another anxious week of auctions as the economic fallout from the Iran war continues to spook buyers about bidding.

Experts say prospective purchasers are playing a "waiting game" before bidding on a new home, leaving the vendors who must sell stranded.

Data from property research company Cotality shows across the combined capital cities the auction clearance rate is tracking below 60 per cent. It rose slightly from the Easter long weekend's 55 per cent to 57 per cent last week.

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Sydney and Melbourne feeling impact

The impact of falling buyer interest has been most markedly felt in the country's two biggest markets – Sydney and Melbourne.

Cotality Australia's head of research Gerard Burg says they are now "moving towards being buyer markets", with many vendors pulling their properties from auction, or delaying putting them under the hammer.

Current national clearance rates are at their lowest for 15 months, for outside quieter public holiday periods.

In Sydney and Melbourne last week they were 54 per cent and 57 per cent, respectively.

About 2650 homes across Australia are scheduled for auction this week. Both Sydney and Melbourne have more than 1000 homes going under the hammer.

The unseasonal plunge in clearance rates comes after two consecutive interest rate hikes curtailed buyers' budgets. There are also worries a third may be on the cards when the Reserve Bank board meets to fix rates next month.

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Rates worry buyers

It all adds to the economic fallout from the Iran conflict which has seen spikes in the cost of fuel and other essentials hammer household budgets.

Now the concern is approaching months may bring a winter of discontent for the property market instead of a mid-year revival.

Brett Sutton, a mortgage broker at Two Red Shoes in Sydney, says the weeks ahead look uncertain.

"What we're seeing is not a complete slowdown or stop to the market, but people being cautious," he said.

But the prospect of a "subdued" winter for home sales across suburbs remains while the Iran war lasts, he says.

Another factor impacting sales is property investors pulling back amid reports about changes to the capital gains tax and negative gearing in next month's federal budget.

"Those investors who are thinking of purchasing for capital gains reasons are probably sitting and watching now."

Industry experts say the fundamentals of the Australian property market remain strong, especially in many capital cities where demand outstrips supply. But they say vendors should be prepared to accept lower auction prices if they need to sell now.

Other capitals look rosier

Burg says the national outlook is less gloomy, with Perth and Brisbane the bright spots.

Properties in the WA capital are selling in a median time of nine days, while Brisbane homes go in about 17 days.

Adelaide has been the strongest performing of the smaller capital cities. Last week, the South Australian capital recorded an auction clearance rate of 70 per cent.

Looking ahead, Sutton says the Reserve Bank's policy on interest rates over coming months will have a big impact on buyer's spending power.

Static property prices and higher rates would create a perfect storm of barriers for anyone looking to purchase a home, he says.

"It will be just that much harder to buy."

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What makes a photo stand out when so many of us have become desensitised to images of war and suffering?

Emotion, according to Gold Walkley Award-winning photojournalist and Sydney Morning Herald chief photographer Kate Geraghty.

"It creates a conversation," she told nine.com.au in an interview to mark the paper's 195th anniversary.

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"In the sense that someone walking past sees the newspaper and the image will stop them in their tracks," she said.

"They want to know more. They want to know what's happening.

"That is what makes a good photograph."

She should know.

Geraghty has been photographing war zones and disasters, both natural and man-made, for 25 years at the Herald.

Her first assignment was the 2002 Bali bombings.

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The following year she went to Iraq and became the first woman at the Herald to photograph war.

In the decades since, she's taken the Australian public inside the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the wreckage of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, and conflicts across the Middle East and Europe through the lens of her camera.

Her job often involves months of careful planning and coordination, which can go out the window in a split-second when missiles start firing.

"The nature of war is so fluid that you just have to roll with the punches, and just document what's happening," she said.

"But really, at the end of the day, none of these challenges is anything compared to the civilian population and what they're going through."

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Geraghty has seen the aftermath of some of the worst natural disasters of this century.

She has seen war and executions.

In those moments, she feels the responsibility to document what she's witnessing exactly as it happens.

Some might think it a burden.

To Geraghty, it's a privilege.

Because while journalists in war zones are protected under international humanitarian law (at least, they're supposed to be), civilians are not.

Some even risk their own safety and the safety of their loved ones just to speak with members of the press.

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And when they do speak, it's not about global politics or academic opinions – it's to ask the same questions anyone would in the face of such horror.

Has my house been bombed? Have my family members been killed? How do I protect my child? Am I going to die?

"We have been in situations where, in the absence of a justice system, you know that you're documenting war crimes," Geraghty said.

"And people will tell you the most horrific things that have happened to them and show you evidence of that, because they want to tell the world what's happened."

She considers it an honour to document those stories and get them out to the world.

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Though sometimes just getting them out of the room is the biggest battle.

In 2010, Geraghty was covering the Gaza Freedom Flotilla and captured the moment when it was raided by Israeli soldiers in international waters.

At least nine people were killed and Geraghty was attacked with a stun gun, then detained by Israel before being deported.

Getting her photos out was no easy task.

"Hiding the the images while you were in a prison, and then smuggling them out … that was hard," she said.

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As is being on assignment in war zones like Afghanistan or Ukraine,

Just last month Geraghty was in Lebanon, capturing the destruction as Israel attacked.

Four words guided her through that assignment.

"It's the first rule of journalism: it's not about us," she said.

"What I focus on is the people that we're meeting or documenting, telling their stories. That's what matters."

It's the same ethos that has has guided Geraghty through every assignment for the last 25 years.

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It's what guides every Herald photographer, from the publication's very first photojournalist George Bell, to current staff like Nick Moir and Edwina Pickles.

And it's why they have produced so many iconic images over the last 195 years.

Just look at Stuart MacGladrie's Vietnam war snaps, or Russell McPhedran's photos from the Munich Massacre.

Jacky Ghossein's pictures from inside Dadaab refugee camp, Moir's photos from Black Summer, or Pickles' Bondi Shooting coverage.

"The general public will drive away from bushfires, will do anything to get away from danger," Geraghty said.

"But photojournalists at the Herald, we've always gone towards it."

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Hundreds of photographers have worked at the paper in the 195 years since its first issue was published and one trait links them all over nearly two centuries.

"We all embody the same thing: passion and dedication to telling the story," Geraghty said.

"That's a legacy that everyone should be proud of."

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Iran said on Friday it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels, but US President Donald Trump said the American blockade on Iranian ships and ports "will remain in full force" until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X that the crucial waterway, through which about 20 per cent of the world's oil is shipped, was now fully open to commercial vessels, as a 10-day truce between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon appeared to hold.

Trump initially celebrated the Iranian announcement, posting on social media that the strait was "fully open and ready for full passage." But minutes later, he issued another post saying the US Navy's blockade would continue "UNTIL SUCH TIME AS OUR TRANSACTION WITH IRAN IS 100% COMPLETE."

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The president also said Iran, with help from the US, is working to remove all mines from the strait.

Trump imposed the blockade earlier this week after Iran restricted traffic through the strait due to fighting in Lebanon, which Iran claimed was a breach of the Pakistan-brokered ceasefire reached between the US, Israel and Iran.

At the time, Trump said the blockade would enforce an "all or none" policy in hopes of pressuring Iran to reopen the strait.

The president's decision to continue the blockade despite Iran's announcement appeared aimed at sustaining pressure on Tehran as the fate of the two-week ceasefire reached last week remained uncertain. The ceasefire has paused almost seven weeks of war between Israel, the US and Iran.

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Direct talks between the US and Iran last weekend were inconclusive, as the two nations could not come to agreement about Iran's nuclear program and other points.

Iranian media challenge announcement about Strait of Hormuz

Two semi-official news agencies in Iran seemed to challenge Araghchi's announcement about the strait.

Considered close with Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard, the Fars news agency issued a series of posts on X criticising what it said was a lack of clarity over the decision to reopen the waterway and a "strange silence from the Supreme National Security Council and the negotiating team."

Iran's Supreme National Security Council has recently acted as the country's de facto top decision-making body, amid doubts over the status of the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who was reportedly wounded early in the war.

The Mehr news agency also said the decision to reopen the strait needed "clarification" and required the supreme leader's approval.

Oil tumbles 10 per cent and the Dow soars more than 1,000 points

Oil prices fell by 10 per cent, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 1020 points after Iran said the Strait of Hormuz is fully open, which would allow oil tankers to exit the Persian Gulf again and carry crude to customers worldwide.

The S&P 500 jumped 1.3 per cent in morning trading on Friday as US stocks race toward the finish of a third straight week of big gains. The Nasdaq composite climbed 1.5 per cent.

Stocks have rallied 12 per cent since late March on hopes that the United States and Iran can avoid a worst-case scenario for the global economy.

Macron and Starmer welcome Strait of Hormuz opening but say it must be permanent

The leaders of France and the UK have welcomed the announced reopening of the Strait of Hormuz but say it must become permanent.

President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Keir Starmer say they will keep planning an international mission to restore maritime security, with a meeting of military planners in London next week.

Speaking after a gathering of some 50 countries, Macron said, "We all demand the full, immediate and unconditional reopening of the Strait of Hormuz by all parties."

Starmer said the announcement by Iran and the US that the waterway is open must become "both lasting and a workable proposal."

He said France and the UK will lead a multinational mission to safeguard shipping "as soon as conditions allow."

The Paris meeting is part of attempts by sidelined nations to ease the impact of a conflict they didn't start and haven't joined, but that has sent the global economy reeling.

Petroleum prices soared after the war started on February 28, when Iran effectively shut the narrow strait through which a fifth of the world's oil usually passes.

The US is not part of the planning for what has been branded the Strait of Hormuz Maritime Freedom of Navigation Initiative, which Macron said would be "a neutral mission, entirely separate from the belligerents to escort and secure the merchant ships transiting the Gulf."

Celebrations in Beirut

In Beirut, celebratory gunshots rang out at the start of the truce. Displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs despite warnings by officials not to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.

The Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon had reported sporadic artillery shelling in some parts of southern Lebanon in the hours after the ceasefire took effect.

An Israeli strike in the area of Kounine hit a car and a motorcycle, killing one person and wounding three, including a Syrian citizen, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Friday. It was the first airstrike and first fatality reported since the truce took effect.

There was no immediate response from the Israeli army or Hezbollah.

According to the agreement shared by the State Department, Israel can act in self-defence against imminent attacks but cannot carry out offensive operations against southern Lebanon.

Trump heralded the deal as a "historic day for Lebanon" and expressed confidence the war with Iran would soon end.

"I will say the war in Iran is going along swimmingly," Trump said in Las Vegas. "It should be ending pretty soon."

An end to Israel's war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking the current ceasefire with strikes on Lebanon. Israel said that deal did not cover Lebanon.

The fighting has killed at least 3000 people in Iran, more than 2290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen US service members have also been killed.

Israel says it will keep troops in Lebanon

Israel's hard-line Defence Minister Israel Katz warned on Friday that Israel plans to respect the ceasefire even though attempts to completely disarm Hezbollah in southern Lebanon are "not yet complete". Katz said that Israel would continue to hold all the places it is currently stationed, including a buffer zone extending 10 kilometres from the border with Israel into southern Lebanon. He said that many homes in the area would be destroyed and Lebanese residents will not return to the area.

Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he agreed to the ceasefire "to advance" peace efforts with Lebanon, but also said Israeli troops would not withdraw.

Israeli forces have engaged in fierce battles with Hezbollah in the border area as they pushed into southern Lebanon to create what officials have called a "security zone".

"That is where we are, and we are not leaving," he said.

Hezbollah has said that Lebanese people have "the right to resist" Israeli occupation of their land and that their actions "will be determined based on how developments unfold".

The US State Department said that according to the agreement, Israel reserves the right to defend itself "at any time, against planned, imminent or ongoing attacks". But otherwise, Israel "will not carry out any offensive military operations against Lebanese targets, including civilian, military, and other state targets".

Trump announced the agreement as a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, but a Hezbollah official said the ceasefire was a result of negotiations between the US and Iran. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak publicly.

Israel and Hezbollah have fought several wars and have been fighting on and off since the day after the start of the Gaza war. Israel and Lebanon reached a deal to end that war in November 2024, but Israel has kept up near-daily strikes in what it says is an effort to prevent the Iran-backed militant group from regrouping. That escalated into another invasion after Hezbollah again began firing missiles at Israel in response to its war on Iran.

Flurry of diplomacy led up to Lebanon ceasefire

The agreement came after a meeting between Israel's and Lebanon's ambassadors in Washington and a flurry of subsequent phone calls from Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to a White House official.

They were the first direct diplomatic talks between the two countries in decades. Hezbollah had opposed direct talks between Lebanon and Israel.

Trump spoke Wednesday evening with Netanyahu, who agreed to a ceasefire with certain terms, according to the official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Rubio then called Lebanon's president, Joseph Aoun, who got on board. Trump then spoke with Aoun, and again with Netanyahu.

The State Department worked with both governments to formulate a memorandum of understanding for the truce.

Pakistan army chief meets with Iranian parliament speaker

Pakistan's army chief met Thursday with Iran's parliament speaker as part of efforts to press for an extension to a ceasefire that has paused almost seven weeks of war between Israel, the US and Iran.

Even as the US blockade on Iranian ports and renewed Iranian threats strained the ceasefire, regional officials reported progress, telling AP the United States and Iran had an "in-principle agreement" to extend it to allow for more diplomacy. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations.

Mediators are pushing for a compromise on three main sticking points: Iran's nuclear program, the Strait of Hormuz and compensation for wartime damages, according to a regional official involved in the mediation efforts.

Trump suggested the ceasefire could be extended.

"If we're close to a deal, would I extend?" Trump said in an exchange with reporters. "Yeah, I would do that."

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