It took 48 hours but just one tiny window of opportunity for five Iranian footballers to make their fateful escape from handlers and successfully seek asylum in Australia overnight.

Fatemeh Pasandideh, Zahra Ghanbari, Zahra Sarbali, Atefeh Ramazanzadeh, and Mona Hamoudi were assisted by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in a dramatic midnight mission on Queensland's Gold Coast as most of Australia slept.

Their desperate bid for freedom came to a triumphant end when Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke granted the players humanitarian visas at 1.30am – a secret meeting that sealed their fate while most of Australia slept.

But the plans had been laid well before Burke signed the dotted line and before it was accused of dragging their feet by Australian activist Drew Pavlou and US President Donald Trump.

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The players feared jail or death upon their return to Iran, besieged by the US-led strikes and under a fresh ayatollah regime, after being eliminated from the 2026 Women's Asia Cup.

Concerns had grown for the footballers since Sunday night when it was claimed at one of the women made "a sign for help" as the team bus left Gold Coast Stadium at the end of their Asia Cup campaign.

The players also feared for their safety after being labelled traitors for not singing the national anthem during a game against South Korea.

Burke's office had declined to comment on the matter before now, citing the sensitivity of the issues involved.

The calls for the Australian government to step in and grant asylum to the team then hit boiling point when Trump joined the fray with a post on Truth Social about 1.15am AEDT.

"Don't do it Mr Prime Minister, give ASYLUM. The U.S. will take them if you won't," Trump wrote, before sharing Pavlou's post which claimed the government had to be "dragged kicking and screaming" to grant the women protection.

It appears efforts to help the football players flee Iranian persecution began days before Prime Minister Anthony Albanese admonished for making a "terrible humanitarian decision" by Trump.

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Here is how the past 48 hours unfolded.

Burke flew to Brisbane on Sunday evening to speak with the team members who had expressed a desire to stay in Australia.

The players had been due to fly back home to Iran yesterday, but did not emerge from their hotel to travel the airport as planned.

It wasn't until late last night that the women broke away from their handlers and were moved to a safe location by the AFP.

The exact circumstances of their escape is unclear – sources previously told SBS News that the women were not able to walk around the hotel unaccompanied and were escorted to a conference room to eat meals.

By 1.30am today, the humanitarian visas were officially granted by Burke.

EXCLUSIVE: Andy paid his parking fine, only to be slapped with another $130 fine

https://www.instagram.com/p/DVqccXtDX9D/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=8a6ad04d-b1db-467c-b614-47b93f171901

"I signed off last night for their applications to go onto humanitarian visas and a little bit after 1.30am this morning the processing was completed by the Department of Home Affairs," Burke said.

Albanese later confirmed that Trump called him just before 2am and the pair had a "very positive discussion".

During that call, the PM delicately explained to Trump that the wheels had already been in motion before his public intervention.

"He was concerned about the Iranian women in the football team and their welfare and their safety if they returned home," the PM told reporters.

"I was able to convey to him the action that we'd taken over the previous 48 hours and that five [members] of the team had asked for assistance and had received it and were safely located."

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At around 3am, Trump returned to Truth Social to shower Albanese with praise.

"He's on it!" Trump wrote. "Five have already been taken care of, and the rest are on their way.

"Some, however, feel they must go back because they are worried about the safety of their families, including threats to those family members if they don't return.

"In any event, the Prime Minister is doing a very good job having to do with this rather delicate situation."

By 7am today, Burke had re-emerged and offered details of his long night in Queensland.

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"They're welcome to stay in Australia, they're safe here, and feel at home here," Burke told reporters today.

"There has been a lot of work that's been going on in recent days to make sure that we had the maximum number of opportunities for these women to know that they could seek assistance if they wanted to and to have maximum number of opportunities to directly seek that assistance.

"This is my second night here in Brisbane, I was here the night before as well, and at that point we had conversations happening with some of the women but we didn't know whether any would seek assistance."

The remaining members of the team will be offered assistance if they ask for it, he added.

"We realise they are in a terribly difficult situation with the decisions that they're making, but the opportunity will continue to be there for them to talk to Australian officials if they wish to," Burke said.

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The wife of an American teacher killed in a student prank gone wrong wants all charges against the teens involved dropped.

A group of teenagers went to Jason Hughes' home in Gainesville, Georgia on Friday night (Saturday afternoon AEDT) armed with rolls of toilet paper to throw over trees, the New York Times reports.

The 40-year-old, a teacher at North Hall High School, knew the good-natured prank was coming, and went outside to catch them in the act but reportedly slipped and fell in the rain just as the teens were leaving the scene in two cars.

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Hughes was run over by one of the cars and died.

Hall County Sheriff's office have now charged 18-year-old Jayden Ryan Wallace with homicide by vehicle in the first degree, criminal trespass, reckless driving and littering.

The sheriff's office confirmed to the Times that Wallace did stop and attempt to give his teacher first aid but could not revive him.

Another four teens were also charged with misdemeanours, criminal trespass and littering.

In a statement viewed by the Times, Hughes' wife Laura, who is also a teacher at North Hall, said her husband was not going to confront the students, but was "excited and waiting to catch them in the act".

She said the family supports all charges being dropped.

"This is a terrible tragedy, and our family is determined to prevent a separate tragedy from occurring, ruining the lives of these students," Hughes said.

"This would be counter to Jason's lifelong dedication of investing in the lives of these children."

The superintendent of the school district reportedly released a statement in praise of the late teacher and coach.

"Jason Hughes was a loving husband, a devoted father; a passionate teacher, mentor, and coach who was loved and respected by students and colleagues," Will Schofield.

"He gave so much to so many in numerous ways as he faithfully served God.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to his wife and family."

Have you ever wanted to send a text about orcas or Bigfoot or trombones only to find you have to do it using words instead of pictures?

Well, there's good news for you, with the latest batch of emojis released by Apple.

They include a ballet dancer, a rockslide, a treasure chest and what is described as a "distorted face".

READ MORE: Apple's latest iPhone is designed for those clinging onto older phones

There is also a "fight cloud", an emoji you might drop into a heated group chat in the hopes of easing the tension.

The update will also include the option of changing skin tones for a pair of existing emojis – people wrestling or people with bunny ears.

While these graphics have been released by Apple, they are just the iPhone designs of the ones approved by the Unicode Consortium.

The Unicode Consortium is a global public body formed in part to ensure easy communication over devices made by different organisations.

Every year the non-profit meets to decide what emojis will be added to phones all over the world.

This year's emojis were determined last year but Apple's designs have only now been unveiled.

"Every year, new characters including emoji are added to the Unicode Standard and after a lot of paperwork are added to your device of choice," the Consortium said in a statement.

"These new emoji have long standing symbolic meanings, are visually distinctive, and contain multitudes of expression."

Apparently far more prepared, Google revealed their own designs of the emojis the same day they were approved by the Consortium.

They are more or less identical to the Apple designs, but with the slightest style differences.

Anybody can submit a suggestion to the Consortium to have their emoji considered for inclusion.

Not allowed are logos, brands, specific people, specific buildings, deities or images protected by third-party IP rights.

This year's emojis will become available with the new iOS 26.4 operating system. 

Next time you update your phone, it might be there.

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Overnight Donald Trump was vociferously demanding Australia grant asylum to a group of Iranian footballers.

But the president's demands come in spite of his administration deporting many asylum seekers back to Iran.

As the federal government was speaking with the five women, the president was speaking out via his social media website Truth Social.

READ MORE: 'They are safe': Five Iranian footballers granted asylum

"Australia is making a terrible humanitarian mistake by allowing the Iran National Woman's Soccer team to be forced back to Iran, where they will most likely be killed," he wrote.

"Don't do it, Mr. Prime Minister, give ASYLUM. The US will take them if you won't."

Not all Iranian asylum seekers get the same treatment in the USA.

A report written by Senate Democrats earlier this year discussed the US negotiating with Iran to take back those seeking to flee the regime.

"While distinct from third country deportations, the Administration has shown that in pursuit of its deportation agenda, it is even willing to cut deals with adversarial governments like Iran," the report read.

"Under secretive arrangements, the Administration has forcibly deported Iranians, including vulnerable individuals such as religious minorities and political dissidents."

The report claimed the Trump administration had struck a deal with Iran to deport 400 Iranians over the coming months.

READ MORE: 'God bless Australia!' Trump's praise after late-night call with Albanese

"The Administration has sent at least three plane-loads of Iranians back to Iran, including Christian converts, ethnic minorities and political dissidents who could face persecution or torture," the report said.

"At least eight people from the first flight begged not to be sent to Iran because they were scared for their lives."

The administration deported asylum seekers to Iran even after a crackdown on protesters last month that led to the deaths of thousands of dissidents.

According to CNN, 14 Iranians were deported on the flight, but dozens more were not allowed to board because they had been exposed to measles.

Among those not allowed to board were two gay men who faced execution in Iran.

That flight predates America's attack on Iran which began on February 28.

As Trump called for the footballers to be granted asylum, one of his most vocal backers in Congress is copping flak for his comments on Muslims.

"Muslims don't belong in American society," Tennessee Representative Andy Ogles said.

"Pluralism is a lie."

His comments sparked a strong backlash from Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

"Andy Ogles is a malignant clown and pathological liar who has fabricated his whole life story," he said.

"Disgusting Islamophobes like you do not belong in Congress or in civilised society."

Ogles had previously claimed to formerly be an economist and law enforcement officer, both of which were untrue.

The five Iranian footballers are currently under police protection.

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Tensions have flared about the state of Australia's fuel supply as the government and farmers appear to be at odds over the availability of diesel.

Employment Minister Amanda Rishworth insisted there had only been a "spike in demand" – not supply – while appearing on Today this morning, and said there was no reason for Australians to fear widespread shortages.

"Let's be really clear, there isn't an issue with supply when it comes to fuel," she said.

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In a heated debate with host Karl Stefanovic, she insisted reports on the contrary were false.

"The suggestion that there is a crisis in fuel supply in this country is incorrect," she said.

"We have more fuel in this country than in the last 15 years," she claimed, though Stefanovic was unconvinced.

"What planet are you living on?" he said.

"That is a complete fabrication."

READ MORE: 'They are safe': Five Iranian footballers granted asylum

Stefanovic's response came just an hour after a Queensland cattle farmer appeared on the show, saying he is beginning to worry about how his farm near Toowoomba will cope beyond this week if they do not receive fuel, and is questioning the decision being made into how fuel is getting distributed across the country.

"It's a little bit hard not to panic," farmer Layton Free said on Today.

"I know [they] say we have enough fuel, but how come we're not getting it?

"Is someone manipulating the supply or is it not here?"

Free said he was already having to make decisions on what tasks to carry out on his farm and which ones to delay due to the shortage of fuel he is experiencing.

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He stressed that he is not the only one in the situation, saying suppliers in his area are feeling the pinch as well.

"Our suppliers are telling us that they are struggling to get their supplies. Some are getting zero, some are getting up to 10 per cent of their supplies," Free said.

"It's basically rationed out, and we're relying on our suppliers to do the right thing to give that fuel to where it's really needed.

"They've got a really big responsibility on their shoulders too."

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Exclusive: A Sydney motorist was slapped with a $130 fine and told his licence would be suspended for failing to pay a parking fine – even though he had paid it in full.

Andy was fined $140 for overstaying a parking meter in Chatswood, on Sydney's Lower North Shore, in August last year.

He applied for a payment plan through Revenue NSW and was approved.

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Andy said he made four payments online and finished paying off the fine four days before the final payment was due.

He got the shock of his life when he received a letter in February saying the fine was still outstanding.

Have you got a story? Contact reporter Maddison Leach at our breaking newsletter here

New footage shows what an expert investigative group says is likely an American Tomahawk missile hitting a compound in southern Iran, metres from the school where a deadly unclaimed blast killed more than 165 people at the start of the war raging in the Middle East.

It comes as mounting evidence points to US culpability for the February 28 strike, which hit a school adjacent to a Revolutionary Guard base in Minab, Iran, in the country's southern Hormozgan Province. Experts interviewed by The Associated Press, citing satellite image analysis, say the school was probably struck amid a quick succession of bombs dropped on the compound.

A US official familiar with internal deliberations on the matter has told the AP that the strike was likely American. The official spoke anonymously because they were not authorised to comment publicly on the sensitive matter.

READ MORE: Trump says Australia must act after Iranian footballers escape handlers

The new footage, first analysed by the investigative group Bellingcat, was taken the day the school was struck but circulated on Sunday by Iran's semi-official Mehr news agency. It shows a missile hitting a building, sending a dark plume of smoke into the air.

The AP was able to geolocate the video and determine it was taken from a site adjacent to the school, while smoke was already rising from the school vicinity. Satellite imagery of the compound is consistent with visual identifiers found in the video, including a flat-roofed building, power lines and vehicles.

Trevor Ball, a Bellingcat researcher, identified the munition as a Tomahawk cruise missile — which only the US is known to possess in this war. It's the first evidence of a munition used in the strike.

US Central Command has acknowledged using Tomahawk missiles in this war and even released a photo of the USS Spruance, part of the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier group located within range of the school, firing a Tomahawk missile on February 28.

Bellingcat said the footage "appears to contradict" US President Donald Trump's claim that Iran was responsible for the deadly school blast. Neither the US military's Central Command nor the Israeli military immediately replied to requests for comment from the AP.

READ MORE: Who is Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new Supreme Leader?

When asked by a reporter on Saturday whether the US was responsible for the blast, which killed mostly children, Trump responded, without providing evidence: "No, in my opinion, based on what I've seen, that was done by Iran." Trump added that Iran is "very inaccurate" with its munitions. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth quickly chimed in to say the US was investigating.

Several other factors point to a US strike.

One is the launching of an assessment of the incident by the US military. According to the Pentagon's instructions on processes for mitigating civilian harm, an assessment is launched after a group of investigators make an initial determination that the US military may bear culpability.

Another is the location of the school — next to the Revolutionary Guard base and close to barracks for a naval unit. The US military has focused on naval targets and acknowledged strikes in the province, including one in the vicinity of the school. Israel, which has denied conducting the strike, has focused on areas of Iran closer to Israel and hasn't reported any strikes south of Isfahan, 800 kilometres away.

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Complicating any assessment of the incident is the lack of images of bomb fragments from the blast. No independent agency has reached the site during the war to investigate.

Janina Dill, an expert on international law at Oxford University, wrote on X that even if the strike was a misidentification — and the attacker believed that the school had been a part of the neighboring IRGC base — it would still be "a very serious violation of international law".

"Attackers are under an obligation to do everything feasible to verify the status of targeted object," she wrote.

The Trump administration, however, strikes a different tone on international humanitarian law.

Speaking about the US operation at a press conference March 2, Hegseth said: "America, regardless of what so-called international institutions say, is unleashing the most lethal and precise air power campaign in history."

"No stupid rules of engagement," he said. "No politically correct wars. We fight to win, and we don't waste time or lives."

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Police have pulled a schoolboy from the window of a car stuck in fast-moving floodwaters on a causeway at Bargara, near Bundaberg as flooding sweeps swathes of Queensland.

Two officers can be seen wading through fast-flowing thigh-deep water to the car, where they appear to pull the boy out and carry him to safety, in the video posted to a local community Facebook group 'Bargara Facebookers'.

Queensland Police have confirmed two people were removed from the car around 7.40am.

READ MORE: 'Crocs absolutely everywhere' amid devastating flooding in NT

The 54-year-old male driver has been fined $667 for driving without due care and attention.

The region is currently bearing the brunt of the tropical low that hammered north Queensland last week, with a severe weather warning by the Bureau of Meteorology predicting the area can expect six-hourly rainfall totals of up to 160mm.

The highest totals last night were 260mm at Brovinia, 190mm at Emerald and 184mm at Gympie.

Sunwater reports the amount of water spilling from Paradise Dam into the Burnett River has "significantly increased" and urged people downstream of the dam to monitor conditions.

Boondooma Dam is also spilling into the Boyne River.

The state's major arterial, the Bruce Highway, has been closed in both directions due to flooding at Takilberan near Gin Gin, while there is also water over the highway at Two Mile near Gympie. 

The full list of road closures is extensive, with the Burnett Highway also blocked in several places and dozens of roads closed across the Wide Bay and Burnett region and on the Sunshine Coast.

Police have urged motorists to check road conditions before driving and avoid driving in floodwaters, with several rescues unfolding across the state today.

A photo posted to social media shows a person sitting atop their submerged car at Boonara Creek on Murgon-Gayndah Road south of Booubyjan.

Police say he was first spotted around 6.50am and spent four hours atop the car before he was eventually rescued by swiftwater rescue crews around 10.45am.

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Just before midnight a woman was rescued from the roof of a Tesla at Peachester on the Sunshine Coast after calling triple zero.

Water had risen to the window, the car was floating and had drifted into trees.

People in the vicinity of Policemans Creek at Rubyvale were urged to move to higher ground and warn others immediately this morning in an emergency alert by Central Highlands Regional Council warning of an immediate threat to life and property.

Emergency flood watch and act warnings were also issued overnight and this morning for the South Burnett as well as Chinchilla, Jandowae and Sapphire, urging people to prepare for flash flooding and avoid driving.

In the south-east, the 24-hour rainfall total could reach around 250mm on already wet catchments.

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Video shows water cascading off Mt Coolum on the Sunshine Coast while the saturated ground has caused trees to come down across Brisbane.

The severe weather warning extends from Yeppoon and Rockhampton in the north, south through Emerald and Gladstone, into Bundaberg, and Gympie.

The rain is expected to continue throughout today and tonight before easing tomorrow as the low moves offshore.

Flood Warnings are current for: Burdekin downstream of Burdekin Falls Dam, Don and Proserpine, Pioneer, Connors, Isaac and Styx and Plane, Baffle, Kolan, Burnett, Burrum and Cherwell, Mary, Noosa, Upper Brisbane, Paroo, Nicholson, Upper Flinders, Lower Flinders, Norman, Georgina and Eyre, Diamantina, Thomson and Barcoo.

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A woman has been arrested after allegedly firing an AR-15-style rifle at Rihanna's Beverly Hills mansion while the popstar was inside.

The Los Angeles Police Department responded to reports of gunfire about 1.21pm (7.21pm AEDT) yesterday and took a 30-year-old woman into custody.

US media reported the woman allegedly fired several rounds that hit part of the property.

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The singer and businesswoman was home at the time of the shooting and was unharmed, the Los Angeles Times reported. 

It's unclear if anyone else was home.

Police told media that there will be more information released tomorrow. 

The singer shares three young children, three-year-old RZA, two-year-old Riot and almost six-month-old Rocki, with rapper and long-time partner A$AP Rocky.

The pair own several properties but are believed to primarily reside at Rihanna's home in the Beverly Crest area, an upscale suburb northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

A$AP, whose real name is Rakim Mayers, owned another home nearby that was raided in an investigation into claims he fired a gun at his former friend during an altercation in Hollywood in 2021.

READ MORE: Australia suffers $120 billion wipeout as oil prices skyrocket

He was facing more than 24 years in prison, but a 12-person jury found him not guilty of the charges in February 2025.

A$AP dove from the defence table after the verdict was read out in court to hug Rihanna, who was in tears.

In an Instagram story after, she said: "The glory belongs to God and God alone! Thankful, humbled by his mercy!"

Rihanna and A$AP have been friends for years before getting together in 2020.

"People don't get out of the friend zone very easily with me. And I certainly took a while to get over how much I know him and how much he knows me, because we also know how much trouble we can land each other in," Rihanna told Vogue in 2022.

"She was always my boo. I always had love for her," A$AP told the New York Times in January.

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About $90 billion has been wiped from the Australian sharemarket today due to surging oil prices and fears of a long war in Iran, and some experts fear the conditions could worsen.

The ASX200 index fell 2.9 per cent when the markets opened at 10am and continued to drop to a low of 4.3 per cent.

The market was on track for a $130 billion loss, which would have been the steepest single-day drop since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

EXPLAINED: The 39km-wide stretch of water threatening to throw the global economy into turmoil

Some of those losses were pared back in later trading but the markets remained deeply in the red, closing at 2.85 per cent and erasing about $90 billion from investors' portfolios.

It was the worst session since US President Donald Trump's "liberation day" tariffs announcement last April.

"It's certainly an understatement to say that this is unusual," 9News finance editor Chris Kohler said.

"At its core, what investors are worried about here is stagflation, which is a combination of high inflation and low growth brought on by a big external shock."

The massive plunge comes on the back of rising oil prices, which have gone up 30 per cent, rocketing to $US110 per barrel.

It was the first time oil prices exceeded $US100 since the aftermath of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

This was due to the continuing US and Israeli war in Iran all but shutting off the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping route where about a fifth of the world's oil passes through.

Capital.com senior analyst Kyle Rodda warned market conditions could worsen the longer the war continues.

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"It's something that only happens once in a generation, perhaps even less," he told 9News.

"This is why investors are so fearful about this escalation and the risk that this drags on, is because the longer that it does drag on, the worse things could potentially get."

Before the effects of the global conflict could be felt, the market reached a record high last Monday. 

The price of oil had also trended lower over the past few years. 

"The reason that the market reacted so savagely today is because things had been going quite well," Kohler said. 

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