Tag Archives: oceania

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‘Frightening’ impact for farmers as Middle East fighting continues

A deepening fuel crisis is leaving Australian farmers running low on diesel and prompting calls for price monitoring to be expanded.

Following concerns war in the Middle East could impact crude oil supplies and accusations Australian oil companies were profiteering, Nationals Leader David Littleproud said the fuel situation was "frightening".

"Australians should understand that while they can go to the servo and fill up, our farmers aren't getting their supplies," he said.

READ MORE: High-rise tower at Dubai Marina hit by drone as debris kills taxi driver

Tehran, Iran

"If they run out, they can't produce your food and fibre. There is supply, and this is the issue. There's supply sitting there, but the big oil companies won't release it to the independents and to the small wholesalers."

READ MORE: Two fishermen dead after being pulled from surf on NSW Central Coast

With oil shipments limited through the Strait of Hormuz, some big refiners are directing supply to retail bowsers and away from wholesale deliveries like farms. 

"Thursday they phoned and said there is an issue, they've been put on a quota or allocation system," farmer Layton Free said.

"Then by Friday they phoned and said there is a problem. There is no longer supply."

With the consumer watchdog monitoring prices for motorists, the opposition has written to the government for help monitoring prices for farmers.

"There's no way we should have a fuel security or food security problem right now," Free said.

With Iran attacking sporadically throughout the Middle East, some nations are asking not for monitoring but military and intelligence assistance

Australia is weighing up an appeal for military aid by Middle Easter countries under attack from Iran.

WORLD NEWS: Notorious child killer dead after prison attack in UK

Leader of the Government in the Senate and Minister for Foreign Affairs Penny Wong during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday 4 March 2026. fedpol Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong told the ABC Insiders program today the federal government had received requests from nations for protection against drone and missile attacks.

Iran has targeted pro-western neighbours, including the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, over the past week in a campaign of air attacks.

READ MORE: Oil storage plant blast in Tehran after Trump warns Iran will be hit 'very hard'

"Many countries who are non-participants have been attacked by Iran through this," Wong said.

"You would anticipate as a consequence, that we have been asked for assistance and we will work through that."

She refused to be drawn on details about any potential military aid under consideration, but said the government would be frank if it approved any.

Wong also reiterated that Australian armed forces would not take part in offensive operations against Iran.

"We are not participating in offensive action against Iran," Wong said.

"This is not Iraq and we are not the Howard government."

She was speaking after the Iranian regime gave conflicting comments about the targeting of its neighbours.

READ MORE: Trump blasts UK for 'finally' considering deploying aircraft carriers

President Masoud Pezeshkian apologised to Arab Gulf nations in a remarkable address yesterday, saying Tehran would stop striking its neighbours unless any attacks on Iran originated from those countries.

He urged Gulf nations not to become a "plaything in the hands of imperialism," warning them not to attack Iranian territory.

It's not clear if the president's announcement comes into effect immediately. After the address, interceptions continued over the UAE and sirens rang in Bahrain.

– With CNN

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Man ‘stabbed to death’ at friend’s Sydney home after argument, police say

A man in his 30s has died after being stabbed in the chest after an argument at the Sydney home of two of his friends, police say.

Emergency services were called to a house on Spring Street in Concord just after midday today, where they found a man in his 30s with stab wounds to his chest.

He was treated by paramedics and was rushed to Concord Hospital, but was pronounced dead.

JUST IN: Over two dozen men charged with more than 1000 child abuse material offences

A man in his 30s has died after being stabbed in the chest after an argument at the Sydney home of two of his friends, police say.

A 41-year-old man was arrested at the home and taken to Burwood Police Station where he is expected to be charged.

He and a 47-year-old man lived at the house, with the pair believed to be in a relationship.

Police say the victim and his alleged killer had known each other for eight years

The nature of their relationship is now part of the investigation

The 47-year-old man is also speaking to police, but has not been arrested.

READ MORE: Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Australia considering military aid for Gulf states

Superintendent Christine McDonald said it was a "terrible incident."

"This level of violence is completely unnecessary," she said.

"This is a terrible incident, you go to someone's house on a Sunday afternoon for whatever reason, and this occurs.

"It's not something I'm sure the victim was expecting would happen, and now multiple lives have been ruined by this incident."

She said there was an argument before the alleged stabbing.

No one at the house at the time was known to police.

A crime scene has been set up and investigations are continuing.

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Over two dozen men charged with more than 1000 child abuse material offences

Warning: This story contains references to child sexual assault.

An online group in which more than 65,000 images of child abuse material were shared has been shut down, resulting in the arrest of 26 Victorian men.

In an investigation lasting over two years, police allege the men were part of a group using encrypted messaging to share text and image-based material, as well as sourcing children to sexually abuse.

JUST IN: Foreign Minister Penny Wong says Australia considering military aid for Gulf states

AFP Detective Acting Inspector Scott Amjah said he was stunned by the "volume and depravity" of the material his team uncovered durig the investigation.

In a statement released this morning, the Australian Federal Police and Victoria Police claimed images and videos depicted the sexual abuse, torture and murder of infants and young children, as well as bestiality.

No newly generated material involving Australian children was identified during the investigation.

Several of the men have already been charged, convicted and imprisoned, while others remain before the courts.

However, police could only go public with the findings now as the investigation using a covert operation has concluded.

In addition to the tens of thousands of photos recovered, police also found over 300 hours of child abuse videos.

AFP Detective Superintendent Bernard Geason said the investigation uncovered a "sad reality" lurking in corners of the online world.

"Our society has many individuals who will exploit children for their own perverse desires," he said.

WATCH: High-rise tower at Dubai Marina hit by drone as debris kills taxi driver

"The contents of this chat group are among the worst of the worst. This investigation has stopped people sharing violent abuse material and disrupted an online market of misery. But there is a tidal wave of this material on the internet and constant demands for more."

The 26 men who were charged were located in Victoria, and most were not previously known to police.

A Melbourne man, 46, was charged with creating and administering a group on the encrypted messaging application for the sharing of child abuse material.

He was sentenced to 12 years' imprisonment in September 2024.

A Central Victoria man was charged with more than 250 offences relating to transmitting, accessing, producing and soliciting child abuse material through various individuals he met in the group.

He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment at the end of last year.

UPDATE: Two fishermen dead after being pulled from surf on NSW Central Coast

A breakdown of the arrests and search warrants from the investigations in Victoria.

Detective Superintendent Tim McKinney from Victoria Police said some of the material was among the worst police had ever seen.

"Our investigators faced the distressing task of combing through 300+ hours of material," he said

"There were also written conversations where these participants expressed their desire to find children and infants in real life."

AFP Detective Acting Inspector Scott Amjah said he was stunned by the "volume and depravity" of the material his team uncovered during the investigation.

"[It] will stay with all of us," he said.

"I think members of the public would be absolutely horrified by the content of the material that is circulated online these days.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732)

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High-rise tower at Dubai Marina hit by drone as debris kills taxi driver

A taxi driver was killed when debris from an Iranian drone strike fell on him in Dubai.

In a statement on social media, Dubai's Media Office said falling debris hit a taxi and killed the male Pakistani driver after an aerial interception.

Meanwhile, videos circulating online also show thick smoke and flames rising from the upper floors of the 23 Marina Tower, one of the city's prominent skyscrapers at Dubai's Marina.

READ MORE: Oil storage plant blast in Tehran after Trump warns Iran will be hit 'very hard'

It was hit by debris from an interception the authorities said.

The marina is close to many tourist attractions and city institutions, including the American University of Dubai and the Dubai Marina Mall.

https://twitter.com/DXBMediaOffice/status/2030359919720083562?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

Many western expats also live in apartment complexes around it.

Nobody was hurt.

As the sound of interceptions reverberated through the city and evacuations began, residents of Dubai and Abu Dhabi received warnings of incoming missiles on their mobile phones.

https://twitter.com/DXBMediaOffice/status/2030341348554100790?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The strikes came shortly after the president of the United Arab Emirates, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, made extremely rare public comments describing Iran as "the enemy."

Earlier yesterday, travellers sheltered in tunnels when an Iranian drone appeared to strike Dubai International Airport.

Footage on social media showed an explosion and smoke close to the terminal. A whirring sound is heard seconds before the blast in the video.

Blasts were heard in several parts of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, reports the Independent.

Travellers at the international airport, one of the world's busiest and a main travel hub through the Middle East, were ushered down into train tunnels after the alert sounded.

UAE airline Emirates later resumed operations after briefly suspending all flights to and from Dubai.

"Dubai Airports confirms partial resumption of operations from today, 7 March, with some flights operating out of Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International (DWC)," a Dubai Airports spokesperson said.

The apparent Iranian attack came after the country's President apologised to neighbours in the region for striking them, declaring Iran would stop them and they had been caused by command chain miscommunications.

There were attacks yesterday in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

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- with CNN