POLITICS & POLICY

President Donald Trump made several notable remarks about Australia throughout 2026, ranging from praise for bilateral trade and defense deals to pointed criticism over Canberra's level of support during the U.S.-led military operation against Iran.

President Donald Trump addressed the nation Wednesday night from the White House, offering his first prime-time update on the ongoing U.S. military operation against Iran and declaring that core strategic objectives are "nearing completion" while pledging continued "extremely hard" strikes over the next two to three weeks.

KUWAIT CITY — Kuwait International Airport stayed shuttered to commercial passenger flights Wednesday as authorities battled a major fire at fuel storage tanks following the latest in a series of Iranian-linked drone attacks that have crippled the Gulf nation's key aviation hub.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The strategically vital Strait of Hormuz stayed largely closed to normal commercial traffic Tuesday as the month-long Iran conflict continued, with only a handful of vessels transiting daily under tight Iranian oversight while the U.S. and allies debated military options to restore freedom of navigation and global oil flows.

JERUSALEM — Israel's parliament, the Knesset, approved a contentious law on Monday night making death by hanging the default sentence for Palestinians convicted in military courts of deadly terrorist attacks, a move championed by far-right ministers that critics condemned as discriminatory and a violation of international norms.

Usha Vance, the Second Lady of the United States and wife of Vice President JD Vance, has emerged as one of the most accomplished and low-profile figures in the current administration. Born Usha Bala Chilukuri to Indian immigrant parents, she has built an elite legal career while raising a growing family and supporting her husband's rise from author to vice president.

CANBERRA, Australia — Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced Monday that Australia will temporarily halve its fuel excise tax for three months, cutting the cost of petrol and diesel by about 26.3 cents per liter as global crude oil prices surged above $116 a barrel amid escalating conflict in the Middle East.

PHOENIX — More than six months after his assassination in September 2025, the words of Charlie Kirk, the founder of Turning Point USA, remain a rallying point for conservatives across the United States, with tributes, calendars and social media posts keeping his message of faith, freedom and personal responsibility alive into March 2026.

PHOENIX — Arizona will not rename the Loop 202 freeway after conservative activist Charlie Kirk following Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs' veto of a Republican-backed bill on Friday, March 27, 2026, in a move that reignited partisan tensions over public memorials and the legacy of the slain Turning Point USA founder.

WASHINGTON — More than 2,000 people have been killed since the United States and Israel launched airstrikes against Iran on Feb. 28, 2026, igniting a high-intensity conflict that has seen Iranian retaliatory missile and drone attacks across the Middle East, with civilian deaths in Iran forming the vast majority of the toll.

WASHINGTON — As U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) ramps up her campaign for Tennessee governor in 2026, the 73-year-old lawmaker continues to captivate attention with a career that blends small-business grit, entertainment industry roots and staunch conservative advocacy.

MELBOURNE, Australia — HESTA, one of Australia's largest industry superannuation funds serving health and community sector workers, is navigating leadership upheaval with the announcement that its third C-suite executive in under 12 months is departing, even as the $100 billion-plus fund delivered solid investment gains for members in 2025 and advocates for major retirement system reforms.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Air travel across the Middle East remains in turmoil as of late March 2026, with major airports operating under severe restrictions or partial closures following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory actions that triggered widespread airspace shutdowns.

Iran has begun charging some commercial vessels up to $2 million per voyage to pass through the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz, effectively establishing an informal toll on one of the world's most critical energy chokepoints as the US-Iran war disrupts global oil flows and shipping routes.

Kuwait International Airport (KWI) is not open for regular commercial passenger operations today, with all civilian flights suspended indefinitely due to ongoing security threats and damage from multiple Iranian drone strikes, including a fresh attack on a fuel tank that sparked a fire on March 25, authorities and aviation officials confirmed.

The ongoing US-Iran war, now in its fourth week, has triggered the largest global energy supply disruption in decades through attacks on infrastructure and threats to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz

Ukrainian forces struck a Russian Project 23550 icebreaking patrol ship named Purga while it was under construction at the Vyborg Shipyard in Russia's Leningrad region on the night of March 24-25, 2026, causing the vessel to list heavily to port and collide with a nearby ship, according to Ukrainian military officials, OSINT analysts and published imagery.

The conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran stretched into its 27th day Thursday with Iranian officials firmly rejecting U.S. overtures for negotiations while President Donald Trump touted a 15-point peace proposal and warned of escalated strikes if Tehran does not accept what Washington calls military defeat.

KUWAIT CITY (Kuwait International Airport (KWI) is not open for regular commercial passenger operations today, with all flights suspended indefinitely due to repeated Iranian drone strikes that have damaged critical infrastructure including fuel depots, radar systems, terminals and runways, authorities confirmed Wednesday.

KUWAIT CITY — Iranian drones struck a fuel storage depot at Kuwait International Airport early Wednesday, igniting a fire at the critical facility but causing no casualties, Kuwaiti authorities said as the ongoing regional conflict between Iran and U.S.-Israeli forces spilled further into Gulf civilian infrastructure.

MELBOURNE — As geopolitical fault lines deepen across the Persian Gulf, a haunting question has returned to the corridors of Parliament House in Canberra: Is Australia prepared for another protracted conflict in the Middle East?

As the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group steams through the Arabian Sea, military planners are confronting a low-tech challenge with potentially high stakes: waves of inexpensive Iranian drones that could overwhelm billion-dollar defenses through sheer numbers.

TEL AVIV, Israel — An Iranian ballistic missile carrying a 220-pound (100-kilogram) warhead slammed into a central Tel Aviv street Tuesday, March 24, 2026, blowing out windows of nearby apartment buildings and wounding at least four to six people as part of a fresh barrage that highlighted the Islamic Republic's ability to penetrate Israeli air defenses despite weeks of intense U.S. and Israeli strikes.

WASHINGTON — Iran's ballistic missile program, long the backbone of its military deterrence, has undergone intense scrutiny and degradation in the 2026 conflict with Israel and the United States.

CANBERRA, Australia — Iran's recent attempt to strike the joint U.S.-U.K. military base on Diego Garcia with ballistic missiles has demonstrated a reach of roughly 4,000 kilometers (about 2,485 miles), far beyond its long-declared 2,000-kilometer limit, but the distance to Australia remains well out of Tehran's operational grasp, according to military analysts and Australian defense officials.

LONDON — Iran's recent launch of long-range ballistic missiles toward the joint U.S.-U.K. military base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean has sparked intense debate over whether Tehran could strike London

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — King Khalid International Airport (RUH), Saudi Arabia's main aviation gateway serving the capital, continues to operate normally as of March 23, 2026, despite widespread regional disruptions stemming from the ongoing U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran that has roiled Gulf airspace and travel patterns since late February.

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's economy, already strained by years of international sanctions, has suffered severe setbacks from the U.S.-Israeli military campaign that began Feb. 28, 2026, with widespread infrastructure destruction

As the United States and Israel press their joint military campaign against Iran in Operation Epic Fury, now in its fourth week as of March 23, 2026, American forces have employed a wide range of sophisticated weapons systems to degrade Iranian missile, drone, naval, and nuclear-related capabilities.