SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of the conflict in the Middle East.
Here’s a recap of the latest developments:
Trump administration officials are examining what a potential spike in oil prices as high as $US200 a barrel would mean for the economy, according to people familiar with the matter, a sign senior officials are studying the possible fallout from extreme scenarios for the Iran war.
Modelling of how damaging a bigger jump in oil prices could be to growth prospects is part of regular assessment done during times of strain and is not a prediction, according to the people, who asked not to be identified commenting on matters that aren’t public.
The effort is aimed at making sure the administration is prepared for all contingencies, including a prolonged conflict, they said.
Even before the war began, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed concern that the conflict would boost oil prices and damage economic growth, the people said.
The Transport Workers Union has welcomed a new bill to amend the Fair Work Act to allow emergency powers to deal with surging fuel prices.
It passed the house earlier today, and goes before the Senate this afternoon.
“These powers would allow the FWC [Fair Work Commission] to make orders requiring clients of transport – retailers, manufacturers and mining companies – to ensure that they quickly pay the transport companies they use to cart their goods enough to cover these steep fuel price increases,” the union said.
“With many drivers and transport operators at crisis point with crippling fuel costs they are unable to recover, there is an imminent risk of widespread business closures and increasing financial pressure on drivers to rush and delay vehicle maintenance without urgent action.
Activists reported heavy strikes early Thursday morning around Isfahan, a city some 330 kilometres south of Iran’s capital, Tehran.
The pro-reform newspaper Ham Mihan reported online about strikes in the area.
Isfahan is home to a major Iranian air base and other military sites, as well as one of the nuclear sites bombed by the United States during the 12-day war between Israel and Iran in June.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen has provided a daily update on the number of petrol stations running out of fuel, as he has been requested to do every day this week.
Here’s the state-by-state breakdown of outages:
- New South Wales – 178 stations are without diesel, 48 are completely dry
- Queensland – 55 stations are without diesel, 33 have no regular unleaded
- Victoria – 45 stations are without diesel, 72 have no unleaded fuel
- South Australia – nine stations are without diesel, 10 have no unleaded fuel
- Western Australian – 40 stations are without diesel, 14 have no unleaded fuel
- Tasmania – five stations are without diesel, nine have another supply issue
- Northern Territory – there are zero fuel supply issues, however some stations may be impacted by natural disaster
- Australian Capital Territory – two stations have no diesel, one has no unleaded. Bowen noted that outages in the ACT are often rectified “within an hour”.
Bowen has also offered year-on-year data on the increase in fuel supply from petroleum firm Ampol to independent retailers in regional areas.
He is currently facing another day of grilling from the opposition in question time.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “seeks to inflict the same level of damage and destruction” on Lebanon as Israeli forces had wrought on the Gaza Strip, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has told lawmakers.
Yesterday, Israel announced plans to occupy a “security zone” in southern Lebanon after bombing bridges along a key river that will serve as a new demarcation line, adding to pressure on 1 million people who have already fled their homes.
The death toll from this war has risen to nearly 1100 people in Lebanon. Over 67,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, 2023.
Flying debris killed one Palestinian and wounded seven others who had gathered to watch an airstrike next to a Gaza tent camp, according to Al-Aqsa hospital.
Witnesses told The Associated Press they received warning calls from apparent Israeli military personnel before the strike, asking them to evacuate and move some 500 metres away from the tent camp.
AP video showed the powerful airstrike hitting right beside an area filled with tents for displaced Palestinians in central Gaza, sending a fireball and plumes of smoke into the sky.
The damage caused by the strike did not deter Palestinians from approaching the area to inspect the aftermath, including nearby tents that were flattened.
Iran’s parliament is working on a draft bill to charge a fee in exchange for providing security to ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
The plan is expected to be finalised next week, the agency said, citing an unnamed lawmaker.
“We are pursuing a proposal in which Iran’s sovereignty, control, and oversight in the Strait of Hormuz are formally recognized in law, and through the collection of tolls, a source of revenue is also created for the country,” Fars cited the lawmaker as saying.
The narrow waterway linking the Persian Gulf to global markets has become one of the main focuses of the war for nations beyond the Middle East.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, hosting his first monthly Christian worship service at the Pentagon since the Iran war began, prayed to have “every round find its mark”.
Hegseth frequently invokes his evangelical faith as head of the armed forces, depicting a Christian nation trying to vanquish its foes with military might.
“Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation,” Hegseth prayed during the livestreamed service.
“Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.”
AP
The consumer watchdog has secured a fine against an oil and gas services company and its chairman for a combined $6 million over attempted cartel conduct.
The Federal Court-imposed fine, targeting oil and gas firm Qteq and its executive chairman Simon Ashton, comes amid increased scrutiny prompted by fuel shortages, but predates the conflict in the Middle East.
Qteq was on Thursday fined $5 million while Ashton was fined $1 million, which the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission says is the largest penalty against an individual for a competition law breach in Australia.
The court found in April last year that on five occasions between 2017 and 2019, Ashton and Qteq attempted to induce suppliers to enter contracts, agreements or understanding containing one or more cartel provisions.
Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles has stood by Australia’s early support for the US intervention in Iran as the conflict nears the month-long mark, while urging a de-escalation.
“We support efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear capability, and we very much condemn Iran in terms of the way in which it’s treated its own citizens,” Marles told reporters in Canberra.
“Australia’s national interest lies in the defence of the Gulf states, and that’s the interest that we are pursuing,” he said, adding “we very much support efforts to achieve a peace”.
The defence minister’s visiting German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, speaking alongside Marles in Canberra, was more critical.
“This war is a catastrophe for the world’s economies. The impact is absolutely evident already. Now, after a little bit more than two weeks, the closure of the Hormuz Strait has an impact for all the region in the Indo-Pacific,” Pistorius said.
“It’s not [Germany’s] war, and therefore we don’t want to get sucked into that war … and what we need is now a diplomatic solution, as soon as possible.”
