SOURCE :- THE AGE NEWS
Thank you for joining our continuing live coverage of King Charles and Queen Camilla’s state visit to the United States, as well as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, and related developments in Australia.
Here’s the news you need to know, or might have missed overnight:
- King Charles III addressed US Congress, becoming the second British monarch to do so after his late mother Queen Elizabeth II’s speech at the Capitol in 1991. In his 20-minute speech, the King decried “acts of violence” after the Washington hotel shooting, underlined the importance of NATO and support for Ukraine, and plugged the AUKUS agreement, adding that he was “immensely proud” to serve Australia as sovereign. He reminded the US that “America’s words carry weight and meaning. Let our two countries rededicate ourselves to each other in the selfless service of our peoples and of all the peoples of the world,” he said.
- The King and Queen Camilla remained in Washington for the second day of their four-day state visit to mark the 250th anniversary of US independence.
- US President Donald Trump said Iran has asked the US to lift a naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, claiming they had informed the US they were in a “state of collapse”. The national security team has discussed an Iranian proposal to end the conflict. Mediators in Pakistan expect Iran will submit a revised proposal to end the war in the next few days, CNN reported.
- US talk show host Jimmy Kimmel hit back at criticism of his monologue delivered before the shooting in Washington, during which he quipped that first lady Melania Trump had the glow of an “expectant widow”. He said it was “obviously a joke about their age difference”.
- Alleged Washington hotel shooter Cole Tomas Allen, charged with attempting to assassinate the US president, remains in custody ahead of a bail hearing later this week.
- The United Arab Emirates says it is quitting the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, weakening OPEC’s control over global oil supplies and widening a rift between the UAE and its neighbour Saudi Arabia.
The US has warned banks they are at risk of secondary sanctions if they support Chinese private refiners that buy Iranian oil, cranking up pressure on Tehran even at the cost of further irking Beijing just weeks ahead of a leaders’ meeting.
Washington has been ratcheting up its efforts to cut off Iranian oil shipments, a vital financial lifeline. Last week, the Treasury Department sanctioned Hengli Petrochemical Refinery Co, one of China’s largest private oil refiners, targeting a large and well-connected player in the country’s vast crude-processing industry.
On Tuesday, the Treasury underscored the message by warning all banks supporting the Iranian trade would also be at risk.
“Financial institutions should be on notice that the department is leveraging the full range of available tools and authorities and is prepared to deploy secondary sanctions against foreign financial institutions that continue to support Iran’s activities,” it said in a statement.
Washington: The US State Department is preparing a limited release of commemorative passports celebrating America’s 250th birthday that feature a picture of President Donald Trump, who would be the first living president to be featured in the travel document.
The concept for the special passport, including a rendering of Trump’s stern-looking visage, had been under consideration for months before finally being approved late Monday. Between 25,000 and 30,000 of the new passports will be available to applicants at the Washington passport office beginning shortly before July 4.
It’s the latest instance of Trump having his name and likeness added to buildings, documents and other highly visible tributes. There are efforts to put Trump’s signature on all new US paper currency – also a first for a sitting president – as well as to include his image on a gold commemorative coin to celebrate the country’s founding.
Read the full story here.
AP
Foreign Minister Penny Wong has arrived at The Great Hall of People in Beijing for a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng – the first of a busy one-day blitz on the capital to discuss fuel and trade.
In an awkward incident, Chinese officials attempted to usher Australian media out of the room before Wong had completed her opening remarks.
One Chinese official moved in front of the Australian government’s official cameraman obstructing his efforts to film Wong’s prepared statement.
India’s major airlines have warned of a potential suspension in services unless the government lowers jet fuel prices.
“The airline industry in India is under extreme stress and on the verge of closing down or of stopping its operations,” the Federation of Indian Airlines, representing carriers including IndiGo, Air India and SpiceJet, said in a letter to India’s Civil Aviation Ministry.
They sought a return to pandemic-era cost caps on aviation turbine fuel and a reduction or deferment in taxes. Speculation is mounting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration will raise fuel prices once voting in state elections ends on Wednesday. While the government, at a briefing on Tuesday, denied any plan to raise petrol prices, it declined to answer a similar question on aviation turbine fuel.
Indian carriers pay substantially more for fuel in the country than in Thailand, Dubai, Malaysia or Singapore because of high local taxes. Although Indian refiners produce more jet fuel than the country consumes, prices are still set on import-parity basis – as if fuel had been shipped in from the Arabian Gulf, complete with notional freight charges, insurance and customs levies.
Bloomberg
Queen Camilla has returned a fashion favour to US first lady Melania Trump at a White House state banquet held in honour of the royal visit with King Charles, our fashion editor Damien Woolnough wrote in his piece from earlier this morning.
In a bold fuchsia Fiona Clare dress, Camilla redeemed Melania’s much decried decision to wear a canary-yellow strapless Carolina Herrera dress with a lilac belt to Windsor Castle last year, alongside President Donald Trump.
Melania’s bold choice drew criticism on social media, with one of the kinder rebukes coming from Vogue contributor Melanie Kwei telling the BBC that the garish gown was “not the expected colour to see at a high state banquet”.
Read the full story here.
President Donald Trump told his aides to prepare for an extended US naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, The Wall Street Journal reported, as the US looks to intensify economic pressure on Iran as the war enters its third month.
The president, in meetings with top aides, decided to continue putting pressure on Iran’s ability to export oil by stopping any vessel heading to or from the Islamic Republic’s ports, the newspaper reported on Tuesday night (Washington time). Trump determined that was a less risky option than resuming bombing or extracting the US from the conflict entirely, the outlet said.
The decision suggests that the US could be moving into a lengthy period with the fighting largely halted, but no durable resolution to the conflict, and the status of traffic through the Strait of Hormuz still uncertain.
The US has been blocking ships going to and from Iranian ports to try to squeeze the country of oil revenue, while Iran keeps the strait closed to almost all other traffic.
The NSW government has opened new areas for gas exploration for the first time in a decade, saying global events made this more important than ever.
Two regions in the state’s far west – the Bancannia and Pondie Range Troughs – will be opened for gas exploration. The government said this would complement the Narrabri Gas Project.
The government is also reducing the cost of the gas exploration licence application fee from $50,000 to $1,000, which it says is to attract investment and ensure competitiveness with other states.
Minister for Natural Resources Courtney Houssos said more gas supply was needed to support the stability of the grid.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said an extension of the fuel excise cut – temporarily introduced for three months from March – would remain under consideration amid enduring global uncertainty.
“The fuel excise cut is a key reason why we’ve seen petrol and diesel prices come off a bit, and it will continue to roll out over the course of the next couple of months,” Chalmers told reporters in Brisbane.
“Obviously, we keep all the policies under review when you have this degree of international uncertainty and volatility and unpredictability.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is speaking in Brisbane about data released today which showed inflation jumped by 1.1 per cent in March to hit 4.6 per cent.
Chalmers said the economy was facing an inflation challenge before the US-Israeli war on Iran, but today’s data – nearing a three-year high – was driven by soaring fuel prices because of the global oil shock.
“Automotive fuel rose 32.8 per cent in March to be up 24.2 per cent through the year … so the impact of fuel alone is adding 0.8 percentage points to annual headline inflation,” he told reporters.
“This war could drive inflation up even higher before it comes back down again.”
Chalmers said it was important to remember the data pre-dates the government halving the fuel excise, after which prices dropped.
“This shows how important that fuel excise relief is,” he said.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers held a press conference in Brisbane after the release of inflation figures, which are at a near three-year high after the Iran conflict surged fuel costs.
