Hong Kong apartment fires: hearings to begin into Wang Fuk blaze that killed 168 people

• Senior Trump-appointed US intelligence official Joe Kent abruptly resigned on March 17, 2026, citing concerns about the administration’s ongoing war with Iran. • President Trump dismissed the resignation as a 'good thing,' calling Kent 'very weak on security' amid escalating military actions. • The move highlights internal divisions within the US government as the conflict enters its 19th day, potentially impacting intelligence coordination.

• Iranian state media reported US and Israeli attacks on the world's largest natural gas field at South Pars and other energy facilities on March 18, 2026. • The strikes coincide with US deployment of 5,000-pound bunker-buster bombs on Iranian missile sites near the Strait of Hormuz to reopen oil routes. • Escalation threatens global energy supplies, with oil prices surging and political pressure mounting on President Trump.

• President Trump stated the US should rethink NATO membership after allies refused to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz amid the US-Israel-Iran war. • Multiple American partners balked at Trump's requests for naval assistance in protecting oil tanker traffic through the vital waterway. • A senior UAE official indicated openness to helping, contrasting with broader allied reluctance that risks one-fifth of global oil flows.

• The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence convenes an open hearing on the 2026 Annual Worldwide Threats Assessment on March 19 at 8:30 AM. • Session addresses global risks including ongoing Middle East conflicts and other geopolitical challenges. • Timing aligns with US-Iran war escalations and fresh intelligence on threats like China-Taiwan dynamics.

• Iran hit Qatar's Ras Laffan Industrial City energy hub with missiles on March 18, 2026, causing extensive damage to QatarEnergy facilities. • Tehran also fired four ballistic missiles at Riyadh and attempted a drone attack on a Saudi gas facility, both intercepted by Saudi defenses. • The attacks mark a major escalation in the US-Israel-Iran war, driving oil prices higher and disrupting global supplies.

• US military conducted attacks today on Iranian missile installations near the Strait of Hormuz to neutralize threats to transiting ships. • The strikes target sites from which Iran could launch attacks on commercial and military vessels in the critical waterway. • The operation escalates US involvement in the Iran conflict, aiming to secure global oil shipping routes amid heightened tensions.

• Israel conducted an overnight airstrike in Tehran, killing Iran's intelligence minister amid escalating US-Israel operations against Iran since February 28. • Iran's Ministry of Health reports at least 1,444 killed and nearly 19,000 injured in ongoing US-Israeli attacks, with a Red Crescent worker assisting victims. • Senior Israeli officials warned US diplomats that Iranian protesters against their government would 'get slaughtered,' despite Israel's promotion of anti-regime demonstrations.

More than a dozen Victorian Labor sources, including minsters and factional powerbrokers, confirm move for leadership changeFor weeks, Labor MPs have been quietly weighing the future of Jacinta Allan.In hushed conversations in the corridors of parliament, MPs have cited her baggage – her time as Daniel Andrews’ deputy, her role in the cancelled Commonwealth Games and as the minister overseeing the Big Build at a time corruption allegedly was allowed to grow unfettered in the construction union. Even more damaging, some argue, has been her hesitation to act once the corruption was made public.Benita Kolovos is Guardian Australia’s Victorian state correspondent Continue reading...

The reported inquiry predates Joe Kent’s departure on Tuesday from his post as director of the national counter-terrorism centerThe resignation of Joe Kent, a senior counter-terrorism official who spoke out against the US war in Iran, took a dramatic turn on Wednesday with a report that he is under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over an alleged leak of classified information.The inquiry predates Kent’s departure on Tuesday from his post as director of the national counterterrorism center, where he had overseen the analysis of terrorist threats, according to Semafor and CBS News. The FBI declined to comment on the existence of any such investigation. Continue reading...

US president says Israel will not launch another attack on the giant gasfield shared by Iran and Qatar, but promises to destroy it if Tehran retaliatesIsrael strikes Iran’s South Pars gasfield hours after forces kill intelligence minister Fighting intensifies between Israel and Hezbollah in southern LebanonWelcome to our continuing live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and the broader crisis in the region, and global economy.Donald Trump has threatened to “massively blow up” the entire South Pars gas field if Iran carries out any more retaliatory attacks on Qatar’s LNG gas facilities.The Pentagon “has asked the White House to approve a more than $200bn request to Congress to fund the war in Iran, according to a senior administration official”, the Washington Post reports.The oil price climbed towards $110 a barrel on Wednesday as the mounting threat to the Gulf’s oil and gas infrastructure fuelled concerns of more disruption to global supplies, amid the continuing blockade of the strait of Hormuz.QatarEnergy said “sizeable fires” caused extensive damage at its LNG facilities after Iranian missile attacks in the early hours of Thursday.An attack set a ship ablaze early on Thursday off the UAE coast, authorities said. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said “a vessel has been hit by an unknown projectile, which has resulted in a fire onboard”.French president Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate moratorium on striking civilian infrastructure, and said civilian populations and their needs must be “protected from military escalation”.Three Palestinian women were killed in an Iranian missile attack in the occupied West Bank late on Wednesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, in the first deadly Iranian strike there.A man was killed in central Israel in the latest round of Iranian missile fire, medics say. It brings the death roll in Israel from the war to 15.Republicans in the US Senate blocked a measure that aimed to reign in Donald Trump’s power to wage war against Iran without congressional authorisation, winning a 53-47 vote. Continue reading...

Gia Lam should have been offered interpreter by medical team at Fairfield hospital, coroner’s court findsFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastA woman who died of sepsis three days after giving birth in western Sydney could have survived if her urinary tract infection (UTI) had been diagnosed, a coroner’s court has found.It also found the woman, who was born in Vietnam, should have been offered interpreter services so she could communicate better with medical experts. Continue reading...

Hoskins, like Dennis an Olympic cyclist, was struck by his car in 2023. His return to Instagram included picture with caption ‘an absolute weapon’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastOlympic cyclist Rohan Dennis, who 10 months ago was given a 17-month suspended sentence after his car fatally struck his wife, has returned to social media with a post describing a Porsche as an “absolute weapon”.Melissa Hoskins, an acclaimed world and Olympic cyclist, died when she was struck by a car driven by her husband near their home at Medindie, in Adelaide’s inner north, in December 2023. Continue reading...