Explosions have sounded in Iran’s capital city as its war with the US and Israel enters a fifth day following earlier strikes on an Iranian nuclear site and retaliatory strikes by the Islamic Republic across the Gulf region.

Iranian state television reported explosions around Tehran as dawn broke on Wednesday. 

Meanwhile, Israel said its air defences were activated due to incoming missile fire from Iran.

Five days into a war that US President Donald Trump suggested would last several weeks or longer, nearly 800 people have been killed in Iran, including some Trump said he had considered as possible future leaders of the country.

Explosions also hit Lebanon, where Israel said it is retaliating against Hezbollah militants. 

Lebanon’s state-run media reported that at least four people were killed in an Israeli strike that hit a residential complex in the city of Baalbeck.

A day earlier, Israel launched airstrikes against Iranian missile launchers and a nuclear research site, and Iran struck back against Israel and others, targeting US embassies and disrupting energy supplies and travel.

The American embassy in Saudi Arabia and the US consulate in the United Arab Emirates came under drone attacks.

Iran has fired dozens of ballistic missiles at Israel, though most of the incoming fire has been intercepted. Eleven people in Israel have been killed since the conflict began.

In other developments, the Pentagon identified four US Army Reserve soldiers who were killed in a drone strike on Sunday at a command centre in Kuwait. The strike also killed two other service members.

The spiralling nature of the war raised questions about when and how it would end.

Trump’s administration has offered various objectives, including destroying Iran’s missile capabilities, wiping out its navy, preventing it from obtaining a nuclear weapon and ensuring it cannot continue to support allied armed groups.

While the initial US-Israeli strikes killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Trump urged Iranians to overthrow their government, senior administration officials have since said regime change was not the goal.

Trump on Tuesday seemed to downplay the chances of the war ending Iran’s theocratic rule, saying that “someone from within” the Iranian regime might be the best choice to take power once the US-Israel campaign is finished.

Trump said Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s toppled shah, is not someone that his administration has considered in depth to take over.

As far as possible leaders inside Iran, “the people we had in mind are dead”, Trump said.

“I guess the worst case would be do this, and then somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person, right? That could happen,” Trump said.

“We don’t want that to happen.”

Iran’s leaders are scrambling to replace Khamenei, who ruled the country for 37 years. 

Admiral Brad Cooper, the top US military commander in the Middle East, said American forces have struck nearly 2000 targets in Iran since the war began.

In a video posted on X, Cooper said the US has “severely degraded Iran’s air defences” and taken out hundreds of ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.

“We’ve just begun,” Cooper said.

Satellite images published olorado-based company Vantor showed the domed roof of Iran’s presidential complex in Tehran had been destroyed, supporting Israel’s claim of an overnight strike. 

The Israeli military said it also conducted airstrikes on Iranian sites that produce and store ballistic missiles, and that it destroyed what it called Iran’s secret, underground nuclear headquarters. Without providing evidence, it said the site was used for research “to develop a key component for nuclear weapons”.

Iran has said it has not enriched uranium since June.

An attack from two drones on the US Embassy in Riyadh caused a “limited fire,” according to the Saudi Arabian Defense Ministry, and the embassy urged Americans to avoid the compound.

An Iranian drone struck a parking lot outside the US consulate in Dubai, sparking a small fire, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in Washington. He said all personnel were accounted for.

US embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon were closed to the public.

The US State Department ordered the evacuation of non-emergency personnel and family in Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. And US citizens were urged to leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries, though many were stranded because of airspace closures.

The State Department said it’s preparing military and charter flights for Americans wanting to leave the Middle East. Other countries were arranging flights for their citizens.

The US-Israeli strikes have killed at least 787 people in Iran, according to the Red Crescent Society. 

In Lebanon, where Israel launched retaliatory strikes on the Iranian-supported militant group Hezbollah, 50 people were killed, including seven children, Lebanon’s health ministry said.

Kuwait, which had previously reported a single death, said Wednesday that an 11-year-old girl was killed by falling shrapnel as Kuwaiti forces were intercepting “hostile aerial targets.” In addition, three people were killed in the United Arab Emirates and one in Bahrain.

Ukraine can help Australia build up its own sovereign capabilities, its top diplomat in Canberra says, as the nation looks to attract businesses to take part in its reconstruction efforts.

Russia’s full-scale invasion has entered its fifth year, as analysis estimates up to 325,000 of its troops have been killed between February 2022 and December 2025.

It’s estimated between 100,000 and 140,000 people from the Ukrainian military have been killed defending their nation.

A Ukrainian delegation of MPs visited Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday where they met with Australian ministers, politicians and business leaders to discuss defence and trade cooperation, and investment opportunities.

Ukrainian ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko said his nation was trying to convince the Albanese government to consider appointing a special envoy on his nation’s reconstruction.

“There will be a lot that will need to be rebuilt … there are many different sectors where Australians can contribute to and make money out of it,” he said on Wednesday.

He described the area of defence technology as “low-hanging fruit” as the government could invest this way.

“We can definitely set up production here in Australia, and this is how we can help Australia to build its own sovereign capabilities in new modern day technology, which has been developed in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s war,” Mr Myroshnychenko said.

Ukrainian MP Galyna Mykhailiuk, who is leading the delegation, said the war’s impact on her nation was difficult to describe.

“Almost every single family in Ukraine has someone on the front line or someone who died because of the war,” she said.

Dr Mykhailiuk noted the sharp decline in military and financial aid from Australia, which has provided a total of $1.7 billion in support since 2022.

She said the donation of Bushmasters had stopped in 2023, and that they had been life-saving.

Ukrainian MP Anastasiia Radina said her six-year-old son had no memory of what life was life before the war, which started when he was two.

“We have a whole generation growing up who are completely unfamiliar with the concept of peace,” she said.

“This will have its implications for years to come.”

Labor senator Deborah O’Neill, co-chair of the Australian Parliamentary Friends of Ukraine group which launches on Wednesday, said Kyiv stood on the frontline of democracy.

“The Australian parliament stands in lockstep with the brave sacrifices of the men, women and children enduring barbaric Russian bombardment,” she said.

“As parliamentarians, we will continue to advocate for a peace that upholds Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

Beloved sports broadcaster Dennis Cometti, who coined some of the AFL’s most memorable phrases, has died aged 76.

Cometti’s distinguished career spanned more than half a century across a range of sports but he was best known for his work as an AFL commentator, where his dulcet tones and quick wit made him a household name.

‘Cometti-isms’ such as “centimetre perfect”, “went in optimistically, came out misty-optically” and “he came up behind him like a librarian” became part of the footy lexicon.

Born in Geraldton in Western Australia, Cometti played 40 matches for West Perth in the WAFL before launching into a full-time broadcasting career.

He worked for the ABC from 1972 to 1985, where he broadcast his first Test cricket match aged 23.

Cometti joined Seven in 1986 and spent the better part of the next three decades at the network, also serving stints at Nine, 3AW and Triple M.

Along with long-time commentary partner Bruce McAvaney, he called some of the AFL’s most memorable moments.

He retired from full-time commentary in 2016 and called his final AFL game in 2021 when the grand final was held in Perth.

Cometti, who covered three Summer Olympic Games – 1992 in Barcelona, 1996 in Atlanta and 2000 in Sydney – was inducted into the Sport Australia Hall of Fame and a member of the Order of Australia.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said Cometti was a legend of the game, paying tribute to his “incredible turns of phrase”.

“I think what he’ll be best remembered for from a footy point of view is just the way that he brought our game to life through his commentary,” Dillon told reporters.

“It’s a really sad day for the AFL, for the Cometti family. Our condolences go out to them and he will be remembered so fondly by all at the AFL.”

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Goldman Sachs’ departing top lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler, will testify before the US ‌House Oversight Committee, over their past ties to the late disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.

Ruemmler ‌resigned over links to late sex offender after documents released by the US Justice Department showed she accepted gifts from Epstein and advised him on handling media inquiries about his crimes.

“Ruemmler welcomes ‌the opportunity to ‌appear ⁠before the committee,” the spokeswoman Jennifer ​Connelly, said in a statement.

“She has done nothing wrong and had no knowledge of any ongoing criminal activity on his part.”

Ruemmler was a criminal defence lawyer ⁠at the time of ‌her ​interactions with Epstein and shared a client with him, ​Connelly added.

Lutnick has also agreed to be probed about his ties to Epstein.

“Secretary Lutnick has proactively agreed to appear voluntarily before the House Committee ‌on Oversight and Government Reform. I commend his demonstrated commitment to transparency and appreciate his willingness to engage with the committee,” Representative James Comer, the panel’s chair said on X on Tuesday.

The Justice Department in January released millions of new files related to Epstein, including emails that ‌showed Lutnick visited Epstein’s ‌private Caribbean ⁠island for lunch years after he claimed to have ​cut off ties.

Lutnick, appointed to his post by President Donald Trump last year, now faces calls from both Democrats and Republicans to resign.

“I look forward to appearing before the committee. I have done ⁠nothing wrong and I want to ‌set ​the record straight,” Axios quoted Lutnick as saying.

Last month, Lutnick told lawmakers he “barely had anything to do with” Epstein.

Lutnick said the two men had exchanged only about 10 emails and ​met three times over 14 years. Lutnick said a lunch with Epstein took place only because he was on a boat near the island and ​his family was present for ​the lunch.

Lutnick is one of a host ‌of powerful men in politics, business and entertainment, including Trump himself, who are under fire for their ties with Epstein.

Lutnick also is in the hot seat over apparent contradictions between the newly released documents and his prior remarks about Epstein, who lived ​next door to him in New York when Lutnick was CEO of Cantor ​Fitzgerald.

Earlier on Tuesday, a judge granted preliminary approval to an agreement ‌for Epstein’s estate to pay a multi-million dollar settlement to resolve a class action lawsuit that accused two of the disgraced financier’s advisers of ‌aiding and ‌abetting ⁠his sex trafficking of young women and ​teenage girls.

Boies Schiller Flexner, a law firm representing Epstein victims, announced the settlement – worth as much as $US35 million ($A50 million) – on February 19.

The owner of liquor chain Dan Murphy’s has increased sales after offering customers lower prices, although that’s yet to translate to higher profits.

Endeavour, which also owns the bottle shop chain BWS and hundreds of pubs, reported a bottom-line interim net profit of $247 million, which was about $50 million less than its last first-half result.

Group sales were up 0.9 per cent to $6.7 billion.

The group was restarting “top line growth” in its retail bottle shop business, which comprises more than 1700 stores, said CEO Jayne Hrdlicka, the former head of Virgin Australia.

“In a challenging market, our increased focus on value and price leadership has been embraced by our customers and is delivering sales growth and market share gains,” she said in a statement on Wednesday.

Sales for Dan Murphy’s and BWS rose 0.2 per cent to $5.5 billion, while the pubs division, which includes more than 350 hotels, boosted revenue by 4.4 per cent to about $1.2 billion.

Sales for the latter were driven by an uplift in gaming, better performances at refurbished venues, and a positive trend in food and bar transactions.

“Hotels delivered its strongest monthly sales result ever in December, supported by record sales in the week leading up to Christmas, as well as record sales of food, bar and accommodation on New Year’s Eve,” Endeavour said.

Some of the hotels under the Endeavour umbrella include Brisbane’s Breakfast Creek Hotel, Young & Jackson in Melbourne, and the Jamison Hotel in Sydney.

Looking ahead, Endeavour said the outlook for consumer spending was uncertain given elevated inflation and rising interest rates.

“The group’s scale, value proposition and market-leading brands mean we are well positioned to compete and win in a market where consumers remain focused on value for money,” it added.

Sales for the first seven weeks of the second half of 2025/26 were 1.3 per cent higher for its bottle shops and 4.5 per cent for its hotels.

Endeavour will pay a first-half dividend of 10.8 cents, down from 12.5 cents previously.

Blessed with wind and solar resources, renewable energy companies are clamouring to take part in the bounty of NSW amid a global oil crisis.

More than 15 projects worth a total of $34.4 billion in potential investment are being looked over at the newly established Investment Delivery Authority.

The government is hoping dozens of projects in the next couple of decades will generate enough electricity to power 5.5 million homes with Australia’s biggest coal-fired facility Eraring extended to 2029.

Coal still remains the biggest export at some $33 billion, but the state wants to spruik its green credentials with 43 projects in the past three years as it aims to reduce greenhouse emissions by 50 per cent by 2030.

The IDA’s four-person panel overrides councils and accelerates planning approvals for businesses amid complaints making major investments in NSW is too complex and time-consuming.

“These endorsed projects will mean more reliable and affordable power for NSW, and more jobs and investment right across the state, particularly in regional NSW,” Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said on Wednesday.

Renewable sources delivered 40 per cent of energy in the National Electricity Market, with Australia targeting a goal of 82 per cent by the end of the decade.

Two hotel projects valued at $482 million have also been endorsed to proceed to the next stage.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, who is due to front a budget estimates hearing in parliament on Wednesday, said long-term economic growth was in the offing with NSW signalling to global markets that it was “open for business.”

NSW accounted for 65 per cent of Australia’s venture capital investment in 2024, and hosts five out of eight “unicorn” companies – privately-held start-ups valued at more than $1 billion.

Menka Michaelides can’t help but feel worried about how her business will cope with plans to legislate the right to work from home.

The small business owner believes the laws, which will come into effect in Victoria from September 1, will create a “two-tier” system in workplaces, dividing employees who can work from home from those who cannot.

Premier Jacinta Allan says the changes will do the opposite, helping workers save money, cut their commute and boost workforce participation.

All businesses will be roped into the policy to legislate a right for employees to work from home two days a week if they reasonably can with the provision to be enshrined in the Equal Opportunity Act.

For Ms Michaelides, who owns and runs Pro Repair Auto Care Centre in Melbourne’s inner suburbs, the proposed laws are a cause for concern.

“It’s going to create a two-tier situation where, the admin staff have the ability and the right to work from home. But the blue collar workers will have to come in,” she told AAP. 

“That will create a divide and would add another layer to our business, making it harder to get things done.”

The business owner also raised concerns about the red tape involved, including the added responsibility of ensuring employees have a safe workspace while working from home.

“We are a safe business, we have occupational health and safety standards to ensure we have the signage and equipment to ensure things don’t happen. But how can I ensure that happens at home? I can’t control that,” Ms Michaelides said.

“Yet we’re going to be liable for that.”

The policy only applies to workers who can “reasonably” do their job from home, although the extent of who falls into that category is not yet clear.

“You cannot be the checkout person in a small shop and expect to work from home, but if you’re a back-office person do you need to be at work every day?,” Swinburne human resource management expert Peter Holland told AAP.

“The mandate would be for those companies that are a bit recalcitrant – my way or the highway.”

Professor Holland said small businesses could benefit from providing flexibility to workers in a tight labour market and compared the reforms to Australia introducing paid maternity leave in 1973 and superannuation in 1992.

The premier on Tuesday said the proposed laws would apply to workplaces of all sizes.

She had said an exemption would be considered for small businesses when launching a consultation period in August.

The legislation will be introduced to the Victorian parliament in July.

“Work from home works for families, because it saves time and money and it gets more parents working,” she said.

Opposition Leader Jess Wilson said she supports working from home but has demanded more detail from the government.

Increased federal government spending is set to drive Australia’s economic growth to its highest level in almost a decade, outside of the pandemic.

Sharp growth in defence investment and spending by federal public corporations contributed to a 0.9 per cent rise in public investment in the December quarter, despite a sharp fall in public infrastructure work, Westpac economists said in a research note.

After retreating in the first half of 2025, the strong rebound in public demand, following a 1.3 per cent lift in the September quarter, contradicts Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ claims that government spending is not fuelling inflation.

Alongside other stronger-than-expected economic indicators released in recent days, like higher public inventory figures, Westpac’s Pat Bustamante, Mantas Vanagas and Neha Sharma revised up their December quarter GDP growth forecast to 1.1 per cent.

If borne out in national accounts figures, set to be released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday, that would represent the nation’s highest quarterly economic growth rate since December 2016, outside of the COVID-19 period.

Defence investment rose 7.1 per cent over the quarter and investment by federal public corporations climbed 6.1 per cent, offsetting lower investment from state and local governments.

Experts caution that the budget is better at gauging trends in government spending than public demand data.

But following the RBA’s rate hike in February, Dr Chalmers consistently argued public demand’s contribution to inflation was falling.

“Cost-of-living support measures have largely come to an end but programs such as the NDIS could continue supporting government spending going forward,” the Westpac trio said in the note.

They expect GDP growth ran at 2.6 per cent year-on-year, which would be higher than the Reserve Bank’s forecast of 2.3 per cent, included in its Statement on Monetary Policy in February.

Because of Australia’s weak productivity growth performance, the RBA estimates that GDP growth higher than about two per cent per year would exceed the economy’s speed limit and cause inflation to rise.

In a speech to the Australian Financial Review Business Summit on Tuesday, RBA governor Michele Bullock said demand was outstripping the economy’s capacity, causing inflation to run hotter than the central bank was comfortable with.

“The economy’s supply potential appears to have been somewhat lower than previously assessed,” she said.

Commonwealth Bank economists upgraded their December quarter GDP forecast from 0.7 per cent to one per cent, which would be “well above” estimates of potential.

On top of this, conflict in the Middle East has ignited fears of a dramatic rise in oil prices, which would add more fuel to the inflation fire.

“The RBA is already on edge having lifted the cash rate in February,” said CBA’s Ashwin Clarke, Harry Ottley and Belinda Allen in a research note.

“A strong finish to 2025 does not shift the outlook but it does suggest the changes the RBA made to its assessment of the output gap were warranted.”

That supports their view that the RBA will need to hike rates further to bring the economy back to balance and increases the likelihood that the board could move as early as March 17, they said.

Australia’s support of US strikes against Iran continues to draw fire as a UN expert blasts Canberra’s stance on the military action.

It was “crystal clear” the US-Israeli strikes were an illegal, armed aggression against Iran, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights and Counter Terrorism Ben Saul said.

“Every death in Iran is a violation of the human right to life as well under international human rights law,” he told AAP.

“These aren’t acts in self-defence because Iran has not attacked either country and is not about to imminently attack them and the security council hasn’t given any authorisation.”

Professor Saul accused the federal government of “trashing” rules of world order while dodging questions around the legality of the attacks. 

Australia was one of the fist countries to back the strikes by US and Israeli forces on Iran at the weekend.

Tehran has retaliated with a barrage of drones and missiles aimed at neighbouring states targeting oil and natural gas infrastructure.

Asked if the strikes were legal, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Defence Minister Richard Marles each have said that was a question for the United States and Israel. 

“It is for the US and Israel to explain the legal basis, and they’ve made comments about that,” Senator Wong told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday. 

Mr Albanese has said Iran’s retaliation since the initial strikes showed why it was a threat to peace and stability in the region.

About 115,000 Australians are believed to be stranded in the Middle East as the conflict continues to disrupt air travel.

Australia’s embassy in Saudi Arabia has warned citizens in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran to shelter in place, while an Australian defence base in the United Arab Emirates was hit in an Iranian attack.

Some limited flights are resuming out of the UAE but services have been largely grounded, throwing plans into chaos and threatening to leave Australians stranded for weeks.

Prof Saul rejected arguments the strikes could be justified as pre-emptive self-defence aimed at preventing Iran from developing or using nuclear weapons.

“Iran doesn’t have a nuclear weapon, hasn’t taken the decision to build one and hasn’t ordered that one is about to be used,” Prof Saul said. 

Middle powers like Australia must stand up for international law and follow suite with other countries including Spain and Switzerland that strongly protested against the attacks, Prof Saul said.

He said it was disappointing Australia seemed to support a “violation” of the United Nations Charter by “trashing the most fundamental rule of world order and peace of the last 80 years”.

The UN expert suggested the federal government’s cautious tone might reflect a desire to preserve the AUKUS submarine deal and avoid trade retaliation from Washington.

He argued such a stance risked emboldening countries such as the US and Israel to “keep violating international law in other situations”.

Opposition industry spokesman Andrew Hastie, an Afghanistan veteran, said US President Donald Trump’s four to five-week timeline for action in Iran was optimistic. 

“I think the rules-based global order is dead and buried and so these sorts of legal arguments are nice, but we live in the world of reality,” he told Sky News.

Small businesses have been roped into an incoming Australian-first legal right for staff to work from home as industry figures warn it will send trade interstate and abroad. 

All businesses will be subject to the Victorian government’s policy to legislate a right for employees to work from home two days a week if they reasonably can, Premier Jacinta Allan announced on Tuesday.

The premier had said an exemption would be considered for small businesses when launching a consultation period in August.

But while the legislation was still being drafted, the “key detail” was ticked off in a cabinet meeting on Monday.

Ms Allan said the policy would get more women back into the workforce, lifting participation rates and economic productivity.  

“People want to see their right to work from home protected because it’s at risk,” she told reporters on Tuesday.

“It’s at risk from employers who are … refusing requests to work from home for people who can.”

The decision would create a cost and compliance burden for “mum and dad” operators and sole traders with as few as one employee, Council of Small Business Organisations Australia chair Matthew Addison said.

“Small business don’t have a team of lawyers to interpret this,” he told AAP.

“They are already saying they lose a day a week on red tape – here’s some more red tape for them.”

Mr Addison said the election-year legislation appeared to “appeal to part of the population” and he doesn’t believe there is an appetite for it to spread nationally.

Victoria’s business and investment community have expressed a sentiment that the state is not business-friendly enough, spawning a catchcry of “Anywhere But Melbourne” and “Anywhere but Victoria”.

“We have borders but businesses and capital don’t,” Victorian Chamber of Commerce acting chief executive Scott Veenker said.

“The economy is in such a fragile state … this is just another reason for people to choose other states or other countries to trade in.”

The policy, as described by the state Labor government, only applies to workers who can “reasonably” do their job from home.

“We haven’t tested it and it’s ambiguous by nature,” Swinburne human resource management expert Peter Holland said.

“You cannot be the checkout person in a small shop and expect to work from home, but if you’re a back-office person do you need to be at work every day?

“The mandate would be for those companies that are a bit recalcitrant – my way or the highway.”

Professor Holland said small businesses could benefit from providing flexibility to workers in a tight labour market and compared the reforms to Australia introducing paid maternity leave in 1973 and superannuation in 1992.

“The world was going to fall in and it didn’t,” he said.

“It’s a positive for everybody. We’re in a different world now post-COVID.”

The Victorian opposition is trying to avoid being wedged politically on the legislation, with Liberal leader Jess Wilson maintaining she supports working from home while demanding more detail from the government.

Ms Allan has repeatedly pushed back against claims the move may not be legal, pointing to advice about an “explicit provision” in the Fair Work Act for state-based anti-discrimination laws.

Section 109 of the Australian Constitution dictates that if a state law conflicts with a Commonwealth law, the latter prevails. 

“We have advice that it is constitutionally valid,” Ms Allan said.

“But let’s be clear, what does it say about someone who wants to race off to the High Court to strip away a worker’s right to work from home.”