Former heart surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian will be the next President of Iran He campaigned on a platform of reform – promoting rational foreign policy and de-escalation of tension over the country's controversial nuclear pact. The snap election was called after the death of predecessor Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash.

US Studies Centre Research Director Jared Mondschein says Joe Biden is facing “unprecedented calls” from his own supporters to take a neurological exam to prove his mental fitness for presidency. “Because of that debate performance, unprecedented calls for that even those who support him have said this is something that may be worth doing because there have never been more questions about his abilities to carry out his duties as president both now as well as four years from now,” eh told Sky News Australia. Biden has rejected concerns over his age and health in his first TV interview since his disastrous debate appearance.

US Studies Centre Research Director Jared Mondschein says Joe Biden’s ABC interview was “very defensive” about his poor presidential debate performance. “He went out of his way to show that he was lively and that he was cogent, and could say the chorus and was joking quite a lot in that this was just a bad episode, this was not a condition as former speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi worried about,” he told Sky News Australia. Biden has rejected concerns over his age and health in his first TV interview since his disastrous debate appearance.

UK expert David McCredie says Labour’s vote “broadly” across the UK “did not change that much” while Reform UK split the vote on the right with the Conservatives. “The split of the righthand side of the vote between the Reform Party that performed really well in a lot of seats, in fact came second in quite a number of the seats that Labour won,” he told Sky News Australia. “Really divided the righthand side of politics vote meant that the Conservative incumbents had no chance of holding on.”

The most and least popular dog breeds in New South Wales have been revealed. Data from the Saturday Telegraph shows the least popular pooches are Great Danes, only 34 were registered in NSW this year. Among the most popular are Labradors, Cavoodles and Border Collies.

University of Sussex Politics Senior Lecturer Samuel Power says Sir Keir Starmer’s victory as the next UK Prime Minister has “significantly less public enthusiasm” than expected. “All of the polls suggested that Keir Starmer was going to win,” he told Sky News Australia. “It’s a landslide, an expected landslide, that albeit on a slightly less of a share of the vote than we expected.”

Sky News commentator Des Houghton says an Anglican priest in Queensland is pushing for churches to sell blocks of land which are not being used frequently so it can be “recycled”. “He did so in his own church, he was the parish priest at Manly, in Bayside Brisbane, almost has views of the ocean, and there were only 12 parishioners, and they decided to sell the church to the state school next door.” “The church is now being repurposed as a performing arts centre.”

Former Howard Government Minister Peter McGauran says the Democratic Party can’t do anything with Joe Biden unless he “falls on his sword” or is declared physically unable to continue. The US President has defended his debate performance against Republican candidate Donald Trump – calling it a 'bad episode'. “He won’t get to the election,” Mr McGauran said. “No-one will vote for him in America – and they won’t – Trump will just go further and further ahead.”

Former Howard Government Minister Peter McGauran says Joe Biden has decided to stay as US President but “the decision will be made for him”. The US President has defended his debate performance against Republican candidate Donald Trump – calling it a 'bad episode'. “He can’t keep this up, he is in degenerative cognitive decline,” Mr McGauran said.

Tens of thousands of residents in northern California have been told to evacuate as wildfires rage across the state. Crews are working around the clock to contain around 3,000 fires. At least 74 structures have been destroyed, and high temperatures are set to persist for the next few days.

Close to 1,000 party members will attend the LNP conference this weekend, making it the largest conference in more than decade. It has been nine years since the Campbell Newman government was wiped out by Labor under Annastacia Palaszczuk. Polls are consistently indicating the LNP will return to government this year under David Crisafulli.

One person is dead and two others have been injured after a crash in the New South Wales Hunter region. Crews were called to Salt Ash, north of Newcastle, around 11pm last night after the car collided with a tree. It's understood a teenage boy died on the way to hospital. The 17-year-old driver has been taken to hospital for mandatory testing.

The US President has defended his debate performance against Republican candidate Donald Trump – calling it a 'bad episode'. The 81-year-old President says it was a one-time occurrence because he was sick. In an interview airing this hour on ABC New America, Joe Biden is fighting off calls to step down – some from his own Democratic Party.

There are concerns Australia's cost of living crisis is affecting road safety as more motorists look to cut costs when keeping their cars in good condition. As the rate of fatal car accidents increase this year, new research shows fewer drivers are now properly insured on our roads. Finder surveyed more than 1,000 motorists and has found one in five Australians carried out their own maintenance in the past year.

Labor's aged-care taskforce is concerned time could be running out to implement financial reform. They say changes to laws which could see wealthier older Australians make larger co-contributions to typical aged care costs are being delayed due to slow negotiations between both sides of politics. The warning comes as new data reveals half the nation's nursing homes are running at a loss. Aged-care providers say the greater financial certainty would encourage more homes to be built.

US President Joe Biden has declared he is 'staying in the race' during a campaign rally in the state of Wisconsin. During the event, Mr Biden acknowledged his performance in last week's debate with Donald Trump. His public appearances are under scrutiny following the debate as he faces pressure to resign from the race over his age.

More Queenslanders are finding it harder to pay their bills. According to the Australian Energy Regulator, gas and electricity are among some of the biggest concerns across households in the Sunshine State. Almost 32,000 residents are currently unable to afford their bills and some are resorting to financial assistance plans. Some providers say they receive a thousand calls a day from customers seeking hardship options.

New polling has revealed more support for Peter Dutton's nuclear pledge. A poll commissioned by the Minerals Council of Australia reveals a 21 per cent net favourability of the move among voters in Teal, Greens and Independent seats. A wider national poll of 3,000 voters found 41 per cent of Australians backed nuclear energy. Both the Opposition and Nationals leaders are expected to reaffirm their nuclear support at the LNP convention in Brisbane this weekend.

Anthony Albanese is downplaying fears of another interest rate rise – believing the cost-of-living crisis could improve. The Prime Minister claims he has deliberately designed cost-of-living relief measures in way that won't place further pressure on inflation. He added that 'cash splashes' by the previous Coalition government made inflation worse. Labor launched its raft of measures this week including $300 energy bill relief payments and increased superannuation.

US President Joe Biden has congratulated Keir Starmer on his election win. The President posted to X saying – “Congratulations to Prime Minister Keir Starmer on becoming Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. “I look forward to our shared work in support of freedom and democracy around the world, and to further strengthening the special relationship between our two countries.”