Officials have confirmed Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian have been killed in a helicopter crash. The President and Foreign Minister were on board the helicopter when it went down in heavy fog in Iran's East Azerbaijan province. ANU Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies Professor Amin Saikal joined Sky News Australia to discuss what the death of Ebrahim Raisi would mean for Iran and its internal affairs.

Comedian Bill Maher has defended Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker against backlash over his graduation speech at Benedictine College. The Kansas City Chiefs kicker recently came under fire over his comments directed at women during his commencement speech. The NFL player has been labelled a misogynist and having a 1950s mentality following his viral speech. The League has since publicly distanced itself from his comments. During a panel discussion on Friday, the 'Real Time' host said he doesn’t understand "what the big crime is". "I don't agree with much with this guy, but I don't get the thing, Maher said. "He said… ‘Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world.' Ok, that seems fairly, like, modern." "‘But I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.’ I don't see what the big crime is. I really don't." Maher questioned why this view is seen as problematic, noting that many Americans share it. "And I think this is part of the problem people have with the left is that lots of people in this country are like this," he said. "Like he's saying some of you may go on to lead successful careers, but a lot of you are excited about this other way that people- everybody used to be. And now can't that be a choice too?"

Actor and comedian Ricky Gervais has thanked the people who tried to get him cancelled. Mr Gervais posed a clip of his stand up ‘Armageddon’ on X. “Thanks to everyone who complained about this trailer and even signed a petition to get #Armageddon removed from Netflix. You helped make it the most watched special in the world,” Mr Gervais wrote. Comedian Stephen Merchant is among the comedians who have also spoken out against cancel culture. Mr Merchant told the Observer magazine the "left" is "policing comedy" with "sensitivities that seem out of proportion to the joke". He said comedians have to be “more cautious” than ever before to avoid “justifying” their jokes on social media.

ASPI Senior Fellow Simon Benson says Iran state media is saying the helicopter crash involving the country’s President has come down due to “heavy weather”. Mr Benson said they are not yet suggesting any “foreign influence” in this. “There’s still plenty of time for that narrative to change and if that does happen we got a serious issue,” Mr Benson told Sky News Australia. “It was only last month that Israel put a missile into an Iranian consulate and that was followed with the largest ever drone raid conducted by Iran, targets inside Israel and that was followed up in turn with missiles from Israel into Iran. “Anything that suggests Israeli involvement in this … there’s nothing at the moment to suggest that, but if that narrative develops that is a very dangerous development.”

Shadow Immigration and Citizenship Minister Dan Tehan discussed the “cap” on international students imposed by the government. “The government has said that they’re going to put a cap in place when it comes to international students,” Mr Tehan told Sky News Australia. “We’ve got to wait and see what that cap looks like, how they do it. “The University of Sydney – 47 per cent of their students are international students. “We think that number is too high for any one tertiary organisation.”

Former Labor Senator Graham Richardson says he thinks the Labor government is doing “reasonably well”. Mr Richardson’s comments come after new polling showed Labor ahead in the first Newspoll since Treasurer Jim Chalmers released the federal budget. “There are no grey clouds on the horizon,” Mr Richardson told Sky News Australia. He said the polling was “pretty close” to where "you’d expect”.

ASPI military analyst Malcolm Davis says there is “no indication whatsoever” Israel was behind the helicopter crash carrying Iran’s President. A helicopter carrying Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has been involved in an accident in the north of the country. Rescue teams are trying to find the helicopter to determine if the occupants have survived. “I would imagine that Iran would not essentially respond in a way that would escalate the conflict with Israel,” Mr Davis said.

Four Zebrafish brought into orbit in China’s space station are in good condition after 20 days. The four fish are now living in a small ‘aquarium’ in the laboratory module on the space station. They were sent to the space station for a life, science and ecological experiment to study how the space environment affects fish’s growth and system balance. The experiment has so far been successful, the scientists have found some abnormal directional behaviours of the Zebrafish, moving in circles and even swimming upside-down.

The Albanese government’s third federal budget was met “resoundingly with disappointment”, says Shadow Finance Minister Jane Hume. “Not just from the Coalition obviously, but from economists and from commentators right around the world,” Ms Hume told Sky News Australia. “Indeed, I’ve never seen such a poor response to a budget as we saw on Wednesday morning’s newspapers after Tuesday night. “You can understand why – it simply didn’t speak to the important issues to ordinary Australians who are really doing it tough.”

Royal biographer Angela Levin has described why she “absolutely” loves King Charles’ official portrait which was recently unveiled. “I think the face of King Charles is absolutely extraordinary – you have so much there, you have determination, you have humanitarian feelings, you have a sense of humour,” Ms Levin told Sky News host Caroline Di Russo. “I love the butterfly on his shoulder, which some people say, when somebody dies a butterfly comes back to look after you – that could be his late mother Queen Elizabeth.”

Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes says there is a “lot of research” going into the damage of social media on children’s mental health. Ms Hughes said it is nice to see the government “finally caught up” that social media for younger children “is a problem”. “It is causing mental health issues,” Ms Hughes told Sky News Australia. "There’s a lot of this that we already know … there’s a lot of research already about the damage it does to children’s mental health. “I welcome their change of heart and hopefully we can get on track with ensuring the better mental health and security of our children.”

A helicopter carrying Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi has been involved in an accident in the north of the country. A rescue operation is underway after the helicopter reportedly crashed due to bad weather. Early reports claimed the helicopter had been found but those claims have since been denied.

Royal expert and journalist Pandora Forsyth says Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s trip to Nigeria was a "slap in the face" to the Royal Family. “This is a little bit of a slap in the face for the royal family because they said they wanted a private life and they wanted to be getting on with their own things,” Ms Forsyth said. “Whereas a royal tour they essentially just did one without the royal status attached to it and created headlines all around the world. “So many people may see it as a missed opportunity, but many people also see it as a dig at the royal family.”

Royal expert and journalist Pandora Forsyth has weighed in on calls for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to return back to the UK as working royals. It comes as an opinion piece in tThe Telegraph was written this week by Petronella Wyatt titled 'I never thought I’d say this, but it’s time to bring Prince Harry home'. "Are we completely forgetting what Harry’s done not only directly about royal family members but also about loved ones of the royal family as well and the monarchy itself," Ms Forsyth said. "I think there's so much more that needs to be done in conversations. "Yes wouldn’t it be great if we could all get along and it would all be absolutely fine, but I think in reality … how can they trust Harry and Meghan again to know that they're not going to step back from royal duties and cause further upset."

Royal Biographer Angela Levin discusses the newly revealed “extraordinary” portrait of King Charles. “I love it actually, I absolutely love it, I think the face of King Charles is absolutely extraordinary,” she said. “You have so much there, you have determination, you have humanitarian feelings, you have a sense of humour … all that within the King and you think it is him, really if you didn’t know otherwise.”

The Royal Family are reportedly “deeply unhappy” with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle following their visit to Nigeria, The Australian's Media Writer Sophie Elsworth says. “They were deeply unhappy with this trip to Nigeria that looked like, sounded like, it felt like a royal tour and they are no longer royals,” Ms Elsworth said. “So they're carrying on as if they are well and truly part of the royal family, this is definitely getting people offside, they were touring around Nigeria visiting charities and schools and so forth.”

The Australian Media Writer Sophie Elsworth discusses Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's six years together and how they went from being captured in the media positively to now almost struggling to find a good authentic news story about the couple. "They were the hottest thing in town when they hit centre stage and they had positive press endless positive press," Ms Elsworth said. "But we're six years down the track and what a disaster it's been. "I mean their modus operandi has been to trash the royal family, their business model since they moved to America has been basically let's bring down the royal family and make money out of it. "They are so out of touch."

Sky News contributor Sam Crosby says Australians must be “careful” not to rely on easy wins as Opposition Leader Peter Dutton needs to put forward a “case of change” and not just lower migration. “You have got to be careful about relying on the easy wins, I think this is a complicated issue at the best of times,” he said. “The more you say well there is just this big lever over there and if you just pull back on that lever then it is super easy and we will fix everything, I think Australians are smart enough to go, oh, but hold on what about the … skills shortage.”

Sky News host Caleb Bond says Opposition Leader Peter Dutton revealed plans to “slash” permanent migration by 25 per cent in response to the housing crisis. “Peter Dutton revealed plans to slash permanent migration by 25 per cent in response to the nations housing crisis if the Coalition wins the next election,” he said. “The Coalition is hoping to redirect skilled migrants to regional areas by reviving the Australian agricultural visa.”

The Australian Associate Editor Graham Lloyd says the budget is “hostage” to the economy. This follows the announcement of the federal budget on May 9. “It was an important week that really sets the framework for the election, whenever that may be,” Mr Lloyd told Sky News Australia. “The government’s really put itself out there both in the short term with an un-means tested giveaway and in the longer term with a big investment program in industry. “So, its hostage to where the economy goes from here.”