ASPI Senior Analyst Dr Malcolm Davis says if the United States did not respond to a drone strike that killed three American soldiers, it would have been a “horrendous sign of weakness” that would have had “global consequences”. The US has launched retaliatory airstrikes against Iran-backed targets in Iraq and Syria in response to the drone attack in Jordan, which killed three American soldiers. US President Joe Biden had previously warned of a ‘tiered response’ over time, so this airstrike is unlikely to be the last. The US Central Command says the military struck more than 85 targets, using more than 125 precision munitions. “The US had to respond to the attacks that killed three soldiers; for the US not to respond would have been a horrendous signal of weakness, not just to the Iranians, but also to Moscow and to Beijing,” Dr Davis told Sky News Australia. “It would have had global consequences if the US had not responded effectively. “It is early days yet in terms of this campaign. “How the Biden administration evolves this in terms of its operations in coming days and weeks and how it essentially continues to attack the IRGC and militias will be very interesting to see.”

ASPI Senior Analyst Dr Malcolm Davis says if the Iraqi government is “talking about its sovereignty”, it shouldn’t have allowed Iran to use its territory to “stage attacks” on the United States. The US has launched retaliatory airstrikes against Iran-backed targets in Iraq and Syria in response to the drone attack in Jordan, which killed three American soldiers. An Iraqi military spokesperson, in response to the attacks, has said, ‘These airstrikes constitute a violation of Iraqi sovereignty, undermine the efforts of the Iraqi government, and pose a threat that could lead Iraq and the region into dire consequences.’ “If the Iraqi government is talking about its sovereignty, maybe it shouldn’t have allowed its territory to be used by Iran to stage attacks on US forces,” Dr Davis told Sky News Australia. “The Iranians have basically infiltrated every aspect of Iraqi society and Iraqi government to the point whereby I think the question of Iraqi sovereignty needs to be looked at hard.”

The US has launched retaliatory airstrikes against Iran-backed targets in Iraq and Syria. It is in response to the drone attack in Jordan, which killed three American soldiers. US President Joe Biden had previously warned of a ‘tiered response’ over time. It is unlikely this airstrike is to be the last. The US Central Command says the military struck more than 85 targets, using more than 125 precision munitions.

Bondi Partners Senior Advisor Peter McGauran says the United States “will retaliate” after the drone strike in Jordan, but they won’t “respond in blind rage and kill innocent citizens”. The United States has approved plans for a series of strikes in Syria and Iraq in response to the drone attack on a US military base in Jordan. Strikes will target Iranian personnel and facilities in the countries. “Counterintuitively, it has de-escalated for the moment,” Mr McGauran told Sky News Australia. “Iran knows it’s pushed America to a breaking point with the loss of three troops. “They seem to have stood down their surrogates, but the Americans will retaliate – no question. “Americans have a moral rectitude; others in the Middle East don’t have so. “They will be trying to locate who exactly gave the order … They don’t respond in blind rage and kill innocent citizens; they are going to find out who’s responsible.”

Bondi Partners Senior Advisor Peter McGauran says the Dunkley byelection is “more critical” to the Albanese government because they have “everything to lose” if it doesn’t go their way. The Dunkley byelection is a real-world test looming in a month for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The prime minister will spend the day campaigning with candidate Jodie Belyea in Dunkley. “It’s more critical to the government than it is the Opposition,” Mr McGauran told Sky News Australia. “Everything is in favour of the government: they held the seat by a margin of 6.3 per cent in a very pro-Labor state. “It’s an opportunity for Peter Dutton to make an impact, to improve the Coalition vote, but the government has to hold this seat. “It’s near impossible for the Liberals to win this seat, so if they even got close to an upset win, it would give momentum to the Opposition. “The government has everything to lose, and the Opposition has everything to gain.”

Bondi Partners Senior Advisor Peter McGauran says interest rates will “almost certainly” be cut “towards the end of the year” if inflation continues to fall throughout 2024. The likelihood of another rate hike by the Reserve Bank has all but been ruled out after inflation dropped to 4.1 per cent in the year to the December quarter. “The December quarter inflation rate was 4.1 per cent; the Reserve Bank was expecting 4.3,” Mr McGauran told Sky News Australia. “Now the clamouring is for them to begin to reduce interest rates. “Will there be interest rate cuts towards the end of the year? Almost certainly if we continue in this way.”

Bondi Partners Senior Advisor Peter McGauran says Labor’s stage three broken promise is “not a net positive” for the government because Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s reputation has “taken a hit” despite the tax cuts for all message. “The government doesn’t expect the backflip or the lie, depending on your point of view, to gain that many votes,” Mr McGauran told Sky News Australia. “This is all about containing the loss from the breach of promise. “Dutton has done the only pragmatic realistic thing, which is they will not oppose the government’s proposal, which abandons stage three as the Liberals proposed initially because it would have been waved through the Senate anyway. “Dutton has done the right thing. “It is not a net positive to the government because Albanese’s personal reputation has taken a hit, but I do think … tax cuts for all have mitigated for them, and that’s to the Liberals’ disadvantage.”

The bodies of three US soldiers killed in a drone strike in Jordan are being flown back to an air base in the state of Delaware. US President Joe Biden will be there to honour the sacrifice. He also faces pressure to respond to the attack. Critics argue he is showing his hand to the enemy, and the response should have happened already. “They’re pushing us around in the Middle East,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said. “They’re not going to stop until we hit Iran itself.”

The Albanese government has formally recognised the October 7 Hamas assault as an overseas terrorist attack. It is more than 100 days since the attack in Southern Israel occurred. The designation has triggered the Australian Victim of Terrorism Overseas Payment. Australian residents who are harmed, or whose close family member is killed, as a result of an overseas terrorist act, are eligible for the one-off payment of $75,000 in financial assistance. The Opposition last month accused the government of dragging its feet on the issue, which is said was delaying much-needed financial help for those Australians impacted by the October 7 attacks.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will pledge $1.5 million in memory of late Dunkley MP Peta Murphy to improve the outcomes of people with metastatic breast cancer. The funding will assist with identifying patterns in delayed diagnosis, cancer recurrence and survival. Ms Murphy died in December after battling metastatic breast cancer. He will make the announcement today at a breast cancer event in Dunkley. It is the electorate Ms Murphy held.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has officially launched Labor candidate Jodie Belyea’s campaign for the closely contested Melbourne seat of Dunkley. “So, what we know is that we’ve got to do better than just average,” Mr Albanese said. “That’s why it’s important that we’ve got a candidate who is anything but average.” The prime minister will spend a full day on the hustings in Dunkley today, where he will sell his controversial revised stage three income tax cut package before it comes before the Parliament next week. “Our government knows that these communities have cost of living pressures as the number one issue. “You can’t just wring your hands and whine about it and complain like Peter Dutton and the Coalition do - you’ve got to do something about it.”

Independent MP Zali Steggall has called for the 100-year-old “thriving” Balgowlah Golf Course to be shut down and handed to the local school, says former professional golfer Mark Allen. Mr Allen joined Sky News host Steve Price to discuss the push to shut down the popular golf course. “When I came back on my little trip I was looking at all the parks everywhere – nobody was in a park on a beautiful Melbourne day, I went past Brighton Golf Club and there are people everywhere enjoying themselves,” Mr Allen said. “The only parks that are worth going to are one where people carry around a gold club. “But they forget that people pay green fees to keep these beautiful courses the way they are.”

One Nation Senator Pauline Hanson has unleashed on proposed IR reforms suggesting to ban bosses from contacting employees outside of work hours. “What a joke – how ridiculous is that,” Ms Hanson told Sky News Australia host Steve Price. Ms Hanson explained parliamentary employees are paid substantially with bonuses in lieu of overtime. “They get that if they are called at any certain times,” she said. "When you want to run a business or you have something to do, especially in parliamentary offices, you have something that pops up. “What do we do with people in emergency services? “I think it is ridiculous – I am fed up with the unions in this country.”

Author Douglas Murray has urged the Chicago Council to call for a ceasefire "at home” before they afford a foreign policy following their decision to vote for Israel to enter into a ceasefire with Hamas. “All these people called for a ceasefire from Israel before Israel had even fired anything,” Mr Murray told Sky News host Rita Panahi. “Personally, I think it would be much more useful for the citizens of Chicago to urge the council of Chicago to call for a ceasefire in Chicago. “Because Chicago has one of the highest gun crime rates anywhere in America and in any developed country. “I would urge them to look to home before they decide they have home so well sorted out they can also afford a foreign policy in Chicago.”

Author Douglas Murray says Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu knows he is under “incredible international pressure” to wrap up the war in Gaza. Mr Murray sat with Mr Netanyahu for an interview in which he relayed his experience of Israel’s Prime Minister afterwards to Sky News Australia host Rita Panahi. “He also knows Israel has been through multiple rounds of wars in Gaza and everyone starts again because the conditions for the next war are effectively laid down in the ceasefire of the previous one,” he said. “He knows that, if Hamas is left in any way standing, they will regroup and in another couple of years the same thing will happen again. “So, he is trying to fulfill his objective of destroying Hamas – at the same time, he is trying to negotiate the release of the remaining hostages.”

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have "a bunch" of projects in development, according to Netflix. Chief content officer Bela Bajaria told Hollywood insiders the couple has multiple projects – including unscripted and early works. One film project is thought to be an adaptation of the novel 'Meet Me at the Lake'. The rights to the novel were acquired by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex last year. Signed in 2020, their five-year deal with the streaming service is said to be worth around $150 million.

Sky News host Rita Panahi has called for Victorian authorities to take swift action to “dismantle” a camp set up by Indigenous activists in Kings Domain. “Kings Domain is for all Victorians, always was, always will be, or at least it should be unless we are betrayed by milquetoast politicians desperate to appease the unappeasable,” she said. The activists, including Robbie Thorpe, the uncle of Senator Lidia Thorpe, are demanding Kings Domain be renamed and handed to the Indigenous community, with Mr Thorpe vowing to remain in the park until his demands are met. “It would be wrong to assume that the action taken by Mr Thorpe and other radicals is supported by all Indigenous Australians,” Ms Panahi said. “But too often that is the simplistic view offered by the media who uncritically accept and regurgitate whatever tripe the activist class feeds them.”

Former Pakistan president staffer Raoof Hasan says no political leaders of Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan’s party have been allowed to meet him in jail. The former Pakistani prime minister and his wife received a 14-year prison sentence for the illegal selling of state gifts. “The administration has not allowed me to meet him – in fact, they have not allowed any political leader from the party to meet him,” he told Sky News host Erin Molan. “I have about seven or eight permissions from the court that I should be allowed to meet him, and when we get in touch with the administration at the jail, they call me over, make me wait … five hours and then say, well they’ve not been permitted to let me meet him. “So until to date, ever since he was taken in, no political leader of the party has been allowed to meet him, such as the level of suppression and oppression in this country.”

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has flagged the possibility of his country recognising Palestinian statehood as a practical step towards a two-state solution. Mr Cameron set a high watermark for recognition, saying there would need to be a ceasefire in Gaza and Hamas would need to relinquish control of the territory. Most of Africa, South America and Asia already recognise Palestine as a nation. Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will “not compromise” on full Israeli control of Gaza after the war. David Cameron’s shift in language is notable considering the upcoming election in the United Kingdom.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has called for the Prime Minister to sack Foreign Minister Penny Wong on her stance that funding to UNRWA may eventually be restored. UNRWA has received Australian funding every year since 1951, with another $6 million having been pledged last month. Israeli intelligence documents alleged that some staff members of UNRWA were involved in the Hamas attacks on October 7 – which led Australia and several other nations to suspend funding. On Thursday, at a press conference, Ms Wong indicated it was her view that UNRWA funding may be eventually restored as it is the only organisation in the international system which provides substantive humanitarian aid for those in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Mr Dutton took aim at the stance, saying Anthony Albanese needs to show “strength of leadership” and cut off funding to UNRWA funding permanently.