Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Birmingham says Australia needs to “recognise” the role deterrents play to help “avoid conflict”. Mr Birmingham joined Sky News Australia to discuss the latest developments with Sweden joining NATO. “Deterrents works hand-in-hand with diplomacy,” he said. “It’s why Australia’s got to make sure we lift our game in terms of defence investment, defence capability, defence preparedness to make sure we are a strong ally and partner with others to create that deterrence framework. “It’s why strengthening NATO is also so important – because Sweden joining NATO alongside Finland having joined NATO provides for a strong NATO, and a stronger NATO provides a greater deterrence against Russia.”

New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has denied claims he said Premier House had unlivable conditions. Reportedly, the New Zealand PM made these comments to Australian cricketer Usman Khawaja at the property, saying the conditions are so bad even he won’t live in it. It’s believed the incident occurred when Mr Luxon invited the Australian and NZ cricket teams over to Premier House. “There’s actually some minor repairs and maintenance taking place that means I can’t go and move into there at this point,” Mr Luxon said. A leaked secret document from the Premier House board estimates costs to refurbish the PM’s official residence to be as high as $28 million.

The once popular and influential US talk show The View is now a laughing stock. Extreme leftist views, stifled debate and hysterical meltdowns by woke-obsessed hosts have sabotaged the show's popularity and made it a parody rather than a respected news source. Sky News All Stars Paul Murray, Rita Panahi and Megyn Kelly expose The View’s hysterical woke meltdowns.

US President Joe Biden has reached out to some of Hollywood’s most memorable presidents. Mr Biden sat down with several A-list actors for advice ahead of his third State of the Union Address on Friday. Actors including Morgan Freeman and Michael Douglas were part of a group which involved a video call with the president. “I’ve never spoken to so many presidents at one time,” Mr Biden said. “In my capacity as president, all I had to deal with was a meteor,” said Morgan Freeman who played President Tom Beck in the film Deep Impact.

CommSec’s Tom Piotrowski says share markets are shaping up “quite well” on Friday morning. “We have seen the spy futures after-hours trade push on quite nicely,” he told Sky News Australia. “A gain of around two-thirds of a per cent is anticipated for the local market when we kick off later on this morning. "That is a reflection of what has been another constructive session as far as Wall Street is concerned.” Presented by CommSec.

Two people have died after a crash southeast of Melbourne. It’s understood the car they were travelling in crashed into a tree. The incident occurred near Toorak at about 8pm Thursday night before catching fire. Investigators are now trying to determine what caused the crash. The pair are yet to be formally identified.

A man has died following a crash in Sydney this morning. Crews were called to Lane Cove Road at North Ryde just after 5am Friday. Reportedly, a car and motorcycle collided with each other. Despite CPR efforts, the motorcyclist died at the scene. The road has since reopened but drivers have been warned to expect some delays as investigators try to determine what caused the crash.

Qld Deputy Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski has outlined his vision for an under-pressure police force after the retirement of Chief Commissioner Katarina Carroll. Mr Gollschewski intends to take officers away from desk jobs and bolster the numbers in units fighting youth crime. The Acting Police Commissioner told media his focus was “balance” as he criticised the idea of approaching the government with demands as “more doesn’t fix” youth crime. Mr Gollschewski instead suggested internal reviews on his own force’s processes were being implemented. “Nothing is off the table – we really want to improve this place,” he said.

Former US Army Vice Chief of Staff General Jack Keane says Ukraine vitally needed more ammunition to carry on its fight with Russia. Former US Army Vice Chief of Staff General Jack Keane joined Sky News host Andrew Bolt to discuss the latest on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. “The Ukrainians are defending quite naturally because there husbanding their resources, they no full well they receive no assistants in two months whatsoever. “The Russians outgunned them four to one on artillery shells and they're going to have a depletion of their air defence systems. “If we don’t get something to them soon we're going to see bombing of major cities in Ukraine and successful bombing that we’ve not seen today. “What is vitally needed now is the munitions and the weapon systems to carry on this fight.”

Nikki Haley on Wednesday announced that she was ending her presidential campaign however failed to endorse Donald Trump. Ms Haley instead challenged Trump to "earn" the votes of her supporters. The former South Carolina governor suspended her campaign for the Republican presidential nomination after failing to garner momentum in the Super Tuesday polls. Former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer joined Sky News host Andrew Bolt to disuse the latest on the US election. “Donald Trump will now be the Republican candidate in November's US election, and the hot favourite to become president again,” Mr Bolt said.

Sky News Australia host Rita Panahi has reacted to claims from the left that Trump's unanimous win in the US Supreme Court was actually a 5-4 decision. The US Supreme Court restored Donald Trump to the 20204 presidential primary ballots on Monday rejecting attempts to ban the Republican former president from state ballots. “You really have these nincompoops humiliate themselves by trying to claim that really this was a 5 -4 decision," Sky News Australia host Rita. “Not a unanimous 9-0 verdict. “Anyone who seriously claims that is either crazy or lying, there are no other options at this point.”

Anti-Defamation Commission Advocacy Chair Dvir Abramovich has called on the government to do more to put an end to anti-Semitism here in Australia. “I think we're getting a lot of empty rhetoric, I think we're getting words but we're not getting action. “Anti-Semitism is not just a problem for the Jewish community – this hatred, this radicalism, this violence, it may begin with the Jews but it won’t end with the Jews, this is a whole of society challenge. “We've seen what those anti-Israeli extremists have done – they’ve turned our lives upside down. “We don’t need to wait for the kind of violence that we saw in Israel to erupt on our streets to take these threats seriously. “I have never been more worried about the state of the Jewish community, but also the level of radicalism that we see spreading like wildfire throughout our nation.”

Menzies Research Centre Senior Fellow Nick Cater says Queensland students being given the right to appeal suspensions only serves to “undermine” teachers even further. The Australian has revealed the state government has passed legislation allowing parents and students to appeal school suspensions. “This just undermines the authority of teachers yet further,” Mr Cater told Sky News Australia host Peta Credlin. “You know as well as I do; you hear from teachers who really struggle with discipline in the classroom. “Kids will try it on because there’s no recourse, there’s no consequence for bad behaviour. “I think this is a terrible decision.”

Entertainment Reporter Richard Reid says pop star Madonna has opened up about her “near death experience”. Madonna claimed she had a “vision from God” while in an induced come, Mr Reid said. “We all know Madonna has a lot of powerful friends – but did you know she was friends with God,” Mr Reid told Sky News Digital Presenter Gabriella Power. “Apparently when she was in that induced coma for four days for that bacterial infection, she had a vision from God saying ‘will you come, do you want to join us’. “She goes ‘no’ and then she woke up from her coma. “Like a prayer sister, like a prayer.”

Entertainment Reporter Richard Reid and Sky News host Gabriella Power have discussed the iconic 2014 Ellen DeGeneres Oscar selfie to see how much has changed with the celebrities in the photo. March 2 marked the photo’s tenth anniversary, with the photo featuring celebrities like Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts and more. “Oscar host Ellen, ten years ago she was on top of the world … she’s taken a beating of course, cancelled,” Mr Reid said. “Mr Kevin Spacey, two-time Oscar winner … cancelled. “My beloved, Brad and Angie, I thought that was a love story … but they’re gone too.”

Sky News host Andrew Bolt has slammed Vice President Kamala Harris over her Gaza ceasefire speech. “It's bizarre how the West is blaming Israel more than Hamas for the war and suffering in Gaza, caused by the Hamas slaughter of 1,200 Israelis on October 7, and its promise to do it again and again,” Mr Bolt said. Mr Bolt went on to criticise the Vice President’s comments that she made earlier this week on the war in Gaza. “American Vice President Kamala Harris this week made clear she thought Israel was starving the people of Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas,” he said. Former US Army Vice Chief of Staff General Jack Keane joined Sky News host Andrew Bolt to discuss the conflict in Gaza.

Adoni Media Founder and Managing Director Leisa Goddard fears Melbourne City Council introducing a First Nations Advisory Committee will have a domino effect on councils across Australia. Following a vote in its favour Melbourne City Council introduced the committee to ensure the voices and aspirations of Australia’s first generation are embedded in the council’s core business and decision making. “I’m sure there’s plenty of residents in the city of Melbourne thinking I have the odd pothole in my street over here that can do with fixing. “As opposed to putting time and money into creating this body that yes, hello the majority of Australians said no we don’t want this. “The problem is what we are going to see is all of these councils which we know overstep the mark … pop up around the country.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has urged Ukrainian allies not to be “cowards” and to provide support towards Ukraine to fight off the Russian invasion. “We are surely approaching a moment for Europe in which it will be necessary not to be cowards,” he said. Macron made his comments while meeting with Czech Republic Prime Minister Petr Fiala. The French leader faced backlash over comments he made last week that sending Western troops to Ukraine could not be ruled out. However, during his visit to Prague on Tuesday (local time) he said he 'fully stood behind' the comments he made, and that a 'strategic leap' was necessary. Former US Army Vice Chief of Staff General Jack Keane joined Sky News host Andrew Bolt to discuss the latest on the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Sky News host Peta Credlin questions Labor’s new “gender targets” surrounding government contracts. “Finance Minister Katy Gallagher – she is saying from here on in, you’re not going to get a government contract if you are a business, unless you have got gender targets,” she said. Businesses wanting a slice of the federal government’s $70 billion contracts will have to pass a new gender test. The test will include consideration over the makeup of companies’ boards and workforce. The changes are under Australia’s first national strategy for gender equality which will also lead to women taking parental leave being paid superannuation next year.

Sky News host Rita Panahi mocks US President Joe Biden’s latest blunder on the eve of International Women’s Day. Ms Panahi said Biden said, “something like ‘we’ll teach Donald Trump a valuable lesson – don’t mess with the women in America unless you’,” before Biden became unintelligible. “I’ve listened to that quite a few times. “I’ve worked it out - he says, ‘We’ll teach Donald Trump a valuable lesson: don’t mess with the women in America unless you want to get the benefit’. “I’m not sure what that means. “Inspiring words, indeed.”