G7 tells Israel, Hezbollah ‘sit down and negotiate’ | Morning News Bulletin 27 March 2026

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TRANSCRIPT

In this bulletin;

• Foreign Ministers meet to discuss conflicts at G7 talks in France
• Donald Trump claims Iran has let tankers through the Strait of Hormuz
• And in sport, The Melbourne Cricket Ground will host the first-ever regular season NFL game in Australia

US President Donald Trump says Iran has let ten oil tankers – including some Pakistan-flagged vessels – transit through the Strait of Hormuz as a gesture of goodwill in negotiations.

But he went on to say the US will be Iran’s “worst nightmare” if it doesn’t agree to a peace plan.

Mr Trump says Tehran is begging for a deal – a claim Tehran has refuted.

The US President was questioned on his five-day deadline, and asked whether it will be shelved, with oil tankers going through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Well, we don’t want anything impeded. We want ships to go through. We don’t know that they’ve dropped any mines, by the way, because we blew up all the mine droppers, right. We blow up every one of them. They’re going to have to take them out on a row boat or something. I don’t know how the hell they get them out there, but we don’t really know.”

Israel says it has killed a high ranking member of  the Iranian Revolutionary Guard’s navy.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz says the army killed Commodore Alireza Tangsiri, along with other senior naval commanders in a strike overnight.

Hebrew translated “Last night, in a precise and lethal operation, the IDF thwarted the commander of the Revolutionary Guards’ Navy, (Alireza) Tangsiri, along with senior naval command officials. The man who was directly responsible for the terrorist operation of mining and blocking the Strait of Hormuz and navigation was blown up and neutralised.”

Iran did not immediately acknowledge Tangsiri’s killing.

There has been no independent confirmation of Israel’s claim.

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Petrol stations and suppliers found to be price-gouging as a result of the war in the Middle East are to face tough new penalties.

Federal parliament passed new laws on Thursday to double the fine for filling stations that artificially raise the price of fuel, to $100 million.

Meanwhile despite hundreds of filling stations running dry, Energy Minister Chris Bowen said there was ample supply and that distribution to regional Australia had seen a significant boost in the last few days.

“When you get a big increase in demand, it takes time for the supply chain to recover to backfill the existing demand. But the fact that supply to regional Australia is up substantially, shows that the measures this government has put in place, with industry, are seeing real progress Mr speaker.”

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The European Parliament has cleared the way for tougher penalties for irregular migrants and their potential deportation to so-called “return hubs” outside the bloc.

EU politicians in Brussels voted 389 to 206 in favour of a tightening of Europe’s immigration rules.

Any E-U nation can now negotiate on its own or in small groups, to deport migrants to facilities that are yet to be built outside the 27-nation bloc.

Already, Greece, Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, and Denmark have entered into negotiations with governments, mainly in Africa, to host sites to hold migrants denied asylum.

Tunisian Foreign Minister Mohamed Ali Nafti, says the country supports the returns policy.

Tunisian translated “We have agreed with several countries to activate a mechanism that gives hope to those who are stranded and have risked their lives, to return to their homelands and be accompanied by competent international and international organisations and partner countries in the field of training, and encourage the establishment of development projects that enable them to stay in their countries.”

Human rights groups have criticised the move.

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The Melbourne Cricket Ground will host the first-ever regular season NFL game in Australia in the middle of the AFL finals series.

The Los Angeles Rams will take on the San Francisco 49ers on Friday, September 11.

The game will start at 1035 in the morning so that it fits in with the Thursday night time slot in the US.

Premier Jacinta Allan says it’s the perfect time for Melbourne to be hosting an NFL game.

“For that week in Melbourne, we’ll have this incredible experience where you’ll have the NFL regular season game bookended around the AFL Finals So, they’ll be so much sport, so much activity, working on how we can activate the space around this fantastic ground to make sure that there are opportunities for fans beyond the game.”

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