US-Iran War LIVE updates: Trump pitches renaming strait after himself

The harsh treatment meted out to 19-year-old twin sisters who protested against the Iranian regime has been revealed in a new report.

Taraneh Rahimi has been sentenced to death, while her sister Romina Rahimi was handed a 25-year prison term.

The sisters were still in high school when masked men took them from their home in the middle of the night, reports The Guardian. It was later established that the men were sent by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The sisters’ family searched for four months to find where they were being held.Their mother finally learnt they were detained at a prison in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, a hotbed of anti-regime protests in January.

But when she was permitted to see them in May, according to reports, she could not recognise her daughters because they had bruises across their bodies and their faces were badly swollen.

Their cousin, Masoud Nourmohammadi, who lives in the United States, said they had broken elbows, knuckles and feet. He also said their hair had been pulled out.

Lawyers for the sister reportedly told the court that the young women’s statements had been obtained through torture.

Human rights groups estimate Iran has executed more than 500 people this year since the war began in February.

The federal opposition has invited the ousted crown prince of Iran to Australia.Shadow foreign affairs spokesperson Ted O’Brien extended the invitation to former crown prince Reza Pahlavi.

“For decades, the Iranian people have suffered under a brutal terrorist regime that represses its own citizens, exports terror abroad and denies its people basic freedoms,” O’Brien said.“Many Iranian-Australians look to Mr Pahlavi as an important voice of hope for a different future and the Coalition believes those calls for engagement deserve to be heard.“While Pahlavi has positioned himself as an alternate leader for Iran, he has not lived in the country since his father, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, was ousted in a revolution in 1979.Pahlavi has a base of support among Iranian exiles but there is little indication the people of Iran want him to return.

The death toll in the Minneapolis shooting has risen to three, including the suspect.

One of the victims was fatally shot at the scene, and one died after arriving at the hospital, police say.

Minneapolis Police spokesperson Sergeant Garrett Parten said it was not immediately clear how the suspected shooter died.

Three police officers were also injured, including two of them from gunshot wound. They are all in stable condition.

- With The Associated Press

A US federal judge has blocked Donald Trump’s latest attempt to limit birthright citizenship, granting a preliminary injunction against an executive order that the administration said would target “birth tourism.“

District Judge Deborah L. Boardman in Maryland on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) issued the injunction until a class-action lawsuit brought by immigrant families and advocacy groups is resolved.

“The Supreme Court has spoken: Children in the certified class are ‘citizens at birth,’” Boardman wrote in the court ruling.

Birthright citizenship is guaranteed under current law for anyone who is born on US soil, with a few exceptions. The law stretches back to 1868.

But Trump has long wanted to end birthright citizenship, issuing a previous executive order declaring that children born to people who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens. The Supreme Court struck down that attempt in June.

Here is an update on the Minneapolis shooting.

Police say two people were killed and the suspect is dead after a shooting in a downtown apartment.

Three police officers were also injured, police Sergeant Garrett Parten said at a press conference.

Two of the officers were injured from gunshot wounds. All three officers are in stable condition, according to a hospital spokesperson.

One of the victims was fatally shot at the scene, and one died after arriving at hospital.

A Republican senator has urged Trump to sack US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, saying there is a “leadership void” at the Pentagon.

In a social media post, Senator Thom Tillis compared the performance of Hegseth with outgoing Army Secretary Dan Driscoll.

Reports say Driscoll departed due to sharp differences with the Pentagon chief.

“I have never witnessed more inept management of the brave men and women who serve our country. He is intimidated by competence and retreats to ginning up culture wars instead of soberly attending to the vital work of our national defence and the health and well-being of our fighting force,” Tillis wrote on X.

“I urge the President to find a new leader at the Pentagon who will retain and empower our military talent rather than diminish it.“

Tillis voted to confirm Hegseth, a military veteran and former television host, despite concerns over his conduct towards women and his past work.

Authorities in the US city of Minneapolis are reporting at least one person has been killed and six others injured during a shooting at an apartment building.

The Minneapolis Police Department warned on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) the public to stay away from the area and said two police officers were among those wounded.

Video posted to social media showed police aiming rifles upwards at an apartment tower near the Minneapolis Convention Centre.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said in a post on social media that state officials are on the ground helping local law enforcement respond to the shooting.

- With The Associated Press

Defence Minister Richard Marles has been pushed by his American counterpart to lift Australian spending during talks in Washington DC.

Marles, who is also deputy prime minister, met US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth at the Pentagon on Wednesday (Thursday AEST), one day after the 75th anniversary of the ANZUS treaty.

"Secretary Hegseth emphasised the need for capable allies to contribute to the collective defence and invest in their own sovereign security," a statement from the Pentagon read.

The Trump administration has been pressing allies such as Australia to lift their military budgets to reduce their reliance on the United States.

Hegseth previously criticised the Australian government for not spending too little on its armed forces.

Marles also said having major AI companies in Australia would contribute to the US-Australia alliance.

“I actually think from a national security perspective, having Australia as a place from which frontier labs/tech companies operate is in a national security sense a kind of an extension of what we are doing with the alliance,” he said.

Australian shares are set to open higher on Thursday, shadowing gains on Wall Street.

ASX futures are forecasting a 0.4 per cent when trading opens later this morning.

Overnight, US stocks snapped a three-day losing streak, with the S&P 500 index rising 0.5 per cent, the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping 0.6 per cent, and the Nasdaq composite gaining 0.5 per cent.

Oil prices held relatively steady despite the intensification of the US war with Iran.The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1 per cent to settle at $US95.63 per barrel.