Ben CubbyUpdated July 14, 2026 — 8:34am,first published 7:06amThis morning’s headlines at a glanceBy Ben CubbyHello and welcome to our live national news coverage for Tuesday, July 14. Here’s what’s making headlines today.US-Iran ceasefire collapsing: The US will “guard” the Strait of Hormuz and charge ships a fee of 20 per cent of their cargo value to pass safely, President Donald Trump said.Oil price surge: Oil is up again after days of missile exchanges across the Strait of Hormuz. The US is set to blockade Iranian ports today.House price poll: A growing majority of Australians want house prices to fall, in some cases by more than 20 per cent, new polling shows.Major AI announcement: AI giants’ offer to create a fund to pay artists in exchange for a copyright exemption has been rebuffed, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese prepares to deliver a major speech on the technology today.CFMEU pressure: A former senior official who oversaw the redevelopment of a Victorian hospital says the state government intervened to make public servants sack a company disliked by the CFMEU.Sam Neill farewelled: Tributes continue to flow around the world for beloved actor Sam Neill, who died aged 78 in Sydney on Monday.Latest Posts8.34amMost Bangkok fire victims were trapped in windowless bathroomsBy APMost of the people who were killed in a huge fire in a Bangkok music bar were found trapped in windowless bathrooms where they may have sought to escape the flames that claimed at least 27 lives, authorities said as investigations began.The blaze at the Na Ladprao Beer House bar was the city’s deadliest in 17 years. The fire left 25 people hospitalised in critical condition, city officials said.The bar’s street-facing windows were blown out, and debris littered the sidewalk, including charred television sets, speakers and an electric guitar.Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt said most of the deaths were caused by smoke inhalation.National Police Chief Kittharath Punpetch said most of the dead were found trapped in windowless bathrooms near one of the rear exits, where they may have sought shelter from the flames.He said the exit was not used, and people may have been blocked from reaching it by a table set up in a hall to sell candy, or because it was too dark to find the way out.Access to another exit near the kitchen might also have been narrowed by shelving units and lockers, Kittharath said. There were also signs some of the exit doors might have been locked.8.13amHouthis attack Saudi ArabiaBy ReutersYemen’s Houthi movement fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after accusing the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control, breaking a four-year truce in the conflict between the kingdom and the Iran-aligned group.Saudi Arabia intercepted missiles “launched by the terrorist Houthi militia toward the southern region”, the spokesperson for a Saudi-led military coalition in Yemen said on Monday (Yemen time).An explosion at Saana airport on Monday.APHouthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said they had targeted the international airport in Saudi Arabia’s Abha, the capital of a mountainous southern region bordering Yemen.The strikes are the first claimed by the Houthis against Saudi Arabia since an informal truce went into effect in March 2022.Earlier, the Houthi movement, which controls northern Yemen, accused Saudi Arabia of launching airstrikes against the international airport in Sanaa.8.08am‘Very alarming’: Tehan reacts to Trumps’ Hormuz toll talkBy Broede CarmodyLiberal frontbencher Dan Tehan – Australia’s former trade minister – has just been asked on Radio National for his reaction to the United States reintroducing blockades in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as a proposal from President Donald Trump to apply tolls of 20 per cent on the value of shipments.This was Tehan’s response:“Freedom of navigation is an essential part of how our international waterways work, and any long-term strategy or plan which would start to see international waterways tolled would be very alarming.“We obviously need to hear more – whether this is now an official US government policy, whether it’s part of some sort of negotiation to try and get Iran to properly free the waterway and allow international passage, especially of oil through it. So we’ll have to wait and see what developments take place.“But on the surface, it would be quite a break with tradition since the Second World War, where freedom of navigation has just been absolutely essential to how the global world has worked.”8.02amCustomer service not so superBy Elias VisontayTelephone help lines for the country’s largest super funds are routinely fobbing vulnerable Australians off to their websites, with one major fund failing to answer nine in 10 incoming calls within a designated time frame.Super Consumers Australia, which commissioned testing of 20 funds through mystery customers calling with questions ranging from how to join a fund to getting early super access due to hardship, says the results show a need for mandatory customer service standards in the sector.Super Consumers said 23 per cent of prospective new customer calls were directed to the brand’s website as their only solution for more information, instead of receiving help over the phone.In calls in which someone rang on behalf of a customer with limited English skills, 58 per cent “shifted responsibility back to the caller instead of offering direct support”. Only one of the 20 funds tested offered an interpreter.The news report is here.7.52amCounter-terrorism police take lead in Widdecombe murderBy British counter-terrorism police are leading the investigation into the alleged murder of former cabinet minister Ann Widdecombe after new evidence emerged into her death last Wednesday in her home in south-west England.The former MP, who was a Conservative Party minister before shifting to the Brexit Party and later Reform UK, was found dead at her home in Devon hours before she was due to appear on a television talk show to discuss British politics.In a separate incident, police arrested a dozen people over an alleged plot against an Islamic event at a country estate in southern England, heightening concerns about extremism.The death of the former MP revived fears about threats to political leaders, although police initially said there was “no information to suggest” Widdecombe’s alleged murder was terrorism related.Europe correspondent David Crowe has the latest here.7.46amExpert calls for Catholic Schools NSW corruption auditBy Alexandra Smith and Christopher HarrisIn NSW, a leading schools funding expert says state and federal governments must audit Catholic Schools NSW to ensure no taxpayer money has been funnelled into political donations amid revelations the education body is embroiled in an explosive corruption inquiry.Trevor Cobbold, a former Productivity Commission economist and national convenor of public schools advocacy group Save Our Schools, said the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission should investigate Catholic Schools NSW, a registered charity.Catholic Schools NSW chief executive officer Dallas McInerney has stepped aside during the ICAC investigation.Rhett WymanThe state’s anti-corruption watchdog is examining whether Catholic Schools NSW struck a secret agreement to hire Liberal Party operatives who then used their consulting fees to bankroll a major branch-stacking scheme.The Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) has confirmed influential chief executive of Catholic Schools NSW Dallas McInerney was a focus of its broader investigation into the links between hard-right Liberals and fugitive Sydney property developer Jean Nassif.The full story is here.7.39amTaylor criticises One Nation ‘with a heavy heart’By Broede CarmodyOpposition Leader Angus Taylor has been taking questions – and the occasional comment – from 2GB listeners this morning.One caller was a man who said he had been volunteering for the Coalition on-and-off for almost 50 years.Opposition Leader Angus Taylor.Alex Ellinghausen“Why is Angus Taylor so against One Nation?” the man asked. “I’m appalled at his comments against One Nation and Pauline Hanson.“Here is a taste of Taylor’s response:7.33amUS ICE agents shoot another man deadBy Michael KoziolSnap protests have erupted in the US state of Maine after immigration enforcement agents were involved in another fatal shooting, with a 26-year-old Colombian man killed, according to immigration advocates.The scene of the shooting in Maine on Monday.AP Photo/Robert F. BukatyIt is the second such fatality in seven days after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a pursuit in Houston last week.The office of Maine’s attorney-general said it was investigating the use of deadly force by an ICE enforcement and removal operations officer in Biddeford. It said early statements indicated the killing occurred when the man attempted to flee in a vehicle in the direction of the officer.Read the latest here.7.28amNeill never fell for the fame trapBy Sam Neill was movie star, certainly, but also a distinguished actor who never chose a role for its sparkle, and preferred the clever writing of obscure masterpieces to big-ticket blockbuster movies, writes culture editor-at-large Michael Idato.What all of that reveals is a man who was a most unlikely arrival in the money and fame factory of Hollywood, one whose ambition was likely a combination of his own dreams, and the professional momentum of big screen success and the fact that every actor’s non-negotiable final destination was Los Angeles.The most striking thing about Neill, when you met him, was a lack of vanity. In that sense, he was almost without a full understanding of either his success, or the effect it had when he entered a room.Read Idato’s tribute here.7.19amMore Iran strikes under way as Trump declares ceasefire overBy Michael KoziolA third consecutive night of US strikes on Iran is under way.US Central Command said the attacks commenced at 6.45am AEST and were targeting Iran’s ability to attack innocent civilians and commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz.Shortly beforehand, President Donald Trump said in a radio interview that he would strike Iran for at least two more nights.“We’re going to hit them very hard tonight, and we’re going to hit them hard tomorrow. And there’s not a damn thing they can do about it,” he told conservative broadcaster Hugh Hewitt.Today’s attacks are the fifth wave of US strikes since Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted three vessels moving through the strait last week, leading Trump to declare the ceasefire was over.1 of 2