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Brisbane Times

February 2026

Trump says of Iran: Sometimes you have to use force

Donald Trumppresident
They cannot have nuclear weapons and we’re not thrilled with the way they’re negotiating, so we’ll see how it all works out,
Donald Trumppresident
I am not happy with the negotiation,

Trump orders military to stop using Claude chatbot in clash over AI safety

Donald Trumppresident
I am directing EVERY Federal Agency in the United States Government to IMMEDIATELY CEASE all use of Anthropic’s technology. We don’t need it, we don’t want it, and will not do business with them again!"

Activist float excluded from Mardi Gras parade

Pride in Protest, a left-wing group that has previously marched in the parade with Palestinian flags and recently claimed the Mardi Gras organisation is transphobic, was excluded after not replying to a formal warning issued on Friday morning

Jesse Mathesonmardi Gras boss
It is disappointing that we did not receive any acknowledgement of our correspondence, nor confirmation that you had read and would comply with the parade terms and conditions,
This one individual is a full-time worker in the medical sector, so emailing within working hours to request a response by COB is unreasonable,
Dayenu is not a Zionist organisation, and we feel that word is being used to insult our Jewish community, in place of the word Jew or Jewish,

Tributes flow for pop pioneer Neil Sedaka, dead at 86

Neil Sedaka, the classically trained piano prodigy who conquered the pop charts in the 1960s and 1970s, has died

Our family is devastated by the sudden passing of our beloved husband, father and grandfather, Neil Sedaka,
Carole Kingms.
Neil Sedaka was so talented, and he inspired me to follow my dream of being a songwriter.”

Parts of Victoria on flood watch as heavy rain set to continue

Two more bands of heavy rain are forecast to hit Victoria from Sunday, after two storms earlier this week brought hail and flash flooding

Dean Narramorethe senior meteorologist
Overnight tonight [Saturday], a band of heavy rainfall will move into western parts of Victoria and New South Wales,

‘I had a sense’: Boss recalls final moment with Melbourne Cup legend Makybe Diva

Neil WilsonvRC chairman
Makybe Diva was more than a champion — she truly transcended the sport of racing,
I made a real conscious decision that I took her back to the people — because she was a people’s horse,
When a champion becomes a legend,
I was privileged to see her only a couple of months ago,
She was brilliant right to the end,
Lee Freedmantrainer
I’m pretty sure she won’t ever have washed it,

Three Cups, one Diva: Remembering the horse who rewrote the record books

It was a fairly arduous experience for a young horse. Maybe it was character building,
Tony Šantićfisherman
To ask anything more of this wonderful mare would not be fair,
Lee Freedmantrainer
I don’t want to run Phar Lap down, but I never saw Phar Lap win three Cups.”
It is beautiful to think one mare has given Australians a licence to dream, to celebrate and to rejoice together in a time where terrorism, debt and uncertainty dominate the headlines.”

Another tournament, another poker-faced Sam Kerr press conference. Only with one big difference

Sam Kerrtime
That makes me sad that I’m the last one standing,
Sam Kerrtime
Obviously the last [home] tournament didn’t go the way I wanted personally, but on a team level it was an amazing tournament,
A lot’s happened off the field for you as well between the World Cup and now,
Joe Montemurronew coach
It’s a very similar team, I think. I’m trying to think who’s different. There’s a couple of different players,
The thing for me that I look back on the most is Jagger,

In the most consequential moment of his presidency, Trump reveals his end game

Donald Trumppresident
For 47 years, the Iranian regime has chanted Death to America and waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder, targeting the United States, our troops and the innocent people in many, many countries,
Donald Trumppresident
It’s been mass terror. And we’re not gonna put up with it any longer,

Trump and Netanyahu have decided on war, putting their alliance above any other

We support the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent Iran continuing to threaten international peace and security,
Iran must never be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon and that is why we have continually supported efforts to reach a negotiated solution,
We will always be ready, willing, and able to fight for the UK, but they have to remain strong in the face of Wokeism, and other problems put before them,