Australia news LIVE: Voters give budget worst marks in five years; Trump says planned attacks on Iran called off; WHO sends experts to the Congo as Ebola death toll reaches 110

Washington: US President Donald Trump said he is holding off on a military strike on Iran planned for Tuesday because “serious negotiations” are underway.

Trump did not offer details about the planned attack but said in a social media post on Monday (Washington time) that he had instructed the US military “to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.”

The president had not previously disclosed that he was planning a strike for May 19, but over the weekend he warned, “For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them.”

Trump has been threatening for weeks that the ceasefire struck in mid-April could end if Iran did not strike a deal, with shifting parameters for striking such an agreement.

Trump said in his social media post that he was calling off the planned strike at the request of allies in the Middle East, including the leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Trump has repeatedly set deadlines for Tehran and then backed off.

AP

Jim Chalmers’ fifth federal budget handed down last week was the worst-received economic statement since the Resolve Political Monitor began tracking voter perceptions of the budget in May 2021.

Just 24 per cent of people polled following last Tuesday’s budget agreed with the proposition that the policies announced this year would be “good” or “very good” for them and their household, while 35 per cent of people said it would be “poor” or “very poor”, and 41 per cent of voters said they were unsure or neutral over the document.

That contrasts unfavourably with the five previous budgets tracked by Resolve, with Josh Frydenberg’s March 2022 budget and Chalmers’ May 2024 budget both registering overall ratings of 40 per cent in favour.

About 35 per cent of voters said the May 2021 budget was “good” or “very good” for them and their households, while the budgets of October 2022 and March 2025 both registered scores of 28 per cent.

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Tuesday, May 19. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage this morning. Here’s what is making news today.

• Jim Chalmers’ fifth federal budget handed down last week was the worst-received economic statement since this masthead’s Resolve Political Monitor began tracking voter perceptions of the budget in May 2021. Just 24 per cent of people polled following last Tuesday’s budget agreed with the proposition that the policies announced this year would be “good” or “very good” for them and their household.
• The World Health Organisation has sent a team of experts and 4.7 tonnes of aid to the Democratic Republic of Congo to address the Ebola outbreak it has declared a public health emergency of international concern. A rare strain of the virus has killed more than 110 people.
• US President Donald Trump says he is holding off on a military strike on Iran that had been planned for Tuesday (Washington time) because “serious negotiations” are underway. Trump did not offer details about the planned attack but said in a social media post on Monday that he had instructed the US military “to be prepared to go forward with a full, large scale assault of Iran, on a moment’s notice, in the event that an acceptable Deal is not reached.”
• Overnight, the Israeli Defence Forces intercepted an activist flotilla in international waters off Cyprus, halting the latest attempt to challenge a naval blockade of Gaza and draw attention to the living conditions for Palestinians in the war-battered coastal territory.
• And a specialist team has located the bodies of four missing Italian scuba divers who died in an accident in underwater caves, Maldives officials said this morning. It is believed the bodies were found deep inside an underwater cave in a Maldive atoll.