AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 13 at 2000
Search (MELBOURNE)
Police have recovered the body of a man and are desperately scouring a Sydney waterway and surrounds for a young girl.
The girl, who is believed to be six or seven years old, was reportedly spotted with the man in a small boat on the Parramatta River.
Police were called to Hen and Chicken Bay in Concord in inner-west Sydney about 11.45am on Saturday following reports a man's body had been found in the water.
Responding to witness reports the man and girl had been seen together, a search was launched to locate the child.
The man has yet to be identified.
A command post has been established at the scene and specialist resources are assisting.
Anyone with information is urged to contact police.
Shark (SYDNEY)
A woman is fighting for life following a shark attack at one of Australia's busiest beaches.
Emergency services were called to Coogee Beach shortly after 11am on Saturday, following reports a swimmer had been bitten by a shark.
Bystanders pulled her from the water and commenced first aid before emergency services arrived.
Police rendered first aid to the woman, believed to be aged in her 30s, who had suffered serious arm and leg injuries.
Ambulance paramedics then continued her treatment before police cleared nearby Coogee Oval to facilitate the landing of the Careflight helicopter.
The woman was airlifted to hospital.
Nearby beaches including Coogee, Clovelly and Bronte have been closed.
Ebola (NAIROBI)
The United Nations refugee agency has confirmed the first Ebola-related deaths in a displacement camp in eastern Congo, as aid workers warn of a high risk the disease could spread rapidly in overcrowded sites.
The two victims were internally displaced people living in the Kpangba camp, which hosts 30,000 internally displaced people, the UNHCR said on Thursday.
As of Friday, Congo had reported 689 confirmed cases and 136 deaths in an outbreak that has also spread to neighbouring Uganda, which has reported 19 cases.
The virus has spread across three provinces since the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on May 17.
The affected provinces - Ituri, South Kivu and North Kivu - have been devastated by decades of conflict and are home to more than five million displaced people.
Ukraine (KYIV)
Ukraine will hike military wages and seek to recruit more fighters abroad, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says as the army faces a manpower shortage after four years of war with Russia.
Zelenskiy's government said in May it would study possible measures to boost military personnel numbers after talks on how to end the war with Russia stalled.
"We agreed on how to increase the financial resilience of our defence and further transformation of the Ukrainian army," Zelenskiy said in his daily address after meeting key cabinet ministers.
"The cabinet of ministers will approve a specific mechanism, and the government should start the first new payments as early as June," he added.
Ukraine has secured a 90 billion euro ($A148 billion) loan from the European Union, allowing the government to increase defence spending to a record 4.4 trillion hryvnias ($A138 billion) this year.
NDIS (MELBOURNE)
Autistic teenagers are caught in the middle of a buck-passing exercise between the federal government and states and territories over the future of disability support.
One of the most vulnerable and crucial periods for an autistic person is adolescence, as they navigate a world of changes and the transition to adulthood.
Eliza Tait, who was diagnosed with autism at 14, describes it as having to take on a full-time self-advocacy role.
"I really had that period of struggle," the now-18-year-old told AAP.
"Part of autism being that I really struggled with my emotional regulation."
For Eliza and many like her, the challenges can become too much, with the university student ultimately finding herself hospitalised with anorexia.
"When you hear the same story over and over, and when policy could stop that, it's really heartbreaking," she said.
Housing (CANBERRA)
Investors are prematurely offloading their properties before tax changes even hit the market, resulting in a listings boom but fewer rentals.
Rental listings across the country have shown large annual falls, with the steepest downturn so far in May.
All capital cities were part of the trend, with Hobart losing just 0.3 per cent of listing volume, but Darwin was down 2.1 per cent and Melbourne 1.7 per cent.
Sydney was hit hardest in the past year, down 1.5 per cent in May and 9.8 per cent annually, data from Neoval shows.
The figures suggested some of the nation's more vulnerable people were at risk of not finding affordable homes, Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said.
"A home listed for sale does not help someone looking for a lease. Rental availability is what determines how much choice renters have," she said.
Fuel (CANBERRA)
Australian motorists are unlikely to get the benefits from any deal to end the Iran war because of the looming end of the fuel tax cut.
US President Donald Trump has been touting an imminent peace deal with Iran, although fighting in the Middle East has continued and officials in Tehran have been more circumspect.
Mr Trump's announcement that the agreement to end the war was "just about done" sent global oil prices plunging, but analysts said even if such a deal were reached, the impact on Australian petrol and diesel prices would be minimal.
While fuel prices spiked in the immediate aftermath of American and Israeli strikes on Iran, in most states and territories they are now lower than before the war, mainly because of a halving of the fuel excise.
SpaceX (NEW YORK CITY)
SpaceX has jumped more than 20 per cent in its Nasdaq debut as investors piled into the world's largest initial public offering and bet on Elon Musk's sprawling empire spanning rockets to AI.
The stock opened for trading at $US150, compared with the IPO price of $US135 per share.
It was last trading at $US164, lifting SpaceX's valuation to more than $US2 trillion ($A2.8 trillion) and making it the sixth largest US company by market value, behind only Nvidia, Apple, Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.
The deal was being closely scrutinised because of the stakes for the IPO market, which some bankers said could face difficulties if SpaceX shares closed below Thursday's pricing level.
The company's market debut is widely viewed as a dress rehearsal for a new generation of mega-listings, with market participants watching for signals on investor appetite ahead of forthcoming IPOs for AI heavyweights Anthropic and OpenAI.
In finance ...
Paramount (WASHINGTON, D. C.)
The US Justice Department's Antitrust Division has cleared Paramount Skydance Corp's planned acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, Politico reports, citing two people familiar with the matter.
The deal is worth $US110 billion ($A156 billion).
Justice officials determined the transaction did not pose a threat to competition, according to the sources.
Politico on Friday reported, citing one source, the department approved the merger without requiring any divestitures, behavioural remedies or concessions.
Spokespeople for Paramount and the DOJ spokesperson declined to comment.
The clearance gives Paramount another regulatory green light to point to as it seeks to ward off a potential challenge to the deal by California and other states.
In April, Paramount also asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve foreign investments backing the acquisition. US senators have raised concerns about Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and Chinese companies taking part.
Markets (NEW YORK CITY)
The S&P 500 and Dow have inched higher in choppy trading, buoyed by expectations for an imminent Middle East peace deal, while investors gear up for the market debut of Elon Musk's SpaceX which is estimated to be Wall Street's biggest public listing in history.
US President Donald Trump's comments on Thursday, which suggested that a deal to end the Middle East conflict and reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz could be signed as early as this weekend, lifted sentiment globally, even as Iran said that a final decision was pending.
SpaceX is expected to start trading on the Nasdaq for the first time later in the day and is likely to be immediately ranked as the seventh biggest publicly listed US company, with a potential valuation of $US1.75 trillion ($A2.48 trillion).
In entertainment ...
Obit Hockney Quotes (LONDON)
SADIQ KHAN
"A true icon and revolutionary of British art who never stopped reinventing his work," the mayor of London wrote on X.
"From his training at the Royal College of Art in the early 60s to blockbuster London retrospectives, David Hockney has inspired millions. His vivid paintings of our changing seasons helped me see the beauty and fragility of our natural world - and why it must be protected. I know his legacy will live on for centuries to come."
LISA NANDY
The UK's culture minister called Hockney "a true titan of British art".
"Born and educated in Bradford, his paintings have inspired people across the world ever since his first exhibition in 1963," she added on X. "His boundless creativity and restless spirit leave behind a powerful legacy."
Jackson Film (LONDON)
The Michael Jackson biopic Michael has overtaken Bohemian Rhapsody as the highest-grossing music biopic of all time.
The biopic was released in cinemas on April 24 and has grossed $US911.9 million ($A1.3 billion) worldwide, overtaking the 2018 film about Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, which took $US910.9 million globally, Deadline reports.
The film will be looking to cross $US1 billion in global takings, a feat already reached by The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, making the animated sequel the best-performing movie so far this year.
Michael ended amid the King of Pop's Bad tour in 1987, and a second film is in the pipeline with studio Lionsgate confirming they have "25 to 30 per cent" of the project in the bank from the previous shoot.
In sport ...
AFL Bombers (MELBOURNE)
Interim Essendon coach Dean Solomon insists he is yet to speak with Bombers president Andrew Welsh about the possibility of taking on the senior role permanently.
In his first press conference after Brad Scott was sacked as Bombers coach last month, Solomon declared he would not be seeking the position on a full-time basis.
But a bombshell report this week stated Solomon is Welsh's preferred candidate for the top job, even over James Hird.
But Solomon, who played in Essendon's last premiership back in 2000, is adamant coaching the club beyond this year is not on his radar and is yet to speak with Welsh.
"The club is obviously working behind the scenes about what the next coach would look like, time frames," Solomon said after Essendon's 45-point defeat to Melbourne on Saturday.
RL Origin NSW (GOSFORD)
Casey McLean has been ruled out of the second State of Origin match after suffering a fresh leg injury at NSW training ahead of game two.
Uncapped code-hopper Mark Nawaqanitawase is a leading contender to come into the team for Wednesday's clash at the MCG.
The Blues are set to announce McLean's replacement imminently.
McLean went down in the warm-up on Saturday at Central Coast Stadium, where the Blues were holding their final session before flying to Melbourne later that day.
A handful of team staff attended to the Penrith left centre, who came into camp after suffering a minor ankle injury against Wests Tigers last Sunday.
But it is understood the 20-year-old went down with a separate quadriceps issue at training, taking no further part in drills.
Ends Bulletin
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