AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 19 at 0200
Iran (BEIRUT)
Three Saudi-flagged supertankers carrying six million barrels of crude have sailed through the Strait of Hormuz, hours after US President Donald Trump signed a deal with Iran to end the war that has disrupted global energy supplies.
But in Lebanon, where more than a million people are displaced by the fighting, Israeli forces launched fresh air strikes on Thursday morning, raising doubt about how far Trump will go to force his wartime allies to halt an offensive he has now pledged to end.
Trump put his signature on Wednesday on the "memorandum of understanding" to end the war, as did Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian, bringing it into effect two days earlier than previously expected.
It calls for the immediate opening of the Strait of Hormuz and lifting of a US blockade of Iran's ports.
Ukraine (KYIV)
Scores of Ukrainian drones have rained down on Moscow, hitting the Russian capital's oil refinery for the second time in days in what Kyiv cast as a demonstration of its growing capabilities that should force Russia to accept a peace deal.
Russia, for its part, fired missiles into Kyiv, also for the second time in days, following an attack that damaged Kyiv's landmark 1000-year-old monastery and drew international condemnation.
In Moscow on Thursday, Reuters saw flames and plumes of smoke over the densely populated southeastern district of Kapotnya where the refinery supplying the capital is located.
"Air defence forces continue to repel a massive attack. Several drones managed to reach the Moscow oil refinery," Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, adding that a shopping centre also suffered minor damage.
NATO (BRUSSELS)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has lashed out at NATO allies, announcing a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe that will depend on how fast they take responsibility for their own security.
"This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defence of Europe," he told his NATO counterparts in Brussels on Thursday.
Hegseth lambasted European allies for failing to provide US forces access to bases in Europe to launch attacks on Iran, calling it "shameful".
"These allies, they put America's sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access, basing and overflight that never should have been in question at all," he said.
UK Vote (LONDON)
The northern English area of Makerfield is voting in a by-election that could return Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to parliament, paving the way for him to launch a bid to take over as prime minister.
The election, triggered by a party colleague resigning his seat, has brought unusual attention to the former coalmining area near Manchester as its result will determine the shape of an inevitable challenge to the deeply unpopular Keir Starmer.
If Burnham defeats the candidate for Reform UK, Brexit advocate Nigel Farage's populist party, his victory on Thursday will fire the starting gun on a race to replace Starmer as leader of the Labour Party, a contest that could give Britain its seventh prime minister in just more than a decade.
Legal: Bogojevska (MELBOURNE)
The neighbours of an elderly woman whose body was dumped in a river say her remorseless killer should still be facing a murder charge.
Milena Bogojevska, 51, instead pleaded guilty in the Victorian Supreme Court to 85-year-old Lolene Whitehand's manslaughter.
Bogojevska killed the elderly woman by shoving a tea towel into her mouth, blocking her airways, when she came to her Footscray home sometime after 4pm on July 12, 2024.
The killer then tied a bag over Mrs Whitehand's head and was captured on CCTV footage dumping her body in the Maribyrnong River in Melbourne's west.
A fisherman found the body in the river two days later.
Bogojevska lived only a few doors down from Mrs Whitehand and she joined a group of other neighbours who discussed the elderly woman's disappearance on the afternoon of July 14.
Electricity (CANBERRA)
A proposal to clamp down on the loyalty tax paid by disengaged power customers does not go far enough in the view of consumer and small business groups.
Australia's electricity rule-maker initiated a review to tackle the problem of customers ending up on uncompetitive offers after their attractive introductory deals lapsed.
The Australian Energy Market Commission wants to "shine a light" on the problem to nudge more consumers to switch, including forcing retailers to notify long-term customers of foregone savings.
Tallies of how many customers are overpaying by failing to shop around should also be made public.
Consumer and small business groups, including the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia, CHOICE and Financial Counselling Australia, labelled the proposal a "massive missed opportunity".
Ukraine (KYIV)
Russia has attacked Kyiv with missiles and Ukrainian drones hit Moscow's refinery as both countries exchanged strikes hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke with US President Donald Trump and European leaders.
A Reuters witness heard explosions in Kyiv and authorities in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy said one person was killed in a drone attack. Air strike alerts were issued for most of Ukraine's territory.
"The enemy is attacking the capital with ballistic missiles. Stay in safe places until the air raid alert is over!" Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, said on Thursday.
The attack on Kyiv is the second this week and came as Zelenskiy tried to increase pressure on Russia to negotiate an end to its four-year-long war.
Legal: Haines (ORANGE)
The police investigation into the death of an Indigenous teenager on train tracks nearly four decades ago was hindered by racism and deeply flawed, a coroner has found.
The body of Mark Haines, a proud Gomeroi teenager, was discovered on tracks outside Tamworth, in northern NSW, on the morning of January 16, 1988.
A stolen Holden Torana was found crashed nearby.
The police initially ruled that the 17-year-old had laid down on the tracks either deliberately or in a dazed state, while an autopsy determined he died from a traumatic head injury.
His family long suspected foul play and believed the police investigation would have been different if Mark was non-Indigenous.
After a smoking ceremony on the steps of Tamworth court house on Thursday morning, Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame found there were serious problems with the initial police investigation.
In finance ...
Legal: Henderson (SYDNEY)
"Thank goodness, congratulations - you've settled the case with the main player."
That was how the news that shock jock Kyle Sandilands reached an agreement with his former employer, ARN Media, was welcomed by Federal Court Justice Angus Stewart.
But any visions of leaving the radio stoush behind were dashed as Sandilands' former co-star Jackie "O" Henderson showed no appetite for avoiding trial.
Neither star appeared in court on Thursday as Henderson's barrister indicated it was all systems go in her client's high-profile legal dispute over the termination of her record-breaking contract.
Henderson claims she was unlawfully sacked from her $100 million hosting gig on KIIS FM earlier this year and is expected to give evidence of subsequent damage to her health and wellbeing.
UK Economy (LONDON)
The Bank of England has held its main interest rate at 3.7 per cent as the inflation pressures on the British economy become more benign after the US and Iran signed a deal to sign deal to end their war.
Thursday's decision was widely anticipated after figures showed inflation did not rise as had been expected in May, holding steady instead at 2.8 per cent.
Though that remains above the bank's target of two per cent, it raised hopes that the upward pressure on prices emanating from the spike in oil and gas prices after the start of the Iran war on February 28 might have been less than anticipated.
Economists think rate-setters will opt against hiking rates over coming months, but only if the recent fall in energy prices is sustained.
In entertainment ...
Obit Dreesen (LOS ANGELES)
Tom Dreesen, who along with partner Tim Reid formed one of America's first interracial stand-up comedy duos and later spent years as Frank Sinatra's opening act, has died at age 86.
Dreesen died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles, according to publicist Lori De Waal.
A cause of death was not provided.
After meeting in Chicago, Dreesen and Reid, who is Black, formed Tim and Tom in 1969.
Against a backdrop of simmering racial tension, they used humour to address social issues and promote understanding between audiences of different backgrounds.
They worked together until the mid-1970s.
Reid went on to solo success playing DJ Venus Flytrap on the popular TV sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, where Dreesen was a guest star.
Arts Tapestry (MELBOURNE)
Completed half a century ago, Australian artist Arthur Boyd's monumental tapestries are finally on display together for the first time.
The renowned painter's Life of St Francis tapestries were woven at the Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre workshop in Portugal and completed in 1974, then acquired for the national collection the following year.
The St Francis tapestries measure up to 3.4 metres across, more than 20 times larger than the 70 centimetre pastel drawings they are based on.
Teams of weavers worked in shifts across 24 hours a day to complete the artworks, with each weaving comprised of between four million and 8.5 million individual stitches, explained the gallery's senior curator of Australian art Elspeth Pitt.
"They're really remarkable feats ... they've been able to translate that colour and texture of the original pastel drawings into these enormous works," she said.
In sport ...
AFL Dockers (PERTH)
Star ruckman Luke Jackson has produced yet another match-winning display as Fremantle overcame a 28-point deficit to beat Geelong by nine points and extend their club-record winning run to 13 games.
The Cats led 56-28 midway through the second quarter of Thursday night's blockbuster in Perth as Fremantle's stars faltered badly in front of goal.
But the Dockers eventually found their groove, kicking 10 goals without a miss to go from 3.11 to 13.11 to take a 19-point lead into three-quarter time.
Geelong closed the gap to nine points with five minutes remaining when Jack Henry kicked truly, but Fremantle held their nerve in a thrilling finish to seal the 14.15 (99) to 14.6 (90) win in front of 55,201 fans.
WC26 Aust (OAKLAND)
The Socceroos have spent months listening to Americans talk the talk.
Now they can finally get their chance to answer the way they want to.
Australia have been talked down and written off over and over again since they were drawn in the same group as the United States back on December 6.
But all of a sudden, after stunning Turkey 2-0, the Socceroos' clash with the co-hosts at Seattle Stadium on Friday (5am Saturday AEST) could all but determine who tops Group D.
There are high stakes all round, but there are bragging rights too.
"I'm really excited for the US game," defender Jordan Bos told AAP ahead of the tournament.
"Because I've heard a lot of chatter and stuff like that.
Ends Bulletin
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