AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 3 at 1600
Legal: Waden (BRISBANE)
In a battered notebook, a former US beauty queen tried to convince herself life was worth fighting for.
"I am thankful I am alive, thankful for what I have," Priscilla Brooten wrote.
Weeks later, she disappeared into a winter's night and has never been seen again.
Prosecutors allege her former partner Mark Sheridan Waden murdered his ex-girlfriend and disposed of her body.
Waden has pleaded not guilty to killing Ms Brooten on July 5, 2018, then spinning a web of wild stories about why she suddenly disappeared from the home they shared in Brisbane's north.
Her diary entry has been shown to a jury after Waden's earlier trial was aborted when a juror was caught researching the case online.
A new jury was sworn in before crown prosecutor Andrew Walklate on Wednesday delivered his opening address for the second time this week in Brisbane Supreme Court.
Lottery (SYDNEY)
Australia's largest lottery operator is building a new smartphone app because its digital operation has done a poor job of recreating the fun of playing the lottery.
The Lottery Corporation, which runs Powerball, Oz Lotto and Set for Life, plans to launch an AI-powered smartphone app built from scratch in the next 12 to 18 months.
Online lottery tickets were more convenient - and more profitable for the company - but something about the retail experience had been lost, the company's chief operating officer for digital Loren Somerville said.
"It was never just a transaction in retail," she told analysts at an investor day on Wednesday.
Buying a ticket from a local newsagent was a fun, ritualistic experience that might involve banter with the person behind the counter, while The Lott's smartphone app just meant picking numbers from a grid and paying for them, Ms Somerville said.
Gatto (MELBOURNE)
Underworld figure Mick Gatto has been arrested at his property as part of a police investigation into alleged financial crimes.
Detectives raided a Mount Martha property, about 50 kilometres southeast of Melbourne, on Wednesday morning, arresting two people in their 70s.
Media reports widely suggest Gatto and his wife are the pair arrested.
"Detectives from Taskforce Hawk executed a warrant at a Mount Martha property this morning as part of a current investigation into alleged financial offences. Further information will be released later today," a police spokesperson said.
Taskforce Hawk was established to tackle criminal behaviour in the construction sector.
US Bank (BAKERSFIELD)
A man has barricaded himself inside a bank building in the Southern California city of Bakersfield with an unknown number of people.
Officers responding to a call of a bomb threat arrived at the scene around 1pm on Tuesday at the Chase Bank building in downtown Bakersfield, and discovered a man had barricaded himself inside "with several community members," the Bakersfield Police Department said in a statement.
Some community members were able to escape.
No injuries were reported and nearby buildings were placed on lockdown, including city hall and the police headquarters.
The department's crisis negotiation team was in contact with the suspect by telephone.
Officers established a perimeter around the building and nearby businesses, authorities said.
"We are on scene at the Chase Bank Building on Chester Avenue and 17th Street for a confirmed bomb threat," the police department posted on X.
Legal: Sayers (MELBOURNE)
Embattled former AFL club president Luke Sayers has lost his bid to have a defamation case over a lewd photo heard in private.
Cate Sayers wanted a Victorian Supreme Court jury to decide whether her estranged husband, a former Carlton Football Club president and member of its board, defamed her.
She claims he did so in a statutory declaration, which accused her of accessing his X account, posting a photograph of his genitalia in January 2025 and tagging a female executive at Bupa.
The document was sworn by Mr Sayers in the weeks after the controversial post, which was quickly deleted, as the AFL and Carlton conducted investigations.
In May, Mr Sayers, a former PwC chief executive, applied to have the case transferred to the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia where the matter would be heard in private.
Legal: TruswellMobbs (BRISBANE)
A woman accused of killing her terminally ill husband after he begged for release from the final indignities of his disease is fighting to be released from jail.
Kylie Ellina Truswell‑Mobbs is charged with murdering her husband, former firefighter David Ronald Mobbs, 56, at their Alexandra Hills home, southeast of Brisbane, in December, 2023.
She applied for bail in Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday as she awaits trial over her husband's death.
Mr Mobbs' once‑strong body had been devastated by an aggressive form of motor neurone disease diagnosed in April 2023, the court was told.
Within months, he went from independent to entirely bedridden, unable to walk or move without assistance.
By December, he could no longer speak, communicating by blinking, making noises or using a letter board if someone lifted his hand.
Legal: Davis (SYDNEY)
A routine court appearance has turned into an explosive exit for a prominent white nationalist as he walked through a crowd of pro-Palestine protesters.
Joel Davis, 31, managed a wry grin as he was confronted by incensed protesters on his way out of Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday.
Davis is charged with threatening to "rhetorically rape" federal MP Allegra Spender alongside a separate count of publicly inciting hatred on grounds of race during a neo-Nazi rally at state parliament.
During the rally, a banner was unveiled reading "Abolish the Jewish Lobby" while two speeches were made.
Davis' two matters were quickly adjourned on Wednesday to allow him to obtain legal advice.
His court appearance may have been uneventful, but his interactions with those outside were anything but.
UK Nowak (SOUTHAMPTON)
British police are facing a national backlash over the inflammatory case of an 18-year-old student who was handcuffed as he lay dying from stab wounds after his killer falsely alleged a racist attack.
Henry Nowak died after the knife attack in the southern England city of Southampton in December.
His killer Vickrum Digwa, a 23-year-old Sikh man, was on Monday sentenced to life in prison, having lied to police at the time that Nowak had assaulted him.
In police bodycam footage, Nowak is seen lying on the street saying "I've been stabbed" and "I can't breathe" while an officer responds, "I don't think you have, mate".
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said there were "serious questions" to answer, including how "allegations of racism informed or fed into the decision-making in that particular case".
In finance ...
Economy (CANBERRA)
Contentious tax changes that have dented housing market activity could slow Australia's economy and deter the Reserve Bank from hiking interest rates again.
Fresh data is likely to show gross domestic product was still growing at a fairly rapid clip at the start of the year, but a slowdown is on the way.
Wednesday's national accounts release is likely to be the last time annual growth has a two in front of it for some time, which could convince the central bank to hold off on more rate rises.
Economists at National Australia Bank expect the Australian Bureau of Statistics to show the economy grew by 0.3 in the March quarter, which would put the annual growth rate at 2.4 per cent.
US Tariffs (WASHINGTON, D. C.)
The Trump administration has proposed imposing additional duties of 10 per cent or 12.5 per cent on imports from 60 economies after determining their failures to curb trade in goods made with forced labour are unreasonable and restrict US commerce.
The proposal from the US Trade Representative's office on Tuesday is the latest finding from a Section 301 unfair trade practices investigation to be released as the Trump administration seeks to rebuild its emergency tariffs, which were struck down by a US Supreme Court decision in February.
The USTR said it determined that it would impose 10 per cent duties related to the forced labour investigation on imports from Canada, Ecuador, the European Union, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Argentina, Bangladesh, Cambodia, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan and Britain.
In entertainment ...
Farnham (MELBOURNE)
Fans of music legend John Farnham have been left frustrated as tickets to a gala tribute concert were snapped up despite the cost.
The charity event at Melbourne's Rod Laver Arena on September 20 sold out within hours of going on sale Tuesday, with premium tickets priced at $1650.
Fans complained online of waiting in virtual queues of more than 30,000 customers only to miss out on tickets, while others described the pricing as atrocious.
"Sorry but the prices were ridiculous, $1700 a ticket is outrageous," said one Farnham fan.
Others speculated the singer himself would not approve of the situation.
"He would not be pleased with the pricing of this concert. Only the privileged few could afford to attend... it was appalling the way the ticketing has been handled."
Obit Bryson (NEW YORK CITY)
Peabo Bryson, the two-time Grammy Award-winning R&B singer best known as the voice behind the Oscar-winning Disney film duets Beauty and the Beast and A Whole New World from Aladdin, has died.
He was 75.
His family said in a statement Bryson died on Tuesday, days after having a stroke.
"While our hearts are broken, we find comfort in knowing how deeply Peabo was loved and how many lives were touched by his voice and his generous spirit," the family's statement said.
"His legacy and music will live on for generations to come."
Born and raised in South Carolina, the singer, songwriter and balladeer launched his career with the group Moses Dillard and the Tex-Town Display in the 1970s. Shortly afterward, Atlanta label Bang Records signed him as a solo artist.
In sport ...
Box Aust (BRISBANE)
Jai Opetaia's manager has slammed the WBC's conduct and tipped widespread legal action as his champion's messy quest for unification hit another hurdle.
Australia's unbeaten cruiserweight star appeared set to put his Ring Magazine title belt on the line against WBC champion Noel Mikaelian later this year.
But just hours after the German-Armenian called out Opetaia the WBC interjected, ordering him to instead fight WBO and WBA champion David Benavidez in a mandatory defence.
Opetaia was controversially stripped of his IBF title after debuting in March with rebel organisation Zuffa Boxing, the Dana White-led disruptor with its own world title belt not recognised by the traditional boxing bodies.
Manager and promoter Mick Francis on Wednesday criticised the WBC's unusual order for a fellow champion to be installed as a mandatory challenger.
WC26 Aust (OAKLAND)
At the Socceroos' World Cup training base in Alameda, there are reminders everywhere of the professional sports teams Oakland has lost.
On the drive down from Oakland, the Coliseum stadium looms over the horizon.
The old stadium was once home to the MLB's Oakland A's and NFL franchise Oakland Raiders, while NBA team Golden State Warriors were in the nearby arena.
Throughout the hallways of the Socceroos' state of the art training centre, there are still Oakland Raiders logos, photos and art, in between fresh new Football Australia decals and slogans.
But that's all that's left.
Over the past few years, the Raiders, A's and Warriors all departed, with billionaire owners wanting flash new stadiums that local government wouldn't finance.
Ends Bulletin
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