AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 6 at 2100
Ukraine (ST PETERSBURG)
Residents of St Petersburg have been told not to leave their homes after a "large-scale" Ukrainian drone attack targeted the city.
The attack on Saturday underscored Kyiv's growing ability to hit deep inside Russia and coming a day after the Russian president refused an offer to meet his Ukrainian counterpart.
St Petersburg governor Alexander Beglov advised the residents not to go outside and warned of possible disruptions to mobile internet service, while regional governor Alexander Drozdenko said 141 drones were shot down over the surrounding Leningrad region.
Russia's defence ministry said its air defences shot down 376 Ukrainian drones.
"Last night, our drones covered a distance of about 1000km to the St Petersburg region - to the enemy navy's arsenals and a base in Kronstadt," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy wrote of the attack on X.
Mideast (EAST JERUSALEM)
Israeli troops have killed a seven-month-old Palestinian baby boy after firing at his parents' vehicle in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Sam Fahd Abu Haikal was killed on Friday evening, and his parents were wounded while driving in the Tel Rumeida area south of Hebron City, according to the ministry.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA said the infant was critically wounded after being struck in the jaw by the same bullet that injured his mother.
He later died of his injuries.
His father, Fahd Abdul Aziz Abu Haikal, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, was shot in the hand.
They were travelling from Bethlehem to visit family in Hebron when soldiers opened fire, the agency reported.
Shark (PERTH)
A man has died after being attacked by a shark while spearfishing with his family.
The 35-year-old was bitten by a suspected 4.5-metre shark at about 11.20am on Saturday off Michaelmas Island near Albany in Western Australia's south west.
"He was conveyed back to shore by boat where he was met by paramedics,'' WA Police said in a statement.
"Sadly, he was unable to be revived."
The death comes after father of two, Steven "Mattas" Mattaboni, was killed while diving at Horseshoe Reef off Rottnest Island near Perth in May.
The 38-year-old was pulled from the water after being bitten and was rushed by boat to a jetty at Geordie Bay on the north side of the island.
Paramedics were unable to revive him.
Iran (BEIRUT)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has accused Iran of using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in its negotiations with the US in some of his toughest criticism of Tehran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah as it wages war with Israel.
In a CNN interview, Aoun said "the people of Lebanon are paying the price ... for the sake" of Iran's interests, and were "fed up" with war between Israel and Hezbollah - comments reflecting deep divisions along Lebanon's confessional and political fault lines.
"They are using Lebanon as a bargaining chip in their negotiation with the United States," Aoun said of Iran, according to excerpts of the interview published on the CNN website on Friday.
"It's unacceptable."
Shi'ite Muslim Hezbollah, founded by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in 1982, ignited the latest hostilities more than three months ago when it opened fire in solidarity with Tehran as Iran came under US-Israeli attack.
Ebola (NAIROBI)
The Democratic Republic of Congo says 71 new Ebola cases have been confirmed in a 24-hour period and warns of rapid community transmission of the deadly disease.
The new data, included in a daily situation report published by the health ministry, bring the total number of confirmed cases to 452 since the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of Ebola was announced on May 15.
There have been 82 confirmed deaths.
The cases remain heavily concentrated in Ituri province in northeast DR Congo, a remote part of the country with poor health infrastructure and widespread insecurity due to fighting by armed groups.
The daily total of 71 new cases - 65 in Ituri province and six in North Kivu province - is one of the biggest during the outbreak, the 17th in DR Congo's history.
Ukraine (ST PETERSBURG)
Russian President Vladimir Putin says he currently sees no reason to meet Volodymyr Zelenskiy after the Ukrainian president published an open letter proposing they hold face-to-face talks to agree an end to the war.
The Kremlin chief said Zelenskiy's letter was rude in parts and did not come across as a sincere offer to hold talks.
"This letter contains some rather rude remarks. Was it a way to create the conditions for a face-to-face meeting or a way not to set up a face-to-face meeting? I think it was the second," Putin said.
Asked on stage at Russia's annual economic forum whether he would meet the Ukrainian leader, Putin said: "I don't see any point for now."
In a meeting with international media a day earlier, Putin stuck to his hardline stance on the war and said his troops were advancing on the battlefield every day.
NZ Aust (CANBERRA)
New Zealand is making a pitch for its infrastructure businesses to win lucrative contracts before the Brisbane Olympics, as Prime Minister Christopher Luxon prepares to sit down with Anthony Albanese.
Mr Albanese and his New Zealand counterpart will hold the annual leaders' meeting in Noosa, Queensland, on Saturday.
Mr Luxon arrived in Australia on Friday for a two-day visit.
The prime minister and his wife Jodie Haydon hosted a reception for Mr Luxon and Amanda Luxon on Friday evening, with business leaders from the two nations in attendance.
Mr Luxon earlier met with members of Brisbane's 2032 Olympic Committee where he spruiked his nation's businesses for massive construction projects.
He said his government would make the most of the event to promote New Zealand as a tourist destination, with the eyes of the world on the region.
Iran (DUBAI)
Iran has reaffirmed support for its Lebanese ally Hezbollah and demanded Israel withdraw from southern Lebanon, underscoring complications facing an interim deal to end the broader conflict between the US and Iran.
Iran has made a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah a condition for any peace deal with Washington to resolve the regional war, now in its fourth month, and restart shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The latest round of fighting between Hezbollah and Israel erupted at the start of March, two days after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran.
Hezbollah said its actions were in support of Tehran.
"This war will end only when it ends in Lebanon as well," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Lebanese TV station Al Mayadeen late on Thursday.
In finance ...
US Economy (WASHINGTON, D. C.)
The US economy has posted a third straight month of strong job gains in May, confirming the labour market was gaining traction after stumbling last year and giving the Federal Reserve more room to keep interest rates unchanged amid rising inflation due to the war in the Middle East.
The closely watched employment report from the US Labor Department on Friday painted an upbeat picture of the jobs market.
The economy added 93,000 more jobs in March and April than previously estimated and the unemployment rate held at 4.3 per cent for a third consecutive month.
While financial markets boosted the chances of an interest rate hike in December, economists said the bar remains high for monetary policy tightening.
Economists say fiscal stimulus, in the form of tax and import tariff refunds, has cushioned the effect of the US-backed war with Iran, which has stoked inflation through a surge in oil prices.
Markets (NEW YORK CITY)
Wall Street's major indices have fallen as chipmakers lost steam following a sharp rally while a stronger-than-expected monthly jobs report raised expectations of a hawkish monetary policy.
Non-farm payrolls rose by 172,000 jobs in May after increasing 115,000 in April.
The numbers were also much higher than the 85,000 forecast by a Reuters survey of economists.
Money markets are pricing in a 98 per cent chance that the US Federal Reserve will hike interest rates by 25 basis points before the end of the year, up from a nearly 60 per cent expectation before the data.
The data comes ahead of new Fed chair Kevin Warsh's first policy meeting later this month as he takes charge of an economy grappling with elevated inflation, partly exacerbated by the Middle East conflict.
In entertainment ...
Arts Cinema (MELBOURNE)
When festivals and distributors overlooked his first feature film, James Robert Woods decided to get it into cinemas himself.
The Birthday Trip stars Luke Jacobz, Nicola Frew and Rosehaven's David Quirk, and follows a bunch of inner-city millennials to a luxury farmstay for a birthday celebration that goes horribly wrong.
After writing, directing, filming and co-producing the project via his production company, Badlands, Woods found he couldn't stir any interest from major festival organisers or the usual indie distributors.
But with small screenings at the Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival in the Queensland town of Winton and Sydney's Inner West Film Fest, he felt confident the feature would speak to cinemagoers.
Woods is convinced it's the right moment to poke fun at upwardly mobile millennials and says audiences so far have enjoyed laughing at themselves.
France Otis (PARIS)
Former US supermodel Carre Otis has filed a complaint at a Paris court alleging she was raped and trafficked by Gerald Marie, the former European head of Elite Model agency, in a move her lawyer says is meant to encourage other potential victims to come forward.
Marie has denied the allegations and cannot be prosecuted over Otis' case because of France's statute of limitations.
But the complaint could allow other women, whether their cases are time-barred or not, to join the proceedings, Otis' lawyer Mathias Darmon said in a statement to the Associated Press.
The complaint, seen by AP, alleges rape of a minor and human trafficking.
Sent to Paris in 1986 by Elite Model agency, Otis, who was then 17, was housed in Marie's apartment, "mistakenly believing that he wanted to support her modelling career," according to the complaint.
In sport ...
Super Reds (MELBOURNE)
Queensland's bid to break Australian rugby's Super finals hoodoo has fallen flat with the Reds eliminated from the title race by Damien McKenzie's Chiefs.
The woeful record by Australian teams in the play-offs in New Zeland stretched to 0-22 after the fifth-ranked Reds fell to the No.2 seeds 46-24 in Hamilton on Saturday night.
In next week's Super Rugby Pacific semi-finals the Chiefs will now host the Crusaders, who beat the Blues in the early match in Christchurch 52-31.
The table-topping Hurricanes, who flogged the Brumbies in the first qualifying final 66-12, have a final four contest against the Blues, who advance as the highest-ranked losers.
McKenzie said he was "really proud" of his team's effort, running away with the match in the second half.
WC26 Aust (OAKLAND)
In and out of San Diego inside 36 hours.
That's the plan the Socceroos hope can prove the perfect blueprint for their World Cup hit-and-run clash with the United States.
Australia travel on Friday to face Switzerland at noon on Saturday (5am Sunday AEST) at Snapdragon Stadium, then depart at night after the game to return to their Bay Area base.
The Socceroos' final friendly before the World Cup will also prove a dress rehearsal for Australia's second group match against the co-hosts on June 19 (June 20 AEST), with a similar midday kick-off and quick exit afterwards.
"That's what we're trying to do," coach Tony Popovic told AAP.
"The 12 o'clock kick-off is a unique time - unique for food and unique for travel and playing.
Ends Bulletin
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