AAP Rolling News Bulletin for May 19 at 1530
Diphtheria (DARWIN)
One of Australia's worst diphtheria outbreaks has spread across three states amid fears the respiratory disease has claimed a life in an outback community.
The National Notifiable Disease Surveillance System reports 133 notifications of the disease in the Northern Territory since the outbreak began in March.
It has since spread to Western Australia where 79 cases have been reported plus another six in South Australia and up to five in Queensland.
NT health authorities are also awaiting results from an autopsy report about a possible diphtheria-related death in a remote territory community.
Federal Health Minister Mark Butler described it as the biggest diphtheria outbreak in Australia for decades.
"There's no question this is serious", he told ABC Radio on Tuesday.
Legal: Lehrmann (SYDNEY)
Bruce Lehrmann wants to air further allegations of mistreatment by the anti-corruption watchdog including that he was forced to give evidence during secret hearings and then gagged from discussing it.
Officials from the National Anti-Corruption Commission searched the 31-year-old's home in June 2024 over allegations he misappropriated secret documents related to French submarines five years earlier.
The anti-corruption body was searching for sensitive documents on the since-abandoned submarine project Lehrmann was alleged to have stolen from the office of former defence minister Linda Reynolds.
He has denied the claims and has sought assistance from the federal government to cover his legal costs of the investigation.
Senator Reynolds' former staffer is seeking to expand a Federal Court lawsuit against federal Special Minister of State Don Farrell and NACC Commissioner Paul Brereton.
Alcohol (MELBOURNE)
Unsuspecting Australians could be drinking contaminated illicit alcohol stocked in regular bottle shops, leaving them at risk of serious health consequences.
Almost one-in-three bottle shops visited in Victoria contained suspected illicit alcohol products, researchers from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre, UNSW and National Drug Research Institute found.
The team have since gone to over 200 stores across different socio-economic areas in NSW, Victoria and Queensland to find the same proportion of bottle shops stocking suspected illicit alcohol.
"We're finding regular bottle shops are stocking products that we suspect are illicit, and we've found that have contaminants in them," postdoctoral research fellow Michala Kowalski told AAP.
People might be lulled into a false sense of security thinking their product is legitimate because they've bought it from a regular bottle shop, but the risks could be deadly with researchers finding methanol and plastic debris in some products.
Iran (TEHRAN)
US President Donald Trump has posted on social media that he is holding off on a planned military attack on Iran while efforts continue to reach a deal.
Trump's announcement came after he had threatened that the clock was ticking for Iran to strike an agreement or fighting would renew after a fragile ceasefire.
The president did not offer details about the planned attack he said was scheduled for Tuesday but said but he 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".
Trump had not previously disclosed that he was planning a strike for Tuesday 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".
Climate (MELBOURNE)
Tens of billions of dollars worth of roads, rail, hospitals and energy assets in one state alone are at risk of damage or destruction from climate change-fuelled extreme weather.
In what has been billed as an Australian first, Victoria's independent infrastructure advisory mapped risks posed by climate change to state government-owned or regulated infrastructure.
The research used climate hazard data to assess the exposure of existing assets to extreme heat, bushfire, drought, coastal inundation, flood, damaging winds and rainfall-induced landslides.
Of $318 billion worth of assets analysed across 10 sectors, Infrastructure Victoria found more than $57 billion would be at risk from climate hazards by 2030.
The figure was calculated under a "low scenario", in which falling emissions and a rapid transition to net zero would likely keep global warming to below 2C above pre-industrial levels.
Legal: OpenAI (OAKLAND)
A US jury has ruled against Elon Musk in his lawsuit against OpenAI, finding the artificial intelligence company not liable to the world's richest person for having allegedly strayed from its original mission to benefit humanity.
In a unanimous verdict, the jury in Oakland, California federal court said Musk had brought his case too late.
The jury deliberated less than two hours.
The trial had widely been seen as a critical moment for the future of OpenAI and artificial intelligence generally, both in how it should be used and who should benefit from it.
Following the verdict, Musk's lawyer said he reserved the right to appeal but the judge suggested he may have an uphill battle because whether the statute of limitations ran out before Musk sued was a factual issue.
Specimens (MELBOURNE)
Fifty years after burying his brother and best friend, John Santi spent almost every fortnight by his grave site.
So when he saw his brother's name in a newspaper along with 143 others calling for family members to contact the coroner, it marked the beginning of 16 months of hell culminating in a formal apology from the Tasmanian government.
Tony Santi had died in a motorcycle crash when he was 19 in 1976.
A 13-year-old John remembered his brother's body being taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital before his family received the remains to be buried.
But a coronial investigation in September found the University of Tasmania's RA Rodda Museum secretly kept 177 human autopsy samples for teaching and research purposes between 1966 and 1991.
Budget (CANBERRA)
Australia's resources sector is calling for gas projects to get off the ground and tax settings to remain stable as Anthony Albanese takes his budget sales pitch to the nation's west.
The prime minister on Tuesday will spruik Labor's economic plan in Perth, as post-federal budget polling shows voter backlash after the government broke promises not to touch negative gearing or the capital gains tax.
Mr Albanese said Labor always thought selling "big reform" would be difficult.
"This is tax reform that's been called for a long period of time, treating income gained from working - which is what most people do - much more equally with income earned from assets ... that's what we've put forward," he told ABC radio on Monday evening.
In finance ...
Economy (CANBERRA)
The first speech by a Reserve Bank official since the federal budget will be watched closely by investors as debate rages over whether the government has helped or hindered in the fight against inflation.
RBA chief economist Sarah Hunter will appear at the Bloomberg Forum for investment managers in Sydney on Tuesday, soon after a speech by Treasurer Jim Chalmers.
Dr Chalmers's fifth budget, released exactly a week earlier, has attracted blowback from the big end of town over changes to investor tax breaks and the use of trusts to minimise tax.
But economists have also narrowed in on the budget's impact on the fiscal impulse - that is, how much the changes in the budget add to or detract from overall demand and inflation.
TechnologyOne (SYDNEY)
An Australian software company that serves hundreds of governments, universities and councils has lifted earnings after rolling artificial intelligence into its products.
Technology One, whose local-listed competitors include WiseTech Global and Xero, generated a bottom-line net profit of $66.8 million for the six months ended March, up six per cent on the prior corresponding half.
"The adoption of AI and the feedback we are receiving is surpassing our expectations," chief executive Ed Chung said on Tuesday.
Technology One's suite of AI-driven products, which include Plus and Guide, allows users to record and report, as well as predict, learn, and simplify their operations.
"Plus understands every aspect of a customer's organisation - their people, processes and performance - and it responds in real time," Mr Chung said.
In entertainment ...
Eurovision (VIENNA)
Austrian police recorded about 500 cyber attacks targeting the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, authorities say.
Michael Takàcs, head of Austria's federal police, said the attempted acts of cyber sabotage were thwarted.
They targeted not only the Eurovision website but also access control systems at the venue.
The perpetrators sought to disrupt, slow down or disable systems, Takàcs said at a press conference on Monday, adding that no details were available on those responsible or their motives.
Interior Minister Gerhard Karner said the goal had been to ensure a safe and peaceful event.
"We succeeded," he said, noting that no serious incidents were reported at live broadcasts, public viewing events or related demonstrations.
Austria's Interior Ministry State Secretary Jörg Leichtfried said authorities closely monitored potential threats from Islamist extremists and violent groups linked to Iran.
Legal: Shakira (MADRID)
Spain's High Court has acquitted Colombian pop star Shakira of tax fraud and overturned the 55 million euro ($A89 million) fine imposed in 2021 by the Spanish tax agency, according to a court document seen by Reuters on Monday.
Acting on an appeal by the Hips Don't Lie singer, the court ordered the Treasury to reimburse her with over 60 million euros ($A98 million), including interest, Shakira's defence said.
The judge ruled authorities had failed to prove Shakira spent more than 183 days in Spain in 2011, as required by Spanish law to be considered a tax resident in the country.
At the time, the tax agency had argued Shakira was linked to Spain through her relationship with former FC Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique and had her centre of activities in the Mediterranean country.
In sport ...
RU Aust (BRISBANE)
Tom Lynagh will recommit to Australian rugby as the injury-hit Wallabies playmaker battles a recurring calf injury that's restricted him to just 18 minutes of action this season.
The Queensland Reds and Wallabies flyhalf withstood a battering in his starting Test debut against the British and Irish Lions last year.
He has barely been sighted since, with a hamstring injury against Argentina setting off a chain reaction of setbacks that continue to keep the No.10 on ice.
Lynagh, speaking on Tuesday at an event marking 500 days until the Rugby World Cup in Australia, said he had torn the soleus muscle in his lower leg twice this year.
He managed 18 minutes off the bench for the Reds in between those tears and is clinging to hope of appearing again for the Super Rugby Pacific side this season.
RL Origin NSW (SYDNEY)
Stephen Crichton concedes he has been below his best ahead of the State of Origin series opener, having battled through an unprecedented chapter of his NRL career.
For the first time since making his NSW debut in 2022, Crichton appeared less than a selection lock for the Blues, who unveiled their game-one team on Monday.
The Canterbury captain has struggled to recapture his three-time premiership winning best since returning early from a shoulder injury suffered on Good Friday.
Crichton was nevertheless one of the first players to learn he would be in the Blues team for game one on May 27, with coach Laurie Daley insisting the centre was never in serious doubt.
"He's, in my opinion, one of the great leaders. People follow him," Daley said on Monday.
Ends Bulletin
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