AAP Rolling News Bulletin for May 19 at 1930
Maldives Divers (MALE)
Finnish divers have recovered the bodies of two of the four remaining Italians who died deep inside an underwater cave in an atoll in the Maldives.
The bodies were found on Monday, when searches resumed after being suspended following the death of a local military diver during a perilous mission to try to reach them.
Five Italian divers went missing on Thursday, with one of the bodies recovered earlier.
The plan is to recover the remaining two bodies on Wednesday.
The announcement that two bodies were recovered on Tuesday was made by presidential spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Shareef.
Maldives government spokesman Ahmed Shaam had earlier said the three Finnish divers would retrieve the bodies, which were lying at a depth of about 60 metres.
Legal: Vlassakis (ADELAIDE)
Images of Snowtown killer James Vlassakis can be published for the first time after a court lifted a suppression order made 25 years ago.
On Tuesday, the South Australian Court of Appeal revoked the order that strictly banned publication of Vlassakis' image and description.
The decision followed an application by media outlets, who submitted the order was no longer valid.
It was imposed to protect Vlassakis' identity after he gave crucial evidence against the two other convicted Snowtown killers, John Bunting and Robert Wagner.
The court's ruling came as it considered arguments over whether Vlassakis, 46, who pleaded guilty to four of the 11 murders between 1992 and 1999, should be released on parole.
Last August, the Parole Board agreed to Vlassakis's release but Attorney-General Kyam Maher requested a review of the decision.
Legal: Jomaa (SYDNEY)
A man who tried to coerce women into sending sexual photos by threatening to post AI deepfakes of them online will be released from prison.
Benjamin Michael Jomaa, 32, was in April imprisoned for 27 months after admitting trying to extort eight women with AI-manipulated photos he scraped from their social media profiles.
In one instance, Jomaa manipulated a photo of sisters holidaying in Thailand to make it appear like they were topless before sending the image to them.
"If you don't respond, the photos are going online," Jomaa said in another message a local court judge read during sentencing.
That court was told Jomaa meticulously trawled social media pages of the victims and downloaded pictures of them.
He digitally altered the images to create pornographic composites he sent to women he considered "easy targets", demanding they provide him authentic nude images.
Specimens (MELBOURNE)
Families of more than 100 people whose remains were secretly kept after autopsies and given to a museum have received a formal apology, as authorities identify five people likely involved in the historic practice.
Tasmanian politicians of all stripes contributed apologies after Health Minister Bridget Archer moved a formal motion in the state's parliament on Tuesday.
Premier Jeremy Rockliff said the motion continued a tradition of acknowledging past wrongs and was needed to pay respects to affected families.
"Today we acknowledge the deep hurt of individuals and families who had their loved one's remains stolen, stolen from them and stolen from you," he said.
"That is why this apology is so needed and so important."
The state coroner in September released the findings of an investigation into 177 human specimens stored at the University of Tasmania's RA Rodda Museum from 1966 to 1991.
Legal: Gillham (MELBOURNE)
Cancelled pianist Jayon Gillham's commentary on Palestine during a classical music concert was a "middle finger" to those who had helped him build a stellar career, a court has been told.
Gillham performed Connor D'Netto's composition Witness at a Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concert in 2024, introducing the piece with comments about Israel killing journalists in Gaza.
The orchestra responded by cancelling his next appearance, and the performer is suing the MSO for unfair dismissal in the Federal Court.
The case is expected to test the limits of political speech for contractors in Australian workplaces.
On the second day of a 15-day trial, the court heard details of senior orchestra management's handling of the crisis in the days after Gillham's concert.
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.
Ukraine (KYIV)
A Russian air attack has damaged port infrastructure in Ukraine's Izmail city, while Russian authorities say they have downed four drones launched by Ukraine that were headed towards Moscow.
Izmail, home to the largest Ukrainian port on the Danube River, is a frequently hit strategic location.
"Port infrastructure facilities in the city of Izmail were damaged," local officials said on Tuesday, adding that nearly all aerial attack weapons were destroyed.
"Fortunately, there were no casualties or significant destruction."
Elsewhere in Ukraine, two people were rescued and one person may still be trapped under rubble after a Russian drone attack on the northeastern city of Kharkiv, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram.
Peace efforts to end the war that began with Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine have stalled.
In finance ...
Economy (CANBERRA)
Australian businesses and consumers have been urged to keep their inflation expectations in check as the Reserve Bank warns "self-fulfilling prophecies" may lead to a recession.
Conflict in the Middle East has shocked economies, disrupting oil and gas markets and driving inflation in Australia and elsewhere.
It is costly for businesses to change their prices every time expenses increase, which leads many to try account for future expected costs when setting prices in the present.
But the RBA's chief economist Sarah Hunter, speaking at the Bloomberg Forum in Sydney, warned inflation expectations must be kept tethered.
"If businesses and households expect high future inflation, this can become a self-fulfilling prophecy as these expectations get baked into contracts for goods, services and wages," she said on Tuesday.
Anglo (BRISBANE)
It is not every day a mining deal comes with houses, childcare centres and the town water supply thrown in.
But in central Queensland, a big slice of country town Middlemount has been included in a deal struck to sell off a multinational company's Australian steelmaking mines.
However Anglo American's mega deal has come under fire from a local mayor, warning it amounts to the sale of "entire communities".
Anglo American is set to leave Queensland after selling its five Australian steelmaking mines to Dhilmar Limited in a move worth about $5.8 billion.
The deal is far more than a routine change of hands in the coalfields, with purpose-built mining town Middlemount set to be impacted.
Dhilmar is expected to take control of about 600 houses in Middlemount set aside for mine workers and essential staff such as teachers, nurses and police officers, making the new owner one of the town's biggest landlords.
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.
Blanchett (LONDON)
Cate Blanchett is disappointed the #MeToo movement "got killed very quickly" in Hollywood.
The Australian actress questioned why the initiative - which saw a number of women in the public eye speak about their experiences of sexual misconduct in their careers - got "shut down" when it had such a power to effect change.
Speaking in conversation at the Cannes Film Festival, she said: "It got killed very quickly, which I think is interesting.
"There are a lot of people with platforms who are able to speak up with relative safety and say this has happened to me. And the so-called average woman on the street, person on the street, is saying me too. Why does that get shut down?
"What the movement revealed is a systemic layer of abuse, not only in this industry but in all industries, and if you don't identify a problem, you can't solve the problem."
In sport ...
Ath Oceania (DARWIN)
Rising sprint sensation Aidan Murphy has gone within a whisker of breaking one of the oldest records in Australian athletics with a stunning 400m run of 44.44 seconds at the Oceania championships in Darwin.
With countrymen Thomas Reynolds and Luke van Ratingen pushing him all the way on Tuesday, the 22-year-old Murphy took full advantage of the hot conditions at Arafura Stadium.
He stripped 0.37 off his personal best to move to second on the Australian all time list, just six hundredths of a second shy of Darren Clark's national record, which has stood untouched since the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
"We're right there," said Murphy.
"If the national record isn't broken this year, it's just a matter of time.
"Depending on who it is I don't know, but we're all just around the corner and slowly chipping away at that milestone."
BBL (BRISBANE)
Brisbane Heat have put their hand up to be one of the first teams to play a BBL game overseas and open this summer's tournament in India.
Cricket Australia is understood to have received positive news in the past 24 hours in their quest to start the 2026-27 season in India.
The move would be designed to help increase interest in the Indian market, and also comes at a time when the privatisation of BBL teams remains up in the air.
The challenge now is to establish which teams will go because only two sides can be part of the action.
Brisbane Heat CEO Terry Svenson said the Chennai move was a good initiative by Cricket Australia that was backed by Queensland Cricket.
Ends Bulletin
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