AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 12 at 1600
Legal: James (SYDNEY)
Sleepless nights, overwhelming guilt and a fear-driven urge to hurl dire warnings at parents putting their kids in out-of-school care.
That is the heart-wrenching result of David William James' child abuse as described by the mother of one of his victims.
The 27-year-old took explicit photos and videos of children younger than 10 while working at six out-of-school centres in Sydney's north and city centre between April 2021 and May 2024.
Australian Federal Police tracked James down in June 2024 after linking him to child abuse material on the dark web.
He pleaded guilty in December to 11 charges related to the production and possession of child abuse material, including doing a sexual act with children to produce child sex abuse material.
Federal (CANBERRA)
One Nation's public fundraising campaign is a "smokescreen" for the money coming in from billionaire donors, a Labor powerbroker says.
The Pauline Hanson-led party is claiming to have raised more than $3 million from almost 50,000 donors to its anti-Labor "fire the liar" campaign.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other Labor figures have cast doubt on the legitimacy of the fundraising drive, prompting Senator Hanson to share an "independent audit" document authored by a software engineer to her social media page.
Former federal treasurer Wayne Swan labelled One Nation the "billionaire's party", highlighting its links to Australia's richest person Gina Rinehart who in April gifted Senator Hanson a $1 million plane.
"When it comes to big money in this country, it's all going to One Nation," Labor's national president told Nine's Today on Friday.
Legal: Murray (ADELAIDE)
The grandmother of missing boy Gus Lamont has been found guilty of possessing a gun silencer after a court heard she had a previous conviction involving the theft of firearms by a fugitive.
Josie Murray - the grandmother of the four-year-old who vanished from her South Australia homestead in September 2025 - was fined $10,500 after a hearing in Adelaide Magistrates Court on Friday.
Murray, 75, of Yunta, had pleaded guilty to one aggravated charge of possessing a sound moderator.
Defence lawyer Andy Ey told magistrate Roderick Jensen that he would "address the elephant in the room".
"It's been an extremely difficult time for my client. A grandchild went missing on the property late last year," he said.
"We see the media attention and number of police here - this has been a very, very difficult time for the family, trying to get through as best they can."
Legal: SKorea Yoon (SEOUL)
A South Korean court has sentenced former president Yoon Suk -yeol to 30 years in prison over charges linked to military drones sent over Pyongyang to help create a pretext for his failed December 2024 martial law declaration.
The Seoul Central District Court on Friday found Yoon guilty of abuse of power and aiding the enemy, saying he had conspired in the October 2024 drone incursion from the outset.
Yoon denied wrongdoing.
His lawyers said he neither ordered nor later approved the operation, which they said was unrelated to martial law and instead a response to months of North Korean launches across the border of balloons stuffed with rubbish.
Prosecutors had sought a 30-year prison term for Yoon in April.
Ukraine (KYIV)
Two people have been killed and another 10 injured in a Ukraine attack on Russia's border region of Bryansk.
Two were killed and another two injured in shelling of the Suzemka area close to the border, with another seven wounded in an attack on petrol stations in Starodub some 110km away, Acting Regional Governor Yegor Kovalchuk said on Thursday.
A five-year-old boy was also injured in a separate drone attack.
In Ukraine's northern Sumy region, a 44-year old woman was killed and another 33-year-old woman seriously wounded in a Russian drone attack, regional governor Oleh Hryhorov said early on Friday.
Three more people were injured in a drone attack in Ukraine's southern city of Mykolaiv, local authorities said on Telegram.
Federal (CANBERRA)
One Nation says it has proven its $2 million-plus anti-Labor fundraising drive to be legitimate after the prime minister questioned the authenticity of donations.
Party leader Pauline Hanson took to social media on Thursday evening to declare the "fire the liar" fundraising site and money were "ridgy didge", posting an audit document appearing to be produced by software engineer Daryl Monnink.
"I am satisfied that the fundraising total calculation currently includes only successfully received and validated donation payments," he wrote in his audit report.
The audit was carried out by reviewing the website's source code, inspecting live databases and viewing the end-to-end donation process alongside Peter Arvoll, who built the site, Mr Monnink said.
Earlier on Thursday Mr Albanese questioned what evidence there was the party had actually raised the funds, and Labor operatives privately suggested One Nation's online donation counter might have been fraudulent.
Legal: Griffith (BRISBANE)
One of Australia's worst pedophiles, former childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith, has failed in his bid to reduce the life sentence he received for hundreds of sex offences against young children.
Lawyers for the notorious 48-year-old predator in May argued in the Queensland Court of Appeal that the 27‑year non‑parole period he was handed in 2024 was ''manifestly excessive'' as they sought leave to appeal.
Justice David Boddice on Friday handed down the Court of Appeal's decision to dismiss the appeal during a brief sitting in Brisbane.
"The appeal against sentence is refused," he said.
Griffith pleaded guilty to 307 child sex offences against 65 victims aged between one and nine.
It included 28 counts of rape against girls mainly aged three to five at Queensland childcare centres between 2007 and 2022.
Ebola (DAKAR)
Congo's Ebola outbreak has spread to three new health zones, according to a government report that shows the number of confirmed cases had risen to 676, including 136 deaths.
The figure represented the total number of confirmed cases as of Wednesday, the report published on Thursday said.
The new health zones impacted by the outbreak were in North Kivu and Ituri.
A health zone in Congo's healthcare system covers a defined area with a network of clinics and a referral hospital, covering around 100,000 to 150,000 people. There are more than 500 health zones in the country.
When presenting the new figures, Africa Centre for Disease Control Director General Jean Kaseya expressed particular concern about the low number of contacts of Ebola patients in Congo that had been identified and traced.
In finance ...
SpaceX (NEW YORK CITY)
SpaceX has priced the biggest-ever US initial public offering at $US135 per share, making Elon Musk's rocket and spacecraft manufacturer one of the world's most valuable companies.
The IPO raised a record $US75 billion ($A106 billion) on the sale of 555.56 million shares, valuing the space, satellite and AI provider at $US1.77 trillion ($A2.51 trillion), a record for an initial offering.
Thursday's pricing caps off a months-long effort that realised Musk's most ambitious project yet even as he stood a handful of financial traditions on their head, and as some analysts question whether its lofty valuation is justified.
SpaceX will rank seventh among US-listed firms when its shares begin trading on the Nasdaq on Friday, though it lost money in 2025 and other mega-caps far outpace its revenue. That values the company more highly than firms as varied as JPMorgan Chase, Berkshire Hathaway and Eli Lilly, as well as tech giants such as Meta Platforms and Musk's own Tesla.
Woodside (SYDNEY)
Australia's largest oil and gas company has moved to increase its stake in the country's biggest undeveloped offshore gas resource.
Woodside Energy will pay at least $US225 million ($320 million) to increase its stake in the Browse joint venture, a $48.7 billion project 425km off the coast of Western Australia that's been under environmental review for the past seven years.
Woodside is exercising its rights to pre-empt the sale by one of its joint venture partners of its 10.67 per cent stake in the project to a third party.
PetroChina International, the listed arm of state-owned China National Petroleum Corporation, had proposed selling its stake to Inpex Corp, Japan's largest oil and gas exploration and production company.
Woodside exercising its pre-emptive rights means it will acquire the stake instead, on the same terms.
In entertainment ...
Aria (SYDNEY)
Relatives of Australian music royalty say their legendary family member succeeded in his goal of sharing powerful culture with the world.
Gurrumul, the celebrated artist from the Gumatj clan of Elcho Island in Arnhem Land, took his rightful place in the Australian Recording Industry Association Hall of Fame on Thursday night.
The Indigenous icon was already on the honour roll as a member of similarly celebrated band Yothu Yindi, becoming one of a handful to be inducted twice.
His family opened Thursday night's celebration of ARIA's 40th anniversary with an emotional tribute to their late relative, who died aged 46 in 2017 after a battle with kidney and liver disease.
Brother-in-law Don Wininba expanded on his family's pride of Gurrumul helping to take Indigenous music to the world.
Jackman (LONDON)
Hugh Jackman is set to play legendary pirate Long John Silver in a new adaptation of Treasure Island.
The Greatest Showman actor will reportedly lead the cast of Sir Ridley Scott's planned take on Robert Louis Stevenson's classic novel, which he will direct from a script by Adolescence writer Jack Thorne, who will also serve as executive producer.
According to Deadline, the package is set to hit the market on Monday and while 20th Century - who will release Scott's next movie The Dog Stars in August - did get a first look, they ultimately turned down the project.
This was because 20th Century is a Disney division, where Pirates of the Caribbean is a priority and they didn't want to take on competing projects.
In sport ...
RL Origin Qld (BRISBANE)
Sam Walker has the faith of Queensland's brains trust to play his expansive way in State of Origin and the razzle dazzle half won't be changing a thing.
Walker, 23, was on track to win man of the match in game one of the Origin series on debut in Sydney before a Kalyn Ponga send-off turned the match and led to a 22-20 win for NSW.
The man Walker replaced in the team, injured North Queensland half Tom Dearden, was player of the Origin series in 2025 and is on track to be fit for game three in Brisbane after rehabbing an ankle injury.
The Maroons will have to deal with that selection quandary when it arrives but right now the Sydney Roosters No.7 is coach Billy Slater's man for Wednesday night's must-win match.
Gol LIV (ADELAIDE)
Australians are among potential investors in LIV Golf, with Cameron Smith playing a key role in sourcing financial saviours for the breakaway league.
LIV Golf's chief executive Scott O'Neil says unnamed "prominent" Australians are flagging interest in investing when Saudi Arabia ends its funding.
O'Neil and LIV hierarchy are seeking about $US300 million ($A425 million) investment for the league to continue beyond this season.
"We are very tapped in and wired in to the Australian business community and those who might be interested," O'Neil told AAP on Friday.
"Yes, we're having some ongoing dialogue with some prominent Australians."
Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund will stop funding LIV Golf at the end of the season.
Some reports suggest the funding could soon stop, casting doubt on whether LIV's four remaining tournaments this year will proceed.
Ends Bulletin
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