AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 3 at 1330
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".
AUKUS (CANBERRA)
Australia receiving only used nuclear submarines from the US will not change the government's commitment to the AUKUS pact, the foreign minister says.
The $368 billion plan originally had Australia receiving three nuclear submarines from the US - two used and one new Virginia-Class vessels - before building its own in Adelaide.
But after changes to the deal, Australia will now get three used submarines from the US.
Foreign Minister Penny Wong said it did not matter whether the submarines were used or new.
"Whether it's two (used) and one (new) or three, it's the capability that matters," she told ABC Radio on Wednesday.
"We want three submarines to deal with, from the United States, to deal with a capability gap before the AUKUS submarines are to be delivered ... that is the plan."
Iran (DUBAI/WASHINGTON)
Iran is reviewing a proposed agreement with the US to halt their war but has not communicated with Washington for a few days, Iranian media reports, though US President Donald Trump said negotiations had been going on continuously.
More than three months after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran, the conflict is stuck in a stalemate, with a shaky ceasefire in place while the pivotal Strait of Hormuz remains largely shut to maritime traffic.
Iran has not yet responded to a proposed final text of a temporary deal, and was taking a "stern" approach given what it sees as a history of US non-compliance and longstanding mistrust, Mehr News Agency cited a source as saying.
The semi-official Fars agency, also citing a source, added that messages on the possible deal, or memorandum of understanding, had stopped a few days ago, with the last one being Tehran's "clear message" over Lebanon, where Iran is seeking a halt to Israel's incursion against its ally Hezbollah.
Mideast (CAIRO)
Israeli fire has killed at least four Palestinians in separate incidents across the Gaza Strip, Gaza health officials say.
Medics said at least one person was killed and four were wounded on Tuesday when an Israeli air strike hit a vehicle east of Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip. The blast left the vehicle a mangled skeleton.
Another strike earlier in the day killed one person and wounded another in the nearby Zawayda town, they added. Later on Tuesday an air strike killed one person at a tent encampment in Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on those incidents.
Israeli gunfire also killed one man in northwest Khan Younis, medics said, taking Tuesday's death toll to at least four.
Ukraine (KYIV)
Russia pounded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles in a heavy attack that authorities said killed 22 people and wounded more than 100.
The strikes on cities including Kyiv and Dnipro followed Russian warnings of "systematic" attacks on the capital after a drone attack on a dormitory in Ukraine's Russian-held region of Luhansk last month. Kyiv denies targeting the dormitory.
It was the third heavy assault on Kyiv in under a month, but Russia has been relentlessly attacking Ukrainian cities, including Kyiv, since it invaded its smaller neighbour in 2022.
US-brokered talks on the war in Ukraine have stalled with Washington focusing on Iran, while Russian advances on the battlefield have slowed this year and Kyiv has stepped up strikes on Russian oil refineries.
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.
Markets Aust (SYDNEY)
The ASX is creeping higher after cooler-than-forecast economic growth figures became the latest in a series of soft data to take pressure off the need for more interest rate rises.
The S&P/ASX200 rose 41.8 points by midday, up 0.48 per cent, to 8,766.2, as the broader All Ordinaries gained 33.7 points, or 0.39 per cent, to 9,001.
Australia's economy grew at 0.3 per cent in the three months to March, undershooting expectations by 0.5 per cent and coming in at 2.5 per cent in annual terms.
The figures followed softer than expected April jobs and inflation figures, lowering the odds the Reserve Bank will have to continue hiking the cash interest rate on its road to temper sticky price growth.
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 ...
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.
RL Broncos (BRISBANE)
Reece Walsh was disappointed to miss out on Queensland selection, but the Brisbane fullback has also made an admission about why he was overlooked.
"I know the standards it takes to play for Queensland and I'm honest with myself. I probably haven't been living up to those standards," Walsh said.
"That's what makes it so great. Once you put that jersey on, you know what it takes to get back there.
"I'm a realist and I understand I haven't been upholding those standards, but it's about putting in the hard work at training and relaying that back onto the field.
"If I keep working hard in those areas, I'm sure the opportunity will come again."
Walsh, 23, missed out on Queensland selection in game one of the State of Origin series, with Kalyn Ponga preferred at fullback.
Ends Bulletin
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