AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 4 at 1230
Mideast (JERUSALEM)
Lebanon and Israel have agreed to the implementation of a ceasefire following negotiations in Washington aimed at ending the conflict that flared up alongside the war in Iran.
The ceasefire is contingent on a complete cessation of fire from the Iran-aligned Hezbollah militia and the evacuation of all of its operatives from the South Litani Sector, according to a joint statement released with the US on Wednesday.
"The two sides agreed with the guidance of the United States to swiftly advance the creation of pilot zones in which the Lebanese Armed Forces will take exclusive control of the territory to the exclusion of all non-state actors," they said.
Israel and Lebanon had previously agreed to a cessation of hostilities in April that was then extended in May, but violence has continued.
US Aust (CANBERRA)
The prime minister has blamed an "ideological disagreement" for the latest round of American tariffs proposed for countries including Australia over what the US says is their failure to address modern slavery.
The White House is proposing new levies for 60 countries that it says are not doing enough to fight slavery in their supply chains.
Under the proposal, a 10 per cent temporary tariff imposed in February on Australian goods would increase to 12.5 per cent from July 24.
"The acts, policies and practices of Australia related to the failure to impose and effectively enforce a forced-labour import prohibition are unreasonable and burden or restrict US commerce," US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer found in a report published overnight.
The tariffs are unwarranted and will only push up prices for consumers in the US, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday.
Ukraine (KYIV)
Russian shelling has killed at least three civilians in Ukraine's frontline city of Kramatorsk in the east and Moscow's forces attacked areas near the southeastern city of Dnipro with drones and missiles.
Vadym Filashkin, governor of Donetsk region, on Wednesday said 11 people had been injured in the daytime Russian attack on residential buildings in Kramatorsk.
The governor of southeastern Dnipropetrovsk Region, Oleksandr Hanzha, said there had been three Russian strikes near the region's largest city, Dnipro, injuring eight people and triggering a large fire. Three people were in hospital in serious condition.
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said Russian forces had struck food storage areas and a postal depot, deploying drones and missiles.
Photographs posted online showed several buildings ablaze and billowing smoke engulfing the surrounding areas. More than 100 firefighters had been deployed.
Ebola (LAGOS)
Congo's Ebola outbreak "had a big head start, and we're still behind," the head of the World Health Organisation says, adding that the medical community was "catching up" even as militant attacks plague the stricken region.
Congo's military said an attack late on Tuesday by an Islamic State affiliate — a group known as the Allied Democratic Forces — killed 16 people in the Beni territory in North Kivu province.
The militants struck in response for a joint operation of Congolese and Ugandan armies, which have been battling the group that operates in the border regions of the two countries. Last month, the group attacked Congolese villages near the Ugandan border, killing at least 40 people and burning and looting homes.
The violence has hampered efforts to combat the outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo type of Ebola, which was announced in mid-May in eastern Congo's provinces of Ituri, North Kivu, and South Kivu.
Economy (CANBERRA)
Contentious tax changes will have a larger drag on home prices than the government forecast in the budget, according to analysis from Australia's largest lender.
Winding back negative gearing and the capital gains discount for established properties will weigh on home prices by five per cent, compared to Treasury forecasts of a two per cent drag, Commonwealth Bank senior economists Trent Saunders and Ashwin Clarke found.
A slowdown in the property market was already underway before the budget due to global uncertainty and rising interest rates.
But the quick response to the tax changes suggested the near-term impact will be sharper than expected, the duo said in a research note on Wednesday.
"We now expect national dwelling prices to be flat over 2026, down from a forecast of three per cent at budget and five per cent in March."
BudgetSA (ADELAIDE)
A government will impose a partial freeze on public service recruitment as it intensifies its budget focus on reining in the state's growing debt burden.
But the South Australian Opposition says the budget is "cooked" and Labor has no plan to manage the state's debt, which is predicted to balloon to close to $50 billion by 2039.
Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis will deliver the Malinauskas government's first state budget on Thursday since its resounding election victory in March.
It has announced a partial freeze on recruiting of non-frontline public sector for the next 12 months, which is forecast to cut 1000 positions and save $120 million.
Mr Koutsantonis described it as "back office efficiency" that would not affect frontline areas such as teachers, police, doctors and nurses.
Iran (DUBAI/WASHINGTON)
Gulf hostilities have flared again as Iranian attacks on Kuwait damaged its airport and injured dozens while the US military carried out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, with diplomacy to halt the war showing little sign of progress.
The attacks are the latest to test a shaky ceasefire, sending oil prices up more than two per cent, as the strait remains largely closed more than three months after the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
Flights at Kuwait International Airport were suspended after an Iranian drone and missile attack damaged airport facilities and diplomatic missions, killing one person and injuring more than 60 others, Kuwaiti authorities and state media said.
Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways later resumed flights after taking safety measures, the civil aviation authority said.
UK Nowak (LONDON)
Britain's interior minister has accused activists of hijacking a tragedy to stir up violence after police were attacked at a protest over the death of a teenager who was handcuffed as he lay dying while his killer falsely claimed a racist attack.
Police were pelted with chairs, cans, rocks and flares late on Tuesday by some of the hundreds who attended a protest in the southern English coast city of Southampton, where Henry Nowak was killed in December.
Two people were arrested and 11 officers and a police dog were injured, police said.
Nowak's death has triggered debates about policing and knife crime and has spurred claims by far-right activists and politicians that there is bias against white people in the justice system.
In finance ...
Economy (CANBERRA)
Australia's economy slowed significantly despite surging data centre investment, but interest rate rises and the effects of the Iran war mean a downturn may be inevitable.
Gross domestic product grew at 0.3 per cent in the first three months of the year, down steeply from the rapid 0.9 per cent expansion recorded in the December quarter, Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed on Wednesday.
The result was slightly below economist forecasts for 0.4 per cent growth.
Underpinning the economy's growth was the remarkable $8.7 billion invested in the data centre build-out in the March quarter.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said it was a solid result given the circumstances, singling out the 5.7 per cent growth in business investment over the quarter.
TreasuryWine (SYDNEY)
The behaviour of wine drinkers is evolving in favour of fewer tipples, but with a focus on top-tier varieties, one of Australia's premium wine producers says.
Treasury Wine Estates, which owns the globally recognised luxury Penfolds brand, now plans to focus a good chunk of its resources on its top 10 "power brands".
This segment, which includes Penfolds, Daou and Matua, already contributes 72 per cent of gross profit on 25 per cent of the stock exchange-listed company's wine volume.
"Our power brands will represent the largest growth opportunities," chief executive Sam Fischer told investors at a strategy day on Thursday.
"These are scalable brands with the ability to win across multiple markets.
"Collectively, they will receive disproportionate investment and organisational focus to support our growth ambition."
In entertainment ...
Arts Silenced (SYDNEY)
A powerful Australian film aims to shift conversations, change cultures and make it safer for women to speak out against gendered violence by reforming the laws that seek to silence them.
The highly anticipated documentary Silenced opened the Sydney Film Festival with its Australian premier on Wednesday night.
Emmy-winning director Selina Miles follows acclaimed human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson as she fights against the weaponisation of defamation law by alleged perpetrators.
It charts a post #MeToo world, using courtroom footage, media coverage and interviews to demonstrate how legal systems across the world are being used to discredit both victim-survivors and the journalists who report their stories.
Former Liberal Party staffer Brittany Higgins tells her story in the film, having participated in both a criminal and civil trial following allegations Bruce Lehrmann raped her inside Parliament House in 2019.
Danson (LONDON)
Ted Danson has again apologised for his controversial blackface performance.
The Cheers and The Good Place actor, 78, revisited the incident during an appearance on Who's with Me?, a new podcast hosted by comedian and filmmaker W Kamau Bell, with their conversation partly focused on the performance Danson delivered while dating actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg at the height of their relationship.
Danson's routine, which took place during a Friars Club roast honouring Goldberg, now 70, drew widespread condemnation after details emerged beyond the private event and remains one of the most controversial moments of the star's long career.
Danson said: "I would like to address this and apologise forever.
"I know what was in my heart. So, I have no problem talking about this, but I need to and want to apologise for the rest of my life because somebody today can go on the Internet, you're right, and go, 'What the f***? Wow. I feel betrayed. I feel angry and whatever'.
In sport ...
AFL Demons (MELBOURNE)
Coach Steven King is letting others tell Neale Daniher's story as he prepares his team for a massive AFL King's Birthday clash.
Always a highlight of the season, Monday's Big Freeze game against Collingwood has taken on far greater significance after Daniher's death last week from motor neuron disease.
This is King's first season as a senior coach and he feels privileged to be in charge of the Demons for such an important occasion.
"I feel a little bit uncomfortable ... I don't feel qualified enough to personally speak of Neale," King said.
"So using some people around the club who have better relationships and have spent some quality time with Neale - at the right time, trying to tap into that.
WC26 (OAKLAND)
There has been a "chilling" effect on the voice of footballers concerned that speaking up about human rights abuses could cost them their World Cup dream, says former Socceroos captain Craig Foster.
Human rights and geopolitical tensions, especially around the United States' immigration crackdown and Iran's participation in the tournament, are in the spotlight as the games approach.
Socceroos stalwart Jackson Irvine last month made global headlines when he said FIFA awarding its inaugural Peace Prize to US President Donald Trump made a mockery of its own human rights charter.
But there has been little commentary from other players across the 48 teams as the tournament nears, in stark comparison to when the Socceroos were involved in a video campaign criticising 2022 host Qatar's human rights record.
Ends Bulletin
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