AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 8 at 1230
Dalamangas (SYDNEY)
Police are working with their Greek counterparts following reports one of Australia's most wanted men has been arrested after three decades on the run.
James Dalamangas was taken into custody on Sunday in the Peloponnesian town of Aigio, according to local media reports.
The 55-year-old had been living under a pseudonym in Greece since a warrant was issued for his arrest over the death of father-of-two George Giannopolous, who was fatally stabbed on Anzac Day in 1999 after intervening in a fight at a suburban Sydney night club.
NSW Police have said they are "encouraged" by the reports and are working with Hellenic police.
The underworld figure has evaded Australian authorities for decades.
Police had tried to extradite him in 2003 and attempts to prosecute him by their Greek counterparts were suspended in 2007.
Tonys (NEW YORK)
John Lithgow has won best leading actor in a play at the Tony Awards for Giant, which depicts a crisis in the life of author Roald Dahl as he faces fallout from remarks deemed anti-Semitic and must weigh apologising against risking his reputation.
It was the 80-year-old Lithgow's third Tony, having won his first 53 years ago for his Broadway debut in The Changing Room.
"At every point we had to figure out, 'Why is this man doing this?'" he told reporters.
"Anti-Semitism, cruelty of all kinds ... these are things that we're dealing with these days up front and personal ... that's what makes Giant so important and such a success."
Rose Byrne is also hoping to pick up her first Tony for her starring role in a Broadway revival of a century-old Noel Coward play.
Ukraine (LONDON)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukraine will not "silently die" and could maintain its recent surge of attacks deep into Russia if the war continues as he arrived in London for talks.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed Zelenskiy and the leaders of Germany and France to Downing Street on Sunday to discuss European support for Ukraine and stepping up efforts to bring an end to the war.
"The main focus is our defence in the war, greater co-operation for the security of all of Europe in the area of air defence, and our shared view of diplomatic prospects," Zelenskiy wrote on X when he arrived in the United Kingdom.
"Europe must be part of the negotiations and must be strong."
Federal (CANBERRA)
Support for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has slumped while One Nation has edged ahead of Labor as the country's most popular political party in a Newspoll.
The survey showed a four-point rise in One Nation's primary vote to 31 per cent while Labor dipped one point to 30 per cent and the coalition gave up two points to 18 per cent.
The Newspoll, published in The Australian, also registered a one-point decline for the Greens to 11 per cent.
The survey sampled 1240 voters and was conducted between Monday and Thursday last week.
It echoes the results of a Redbridge Group/Accent Research poll published a week ago that had One Nation on 31 per cent support, Labor on 28 per cent and the coalition on 20 per cent.
Honours (CANBERRA)
More than 900 Australians are being lauded after receiving honours on the King's Birthday list for services praised as shaping the nation.
Former Tasmanian premier Will Hodgman, gender equality advocate Natasha Stott Despoja and philanthropist Janet Calvert-Jones are among those appointed Companions of the Order of Australia (AC), which is the nation's highest civilian honour.
All up, 34 Australians received honours through the military division, 149 received meritorious citations and 63 conspicuous accolades, with a further 702 recognised in the general division.
Soldiers will perform 21-gun salutes in both Sydney and Melbourne for the King's Birthday public holiday on Monday, where one blank howitzer round will be fired every 10 seconds until all 21 have been expended.
Late doctor and former Victorian Liberal MP Katie Allen was appointed an Officer of the Order, credited with changing how pediatric food allergy is treated after authoring more than 400 publications in leading medical journals. She died in December at the age of 59 after developing a rare form of cancer.
Iran (BEIRUT)
Israeli forces have struck the outskirts of Beirut for the first time since the United States announced a truce plan for Lebanon last week as an Iranian MP threatened to retaliate, putting talks to end the wider war into new jeopardy.
Iran has long said any peace deal with the US would depend on a ceasefire also holding in Lebanon, which Israel invaded in March in pursuit of Iran-aligned Hezbollah fighters who fired across the border.
There was no immediate formal response from Iran to Sunday's Israeli strikes on the southern outskirts of Beirut but influential Iranian MP Ebrahim Rezaei posted on X that Iran would deliver a "decisive and painful response".
"Look at the sky of the occupied territories tonight," wrote Rezaei, who serves as the spokesman for parliament's national security committee.
Obit Scolyer (SYDNEY)
Scientist Richard Scolyer has died following a lengthy public battle with brain cancer, saying in a statement that he would like to be remembered as "a proud everyday Aussie who 'gave it a crack',".
The renowned melanoma pathologist and father of three, who died aged 59 on Sunday, helped save thousands of people's lives during his career through groundbreaking skin cancer research.
Along with Professor Georgina Long, he took the disease from being a death sentence to largely curable through treatment that activates a patient's own immune system, bringing hope and healing to many.
Born in Tasmania, Professor Scolyer was diagnosed with an incurable and aggressive stage four brain cancer named glioblastoma in June 2023, aged 56, and given just six to eight months to live.
Mideast (CAIRO)
An Israeli air strike on a Hamas-led police station in the Gaza Strip has killed five Palestinians and wounded at least 16 others, health officials say, as mediators begin new efforts to salvage a fragile US-brokered ceasefire deal.
Medics did not say how many of the casualties were police.
The strike on Sunday hit a police post adjacent to a large tent encampment of displaced families in Khan Younis in the south of the enclave.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.
Israel has stepped up attacks against police headquarters and personnel in the past several months, killing dozens of them, according to Hamas security officials.
Major fighting has been paused since October under a ceasefire after two years of war, but no agreement has been reached to implement a further US-backed plan for Israeli troops to withdraw, Hamas to disarm and Gaza to be rebuilt.
In finance ...
Economy Preview (CANBERRA)
Central bankers in Australia will scrutinise consumer and business confidence figures amid a dearth of hard economic data this week.
Sentiment has plummeted amongst households and employers since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict in late February.
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer confidence survey, due to be released on Tuesday, will give a sense of how much global uncertainty and the federal budget continue to weigh on spending decisions and inflation expectations.
Also on Tuesday, NAB's business sentiment survey will provide a read on the extent to which businesses are passing on cost pressures.
Financial markets are fully priced in for the Reserve Bank to hold the cash rate at 4.35 per cent at its June meeting, but one more rate hike is still expected by the end of the year.
Boresight (SYDNEY)
Another drone company is about to join market leader Droneshield on the local bourse as unmanned aerial vehicles transform modern warfare.
But the Canberra-based company Boresight is a bit different to its Aussie-listed counterparts.
Spun out of privately held Canberra-based defence technology company Criterion Solutions in 2020, Boresight specialises in making cheap drones for target practice.
"We were conceived to cater to the counter-drone market, particularly the people who were shooting drones down," Boresight chief executive Justin Olde told AAP.
"They needed a cost-effective way of shooting down drones, but something that was a good testing and training tool as well."
ASX-listed defence contractor Electro Optic Systems became particularly adept at shooting down drones.
But it was expensive to buy $2500 drones from JB Hi-Fi purely to destroy them, Mr Olde said.
In entertainment ...
Tonys (NEW YORK CITY)
The Tony Awards are capping a record Broadway season, with no clear frontrunner among the leading nominees and a mix of star-driven shows and new works signalling sustained momentum for the New York theatre industry.
Pop singer Pink will host the televised ceremony at Radio City Music Hall in New York on Sunday from 8pm local time (10am Monday Sydney time).
New musicals The Lost Boys and Schmigadoon! lead all nominees with 12 nods each, followed by the revival Ragtime with 11, with 24 shows vying for wins across 26 categories.
Alongside leading contenders The Lost Boys and Schmigadoon!, Titaníque and Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) have built strong followings, making the best musical category one of the most competitive in recent memory.
Honours Arts (MELBOURNE)
If King Charles ever needed a birthday cake, Marian Jones would be the person to decorate it.
The 86-year-old, who received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division in the King's Birthday Honours for services to decorative food arts, began learning the fine art of cake decorating at the age of 11.
"I can't believe it. I've worked all my life for cake decorating and sugar art, to get a medal for it is amazing," she told AAP from her home in Sydney's south.
Jones has authored five books on the subject, taught generations of cake artists, judged countless cake competitions, and even founded a cake and sugar art museum.
She also organised the Australian Women's Weekly bicentenary cake competition in 1988 - and won a medal.
In sport ...
RL Origin Qld (BRISBANE)
New Queensland forward Kulikefu Finefeuiaki has been rewarded for punching out incredible numbers for the Dolphins this season as he prepares to make his State of Origin debut in Melbourne.
The 22-year-old second-rower, who was 20th man in game one, has been listed at No.16 for the June 17 showdown at the MCG on a new-look bench which also includes recalled Brisbane fullback Reece Walsh and North Queensland outside back Murray Taulagi.
Finefeuiaki replaces injured Pat Carrigan from the 22-20 loss in game one of the series in Sydney. Walsh has been included in place of Broncos teammate Ezra Mam, who has been dropped, while Taulagi replaces injured Broncos centre Gehamat Shibasaki..
Mam and Shibasaki did not get on the field in Sydney and there is a chance Walsh and Taulagi won't either unless there is an injury in the starting backline.
Ath Diamond (LONDON)
Kurtis Marschall has pulled off one of the boilovers of the sporting year as the Australian beat the seemingly unbeatable pole vault king Armand 'Mondo' Duplantis in front of his home fans in the Stockholm Diamond League meeting.
And though the world's top athlete wasn't at all happy his 40-event unbeaten run was ended after nearly three years, especially with his adoring Swedish public cheering him on, he reckoned he was glad it was his Adelaide mate and occasional training partner who was the one to achieve it on Sunday.
"I did not mean to spoil the show but I am so delighted with the win. It has taken a long while to get my first Diamond League victory and I really thought it would never come with Mondo here," smiled the incredulous 29-year-old double Commonwealth champ Marschall.
Ends Bulletin
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