AAP Rolling News Bulletin for May 21 at 2230
Mideast (JERUSALEM)
Gaza flotilla activists who were detained by Israel and later pinned to the ground to the taunts of Israel's far-right police minister have been released from prison and will be deported to Turkey.
The activists, including 11 Australians, were arrested at a port in southern Israel after the Israeli navy intercepted their protest flotilla in international waters.
Their treatment by police officers under Itamar Ben-Gvir's direction drew an international outcry and a rebuke from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Ben-Gvir and at least one other minister in Netanyahu's government, transport chief Miri Regev, posted campaign-style videos of themselves visiting the port and lambasting the protesters, attention-grabbing antics before potential early elections in Israel.
Flotilla organisers say they aim to break Israel's blockade of Gaza by delivering humanitarian assistance, something aid bodies say is still in short supply despite a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in place since October 2025 that includes guarantees of increased aid.
Ukraine (KYIV)
Ukrainian drones have smashed into another Russian refinery, starting a fire that produced huge clouds of black smoke, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says, in what appears to be the latest long-range attack on Moscow's vital oil industry.
The drones targeted the Syzran oil refinery, more than 800km inside Russia, Zelenskiy said on social media, where he posted a video of the aftermath.
The governor of Russia's Samara region, Vyacheslav Fedorishchev, said two people were killed by Ukrainian drones in Syzran but he did not mention the refinery.
Russia's Astra news outlet said Ukrainian drones struck the Syzran refinery owned by oil and gas giant Rosneft.
Ukraine has expanded its mid- and long-range strike capabilities, deploying eye-catching drone and missile technology that it has developed domestically as it battles to defeat Russia's four-year-old invasion.
UK Andrew (LONDON)
Documents show Queen Elizabeth II was "very keen" that the former Prince Andrew be given the job of UK trade envoy.
The UK government on Thursday released the confidential papers related to Andrew's appointment, just months after MPs accused the King's brother of putting his friendship with Jeffrey Epstein ahead of the nation.
"The Queen is very keen that the Duke of York should take on a prominent role in the promotion of national interests," the head of Britain's trade body wrote in a letter.
Another document, a government memo sent to UK trade staff around the world, said "HRH's high public profile" would require "careful and sometimes strict media management", in a reference to Andrew.
The involvement of the late queen will confirm previously held beliefs that the monarch held a soft spot for her son - an empathy that might have influenced her lack of decisiveness in dealing with allegations of Andrew's connection to Epstein.
Legal: Plane Boy (MELBOURNE)
A teen accused of trying to hijack a commercial plane ate Hungry Jacks, drew up a bomb plan and noted down a reminder to check his weapons before sneaking onto the aircraft.
The fresh allegations came in court documents released by a children's court on Thursday, a day after the now-19-year-old opposed an application to have his case heard in a higher court.
It's alleged the teen, dressed in high-vis clothing and carrying a tool box, sneaked his way onto the Jetstar flight at Avalon Airport in Melbourne's southwest shortly before 3pm on March 6, 2025.
The teen, who appeared sweaty and clammy, told cabin crew staff he had bombs in his bags and he needed to go into the cockpit, the documents said.
Budget (CANBERRA)
Former prime minister Paul Keating is facing criticism from female business founders, who claim his support for a controversial tax overhaul is "dismissive and out of touch".
The federal government is coming under sustained pressure from startups and small businesses over its decision to remove the 50 per cent discount on capital gains tax and replace it with an inflation-adjusted scheme.
Mr Keating, who introduced capital gains tax as treasurer, said the campaign against the changes amounted to "howls for continuing preference".
"A couple of smarties, John Howard and Peter Costello, thought they could do their used-car selling and dodgy accounting mates a favour by jacking a 50 per cent discount onto the taxation of capital profits," the Labor elder statesman said in a statement.
BudgetTas (HOBART)
Tasmania's moment of budget reckoning has arrived as the state government unveils across-the-board cuts to tackle mounting debt.
On Thursday, Treasurer Eric Abetz revealed the state will post a $597 million deficit in the coming financial year off the back of $216 million of cuts.
No department is spared, including health - the state's biggest line item - where $131 million worth of savings have been found 2026/27 alone.
The government argues this is offset by an uplift from Canberra, but the raw figures show shrunken appropriations to hospitals, emergency departments and mental health services.
The bureaucracy will also be targeted with 1700 job losses planned across the government through attrition and voluntary redundancies.
There has been no guarantee to spare frontline services from cuts.
AACO (SYDNEY)
Strong demand for Australian beef in the US, Asia and at home has helped the nation's largest cattle and beef producer to record earnings, despite herd losses because of flooding.
Australian Agriculture Co turned a $71.6 million operating profit, up 23 per cent, in fiscal 2026, marking its best annual result since the metric was introduced in 2016.
AACo's bottom-line result came in at $107.3 million, a sharp turnaround from a $1.1 million loss in 2025, as its herd value rose despite the loss of 7000 cattle during the north Queensland floods of late 2025 and early 2026.
Revenue grew nine per cent to $422.1 million, as beef sales rose seven per cent to $314.4 million and cattle sales jumped 15 per cent to $107.7 million.
Legal: Stevens (MELBOURNE)
A couple's marriage disintegrated after an empty hole was left in their backyard by a former AFL player-turned-fraudster.
Ex-Carlton and Port Adelaide footballer Nick Stevens, 46, faced a pre-sentence hearing at Melbourne's County Court on Thursday where his victims aired the impact of his crimes.
A jury found him found guilty of 12 charges of obtaining a financial advantage by deception and one of using a false document, for stealing about $157,000 from six regional families with his pool business in 2017.
While he installed six legally compliant pools under the supervision of a registered builder, Stevens went out on his own without the required licence, registration, permits or insurance.
Stevens had taken money from the families, but left them with non-compliant pools or failed to install a pool at all with giant holes left behind.
In finance ...
Economy (CANBERRA)
Australia's unemployment rate has jumped to 4.5 per cent, surprising economists and adding to the case for the Reserve Bank to keep interest rates on hold.
About 19,000 jobs dropped out of the economy in April, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday.
Economists had expected the unemployment rate to hold at 4.3 per cent and an extra 15,000 jobs added to the economy in the month.
The number of unemployed people rose by 33,000, ABS head of labour statistics Sean Crick said.
"Compared to what we usually see in April, more people remained unemployed this month," he said
Ahead of the release, IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said a resilient result in line with expectations would support the case for more Reserve Bank rate hikes, while an uptick in unemployment would see the rates market dial back expectations.
Housing (CANBERRA)
The budget's tax whack on property investors will accelerate a housing slowdown caused by interest rate hikes, potentially causing the biggest downturn in more than 40 years.
Home price growth was already slowing nationwide, with outright falls in Sydney and Melbourne, following three straight Reserve Bank rate rises.
But the changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions in the federal budget could cause housing prices to fall by up to 10 per cent, Morgan Stanley analysts said in a research note on Thursday.
By lowering expected returns and constraining borrowing capacity for prospective landlords, the budget fundamentally altered the mathematics for new investors in established housing, who make up a third of marginal demand, they wrote.
Even though the fall in investor demand will be partly offset by growth in owner-occupier activity, Morgan Stanley sees a five to 10 per cent drop in national prices as likely, "taking into account the soft starting point for housing with RBA rate hikes".
In entertainment ...
Willis (LONDON)
Rumer Willis says her father Bruce Willis has developed a "sweetness" amid his battle with dementia.
The Die Hard actor was diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia in 2023 following an earlier aphasia diagnosis in 2022.
And his eldest daughter with ex-wife Demi Moore has seen her father go from the "macho" man seen in Hollywood to a much gentler person.
Speaking on The Inside Edit podcast, she said: "I'm so grateful I get to go see him.
"Even though it's different now, I'm so grateful."
Rumer said: "There's a sweetness. He's always been this kind of macho dude and there's like a - fragile is not the right word but - just a tenderness that maybe being Bruce Willis might not have allowed him in a certain way."
Vinyl (MELBOURNE)
Music lovers can drop the needle on a new exhibition that celebrates the rich culture of vinyl records.
The Vinyl Factory: Reverb opens at ACMI, Australia's museum of screen culture, in Melbourne on Friday in an early taste of the city's annual RISING arts festival.
The show was originally staged at London's 180 Studios in 2024, with films and installations exploring the influence of vinyl on art, fashion and society.
Music firm The Vinyl Factory acquired the EMI Records facility about 25 years ago and now runs the only large-scale record pressing plant in the UK.
Its vinyl is created on the original machines that first pressed albums by The Beatles, Pink Floyd and the Sex Pistols.
The label has so far released about 500 records by musicians such as Daft Punk, Massive Attack, Pet Shop Boys and Thom Yorke.
In sport ...
Ath Oceania (DARWIN)
Aidan Murphy is refusing to put a ceiling on what he and his red-hot Australian sprint teammates can achieve in 2026 and beyond after completing a rare 200m-400m double at the Oceania championships in Darwin.
Murphy, 22, powered to victory in the 200m final on Friday in 20.05 seconds - his second-fastest ever time for the half-lap race.
It came only two days after he gave the 38-year-old Australian record an almighty scare in the 400m final.
"We're always going to be under a lot of pressure here in Australia, but I just want to show now that we can perform under pressure," said Murphy.
"We're only at the start of a really long road to (200m) international dominance. I think we can seriously make some finals.
RL Origin NSW (CENTRAL COAST, NSW)
Nathan Cleary says it's a matter of opinion whether he has truly "owned" the State of Origin arena, after shaking off personal selection doubts to earn the nod for NSW again.
There were times after last year's game-three decider that even the NRL's best player thought he might be left out of Laurie Daley's team sheet for Origin I of 2026.
For the third time in his career, Cleary in 2025 had been the halfback tasked with leading the Blues in a game-three decider.
And for the third time, the Penrith co-captain came up short.
Cleary has played in three series wins and won player of the match twice among 17 appearances for the Blues.
But his record in game-three deciders has led to long-standing media commentary that he has yet to "own" the Origin arena the way he has dominated the NRL since Penrith's resurgence in 2020.
Ends Bulletin
Rolling News Desk inquiries : 02 9322 8611
