AAP Rolling News Bulletin for May 23 at 0300
Ebola (GENEVA)
The World Health Organisation has raised the risk of the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola turning into an outbreak across the Democratic Republic of Congo to "very high".
The strain, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment, was declared an emergency of international concern by the WHO on Sunday.
"We are now revising our risk assessment to very high at the national level, high at the regional level and low at global level," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.
So far, 82 cases have been confirmed in DR Congo, with seven confirmed deaths, 177 suspected deaths and almost 750 suspected cases.
The situation in Uganda is stable, with two cases confirmed in people who travelled from the DR Congo - one of them fatal, Tedros said.
Ukraine (MOSCOW)
Russian officials say at least six people have been killed and 39 children wounded in an overnight Ukrainian drone attack on a student dormitory in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said another 15 people were reported missing and accused Ukrainian forces of deliberately hitting the site.
Reuters was not able to verify what happened independently and there was no comment on Friday from Ukraine, which wants to recapture Luhansk, one of four eastern regions that the Kremlin unilaterally claimed as its own in 2022 in what Ukraine denounced as an illegal land grab.
Both sides deny deliberately targeting civilians.
Putin characterised the incident as a terrorist attack, accusing Ukraine of intentionally targeting civilians.
Yana Lantratova, Russia's human rights commissioner, said that 86 teenagers aged 14 to 18 had been asleep inside the hostel belonging to Luhansk Pedagogical University's Starobilsk college when Ukrainian drones attacked it during the night.
NATO (HELSINGBORG)
US President Donald Trump has surprised NATO allies by pledging to send an additional 5000 troops to Poland, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio has cautioned alliance ministers that Washington's frustration with some of them will still need to be discussed.
"The president's views of, frankly, disappointment at some of our NATO allies and their response to our operations in the Middle East are well documented," Rubio said on Friday at a gathering of NATO foreign ministers in the Swedish town of Helsingborg.
"That will have to be addressed. That won't be solved or addressed today. That's something for the leaders level to discuss," Rubio told reporters, adding that any alliance "has to be good for everyone who's involved".
It was his first meeting with NATO allies since the war on Iran sparked deep divisions inside the bloc, with Trump saying he was considering withdrawing from the alliance and questioning whether Washington was bound to honour its mutual defence pact.
Ebola (RWAMPARA)
Protesters have set fire to tents for Ebola patients after Congolese authorities refused to give them the dead body of a victim they wanted to bury themselves, a beloved local footballer suspected to have died in the ongoing outbreak, witnesses say.
Police fired warning shots and tear gas to defuse the incident in Ituri province, which highlighted the struggle that authorities in the Democratic Republic of Congo could face to enforce the safe burials of people with confirmed and suspected cases that are required to help contain the outbreak.
It took place in the town of Rwampara, which has been hit hard by the latest Ebola outbreak caused by the Bundibugyo strain of Ebola, for which there is no approved vaccine or treatment.
Iran (DUBAI)
The United States and Iran have stuck to directly opposing stances over the Middle East country's uranium stockpile and controls on the Strait of Hormuz, although Secretary of State Marco Rubio says there have been "some good signs" in talks.
Speaking before departing for a NATO meeting, Rubio said there were "some good signs" in Pakistan-mediated negotiations. However, he added that he did not want to be "overly optimistic."
Rubio also repeated the US assessment that Iran's leadership system was "itself is a little fractured" and stressed that US President Donald Trump preferred a negotiated settlement.
"But if we can't get a good deal, the president's been clear, he has other options," Rubio said.
A senior Iranian source told Reuters while no deal has been reached, the gaps have narrowed.
Legal: Chong (MELBOURNE)
A man has been found guilty of keeping a vulnerable woman as a slave and assaulting her.
Chee Kit "Max" Chong, 47, faced a Melbourne County Court trial accused of intentionally possessing a slave and three counts of assault
He pleaded not guilty and a jury was empanelled in the trial which began at the end of March.
The jury was told the 61-year-old Malaysian woman, who cannot be legally identified, escaped from Chong's Melbourne home in October 2022.
She died in 2024, however her recorded interview with police in 2022 was played to the jury.
The woman was found with bruises and injuries to her leg and ears, which prosecutors said had been caused by assaults on her committed by Chong.
Paton (SYDNEY)
An Australian police officer who fell to his death while hiking to Peru's famed Machu Picchu is being remembered as a dedicated family man with a passion for travel.
The body of Victorian Sergeant Matt Paton was recovered by Peruvian rescuers on Thursday local time in an abyss about 300 metres from a trail leading to Machu Picchu.
Sgt Paton fell from the Inca Trail on Wednesday afternoon while with a guided group headed to the ancient Inca citadel, one of the South American nation's most visited sites.
The 52-year-old's relatives said they were "shattered by this loss".
""It seems surreal at the moment - everyone is bereft," the family said in a statement on Friday.
"Family was the most important thing to Matt. He was dedicated to his family including his wife of 31 years and their three children. He adored his family. And we adored him."
Guzman (SYDNEY)
A popular Mexican-themed fast food chain has become the latest Australian company whose dreams of cracking the vast American market have ended in failure.
Guzman y Gomez is closing eight restaurants in the Chicago suburbs, two years after it raised $335.1 million in a highly touted stock exchange float to fund its global expansion plans.
GYG co-founder and co-chief executive Steven Marks, who just spent three months in the US, came to realise the move into the highly competitive market - where Taco Bell and Chipotle rule - wasn't working out.
"Decisions like today are never easy, but they are the decisions that build generational companies," Mr Marks told an online briefing on Friday.
The company's US food and guest experiences were superior to Chipotle and second to none, Mr Marks claimed, but it had also made mistakes.
In finance ...
Markets Aust (SYDNEY)
Australia's share market continues to recover on optimism about a potential peace deal between the United States and Iran, despite division remaining on key issues.
The S&P/ASX200 rose 41.4 points by midday on Friday, to be up 0.48 per cent to 8,663.1, as the broader All Ordinaries lifted by 45.2 points, or 0.51 per cent, to 8,886.
"Iran suggested that the latest US proposal 'has narrowed the gaps to some extent' between the two sides," Westpac economist Mantas Vanagas said.
"However, the two countries still appear to be drifting further apart on the two central issues - Iran's nuclear ambitions and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz."
ASX-listed miners were doing some heavy lifting heading into the weekend, with materials up 1.4 per cent with strong leads from BHP and Rio Tinto.
Markets (NEW YORK CITY)
Wall Street's main indices have risen, with the blue-chip Dow hitting a record high for the first time since the Iran war began as investors tracked progress in talks to end the nearly three-month-old conflict ahead of the long weekend.
Iran's foreign minister met the interior minister of Pakistan to discuss proposals to end the conflict, media reports said, with Iran and the United States still at odds over Iran's uranium stockpile and control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Global stocks have whipsawed since the conflict began in late February but hopes of an eventual resolution to the war, optimism in the AI trade and resilient earnings growth have propelled US stocks to record highs this month.
"While key differences between the US and Iran still need to be resolved to end the war, the continuation of peace talks remains a supportive factor for investors," said Peter Cardillo, chief market economist at Spartan Capital Securities.
In entertainment ...
Legal: Gillham (MELBOURNE)
The former managing director of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has been accused of lying to the organisation's board about cancelling a concert by pianist Jayson Gillham.
The British-Australian performer dedicated a composition at a 2024 MSO performance to journalists killed in Gaza, saying they had been deliberately targeted by Israel, and the orchestra responded by cancelling his next concert.
The pianist is suing the orchestra for unfair dismissal in the Federal Court.
Former managing director Sophie Galaise was accused of lying when she told the organisation's board that Gillham had withdrawn from the upcoming concert, knowing it had actually been cancelled.
"Like any human you use words, and for me this was probably interchangeable," she said, under cross-examination by Gillham's barrister Sheryn Omeri KC.
Colbert (NEW YORK CITY)
Stephen Colbert opened the final episode of his long-running reign on The Late Show with a tribute to viewers, calling the program a "joy machine" after 11 years on air.
In a star-studded farewell from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City on Thursday night, the 62-year-old was joined by the likes of Sir Paul McCartney and Paul Rudd.
Colbert said his role on the CBS talk show was not only to recap the news, but to "feel the news" alongside them.
"We call (the show) the joy machine, because to do this many shows, it has to be a machine. But the thing is, if you choose to do it with joy, it doesn't hurt as much when your fingers get caught in the gears," he said.
In sport ...
Super Waratahs (SYDNEY)
The ACT Brumbies have secured a Super Rugby Pacific finals spot and placed the NSW Waratahs' season on life support with a clinical 21-14 derby win in Sydney.
The Brumbies punished the Waratahs for their lack of execution, with 37-year-old lock Cadeyrn Neville proving an unlikely hero in Friday night's tense victory at Allianz Stadium.
While Australia's benchmark Brumbies also kept alive their hopes of a crucial top-four finish, another frustrating home defeat for the Waratahs left Dan McKellar's erratic outfit needing a miracle to make the playoffs.
The Tahs must beat the Western Force in Perth next Saturday and pray the sixth-placed Queensland Reds lose their remaining two regular-season games - against Moana Pasifika in Auckland and Fijian Drua in Brisbane - to scrape into the playoffs.
Soc ALM Grand (AUCKLAND)
An A-League Men grand final against his former side can only be described by Auckland FC coach Steve Corica as weird.
Corica's nearly two-decade history with Sydney FC weighs on his mind ahead of Saturday's sold-out grand final at Go Media Stadium in New Zealand.
Auckland are out to become the first Kiwi team to claim an ALM grand final, while the Sky Blues are eyeing a record-extending sixth championship.
Corica had guided Sydney FC to their two most recent grand-final wins in 2019 and 2020, and was also at the helm in the 2021 loss to then-coach Patrick Kisnorbo's Melbourne City.
But the Auckland coach's past with the competition's most successful club goes deeper.
Corica has been associated with the club since its inception in 2005, when he also scored the winning goal in that season's grand final win over Central Coast Mariners.
Ends Bulletin
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