AAP Rolling News Bulletin for May 24 at 1130
Federal (CANBERRA)
Australia's major political parties face a "huge amount of grievance" as a leading Liberal figure concedes his party's decade of flawed policies has helped fuel the rise of One Nation.
Polling from RedBridge Group and Accent Research shows Pauline Hanson's One Nation could win up to 59 lower house seats if a federal election were held today.
The result would leave Senator Hanson's anti-immigration party as the official opposition, reducing the coalition to a handful of seats and forcing Labor into minority government.
But RedBridge analyst Alex Fein said people should reject the "reflexive interpretation" the poll - backed up by others showing a surge of support for One Nation - was lurching towards the far right.
Rather, many people were experiencing deteriorating living standards and public services, while trust in institutions such as government, media and businesses had collapsed.
US Shots (WASHINGTON, D. C.)
FBI Director Kash Patel says law enforcement authorities are responding to shots that were fired near the White House grounds.
Journalists working there on Saturday evening reported hearing a series of gunshots and were told to seek shelter inside the press briefing room, where US Secret Service officers prevented them from leaving.
Patel posted on X the FBI was is "on the scene and supporting Secret Service responding to shots fired near White House grounds".
There were no immediate reports of any injuries. The Secret Service and the Metropolitan Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for information.
Patel said officers were responding to shots fired and said he would "update the public as we're able".
President Donald Trump was inside the White House at the time.
Violence (BRISBANE)
Queensland police have shot dead an alleged domestic violence perpetrator who was armed with a firearm at a home north of Brisbane.
After midnight on Sunday morning, officers responded to an alleged domestic violence incident at a house in Narangba following reports that a man was armed and making threats.
The man made threats towards the police while holding the weapon and an officer shot at him.
Officers immediately conducted first aid and resuscitation, but the man died at the scene.
No-one else was injured in the incident.
The Police Ethical Standards Command, with oversight from the Crime and Corruption Commission, will investigate the incident
Investigations are ongoing.
Iran (ISLAMABAD)
The United States and Iran are close to agreeing on a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the war, officials say, as America weighs a new round of attacks on the Islamic Republic.
Iran signalled "narrowing differences" in negotiations with the US after Pakistan's army chief held more talks in Tehran.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told journalists in India that "there's been some progress made" and "there may be news later today".
The officials and a diplomat expressed hope that a final decision on the Pakistan-prepared draft could come within 48 hours as both sides review it. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief the media.
They said Vice President JD Vance and envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner played significant roles in helping bridge remaining gaps, and that Qatar played a key role by sending a senior official to Tehran to support Pakistan's mediation efforts.
Ebola (BUNIA, CONGO)
A tent used for treatment of the Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo has been set on fire for the second time this week and 18 people suspected of infection escaped, a local hospital director says.
Unidentified people arrived at the clinic in Mongbwalu, a town at the centre of the outbreak of the Bundibugyo virus, a rare type of Ebola, on Friday night.
They set fire to a tent set up by the Doctors Without Borders charity for suspected and confirmed Ebola cases, Dr Richard Lokudi, director of the Mongbwalu General Reference Hospital, told The Associated Press.
"We strongly condemn this act, as it caused panic among the staff of the Mongbwalu Referral Hospital and also resulted in the escape of 18 suspected cases into the community," he said.
Ukraine (MOSCOW)
The death toll from a drone strike on a student dorm in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine has risen to 16, with most of the victims young women, Russian officials say, after a heated UN debate on the incident.
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his military to prepare options for retaliation against Ukraine on Friday after Moscow accused Kyiv of what it described as a deliberate drone strike on a college in the town of Starobilsk.
Ukraine's military denied responsibility for the attack, saying it had struck an elite drone command unit in the area and that its forces complied with international humanitarian law.
Putin said there were no military facilities in the area. Reuters was not able to independently verify what happened.
Mideast (PARIS)
France has banned Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, citing his "unspeakable" behaviour targeting activists from a flotilla to Gaza who were detained by his police force.
French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot called on the European Union to sanction Ben-Gvir.
"As of today, Itamar Ben-Gvir is banned from entering French territory. This decision follows his unspeakable actions toward French and European citizens who were passengers on the Global Sumud Flotilla," Barrot announced in a post on X.
"We cannot tolerate that French nationals can be threatened, intimidated or brutalised in this way — all the more so by a public official."
The Associated Press has sought comment from Ben-Gvir's spokesperson and the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
This week, Ben-Gvir sparked global outrage after promoting a video of himself taunting detained flotilla activists.
Ukraine (KYIV)
A Ukrainian drone attack caused a fire at another Russian oil terminal, officials in Russia's Krasnodar region say, in what appeared to be the latest attack on Moscow's vital oil industry.
Authorities in the city of Novorossiysk said falling drone debris sparked a fire at an oil terminal, injuring two people, without naming the facility.
Russia's Astra news outlet said Ukrainian drones struck the Sheskharis oil terminal and depot, the terminus for Russian state-controlled pipeline company Transneft's main oil pipelines in the region.
Images posted by Astra appeared to show smoke rising above the oil terminal, but they could not be verified.
Ukraine did not immediately comment on the attack.
Ukraine has expanded its mid- and long-range strike capabilities, deploying drone and missile technology that it has developed domestically to battle Russia's four-year-old invasion.
In entertainment ...
Presley (LONDON)
US singer-songwriter and guitarist Paul Simon thinks Elvis Presley wasted his "great talent" after 1957.
The 84-year-old music great was a huge fan of Presley during his younger years, but believes the king of rock and roll squandered his talent after 1957, when he started making teen-focused pop songs, like many other artists of that era.
"My early favourites were Elvis. Then came Elvis Presley, Little Richard, Fats Domino, Chuck Berry, the Everly Brothers," the 16-time Grammy winner told Alchemy with Anthony Mason.
"Those were the people I really loved."
Simon said the period between 1954 and 1957 had the biggest influence on his sound.
"When I first started to listen … as I look back and I do look back, for me the big years that influenced the sound that I still go for occasionally, it's like '54 to '57," he said.
Hardy (LONDON)
Tom Hardy has reportedly been axed from MobLand.
The actor will not appear in the proposed third series following "clashes with producers" while creating the second season of the Paramount+ crime drama, in which he plays fixer Harry Da Souza, according to a report.
Matthew Belloni, the former editorial director of The Hollywood Reporter, wrote in his Puck newsletter: "I'm told Paramount recently opted not to pick up Hardy for season three after his clashes with producers Jez Butterworth and David Glasser, among others, during the recent production of season two."
The entertainment journalist also claimed: "Hardy was apparently late to set a bunch, constantly asked to give notes on scripts, attempted to change dialogue, and expressed his displeasure that a series initially built around him was increasingly becoming an ensemble showcase for Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan and other co-stars."
In sport ...
Mot F1 (LONDON)
Oscar Piastri has lost more ground in the championship race after finishing fourth in the Canadian Grand Prix sprint - but McLaren could take heart from an extraordinary bust-up between Mercedes' pacesetting drivers as George Russell celebrated victory.
The gloves really looked to be off at the German team in Montreal on Saturday after young championship leader Kimi Antonelli ended up raging about what he called a "naughty" move from Russell which he felt had shoved him off the track.
The furious teenager, who went off the track twice while battling for the lead with Russell, even demanded his teammate get a penalty, and ended up being scolded by team principal Toto Wolff to "stop the radio moaning".
Ultimately, though, Russell took the victory and the eight points to Antonelli's six, which reduces the third-placed Italian's championship lead to 18 points,
Soc ALM Grand (AUCKLAND)
Auckland FC have claimed a historic A-League Men championship title with a 1-0 grand final win over Sydney FC.
New Zealand international and club inaugural signing Cam Howieson was the hero at a sold-out Go Media Stadium, firing the match-winner in the 60th minute.
Auckland became the first New Zealand team to win an ALM grand final, doing so in front of a raucous 28,374-strong crowd on home soil on Saturday.
A Sydney FC great, Auckland coach Steve Corica claimed his third championship after leading the Sky Blues to back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2020.
Corica is the first coach in the ALM era to win three grand finals, with Ange Postecoglou winning two National Soccer League championships and two in the modern league.
Ends Bulletin
Rolling News Desk inquiries : 02 9322 8611
