AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 13 at 1330
Shark (SYDNEY)
A woman is fighting for life following a shark attack at one of Australia's busiest beaches.
Emergency services were called to Coogee Beach shortly after 11am on Saturday, following reports a swimmer had been bitten by a shark.
Bystanders pulled her from the water and commenced first aid before emergency services arrived.
Police rendered first aid to the woman, believed to be aged in her 30s, who had suffered serious arm and leg injuries.
Ambulance paramedics then continued her treatment before police cleared nearby Coogee Oval to facilitate the landing of the Careflight helicopter.
The woman was airlifted to hospital.
Nearby beaches including Coogee, Clovelly and Bronte have been closed.
Ebola (NAIROBI)
The United Nations refugee agency has confirmed the first Ebola-related deaths in a displacement camp in eastern Congo, as aid workers warn of a high risk the disease could spread rapidly in overcrowded sites.
The two victims were internally displaced people living in the Kpangba camp, which hosts 30,000 internally displaced people, the UNHCR said on Thursday.
As of Friday, Congo had reported 689 confirmed cases and 136 deaths in an outbreak that has also spread to neighbouring Uganda, which has reported 19 cases.
The virus has spread across three provinces since the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on May 17.
The affected provinces - Ituri, South Kivu and North Kivu - have been devastated by decades of conflict and are home to more than five million displaced people.
Ukraine (KYIV)
Ukraine will hike military wages and seek to recruit more fighters abroad, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says as the army faces a manpower shortage after four years of war with Russia.
Zelenskiy's government said in May it would study possible measures to boost military personnel numbers after talks on how to end the war with Russia stalled.
"We agreed on how to increase the financial resilience of our defence and further transformation of the Ukrainian army," Zelenskiy said in his daily address after meeting key cabinet ministers.
"The cabinet of ministers will approve a specific mechanism, and the government should start the first new payments as early as June," he added.
Ukraine has secured a 90 billion euro ($A148 billion) loan from the European Union, allowing the government to increase defence spending to a record 4.4 trillion hryvnias ($A138 billion) this year.
NDIS (MELBOURNE)
Autistic teenagers are caught in the middle of a buck-passing exercise between the federal government and states and territories over the future of disability support.
One of the most vulnerable and crucial periods for an autistic person is adolescence, as they navigate a world of changes and the transition to adulthood.
Eliza Tait, who was diagnosed with autism at 14, describes it as having to take on a full-time self-advocacy role.
"I really had that period of struggle," the now-18-year-old told AAP.
"Part of autism being that I really struggled with my emotional regulation."
For Eliza and many like her, the challenges can become too much, with the university student ultimately finding herself hospitalised with anorexia.
"When you hear the same story over and over, and when policy could stop that, it's really heartbreaking," she said.
Housing (CANBERRA)
Investors are prematurely offloading their properties before tax changes even hit the market, resulting in a listings boom but fewer rentals.
Rental listings across the country have shown large annual falls, with the steepest downturn so far in May.
All capital cities were part of the trend, with Hobart losing just 0.3 per cent of listing volume, but Darwin was down 2.1 per cent and Melbourne 1.7 per cent.
Sydney was hit hardest in the past year, down 1.5 per cent in May and 9.8 per cent annually, data from Neoval shows.
The figures suggested some of the nation's more vulnerable people were at risk of not finding affordable homes, Ray White chief economist Nerida Conisbee said.
"A home listed for sale does not help someone looking for a lease. Rental availability is what determines how much choice renters have," she said.
Fuel (CANBERRA)
Australian motorists are unlikely to get the benefits from any deal to end the Iran war because of the looming end of the fuel tax cut.
US President Donald Trump has been touting an imminent peace deal with Iran, although fighting in the Middle East has continued and officials in Tehran have been more circumspect.
Mr Trump's announcement that the agreement to end the war was "just about done" sent global oil prices plunging, but analysts said even if such a deal were reached, the impact on Australian petrol and diesel prices would be minimal.
While fuel prices spiked in the immediate aftermath of American and Israeli strikes on Iran, in most states and territories they are now lower than before the war, mainly because of a halving of the fuel excise.
SpaceX (NEW YORK CITY)
SpaceX has jumped more than 20 per cent in its Nasdaq debut as investors piled into the world's largest initial public offering and bet on Elon Musk's sprawling empire spanning rockets to AI.
The stock opened for trading at $US150, compared with the IPO price of $US135 per share.
It was last trading at $US164, lifting SpaceX's valuation to more than $US2 trillion ($A2.8 trillion) and making it the sixth largest US company by market value, behind only Nvidia, Apple, Google parent Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon.
The deal was being closely scrutinised because of the stakes for the IPO market, which some bankers said could face difficulties if SpaceX shares closed below Thursday's pricing level.
The company's market debut is widely viewed as a dress rehearsal for a new generation of mega-listings, with market participants watching for signals on investor appetite ahead of forthcoming IPOs for AI heavyweights Anthropic and OpenAI.
Iran (WASHINGTON, D. C.)
US President Donald Trump has rejected the suggestion the United States has made major concessions to Iran while a senior US official called an emerging pact "performance-based" with Iran getting no frozen assets until its part of the agreement is fulfilled.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said Iran's leaked comments on a deal with the United States do not represent what has been agreed to in writing.
"What they said, including their weak and pathetic statement on having a deal, bears no relation to the truth. Very dishonourable people to deal with. With them, there is no such thing as dealing in good faith. AMAZING!," he wrote on Truth Social.
Iran's version of the deal as outlined by the IRNA news agency said the United States will release part of Iran's frozen assets immediately after the deal is signed with the remainder freed gradually during further negotiations.
In finance ...
SpaceX (NEW YORK CITY)
SpaceX is set to begin trading on Nasdaq after investors poured $US75 billion ($A106 billion) into the world's biggest IPO ever, betting that Elon Musk's lofty space, communications and AI ambitions can justify a $US1.77 trillion valuation.
The landmark listing cemented Musk's status as the first trillionaire and propelled SpaceX into the ranks of the world's most valuable companies - even though the firm posted a loss of nearly $US5 billion in 2025 and generated only a fraction of the revenue brought in by similarly valued tech giants.
The stock's performance will be a test for the so-called "Musk premium", which has been the force behind Tesla's $US1 trillion-plus valuation.
It will also be closely watched for signals on investor appetite before IPOs for AI heavyweights Anthropic and OpenAI.
Paramount (WASHINGTON, D. C.)
The US Justice Department's Antitrust Division has cleared Paramount Skydance Corp's planned acquisition of Warner Bros Discovery, Politico reports, citing two people familiar with the matter.
The deal is worth $US110 billion ($A156 billion).
Justice officials determined the transaction did not pose a threat to competition, according to the sources.
Politico on Friday reported, citing one source, the department approved the merger without requiring any divestitures, behavioural remedies or concessions.
Spokespeople for Paramount and the DOJ spokesperson declined to comment.
The clearance gives Paramount another regulatory green light to point to as it seeks to ward off a potential challenge to the deal by California and other states.
In April, Paramount also asked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to approve foreign investments backing the acquisition. US senators have raised concerns about Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds and Chinese companies taking part.
In entertainment ...
Obit Hockney (LONDON)
Artist David Hockney, whose paintings of pools shimmering in the Los Angeles sunshine became icons of 20th-century art, has died at age 88.
Hockney was born in the north of England but lived much of his life in southern California, making its sun-drenched suburban views a major motif.
Later in life he returned to Europe, finding renewed inspiration in the wooded hills of his native county of Yorkshire and the fields and trees of France's Normandy region.
He became one of the UK's most treasured artists, his works selling for record prices at auction.
Historian Simon Schama said "the popularity and durability of David Hockney's art, through all his shape-shifts and restlessly inventive experiments, are really no mystery".
"His work is admired - loved is not too strong a word - by the millions who, worldwide, flock to see it because it presupposes an expectation of pleasure," Schama wrote in an essay accompanying a 2025 Hockney exhibition in Paris.
Obit Hockney Quotes (LONDON)
SADIQ KHAN
"A true icon and revolutionary of British art who never stopped reinventing his work," the mayor of London wrote on X.
"From his training at the Royal College of Art in the early 60s to blockbuster London retrospectives, David Hockney has inspired millions. His vivid paintings of our changing seasons helped me see the beauty and fragility of our natural world - and why it must be protected. I know his legacy will live on for centuries to come."
LISA NANDY
The UK's culture minister called Hockney "a true titan of British art".
"Born and educated in Bradford, his paintings have inspired people across the world ever since his first exhibition in 1963," she added on X. "His boundless creativity and restless spirit leave behind a powerful legacy."
In sport ...
RL Origin NSW (GOSFORD)
Casey McLean has been ruled out of the second State of Origin match after suffering a fresh leg injury at NSW training ahead of game two.
Uncapped code-hopper Mark Nawaqanitawase is a leading contender to come into the team for Wednesday's clash at the MCG.
The Blues are set to announce McLean's replacement imminently.
McLean went down in the warm-up on Saturday at Central Coast Stadium, where the Blues were holding their final session before flying to Melbourne later that day.
A handful of team staff attended to the Penrith left centre, who came into camp after suffering a minor ankle injury against Wests Tigers last Sunday.
But it is understood the 20-year-old went down with a separate quadriceps issue at training, taking no further part in drills.
Wc26 Aust (VANCOUVER)
The Socceroos believe they are capable of winning a World Cup knockout game and going further then they ever have before.
But first, they need to try to achieve something they haven't done since Kaiserslautern in 2006: win their opening game.
Friday marked 12 years since Tim Cahill's heroics steered Australia to a 3-1 comeback victory over Japan in their opening match.
Veteran Aziz Behich experienced losses in opening matches against France in both 2018 and 2022.
The defender is desperate for Australia to get off the mark quicker this time around Turkey at Vancouver's BC Place on Saturday (Sunday AEST).
"We've got no limits. We've set no bars - the bar's got to be high," Behich told AAP.
"Obviously, what we did in the last campaign, set the standard, but I think we have a squad now to surpass that. And why not?
Ends Bulletin
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