AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 16 at 0100
Iran (DUBAI)
US and Iranian officials have reached an agreement to end their war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, a preliminary pact that sent oil prices falling but leaves the fate of Tehran's nuclear program to further negotiations.
While still a framework, the deal marked the biggest breakthrough towards resolving the conflict that has killed thousands and upended energy markets since it began with joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February.
"The Deal with the Islamic Republic of Iran is now complete," US President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
His post came shortly after Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose country has served as a mediator, announced a deal had been struck early on Monday.
The memorandum of understanding is scheduled to be officially signed on Friday in Switzerland.
Social UK (LONDON)
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he will ban social media sites for the under-16s and impose restrictions on gaming and livestreaming platforms, in some of the most far-reaching online restrictions to date.
Starmer said he would introduce sweeping changes to social media regulation to better protect the wellbeing of children when they are online.
"It is clear to me a full ban is the right choice," he said, adding that while it would not be easy, the government had agency in pushing back against the power of big technology companies.
As well as a ban on sites such as TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram, the prime minister said he would take action against gaming and livestreaming services which allow children to talk to strangers.
Legal: AHMAD (MELBOURNE)
An accused "ISIS bride" rejects Islamic extremism and considers her time in Syria to have been 11 years of hell.
Zeinab Ahmad's lawyer made the assertions on her behalf on Monday as her application for bail entered its third day.
"My client does not support Islamic State," barrister Grace Morgan told Melbourne Magistrates Court.
"She rejects Islamic State. She has a deep anger towards it and to those men who enforced its ideals upon her."
Ahmad, 31, was charged with slavery offences in May after returning to Australia with other so-called "ISIS brides" and their children.
It's alleged Ahmad moved to Syria with her first husband Dawod in January 2015 and he became a member of Islamic State before he was killed in a drone strike in May 2016.
Legal: Polymiadis (ADELAIDE)
A diabetic woman accused of killing her elderly parents with her insulin told a former partner the medication was the "perfect murder weapon", a jury has heard.
Raelene Polymiadis, 65, is on trial in the South Australian Supreme Court charged with murdering Brenda and Lynton Anderson, who were both aged 94 when they died a year apart.
Opening the trial on Monday, prosecutor Michael Foundas said the "precious time" the couple had left together was deliberately cut short by their youngest daughter.
"Polymiadis deliberately administered fatal doses of insulin to her parents, killing them," Mr Foundas said.
"She poisoned them to death - she murdered them."
Polymiadis, a type-1 diabetic who requires insulin injections, was the last family member to see her parents alive, Mr Foundas said.
Legal: Stevens (MELBOURNE)
A former AFL star has been jailed for defrauding multiple families who paid him to install pools, leaving some with giant holes in their backyard.
Ex-Carlton and Port Adelaide footballer Nick Stevens, 46, was convicted by a jury on 12 charges of obtaining a financial advantage by deception and one of using a false document.
He was acquitted of one charge.
Stevens stole about $158,000 from six families in regional areas through his pool business in 2017.
While he installed six legally compliant pools under the supervision of a registered builder, he then went out on his own without the required licence, registration, permits or insurance.
He took money from the families, but left some with non-compliant pools and for others failed to install a pool at all, leaving them with unfilled holes in their yards.
Shark (SYDNEY)
The great white shark population will not be culled after a horrific attack on a swimmer at a city beach despite growing calls for the measure.
The federally protected species is suspected to have been responsible for an attack on Leah Stewart, a 35-year-old mother, who sustained critical injuries at Coogee beach on Saturday.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has overruled Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty after she left the door open on culling as a shark mitigation strategy.
"When it comes to shark culling, the truth is the great white shark is protected," he told reporters on Monday.
"We're not going to be contemplating a cull.
"I'm not convinced it would work ... and certainly we haven't received evidence or information it would work."
Accent (SYDNEY)
A British retailer has lobbed a zero-premium takeover offer at Australia's largest shoe store chain after their partnership went south, in hopes of at least gaining more influence over its board.
Frasers Group is offering 65 cents a share for Accent Group in an on-market takeover offer that values the Platypus, Hype DC and The Athlete's Foot owner at $390 million.
Accent Group shares, which closed at 65 cents on Friday, jumped almost 12 per cent to 73 cents by noon on Monday.
Frasers owns the UK-based sporting goods giant Sports Direct, which Accent began launching in Australia in 2025 in partnership with Frasers as part of what was initially going to be a 50-store rollout over six years.
That target was downgraded in May to eight stores by December and 30 stores within three years, with the 50-store goal deferred to an undefined time frame, apparently disappointing Frasers executives.
Legal: Bentley (SYDNEY)
A high-flying AI executive has lost his job and gained two criminal convictions after assaulting two musicians during a drunken night out.
Timothy Bentley faced Sydney's Downing Centre Local Court on Monday when his barrister was unable to convince the judge the cybersecurity expert should not attract marks on his previously faultless criminal record.
The former vice president of sales for Asia Pacific at tech behemoth Abnormal AI pleaded guilty to punching two musicians at the Ramblin' Rascal Tavern in the city centre in February.
He socked The Grand Union guitarist Stu Greenwood in the face after having had several drinks, according to the agreed facts.
When another musician, John Flaws of Bloody Legend, tried to intervene and stop the fracas, he copped a punch from Bentley directly on his mouth, the court was told.
In finance ...
Tax (CANBERRA)
A snap inquiry is not enough to properly investigate looming tax reforms, business groups say, as contentious budget measures go under the spotlight.
A Senate inquiry into the tax changes is holding the first of two days of hearings on Monday.
Under the changes, the 50 per cent discount for capital gains tax will be replaced with a rate tied to inflation and a 30 per cent minimum, while negative gearing will be limited to new houses only from July 2027.
In a joint statement, business peak bodies warned the measures would lower productivity and make Australia less competitive globally.
AI Group chief executive Innes Willox said the changes were being rushed through and a two-day hearing was not enough to adequately examine them.
Fox (NEW YORK CITY)
Fox Corp is buying streaming platform Roku in a cash-and-stock deal valued at approximately $US22 billion ($A31 billion).
The deal will give Fox access to the Roku channel, first-party data and more than 100 million global streaming households.
Fox will pay $US96 in cash and 0.9693 shares of its Class A common stock for each Roku Class A and Class B share outstanding. The transaction is valued at $US160 per Roku share.
Existing Fox shareholders are expected to own approximately 73 per cent of the combined company and Roku shareholders will own about 27 per cent, once the deal closes.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of next year. It still needs approval from Fox and Roku shareholders and also regulatory approval.
In entertainment ...
Brazil Helicopter (RIO DE JANEIRO)
US singer and comedian Oliver Tree is believed to be among six people who died when two helicopters collided over Rio de Janeiro, crashing in the city's western zone.
Rio de Janeiro's Military Fire Department said that one of the helicopters crashed on Sunday into the parking lot of a car dealership, where several electric vehicles were parked, igniting a fire that was extinguished.
Officials said an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the collision.
Police said 32-year-old Tree was on the list of passengers handed to aviation authorities but the bodies had yet to be formally identified.
Recognisable by his signature bowl cut, Tree was known for his songs Life Goes On and When I'm Down.
He released his fourth studio album, Love You Madly, Hate You Badly in April.
Dylan (LONDON)
Bob Dylan has broken his customary silence via The New York Times, contributing to an op-ed tied to US President Donald Trump's 80th birthday.
The 85-year-old rock legend offered some words of wisdom with selection of octogenarians on what it means to reach the milestone age.
"The old fire in your heart still tells you to do this and that, but your body says we already did it. Also, nothing surprises you," Dylan wrote in the New York Times.
"It sounds like a luxury but it's not, and also you've run out of illusions.
"The really worst part about being 80 is that you find, at last, you've got an understanding of something that might have altered everything in the past, had it come at a time when something could still be altered.
In sport ...
WC26 Evans (GENEVA)
FIFA's discrimination monitor at the World Cup has called for an Australian video review official to be removed for appearing to make a hand gesture resembling a white supremacist sign.
When the official broadcast of Germany's opening game against Curacao on Sunday cut pre-game to show the team of video review analysts, A-League referee Shaun Evans made an upside-down "OK" symbol with his right hand in front of his right leg.
Though the game was played in Houston, video officials work in Dallas at the World Cup broadcast centre.
In 2019, the gesture - with thumb and forefinger touched in a circle and other fingers outstretched - was designated a hate symbol by the New York-based Anti-Defamation League.
"Advice from our experts is that the gesture used clearly resembles an upside down 'OK' hand symbol used as a 'white power' symbol in global far-right circles," the Fare network, a long-time partner of FIFA and European soccer body UEFA to monitor racist and discriminatory chants, flags and symbols at international games, said in a statement.
AFL Suns (MELBOURNE)
Gold Coast coach Damien Hardwick has been put on notice and the Suns face a potentially costly AFL tribunal case in the fallout from their latest loss.
Friday night's away loss to Geelong is the third straight defeat for the slumping Suns.
Hardwick was fuming post-match and took aim at the umpires, claiming they were influenced by the crowd and the "Roman Colosseum" atmosphere at GMHBA Stadium.
That prompted a pointed phone call to Hardwick from AFL football operations boss Greg Swann. While Hardwick avoided a fine or a "please explain", it is understood he accepted Swann's point.
"It was like the Roman Colosseum," Hardwick said post-match when asked about his frustrations.
"I reckon they (the umpires) were waiting for the crowd to do this one (thumb down) then, all of a sudden, free kick.
Ends Bulletin
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