AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 18 at 2000
Ukraine (KYIV)
Scores of Ukrainian drones have rained down on Moscow, hitting the Russian capital's oil refinery for the second time in days in what Kyiv cast as a demonstration of its growing capabilities that should force Russia to accept a peace deal.
Russia, for its part, fired missiles into Kyiv, also for the second time in days, following an attack that damaged Kyiv's landmark 1000-year-old monastery and drew international condemnation.
In Moscow on Thursday, Reuters saw flames and plumes of smoke over the densely populated southeastern district of Kapotnya where the refinery supplying the capital is located.
"Air defence forces continue to repel a massive attack. Several drones managed to reach the Moscow oil refinery," Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin said, adding that a shopping centre also suffered minor damage.
NATO (BRUSSELS)
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has lashed out at NATO allies, announcing a six-month Pentagon review of American forces in Europe that will depend on how fast they take responsibility for their own security.
"This will be a real review. It will be designed to ensure that NATO is moving fast and irreversibly toward Europe leading, stepping up to take primary responsibility for the defence of Europe," he told his NATO counterparts in Brussels on Thursday.
Hegseth lambasted European allies for failing to provide US forces access to bases in Europe to launch attacks on Iran, calling it "shameful".
"These allies, they put America's sons and daughters, our sons and daughters, at risk by denying them the predictable access, basing and overflight that never should have been in question at all," he said.
UK Vote (LONDON)
The northern English area of Makerfield is voting in a by-election that could return Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham to parliament, paving the way for him to launch a bid to take over as prime minister.
The election, triggered by a party colleague resigning his seat, has brought unusual attention to the former coalmining area near Manchester as its result will determine the shape of an inevitable challenge to the deeply unpopular Keir Starmer.
If Burnham defeats the candidate for Reform UK, Brexit advocate Nigel Farage's populist party, his victory on Thursday will fire the starting gun on a race to replace Starmer as leader of the Labour Party, a contest that could give Britain its seventh prime minister in just more than a decade.
Legal: Bogojevska (MELBOURNE)
The neighbours of an elderly woman whose body was dumped in a river say her remorseless killer should still be facing a murder charge.
Milena Bogojevska, 51, instead pleaded guilty in the Victorian Supreme Court to 85-year-old Lolene Whitehand's manslaughter.
Bogojevska killed the elderly woman by shoving a tea towel into her mouth, blocking her airways, when she came to her Footscray home sometime after 4pm on July 12, 2024.
The killer then tied a bag over Mrs Whitehand's head and was captured on CCTV footage dumping her body in the Maribyrnong River in Melbourne's west.
A fisherman found the body in the river two days later.
Bogojevska lived only a few doors down from Mrs Whitehand and she joined a group of other neighbours who discussed the elderly woman's disappearance on the afternoon of July 14.
Ukraine (KYIV)
Russia has attacked Kyiv with missiles and Ukrainian drones hit Moscow's refinery as both countries exchanged strikes hours after President Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke with US President Donald Trump and European leaders.
A Reuters witness heard explosions in Kyiv and authorities in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Sumy said one person was killed in a drone attack. Air strike alerts were issued for most of Ukraine's territory.
"The enemy is attacking the capital with ballistic missiles. Stay in safe places until the air raid alert is over!" Tymur Tkachenko, the head of Kyiv's military administration, said on Thursday.
The attack on Kyiv is the second this week and came as Zelenskiy tried to increase pressure on Russia to negotiate an end to its four-year-long war.
Legal: Haines (ORANGE)
The police investigation into the death of an Indigenous teenager on train tracks nearly four decades ago was hindered by racism and deeply flawed, a coroner has found.
The body of Mark Haines, a proud Gomeroi teenager, was discovered on tracks outside Tamworth, in northern NSW, on the morning of January 16, 1988.
A stolen Holden Torana was found crashed nearby.
The police initially ruled that the 17-year-old had laid down on the tracks either deliberately or in a dazed state, while an autopsy determined he died from a traumatic head injury.
His family long suspected foul play and believed the police investigation would have been different if Mark was non-Indigenous.
After a smoking ceremony on the steps of Tamworth court house on Thursday morning, Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame found there were serious problems with the initial police investigation.
Legal: US Mangione (NEW YORK CITY)
Luigi Mangione, the man accused of assassinating a health insurance executive in a carefully executed plot, could have a hard time convincing jurors at his murder trial that he suffered a mental health breakdown, legal experts say.
Mangione is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a hotel in Midtown in December 2024.
Defence lawyers indicated on Wednesday that Mangione plans to mount a type of legal defence that allows jurors to downgrade murder charges to manslaughter if they believe a defendant lost control of their actions due to an "extreme emotional disturbance".
But allegations Mangione meticulously planned the assassination and concealed his identity as he led law enforcement on a five-day manhunt could cut against an argument that he lost control of his actions, according to former Manhattan state prosecutor Gary Galperin.
Migration (CANBERRA)
Annual migration levels have fallen slightly in Australia but still remain above budget forecasts.
Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday revealed net overseas migration in 2025 came in at 301,000 people.
The figures were down a fraction from the 306,000 in 2024, while the federal budget released on May forecast migration will fall to 295,000 in the year to June.
The timing of the data follows a debate surrounding migration levels, with the coalition criticising the government for underestimating the numbers and One Nation calling for a more dramatic cut to the rate.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the migration rate had fallen by almost 50 per cent from peaks experienced after the COVID pandemic.
"Migration was surging when we came to office and it has now moderated substantially," he said in a statement.
In finance ...
Legal: Henderson (SYDNEY)
"Thank goodness, congratulations - you've settled the case with the main player."
That was how the news that shock jock Kyle Sandilands reached an agreement with his former employer, ARN Media, was welcomed by Federal Court Justice Angus Stewart.
But any visions of leaving the radio stoush behind were dashed as Sandilands' former co-star Jackie "O" Henderson showed no appetite for avoiding trial.
Neither star appeared in court on Thursday as Henderson's barrister indicated it was all systems go in her client's high-profile legal dispute over the termination of her record-breaking contract.
Henderson claims she was unlawfully sacked from her $100 million hosting gig on KIIS FM earlier this year and is expected to give evidence of subsequent damage to her health and wellbeing.
Markets Aust (SYDNEY)
Australia's share market is edging lower after hawkish signals from the new US Federal Reserve chair prompted a sell-off on Wall Street.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 39.3 points by midday on Thursday to be down 0.44 per cent to 8,927, as the broader All Ordinaries slipped 39.9 points lower, down 0.43 per cent, to 9,146.
"US equity markets closed lower overnight after this morning's Federal Open Market Committee meeting delivered a hawkish surprise that triggered a sell-off in stocks and a sharp rally in US yields and the US dollar," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
"This time around, nine of the 19 officials see at least one rate hike by the end of the year, and the policy statement notably removed earlier language around potential cuts."
In entertainment ...
Obit Dreesen (LOS ANGELES)
Tom Dreesen, who along with partner Tim Reid formed one of America's first interracial stand-up comedy duos and later spent years as Frank Sinatra's opening act, has died at age 86.
Dreesen died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles, according to publicist Lori De Waal.
A cause of death was not provided.
After meeting in Chicago, Dreesen and Reid, who is Black, formed Tim and Tom in 1969.
Against a backdrop of simmering racial tension, they used humour to address social issues and promote understanding between audiences of different backgrounds.
They worked together until the mid-1970s.
Reid went on to solo success playing DJ Venus Flytrap on the popular TV sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, where Dreesen was a guest star.
Arts Tapestry (MELBOURNE)
Completed half a century ago, Australian artist Arthur Boyd's monumental tapestries are finally on display together for the first time.
The renowned painter's Life of St Francis tapestries were woven at the Manufactura de Tapeçarias de Portalegre workshop in Portugal and completed in 1974, then acquired for the national collection the following year.
The St Francis tapestries measure up to 3.4 metres across, more than 20 times larger than the 70 centimetre pastel drawings they are based on.
Teams of weavers worked in shifts across 24 hours a day to complete the artworks, with each weaving comprised of between four million and 8.5 million individual stitches, explained the gallery's senior curator of Australian art Elspeth Pitt.
"They're really remarkable feats ... they've been able to translate that colour and texture of the original pastel drawings into these enormous works," she said.
In sport ...
WC26 Aust (OAKLAND)
The Socceroos have spent months listening to Americans talk the talk.
Now they can finally get their chance to answer the way they want to.
Australia have been talked down and written off over and over again since they were drawn in the same group as the United States back on December 6.
But all of a sudden, after stunning Turkey 2-0, the Socceroos' clash with the co-hosts at Seattle Stadium on Friday (5am Saturday AEST) could all but determine who tops Group D.
There are high stakes all round, but there are bragging rights too.
"I'm really excited for the US game," defender Jordan Bos told AAP ahead of the tournament.
"Because I've heard a lot of chatter and stuff like that.
AFL Teams (PERTH)
AFL games record-holder Scott Pendlebury has been handed an extended rest, while Western Bulldogs veteran Tom Liberatore will make his long-awaited return this weekend.
In other big round 15 selection news, the Bulldogs have rested Cody Weightman just two games into his return from a knee injury, while Stephen Coniglio is back for GWS, and Adelaide have been boosted by the return of Mark Keane, Izak Rankine and Taylor Walker.
Pendlebury, who has racked up a record 435 AFL games, will effectively have a fortnight off, given Collingwood had a bye last week and the 38-year-old is being "managed" from Saturday night's clash with Port Adelaide at the MCG.
Magpies midfielder Sam Swadling, 19, has been named for his AFL debut, while Ned Long and Steele Sidebottom are back.
Ends Bulletin
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