AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 21 at 1300
Economy Preview (CANBERRA)
Oil and dairy prices will shed light on Australia's inflation fight in a big week for domestic economic data.
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures are expected on Wednesday to show headline and underlying inflation edged up in May as the Middle East conflict continued to impact supply chains across the economy.
Importantly, it will reveal how quickly and widely the second-round impacts of higher oil, gas and fertiliser prices were being passed on by businesses.
One item to watch will be milk.
Perishable goods tend to be first to record price increases and the prices of home-brand milk increased in very late April, said ANZ economists Madeline Dunk and Adam Boyton.
"We expect prices to have been a little higher than usual in some of the fresh food expenditure classes, such as milk, fruits and vegetables," the duo said in a research note.
Mideast (CAIRO)
Israeli strikes and gunfire have killed at least nine people, including a child and a journalist from Al Jazeera, in the Gaza Strip.
An Israeli airstrike killed four Palestinians, including two women and a child, in an apartment building in Gaza City, health officials said.
The attack on the building in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City on Saturday destroyed the apartment and wounded several other people, medics said.
The Israeli military said it struck a militant, without elaborating.
In another incident, Israeli forces shot and killed a woman in Beit Lahiya town further north, medics said.
An Israeli airstrike killed at least one person and wounded eight others in Khan Younis, south of the enclave.
Later on Saturday, an Israeli airstrike killed three people, medics said, including Ahmed Wishah, a journalist working for Al Jazeera, in the Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
UK Starmer (LONDON)
British Prime Minster Keir Starmer is expected to resign and set out a timetable for his departure, the Observer newspaper reports.
The newspaper said Starmer would quit on Monday after reaching the conclusion that his position was no longer tenable after speaking to cabinet minister, advisers, donors and trade union leaders.
Starmer was discussing the matter with his wife Victoria at his Chequers country residence before making a final decision, but that senior Labour figures expected a clear statement on his future as early as Monday, the report said.
Ukraine (KYIV)
President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukrainian drones have struck an oil refinery in Russia's Tyumen Region in western Siberia, more than 2000km from Ukraine.
He also said Ukraine had developed new long-range drones capable of operating over more than 3000km.
Speaking in his nightly video address, Zelenskiy offered thanks to the Ukrainian military's special operations which "have reached Tyumen Region in Russia, including an oil refining facility. More than 2000km from our state border. This is effective work."
Ukraine's military has been engaged for months in a campaign of medium and long-range strikes on Russian targets, focusing mainly on the oil industry, to hinder Russia's capability in funding the war.
The governor of Tyumen Region, Alexander Moor, earlier said that Russian air defences repelled a drone attack on the oil refinery.
Fuel (MELBOURNE)
Cost relief at the bowser has been extended for another month, although the savings won't be as substantial.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a limited extension of the fuel excise, making petrol and diesel 16 cents per litre cheaper than the full price in July.
The current saving is 32 cents a litre after it was cut three months ago, following the outbreak of war in the Middle East and ensuing strangulation of global oil supplies.
That discount is scheduled to expire on June 30, by which time it will have cost the federal budget an estimated $2.9 billion in foregone revenue.
"(The) decision recognises that despite the welcome and substantial drop in the price of petrol recently, we know people are still under pressure," Mr Albanese said.
Flu (SYDNEY)
Australia has been urged to stick to its guns and resist panic as a deadly avian disease arrives on the mainland.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected on mainland Australia for the first time, with a sick brown skua found on a remote beach near Esperance, about 700km southeast of Perth, confirmed to be carrying the disease.
The discovery has fuelled fears among scientists, conservationists and agricultural groups, who point to mass mortality events and species-level population reductions in overseas outbreaks.
"It's a really serious concern," UNSW Centre for Ecosystem Science ecologist Simon Gorta told AAP.
"But it's important to remain calm about this.
"There are absolutely measures in place to deal with this as best as we can, we've just got to stick to our guns."
Iran (ZURICH)
US Vice President JD Vance says he expects to go to Switzerland soon for talks with Iran even as the country's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps declared the Strait of Hormuz shut, alleging US and Israeli truce violations.
The move by the hardline IRGC appeared to raise the stakes ahead of the talks that Pakistani officials said will begin on Sunday as both sides seek to advance the interim deal signed by US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian to end their almost four-month war.
The IRGC warned ships not to approach the waterway, a vital conduit for global oil and gas supplies, citing what it called Israeli "crimes" in Lebanon and a US violation of commitments to establish a ceasefire.
Iran (DUBAI)
US President Donald Trump's personal envoy and Iran's foreign minister have headed to Switzerland for talks, although deadly strikes by Israel in Lebanon could test a new ceasefire key to ending the Iran war.
The talks, led by Steve Witkoff and Abbas Araqchi, mark an effort to turn the interim 14-point pact into a lasting regional deal to end the war that the US and Israel launched on February 28.
But just hours after a ceasefire took effect in Lebanon between Israel and Iran-backed militants Hezbollah, Israeli air strikes and drone attacks killed at least five people in the south on Saturday, Lebanese state media said.
A halt to the fighting in Lebanon is a condition for starting 60 days of US-Iranian talks to resolve disputes over Iran's nuclear program and other thorny issues needed to forge a more durable deal critical to reopening the Strait of Hormuz and stabilising global oil supplies.
In finance ...
Super (SYDNEY)
Superannuation is set for its most significant change in decades but a week ahead of implementation, many businesses - and potentially the clearance system itself - aren't ready.
From July 1, employee superannuation contributions must land in members' accounts within seven days of payday instead of every quarter.
Australian Tax Office data suggests as many as two in five businesses already pay contributions more often than quarterly.
For Waterfalls Cafe and Gallery owner Rachel Power in Tasmania's Mt Field National Park, the vagaries of regional tourism pushed her towards early payments well ahead of schedule.
"We've actually been paying super weekly for probably a year or two now, only because for cash flow we're very seasonal here," Ms Power told AAP.
"The market forces are pretty insane in Tasmania."
In entertainment ...
Clarkson (LONDON)
TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson has revealed he has met up with former UK prime minister David Cameron to discuss their prostate cancer diagnoses with other famous faces.
The 66-year-old revealed in the latest episodes of the fifth season of his series Clarkson's Farm that he had been diagnosed with "aggressive" prostate cancer that had been discovered early.
In an interview with The Times, Clarkson confirmed that a PSA test two months ago revealed no indication of cancer and he is officially in remission.
"I was talking to David (Cameron) about it earlier this morning," Clarkson said.
"He said the amount of people that come up to him mostly in public conveniences and say, 'if you hadn't owned up to it, I wouldn't have got checked, and they wouldn't have found it"."
Burrows (LONDON)
Friends stars David Schwimmer, Lisa Kudrow and Matt LeBlanc have paid tribute to director James Burrows, describing him as a "father figure".
Burrows, who directed the US sitcom and was also the co-creator of Cheers, died aged 85, with his death announced on Friday.
In a post on Instagram, Schwimmer, 59, who played Ross Geller in Friends, said: "Jimmy Burrows brought out the best in every actor he ever worked with, and elevated every show he directed, making it funnier and more moving than anyone expected.
"His warmth, humility and generosity made us feel safe, like family, and I'm sure we weren't the only cast to feel that way. He looked out for us, on camera and off.
"He became another father figure for me, and I'm sure others.
In sport ...
WCT20 Aust (LONDON)
Australia's rampant T20 World Cup team are playing down concerns over the fitness of Beth Mooney while celebrating the versatility of the great wicketkeeper-batter's emergency stand-in Georgia Voll.
The only cloud over the third-straight dominant win for Sophie Molineux's side at Southampton on Saturday, a 98-run trouncing of the Netherlands, was the setback for all-time top scorer Mooney, who retired with a stiff back while in full flow on 74no and then decided not to keep during the Dutch reply.
The 32-year-old veteran opener/keeper said afterwards there was no concern. "I'm all good, just precautionary," shrugged the left-hander. "Probably just not used to all the bus travel we've been doing."
But with her understudy keeper Phoebe Litchfield also out of action with a quad injury, the setback for Mooney highlighted a potential weakness for the tournament favourites with 22-year-old Voll, who's had no experience of keeping in the senior game, being forced to take the gloves.
WC26 Aust (OAKLAND)
With the Socceroos' fate in their own hands and everything to gain against Paraguay, all eyes will be on how coach Tony Popovic chooses to attack Australia's final World Cup group match.
The Socceroos boss could trust exuberant young attackers like Nestory Irankunda, Mohamed Toure and Cristian Volpato to try and put Australia on the front foot.
Whether he will is another matter.
Popovic was rightly lauded for his selection and tactical masterclass in Australia's opening 2-0 win over Turkey that set them on the path towards the knockouts.
But his decision to start a more conservative attack against the US, turning to Mathew Leckie and Nishan Velupillay over Turkey goalscorers Connor Metcalfe and Irankunda, backfired in Friday's 2-0 loss.
Ends Bulletin
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