AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 8 at 1930
Legal: Waden (BRISBANE)
A man accused of murdering his American girlfriend gave different reasons for why she stopped going to gym classes, claiming she fled creditors or immigration enforcement, a jury has heard.
Mark Sheridan Waden, 50, allegedly killed Priscilla Brooten and buried her body in a trench before dumping it at a Brisbane rubbish tip almost a year later.
Ms Brooten, a 46-year-old US citizen who was staying in Australia without a valid visa, vanished from the home she shared with Waden in Brisbane's northern suburbs in July 2018.
A Brisbane Supreme Court jury heard testimony from several of Ms Brooten's friends on Monday during the second week of Waden's murder trial.
Laetitia Penfold said she met the American for yoga and Zumba classes three or four times a week up until June or July 2018.
Dalamangas (SYDNEY)
Police are working with their Greek counterparts following reports one of Australia's most wanted men has been arrested after three decades on the run.
James Dalamangas was taken into custody on Sunday in the Peloponnesian town of Aigio, according to local media reports.
The 55-year-old had been living under a pseudonym in Greece since a warrant was issued for his arrest over the death of father-of-two George Giannopolous, who was fatally stabbed on Anzac Day in 1999 after intervening in a fight at a suburban Sydney night club.
NSW Police have said they are "encouraged" by the reports and are working with Hellenic police.
The underworld figure has evaded Australian authorities for decades.
Police had tried to extradite him in 2003 and attempts to prosecute him by their Greek counterparts were suspended in 2007.
Tonys (NEW YORK)
John Lithgow has won best leading actor in a play at the Tony Awards for Giant, which depicts a crisis in the life of author Roald Dahl as he faces fallout from remarks deemed anti-Semitic and must weigh apologising against risking his reputation.
It was the 80-year-old Lithgow's third Tony, having won his first 53 years ago for his Broadway debut in The Changing Room.
"At every point we had to figure out, 'Why is this man doing this?'" he told reporters.
"Anti-Semitism, cruelty of all kinds ... these are things that we're dealing with these days up front and personal ... that's what makes Giant so important and such a success."
Rose Byrne is also hoping to pick up her first Tony for her starring role in a Broadway revival of a century-old Noel Coward play.
Tonys (NEW YORK CITY)
Rose Byrne has walked the red carpet at Radio City Music Hall, hoping to pick up a Tony Award for her starring role in a Broadway revival of a century-old Noel Coward play.
The Australian is nominated for best actress in a leading role in a play for her critically-acclaimed portrayal of Jane Banbury in a the 1925 comedy of manners, Fallen Angels.
The Tony Awards are capping a record Broadway season, with no clear frontrunner among the leading nominees and a mix of star-driven shows and new works signalling sustained momentum for the New York theatre industry.
Pop singer Pink will host the televised ceremony in New York on Sunday from 8pm local time (10am Monday Sydney time).
New musicals The Lost Boys and Schmigadoon! lead all nominees with 12 nods each, followed by the revival Ragtime with 11, with 24 shows vying for wins across 26 categories.
Obit Scolyer (SYDNEY)
World-renowned melanoma pathologist Richard Scolyer has died following a lengthy public battle with brain cancer, after saying he would like to be remembered as "a proud everyday Aussie who gave it a crack".
The 2024 Australian of the Year, who died aged 59 on Sunday, helped save thousands of people through his groundbreaking skin cancer research.
Along with Professor Georgina Long, he took the disease from being a death sentence to largely curable through treatment that activates a patient's own immune system, bringing hope and healing to many.
Born in Tasmania, Professor Scolyer was diagnosed with an incurable and aggressive stage four brain cancer named glioblastoma in June 2023 and given just six to eight months to live.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to the "remarkable man" who shared his cancer battle with the public.
Iran (TEHRAN)
Israel says Iran has launched missiles at it in the first such bombardment since a fragile ceasefire took effect in early April, complicating mediation efforts for a deal to end the war.
Iran's state broadcaster confirmed the launch of missiles and multiple explosions were heard in northern Israel.
Israel's military said it was working on intercepting the missiles but "the defence is not hermetic," adding that sirens sounded in several areas of the country.
Iran had warned of retaliation after Israel on Sunday struck Beirut's southern suburbs without warning in defiance of a US request days ago to stand down.
Israel called it retaliation for the Iranian-aligned Hezbollah firing at northern Israel earlier in the day.
Iranian officials had warned that an attack on Beirut would renew full-scale war across the Middle East, even as Pakistan tries to restart talks between Iran and the United States.
Ukraine (LONDON)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Ukraine will not "silently die" and could maintain its recent surge of attacks deep into Russia if the war continues as he arrived in London for talks.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed Zelenskiy and the leaders of Germany and France to Downing Street on Sunday to discuss European support for Ukraine and stepping up efforts to bring an end to the war.
"The main focus is our defence in the war, greater co-operation for the security of all of Europe in the area of air defence, and our shared view of diplomatic prospects," Zelenskiy wrote on X when he arrived in the United Kingdom.
"Europe must be part of the negotiations and must be strong."
Federal (CANBERRA)
Support for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has slumped while One Nation has edged ahead of Labor as the country's most popular political party in a Newspoll.
The survey showed a four-point rise in One Nation's primary vote to 31 per cent while Labor dipped one point to 30 per cent and the coalition gave up two points to 18 per cent.
The Newspoll, published in The Australian, also registered a one-point decline for the Greens to 11 per cent.
The survey sampled 1240 voters and was conducted between Monday and Thursday last week.
It echoes the results of a Redbridge Group/Accent Research poll published a week ago that had One Nation on 31 per cent support, Labor on 28 per cent and the coalition on 20 per cent.
In finance ...
Economy Preview (CANBERRA)
Central bankers in Australia will scrutinise consumer and business confidence figures amid a dearth of hard economic data this week.
Sentiment has plummeted amongst households and employers since the outbreak of the Middle East conflict in late February.
The Westpac-Melbourne Institute consumer confidence survey, due to be released on Tuesday, will give a sense of how much global uncertainty and the federal budget continue to weigh on spending decisions and inflation expectations.
Also on Tuesday, NAB's business sentiment survey will provide a read on the extent to which businesses are passing on cost pressures.
Financial markets are fully priced in for the Reserve Bank to hold the cash rate at 4.35 per cent at its June meeting, but one more rate hike is still expected by the end of the year.
Boresight (SYDNEY)
Another drone company is about to join market leader Droneshield on the local bourse as unmanned aerial vehicles transform modern warfare.
But the Canberra-based company Boresight is a bit different to its Aussie-listed counterparts.
Spun out of privately held Canberra-based defence technology company Criterion Solutions in 2020, Boresight specialises in making cheap drones for target practice.
"We were conceived to cater to the counter-drone market, particularly the people who were shooting drones down," Boresight chief executive Justin Olde told AAP.
"They needed a cost-effective way of shooting down drones, but something that was a good testing and training tool as well."
ASX-listed defence contractor Electro Optic Systems became particularly adept at shooting down drones.
But it was expensive to buy $2500 drones from JB Hi-Fi purely to destroy them, Mr Olde said.
In entertainment ...
Obit Riley
Stormzy, Oritse Williams and Wretch 32 are among the artists who have paid tributes to singer-songwriter Talay Riley, who was stabbed to death in east London.
The musician, real name Mark Orabiyi, 35, was found with stab wounds by paramedics on the morning of June 5 and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Grammy winner Riley worked on tracks for artists including Dua Lipa, Zendaya, Khalid, Flo and Chipmunk.
His brother Michael Orabiyi, better known as record producer and songwriter Scribz Riley, wrote on Instagram: "My heart is shattered! This doesn't feel real. It feels like a bad dream.
"Just before he went to sleep we spoke about the future, staying positive and about everything we still had left to do. I never imagined that would be our last conversation."
Romano (LONDON)
Ray Romano arrived on the set of Everybody Loves Raymond fearing he could lose another sitcom job.
Admitting he was "terrified" after previously being fired from the cast of NewsRadio before filming on the show even properly began, the comedian reflected on the early days of the Emmy-winning comedy during a reunion panel at the 2026 ATX TV Festival in Austin, Texas.
Romano reunited with Everybody Loves Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal and several of the show's original writers, for the event, after the sitcom, which ran from 1996 to 2005, became one of the defining American comedies of its era, earning 69 Emmy nominations and 15 wins.
Looking back on his first day filming the sitcom, Romano said: "I was doing stand-up for a living. A couple acting opportunities came up, and one of them was the show called NewsRadio.
In sport ...
AFL Freeze (MELBOURNE)
Collingwood and Melbourne players have formed a circle in the middle of the MCG as a tribute to Neale Daniher.
After a video tribute on the giants screens, the capacity crowd erupted in applause ahead of the AFL Kings' Birthday clash.
The pre-game 12th Big Freeze was held in perfect sunny conditions, a fortnight after Daniher died from motor neurone disease.
It was 13 years since he had been diagnosed with MND. A state memorial service will be held for him on Wednesday, also at the MCG.
The former AFL player and coach became an inspiration for fronting the FightMND charity, with the Big Freeze its annual centrepiece. In 2025 he was named Australian Of The Year.
The impact of Daniher and the FightMND campaign means that the King's Birthday game is the biggest AFL game this year outside the grand final - a status traditionally reserved for the MCG Anzac Day blockbuster.
WC26 Aust (OAKLAND)
Nestory Irankunda still can't believe the new face of Australian football is a young Black man.
The 20-year-old is one of the hottest properties at this year's World Cup, with replicas of his No.17 shirt set to fly out the door.
If Socceroos dynamo Irankunda does something special, his profile could go next level.
But the most prominent of six players of African descent in Australia's 26-man World Cup squad is still getting his head around young Black men like himself and Mohamed Toure becoming the face of the Socceroos.
"It's crazy, because who would have thought?" Irankunda told AAP.
"Now that it's happening, everybody's like: 'wow'. But I never thought it would be possible - maybe one day, but not this early.
Ends Bulletin
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