AAP Rolling News Bulletin for May 21 at 0530
Iran (WASHINGTON, D. C.)
US President Donald Trump says negotiations with Iran are "in the final stages," while warning of further attacks unless Iran agrees to a peace deal.
Six weeks since Trump paused Operation Epic Fury for a ceasefire, talks to end the war have shown little progress.
Trump said this week he came close to ordering more attacks but held off to allow time for negotiations.
"We're in the final stages of Iran. We'll see what happens. Either have a deal or we're going to do some things that are a little bit nasty, but hopefully that won't happen," he told reporters.
"Ideally I'd like to see fewer people killed as opposed to a lot. We can do it either way."
Speaking later at the US Coast Guard Academy, Trump reprised his either/or rhetoric - "We may have to hit them very hard ... but maybe not" - and reiterated his determination not to allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon.
Economy (CANBERRA)
An uptick in Australia's unemployment could scare the Reserve Bank off more rate hikes as fears grow about the impact of the Iran war on the economy.
The jobless rate is expected to remain at 4.3 per cent, with another 20,000 jobs added for April, when the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases the results of its latest Labour Force survey on Thursday.
"A resilient outcome in line with expectations would support the case for further RBA rate hikes in the months ahead," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
"A noticeably softer result, however, especially one that sees the jobless rate edge toward 4.5 per cent, would see the rates market dial back expectations for additional rate hikes later this year."
BudgetTas (HOBART)
One question and one question alone will dominate Tasmania's budget day.
Having pledged to tackle the state's spiralling debt, how will the government do it?
This question has dominated Tasmania's politics for the past two years, intertwined with the billion-dollar stadium to be built on Hobart's waterfront.
Last May, the picture of deficit and debt - which hit $5 billion in 2025 and was forecast to double by 2029 - was so alarming, the parliament voted to have no confidence in Premier Jeremy Rockliff.
Having won the snap election off the back of that vote, Mr Rockliff's government has regrouped and with a new treasurer at the wheel - Eric Abetz - will reveal its pathway to sustainability.
It's likely to be a long, hard road.
Mideast (JERUSALEM)
Israel's police security minister has drawn a sharp rebuke from his boss and triggered a backlash abroad after releasing videos taunting and telling detained activists from a flotilla that tried to get past the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip that they should be imprisoned for a very long time.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said although Israel has every right to stop "provocative flotillas of Hamas terrorist supporters," the way that Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir dealt with the flotilla activists "is not in line with Israel's values and norms".
Ben-Gvir on Wednesday released the videos of himself walking among some of the approximately 430 detainees, after their arrival on navy ships.
One video shows activists with their hands tied behind their backs kneeling with their heads touching the floor inside what appears to be a makeshift detention area at Ashdod port and on the deck of a ship.
Ebola (GENEVA)
The World Health Organisation said on Wednesday there were 600 suspected cases of Ebola and 139 suspected deaths and numbers are expected to rise given the time the virus circulated before the outbreak in Congo and Uganda was detected.
A WHO Emergency Committee met on Tuesday in Geneva and confirmed the latest Ebola outbreak of the rare Bundibugyo strain of the virus was a public health emergency of international concern but not a pandemic emergency, Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
"The WHO assess the risk of the epidemic as high at the national and regional levels and low at the global level," Tedros said.
He declared the emergency on Sunday, and he said it was the first time a WHO chief had taken that step without first consulting experts, due to the urgency of the situation.
Budget (CANBERRA)
The treasurer has hit out at "misinformation" fuelling a backlash against the government's budget tax changes.
Jim Chalmers has been forced onto the defensive by a growing campaign, led by young startup founders, who claim Labor's move to pare back the 50 per cent capital gains discount will effectively double their tax bill when they sell their companies.
"By removing the CGT discount on shares, and replacing it with a cost base indexation scheme, you have clocked us with a massive tax hit and then come up with a replacement that will make things even worse," 40 business owners under 40 said in an open letter to the prime minister.
"Rather than back us, you have ambushed us with a massive tax increase, a tax that will hit us, the Australians we hire, and the investors who believe in us, the hardest."
Legal: Caddick (SYDNEY)
Investors defrauded by Melissa Caddick who have recouped losses through a class action will not benefit from a final payout from liquidators of her property.
Caddick was a self-styled financial advisor who conned 55 family and friends out of $23 million between 2012 and 2020 and lived a life of luxury through her investment scam.
The 49-year-old disappeared in November 2020, days after her luxury home in Sydney's affluent east was raided by ASIC agents investigating her Ponzi scheme.
Liquidators retained to claw back the lost funds have completed their task with the Federal Court approving one final repayment to investors.
About $7.3 million had already been sent back in two tranches to victims, ensuring they received 31.4 cents in the dollar back, barrister Nicola Bailey said during a court hearing on Wednesday.
Oly32 Hotel (BRISBANE)
Mum-and-dad home owners are set to strike 2032 Brisbane Olympic gold, turning spare rooms into Games success because of a major hotel shortage.
Short-term rentals have been backed to fill visitor demand and share the Olympic tourism boom after it was revealed barely a quarter of the hotel rooms required for the 2032 Games were on track to be delivered.
Hotel building across Brisbane, the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast has almost stopped despite strong bookings and higher room rates, according to a Property Council of Australia report released on Wednesday.
Queensland is well behind the state government's own hotel targets, with the current pipeline expected to deliver about 24 per cent of the 14,700 extra rooms needed by 2032, according to CBRE, a global real estate and investment firm.
In finance ...
Webjet (SYDNEY)
Australia's online travel market is undergoing momentous change as the cost of living bites and more customers use artificial intelligence to make their itinerary.
But one agency, which has been hit with a triple whammy of millions of dollars in potential lost revenue, lacklustre bookings and leadership changes at a sensitive time, believes it can recover.
"This is placing significant pressure on our industry, but travel is like water," outgoing Webjet chief executive Katrina Barry said on Wednesday.
"It finds a way."
The potential takeover target stands to lose millions of dollars in annual revenue after Virgin Australia revealed plans to set up its own online travel package offering, thereby reducing its commissions.
The decision left Ms Barry disappointed, although she said the carrier remained a "valued partner" through other commercial agreements, ahead of the change taking effect on July 1.
US Fed (WASHINGTON, D. C.)
US Federal Reserve officials' concerns about inflation being stoked by the Iran war intensified last month, with a growing number open to a possible rate hike, in a sign that incoming chair Kevin Warsh will inherit an increasingly hawkish crew of central bankers.
A majority of Fed policy makers at their April 28-29 meeting felt "some policy firming would likely become appropriate" if inflation stays persistently above the US central bank's 2.0 per cent target, according to minutes of the meeting released on Wednesday.
"To address this possibility, many participants indicated that they would have preferred removing the language from the post-meeting statement that suggested an easing bias regarding the likely direction of the Committee's future interest rate decisions," minutes of the meeting said.
In entertainment ...
Minogue (LONDON)
Kylie Minogue battled cancer for a second time in secret after being diagnosed in 2021.
The Australian pop star, 57, was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005 - prompting her to cancel a tour and a headline slot at Glastonbury festival - and she went on to make a full recovery after undergoing treatment, but Minogue has now revealed she suffered another health scare five years ago when she was diagnosed with cancer for a second time.
Minogue finally lifted the lid on her secret cancer battle in her new self-titled Netflix documentary, saying: "My second cancer diagnosis was in early 2021. I was able to keep that to myself ... Not like the first time."
Minogue did not give details about her diagnosis or treatment, but assured fans she was healthy.
Arts Franklin (MELBOURNE)
The longlist for Australia's most prestigious book prize includes a novel by a Palestinian-Australian author who's been caught up in cancellation controversies.
Randa Abdel-Fattah's book Discipline, published by the University of Queensland Press, is one of 10 books up for the $60,000 Miles Franklin Literary Award, with the longlist released Wednesday.
In January, the author was controversially disinvited to one of Australia's biggest literary events, Adelaide Writers' Week, sparking a mass boycott by speakers that led to the cancellation for Writers' Week for 2026.
The book itself covers debates about personal responsibility and free speech, as it follows two Palestinian-Australians navigating academia and the mainstream media.
Abdel-Fattah was also among a number of authors to publicly ditch the University of Queensland Press in April, over the publisher's decision not to publish Indigenous children's book Bila: A River Cycle.
In sport ...
Ath Oceania (DARWIN)
Josh Azzopardi's decision to prioritise the defence of his Oceania 100m title has paid off in a big way, with the Australian making an increasingly compelling case for an individual spot in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games team.
Azzopardi overcame a sluggish start to storm home and claim the win in 10.21 seconds at Arafura Stadium on Wednesday.
It was two hundredths of a second slower than the 26-year-old Sydneysider had run in the semi-final earlier in the day, but the victory was the main thing with the Commonwealth Games squad to be named in early June.
Sub-10 second man Lachie Kennedy earned automatic Games selection off the back of his 100m national title triumph in April, with Azzopardi right in the frame to also be picked in the individual event as well as the 4x100m relay.
Soc WACL City (MELBOURNE)
Melbourne City's hopes of a ground-breaking treble have gone up in smoke with a 3-1 semi-final loss to Tokyo Verdy Beleza in the Women's Asian Champions League.
City sealed a domestic premiership-championship double with Saturday's 2-1 A-League Women grand-final win over Wellington.
But Tokyo scored two goals in the opening 10 minutes to bring City back down to earth and leave Michael Matricciani's charges with an uphill battle to qualify for the final.
City fought their way back into the contest and the excellent Aideen Keane scored in the 37th minute, before Yuzuho Shiokoshi's second goal in the 78th minute snuffed out the comeback.
It could well be the final time some of City's players, headlined by star striker Holly McNamara, play for the club in the forseeable future given expected interest from overseas clubs.
Ends Bulletin
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