AAP Rolling News Bulletin for May 26 at 1330
Antisemitism (MELBOURNE)
Online harassment and intimidation has been directed at witnesses who have appeared before the anti-Semitism royal commission, with at least one incident referred to police.
The commission is probing the intelligence and law enforcement response leading up to the Bondi Beach terror attack on December 14 which claimed the lives of 15 innocent people.
In a first block of hearings, witnesses from the Jewish community gave evidence about their experiences of anti-Semitism.
Commissioner Virginia Bell opened Tuesday's hearing with a warning to those engaging in online harassment and intimidation of witnesses.
"The commission is keeping a close eye on these instances and recording these offensive social media posts," she said.
"Quite what this undiluted level of hatred and bigotry directed towards members of the Jewish community is thought to benefit by those who post these remarks is lost on me.
Terror Aust (CANBERRA)
A second group of women and children linked to Islamic State are expected to face charges when they arrive back in Australia.
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke confirmed seven women and 12 children have made plans to travel from Syria to Australia, after spending years in a Syrian refugee camp.
The so-called "ISIS brides", who are due to arrive in Australia on Tuesday evening, are expected to face charges upon their return.
"The government has not and will not provide any assistance to this group," Mr Burke said in a statement.
"These are people who have made the horrific choice to join a dangerous terrorist organisation and to place their children in an unspeakable situation.
"Any members of this cohort who have committed crimes can expect to face the full force of the law."
Energy (CANBERRA)
Energy bills for households and small businesses are forecast to fall by up to 10 per cent across parts of the eastern states.
The final Default Market Offer, which set out the maximum amount retailers can charge on plans, shows price reductions for households and even bigger drops for small businesses.
Household standing offer time-of-use prices will fall by up to 10.7 per cent across South Australia, NSW and Queensland's southeast.
Small business standing offer time-of-use prices are set to fall by up to 20.9 per cent.
The Australian Energy Regulator sets the default market offer as a benchmark for residential and small business electricity bills in NSW, southeast Queensland and South Australia.
The government said the 2026/27 determination is the first under a reformed framework designed to bolster protections for customers and deliver a better deal.
Federal (CANBERRA)
Creating a formal teal party could lead to messy leadership disputes or force members to vote for policies they don't agree with, one of Australia's first teal independents has warned.
Kerryn Phelps, who won the Sydney seat of Wentworth when former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull resigned in 2018, said having a party structure would allow teal independents to share resources and work together on policies but suggested the move could also alienate some supporters.
Multiple independent MPs have left the door open to creating a more formal political alliance - whether that be a party or a more closely aligned grouping - with Mr Turnbull reported to be involved in bringing them together.
Asked about the speculation, Professor Phelps said while some voters wanted independent MPs to remain independent, the political impact of creating a new party would largely depend on its structure.
Ukraine (KYIV)
Russian authorities have urged foreigners to leave Kyiv before the launch of a "series of systematic strikes" against military targets in Ukraine's capital.
Russia's foreign ministry said the strikes were a response to what the Kremlin says was a deliberate drone strike on a student dorm in the Russian-controlled Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine.
Ukraine's military denied the Russian accusations and said it had struck an elite drone command unit in the area.
A Ukrainian attack on a residential building in the Russian-controlled town of Starobilsk in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine left more than 20 people dead, local authorities said.
Russian authorities said at least 18 students from a teacher training college were killed.
A total of 48 people were reported injured.
Iran (DUBAI)
Iran's top negotiator and its foreign minister are in Doha for talks with Qatar's prime minister on a potential deal with the United States to end the three-month-old war, an official briefed on the visit says after both sides played down hopes for an imminent breakthrough.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in New Delhi earlier the United States would give diplomacy every chance to succeed before considering whether to deal with Iran in "another way".
There was a "pretty solid thing on the table in terms of their ability to open up the strait (of Hormuz), get the strait open, enter into a very real significant time-limited negotiation on the nuclear matter and hopefully we can pull it off," Rubio said.
Mideast (GAZA)
An Israeli air strike on a tent in the southern Gaza Stri has killed two people including a six-year-old girl and wounded 17 other people, including children, Palestinian health officials say.
Medics said the Israeli air strike on a tent encampment of displaced families in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, in the south of the enclave, had killed six-year-old Mennatallah Abu Libda and a 31-year-old woman, Hanan Mahmoud.
The attack was carried out by two helicopters, witnesses said.
The Israeli military told Reuters it had struck militants in the area but provided no further information.
Relatives of the victims arrived at the hospital to bid farewell.
Men and women who were related to the dead girl wept beside her white-shrouded body.
Legal: Freeman (MELBOURNE)
Dezi Freeman's months on the run and the final moments before his death will form the basis of a much-anticipated inquest.
Freeman led police on one of the nation's largest manhunts after he killed two police officers serving a warrant at his home in rural Victoria in August 2025.
Questions still remain about the deaths of Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart and Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, and how Freeman was able to evade police for months after fleeing his Porepunkah property, 310km northwest of Melbourne.
The officers were executing a warrant after disclosure of Freeman allegedly sexually assaulting a child, as well as attempting to involve a child in the production of child abuse material, a Coroners Court was told on Monday.
In finance ...
Aroa (SYDNEY)
Sales of a high-tech wrap derived from sheep guts that assists in human healing is behind solid traction and profits in the United States for an ASX-listed Kiwi company.
Aroa Biosurgery made $NZ103.9 million ($84.9 million) in revenue in the year ended March 31, up 23 per cent from 2024/25, the company announced on Tuesday.
Its gross profit rose 23 per cent to $NZ88.8 million ($72.5 million) and Aroa posted normalised earnings of $NZ11 million ($9 million), beating guidance of $5 million to $8 million, in what the company called a "breakout year".
Sales of Aroa's Myriad collagen matrix, which is made from sheep forestomach tissue, were up 54 per cent to $NZ49.5 million ($40.4 million).
Aroa chief executive and founder Brian Ward told analysts the company makes a 90 per cent profit margin on Myriad sales and its healing properties are backed by strong clinical evidence.
Markets Aust (SYDNEY)
Australia's share market is trading lower on reports the United States has struck targets in southern Iran, rattling hopes of an imminent peace deal.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 37.7 points on Tuesday, down 0.43 per cent, to 8,654.3, as the broader All Ordinaries dropped 39.5 points, or 0.44 per cent, to 8,875.
The slump followed a relief rally on Monday following reports the US and Iran were closing in on an agreement to end hostilities and open the Strait of Hormuz.
"Nerves are set to be tested by fresh reports of explosions and blasts near Bandar Abbas — the critical gateway to the (Hormuz) strait — and other southern coastal areas, where US fighter jets appear to have targeted IRGC speedboats," IG market analyst Tony Sycamore said.
In entertainment ...
Obit ROLLINS (NEW YORK CITY)
Saxophonist Sonny Rollins, who spent more than two years practising in solitude as a young man on a windswept New York bridge to reinvent his playing and become one of the giants of jazz, has died at the age of 95.
Rollins had recorded the confidently titled Jazz Colossus album in 1956. But the saxophonist remained wracked with self-doubt.
So, in the summer of 1959, he began to play on the windswept pedestrian walkway of New York's Williamsburg Bridge. Initially a place where he could avoid disturbing his pregnant neighbour, the walkway became the site of endless practice.
"What made me withdraw and go to the bridge was how I felt about my own playing," Rollins told the Guardian newspaper in 2022.
McCartney
Paul McCartney says meeting Elvis Presley six decades ago was a "pinch yourself" moment for the young musician.
The former Beatles star, 83, met the 'The King', alongside his bandmates for the first and only time in 1965 when the group visited his home in Los Angeles in California.
Reminiscing about his Beatles days, McCartney raved about his experience meeting Presley and his wife Priscilla.
Appearing on BBC Radio 2's Tracks Of My Years, McCartney admitted the Beatles were already Elvis fans.
"He was really great. He was a very handsome guy - but we kind of knew that. We were fans," he said.
"We just followed everything he did, and we looked at any photo we could get. He wasn't a disappointment at all."
In sport ...
Bkb Aust (MELBOURNE)
Australian basketball great Joe Ingles believes the new-look Boomers are capable of anything as they set their sights on Olympic medals in Los Angeles and Brisbane.
Ingles, a veteran of five Olympics and four World Cups, is yet to completely shut the door on his own Boomers career.
But after returning to the NBL with Melbourne United following 12 seasons in the NBA, the 38-year-old is realistic about his prospects of featuring in LA in two years time.
Regardless of whether he gets there, Ingles is adamant a group now led by NBA stars Josh Giddey and Dyson Daniels, alongside Jock Landale, Matisse Thybulle and Josh Green, can do damage on the global stage.
The Boomers are set to head to next year's FIBA World Cup and the LA Olympics under new head coach Adam Caporn - a Washington Wizards assistant and former NBL guard - who has taken the reins from coaching legend Brian Goorjian.
RL Origin NSW (SYDNEY)
Mitchell Moses has been ruled out the State of Origin opener with Ethan Strange set to make his debut for NSW at five-eighth.
Moses trained with the Blues in Gosford on Monday but complained of soreness in his hamstring at the conclusion of the session.
The Parramatta playmaker was sent for scans with the results ruling him out of game one at Sydney's Accor Stadium on Wednesday.
"It's nothing major but it's too risky 48 hours out from the game," said Blues coach Laurie Daley.
"It's a big loss but Origin you expect nothing different, there's always unexpected things that happen.
"We've got a really good strong group of young men and nothing fazes them."
Canberra five-eighth Strange will partner Nathan Cleary in the halves in his Origin debut.
Ends Bulletin
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