AAP Rolling News Bulletin for May 27 at 1300
Antisemitism (SYDNEY)
A senior NSW police officer has accused federal intelligence agencies of sometimes being less than forthcoming with sharing information.
NSW Police Deputy Commissioner for Investigations and Counter Terrorism David Hudson fronted the Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion on Wednesday.
The second block of the commission hearings is probing the law enforcement and intelligence response surrounding the Bondi Terror attack on December 14.
The deputy head of counterterrorism suggested to the commission that some law enforcement agencies use a wide-reaching government policy to justify not sharing information.
He said he has observed different agencies having different interpretations of the Protective Security Policy Framework in relation to what is allowed to be shared.
The framework is an overarching government policy that provides guidelines for organisations protecting their own information and people.
US Strike (WASHINGTON, D. C.)
The US military says it has carried out a strike on a vessel suspected of transporting drugs in the eastern Pacific Ocean, killing one man and leaving two survivors.
Video posted on social media by US Southern Command shows a boat speeding through water before exploding into flames. Southern Command said it "immediately notified the US Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors".
"Following the engagement, USSOUTHCOM immediately notified the US Coast Guard to activate the Search and Rescue system for the survivors. No US military forces were harmed," the US Southern Command said on X.
The Trump administration's campaign of blowing up alleged drug-trafficking vessels in Latin American waters, including the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean Sea, has gone on since September and killed at least 194 people.
Legal: Baziad (SYDNEY)
A man has been found guilty of murder after he bludgeoned a romantic rival over the head and threw his body in a river after being spurned by his love interest.
Gofal Baziad was convicted of the 2004 murder of Jason Palmer in the NSW Supreme Court on Wednesday after a jury took five days to be satisfied he killed the ex-husband of his love interest.
Mr Palmer told his ex-wife Renny to choose between him and Baziad, and she chose her former husband, the court heard.
He was later bludgeoned over the head with a patterned glass object before being stabbed multiple times in the torso, side and back in his Sydney apartment in February 2004.
Baziad, now 54, flew overseas months later and continued to be in contact with Ms Palmer.
Legal: Westpac (MELBOURNE)
Westpac has been fined $26 million for grossly negligent conduct after failing to respond to customers in financial hardship.
Federal Court Judge Tim McEvoy on Tuesday found that while the bank's conduct was not deliberate, it occurred over a relatively lengthy period, from 2017 to 2023.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission pursued Westpac in 2023 after it was found the bank had failed to respond to more than 200 online hardship requests from its customers over the six-year period.
Justice McEvoy found the requests were made by customers of Westpac and its subsidiaries St George Bank, Bank SA and Bank of Melbourne.
The customers were struggling to keep up with repayments on home loans, credit cards, personal loans, car loans and other responsibilities.
Climate Europe (LONDON)
Britain has smashed a century-old temperature record for the second time in 24 hours, as a spring heatwave scorches parts of Western Europe, triggering government warnings.
Several drownings were reported in Britain and France as people tried to cool down.
A temperature of 35.1C was recorded in London on Tuesday, Britain's Met Office weather service said, breaking the 34.8C record set a day earlier.
The provisional readings smashed the long-standing record of 32.8C set in 1922.
London also recorded a rare "tropical night", defined as one in which the temperature does not fall below 20C.
Records also fell in France, where temperatures reached 36C on Monday and remained above 20C at night.
The national weather service, Météo-France, said a "heat dome" with heat held in place by a high-pressure weather front, was producing temperatures more than 10C above what is usual.
Mideast (CAIRO)
Israeli strikes have killed at least seven Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including five in a refugee camp and two in a car, health officials said.
Medics and residents said an Israeli drone fired a missile at people who came out of their homes when an Israeli-backed Palestinian militia tried to storm an area east of Maghazi camp on Tuesday. As well as at least five fatalities, several people were injured.
Asked for comment on the incident around Maghazi camp, the military said troops identified what it described as "armed terrorists" near its armistice line with Hamas, and that they carried out a strike to remove the threat.
Incursions by Israeli-backed armed gangs, whom Hamas brands "Israeli collaborators", have escalated in past weeks.
Iran (TEHRAN)
Iran said the United States has violated a ceasefire after the US conducted what it called defensive strikes in southern Iran, while US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said negotiating a deal to halt the conflict could "take a few days".
Iran's foreign ministry said US strikes in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, where Iranian media reported sounds of explosions early on Tuesday, represented a "gross violation" of a tenuous ceasefire in place for nearly seven weeks.
Both sides had previously indicated progress on a memorandum of understanding that could halt the war and restart shipping through the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, while giving negotiators 60 days to tackle more complex issues including Iran's nuclear program.
Iranian media reported that the country's negotiators had been pushing for the memorandum to include the release of billions of dollars of frozen assets at talks in Qatar.
Economy (CANBERRA)
Inflation pressures are heating up, despite an expected fall in the consumer price index.
Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday is likely to show headline inflation cooled in April.
AMP economist My Bui has tipped the annual rate to fall to 4.4 per cent, from 4.6 per cent the month prior.
The slowdown is largely due to the government's decision to temporarily cut the fuel excise in half.
As a result, the Reserve Bank will likely look through the drop in the headline measure and instead focus on trimmed mean inflation, which gives a better sense of the underlying pulse, Ms Bui said.
AMP forecasts the trimmed mean edged up to 3.4 per cent year-on-year.
"We also see a lot more price rises (through) what we would call the secondary round impacts," she told AAP.
In finance ...
Markets Aust (SYDNEY)
Australia's share market has shrugged off an early wobble after April inflation came in cooler than expected, rising the odds the Reserve Bank will hold rather hike the interest rate at its June meeting.
The S&P/ASX200 crept 8.5 points higher by midday on Wednesday, up 0.11 per cent, to 8,667.2, as the broader All Ordinaries slipped 16.1 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 8,898.7.
April's headline consumer price index figure came in at 4.2 per cent over 12 months, lower than an expected 4.4 per cent and easing from March's 4.6 per cent.
The Reserve Bank's preferred trimmed-mean measure ticked slightly higher to 3.4 per cent, but both figures remain outside the central bank's 2-3 per cent target range.
Financial stocks held the index back from significant gains, the heavyweight sector down 1.2 per cent and tracking with even bigger losses for the big four banks, as Westpac slumped two per cent after copping a $26 million regulator fine for failing to respond to customer hardship notices.
Whyalla (ADELAIDE)
Two bidders have been short-listed to take over the troubled Whyalla steelworks in a multibillion-dollar sales process, although an Australian-led consortium still retains the right of last offer.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas announced on Wednesday that Australian-owned enterprise M Resources and Indian company Jindal Steel were the final bidders on the shortlist, from an initial 70 expressions of interest.
A $2.4 billion sovereign steel package was announced in 2025, after the state government placed the steelworks into the hands of administrators because of the mounting debts of ultimate owner GFG Alliance.
The two ''high quality'' bidders were well-resourced and well-positioned to deliver a long-term, modern, low-emission sovereign steelmaking business, the premier said, adding that a BlueScope Steel-led consortium retains the right of final offer.
In entertainment ...
Styles (LONDON)
Harry Styles has defended the controversial staging for his Together, Together tour after some fans branded the design "offensive" and complained parts of the show left them unable to see the singer perform.
The former One Direction star, 32, is midway through a 10-night run at Amsterdam's Johan Cruijff Arena, where the latest leg of his world tour began on May 16.
Styles has faced mounting criticism from some concertgoers over the stage's large walkway structures, which circle the stadium floor and have reportedly obstructed views for sections of the audience.
Addressing the criticism during Saturday night's concert in Amsterdam, Styles explained the thinking behind the stage design directly to fans.
"The reason why we made the stage like this is because I wanted to be in it with you.
Andrews (LONDON)
Dame Julie Andrews has made a rare public appearance in a video for the World Parkinson's Congress.
The 90-year-old legend, who became a global star in the film world with her roles in the likes of Mary Poppins and The Sound of Music, appeared in a video message shared on YouTube by the World Parkinson Coalition, as they addressed attendees at the event and commented that she knows "well how devastating" the disease can be.
She said in the clip: "Good evening, everyone, I'm Julie Andrews and I'm pleased to welcome you to the seventh World Parkinson's Congress.
"Your participation is invaluable as we seek to find a cure to this terrible disease. I know well how devastating it can be.
In sport ...
AFL Bombers (MELBOURNE)
James Hird wants to return as Essendon coach, apologising again for his role in their decline and promising he has learned from the debacle that nearly killed him.
Once news of Brad Scott's sacking from the AFL club broke on Tuesday morning, speculation immediately started about whether Hird would return.
President Andrew Welsh said he had not contacted Hird, but added no-one had been ruled in or out to be the senior coach next season.
Hird then confirmed on Tuesday night he was keen to coach the Bombers again.
"The most important thing for me as an Essendon person and what I want to see the football club to do … is for them to go through the most exhaustive process possible for them to find the best person to coach Essendon," he told the Nine Network.
RL Origin (SYDNEY)
Laurie Daley believes Nathan Cleary is unfairly judged for his State of Origin record, claiming NSW's fortunes don't rest solely on the halfback's fortunes.
Cleary will play his 18th Origin game on Wednesday night at Sydney Accor Stadium, with the pressure turning up on the halfback on Tuesday after halves partner Mitchell Moses was ruled out with a hamstring injury.
The 29-year-old will be expected to do the majority of the Blues' kicking alongside rookie Origin five-eighth Ethan Strange, who is not known for having a boom boot, giving Queensland an easy focal point to defend.
Cleary, the Blues most-capped No.7 of all time, has been peerless at NRL level in crunch games over the last six years of Penrith's dominance.
Ends Bulletin
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