Welcome, readers, to the Afternoon Update.
Police say “items of interest” have been found in a new search to find the body of the missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy, with detectives scouring areas of the regional Victorian city on Wednesday.
Murphy, 51, was last seen nearly four months ago, when she left her Ballarat East home to go for a run on 4 February.
In March, police charged 22-year-old Patrick Stephenson with Murphy’s murder after arresting him in the nearby farming town of Scotsburn.
In a statement released on Wednesday, Victoria Police said detectives from the missing persons squad “located some items of interest” in Buninyong, about 11km south of Ballarat, on Wednesday morning during the search for Murphy.
Top news
NT police commissioner knew about racist awards | The Northern Territory’s top police officer Michael Murphy has agreed he was “gaslighting” Aboriginal people when he said he had not seen racism in the force, and admitted he knew about racist award certificates months before their existence was made public. Murphy denies deliberately misleading the public.
Editor-in-chief among casualties in News Corp restructure | Rupert Murdoch’s Australian media empire has been reorganised into mastheads which are free, tabloids which are subscription-based and so-called prestige titles the Australian newspaper and Vogue magazine. The casualties of the restructure include Lisa Muxworthy, the editor-in-chief of news.com.au, and John McGourty, the group director of the Editorial Innovation Centre and a former deputy editor of the Daily Telegraph.
Annual inflation rate rises to 3.6 % | Inflation has come in above expectations, rising to 3.6% in the 12 months to April. The consumer price index rose a touch from the year-on-year March figure of 3.5%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.
CSIRO stands by nuclear power costings | The CSIRO says it stands by its analysis on the costs of future nuclear power plants in Australia after the Coalition attacked the work, which contradicted its claims reactors would provide cheap electricity and be available within a decade.
White House says Israel’s latest actions do not cross US red line | The Biden administration has said recent Israeli operations and attacks in Gaza’s southern city of Rafah do not constitute a major ground operation that crosses any US red lines, and that it is also closely monitoring a probe into Sunday’s deadly strike on a tent camp it called “tragic”.
PNG PM blames rainfall for deadly landslide | Papua New Guinea’s prime minister James Marape has blamed “extraordinary rainfall” and changes to weather patterns for multiple disasters in the Pacific Island nation this year, including a landslide last week which may have killed thousands.
US returns stolen Italian art | Italy on Tuesday celebrated the return of about 600 antiquities from the US, including ancient bronze statues, gold coins, mosaics and manuscripts valued at €60m (US$65m), that were looted years ago, sold to US museums, galleries and collectors and recovered as a result of criminal investigations.
Irankunda named in Socceroos squad | Bayern Munich-bound Nestory Irankunda has been handed a first Socceroos call-up as head coach Graham Arnold named an extended 25-man squad for Australia’s 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Bangladesh and Palestine.
North Korea accused of sending balloons carrying excrement into South | South Korea has warned residents living near the border with North Korea to be on alert, after accusing the regime of sending balloons containing what appeared to be rubbish and faeces into its neighbour’s territory.
In pictures
Drawings depicting gladiators among discoveries at Pompeii
Drawings of gladiators believed to have been made by children inspired by watching battles at Pompeii’s amphitheatre are among the latest discoveries in the ruins of the ancient Roman city. The charcoal drawings were found during excavations at I’Insula dei Casti Amanti, a cluster of homes in Pompeii’s archaeological park that opened to the public for the first time on Tuesday.
What they said …
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“I overcomplicated it.’ – Shradha Rachamreddy, a competitor in the Scrippes National Spelling Bee
The 14-year-old came third in last year’s spelling bee after being felled by a four-letter word. She has returned as one of 245 spellers competing in this year’s US competition, with preliminary rounds beginning this week.
In numbers
Home affairs department officials have revealed the number of Palestinians who have been denied visitor visas to Australia. Officials note requirements include that they must be satisfied the stay is genuinely temporary, which is the main reason for these refusals.
Before bed read
Biographers, resharpen your pencils! The University of Melbourne’s shameful history of racism awaits
Good history is not static. It is intrinsically up for challenge. And this long-overdue truth-telling opens up ripe ground for a reckoning, writes Paul Daley.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: SOP. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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