In a significant diplomatic move that amplifies international backlash against a senior Israeli official, France announced Saturday it has imposed an entry ban on Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel’s far-right National Security Minister, over the official’s public mockery of detained humanitarian activists bound for Gaza. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot confirmed the ban in a post on X, stating the restriction was imposed immediately in response to Ben Gvir’s “reprehensible actions” toward French and European citizens who participated in the Global Sumud Flotilla, a grassroots humanitarian mission to deliver aid to blockaded Gaza. Alongside Italy, Barrot added, France is calling for the European Union to implement collective sanctions against Ben Gvir, marking a growing push for punitive measures at the bloc level. The trigger for this international outcry came on Wednesday, when Ben Gvir published a widely circulated video documenting the harsh treatment of detained flotilla activists in Israeli custody. The activists were intercepted and seized by Israeli military forces in international waters while attempting to reach the besieged Palestinian territory. The viral clip shows dozens of activists forced to kneel on the ground with their foreheads pressed to the surface and their hands bound behind their backs. Ben Gvir, holding an Israeli flag, can be seen heckling the restrained detainees as he walks among them, with the video captioned “Welcome to Israel”. The video sparked immediate global condemnation, prompting Israel to announce it would begin deporting all detained activists. Thirty-six French citizens were among the hundreds of activists on the flotilla, which marks the latest activist effort to break Israel’s 17-year air, land, and sea blockade of Gaza. Even as Barrot emphasized that France does not endorse the flotilla’s voyage, noting the mission “serves no useful purpose” in his view, he made clear that the mistreatment of French nationals could not go unanswered. “We cannot tolerate French nationals being threatened, intimidated or brutalised in this way, especially by a public official,” Barrot stated. France’s action is not isolated: Spain has joined the call for EU-level sanctions against Ben Gvir, while the United Kingdom summoned Israel’s top diplomat in London to issue a formal protest over what it called the “inflammatory video”. Even within Israel’s own governing coalition, the incident drew rare criticism. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acknowledged that Ben Gvir’s handling of the detained activists was “not in line with Israel’s values and norms”, though he has opted to keep the far-right minister in his cabinet, a move that reflects the fragile balance of power in Israel’s current right-wing government. Netanyahu has previously framed the humanitarian aid mission as a “malicious scheme” designed to support Hamas, the de facto governing authority in Gaza. The Global Sumud Flotilla, which departed Turkey last week with roughly 50 vessels carrying hundreds of activists and planned aid shipments, is the second such attempt to breach the Israeli blockade in as many months. A previous flotilla effort was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off the coast of Greece last month, with most activists expelled back to European countries. Since 2007, Israel has maintained full control over all land, air, and sea entry points into Gaza, restricting the movement of people and goods into the territory. During the 10-month Gaza war, the already dire humanitarian situation in the enclave has collapsed into catastrophe, with widespread acute food shortages, critical gaps in medical care, and repeated full shutdowns of aid deliveries by Israeli forces. The international community has repeatedly condemned Israel’s restrictions on aid, but this marks one of the first formal punitive actions taken by a major European power against a sitting Israeli cabinet minister over actions related to the Gaza conflict.
标签： Oceania
大洋洲
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Iran chief negotiator vows ‘crushing’ response if US returns to war
Rising tensions across the Middle East have reached a new flashpoint this weekend, as Iran’s top nuclear and security negotiator has issued a stark warning of devastating retaliation should the United States choose to resume open hostilities, while parallel violence on the Lebanon-Israel border continues to escalate despite tentative ceasefire efforts.
The warning came Saturday from Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran’s chief negotiator, following recent American media reports that the White House is actively considering launching new military strikes against Iran amid stalled negotiations over a permanent end to the conflict that began when U.S. and Israeli forces launched attacks on the Islamic republic on February 28. Writing on his social media channels, Ghalibaf emphasized that Iran’s armed forces have used the current ceasefire, implemented on April 8, to rebuild and reposition their capabilities. “If Trump commits another act of folly and restarts the war, it will certainly be more crushing and bitter for the United States than on the first day of the war,” he wrote.
The statement came just after Pakistan’s influential army chief, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir — who has served as a key international mediator in efforts to turn the temporary ceasefire into a long-term diplomatic settlement — concluded two days of talks with senior Iranian officials in Tehran and departed the capital Saturday. Iran’s leadership has repeatedly accused Washington of making unreasonable excessive demands that have stalled negotiations, leaving the region in a tense limbo between open conflict and formal peace.
Multiple U.S. media outlets, including Axios and CBS News, have recently cited anonymous sources confirming that the Trump administration is weighing the option of renewed military action if no breakthrough is reached in talks. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reinforced that posture last week, telling reporters on the sidelines of a NATO conference in Sweden that while there had been “some progress” toward a peaceful resolution, “things were not there yet.
Weeks of negotiations, including landmark direct talks hosted by the Pakistani government in Islamabad, have so far failed to produce a permanent ceasefire agreement or reopen full access to the Strait of Hormuz, the critical global oil chokepoint whose closure has disrupted millions of barrels of daily energy trade and roiled international markets. The ongoing impasse has left ordinary Iranian citizens facing profound uncertainty about their futures. Speaking to Agence France-Presse, 39-year-old Tehran resident Shahrzad summed up the widespread anxiety: “The state of ‘neither war nor peace’ is far filthier than war itself. You can’t even plan something as simple as signing up for a gym, let alone bigger things… I’m about to start a new job, and I’m scared war might break out again — that I’ll end up leaving the job like before, running off to another city out of fear.”
Diplomatic activity accelerated across the region over the weekend as global powers scrambled to de-escalate. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi spoke by phone with United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, emphasizing that Tehran remains committed to diplomatic efforts despite what he called Washington’s “repeated betrayals of diplomacy and military aggression against Iran, along with contradictory positions and repeated excessive demands.” Araghchi also held separate diplomatic calls with his counterparts from Turkey, Iraq, Qatar, and Oman, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency. On the U.S. side, President Donald Trump spoke Saturday with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, whose office confirmed the Emir voiced support for “all initiatives aimed at containing the crisis through dialogue and diplomacy.”
Beyond the Iran-U.S. standoff, violence continues to escalate on the Lebanese front of the broader regional conflict. On Saturday, the Israeli military ordered residents of 10 southern Lebanese villages to evacuate their homes immediately ahead of planned airstrikes targeting alleged Hezbollah positions. Since a fragile April 17 ceasefire, Israel has maintained a steady campaign of strikes, infrastructure demolitions, and evacuation orders in southern Lebanon, framing the operations as necessary to counter Hezbollah, which has also continued to launch regular attacks on Israeli military positions.
Hezbollah entered the broader conflict on March 2, firing a barrage of rockets into Israel just days after U.S.-Israeli strikes killed Iran’s supreme leader. Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported that Israeli warplanes hit roughly a dozen locations across southern Lebanon on Saturday, including an agricultural area where several Syrian workers were wounded. One overnight strike targeted a site adjacent to a hospital in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, causing severe damage to the medical facility that currently cares for 40 patients. Hospital CEO Dr. Salman Aydibi told AFP that this marked the third Israeli strike near the facility since the outbreak of the war.
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Uganda confirms new Ebola cases, linked to DR Congo
Ugandan health officials announced Saturday that three new positive Ebola cases have been detected in the country, all linked to an ongoing, rapidly spreading outbreak centered in the neighboring Democratic Republic of the Congo that the World Health Organization has already designated a public health emergency of international concern. This update brings Uganda’s total number of confirmed Ebola infections to five since the virus first crossed the country’s border and was detected locally on May 15.
Health authorities have publicly identified the three newly confirmed patients: a Ugandan long-haul driver, a Ugandan frontline healthcare worker, and a female patient from the DRC, where the outbreak originated. In an official statement posted to the social platform X, the Ugandan Ministry of Health confirmed that all three patients are still alive as of Saturday’s update.
The new diagnoses come just one day after the WHO upgraded the overall risk level of the DRC Ebola outbreak to its highest classification, “very high,” for the DRC itself. The UN health agency also noted that the regional risk level across central Africa remains “high,” while the global risk level is still categorized as “low.”
Ebola is an extremely virulent viral pathogen that spreads exclusively through direct contact with infected bodily fluids. In severe cases, it triggers catastrophic systemic symptoms including unstoppable internal bleeding and complete organ failure, with high mortality rates for unmanaged cases. According to the latest WHO data, the DRC has recorded 82 confirmed Ebola cases and seven confirmed deaths from the current outbreak, alongside nearly 750 suspected cases and 177 additional suspected fatalities.
Outbreak investigators say the epidemic spread undetected for an unknown period before it was officially identified. Complicating response efforts further, the outbreak is caused by the rare Bundibugyo Ebola strain, for which no specifically approved vaccines or targeted therapeutic treatments currently exist.
Days before the new cases were announced, on Thursday, Uganda enacted strict border control measures, suspending all public cross-border passenger and cargo transport to and from the DRC, after confirming the country’s first two Ebola cases. Both of those initial cases involved Congolese citizens who crossed the border into Uganda, and one of those patients died from the infection.
Contact tracing has revealed clear transmission links between the initial cross-border cases and the three new diagnoses. The infected Ugandan driver was operating the vehicle that carried the first ill Congolese patient into Uganda, while the Ugandan healthcare worker contracted the virus while providing care to that same infected cross-border patient. The third new case, the Congolese woman, had traveled to Kampala to receive treatment for abdominal pain, was discharged in apparent good health on May 14, and tested positive for Ebola after she returned to the DRC.
Ugandan health authorities stated that all known close contacts of the confirmed cases have already been identified and are currently under active, close medical monitoring to catch any new potential infections early.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned Friday that the ongoing response to the outbreak in the DRC faces unprecedented challenges. The epicenter of the epidemic lies in the eastern DRC, a region that has been torn by decades of persistent conflict between dozens of armed rebel groups and government forces, leaving it unstable and largely cut off from formal state services. This remote, insecure environment has forced response teams to work under extreme conditions to slow virus transmission and track down the contacts of all confirmed infected people.
The outbreak was first detected in the DRC’s Ituri province, and has since spread into areas of South Kivu that are currently controlled by the Rwanda-backed M23 militia. State healthcare infrastructure has been largely non-existent in rural parts of Ituri for decades, and local residents have grown increasingly critical of the Congolese national government for what they say is an unacceptably slow and under-resourced response to the crisis. Meanwhile, the M23 militia, which controls the affected parts of South Kivu, has no prior experience managing a large-scale outbreak of a deadly disease like Ebola, which has killed more than 15,000 people across Africa over the past 50 years.
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Pope condemns environmental harm in Italy’s ‘Land of Fires’
On a historic Saturday visit to one of Europe’s most devastating environmental disaster zones, Pope Leo XIV delivered a blistering rebuke of the criminal networks and systemic negligence that have turned southern Italy’s Campania region’s ‘Land of Fires’ into a public health crisis that has plagued local communities for nearly 40 years.
Known alternately as the ‘Triangle of Death’, the territory stretching around the city of Acerra, roughly 15 kilometers northeast of Naples, has been exploited since the late 1980s as an illegal dumping and incineration ground for hazardous industrial waste. Most of the toxic material originates from wealthy industrial regions in northern Italy, where corporate entities avoid the steep costs of compliant waste disposal by paying off the local Camorra mafia to eliminate the waste illegally. The illicit operation has buried or burned everything from asbestos panels and used vehicle tires to barrels of concentrated industrial chemicals, leaching heavy metals, dioxins, and asbestos into local soil, groundwater, and air across decades.
Today, the region is home to roughly three million residents, and public health data has consistently recorded cancer rates far above the Italian national average, alongside elevated rates of fetal and neonatal developmental malformations. Multiple Italian parliamentary inquiries launched since 2013 have confirmed widespread official negligence, and in some cases, direct political complicity with the criminal waste racket. A 2018 Senate report formally labeled the crisis an ecological catastrophe driven by organized crime and years of government inaction. Most recently, Europe’s highest human rights court ruled in 2025 that the Italian state had failed in its legal duty to protect local residents, ordering the national government to implement comprehensive remediation measures within a two-year deadline.
Arriving in Acerra’s Piazza Nicola Calipari via popemobile, Pope Leo drew thousands of excited local worshippers and onlookers. For many residents, the pontiff’s visit marked a rare high-profile moment of global attention for a crisis that has long been overlooked by national and international leaders. ‘The pope is maybe the only person who can awaken the conscience a little bit of all the people who have harmed this territory,’ 60-year-old local worshipper Giuseppina De Francesco told Agence France-Presse during the visit.
Speaking to clergy and family members of pollution victims at Acerra’s cathedral, the U.S.-born pontiff condemned what he called ‘a deadly mix of obscure interests and indifference toward the common good, which has poisoned the natural and social environment.’ He noted that the contaminated land ‘has paid a heavy price. It has seen many of its children buried. It has borne witness to the suffering of children and innocents.’ Pope Leo also extended recognition to local environmental activists, honoring their ‘courageous commitment’ that he described as pioneering work to raise public awareness of the ongoing poisoning of the region.
The pontiff’s trip was deliberately timed to coincide with the 11th anniversary of *Laudato Si’*, the landmark climate change encyclical released by his predecessor Pope Francis. That 2014 document, which denounced humanity’s unbridled and exploitative treatment of the natural world, was widely praised by climate scientists for its commitment to evidence-based environmental advocacy. Echoing the core message of his predecessor’s manifesto, Pope Leo emphasized that ‘In life, we understand that the more fragile beauty is, the more it requires care and responsibility.’
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Russian war drama among favourites for top Cannes prize
The 79th Cannes Film Festival is drawing to a close this Saturday, with a star-studded awards ceremony set to crown this year’s Palme d’Or winner following two weeks of glitzy premieres, industry parties, and global cinematic showcases. Among the crowded field of standout competitors, one title has risen to the forefront of pundits’ predictions: *Minotaur*, a taut family drama from exiled Russian filmmaker Andrey Zvyagintsev, rooted in the context of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The film centers on a cold, manipulative Russian businessman navigating the chaos of the country’s military mobilization for the war. In an interview with AFP, Zvyagintsev noted that his work carries a clear political message: “Those who agree that it’s time to put an end to this hell, and that it’s a nightmare and a disaster for Russia, those people will understand this film clearly.”
While *Minotaur* holds the top spot among early favorites, it faces stiff competition from a diverse slate of international contenders. Critics also highlight *La Bola Negra*, a high-budget Spanish production exploring multiple queer experiences; the stylized black-and-white historical drama *Fatherland*; and *Fjord*, led by Norwegian star Renate Reinsve. Dark horses in the race include *A Man of His Time*, a historical piece following an ambitious official in France’s World War II collaborationist government, and *All of a Sudden*, the acclaimed quiet drama from Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi.
Deciding the winner will be an international jury led by iconic South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook, with panelists including Hollywood A-lister Demi Moore and Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao of *Nomadland* fame. The winner will be revealed during Saturday evening’s closing ceremony. Last year’s top honor went to *It Was Just an Accident*, a political thriller from jailed dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi that examines torture and state violence in the Islamic Republic.
Ahead of the main prize announcement, several awards have already been distributed across the festival’s parallel and side competitions. Iranian documentary *Rehearsals for a Revolution*, directed by exiled actress-filmmaker Pegah Ahangarani about political repression in Iran, took home the festival’s top documentary honor.
In a historic moment for Nepali cinema, *Elephants in the Fog* — the first Nepali feature ever selected for Cannes official competition — claimed the Certain Regard section jury prize. Its entirely transgender cast celebrated the win with song and dance on stage, with lead actor Pushpa Thing Lama wrapping the Nepalese flag around director Abinash Bikram Shah’s neck during an emotional embrace. The Certain Regard top prize went to Austrian director Sandra Wollner for *Everytime*, described by jurors as a “gripping tale on grief.”
In other early awards, 18-year-old Bradley Fiomona Dembeasset took home the best actor honor for his performance in *Congo Boy*, a crowd-pleasing rap drama following a Central African refugee that saw the young actor discovered during an open street casting in Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic. British director Clio Barnard’s *I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning*, a portrait of five childhood friends that was one of the United Kingdom’s only feature entries at this year’s festival, claimed the top prize at the parallel Directors’ Fortnight section.
While this year’s edition drew its usual share of A-list Hollywood stars from John Travolta to Cate Blanchett, major U.S. studios were notably absent from the lineup. No major American production house opted to premiere a big-budget blockbuster at Cannes this year, following the same absence from the February Berlin International Film Festival — a gap that has sparked industry discussion about why leading studios including Disney, Universal, and Warner Bros. are stepping back from major European film events.
Beyond the race for the Palme d’Or, two key industry issues dominated conversation throughout the 11-day festival: the rising role of artificial intelligence in filmmaking production, and ongoing gender imbalance in the industry. Just five out of the 21 films competing for the festival’s top prize this year are directed by women, a statistic that has drawn renewed criticism from advocates calling for more equitable representation in global cinema.
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FozBall fires again: New hero emerges as depleted Sea Eagles survive late scare to knock off the Titans
For the Manly Sea Eagles, the narrative used to be simple: when star fullback Tom Trbojevic was sidelined, the team collapsed. But under first-year coach Kieran Foran, that long-held narrative is being rewritten, thanks to a breakout performance from an unlikely hero that sealed a tense 12-10 victory over the Gold Coast Titans on a rain-soaked Sydney night.
Manly headed into the clash missing no fewer than four of their most impactful players. Tom Trbojevic was already out of action, while two other established fullback options—Lehi Hopoate (suspension) and Tolu Koula (State of Origin representative duty)—were also unavailable. To make matters worse, star forward Haumole Olakau’atu and winger Jojo Fifita were also watching from the stands. For a side that once relied entirely on their superstar fullback to deliver results, the odds of extending their recent winning run looked stacked against them.
Step up Clayton Faulalo, the Sea Eagles’ fourth-choice fullback playing just his second senior NRL start in the position. The young utility produced two moments of individual magic that changed the course of the game. In the first half, he delivered a pinpoint, sharp pass to fill-in winger Blake Wilson that set up the opening try of the match. Later, he ran a brilliant line onto a perfectly timed inside ball from Ben Trbojevic to cross the line himself, stretching Manly’s lead and putting the Titans on the back foot.
With just 21 minutes left on the clock, Faulalo absorbed a heavy hip drop tackle but shook off the impact to see out the full 80 minutes. By the final siren, he had racked up an impressive 238 running metres, turning in a career-best performance that has already sparked speculation he could become a targeted signing for rival clubs when his contract comes up in 2028.
For the Titans, the match was supposed to be a celebration for one of their most beloved stalwarts. Mo Fotuaika entered the game poised to become the Gold Coast’s most capped player in club history, earning the record with his 174th appearance, breaking Mark Minichiello’s long-standing mark. But any hopes of a fairy tale upset quickly faded, as the visitors produced one of their most lethargic, error-ridden performances of the season.
The Titans’ bad luck started early, when an opening try from Jaylan De Groot was ruled out for an earlier knock-on. By the final whistle, the side had conceded 16 unforced errors, even with key Manly stars sidelined. While they got a late consolation try through AJ Brimson in the final minute to set up a nervous closing few seconds, they could not complete the comeback, falling just short of what would have been a shocking comeback win. Even with their starting wingers each running for more than 200 metres, the Titans forward pack failed to step up in the absence of captain Tino Fa’asuamaleaui, leaving the side stuck in second-last place on the premiership ladder heading into their upcoming bye.
For Manly, the win pushes them back into the top four on the NRL ladder, and extends their extraordinary run of form under Foran: the club great-turned-coach has now notched seven wins from just eight matches in charge, an incredible start to his senior coaching tenure. The result is even more notable given Foran only signed with the Titans as a player just 10 months prior to taking the Manly coaching job.
There was one sour note for Manly to end the night, however. Ben Trbojevic, who ran for 122 metres and was one of Manly’s most dangerous players on the left edge, suffered a head clash in the second half while carrying the ball. Initially classified as a category two concussion, the injury was later downgraded to category one—but the star back-rower will still be forced to miss the Sea Eagles’ next clash against the Cronulla Sharks this coming Friday, joining brother Tom on the sidelines in a major late setback for Foran’s side.
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Man dies and three injured after horrific ute crash on dirt road
A devastating road accident in rural Western Australia has claimed one life and left four other people with severe injuries, after a utility vehicle veered off an unpaved roadway and rolled over early Saturday morning.
The collision unfolded at approximately 12:30 a.m. along Samson Road in Jingalup, a small community located in the state’s Great Southern region. According to initial police reports, a 24-year-old man was operating a Toyota HiLux ute traveling southwest when he lost control of the vehicle, resulting in it rolling off the unpaved thoroughfare.
The 30-year-old man seated in the front passenger seat sustained catastrophic traumatic injuries in the crash. Despite emergency response efforts, he was pronounced dead at the scene of the incident.
The driver and three additional passengers – a 20-year-old man, a 19-year-old woman, and an 18-year-old man – all suffered serious but non-life-threatening harm in the rollover. All four injured survivors were transported by emergency medical personnel to Kojonup Hospital to receive urgent medical care and further treatment for their injuries.
Multiple emergency services agencies responded to the incident, including St John Ambulance paramedics, local firefighting crews, and Western Australia Police, who secured the crash site to begin the official investigation.
In the wake of the fatal tragedy, WA Police have issued a public appeal for any member of the community who may hold information relevant to the crash to step forward. Investigators are specifically asking for any available dashcam recordings, closed-circuit television footage, or mobile phone video that could document the moments before or after the collision, to assist with reconstructing how the incident occurred.
Witnesses or people holding relevant evidence also have the option to submit information anonymously through Crime Stoppers, either via the organization’s official website or by calling the toll-free hotline at 1800 333 000. As of the latest update, official investigations into the exact cause and circumstances of the crash remain ongoing.
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Teen biker in fight for life after crash near Queensland’s main highway
A serious traffic collision in central coastal Queensland on Saturday afternoon has left a teenage male motorcyclist fighting for his life, prompting emergency services to close a local road to facilitate an emergency airlift to advanced medical care.
Emergency dispatch centers received the first report of the crash just after 2 p.m. local time, with responders directed to Lindeman Drive in the town of Bloomsbury, a quiet suburban corridor located just off major regional arterial routes between the Bruce Highway and Midge Point.
Initial emergency teams including paramedics and firefighters arrived on scene within minutes to assess the incident, which involved a collision between the teen’s motorcycle and a passenger car. Confirming initial reports, a Queensland Police spokesperson stated that the young rider suffered severe, life-threatening injuries in the crash, and required urgent transfer to a major tertiary hospital beyond the capabilities of local ground transport.
To allow the air ambulance to land and evacuate the patient safely, a section of Lindeman Drive was temporarily closed to all through traffic, with local motorists advised to take alternative routes during the response. Paramedics from the Queensland Ambulance Service provided critical, life-saving care to the teen at the crash site before he was loaded onto the emergency aircraft, according to a service spokesperson who spoke to local outlet the *Courier Mail*.
As of the latest update one hour after the incident, no further details on the teen’s condition, the identity of the other driver, or the cause of the collision have been released by police, who remain on site conducting an initial investigation into the circumstances of the crash.
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State coroner Liberty Sanger to begin inquests into Dezi Freeman and slain police officers on Monday
Next week will mark the formal start of long-awaited coronial inquests examining three linked deaths: two police officers gunned down while executing a warrant, and their killer, Dezi Freeman, who was shot dead by officers following a seven-month manhunt across the Victoria-New South Wales border region.
The deadly incident unfolded on August 26 last year, when a team of Victoria Police officers arrived at Freeman’s rural property in Porepunkah, north-eastern Victoria, to serve an arrest warrant over historical sexual offence allegations. The 56-year-old, a self-identified “sovereign citizen” previously known under the name Desmond Filby, had a long record of open hostility toward law enforcement and the Australian judicial system. When officers entered the property, he opened fire, killing 59-year-old Detective Leading Constable Neal Thompson and 35-year-old Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart. A third member of the police team was left with life-threatening injuries.
In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Freeman fled the scene into the dense bushland of Mount Buffalo. An experienced outdoorsman with extensive knowledge of the local terrain, he evaded the massive manhunt launched by Victoria Police for seven months. Authorities offered a AU$1 million reward for any information that would lead to his capture on September 6, as the search expanded across state borders.
It was not until March 30 this year that Freeman was located, hiding in an abandoned shipping container on a rural property in Thologolong, roughly 200 kilometres northeast of his original Porepunkah home and just kilometres from the NSW border. After a multi-hour standoff with tactical police, Freeman was shot dead by officers.
Since Freeman’s death, Victoria Police has launched an additional line of inquiry into whether the fugitive received outside assistance from any sympathizers during his seven months on the run, a question the coronial inquest is expected to explore in depth.
The Coroners Court of Victoria has scheduled separate initial hearings for Monday, with a morning session dedicated to the two slain officers and an afternoon hearing held for Freeman’s death. State Coroner Liberty Sanger will oversee the proceedings, and a court spokesperson confirmed that the first session will lay out the foundational framework for the independent investigations.
“Judge Liberty Sanger will confirm the Victoria Police member assigned to be the coroner’s investigator in each respective coronial investigation and establish a timeline for delivery of the coronial briefs of evidence,” the spokesperson said.
Under Victorian law, coroners are tasked with independently examining all circumstances surrounding a death, and can make formal recommendations to change policies or practices if they identify gaps that contributed to the fatal outcome, in order to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
Speaking shortly after Freeman was shot dead in March, Victoria’s Chief Police Commissioner Mike Bush defended the tactical response, saying that officers had gone to great lengths to avoid a fatal outcome. “We tried everything possible, every tactical option that we have, to encourage the deceased to end this in a safe and peaceful manner,” Bush said. “He was given every opportunity to resolve this peacefully, and those opportunities weren’t taken.”
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‘I channelled a bit of Victor’: Club hatred put to the side as Cameron Murray and Victor Radley reunite for the Blues
The State of Origin rugby league series has long been defined by its iconic “mate against mate, state against state” ethos. Nowhere is this dynamic more apparent than in the 2026 opening clash, where two of the National Rugby League’s most storied club rivals are putting decades of inter-club animosity aside to share the blue jersey for New South Wales for the first time.
Cameron Murray of the South Sydney Rabbitohs and Victor Radley of the Sydney Roosters have grown up competing against each other, their clubs’ century-long rivalry ingrained in them from the earliest stages of their junior careers. Yet for the upcoming three-game series, that decades-long hatred is taking a backseat to shared state pride as the pair prepares to take the field as teammates.
For Murray, a mainstay of the Blues lineup since his 2019 State of Origin debut, the 2026 series marks a much-anticipated return to representative rugby. A devastating Achilles injury forced him to miss the entire 2025 campaign, an experience that gave him a new perspective on how much the jersey means. “You don’t really know how much you miss something until it’s gone,” Murray shared in pre-series comments. “Sitting out and watching from the sidelines was always hard. It makes you miss everything – the good and the bad bits, the highs and the lows. It’s all part of what makes rugby league such a great game, and what we do so special. I missed it a lot, I’m grateful that I’m back in, and I’m just working hard to do my best and prove to everyone – but more so prove to myself – that I’m ready to be back in the Origin arena.” The NSW side has openly missed Murray’s signature leg speed and rapid play-the-ball ability during his absence, and his return adds a critical dimension to the team’s forward lineup.
For Radley, the series marks a long-awaited debut. A recent change to State of Origin eligibility rules cleared the way for the English-born international to represent the state he has always called home, fulfilling a lifelong dream. The 28-year-old enforcer has built a reputation over his career as a fearless, boundary-pushing player whose aggressive style and relentless tenacity have made him a nightmare for opposition offenses.
The pair’s history stretches back to their childhood: they have been competing against and occasionally alongside each other since they were 8 years old, and shared a Junior Kangaroos lineup back in 2017, when Murray started at lock and Radley came off the bench. Even so, Murray says he has only played one or two representative games alongside Radley across their entire careers, with almost all of their matches seeing them on opposite sides of the field.
“I’ve had a lot of respect for Victor and what he’s been able to achieve and the type of footy that he plays,” Murray said. “I don’t think I’d be alone in saying that he’s built for an arena like this, and he’ll bring his best and he definitely deserves his shot. I’m really looking forward to running out alongside him.”
Both players have been named as reserves for next Wednesday’s series opener at Accor Stadium in Sydney. NSW Blues coach Laurie Daley selected the pair specifically for their above-average mobility and strong ball-playing skills, attributes that he views as critical to matching the frenetic pace of modern top-flight rugby league in 2026.
When asked about how evolving NRL rule changes might impact the pace and structure of next week’s Origin clash, Murray noted that the high-intensity representative fixture often looks different from regular season club play. “It’ll probably be a bit of a guessing game because the club competition has shown one thing, and Origin might show another,” he explained. “I’m not sure if Origin is going to be similar to the regular NRL season or the same old Origin that we all know it can be. You can overthink it a little bit if you try to plan for every outcome, but we’re all just going to be trying to bring our best, and I think we’ve got the talent in the team that if we can all play to our strengths and if we can play to our best ability, we’ll be able to get the job done.”
While the two forwards have very different on-field personas – with Radley’s aggressive, edge-of-the-rules play contrasting with Murray’s more controlled style – Murray says he has full confidence that Radley will find the right balance for Origin, where a single costly penalty can swing the result of a tight match. Murray himself knows the risk of overstepping the line: he was sin-binned for involvement in a melee during the 2024 series, an incident he jokes saw him channelling Radley’s signature intensity. “I think Victor’s been around the game long enough now and I think his maturity levels are at an all-time high, and he’ll just go out there and be Victor,” Murray said.
Blues star halfback Nathan Cleary got a firsthand look at Radley’s toughness during a training session this Thursday, and said he is equally excited to share the field with the Roosters forward. “It wasn’t much fun wrestling with him, I’ll tell you that,” Cleary laughed. “But Victor’s another one that I’ve never been able to play alongside him, but I’ve always admired him from afar. Just his competitive nature, his tenacity, and his will to win has always impressed me. Now getting to take the field with him, I’m really looking forward to it. He’s not afraid of putting his body on the line and doing what’s best for the team, and that’s shown so far.”