Four Australians remain in self-isolation on a cruise ship struck by a hantavirus outbreak that has so far been linked to the deaths of three passengers, as the vessel continues towards the Canary Islands.
Cruise Ship Hantavirus Outbreak
The four Australians are among those still aboard the MV Hondius, operated by Oceanwide Expeditions. The ship is heading for the port of Granadilla in the Canary Islands and is expected to arrive towards the end of the weekend after leaving Cape Verde on Thursday (AEST). All four boarded the vessel at Ushuaia, Argentina, on 1 April at the start of an Atlantic cruise.
A spokesperson for Oceanwide Expeditions confirmed that all four Australians remain on board and in self-isolation, contradicting some reports that one had already returned home. The reports were based on the fact that more than two dozen passengers disembarked in St Helena on 24 April, 11 days before the first case of hantavirus was confirmed. One New Zealander was among those 30 passengers who left the ship, along with the body of a 70-year-old Dutch national who died on board ten days into the voyage. International health agencies coordinated through the World Health Organisation are now tracing the subsequent movements of those passengers.
The cruise company said there were currently no symptomatic individuals on the MV Hondius. “Oceanwide Expeditions remains in close and continual discussion with relevant authorities regarding our exact point of arrival, quarantine and screening procedures for all guests, and a precise timeline,” a statement said.
Markets Slide on Middle East Tensions
Australian shares fell heavily on Friday, wiping nearly $50bn in value as US and Iranian forces traded fire in the Strait of Hormuz, undermining an anticipated peace deal. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 closed down 1.5% at 8,744.40 points, erasing most of the week’s gains. Ten of the ASX’s 11 sectors fell, with telecommunications the only one to record a modest rise.
Shares in News Corp, listed in both the US and Australia, jumped 2.6% on the ASX after the media conglomerate posted a 9% increase in quarterly revenue to US$2.19bn ($3bn). Its news media division, which includes Australian mastheads, recorded the weakest earnings figures out of its four main divisions, led by digital real estate, business news-focused Dow Jones and book publishing. Chris Weston, head of research at Melbourne-based financial firm Pepperstone, said “once again, the news flow on the geopolitical front has shown that the path towards a lasting agreement is anything but linear”.
No Jail for Teacher Who Sent Explicit Messages to Child
A former private school teacher who sent messages detailing sexual contact to a minor will serve his time in the community rather than a jail cell. William Roberto Gulson had been teaching at Sydney’s elite Knox Grammar school and tutoring privately, before embarking on a 90-minute online exchange with someone he believed was a 15-year-old boy in 2024. In reality it was a 14-year-old who, along with another teen, was running a fake profile on LGBTQI dating app Grindr in an attempt to catch paedophiles.
Gulson stood frozen as he was sentenced to a three-year community bond and ordered to complete 400 hours of community service in Sydney’s Downing Centre local court on Friday. The 28-year-old will also appear on the NSW child protection register for eight years, is obliged to report any new tattoos and is barred from online gaming platforms that allow communication with children.
Gulson had testified the conversation amounted to a lapse in judgment as he was multitasking, marking papers. Judge Hugh Donnelly slammed the former English and drama master’s account as “improbable, implausible and inconsistent with the logical course of events”. He had found Gulson guilty of procuring a child for unlawful sexual activity in January, determining he had a sexual interest in children. The judge described Gulson’s texts as “extremely explicit”, mentioning kissing and licking, and highlighting a message which read “do you find it (sic) hot you’re the same age as my students?” Gulson has lodged an appeal against his conviction and sentence.
Measles Alert Issued for Sydney’s Sutherland Shire
NSW Health has urged people in the Sutherland Shire of Sydney to be alert for symptoms of measles after a confirmed case in a returned traveller from South-East Asia. The person visited several locations in the shire while unknowingly infectious, including healthcare facilities. Since January, 47 measles cases have been confirmed in New South Wales. In March, NSW Health reported 23 confirmed cases for the start of 2026, compared with 37 cases recorded for the entirety of 2025, with the surge predominantly linked to overseas travel, particularly from Southeast Asia.
South Eastern Sydney Local Health District public health physician Dr Anthea Katelaris urged people to monitor for symptoms, particularly if they had visited exposure locations. “Symptoms to watch out for include fever, sore eyes, runny nose and a cough, usually followed three or four days later by a red, blotchy rash that spreads from the head and face to the rest of the body. It can take up to 18 days for symptoms to appear after an exposure, so it’s important for people who visited these locations to look out for symptoms for this period,” she said. Katelaris also encouraged the community to ensure they were up to date with measles vaccinations, which can prevent the disease after exposure if given early enough.
Three Men to Stand Trial for Murder of Schoolboys
Three men accused of murdering two young boys as they walked home from a basketball match have been committed to stand trial. Peter Addo, 19, Abel Sorzor, 19, and Prince Conteh, 20, all formally entered not guilty pleas in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday afternoon. They are accused of attacking Chol Achiek, 12, and Dau Akueng, 15, at Cobblebank in Melbourne’s outer north-west on 6 September.
The two boys were on their way home from basketball when a group of males allegedly set upon them and stabbed them to death. Five other accused — all aged 15 and 16 — have also been charged with two counts of murder. At a preliminary hearing in April, the court was told police found a sword at the home of one of the 16-year-old accused after the alleged murders. Preliminary testing suggested it was likely the 16-year-old boy’s DNA was on the sword’s handle, while the DNA of one of the slain boys was on the blade.
Addo, Sorzor and Conteh each elected to have their cases fast-tracked to the Victorian Supreme Court where they will stand trial on two counts of murder. Magistrate Stephen Ballek remanded them each into custody to face their first directions hearing on 29 May. Senior Crown Prosecutor Kristie Churchill SC also indicated the underage accused were planning to have their cases fast-tracked. The five teens are expected to complete that process at a children’s court next week.
Concerns Over Datacentre Growth in Sydney
Councils in Sydney have raised concerns about the proliferation of datacentres, warning that unregulated growth risks straining infrastructure and displacing housing. The City of Sydney deputy mayor, Jess Miller, told a NSW inquiry into datacentres that the community is “rightly suspicious of datacentres”. “The impression that they have, based on what they can see, is that they’re ugly, intrusive and parasitic. They take more than they give,” she said. Miller noted that these “quite lifeless, block-long, anonymous, cavernous buildings with no street activation” were already having a massive impact on the community without proper regulatory guidelines.
There are currently 16 datacentres operating in the City of Sydney area, she said, with 15 more in the development pipeline. “Uncoordinated growth without proper planning will strain the electricity grid, use huge amounts of drinking water, undermine our climate goals, take up scarce land needed for housing and jobs, cause local environmental impacts and provide limited local economic benefits,” she added. “Allowing datacentres in areas zoned for light industrial industry means we are forced to permit the use of scarce inner-city land to datacentres, which risks displacing productive, job-rich businesses.”
In Lane Cove, the deputy mayor, Rochelle Flood, similarly told the inquiry that consultation from datacentre developers had been lacklustre. She said residents who live in properties adjoining the business park where a proposed “Project Mars” datacentre is to be built “didn’t receive an initial letter of notification” and were not aware of online Zoom meetings because “some of them are in their 80s. They’re not particularly digitally savvy.” Project Mars is a proposed 90MW datacentre at 12 Mars Road, Lane Cove West, which has drawn attention due to its proximity to residential areas and bushland. Flood said residents were concerned about the cumulative impact of several datacentres already in the business park on air quality, the environment and electricity demand. She called for the NSW government to impose a moratorium on new datacentre approvals until issues such as renewable energy requirements, recycled water, demonstrated community benefits, and local input in planning are addressed. Lane Cove Council has lodged a formal submission raising concerns about height, noise, environmental damage to bushland, and the impact on the Community Nursery.
Women Charged After Returning from Syria
A Sydney woman charged with joining the Islamic State will remain in custody after prosecutors argued the case against her was “strong and straightforward”. Janai Safar, 32, appeared before NSW Bail Court on Friday after she was arrested at Sydney airport on Thursday evening. She faces one count of entering, or remaining in, declared areas, and another charge of being a member of a terrorist organisation. Each offence carries a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Judge Daniel Covington refused Safar’s bail application because it did not meet the exceptional circumstances test. Her lawyer, Michael Ainsworth of Samuel Griffith Chambers, argued she should be released on bail because she committed the offences when she was 21 and has been in a refugee camp for nine years. “She’s been in a situation that is, is, in itself, custodial in another country,” he told the court. Safar reportedly travelled to Syria in 2015 to join her husband, a member of the Islamic State group, and returned to Australia with her son.
Two other women who returned to Australia on Thursday — Kawsar Abbas, 53, and her daughter Zeinab Ahmad, 31 — were arrested in Melbourne and charged with crimes against humanity, including enslavement, possessing a slave, and using a slave. Abbas also faces charges of engaging in slave trading. Police allege the pair travelled to Syria in 2014, knowingly kept a female slave in their home, and that Abbas was complicit in the purchase of a female slave for US$10,000. Each of those charges carries a maximum penalty of 25 years’ imprisonment. Bail was formally denied for both women, with their lawyers intending to apply for bail on Monday.
A total of 13 women and children returned to Australia on separate flights into Sydney and Melbourne. The Australian Federal Police has been investigating the conduct of Australians who travelled to the Islamic State’s caliphate since 2015, including potential terrorism offences and crimes against humanity such as slave trading. Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said the government did not assist with repatriation but warned that anyone who committed alleged crimes would face the “full force of the law”. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese expressed zero sympathy for the women but sympathy for the children, who he said are victims of their parents’ decisions. The women and children had spent years in Roj camp in the Syrian desert.
The shadow minister for home affairs, Jonno Duniam, released a series of questions the Coalition has about the women’s return, including why, if there was sufficient evidence to arrest them, there was not enough to impose temporary exclusion orders. He also asked how much taxpayer money had already been spent and would be spent to establish charges and continue to monitor the cohort. “Australians deserve transparency from a government that has chosen to allow individuals that have allegedly committed some of the worst crimes imaginable … back into the country,” Duniam said. Separately, when asked about a leaked document suggesting the Coalition is considering cutting net overseas migration by between 150,000 and 200,000, Duniam said “we haven’t put a number on that”. He stressed the importance of understanding how migration targets relate to housing construction capacity and said a number would be provided before the election.
Archibald Prize Awarded to Richard Lewer
Melbourne-based artist Richard Lewer has won the 2026 Archibald Prize and $100,000 for his portrait of Pitjantjatjara Elder, traditional healer and senior artist Iluwanti Ken. Lewer spent time with Ken in the Aṉangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands of South Australia, aiming to capture her presence as both an artist and a community Elder. The life-size portrait features a bright yellow background reflecting the heat and light of the APY Lands and includes flecks of paint on Ken’s arm, signifying her as a working artist. Lewer, a six-time Archibald finalist, said he was struck by Ken’s immense, quiet authority despite her small physical stature. The Archibald, Wynne, and Sulman Prizes 2026 exhibition will be on display at the Art Gallery of New South Wales from 9 May to 16 August 2026. Sean Layh won the Packing Room Prize for his portrait of actor Jacob Collins.
Julie Bishop Resigns as ANU Chancellor
Former foreign minister Julie Bishop has resigned as the chancellor of the Australian National University, effective immediately. Her term was due to end in December 2026. Bishop’s tenure was marked by significant turmoil, including job cuts, bullying allegations, and disputes between staff and university management. A contentious cost-cutting proposal that would have led to hundreds of staff redundancies was abandoned when vice-chancellor Genevieve Bell resigned in late 2025. It is unclear why Bishop stepped down early, but reports suggest she believed the universities regulator had overreached its authority. Independent ACT Senator David Pocock praised the move, stating Bishop was acting in the best interests of the ANU. Dr Larry Marshall, the pro-chancellor, will act as interim chancellor.
ABC Reporters Denied Entry to One Nation Event
Reporters from the ABC were denied entry to One Nation’s press conference in Albury earlier today, in an incident independent politician Michelle Milthorpe criticised as “quite rude” and a “missed opportunity” for the party. Journalists from other outlets, including The Australian and The Daily Telegraph, were permitted entry. One Nation leader Pauline Hanson, local candidate David Farley, and MP Barnaby Joyce were present at the press conference.
Universities Respond to Canvas Platform Cyber-Attack
Australian universities and schools are coordinating a national response to a cyber-attack on the Canvas education platform, which has disrupted services. The attack, claimed by the cybercrime group ShinyHunters, affected approximately 9,000 institutions globally, compromising data for an estimated 275 million users. Data potentially accessed includes names, email addresses, student IDs, and private messages. Instructure, the vendor of Canvas, stated there is no evidence that passwords, dates of birth, financial information, or government identifiers were compromised.
The University of Canberra said on Friday it was one of 25 Australian and New Zealand universities affected and was part of a coordinated national response involving the federal education department, the National Office of Cyber Security, and Universities Australia. RMIT told students that any assessment due between today and next Friday has been given an extension until 11:59pm on 15 May. The University of Sydney was rescheduling exams and offering extensions, mark adjustments or alternative arrangements for any assessment affected by the outage. The Queensland government confirmed that tens of thousands of students and staff using the QLearn platform since 2020 are likely affected. The peak body for private schools in NSW, Independent Schools NSW, held a meeting with affected schools on Friday afternoon. The platform is used not only by universities but also by schools and TAFE institutions.
