Australia news LIVE: Sydney, Melbourne property prices fall sharply; Trump sends tougher peace deal terms to Iran; Ebola cases in the DRC climb to 260

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What’s making headlines today

By Emily Kaine

Hello and welcome to our national news live blog for Monday, June 1. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage for the first part of the day. Here’s what is making news today.

• Price growth across the national property market has ground to a halt, new research shows, with steep falls in Melbourne and Sydney as higher interest rates, stretched affordability and the federal government’s overhaul of tax incentives combine to suppress values.
• Significant amounts of Russian timber are entering Australia after being laundered through China and other countries, evading tariffs imposed after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sparking demands for government action. The phenomenon – similar to the flow of Russian “blood oil” into Australia after being processed overseas – means that thousands of Australian home builders could be inadvertently aiding Putin’s war effort.
• The Australian sharemarket is set to slip today, with futures on Saturday pointing to a loss of 13 points, or 0.2 per cent, at the open. The Australian dollar was trading at US71.71¢ at 5.18am AEST.
• The number of confirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has climbed to 260 as officials updated their estimates of the outbreak’s size and international health organisations warned of the risk of further spread. Aid groups have said that without urgent intervention, this could be the world’s deadliest Ebola outbreak ever.
• And US President Donald Trump has toughened the conditions of a proposed peace deal to end the war with Iran, and sent his updated conditions to the country for consideration, three officials told The New York Times.