MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — A woman was critically injured off a popular Sydney beach on Saturday in the latest in a spate of shark attacks in Australia.
The woman, believed to be in her 30s, suffered serious leg and arm injuries in the attack at 11:15 a.m. off Coogee Beach, a police statement said.
Three spearfishing divers have been killed by sharks off the Australian coast since May 16, bringing the total of fatalities in the nation this year to four.
Australia has averaged between two and three fatal shark attacks a year since 2000, according to the Australian Shark Incident Database, a partnership of the Taronga Conservation Society Australia, Flinders University and the New South Wales state government.
On Saturday, police said the victim was attacked while swimming. Bystanders pulled her from the water and commenced first aid on the beach before paramedics arrived, the statement said.
The victim was taken to a rugby field near the beach from where she was flown by helicopter to a hospital. Police described her condition as critical.
Last Saturday, a 4.5-meter (15-foot) white shark killed Daniel Turpin, 35, as he was spearfishing with family off Michaelmas Island near the port city of Albany in Western Australia state.
On May 24, 39-year-old spearfishing diver Michael Jensz suffered fatal head injuries in an attack on the Great Barrier Reef off Australia’s northeast coast. Bull sharks had been seen in the vicinity.
A week earlier, on May 16, a four-meter (13-foot) white shark fatally mauled 38-year-old spearfishing diver Steve Mattabonni off the coast of Perth, Western Australia.
Australia’s other fatal shark attack this year occurred in January, when a 12-year-old boy died in a hospital days after he was mauled by a bull shark in Sydney Harbor.
Last year, Australia recorded five fatal shark attacks. Attacks in Australia have become more common over the decades as the population has grown and activities such as surfing and scuba diving have gained in popularity.
FILE - A sign is seen at the site of a fatal shark attack at Dee Why Beach in Sydney, Australia, on Sept. 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker, File)
People sit on stairs at Coogee beach following a shark attack in Sydney, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (Nadir Kinani/AAP Image via AP)
WASHINGTON (AP) — Workers began removing President Donald Trump's name from the facade of the Kennedy Center early Saturday, hours after a court-ordered Friday deadline to remove references to Trump from the building and other aspects of the iconic performing arts venue’s operations.
Scaffolding was erected Friday around a section of the building that includes Trump’s name, but shortly after midnight, the Kennedy Center asked a judge to extend the deadline until noon Eastern Time on Saturday because of thunderstorms that had swept through the Washington area, causing a delay.
In the filing, the Kennedy Center offered assurance that the “removal work is presently ongoing” and would “conclude in the early hours of the morning.”
A few hours later, workers began covering the scaffolding with tarps before they eventually started taking down Trump's name. They packed up and left the site around 3:30 a.m., though the tarps remained, leaving it impossible to determine if all the letters had been removed.
Dozens of people spent hours Friday on the plaza in front of the Kennedy Center taking pictures and cheering occasionally as they broke into chants of “take it down.” Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, an ex-officio board member who sued to have Trump's name removed from the building, was spotted at one point on the plaza.
Earlier Friday afternoon, a judge rejected a request to pause the court-ordered deadline. The institution appealed that ruling, an effort that was also rebuffed Friday evening.
After ignoring the Kennedy Center for much of his first term, Trump has wielded tremendous influence over the venue during his return to office. Just a month into his second term, he ousted the center’s previous leadership and replaced it with a board of trustees that named him chairman. Trump's name was quickly added to the building.
In his ruling that only Congress could make changes to the Kennedy Center's name, U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper also blocked the administration from closing the cultural and arts venue for major renovations that had been planned to start in July and last for two years.
The Kennedy Center's leadership argued in its appeal Friday that the renovation was badly needed and accused the lower court, in terms that seemed similar to Trump's speech patterns, of interfering in the effort.
“The District Court is not allowing us to close in order to properly fix up and repair the Building, including potentially life threatening structural damage like beams and parking garage ceilings that are rusted, and in serious danger of falling onto people below,” according to the appeal. “Indeed, total collapse!”
Even as the Kennedy Center has fought efforts to remove Trump's name from the building, it has taken steps to comply with Cooper's initial ruling.
A June 4 memo to staff from the Kennedy Center’s Office of General Counsel said email signatures, letterhead and other documents must reflect the name as “The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts” or “Kennedy Center.”
The Kennedy Center’s website has dropped Trump's name. And an earlier email sent to members offering ticket packages for the June 28 Mark Twain Award for American Humor ceremony came from the Kennedy Center without including Trump’s name.
Associated Press journalists Anna Johnson, Mark Sherman and Emily Wang in Washington and Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.
A worker removes a letter from President Donald Trump's name from the wall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A worker removes a letter from President Donald Trump's name from the wall of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Workers wait for the rain to stop before resuming work to remove President Donald Trump's name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Workers erect scaffolding in front of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts sign in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
A double rainbow is seen from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Workers construct scaffolding below the sign for the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Friday, June 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Protestors wave a U.S. and signs as workers prepare to remove President Donald Trump's name from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Saturday, June 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
