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Seven teens arrested and questioned over stabbing deaths of Dau Akueng and Chol AchiekBenita KolovosSeven teenagers have been arrested and are being questioned over the stabbing deaths of 15-year-old Dau Akueng and 12-year-old Chol Achiek earlier this month.Police on Friday confirmed homicide squad detectives raided homes in Melton South, Thornhill Park, Caroline Springs, Sunbury, Wollert, Hillside and Sydenham and arrested the seven teens.They are a 19-year-old Thornhill Park man; a 19-year-old Caroline Springs man; an 18-year-old Wollert man; three 16-year-old boys and a 15-year old boy, all from the north west suburbs of Melbourne.They are now being interviewed by police.ShareUpdated at 00.06 BSTKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureSearch for pilot continues after plane crashes in wilderness areaThe search continues for the pilot of a light plane which crashed in Budawang national park, AAP reports.Emergency services resumed their efforts on Friday morning, hindered by poor weather and difficult terrain.The plane took off from Bankstown airport in Sydney’s south-west on Thursday and was on its way back when an emergency location transmitter was activated about 4.30pm.The wreckage was spotted from the air in the park, about 25km north of Batemans Bay on the NSW South Coast, at about 5.30pm yesterday.The crash site could not be accessed by vehicle or on foot, NSW police said.ShareUpdated at 01.30 BSTPenry BuckleyNSW opens fast-charging electric bus depot in Australian firstThe NSW government has announced the first conversion of a major Sydney bus depot to electric fast-charging technology as part of its efforts to electrify the state’s 8,000-strong fleet.The Brookvale bus depot in the northern beaches has been fitted out with Australia’s first gantry-mounted charging systems. A mechanical arm connects the buses to overhead power lines via a “pantograph”, similar to the system used to power trains. An electric bus recharges in 20 minutes to an hour, providing up to 300km of travel.Electric buses charge through overhead pantographs at the Brookvale bus depot. Photograph: NSW governmentThe NSW transport minister, John Graham, says the program has begun in the northern beaches, which has faced serious issues with bus shortages:
The Northern Beaches experienced the worst of the bus driver shortage … and also lost high-capacity bendy buses when they had to be withdrawn from service for body work. Bus passengers here can look forward to a brighter, all-electric future.
As of August this year, greater Sydney had 220 electric buses in operation. Brookvale, the first of Sydney’s 11 bus depots to be fitted out, has 13 electric buses in service, although the government says the 13 charging stations and eight plug in-chargers will support 229.An overhead pantograph. Photograph: NSW governmentShareUpdated at 01.14 BSTAMA Queensland opposes the pill testing banThe Australian Medical Association of Queensland opposes the ban and warned it could put lives at risk, AAP adds. AMA Queensland President Nick Yim said:
We are disappointed with the government’s move to ban pill testing. Pill testing provides an opportunity for individuals to have a conversation with a health professional about their drug use.
As doctors, we are concerned we’ll see an increase in presentations to our emergency departments, particularly in the upcoming summer festival season, where we know people may use drugs.
ShareQueensland bans pill testing despite warnings crackdown puts lives at riskQueensland has become the first Australian state to ban pill testing, with medical experts warning the move could cost lives, AAP reports.The legal crackdown follows state government moves to scrap $1.5m in public funding for pill-testing services run by CheQpoint – one in Brisbane, the other on the Gold Coast – forcing services to close in April.The ban passed in state parliament late Thursday night makes any pill-testing operations illegal.Tim Nicholls. Photograph: Darren England/AAPThe health minister, Tim Nicholls, said:
The Crisafulli Government has a zero-tolerance approach to illicit drugs. I want to make it absolutely clear that there is no safe way to take illegal drugs and this government does not support publicly or privately funded pill testing.
Drug-checking services send the wrong message to Queenslanders.
Some services or trials remain in place in the ACT, Victoria and NSW. Queensland was the first state to establish a fixed pill-testing strategy by the ALP.ShareUpdated at 00.54 BSTJordyn BeazleyBocsar chief says small number of charges highlights complexity surrounding such abuseJackie Fitzgerald, the executive director of Bocsar said:
The small number of charges highlights the complexity of investigating and prosecuting this form of abuse.
With a median time of 131 days from the police report to charge, it’s clear that building a prosecutable case under this new legislation requires time, evidence, and a deep understanding of the patterns of behaviour involved.
Fitzgerald said the true test of the legislation will come when a case that proceeds to trial for the first time allows “the courts to examine the evidence, interpret the law, and set important precedents for how coercive control is prosecuted in NSW”. She added:
In the first 12 months, only three coercive control charges were finalised in court.
In two cases, the charges were withdrawn by prosecution. And in the third case, the defendant pleaded guilty, meaning no contested charges have yet been tested through the judicial process.
ShareUpdated at 01.04 BSTJordyn BeazleyOnly nine people charged during first year of NSW’s landmark coercive control lawsOnly nine people have been charged in New South Wales under the state’s landmark coercive control laws, despite there being nearly 300 recorded incidents.The data, released today by the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (Bocsar), tracked the impact of the legislation – which criminalises coercive control in intimate partner relationships – in the year since it was introduced last July.The legislation marked a significant shift in the way domestic violence was recognised in the state amid a nation-wide reckoning over how many women continue to be murdered by their intimate partners.Bocsar found there were five distinct controlling behaviours on average in the 297 recorded incidents. The most common were harassment and monitoring or tracking. Meanwhile threats or intimidation, financial abuse (48%) and shaming or humiliation were recorded in around half of the incidents.The rates were higher in the regions, with the Far West and Orana and Central West recording the highest in the state. Nearly half of those that alleged a coercive control incident had a recorded history with police of being victim-survivors of domestic violence.ShareBenita KolovosVictoria police have been undertaking ‘significant investigation’ after deathsPolice say since the deaths of Akueng and Achiek, in two separate incidents on the night of 6 September, a “significant investigation” by the homicide squad has been under way to “identify those responsible and collect all available evidence”.They say local police also increased patrols in the Cobblebank area as part of their community reassurance efforts, and met with local schools, council and community leaders.The investigation into the deaths remains ongoing and urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit an online confidential report.ShareSeven teens arrested and questioned over stabbing deaths of Dau Akueng and Chol AchiekBenita KolovosSeven teenagers have been arrested and are being questioned over the stabbing deaths of 15-year-old Dau Akueng and 12-year-old Chol Achiek earlier this month.Police on Friday confirmed homicide squad detectives raided homes in Melton South, Thornhill Park, Caroline Springs, Sunbury, Wollert, Hillside and Sydenham and arrested the seven teens.They are a 19-year-old Thornhill Park man; a 19-year-old Caroline Springs man; an 18-year-old Wollert man; three 16-year-old boys and a 15-year old boy, all from the north west suburbs of Melbourne.They are now being interviewed by police.ShareUpdated at 00.06 BSTJack SnapeGout Gout misses out on 200m final but says better performances are ‘coming’The promising debut of Gout Gout on the international stage has come to an end after he was eliminated at the world championships in a competitive semi-final in Tokyo.The 17-year-old finished fourth last night in his race behind winner Bryan Levell, and missed out on the two additional time-based qualification places on offer after running at 20.36sec.Gout Gout competes in the Men’s 200m semi final at the World Athletics Championships 2025 in Tokyo, Japan. Photograph: Mast Irham/EPAAlthough Torrie Lewis couldn’t progress in the women’s 200m either, Australia’s middle distance runners and high jumpers found success in the National Stadium on Thursday.In the men’s 200m, Gout’s time was marginally slower than the 20.23sec he ran in his heat, and was well off the 20.02sec he produced to lower his own national record in a meet in Czechia in June.But he was positive afterwards, and said he would build on this experience. “Semi-finalist, and to go out there and compete against the big guys, I couldn’t be prouder of myself for sure,” the teenager said.Read more here:ShareUpdated at 00.04 BSTPatrick ComminsNearly one in three single-parent households in Australia live in poverty, Hilda report showsA major national survey has revealed a “silent crisis” among Australian families, with nearly one-in-three single-parent households living in poverty.The newly released statistical report on the long-running Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia survey found that, after adjusting for housing costs, 31.3% of single-parent families were living below the poverty line in 2023. Photograph: Kaan Sezer/Getty Images/iStockphotoThis group is nearly three times more likely to be in poverty than two-parent households, the survey showed.The latest reported figure was down from a record high reported in 2022, but was still well above the 25% share of single-parent households in poverty a decade earlier and higher than the 28.3% in poverty in 2003.Hilda’s co-director, Roger Wilkins, said the history of the survey revealed a worsening trend over the past 10 to 15 years as changes under the Howard and Gillard governments forced single parents – predominately mothers – off parenting payments and on to less generous unemployment benefits.Read more:Share
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