A couple who purchased an apartment in a building that later turned out to have major leaky problems have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars after failing to prove the vendor knew of the issues at the time of the sale.In June…

The woman found killed at her home in suburban Auckland was a treasured grandmother who leaves behind a devastated twin, her family says.A family member said Maria Brown “helped so many people” and had funded the education of many…

Two men have been charged with murder following the death of Ryan Woodford earlier this year.A 31-year-old man and a 40-year-old man were those arrested and charged, Detective Sergeant Andy Livingstone said. Police were called…

The inaugural LEGO Masters NZ champions Jake Roos and Glenn Knight’s wow-factor grand final winning build nearly didn’t happen.Television viewers were gripped last night as three two-person teams were given free rein over 24 hours,…

A local councillor in Tasmania erupted at a regular meeting last night, telling the deputy mayor, "eject me from this meeting, girl" after she told him to stop interjecting.

Councillor David Grace, of Kingborough Council, had announced he was changing his vote on an issue, which prompted an admonition from Deputy Mayor Jo Westwood, as seen on the council's stream of the meeting online.

"I don't want you interjecting anymore," she said.

READ MORE: How much an interest rate rise will cost homeowners

"If you keep interjecting, I will eject you from this part of the meeting."

Grace snapped back, telling her, "come and take me out".

"You come across and eject me from the meeting, girl," he said.

"Don't be silly, I'm entitled to debate things on behalf of the council."

Westwood said he was entitled to the same privileges of debate as every other councillor, but that Grace was "pushing" things, before he cut her off.

READ MORE: No end in sight for cold snap as 'conveyor belt of cold fronts' approaches

"Don't you threaten me," he said.

"I've had enough of you lot threatening me. I'll be going off my head here one night, and I will tear this place apart."

He said his nerves were "shattered".

Westwood then directed Grace to leave, whereon he suggested she call the police.

The deputy mayor was seen picking up her phone, when another councillor suggested a quick recess.

On their return, both Westwood and Grace apologised for their behaviour.

READ MORE: How your iPhone will change in 2022

Mayor Paula Wriedt told nine.com.au in a statement that some "unwelcome comments" were made in the meeting.

"There are set rules that councillors must follow and allocated time for comments allowed from everyone," she said.

"The Deputy Mayor, Jo Westwood who was chairing the meeting at the time, was following these procedures so that each member of the Council had an appropriate amount of time on each agenda item.

"Cr Grace challenged her ruling and things got heated.

"When these rules are followed the meetings proceed well.

"The meeting was briefly adjourned and upon returning, I am glad say both Councillors apologised for their heated exchanges. The Council was then able to continue to work professionally through the remaining agenda items."

A crowd of 700 gathered at Te Henga, Bethells Beach, last week to farewell Thomas Coombes who was allegedly murdered on May 24. Coombes had spent his younger years growing up in Te Henga on the west coast and had become an intrepid…

China has urged Australia to respect its national security concerns and avoid "serious consequences" after a Chinese military jet carried out a "dangerous" interception of a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) surveillance plane.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman overnight refused to comment on the incident involving an RAAF P-8A Poseidon.

It was conducting routine surveillance in international airspace above the South China Sea on May 26 when a Chinese PLA Air Force J-16 jet flew "very close", set off flares and dropped chaff in its path, the Australian Defence Department said.

READ MORE: Chinese warplane interception shows limits of Australian power in disputed sea

But the spokesman insisted China's military conducted operations in line with international law.

"China will never allow any country to violate China's sovereignty and security in the name of freedom of navigation, and endanger peace and stability in the South China Sea," the spokesman said.

"China once again urges the Australian side to earnestly respect China's national security interests and major concerns, and to be cautious in words and deeds, so as to avoid misjudgement and serious consequences."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said during his visit to Jakarta yesterday the interception was dangerous and threatened the safety of the RAAF plane and its crew.

"We regard the actions of China in this area as being an act of aggression," Albanese said.

READ MORE: Why the sparsely-populated South Pacific islands have become the next US-China contest

Earlier, Defence Minister Richard Marles said the federal government had raised its concerns over the "very dangerous" intercept with the Chinese government.

The crew of the RAAF plane were unharmed and returned to base after the incident.

The Canadian government has also complained that China has been harassing its military surveillance aircraft monitoring North Korea as part of a UN mission.

But China's defence ministry said Canada should halt "any risky and provocative behaviour" or face "serious consequences".

The vast South China Sea has become hotly disputed between China and other countries, including Australia.

Tensions in the contested waters have ratcheted up since 2014 as China has turned sandbars into islands, equipping them with airfields, ports and weapons systems and warned Western warships and aircraft to stay away from them.

There have been other close encounters between Chinese and foreign warplanes over the years.

The worst of these occurred in 2001, when a Chinese fighter jet collided with a US Navy reconnaissance plane over the South China Sea.

In that case, the pilot of the Chinese F-8 fighter was killed and the US plane had to make an emergency landing on China's Hainan Island.

The 24 US crew members were held on the Chinese island for 11 days before their release.

– Reported with CNN

Forget everything you know about the history of chickens.

A breakthrough from English researchers has turned the long-believed history between chickens and humans on its head.

Previously anthropologists believed that chickens were domesticated 10,000 years ago in China, southeast Asia or India, and from there spread into Europe 7000 years ago.

READ MORE: How much an interest rate rise will cost homeowners

But a study published this week in Antiquity and The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA has shown humans only started domesticating chickens much more recently.

Until 1500 BC, the wild jungle fowl lived in the treetops of southeast Asia, too high up to be a regular source of food for humans.

But the development of dry rice farming drew the jungle fowl – the precursor to the modern chicken – down to ground level.

As the wild jungle fowl saw the rice as a source of food, farmers thought the same about the fowl.

READ MORE: Outrage in India over ad making light of gang rape

"This comprehensive re-evaluation of chickens firstly demonstrates how wrong our understanding of the time and place of chicken domestication was," Oxford University's Professor Greger Larson said.

"And even more excitingly, we show how the arrival of dry rice agriculture acted as a catalyst for both the chicken domestication process and its global dispersal."

An international team of scientists analysed chicken bones found in 89 countries.

Radiocarbon dating found the oldest evidence of the domesticated chicken in Ban Non Wat in central Thailand, dated between 1650 and 1250 BC.

From there domesticated chickens headed west, being taken across Asia into the Mediterranean.

It was not until about 300AD before chickens were regularly eaten in Britain.

Before then, Iron Age Europeans would not eat chickens, but would venerate them instead.

"Eating chickens is so common that people think we have never not eaten them," University of Exeter professor Naomi Sykes said. 

"Our evidence shows that our past relationship with chickens was far more complex, and that for centuries chickens were celebrated and venerated."

It was not until the 1960s that the chicken nugget was invented.

READ MORE: US tech firm halts plans for controversial Taser-equipped drone

After covertly taking control of an underworld encrypted messaging system, the Australian Federal Police have exposed just how deeply Italy's notoriously secretive and ruthlessly violent 'Ndrangheta mafia has infiltrated Australia.

The tentacles of the 'Ndrangheta reach into towns and cities across the country, the AFP revealed today, explaining how thousands of members will be presenting a modest front of regular family life while laundering billions in dirty cash in construction, agricultural and catering businesses.

"It's entirely possible that people would be living next door to members of the 'Ndrangheta without knowing," AFP Assistant Commissioner Nigel Ryan said today, describing the mafia as quiet puppet masters who control killer bikie gangs and hardened criminals on the frontlines of Australia's drug, illegal gambling and gun trade.

READ MORE: Oligarch's $200m superyacht goes 'dark' on epic 11,000km escape

"The 'Ndrangheta pride themselves on the fact that they have this omertà, which means they work in secrecy and silence," Ryan said.

"They've been able to operate in the darkness for so long."

But the AFP and FBI's audacious masterstroke to penetrate and quietly seize control of AN0M, a secure and encrypted messaging system favoured by criminals around the world, had changed everything, he said.

Since establishing themselves in Australia in the early 1920s, in towns like Griffith in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Ryan said the Italian mafia-linked families had legitimised their businesses to "wash billions" of ill-gotten gains.

Around 70 per cent of the world's cocaine is trafficked by 'Ndrangheta, and the AFP believes that same monopolising control of the illicit white powder exists in Australia.

"The 'Ndrangheta are actually the ones pulling the strings of different, other organised crime groups, particularly the more violent groups such as motorcycle gangs."

Assisted by the FBI, Italian police and other law enforcement agencies in Europe, the AFP has built out extensive familial mapping which revealed 51 Italian organised crime clans operating in Australia, of which 14 were "confirmed" as 'Ndrangheta.

"We've seen the familial blood lines, and marriage into blood lines," Ryan said.

"We see the same names coming up all the time in relation to organised crime in this country."

READ MORE: Mafia fugitive caught after posting cooking show to YouTube

READ MORE: Italian mafia boss 'the people-slayer' freed after 25 years in jail

Today's revelation comes one year after the AFP made public Operation Ironside, the biggest and most significant organised crime operation in its history.

That operation saw the AFP penetrate major crime groups by breaking into and assuming total control of AN0M.

AN0M allowed the AFP to build an extensive picture of the 'Ndrangheta in Australia, with agents methodically analysing an ocean of 28 million messages sent over the platform.

Users had no idea the AFP and FBI was watching.

Ryan said a "good majority" of those messages were between Italian mafia members and outlaw motorcycle gangs, particularly the Comancheros.

"Unfortunately for them, they invested in the wrong technology when they invested in AN0M."

However, Ryan said AN0M was not used by Asian or Middle Eastern crime syndicates.

"This is really a warning to Italian organised crime that they're on our radar," he said.

Ryan declared the AFP must "cut off the head and tail" of 'Ndrangheta in Australia, while promising more crime-busting headlines will follow today's revelations.

READ MORE: Indian climber reaches top of Everest, six years after faking it

READ MORE: No end in sight for cold snap as 'conveyor belt of cold fronts' approaches

Operation Ironside has already dealt a heavy blow to organised crime in Australia and around the the globe.

In Australia, 383 alleged offenders have been charged with 2340 offences.

More than 6.3 tonnes of illicit drugs and $55 million has been seized.

So far, 42 offenders charged under the operation have pleaded guilty or been sentenced.

Globally, more than 700 alleged offenders have been charged and 65 tonnes of illicit drugs seized.

READ MORE: 'Really frustrating' dilemma facing many Aussies right now

Who are the 'Ndrangheta in Australia?

The 'Ndrangheta, also known as the Calabrian mafia, typically try to maintain a low profile and not display overt wealth.

'Ndrangheta clans are headed by senior figures that have authority over the other members.

Australian-based 'Ndrangheta are believed to be assisted and directed by 'Ndrangheta in Italy.

The families are typically involved in drug importations, money laundering, tobacco distribution and acts of violence.

Since the 1970s, the Australian 'Ndrangheta are believed to have been involved in money laundering through legitimate business, making it difficult for law enforcement agencies to track the original source of money.

'Ndrangheta launder proceeds of crime through bitcoin, corrupt lawyers and accountants.

Australian 'Ndrangheta members are difficult to combat, infiltrate and disrupt due to the code of silence, known as omertà.

READ MORE: 'Uncomfortable truth' for Australia in China dispute

A television commercial for a male body spray has been taken off the air in India, after critics said it made light of gang rape.

Bollywood celebrities including Priyanka Chopra, Richa Chadha and Farhan Khan are among those to have lambasted the commercial for Layer'r Shot, a brand of male fragrance, calling it "shameful," "disgusting" and "incredibly tasteless".

Its controversial advert shows four men appearing to stalk a frightened-looking woman in a store before cutting to one of the men saying, "We're four, there's one, who takes the shot?"

READ MORE: How much an interest rate rise will cost homeowners

Only when the woman turns round does it become clear they are talking about the body spray – which one of the men then takes from a store shelf and uses.

The commercial caused a storm on social media, where critics including various celebrities blasted its innuendo as making light of rape.

Many said the timing of the advert made it particularly insensitive, as it was broadcast just a week after a case in which a 17-year-old was allegedly raped by five men in the southern city of Hyderabad – the latest in a series of high-profile crimes against women and minority groups across the country.

"This advertisement is clearly promoting sexual violence against women and girls and promoting a rapist mentality among men. The advertisement is cringeworthy and should not be allowed to be played on mass media," Swati Maliwal, chairwoman of the Delhi Commission for Women, wrote to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on Saturday.

READ MORE: British Prime Minister Johnson survives no confidence vote

Within 24 hours, the ministry had taken the commercial off the air and asked Twitter and YouTube to remove it from their platforms.

In an email to Twitter, the ministry said the videos were "detrimental to the portrayal of women in the interest of decency and morality" and violated the digital media ethics code.

In a statement Monday, Layer'r Shot apologised for the television advertisements, saying that they "never intended to hurt anyone's sentiments or feelings or outrage any woman's modesty or promote any sort of culture, as wrongly perceived by some".

The brand said it had voluntarily asked all its media partners to stop broadcasting the advertisements from Saturday with immediate effect.

Even after the commercial was taken down, it continued to cause a controversy.

Actress Richa Chadha was among those registering her disgust, calling the makers of the commercial "filth".

"Creatives, script, agency, client, casting… does everyone think rape is a joke?" Chadha tweeted.

Responding to Chadha's Tweet, Quantico star Priyanka Chopra called the ad "shameful and disgusting" and said she was glad that the ministry has taken it down.

READ MORE: Albanese tells Indonesian president he'll be at G20

Film writer and director Farhan Khan also slammed the advertisement.

"What incredibly tasteless and twisted minds it must take to think up, approve and create these stinking body spray 'gang rape' innuendo ads. Shameful," Khan, who is also a United Nations Women's Goodwill Ambassador, tweeted.

Actress Swara Bhasker said both the perfume brand and its marketing agency had been "tone deaf" given the alleged gang rape of the teenager in an upscale part of Hyderabad last Saturday.

The case has shocked the state of Telangana, of which Hyderabad is the capital.

Telangana's home minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali said on Saturday that "strong action will be taken against all the offenders, irrespective of their background."

It was "a ghastly incident," the minister tweeted on Saturday.