By RNZ The government is yet to decide if it will withdraw the Defence Force from the Solomons if troops or police from China are stationed there, the prime minister says.A draft agreement – leaked online – has indicated Solomon…

Schools in Victoria are installing hi-tech sensors to stop students from vaping, with an increasing number of school kids becoming addicted to nicotine without realising it.

"There is just this smell of vape all the time and it's just really gross," Year 11 student from Sacred Heart College in Geelong, Eleanor Naylor said.

The Catholic girls college is one of many across the state equipped with the vaping sensors, which aim to detect and deter kids from inhaling the harmful chemicals.

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"We started noticing that it was coming on site and we want to keep our students safe," Sacred Heart College Deputy Principal, Catherine Gulli said.

The sensors are being installed in toilets, and alarms in them send an alert to teachers, which with the help of CCTV, can identify students who are most at risk from vape smoke.

Some educators think teenagers may have picked up vaping as a habit as a way of dealing with the lockdowns.

"They can't go an hour without vaping and it's really disruptive to their learning," Ms Gulli said.

Some students say their friends are addicted to vaping.

"[I] had a friend, she used to vape in class every now and then. We'd be working on a project, and she would just bring out her vape," Ms Naylor said.

READ MORE: Melbourne air quality 'very poor' as smoke blankets the city

Medical experts say the puff bars or disposable vapes, which come in bright colours and fruity and dessert flavours, can be appealing to children.

"It is highly sad to see some of the addictive behaviours developing in some children some as young as primary school aged," Director of the National Child Health Poll at The Royal Children's Hospital, Dr Anthea Rhodes said.

Vaping is considered a healthier option for adults who are trying to quit smoking.

But now minors are illegally buying them under the counter and some even dealing them in the school yard.

"This is the enemy. This is what's getting kids addicted. It's too high, too concentrated," Nick from The Geelong Vape Co said. Kids are buying products labelled as nicotine free, but they actually contain traces of the highly addictive substance.

A single pod of vape juice is equal to a pack of cigarettes.

Dr Rhodes says consuming nicotine can present "significant risks" to the lungs and airways of children and young teenagers.

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As schools are working to stop students from vaping, there are calls for vapes to be better regulated, subjected to tougher advertising laws and stamped with warning labels.

Since October, adults have been required to have a prescription to buy a vape containing nicotine.

An inquest has heard Brisbane mother-of-three Hannah Clarke told a police officer she feared her husband would kill her in a text message, a fortnight before her murder.

The message sent to senior constable Kirsten Kent detailed Ms Clarke's fear of her estranged husband, Rowan Baxter.

"I know given the opportunity he wouldn't hesitate to kill me, I can see it from the look in his eyes," Ms Clarke's text message read.

READ MORE: Hannah Clarke inquest shown video of estranged husband's temper

A fortnight later, Baxter killed Ms Clarke and all three of their children in an arson attack.

The message also detailed a distressing Facetime call Ms Clarke had had with Baxter.

Senior Constable Kent told the inquest she had been on leave and was without reception when Ms Clarke tried to reach her.

By the time she saw the messages on February 19, 2020, Ms Clarke and her family had already been killed.

The inquest also heard of an incident involving Ms Clarke's four-year-old daughter Laianah.

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Police footage played at the inquest today showed Ms Clarke in distress after her estranged husband abducted the four-year-old and refused to return her.

"He just took off with her," Ms Clarke is heard saying in the video.

"He's playing games with me.

"[He] just called me now and said, you know, you either bring the other two back or I keep her."

Ms Clarke is then told by police they are powerless because at the time, there was no custody or domestic violence order in place against Baxter.

She told police she feared applying for an order would make matters worse.

When eventually a DVO order was in place, Baxter breached it, assaulting Ms Clarke and injuring her wrist.

The inquest was played an audio recording of communication between Baxter and police after the assault.

"I done nothing wrong," Baxter is heard saying.

The inquest will continue tomorrow.

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Tech billionaire and the world's current richest person Elon Musk has sensationally claimed that he thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin is secretly the world's wealthiest person.

Currently – on all legitimate scales – Musk is the one who holds that title, boasting an eye-watering net worth of around $340 billion.

On the other hand Putin, who is currently sanctioned by just about every nation in the west, is said to be paid just $140,000 a year in his role as President.

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That's a figure Musk doesn't buy.

"I do think that Putin is significantly richer than me," Musk said in an interview with Axel Springer CEO Mathias Dopfner, before refusing to elaborate on his answer.

Whether Musk was being truthful – or sensationalising the theory that Putin is the world's richest person for internet kicks – remains to be seen.

After all, the SpaceX and Tesla founder has publicly offered to fight the Russian President himself in a one-on-one battle to end the invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Putin has left almost no paper trail for his assets — mostly property — which are hidden behind complex financial schemes organised by his confidantes, according to a 2016 "Panama Papers" report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.

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Among the luxuries that have been linked to Mr Putin's friends and family, but never directly to him, are a $137.74 million (US$100 million) mega-yacht and a Black Sea palace allegedly built for Mr Putin's personal use.

"Putin's visible watch collection is worth multiples of his official salary," Bill Browder, an investor in Russia who became a fierce critic of Putin, told CNN in 2018. 

"The wealth came as a result of extortion and massive theft from state funds."

READ MORE: Putin's dramatic 'North Korea' plan for Ukraine

Putin estimated to be worth $274 billion

Browder testified before the US Senate in 2017 that he estimates the Russian leader's wealth to hover around $275.48 billion (US$200 billion) in assets, which would make him among the wealthiest people on the planet.

One theory of Mr Putin's wealth suggests that he has strong-armed Russia's oligarchs, threatening them with arrest or worse unless they fork over cash or stakes in their companies to him.

Still, tracking his wealth has proven next to impossible. 

Forbes magazine, which counts sleuthing the personal fortunes of the world's elite as part of its core mission, said figuring out Mr Putin's net worth is "probably the most elusive riddle in wealth hunting".

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But just because the general public doesn't have a good sense of where Putin's assets are hiding, "we can assume that US and EU intelligence agencies and law enforcement agencies have been tracking his assets for years," said Ross S Delston, an anti-money-laundering expert.

"If the US government, along with the EU, were to get serious about going after his assets, there'd be a lot of targets to hit," Mr Delston said.

"They'd be all over the world … certainly within the bounds of the EU and the US."

But would freezing Mr Putin's assets deter him from continuing the attack on Ukraine? Almost certainly not.

"We're not talking about stopping anything," Mr Delston said.

"We're talking about punishing him."

Additional reporting by CNN

A man will face court today charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend in Newcastle at the weekend.

Police will allege the man stabbed young mother Mackenzie Anderson, 21, multiple times at a unit in the city's north-west on Friday night.

Paramedics were called to the home in Mayfield but Ms Anderson died at the scene.

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Officers arrested a man, 22, who was taken to hospital for treatment for a hand injury.

Yesterday, police charged him with murder, entering a dwelling with intent and breaching an apprehended domestic violence order.

He will face Newcastle Local Court today.

Ms Anderson leaves behind a one-year-old son.

National Domestic Violence Service: 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).

If you are in immediate danger, call Triple Zero (000).