One girl who ran to escape returned into danger to help her screaming sister.

The circumstances surrounding the crash remain under investigation.

The Crown says ‘it takes two’, while the defence says only one person is culpable.

But, a jury wasn’t buying it – defendant guilty of multiple charges.

A decision to close an ANZ branch in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales has outraged some locals, with an online petition launched to keep the bank open.

"We live in Mount Victoria, and if the Katoomba branch closes, we face a 1.5-hour drive either east or west to reach the nearest ANZ branch," the petition reads.

"This is not just an inconvenience; it's an outrageous disregard for customers from a bank that reaps significant profits."

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So far, the petition has gathered 131 signatures out of a goal of 200.

The Katoomba ANZ branch will shut its doors on October 23 this year, at 1.30pm.

Those in Penrith and Bathurst will remain open.

"Australians are adopting digital methods as their preferred way to bank, with around 99 per cent of ANZ customer transactions conducted digitally or via an ATM," ANZ district manager Rohini Agnihotri said.

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"We are working closely with our customers to ensure they are well supported and aware of all the ways they can complete their banking."

He pointed customers to the ANZ App, internet banking, and phone banking as replacement options.

"We also have a team of community-based bankers, such as mobile lenders, who meet with our customers to discuss their banking needs at a location that best suits them," Agnihotri said.

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The claimed "real life Martha" depicted in hit Netflix series "Baby Reindeer" has spoken publicly for the first time, denying she ever stalked show creator Richard Gadd.

Scottish woman Fiona Harvey, 58, was interviewed at length by UK journalist Piers Morgan on his YouTube show Uncensored on Thursday.

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The Netflix drama "Baby Reindeer", released in April to rave reviews, is promoted as being an autobiographical story depicting real-life events.

In the seven-part series, comedian Richard Gadd portrays Donny, who is stalked by a woman called Martha after he serves her a cup of tea in a pub.

Viewers quickly connected Ms Harvey to the on-screen character Martha following the show's release due to their physical similarities and posts she had made on social media.

Ms Harvey, who claims she is identified as the stalker, said she received death threats over the show, which she labelled as "defamatory" and "a work of fiction".

"I think that anyone going along and being in that play and doing this to somebody, I find the behaviour outrageous," she told Piers Morgan.

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Gadd claims he received 41,071 emails, 744 tweets and 106 pages of letters from a woman who inspired the creation of Baby Reindeer.

In the interview, Ms Harvey initially told Piers Morgan "I don't think I sent him anything" before acknowledging on further questioning that there were likely "a couple of emails", "18 tweets" and "one letter".

Harvey also denied ever sitting outside Gadd's house, attacking his girlfriend or contacting his parents.

"You're 100 per cent sure it's not you?" Piers Morgan asked her.

"Yes," Ms Morgan replied.

Ms Harvey says she is considering legal action against Netflix and Richard Gadd over the show's depiction and the criticism she has faced since its released.

A Brazilian horse nicknamed Caramelo by social media users garnered national attention after a television news helicopter filmed him stranded on a rooftop in southern Brazil, where massive floods have killed more than 100 people.

About 24 hours after he was first spotted and with people clamouring for his rescue, a team in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state successfully removed Caramelo, providing a dose of hope to a beleaguered region.

The brown horse had been balancing on two narrow strips of slippery asbestos for days in Canoas, a city in the Porto Alegre metropolitan area that is one of the hardest-hit areas in the state, much of which has been isolated by floodwaters.

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"We found the animal in a debilitated state," Captain Tiago Franco, a firefighter from Sao Paulo deployed to lead the rescue, was quoted as saying in a statement from that state's security secretariat. "We tried to approach in a calm way."

Firefighters and veterinarians climbed onto the mostly submerged roof, sedated and immobilised the horse and then laid him on an inflatable raft — all 350 kilograms of him. The operation involved four inflatable boats and four support vessels, with firefighters, soldiers and other volunteers.

The rescue was broadcast live on television networks that filmed from their helicopters. Social media influencer Felipe Neto sent out updates to his almost 17 million followers on X as the rescue was underway. Afterwards, he offered to adopt him.

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"Caramelo, Brazil loves you!!! My God, what happiness," he wrote.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's wife, Janja, posted a video of herself sharing the good news with the Brazilian leader, whispering into his ear at an official event. He smiled, gave a thumbs up and hugged her to him. Rio Grande do Sul's Governor Eduardo Leite also celebrated the rescue, posting on X: "All lives matter, we stand firm!"

Caramelo is recovering at a veterinary hospital affiliated with a university.

Mariângela Allgayer, a veterinarian and professor at the institution, said Thursday afternoon on social media that he arrived very dehydrated.

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He is about seven years old and, based on his characteristics, was likely used as a draft animal for a cart, Bruno Schmitz, one of the veterinarians who helped rescue and evaluate Caramelo, later told television network GloboNews. He's also very gentle, Schmitz added, which greatly helped with the administration of sedatives.

"It was a very difficult operation, well beyond the standards even for specialised teams. I think they had never been through something like this before, but thank God everything went well," he said, then showed Caramelo standing up.

The stranded horse is just one of many animals rescue workers have been striving to save in recent days. Rio Grande do Sul state agents have rescued about 10,000 animals since last week, while those in municipalities and volunteers have saved thousands more, according to the state's housing secretariat.

Animal protection groups and volunteers have been sharing images of difficult rescues and heartwarming scenes of pets reuniting with their owners on social media.

One video that went viral shows a man crying inside a boat, hugging his four dogs after rescuers went back to his home to save them.

Heavy rains and flooding in Rio Grande do Sul have killed at least 107 people. Another 136 are reported missing and more than 230,000 have been displaced, according to state authorities.

There is no official tally for the number of animals that have been killed or are missing, but local media have estimated the number is in the thousands.

Not far from where Caramelo was rescued, pet owners in Canoas celebrated as they waited in line to get donations at a makeshift animal shelter organized by volunteers.

"So much bad news, but this rescue does give people here some more hope," said Guilherme Santos, 23, as he sought dog food for his two puppies. "If they can rescue a horse, why not all dogs that are still missing? We can definitely do this."

Carla Sassi, chairwoman of Grad, a Brazilian nonprofit that rescues animals after disasters, said she is meeting with state government officials in Canoas to discuss emergency measures to rescue pets.

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Joyful crowds gathered along the streets of France's southern port of Marseille on Thursday to see torchbearers carrying the Olympic flame through the city's most emblematic sites, a day after it arrived on a majestic three-mast ship for a welcoming ceremony.

It was the first leg of an 11-week journey across the country for the torch, which will be carried by about 10,000 bearers as it passes through more than 450 towns until the Olympics Games opening ceremony in Paris on July 26.

Former soccer player Basile Boli, who played with the Marseille team in the 1990s, kicked off Thursday's relay from the Notre Dame de la Garde basilica that overlooks Marseille and the Mediterranean.

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"I'm very proud," Boli said.

"You feel like you're on top of the world, because with an Olympic flame there's a special fervour. … It's the symbol of sport."

Basketball player Tony Parker later took his turn in the relay, praising "a great honour." On a nearby crowded beach, swimmers and sunbathers cheered the torch bearers as the flame passed.

"The enthusiasm of Marseille for the flame is phenomenal," Maurice Genevois, a local resident, said.

"Honestly, I have rarely seen such a celebration."

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Magali Evrard, who came from the town of Martigues, in Marseille's region, said "it's been so long since we started talking about this and now we're in it.

"We are on the road to Paris. We can't wait, it's great," she added.

A fencing champion, a skateboarder, a Michelin-starred chef and a comedian were also chosen to carry the flame on Thursday.

"Let's go for a fantastic celebration," said Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organising committee.

"The Games are back in our country. … Let's share this fantastic moment of celebration with millions of people in the country."

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Participants were scheduled to run all day past landmarks in the city to bring the torch to the roof of the famed Stade Vélodrome, home to Marseille's passionate soccer fans. Ivory Coast's Didier Drogba, a former star player for the Marseille club, was the last torchbearer of the day and lit the Olympic cauldron just outside the stadium.

Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said "it's fantastic to give that sense of pride to the French people and to show to the whole world what we're capable to achieve."

"'We're going to give happiness to the whole world," she added.

Torchbearers included Ukrainian gymnast Mariia Vysochanska, who won two gold medals at the 2020 European Championships and competed at the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Her inclusion was an expression of solidarity with Ukraine as well as a symbolic gesture to mark Europe Day, which falls on May 9 each year. Vysochanska led a group of 27 other athletes who represent all European Union member states.

"It's a way to really celebrate Europe, its values and also to demonstrate our attachment to the European sport model," Oudéa-Castéra said. Ukraine received the green light last year to start accelerated talks on joining the EU.

"(Ukrainians) face that terrible war of aggression, and we want to really express that we support them the best we can," she said.

"This is unity. This is hope. This is solidarity. And we want their victory."

Marseille on Wednesday celebrated with great fanfare the flame's arrival, with more than 230,000 people attending the ceremony in the Old Port, according to the city's mayor, Benoît Payan.

During the Games, the sailing competition and some soccer matches will be held in Marseille.

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They are 11 words that would change the world of cinema forever.

"Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothin' yet!" would be uttered ad-lib by singer Al Jolson in 1927's The Jazz Singer, the first time an audience would see an actor on screen, communicating as they would in the foyer, without full-frame intertitles explaining plot transitions, or gurning faces to emphasis an emotion.

The technology behind The Jazz Singer would quickly kill the era of silent film, as thousands of theatres were rewired for sound.

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But now Shooshfest, Australia's first silent short film competition, is bringing back the hush to the movie house.

"It's where film began," says co-founder of Shooshfest, Rebecca Zemunik.

"You can have title cards, no diegetic sounds, so no sound within, but sound on top of is allowed, (like the piano accompaniment that was traditional in the silent era) and off you go.

"Some are animated, some are stop motion, some are really narrative driven, some are more esoteric."

The films are allowed a maximum of 10 minutes on-screen, and will be judged by experienced screen creatives like Mark Joffe, a film director and producer whose credits include Spotswood with Sir Anthony Hopkins and the ABC series Jack Irish.

"Sound is really important, whether you use it or not; it's actually great when you don't use it," Joffe says.

"The Artist won the Best Picture Oscar 10 or 15 years ago without any sound."

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Twenty entrants have submitted for this inaugural festival, which will be announced tonight in Sydney, with the winner taking home the Golden Finger statuette, the finger meaning "shhhhhh".

"It's been an absolute joy to see what people have been able to put together," Zemunik says.

Mark adds: "It just goes back to storytelling.

"It's all about being entertained, that's the bottom line."

Australian entertainer Kamahl will face court next month after a woman accused him of stalking her.

The singer, born Kandiah Kamalesvaran, has been accused of stalking a 38-year-old woman, who has now applied for an apprehended violence order against him.

The 89-year-old will face one count of stalking with intent to cause fear and the AVO application made against him at Sutherland Court in Sydney next month.

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It's alleged the singer threatened the woman after she invited him over for dinner in May 2023 to ask for business funding.

Kamahl deposited $2000 the next day before the woman agreed to pay the singer back in $5 weekly repayments.

The first repayment transaction sent from the woman to Kamahl caused the disagreement between the pair after the woman wrote "to the molester" in the transaction description.

Kamahl told 9News the claim was unfounded and he has never faced sex crime-related charges.

There is no suggestion that he had committed a sex crime.

A text exchange followed between the pair, where the woman alleges she was threatened.

"I just wanted you to know that your behaviour is unacceptable and you're lucky I haven't gone to the authorities," a text from the woman to Kamahl read.

"You are a liar, and a failure, and most of all an ungrateful b—-. The best is yet to come!" Kamahl responded.

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The singer told 9News that he was not taking his medication when he replied to her.

"I'm an 89-year-old man… I was not being unkind I was responding to a situation without all of my faculties," Kamahl told 9News.

"I'm not worried, meaning that it is what it is, any publicity is better than no publicity, I'm sure about that." 

The alleged victim declined to comment.

National Domestic Violence Service: 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732). If you are in immediate danger call triple zero (000).