Two cousins are on trial for continuing to punch a man after he no longer posed a threat.

The issue is part of a larger probe into election conduct at the marae.

Hollywood actors have reached a tentative agreement with the major film and television studios to end a strike, the actors union announced on Wednesday (USA time).

The strike had shut down production across the industry for nearly four months and raised existential questions over the future of the entertainment business.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, had been negotiating with the union off and on throughout the year to reach a deal.

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"In a unanimous vote this afternoon, the SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical Committee approved a tentative agreement with the AMPTP bringing an end to the 118 day strike," the actors union said in a Wednesday night announcement (Thursday morning AEDT).

The strike will officially end at midnight, the union said.

The studios have not yet publicly acknowledged the resolution.

Terms of the deal, which still needs to be ratified by the union's members before it can take effect, were not immediately disclosed.

But union president Fran Drescher posted some highlights on Instagram Wednesday night.

"We did it!!!! The Billion+ $ Deal! 3X the last contract! New ground was broke everywhere! Ty sag aftra members for hanging in and holding out for this historic deal!" Drescher posted.

Drescher also thanked the AMPTP "for hearing us and meeting this moment."

The agreement sets the stage for the roughly 160,000 actors represented by SAG-AFTRA to return to work after they walked off the set on July 14, joining the writers' guild in a historic double strike against the studios – the first time the writers and actors had simultaneously been on strike in more than 60 years.

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While the writers' strike was resolved in September, production has remained shuttered as the actors continued to strike and negotiate their contract.

At the centre of both standoffs is the rise of artificial intelligence, which threatens to upend the entire entertainment business, and became one of the final and most elusive issues the actors and studios sought agreement on.

But a person familiar with the matter told CNN that the studios have agreed to adjust language on AI, appearing to resolve that outstanding issue, at least.

Still, the deal could face challenges getting ratified.

An online petition signed by more than 5,000 members recently urged the union to take a hard line in negotiations toward a final deal, saying they would not agree to a deal that did not meet the demands laid out at the start of the strike.

"We have not come all this way to cave now," said the letter.

"We have not gone without work, without pay, and walked picket lines for months just to give up on everything we've been fighting for. We cannot and will not accept a contract that fails to address the vital and existential problems that we all need fixed."

Long road to a resolution

A deal did not come easily – or quickly.

After several fits and starts, the striking actors had resumed negotiations on October 2 with producers after a long time away from the bargaining table.

The announcement to restart talks came a day after leaders of the Writers Guild of America voted to authorise its members to return to work following their tentative agreement reached September 24 between union negotiators and Hollywood's studios and streaming services.

But the actors' contract negotiations didn't last long, breaking down on Oct 11 before returning later in the month.

By the end of October, it appeared the actors' strike was approaching its final scene. SAG-AFTRA and AMPTP had made significant progress in negotiating sessions, arriving at tentative understandings on key components of a potential deal, CNN reported.

This past weekend, the studios said they delivered the union their "last, best & final offer."

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But the union said in a message to its members that there are several "essential items" that the two sides have yet to reach agreement on, such as the use of AI.

Despite growing pressure to the reach a deal, 5,000 SAG-AFTRA members signed an online petition urging a hard line in negotiations toward a final agreement, saying they would not agree to a deal that did not meet the demands laid out at the start of the strike.

Hollywood's most famous stars were eager to get back on set.

George Clooney, Tyler Perry and other A-list actors offered to pay millions more in union dues to help end the actors' strike, a source with knowledge of the proposal previously told CNN.

Clues from the writers' strike

SAG-AFTRA's deal follows on the heels of the Writers Guild agreement, whose strike ended after 148 days.

The WGA deal ramped up pressure for SAG-AFTRA to reach an agreement along the same lines. SAG-AFTRA joined the picket line a little over two months after the Writers Guild went on strike.

Their contract, which will expire in May 2026, includes pay increases, better benefits, protections against the studios' use of artificial intelligence, guarantees for streaming compensation, longer-duration employment terms and other perks.

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SAG-AFTRA's demands were similar to WGA's, particularly regarding artificial intelligence and residuals payments from streaming services for their work. WGA's ratified contract included assurances that AI cannot write or rewrite literary material and will require AI-generated materials to be disclosed to writers.

Both actors and writers alike believe AI poses an existential threat to their livelihoods.

A major sticking point during negotiations was SAG-AFTRA's demands for an 11 per cent wage increase in the first year of the proposed contract term, while the studios had only agreed to a 5 per cent pay raise.

Work for many writers resumed promptly.

Late night's biggest hosts – Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, John Oliver and Seth Meyers – returned to the air quickly after the writers strike ended.

But Hollywood actors have not appeared on their shows to promote their movies during the actors strike.

The Hollywood strikes have been costly, with a nationwide economic impact of at least $7 billion ($US5 billion), according to economists.

The impacts have gone beyond production; it's affected local businesses and restaurants, as well as makeup artists and custodians.

Optus' rival telecommunications companies have reported a spike in new customers just a day after a mass outage hit 10 million customers.

Having endured a staggering data breach in late 2022, Optus customers were yesterday left with no connectivity at all, resorting to cash payments in business, borrowing phones and many decided to get a new telephone company.

Rival telcos, while quick not to comment on the actual outage given the nature of technology means the next outage could happen to anyone, are seeing signs of increased sign-ups to their networks.

READ MORE: Is Optus still down and what caused it? Your Optus questions answered

Vodafone stores have seen a dramatic uptick in customer visits to sign up.

"Over the last 24 hours we've seen more than a four-fold increase in activity across all our brands including Vodafone, TPG iiNet, felix and Lebara, making it our busiest sales day in the last year – and it's not slowing down," a Vodafone spokesperson told 9News.com.au.

Switching telcos is actually a remarkably easy process and taking your phone number from your existing telco to a new one – known as "porting" – is usually a five to 60-minute process.

However it appears even that system has slowed with the impact of the exodus of Optus customers.

"Our store and online support teams are ready to help customers connect and have been providing temporary numbers in instances where slight delays have occurred when porting numbers from other carriers," Vodafone said.

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Boost Mobile, which operates on the full Telstra network but has different plans to its network partner has also had an influx of signups, reporting five times its average daily sales yesterday and double its normal website traffic as Aussies went in search of a new telco.

General manager of Boost Mobile Jason Haynes told 9News.com.au they welcomed all new Boost customers and promised them the "biggest network, most reliable network and a team that will always work hard for their business, never taking it for granted".

Meanwhile, those who are the most tech-savvy are realising that with a modern smartphone, it's possible to switch telcos without ever going to a store. 

An eSIM is digital version of the plastic SIM card we put in our phones to activate on a network and eSIMs are enabled by simply scanning a QR code.

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Many Telcos offer eSIM signups, via their websites or apps, with Kogan Mobile seeing a big bump in those customers yesterday.

"We've just crunched the numbers and yesterday Kogan Mobile saw 400 per cent higher eSim sales than a normal day," Kogan representatives told 9News.com.au.

"It was actually Kogan Mobile's highest volume of eSim sales in a day this financial year."

While Telstra was unable to provide data on their new customer sign ups, industry sources tell 9News.com.au that based on the queues that have been seen at Telstra stores, and their partners like JB HiFi, there's little doubt they too have had a strong uptick in new customers in the last 24 hours.

It's not just the Optus outage that's affecting these decisions.

Several telcos, Kogan included, are marketing aggressive new-user deals of 60 per cent off for the first month, a way to not just give a message to Optus but to save money at the same time.

At the time of writing there is still no word from Optus as to exactly what went wrong with their network.

The Australian Weather Calendar turns 40 next year and is celebrating in style.

Police have arrested a man in Victoria over the theft of a rare Mustang, which was painted black and had its spoilers removed in an attempt to avoid detection.

The $400,000 2021 Ford Mustang Shelby was stolen from a south-east Melbourne garage last month, in what police described as a "brazen" theft.

Police discovered the car following a tip-off last week, executing a search warrant at an address in Narre Warren.

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Police said the one-of-a-kind car had been wrapped in black paint and the spoiler removed.

The one-of-a-kind Mustang was stolen from its former racecar driver owner last month.

CCTV images from early October showed two men loitering out the front of Mustang Motorsport, before one of the men, wearing a black baseball cap and sunglasses drove off with the Mustang.

Police said vehicles were being moved in and out of the showroom at the time and the key to the car was accessible.

Detectives charged a Narre Warren man, 37, overnight with theft, driving on a disqualified licence and drug possession.

He was remanded to appear at Ringwood Magistrates' Court.

A 32-year-old Carrum Downs man was interviewed and released without charge.

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It comes after police made a public appeal to find the car.

The owner of the Mustang, 60-year-old former racer Craig Dean, told media he was disappointed by the theft.

"It's pretty devastating really that someone could come in and take your possession," he said.

Australia just had its driest three months on record, and it's not going to let up soon.

The Bureau of Meteorology's November drought statement, issued yesterday, showed just how parched the country is, with some areas experiencing record-low levels of rainfall.

Nationwide, October rainfall was the fifth-lowest since 1900 – down 65.4 per cent on the long-term 1961-1990 average, and every state and territory except Victoria dropped below their own averages.

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Western Australia had its driest month since 1900, with 83.5 per cent less rain than average.

Queensland's rain was 83.8 per cent below average, and South Australia's was 76.4 per cent below.

And the month wasn't an outlier.

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The Bureau's numbers showed that August to October was, on average, the driest three-month period Australia has ever had, with an average rainfall of 22.63mm.

Rural Aid CEO John Warlters said recently that farmers around the country were already facing drought conditions.

"The drought has already arrived for thousands of farming families," he said.

"Lower than average rainfall and higher than average temperatures and have plunged families back into financial and emotional turmoil."

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BOM's long-range forecast released last week suggested below-average rain for the next three months – November to January – was extremely likely for much of Australia.

This matches up to the prediction of the World Meteorological Organisation, released today, that the current El Nino weather pattern will remain until "at least" April next year.

"Extreme events such as heatwaves, drought, wildfires, heavy rain and floods will be enhanced in some regions, with major impacts," WMO secretary-general Professor Petteri Taalas said.

A landmark bipartisan Senate inquiry into ADHD has concluded and handed down its report this week, including 15 recommendations to change diagnosis and treatment, and improve the lives of those who live with the condition.

In more than 700 submissions and three public hearings, the inquiry heard of the significant challenges facing the more than one million Australians who are believed to have ADHD.

So what are those challenges, what has the inquiry recommended, and what's actually going to change? Let's take a look.

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How much does ADHD assessment and diagnosis cost in Australia?

One of the main issues identified by the Senate inquiry was the difficulty in getting assessed and diagnosed with ADHD, including the "exorbitant cost" of the process.

It heard of patients paying $500, $700 and $950 for diagnoses or psychiatrist consultations, and the ADHD Foundation said it knew of some health professionals charging up to $5000 for assessments.

That, in turn, is stopping some people from seeking a diagnosis and forcing families to choose which of their children to get assessed.

"We're looking at families that are looking beyond $20,000 … they're having to make decisions on which member of the family will have the treatment," ADHD WA told the inquiry.

"We have stories of parents, when they've been able to access the medication, having to share the medication, which obviously is not best practice, between the family members."

Part of the problem is "almost all" ADHD diagnosis for adults is done through the private rather than public sector.

"As we see in the private system, there are no regulations around costings at the moment," the ADHD Foundation said.

"As a consequence, the private operators are charging whatever they feel they can get away with, which is unacceptable."

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Is ADHD covered under the NDIS?

The Senate committee said there is "widespread confusion" about the eligibility for the NDIS of people who have ADHD.

While the condition is listed under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992, it isn't listed on the NDIS List A or B access lists, and several groups submitted that it isn't covered by the scheme.

But a health department submission showed there are people on the scheme for ADHD, although it's a tiny proportion of the total program; of the almost 600,000 NDIS participants, 188 (148 children and 48 adults) have ADHD listed as their primary condition.

The NDIA explained how this happens when ADHD isn't on the access lists.

"The (NDIS) act itself doesn't list disabilities," it told the inquiry.

"We have some lists that help us guide decision-making… but you don't need to be on any of those lists, per se, to (get access to) the scheme.

"There are a whole range of impairments and disabilities that don't appear on any of those lists, but we still assess a person's functional ability and permanency to access the scheme.

"ADHD isn't on any of those lists – that's correct – but that doesn't preclude anyone with ADHD testing access to the scheme."

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What else did the inquiry hear about ADHD?

Plenty. In addition to the cost barriers, the inquiry heard of significant wait times for assessment – and that early diagnosis can be life-changing.

"(It) highlighted the desperate lack of support in our communities for people with ADHD seeking diagnosis and treatment," Dr Alison Poulton, chief investigator of 'A Pilot Study of Integrated Care for ADHD', said.

She added that "the lack of information and qualified professionals who can diagnose and treat it has reached crisis point".

It heard there are other issues contributing to poor patient experiences, including insufficient information, fragmented and expensive care, and inconsistent medicine prescribing.

It was also told of stigma around ADHD diagnosis and medication, and significant challenges facing girls, women, and gender-diverse and First Nations people who want to access support services, as well as a lack of services in rural and regional areas.

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All up, it estimated the economic cost of ADHD at $20.42 billion.

It also heard of the frustration and grief that can come with a late diagnosis, as well as the benefits the diagnosis provides.

"Receiving an ADHD diagnosis has been life-changing," one submitter said.

"However, it has also made me reflect on the missed opportunities and how different my life could have been if I had received a diagnosis as a teenager.

"It is my hope that through this inquiry, more girls won't be misdiagnosed and experience the same struggles I did.

"Since my diagnosis I have been able to recommence study, and finally see a life that I didn't believe was possible."

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So what has the Senate inquiry recommended?

The Senate inquiry has made 15 recommendations, variously directed at the federal government, Commonwealth, state and territories, NDIA and Department of Social Services.

The recommendations are aimed at making ADHD assessment, diagnosis and treatment more accessible and affordable, raising awareness of and addressing stigma, improving care, and better coordinating the nationwide approach to the condition.

You can read the recommendations in full below.

Will anything actually change as a result of the recommendations?

That's the $20 billion question, but at the moment we don't have an answer for it.

The government has three months – so until February 6, 2024 – to table its response to the report, but says it is too early to commit to adopting them or not, but Health Minister Mark Butler said he will consider the report "very closely".

"It is an important landmark Inquiry that we take very seriously," he said.

"We'll be looking through those recommendations over time."

A number of experts have already encouraged the government to implement the recommendations.

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"A landmark moment where the voices of both Australians with a lived experience and professionals involved in care have been heard," professor Mark Bellgrove, director at Australian ADHD group AADPA, said.

"The 15 recommendations are appropriate, practical and formulated with due consideration to both the evidence and the needs of consumers."

Professor Dave Coghill, president of the Australian ADHD Professionals Association, agrees.

"The 15 recommendations made by the committee will, if implemented by the government go a long way towards improving the lives of those with ADHD," he said.

9news.com.au has contacted Health Minister Mark Butler for comment.

You can read the full Senate committee report on Assessment and support services for people with ADHD here.

Free support is available from the ADHD National Helpline at 1300 39 39 19.

Ivanka Trump has testified that she had no role in her father's personal financial statements, echoing her adult brothers about documents central to the civil fraud trial that could reshape Donald Trump's family business.

The former president's elder daughter, who has been in his inner circle in both business and politics, rounds out a major stretch in the trial.

Her father took the stand on Monday, and her brothers Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr testified last week before she gave evidence on Wednesday (early Thursday AEST).

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Unlike her father and brothers, Ivanka Trump is no longer a defendant in New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit.

It alleges that Donald Trump's asset values were fraudulently pumped up for years on annual "statements of financial condition" that helped him get loans and insurance.

"I wasn't involved in his statement of financial condition," Ivanka Trump, a former executive vice president at the family's Trump Organisation, told the court during even-tempered testimony that provided a counterpoint to her father's caustic turn on the stand.

She said she didn't recall ever having provided asset valuation information for the statements or having reviewed them before they were finalised.

Before leaving the company to go with her father to the White House, Ivanka Trump was the point person in establishing a lending relationship with Deutsche Bank's private wealth management arm.

It eventually extended the company hundreds of millions of dollars in loans, with terms that required Donald Trump to submit his financial statements each year.

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Ivanka Trump testified that her husband, Jared Kushner, introduced her to a banker as the Trumps were seeking financing to buy and overhaul the Doral golf resort near Miami.

The non-jury trial will decide allegations of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records — but Judge Arthur Engoron already has resolved the lawsuit's top claim by ruling that Trump engaged in fraud.

That decision came with provisions that could strip the ex-president of oversight of such marquee properties as Trump Tower, though an appeals court is allowing him continued control of his holdings, at least for now.

James, a Democrat, is seeking over $US300 million ($468 million) in penalties and a ban on Trump doing business in New York.

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The ex-president and Republican 2024 front-runner denies any wrongdoing, as do the other defendants.

He insisted in court on Monday that his financial statements greatly underestimated his net worth, that any discrepancies were minor, that a disclaimer absolved him of liability and that "this case is a disgrace".

Ivanka Trump's brothers are still Trump Organisation EVPs, and they became trustees of a trust set up to run the company when their father went to the White House.

The sons also have professed minimal knowledge of their father's annual financial statements. Donald Trump Jr testified that he dealt with the documents only in passing; Eric Trump said he relied completely on accountants and lawyers to ensure the documents' accuracy.

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As a Trump Organisation executive, Ivanka Trump dealt with securing a loan and a lease for a Washington hotel and financing for Doral in Florida and a hotel and condo skyscraper in Chicago, according to court filings.

As her father's inauguration neared, she announced in January 2017 that she was stepping away from her Trump Organisation job. After her time in the administration, she moved to Florida.

An appeals court dismissed her as a defendant in the lawsuit in June, saying the claims against her were too old.

Her attorneys contended that she shouldn't have to testify. They said the state was just trying to harass the family by dragging her into court.

The attorney general's office argued that her testimony would be relevant, saying she was involved in some events discussed in the case and remains financially and professionally entwined with the Trump Organisation and its leaders.

The company has bought insurance for her and her businesses, managed her household staff and credit card bills, rented out her apartment and paid her legal fees, according to the state's court papers.

Engoron and, later, an appeals court ruled that she had to testify.

For a few days in the every spring, the world's biggest and most famous coral reef explodes. This is coral spawning season – a time when the Great Barrier Reef creates the next generation of corals.

In fact, as some scientists explain it, it's when the whole reef has sex.

This year's coral spawning began on November 2. During this period, different species of corals release sperm and eggs, which meet each other on the water's surface and form coral polyps.

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But this isn't just about witnessing an interesting natural experience. Coral spawning, which happens ahead of summer, gives clues about the health of the 345,000-square-kilometre reef.

"The annual coral spawning is not only one of the most extraordinary natural phenomena on the planet," says Anna Marsden, managing director of the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.

"It provides us with an opportunity to fast-track world-leading research to safeguard its future from the impacts of climate change."

UNESCO, which maintains the list of World Heritage sites, has gone back and forth over whether to add the reef to its list of "sites in danger" over the past few years.

While the reef escaped the designation in 2023, UNESCO stated that "sustained action to implement the priority recommendations of the mission is essential in order to improve (the reef's) long-term resilience" and has requested an update on the reef's health by February 2024.

The warming waters caused by climate change have led to large-scale coral bleaching, which is when "stressed" corals turn white, revealing their carbonate skeletons.

A scientific survey released by the federal government in May 2022 reported a sixth "mass bleaching event," with 91 per cent of reefs affected.