Three police officers have been awarded for their courage after rescuing a man who became trapped under a sea of grain in a Queensland silo.

Heartstopping video footage has emerged of the police officers hand-digging a man named John from Baralaba out of a grain silo after he became trapped on February 23.

As the man's head is submerged by the grain, the officers desperately try and clear a space so he can breathe.

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After getting the man's top half free they can be seen attaching a rope around his body and begin trying to pull him out with the help of others standing outside the silo.

John is eventually freed after a hole is cut into the side of the container releasing enough grain to free him.

Sergeant Wylie Steel and Senior Constable Callam Moriarty can be heard speaking John and coaching him through the incident in the footage.

"You're doing really well mate, you're doing well brother," they can be heard saying. 

Yesterday, they received the Working Together Award for the Queensland Police Everyday Hero awards in Brisbane. 

Moriarty said the award was "incredibly humbling" and "unexpected." 

"I am very grateful for what we are able to do in a small town, especially being able to spend time making connections with the community," he said.

"The local mine shut down, people came down the road in tractors and others shut their businesses that day to come and help us."

"Just to able to walk down the street and still talk to John and see how he's doing, that's what it's all about."

Twenty-two volunteers and career police officers were nominated across different categories for making an outstanding contribution to the community. 

A mother's love does have limits, it seems.

At least for a 75-year-old woman in the northern Italian city of Pavia who won a court order after suing to have her sons, aged 40 and 42, removed from her house, a court clerk in Pavia told CNN Friday.

The two sons, described in court papers by their mother as "parasites," had been living in the family apartment without contributing financially or helping around the house, according to the complaint filed by the woman, who has not been named, in a the Tribunal of Pavia district court. 

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Both men are employed, the court documents state.

Judge Simona Caterbi sided with the retired mother, who is separated from the men's father and whose pension went entirely on food and maintenance of the home, ruling that the two "bamboccioni," or big babies, have until December 18 to vacate the premises, according to Tuesday's court ruling, seen by CNN.

Caterbi wrote: "There is no provision in the legislation which attributes to the adult child the unconditional right to remain in the home exclusively owned by the parents, against their will and by virtue of the family bond alone."

The men, who hired lawyers to fight the maternal eviction, according to the local newspaper La Provincia Pavese, argued that Italian parents are required by law to take care of their children as long as necessary.

Caterbi cited the existing law in her ruling and agreed that "the stay in the property could initially be considered well-founded because the law is based on the maintenance obligation incumbent on the parent."

She then ruled that "it no longer appears justifiable considering the two defendants are subjects over 40 and once a certain age has been exceeded, the child can no longer expect the parents to continue the maintenance obligation beyond limits that are no longer reasonable."

A lawyer for the men told local media that the men had not decided if they would appeal the court decision.

This is not the first time "mammoni," an Italian term used to describe adult men who are too dependent on their mothers, has cropped up in the legal system.

In 2020, Italy's Supreme Court ruled against a 35-year-old man who worked as a part-time music teacher who still expected financial support from his parents after he argued that he could not support himself on an annual salary of 20,000 euros ($33,000).

On average, Italians leave their parental home at the average age of 30, according to Eurostat 2022 data.

Croatia is the highest in the European Union, with an average age of 33.4 years. By contrast, offspring in Finland, Sweden and Denmark start life on their own at the average age of 21, according to the same data.

More than 117 kilograms of drugs have been seized from a Sydney home.

The search of a "safe house" in Pyrmont uncovered 61kg of cocaine blocks, 29kg of ketamine and 27kg of MDMA pills stored in seven suitcases at 10.10am on Friday.

Police have referred to the property as a drug "safe house".

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The total haul is estimated to be worth $42 million in street value.

Two men aged 24 and 31 have been charged with three counts of supplying a prohibited drug of a large commercial quantity.

All the items seized will go through forensic testing.

Detective Superintendent Peter Faux said police will continue to target illegal drug suppliers.

"Our capabilities working with agencies like the NSW Crime Commission mean we can relentlessly pursue anyone involved in putting drugs on our streets," he said.

Both men were refused bail and will appear in Parramatta local Court today.

A new report from literary organisation PEN America has revealed an eyebrow-raising list of books banned in US prisons, including Spanish language guides and celebrity memoirs.

"The common concept underpinning the censorship we're seeing is that certain ideas and information are a threat," says the report's lead author, Moira Marquis, senior manager in the prison and justice writing department at PEN.

Some states have banned instruction books for non-English languages, worried inmates will be able to then speak in front of guards who won't understand them.

Amy Schumer's memoir The Girl With The Lower Back Tattoo also made banned lists due to "sexual content".

PEN said that many of the categories used to justify bans were vague and broad-reaching.

Its report quoted one inmate who said his New Yorker magazines had been withheld due to occasional nudity in the "absurdly innocuous" cartoons.

Another inmate, incarcerated in Virginia, noted that in Virginia prisons, the Game of Thrones TV series is aired unedited on facility TVs – but the book series they are based on, A Song Of Ice And Fire by George RR Martin, are banned.

PEN said whether intentional or not, many books banned for "sexual content" were aimed at queer and transgender audiences. 

Security concerns are behind other bans, including a rape prevention guide in Connecticut and an anti-sexual harassment book in Louisiana.

Even a guide to drawing fantasy creatures, Fantasy Artist's Pocket Reference: Incredible Characters, was deemed a threat to security and banned.

PEN said this was part of trend, with similar books on "mind control, shape shifting, and Dungeons And Dragons role-playing" also widely refused entry to prisons.

The apparently worthy practice of keeping racially inflammatory materials out of prison has also led to some questionable decisions, such as the banning of literary giant James Baldwin's book I Am Not Your Negro in Kansas.

Other books to appear on banned lists: Sun Tzu's The Art of War, the compilation Prison Ramen: Recipes and Stories from Behind Bars, Barrington Barber's Anyone Can Draw: Create Sensational Artwork in Easy Steps and Robert Greene's self-help best-seller 48 Laws of Power.

The Prison Ramen compilation was the most banned book around the country, PEN found, with recipes and stories provided by former inmates, including celebrities such as Danny Trejo.

PEN places bans into two categories: content-specific, in which books are banned because of what they say or allegedly say, and content-neutral, in which books are restricted because they are not sent through accepted channels.

In Maine, Michigan and other states, prisoners may only receive books through a select number of vendors, whether Amazon, a local bookstore or an approved publisher.

Content-neutral restrictions may also apply to the packaging (some federal facilities only permit white wrapping), and against free or used literature, Marquis said.

A spokesman for the Idaho Department of Correction told Associated Press in an email that restrictions on packaging had become necessary because of "an increase in the amount of drug-soaked mail being sent to our residents."

He added that inmates can receive books and periodicals free of charge from authorised vendors and publishers.

"We believe our guidelines area a reasonable response to a growing problem that puts the health and safety of the people who live and work in Idaho's correctional facilities at risk," he said.

The states with the most banned titles, per their responses, are Florida (22,825 titles up to September 2023), Texas (10,265 titles up to February 2023), Kansas (7699 titles up to 2021), Virginia (7204 titles up to 2022), and New York (5356 titles as of 2019).

The heartbroken parents of Milla Foster, who died from what seemed like a common illness, have issued a plea to the public.

They are urging others not to ignore their instincts following the 12-year-old's death, just days after being diagnosed with gastroenteritis.

The young girl from Kapunda in South Australia's Barossa Valley loved Taylor Swift, had a laugh that would brighten any room and had everything to live for her parents say.

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"She was a really good girl," her dad Shannon Foster told 9News.

"I'm waiting to wake up and just see her."

The tragic events unfolded when Milla had an upset stomach and other relatively mild symptoms.

Shannon took Milla to the Kapunda Hospital last Tuesday with her step-mum Phoebe, where doctors gave her medication to treat gastroenteritis.

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"They kept us there for an hour, an-hour-and-a-half, and they sent us home," he said.

Milla's parents say they'd thought her condition was improving but two days later, on October 19, Milla died.

"You don't think that gastro can potentially kill – especially someone so young and so healthy," step-mum Phoebe Kelly said.

The communities of Kapunda and Freeling – both about an hour north of Adelaide – have wrapped their arms around the family, with more than $20,000 raised to help the family plan a celebration of Milla's life.

Meanwhile, Milla's parents are now urging others not to ignore their instincts.

"Even if the doctors say you might be paranoid or if you're just over-cautious – just listen to it, because it's there for a reason," Phoebe said.

SA Health Minister, Chris Picton, has voiced his heartfelt sympathies to the family and is promising Kapunda Hospital and SA Health will fully co-operate with a coronial investigation.

Police are appealing for information following the theft of a rare Ford Mustang valued at about $400,000 from south-east Melbourne earlier this month.

The 2021 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500KR, registration 900KR, is the only one of its kind in Australia.

It was stolen on Wednesday, October 11, in what police described as a "brazen" theft.

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CCTV images from 3.45pm on that day showed two men can be seen loitering out the front of Mustang Motorsport, a car specialist on Hayward Road in Ferntree Gully.

The duo briefly leaves the area before one of the men, wearing a blue jumper, black trackpants, black baseball cap and sunglasses, walks through the gate, enters the Ford Mustang and drives off.

Vehicles were being moved in and out of the showroom at the time, and the key was accessible.

The Mustang is then captured on CCTV heading north towards Burwood Highway.

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Just prior to the theft, the two men stopped at a fast-food premises on Burwood Highway, where one of the men reached behind the counter and took a drink without paying.

Detective Senior Constable Michael Gatt today appealed for public help to retrieve the car.

"This was an utterly brazen theft of someone's prized possession and done in broad daylight," he said.

"This is someone with a great love of vehicles who has worked hard to build this car and has had it taken away from him.

"It's an incredibly rare car, and it is very distinctive – we would encourage anyone who has seen it, or who recognises the two men in the CCTV to come forward and contact police."

The Mustang is charcoal in colour, with a distinctive blue stripe over the driver and passenger side doors and bearing the words GT 500KR. It also has a rear spoiler.

The vehicle is a rare Shelby GT 500KR edition and has a Cobra badge on the front grill.

There is also a KR badge on the rear panel.

The owner of the Mustang, 60-year-old former racer Craig Dean, said he was disappointed.

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

"We all live in hope, so I've just been hoping that it gets found."

A Mustang Motorsport sticker is visible on the top of the front windscreen.

Police are asking people to keep a lookout for the distinctive vehicle and expect it may have travelled anywhere across Melbourne, or potentially interstate.

Anyone with information on the two men in the CCTV or who has seen the vehicle is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a report online.

A Queensland woman accused of being the architect of a murder plan that involved a man being fed into a woodchipper has been found guilty.

Sharon Graham, 63, pleaded not guilty to the murder of Bruce James Saunders at a property near Gympie on November 12, 2017.

She was accused of asking her then-partner Greg Roser and Peter Koenig to kill Bruce Saunders, 53, for insurance money.

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Saunders was hit on the head with an iron bar and his body fed into an industrial woodchipper to make it look like an accident, Brisbane Supreme Court was told.

He died while the three men cleared vegetation on a friend's rural property in the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Saunders and Graham had been in an "on and off" relationship.

Koenig told the jury that he saw Roser hit Saunders multiple times on the head with the iron bar before helping carry the lifeless body to the woodchipper.

Koenig said he placed Saunders on the chipper tray and used a stick to push the body in.

The next day Graham discussed Saunders' will over coffee before sleeping in his bed with another man, the court heard.

Graham is set to be sentenced after the jury reached a guilty verdict on Friday afternoon.

Discussions are ramping up over a potential blanket ban on the use of all engineered stone, over its links to the deadly lung disease silicosis.

Federal, state and territory workplace ministers met today to review a report from SafeWork Australia, which has recommended banning the product, irrespective of crystalline silica content.

Silicosis is a lung disease caused by breathing in small particles of silica dust.

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Inhaling the dust causes inflammation which over time, leads to scarring of the lung tissue, which causes stiffening of the lungs making it difficult to breathe.

"Engineered stone is physically and chemically different to natural stone," the report notes.

"The high levels of respirable crystalline silica (RCS) generated by working with engineered stone, as well as the differing properties of this RCS, are likely to contribute to more rapid and severe disease.

"There is no toxicological evidence of a 'safe' threshold of crystalline silica content in engineered stone, or that other chemicals found in engineered stone do not pose a health risk to workers."

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Stone worker of 17 years Russell Vine said a total ban is the only way forward.

"If we don't do something now then there's going to be a lot more workers diagnosed with this disease and the suffering will go on," Vine told 9News.

"We just need to stop it now and move forward.

"It's time to call a ban on it, I think there's no other way."

Another meeting is expected before the end of the year to decide on a ban.

Enquiries into the circumstances of the crash are ongoing.

CCTV footage has emerged of Paul Thijssen in the hours after he is suspected to have murdered co-worker Lilie James at a Sydney CBD school.

The security footage shows Thijssen, 24, arriving at Diamond Bay Reserve in the eastern suburb of Vaucluse at 8.47pm on Wednesday, an hour after James is believed to have been killed.

Over the next hour, he's seen walking down a path, before dumping the alleged murder weapon – a hammer – in a bin before driving off.

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The video shows Thijssen sitting around the corner for the following two hours, before calling triple zero at around midnight to tell police about James' body at St Andrew's Cathedral School.

Operators traced the call, but when officers arrived at the scene, Thijssen was gone.

Police had wanted to speak to him about James' suspected murder, but earlier today, during their search for him, they found a body – believed to be Thijssen's – at the base of a cliff in Vaucluse.

They had been scouring the area after finding what they called "property" linked to James' death.

This morning a group of tradesmen working nearby alerted police to the body, located on the rocks beneath Diamond Bay Reserve at Vaucluse.

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Police began an operation to retrieve the body at 7.40am at the reserve and retrieved the body at about 12.15pm today.

The rescue and bomb disposal unit, marine unit and Westpac Rescue helicopter all assisted in the operation.

"The man has not been formally identified," NSW Police said in a statement.

It's understood the location of the body, coupled with the wet and windy weather in the area, caused complications.

James was found dead in the toilet section of the St Andrews Cathedral School gym area after a call to police prompted a welfare check.

Police said she had suffered serious head injuries in an "apparent" homicide.

9News understands she was attacked with a hammer.

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Early on Thursday morning, police found materials they believe were linked to the murder in Diamond Bay Reserve.

Police began searching the reserve and the waters off South Head.

Based on a phone call to police, the reserve was also thought to be Thijssen's last known location.

Thijssen, a former student of the school, had been working there as a sports assistant, while James was the school's water polo coach.

9News understands James and Thijssen had been dating for a few weeks before she called the relationship off.

Police said there was no official history of domestic violence between the pair.

Crisis support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14.