Chief says fire ‘very difficult to fight’.

The NSW Riverina town of Junee once had four banks.

Six years ago, this went down to two – and then ANZ left.

The last remaining bank in Junee – a Commonwealth Bank branch – had been slated to close in March.

But an upswell of protest from the determined town of almost 7000 forced the bank to halt the closure.

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Today, a Senate inquiry into bank closures in regional areas is being held in Junee to hear from residents about the impact losing its last bank would have on the town.

In July, the Commonwealth Bank vowed to keep all its regional bank branches open until the end of 2026.

However, Rhiannon Druce, from the Junee Licorice and Chocolate Factory, said there was still a real fear among locals that the bank would not stick by its word.

"It does feel inevitable that it will close," Druce told 9news.com.au.

Have you been affected by a bank branch closure? Contact reporter Emily McPherson at em********@******om.au

For the Druce family business, losing the bank branch would mean having to drive 30 minutes to the neighbouring town of Wagga.

"That poses security risks," Druce said. 

"It also means that you're paying for someone to drive over there and back."

Relying on digital banking was also a problem in regional towns like Junee because of connectivity issues, Druce said.

"It's ridiculous," she said.

"I think everyone in the town has made a pretty logical argument to say that we don't even have proper internet, or constant internet on our phones to be able to be going online and doing our banking.

"With the amount of NBN outages and phone connectivity issues that we have here, I don't think you can turn us to just a digital banking town when we struggle to keep 5G happening."

The Commonwealth Bank has told the inquiry 39 per cent of its branches are based in regional Australia. 

However, the bank has also said it needs to remain competitive in a changing market where customer preferences are moving swiftly towards digital.

The federal government is facing criticism for announcing an inquiry into Australia's response to COVID-19 that won't investigate state and territory decisions during the pandemic.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it was important to learn what worked and what didn't in Australia's response to the worldwide health emergency.

"The COVID-19 pandemic has been the most significant global crisis that we have faced in decades," Albanese said.

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"Its impacts are still being felt throughout Australia.

"This inquiry will look at the government's responses and will give advice on what worked, what didn't, and what we can do in the future to best protect Australians from the worst of any future events."

However, the scope of the inquiry does not include "actions taken unilaterally by state and territory governments", meaning it won't be able to investigate the lockdowns and border closures that had such an impact on millions of Australians.

The opposition accused Albanese and the government of running protection for Labor premiers Daniel Andrews and Annastacia Palaszczuk, the only two state leaders who have remained in power since the start of the pandemic.

"The prime minister owes it to the Australian people to have a proper understanding of what happened at a state and federal level in relation to COVID, the policies, the decisions that were being made," Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said.

"If we don't learn the lessons of what happened during the course of COVID, good and bad, by every level of government, how do we expect to go into the next pandemic not understanding what had happened in the previous one?

"It doesn't make any sense."

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While state and territory decisions won't be examined, the 12-month inquiry will examine the federal government's response to the pandemic, given the loss of life, dislocation, stress and expenditure that resulted from COVID-19 policies.

It will be led by an independent panel of former senior public servant Robyn Kruk, infectious diseases expert Catherine Bennett and health economist Angela Jackson.

Key stakeholders and members of the community will be invited to share their views in the inquiry as part of a public consultation.

Albanese defended his decision not to establish a Royal Commission into the pandemic – after promising a Royal Commission "or similar inquiry" before the 2022 federal election – saying he wanted the inquiry to report in a timely manner.

"One of the things we've learned about Royal Commissions is that they can roll on and on and on for year after year after year," he said.

"We've learnt that with the Royal Commission into veterans issues which has been extended."

Albanese also said the object of the inquiry was not to stoke political division or apportion blame.

He praised former prime minister Scott Morrison, who led Australia through the first two years of the pandemic.

"I think Scott Morrison did the right thing by convening the National Cabinet," he said.

"That was a good decision. I believe the (former) federal government got it right in making an early call on the pandemic."

Morrison told the Australian Financial Review earlier this week that he would cooperate with an inquiry into COVID-19, but only on the condition it examined the role of and actions taken by the states as well as the federal government.

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While Australia has had no nationwide investigation into the pandemic, there have been numerous academic and independent ones.

Albanese said it was important to consolidate all potential lessons into one document.

"There could be other shocks as well where some of these recommendations could be relevant," he said.

"We need to be more prepared for this in the future. And that's precisely what this inquiry will be aimed at."

The inquiry will deliver its final report by September 30, 2024.

The suspects charged with murder at a Bronx daycare centre after several children were exposed to opioids are believed to be mid-level drug distributors, a US federal law enforcement source said.

Grei Mendez, 36, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, face federal and state charges in connection with the suspected overdoses at Divino Niño daycare.

They were arrested Saturday, a day after one-year-old Nicholas Dominici died after suspected fentanyl exposure. Two two-year-old boys and an eight-month-old girl were also exposed to the suspected fentanyl and suffered acute opioid intoxication.

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According to court documents, Mendez is the owner and operator of the daycare, and Brito is her husband's cousin and a tenant who lives in a bedroom within the daycare.

Investigators are also looking for a third male suspect who has not been publicly named.

Another law enforcement official told CNN the third suspect is believed to be Mendez's husband.

Authorities have recovered video of that man leaving the centre carrying plastic bags that appeared to contain three large square items, which investigators suspect were remaining kilos of fentanyl, that official said.

Authorities believe he has not left the country and is still in the Northeast, the federal law enforcement official added.

Investigators believe the suspects were mid-level drug distributors tasked with cutting fentanyl with other drugs or even household items like baby powder, the first federal law enforcement official said.

They then gave the pressed product to others, who got it into the hands of street sellers, the official said.

None of the suspects was previously on law enforcement's radar, the official said.

Mendez and Brito face state charges of murder, manslaughter, assault, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of a controlled substance, court documents show.

They were arraigned and remanded without bail Sunday night.

They also face federal charges of conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death and possession with intent to distribute narcotics resulting in death.

If convicted on the federal charges, the defendants could be sentenced to up to life in prison.

Mendez's defence attorney, Andres Manuel Aranda, told CNN his client plans to fight the charges.

"We feel that she doesn't have… anything (to do) with this case besides taking care of the kids," Aranda said.

"She has no previous knowledge of any contraband in the apartment. None whatsoever."

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Mendez "feels horrible about what happened" and was the one who called the police and ambulance, her attorney said.

CNN has reached out to Brito's attorney for comment.

Children napped near a kilo of fentanyl, police say

A kilogram of fentanyl was discovered in an area where children napped at the Bronx day care centre Friday, said Joseph Kenny, the New York Police Department's chief of detectives.

Officials also found three kilogram press devices – two inside the hallway closet, and one inside Brito's bedroom.

The fentanyl was "laying underneath a mat where children had been sleeping earlier," Kenny said.

"The residue itself … it's that strong," Kenny said.

"One grain, two grains of fentanyl can take down a grown man. So even the residue itself for a small child, would cause the death."

The investigation turns international

Authorities believe the fentanyl at the daycare centre came from international drug cartels, a federal law enforcement official said.

About 90 per cent of the fentanyl distributed in New York comes from either the infamous Sinaloa Cartel or the Jalisco New Generation Cartel – one of which is believed to be the source of the fentanyl that killed the one-year-old boy last Friday, the official said.

Because of the international ties, federal law enforcement agencies – such as Customs and Border Protection – along with Drug Enforcement Administration officials in the Dominican Republic are also involved in the search for the third suspect.

Drug overdose deaths reached a record level in the US this spring.

Recent data from the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention shows more than 111,000 people died from a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending in April.

And research shows opioid-related deaths among children have increased significantly, mirroring trends among adults.

A surge starting in 2018 led to a nearly threefold increase in deaths among older adolescents and a nearly sixfold increase among children younger than five.

In 2021, 40 infants and 93 children ages one to four died from an overdose of the powerful opioid fentanyl.

Although deaths among teens are typically related to drug use, deaths among younger children are believed to be related to drugs left within reach.

In another recent case, authorities executed a search warrant on a fentanyl operation in Queens where a 10-year-old child was found sleeping on the premises, New York police said Wednesday.

Investigators recovered three kilograms of heroin and fentanyl, six kilogram presses, an AK-47 and three pistols during the search Wednesday, police said.

Authorities said the child was sleeping near the equipment.

A truck carrying white wine from South Australia's Barossa caught alight while driving along the highway overnight.

Five fire crews with 25 firefighters rushed to the Dukes Highway outside Cooke Plains after the B-double truck caught ablaze.

The driver of the truck had safely gotten out of the car and detached the prime mover while flames incinerated the trailers – and the contents.

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"Fire cause is believed to be a mechanical fault in one of the trailers which were both significantly impacted with damaged costs estimated at $400,000," Country Fire Service said in a statement.

A man has been charged with murder after another man was stabbed to death in Adelaide's north.

Emergency services were called to Salisbury Downs about 6.45pm yesterday to find Jordan Torrans seriously injured after he was stabbed by a man known to him.

Paramedics tried to save the 31-year-old but he died at the scene.

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A 30-year-old man was found by police nearby and was arrested.

He has been charged with murder.

The man will face court today.

Workers at an Aussie poultry giant are planning to walk off the job over a pay dispute, which could potentially put chook supplies at supermarkets and fast food chains at risk.

More than 1000 Inghams workers – who are United Workers Union (UWU) members – are planning to stop work for 24 hours tomorrow unless the company agrees to a 6 per cent per year pay rise for employees over the next three years.

The increase would equate to a $1.50 per hour pay rise for workers.

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The strike action is planned for factories in South Australia and Western Australia.

Inghams supplies major supermarket retailers including Coles, Woolworths and Aldi as well as fast food outlets KFC and McDonald's.

National UWU secretary Tim Kennedy told 2GB's James Willis there is a risk there will be shortages of chicken this weekend.

"If we don't reach an agreement with Inghams and they don't listen to their workers and continue to refuse to acknowledge the contribution those workers have made to these enormous profits, the poultry won't be processed and there will be shortages of chicken," he said.

Kennedy said Inghams raked in a $60.4 million profit in the last financial year while workers had not seen wage increases in "some time".

"Our workers are telling us they have got to think twice pushing that trolley up and down the supermarket aisles," he said, saying a six per cent pay increase was not much compared to the increased cost of living.

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https://omny.fm/shows/the-drive-program/inghams-workers-demand-18-pay-increase-as-they-hea/embed?style=cover

Kennedy warned, "If you want KFC this weekend for the footy finals, I wouldn't be banking on it".

KFC declined to comment when contacted by 9news.com.au regarding the potential shortages.

"We work with a range of poultry suppliers, and so don't expect there will be any impact on availability for Coles customers," a Coles spokesperson said.

Woolworths and Aldi both have both said they do not believe there will be a noticeable impact on customers.

McDonald's has not responded to a request for comment.

Temu, a new online shopping platform which has links to China, has quickly become the most downloaded app in Australia.

There's good reason Temu has spread like wildfire.

It sells pretty much everything at perplexingly low prices; it has a slew of weird and wacky items that will draw a guffawing crowd around anyone's office desk; and it feels like, no matter where you turn right now, Temu is on every street corner of the internet.

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Some say Temu's business model, with products mostly shipped directly from a vast network of Chinese factories, all hawked with an arsenal of slick marketing and social media strategies, may change the way retailers operate online.

However, much like Chinese-owned TikTok, which has become a serious threat to Facebook and other multi-billion-dollar Silicon Valley success stories, Temu's rapid rise and penetration into Western markets has raised questions.

Some cyber experts express concerns over security and data sharing, while users have a more simple question: is Temu legitimate?

What is Temu?

Temu is an online retailer.

It is based in Boston in the US, but shares the same owner as Chinese social commerce giant Pinduoduo. Investigations into Pinduoduo have highlighted concerns about users' online security.

Temu was not implicated, but its links to Pinduoduo make some privacy and safety experts uncomfortable.

What does it sell?

Everything. Like, seriously. Some call it China's digital flea market to the world. Others claim it may threaten Amazon and eBay.

Temu's marketplace covers the gamut from home goods to clothing to toys and electronics. There's full protective face shields going for 81 cents, car cleaning gel at 25 cents, exfoliating foot slippers just $1.49 and anti-bunion contraptions costing $2.49. If you can think it up, it's there.

Temu has similarities to fellow budget online retailers like Shein, AliExpress and Wish, but somehow it's even cheaper.

What's different about it?

Quite a lot. But the first thing you'll notice are, ta-da, the prices. Products are cheap.

So cheap, in fact, that it's made some people wonder if Temu is real. How can Temu can sell goods at such strikingly low prices, they ask?

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So, is it a scam?

No.

"My gut feeling is no," Paul Haskell-Dowland, a cybersecurity expert at Perth's Edith Cowan University says.

He tells 9news.com.au that if you place an order with Temu then the weight of evidence online suggests that it's going to end up in your mailbox.

But Haskell-Dowland cautions the adage "you get what you pay for" applies.

"People should bear in mind there's a reason it's cheap."

Are there red flags?

There's nothing about online chatter around Temu that can't be rationally explained, Haskell-Dowland says, such as missing packages or delivery delays.

But because of Temu's popularity, fake versions of the app with malicious software are circulating, he said, so people should only ever download the app from official Apple or Android app stores.

And as for the data Temu is collecting?

"Yes, it's broad," Haskell-Dowland says.

"Yes, it contains information about your purchasing habits, potentially the devices that you're using, and possibly other things that we don't yet know about."

But, he says, that's really no different to any ecommerce app on your mobile, be it a Silicon Valley giant or Chinese-owned company.

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Is Temu really giving away free items?

It's true. Temu does run campaigns where users can build credits they can then spend on the platform, essentially buying for free.

These campaigns ask users to promote Temu on their socials or encourage family and friends to create an account. Credits can also be earned in spin-the-wheel games which appear on the site.

Dr Shasha Wang, a marketing lecturer at QUT's business school, says Temu's marketing strategies can be "addictive" and "effective".

What is the secret to Temu's marketing success?

Users are besieged with lightning deals and eye-catching limited time offers.

These tactics, Wang says, "really appeal to people's sense of missing out", especially in tandem with rock-bottom prices. Gamification, such as spin-the-wheel reward games, are a very clever tool, she adds.

Another key factor is timing. Wang says Temu's launch during a cost of living crisis and rising global inflation was fortunate. "The value people are finding found on Temu is really appealing," she says.

Big discounts, free shipping and loyalty programs also reel in users, who see products curated by Artificial Intelligence based on user interests and displaying items most likely to secure a sale.

Is it too good to be true?

Based on his analysis, Haskell-Dowland says it's not uncommon for Temu's most attractive deals to disappear if you try to buy more than one of the same item or pick up your first haul.

That makes sense, from Temu's perspective, Wang says. Getting people to make that first purchase is key, she explains. "Once people start, they will often keep using it."

Temu's catchphrase is to "shop like a billionaire". So everything it does is geared towards making you feel like you're getting a lot of items for splurging very little cash.

But watch this space. Temu's bargain prices may not last.

Some pundits think Temu is, for now, content to incur some losses while it tries to hoover up bargain hunters and market share, in a bid to take on Amazon and other ecommerce retailers.

Temu did not respond to 9news.com.au's request for comment.

A British national and another person have been killed and nine people were seriously injured in Montenegro when a bus plunged into a ravine, authorities said.

The bus was carrying some 30 passengers when it swerved on a steep road around noon on Tuesday local time, police said.

Local media reported that the bus was travelling on a road connecting the town of Budva, on the Adriatic Sea coast, with Cetinje, which is located in a mountainous inland area.

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“I was listening to music and all was normal. Then all of sudden there were screams and the sound of glass breaking,” one of the passengers told the state RTCG radio.

It was not immediately clear what caused the bus to skid down some 15 metres into the ravine. Photos from the scene showed rescue workers holding on to a metal wire to try to reach the wreckage.

Doctors said nine people have been seriously injured, including one in life-threatening condition.

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Prosecutor Andjela Radovanovic told reporters that the two people killed were a British national and an unidentified woman.

Police said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the two victims died on the spot while the injured received aid in Cetinje. The seriously injured were later transferred to a hospital in the Montenegrin capital Podgorica.

There were double takes from passing drivers as Lenard Phillips' 15-tonne armoured personnel carrier was delivered to his door in suburban Auckland.

The 68-year-old has been waiting three years to get it back since police officers came to the Ōrākei pensioner's state house and took the FV432 as part of an asset seizure under the Proceeds of Crime (Recovery) Act, after the previous owner got into trouble with the law.

"It's good to see her back home," he said as the vehicle was rolled on to his front yard on Wednesday afternoon.

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It has been an uphill battle for the former military man to get the vehicle back, and after all the ups and downs, he said he found himself less excited than he thought he would have been.

He and his lawyer Dr Richard Keam have been jumping through hoops for the last three years in order to get the vehicle back and, in early August, Phillips finally got the news from his lawyer he'd been waiting to hear.

Keam told him the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) – which was storing the vehicle as the official assignee – would be handing the tank back after they reached an agreement in the courts.

But MBIE have more than once pushed the delivery date back during the last six weeks, citing a number of excuses, Keam said – including last Saturday when, only after the delivery time passed, was Phillips told those tasked with driving it were having trouble keeping it running.

"They said they would crane it in," Phillips said. "But I told them it was running when they took it, so I want it back in the same condition."

Then on Wednesday afternoon – only hours after Stuff enquired about the delays – the pensioner got a call telling him the tank would be on his front lawn within the hour.

It was a reasonably secretive affair – as much as an armoured vehicle rolling down a street can be – with the driver of the tank and the MBIE staff asking not to be filmed as they are involved with repossessing items from criminals.

But Phillips was just happy to see it back on his lawn and running, and soon enough had two of his mokopuna looking on in awe.

"One wasn't even born and this other one was just in a pram when they came and took it away, so it's good they can see it now," he said.

Phillips told Stuff previously that he was sick of waiting for the APC's return, and that it shouldn't have been taken in the first place.

"It should have been back long ago," he said.

"They were quick to come and take it… and now it's been passed through a court of law that it does belong to me, so why don't they bring it back as quick as they took it."

The FV432 was gifted to him in lieu of payment for catering a wedding of more than 1000 people with a hāngī.

The previous owner had bought the vehicle from a closing paintball facility as part of a combo with a Hummer. For a time, it was stored at Phillips' house and after an abandoned attempt to raffle it off, the APC was eventually given to the pensioner, who had no objections.

He had begun to lose hope he'd ever see it again, but now that it's back he plans to bring it back to working condition.

It doesn't have a warrant of fitness, nor is it registered to drive on the road, but Phillips has already enquired about getting it roadworthy.

"It means a lot to me, you know," he said.

"No one else has one."

This article originally appeared on Stuff and is republished here with permission.