The Victorian man who won $2.5 million in last Saturday's TattsLotto draw said he didn't know whether to "laugh or cry" on hearing the news.

It was days before the resident of Broadford, in central Victoria, discovered his newfound fortune because the division one winning entry was unregistered.

This meant officials from The Lott had to wait for him to check his ticket and come forward.

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He was overjoyed when they called him to confirm his windfall.

"I don't know what to do though. I don't know whether I should laugh or cry," he said.

"We play most weeks and I've always gone with the philosophy that you have to be in it to win it. "

"You never really expect it to happen though."

He said his priorities now were putting his feet up by retiring early and using some of the winnings to help his children pay off their mortgages.

"I'm going to retire straight away, I think. I've had a good working life, but this has just made it that much easier to pull back and enjoy the rest of my life in a more relaxed manner," he said.

"I'll also pay off my kids' mortgages. It's tough out there at the moment and I can't wait to be able to help them get ahead and prepare for the future."

The man was one of the eight division one winning entries in Saturday Lotto draw 4395 on September 2. Each division one winning entry pocketed $2.5 million.

His division one winning entry was purchased at Broadford Newsagency in Broadford.

The odds of winning division one are more than 8.145 million to one.

If you need help you can call the National Gambling Helpline on 1800 858 858.

Hundreds of Queensland drivers have been incorrectly slogged with double demerit points for seatbelt-related offences, prompting an apology from the state's Transport Minister.

More than 1840 motorists were hit with double demerit points for approximately 2500 incorrectly issued seatbelt sanctions, copping four points rather than two. 

Transport officials confirmed that double demerit points should not have been given out for seatbelt offences in a statement to 9News Queensland on Thursday.

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There are 626 drivers had their licenses suspended over the blunder, while 868 are serving good behaviour bonds when they shouldn't be.

Queensland's Transport Minister Mark Bailey said he was "very angry" over the bungle.

"This should never have happened. I am very sorry to every person who has been impacted by this," he said while addressing the media.

"This is our mistake and we will do everything we can to work with impacted people."

Bailey also said the Transport and Main Roads Department was seeking legal advice and would re-issue the incorrectly suspended licences.

A hotline has also been set up for drivers who were incorrectly fined. 

Thousand of drivers have been captured on the mobile phone and seatbelt cameras since their rollout in November 2021.

Fines for driving without a seatbelt can reach as high as $2000 and start at $1000. 

King Charles III has paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II's "devoted service" on the first anniversary of her death.

King Charles wrote and recorded the poignant message at Balmoral Castle, the residence where the Queen died on September 8, 2023, at the age of 96.

"In marking the first anniversary of Her Late Majesty's death and my accession, we recall with great affection her long life, devoted service and all she meant to so many of us," he wrote.

"I am deeply grateful, too, for the love and support that has been shown to my wife and myself during this year as we do our utmost to be of service to you all."

An unseen photograph of the late monarch was also released. The image was captured at Buckingham Palace on October 16, 1968.

A new era

Charles became sovereign on September 8, 2022, the day Elizabeth died after more than 70 years on the throne.

The following day, the new king telegraphed much of what has happened since in a speech that paid homage to the way his mother honoured the history of a 1000-year-old monarchy while embracing the changes that transformed Britain after World War II.

"In her life of service, we saw that abiding love of tradition, together with that fearless embrace of progress, which makes us great as a nation," Charles said as he pledged to serve all his people, no matter where they live or what they believe.

Known for speaking his mind during his decades as heir to the throne, Charles also acknowledged that he would have to tone down his support for causes such as conservation and environmental protection.

But he immediately handed that mantle to Prince William, encouraging him to "lead our national conversation" and help "bring the marginal to the centre ground, where vital help can be given".

Charles joined the nation in mourning the late queen at a state funeral that celebrated the life of the only monarch most people had ever known.

After the queen's piper played one final lament, the Westminster Abbey congregation offered a thunderous rendition of the national anthem — though for the first time in seven decades the first line was, "God save our gracious king.''

During the coronation ceremony in May, Charles again balanced the traditions of monarchy against the pressure for change.

As Charles sat in the 700-year-old coronation chair at Westminster Abbey, the Archbishop of Canterbury placed a jewel-encrusted crown on his head.

Then he was enclosed behind a screen where he was anointed with holy oil.

But the monarch also made sure there was a role for other religions, with non-Christian faith leaders taking part in the ceremony for the first time.

And while the TV cameras focused on presidents and prime ministers, lords, ladies and royals as they trooped into the abbey, the audience also included dozens of people invited in honour of the work they do for charities, schools and youth programs around the country.

More challenges are to come

The perception of the monarchy itself has changed since Elizabeth took the throne, making it harder for the palace to stick to its mantra of "never explain, never complain" as the media demand more information about royal spending and accountability.

Charles is also facing demands to make the palace staff more representative of modern Britain and to acknowledge the monarchy's role in slavery and imperialism.

Some of those calls come from within the royal family after Prince Harry, and his wife, Meghan, criticised the palace in a book and TV series released earlier this year. But there is also pressure from republican groups that want to get rid of the hereditary monarchy and some of the 14 Commonwealth realms that bridle at the idea of having an English king as their head of state.

The maker of an extremely spicy tortilla chip sold as the One Chip Challenge and popularized as a dare on social media is pulling the product after the family of a Massachusetts teenager blamed the stunt for his death.

The cause of Harris Wolobah's death last Friday hasn't been determined and an autopsy was still pending as of Thursday, but the 14-year-old's family blames the challenge.

Since his death, the Texas-based manufacturer, Paqui, has asked retailers to stop selling the individually wrapped chips — a step 7-Eleven has already taken.

READ MORE: US student dies after doing social media 'One Chip Challenge'

The One Chip Challenge chip sells for about $10 and comes wrapped in a sealed foil pouch that is enclosed in a coffin-shaped cardboard box.

The package warns that the chip is made for the “vengeful pleasure of intense heat and pain,” is intended for adults and should be kept out of reach of children.

Paqui, a subsidiary of The Hershey Company, said in a statement posted on its website Thursday that it was “deeply saddened by the death” of Wolobah.

“We have seen an increase in teens and other individuals not heeding these warnings,” the company said.

“As a result, while the product continues to adhere to food safety standards, out of abundance of caution, we are actively working with retailers to remove the product from shelves."

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Authorities in Massachusetts have also responded to the death by warning parents about the challenge, which is is popular on social media sites such as TikTok.

Scores of people, including children, post videos of themselves unwrapping the packaging, eating the spicy chips and then reacting to the heat. Some videos show people gagging, coughing and begging for water.

“We urge parents to discuss this with their children and advise them not to partake in this activity,” Worcester County District Attorney Joseph Early said in a series of posts about the challenge on the social network X, formerly known as Twitter.

“The company warnings state the chips are intended for adult consumption. Other states across the country have seen hospitalizations due to the chip challenge, including teens.”

There have been reports from around the country of people who have gotten sick after taking part in the challenge, including three students from a California high school who were sent to a hospital. And paramedics were called to a Minnesota school last year when seven students fell ill after taking part in the challenge.

“You can have very mild symptoms like burning or tingling of the lips in the mouth, but you can also have more severe symptoms,” said Lauren Rice, the chief of pediatric emergency medicine at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, noting that this is an opportunity for parents, coaches, teachers to learn about the various social media challenges that are out there and could pose dangers.

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“This goes back to the ingredients that are used with the tortilla chip,” she continued. “There are some spices like capsaicin, which is a chemical ingredient that we use in things like pepper spray and so they are very strong chemicals and they can be very irritating. Some of the more severe symptoms that we see can be things like significant abdominal pain or nausea and vomiting."

Dr. Peter Chai, an associate professor of emergency medicine and medical toxicology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, said these chips can be dangerous under certain circumstances.

“It's possible eating these chips with high concentration of capsaicin could cause death,” he said.

“It would really depend on the amount of capsaicin that an individual was exposed to. At high doses, it can lead to fatal dysrhythmia or irreversible injury to the heart.”

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Police in Worcester, which is in central Massachusetts and is the state's second-largest city, said in a statement that they were called to Wolobah's house Friday afternoon and found him “unresponsive and not breathing.” He was transported to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Family and friends of Wolobah believe the chips caused his death, and his family called for the chips to be banned from store shelves.

“The chip is responsible in our eyes for whatever took place because he was a healthy kid,” said Douglas Hill, who runs the basketball league Wolobah played in and described him as a quiet teen whose family came to the U.S. from Liberia.

“The conversation now is about the chip, but there will be other challenges coming and we want to make sure children know they shouldn't be participating in anything that could put them in harm's way,” said Douglas, who organized a basketball event Saturday to honor the teen. A Friday vigil is also planned.

There can be no doubt about why someone would eat these chips.

In addition to its name, One Chip Challenge, the package lays out the “rules for the challenge,” which encourages the buyer to eat the entire chip, “wait as long as possible before drinking or eating anything,” and post their reaction on social media. The packaging also asks how long can the individual last on a scale from one minute to one hour.

The back of the package warns buyers not to eat the chip if they are “sensitive to spicy foods, allergic to peppers, night shades or capsaicin or are pregnant or have any medical conditions.” It also said individuals should wash their hands after touching the chip and “seek medical assistance should you experience difficulty breathing, fainting or extended nausea.”

A judge has sentenced That '70s Show star Danny Masterson to 30 years to life in prison for the rapes of two women two decades ago.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F Olmedo handed down the sentence to the 47-year-old Masterson on Thursday (early Friday AEST) after hearing statements from the women about the trauma they experienced and the suffering caused by the disturbing memories in the years since.

The actor, who has been in custody since May, sat in court wearing a suit. Masterson watched the women without visible reaction as they spoke.

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"When you raped me, you stole from me," said one woman who Masterson was convicted of raping in 2003.

"That's what rape is, a theft of the spirit."

"You are pathetic, disturbed and completely violent," she said.

"The world is better off with you in prison."

The other woman Masterson was found guilty of raping said he "has not shown an ounce of remorse for the pain he caused".

"I knew he belonged behind bars for the safety of all the women he came into contact with. I am so sorry, and I'm so upset. I wish I'd reported him sooner to the police," she told the judge.

After an initial jury failed to reach verdicts on three counts of rape in December and a mistrial was declared, prosecutors retried Masterson on all three counts earlier this year.

This time, a jury of seven women and five men found Masterson guilty of two counts on May 31 after seven days of deliberations. Both attacks took place in Masterson's Hollywood-area home in 2003, when he was at the height of his fame on the Fox network sitcom That '70s Show.

They could not reach a verdict on the third count, an allegation that Masterson also raped a longtime girlfriend. They had voted 8-4 in favour of conviction.

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The judge sentenced the actor after rejecting a defence motion for a new trial that was argued earlier Thursday. The defence sought to have sentences for the two convictions run simultaneously, and asked for a sentence of 15 years to life. The prosecution asked for the full 30 years to life sentence Masterson was eligible for.

"It's his life that will be impacted by what you decide today," Masterson's lawyer Shawn Holley told the judge before the sentencing.

"And the life of his nine-year-old daughter, who means the world to him, and to whom he means the world."

"He has lived an exemplary life, he has been an extraordinary father, husband, brother, son, co-worker and community servant," Holley said.

Prosecutors alleged that Masterson used his prominence in the Church of Scientology — where all three women were also members at the time — to avoid consequences for decades after the attacks.

The women blamed the church for their hesitancy in going to police about Masterson. They testified that when they reported him to Scientology officials, they were told they were not raped, were put through ethics programs themselves, and were warned against going to law enforcement to report a member of such high standing.

The church said in a statement after the verdict that the "testimony and descriptions of Scientology beliefs" during the trial were "uniformly false."

"The Church has no policy prohibiting or discouraging members from reporting criminal conduct of anyone — Scientologists or not — to law enforcement," the statement said.

Masterson did not testify, and his lawyers called no witnesses. The defence argued that the acts were consensual, and attempted to discredit the women's stories by highlighting changes and inconsistencies over time, which they said showed signs of coordination between them.

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The women whose testimony led to Masterson's conviction said that in 2003, he gave them drinks and that they then became woozy or passed out before he violently raped them.

Olmedo allowed prosecutors and accusers to say directly in the second trial that Masterson drugged the women, while only allowing the women to describe their condition in the first.

Masterson was not charged with any counts of drugging, and there was no toxicology evidence to back up the assertion. The issue could be a factor in a planned appeal from the defence of Masterson's conviction.

The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they've been sexually abused.

Masterson starred with Ashton Kutcher, Mila Kunis and Topher Grace in That '70s Show from 1998 until 2006.

He had reunited with Kutcher on the 2016 Netflix comedy The Ranch, but was written off the show when a Los Angeles Police Department investigation was revealed the following year.

While that investigation began before a wave of women shook Hollywood with stories about Harvey Weinstein in October 2017, the conviction and sentencing of Masterson still represents a major #MeToo-era success for Los Angeles prosecutors, along with the conviction of Weinstein himself last year.

Phil Twyford said affected homeowners needed to have full confidence in recovery process.

Two people have been arrested after the death of a man whose body was found on a suburban street in Melbourne's east earlier this week.

Police allege the 76-year-old Blackburn North man died after being hit by a car on Tidcombe Crescent in Doncaster East just before 5am on Monday.

9News understands the victim was responding to a break-in at his workplace, Hansen Technologies, when he was allegedly involved in an altercation.

READ MORE: Police arrest 14-year-old 'youth gang member' over alleged abduction of schoolboy in Melbourne

The worker got into his Holden Commodore before he ended up on Tidcombe Crescent, where he died.

The victim's colleagues at Hansen Technologies today paid tribute to the Blackburn North man.

"He was a generous and devoted member of the Hansen team for over 25 years, and a dear friend to us all," the company said in a statement.

"We will all sadly miss one of life's true gentlemen."

A 33-year-old and a 35-year-old man were arrested and interviewed by police today following multiple search warrants.

Police seized a white truck outside a Frederick Street address in Doncaster today, which will undergo forensic examination.

The men have been released pending further enquiries.

More arrests are imminent following the alleged abduction and armed robbery of a schoolboy in Melbourne's south-east earlier this week.

A 14-year-old boy, who police believe is a "youth gang member" and the principal offender in the alleged attack on the student from Glen Eira Secondary College, was arrested earlier today.

It was welcome news to victim Benjamin's family, who told 9News the Year 9 student was slowly recovering in hospital after suffering "life-altering" injuries.

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Police believe Benjamin was walking home with three other students when a grey Volkswagen approached about 3.35pm on Monday.

The victim was allegedly pushed into the car before it took off.

He was then left with serious injuries after he was allegedly ejected out of the moving car.

Benjamin's father told 9News today his son remained in a coma at the Royal Children's Hospital but was slowly trying to wake up.

"It's really sad you know, we can't sleep," he said.

"We just (need to) wait for him to wake up and I don't know much about what's going on with his head."

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Speaking to media today, Victoria Police Inspector Scott Dwyer said more arrests were expected over the coming days.

"There has been an arrest of a 14-year-old youth gang member who we believe is the principal offender from this incident," he said.

"I anticipate in the hours that follow and the days that follow there will be further arrests, that will give us some comfort that the incident we saw would be addressed."

"I want the community to know we are there with them, we are responsive and we take action.

"We are there trying to prevent these crimes."

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At least two students have come forward to report similar incidents since police appealed for witnesses in relation to the attack on the Glen Eira Secondary College student.

The two from the same school, aged 14 and 16, contacted police about being attacked or robbed.

"We believe these to be the same offenders and linked to the same circumstances," Dwyer said.

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Students targeted across Melbourne's east

A growing number of secondary schools across Melbourne's south-east have also reported similar incidents over the past month.

Salesian College, located in Chadstone, about 8km from Glen Huntly, has been the latest school to report an alleged attack on its students.

Principal Mark Ashmore said police were investigating after a student was approached but wasn't injured while at Chadstone Shopping Centre on Friday evening.

"Our boys need to be aware of their surroundings and be alert and seek help if they feel unsafe," he said.

Last week, Xavier College students in Kew, about 12km from Glen Huntly, were also targeted.

The school issued a student safety reminder yesterday to parents, encouraging students to not be distracted by their phones when walking, not to wear noise-cancelling headphones and to go directly home after school.

The reminder follows an incident where a number of students were approached by a group of unknown people on August 1.

The group allegedly stole property from the students.

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Victoria Police today reassured the community that the safety of school students was a high priority.

"We have dispatched extra patrols to key locations, specialist resources including the mounted branch to assist in giving (parents) a level of comfort that we are there with you," Dwyer said.

"We want to reassure our community, especially for the mums and dads and kids, that they are safe to walk to school.

"My advice to the broader community, including those with school-age children, just be aware of your surroundings, but don't be anxious."

Anyone who witnessed any of the incidents, has CCTV or dashcam footage or any other information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au

Footage of a motorcyclist clipping the Green Party co-leader was captured.

A child removed from the care of William Tyrrell's former foster parents was "so scared" after one of the couple put his hands around the youngster's neck, a court has heard.

The ex-foster parents, a 58-year-old woman and her 56-year-old partner, returned to Parramatta Local Court on Thursday to face allegations of assaulting and intimidating the child.

The foster mother has pleaded guilty to hitting the child with a wooden spoon in January 2021 and kicking them in October but is fighting two intimidation charges over incidents between January and August that same year.

READ MORE: William Tyrrell's foster parent accused of being 'bad mother' by child

Her partner has pleaded not guilty to allegedly grabbing the child's neck in October 2021 and intimidation in November 2020.

Neither the foster parents nor the child, who was removed from their care in November 2021, can be named for legal reasons.

A woman who met the child around that time was also with the youth for support when they were interviewed by police in December 2022.

She recalled what happened when the child began sobbing and officers left the room.

"(The child) turned to me and said, 'my dad put his hands around my neck'."

The support person recalled the child telling her: "I was so scared."

She did not tell police when they came back in the room but followed up with an email recording the comment immediately afterwards, the woman told the court.

She rejected a suggestion from the foster father's barrister, Phillip English, that the child had instead reported the man using an open palm to apply force on their shoulder, causing them to slide down a wall.

READ MORE: William Tyrrell's foster mother pleads guilty to assaulting a child

Covert recordings captured the alleged abuse as police listened in on the foster parents' conversations during their investigation into William's unsolved disappearance.

In one recording previously played to the court, the foster mother theorised that police targeted her because they had no other suspects in the toddler's 2014 disappearance.

"They're doing it because they f—– it up," she said.

The woman's barrister, John Stratton SC, suggested the assault and intimidation allegations were not serious enough to warrant investigation by specialist police.

Child abuse unit detective Matthew Davis agreed his squad would not normally investigate such matters, but he said he was helping homicide investigators who detected the alleged abuse during their ongoing probe into William's case.

The toddler was three years old when he vanished from a Kendall property belonging to his foster grandmother on the NSW Mid North Coast.

No one has been charged over his disappearance.

The court was closed for much of Thursday while the child gave evidence.

The hearing continues on Friday.

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.