The first ballot selection will be on August 8.

A man is in hospital with serious injuries after the light plane he was piloting collided with a horse in South Australia.

It's understood the aircraft crashed into the horse shortly after take-off at Brentwood, on the York Peninsula, at 9.20am today.

Both the pilot, a 63-year-old man, and his passenger, a 56-year-old woman managed to escape the wreckage, however the man was seriously injured.

READ MORE: Kiwi toddler drowns after falling from yacht in Musket Cove, Fiji

He was flown to the Royal Adelaide Hospital where he remains.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will is investigating the incident.

The horse survived the ordeal. 

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A man has been sentenced to 30 years to life in the murder of a US woman more than three decades ago.

Daniel Rees, 60, of Barberton, Ohio, pleaded guilty on Friday in Summit County to aggravated murder in the 1991 death of Rachael Johnson in Akron.

Prosecutors agreed to change the underlying offence from rape to kidnapping as part of an agreement sparing the defendant a trial and a possible death sentence.

READ MORE: Tradie dies after being electrocuted while working in Perth

"I am a monster," Rees said in remarks to the court. "What I did is horrendous. The crime I did is horrendous."

Judge Susan Baker Ross sentenced Rees to life in prison with possible parole after 30 years, the most severe penalty in the state other than the death penalty at the time of the crime.

Johnson was found dead on March 30, 1991, in Akron's Chapel Hill neighbourhood. The Tallmadge woman suffered blunt force trauma and had been sexually assaulted, stabbed multiple times and set on fire, police said.

READ MORE: Search for missing aircrew continues after military helicopter crash

Rees was arrested in March 2020 after authorities said he was linked to the crime by DNA from distant relatives. A friend of the victim's daughter who worked with the victim's sister at a printing company, Rees had no significant criminal history and hadn't been a suspect in the case.

Defence attorneys unsuccessfully challenged the admissibility of their client's statement to investigators about Johnson's murder and DNA evidence collected from his trash, and plea talks began after the evidence was ruled admissible.

READ MORE: Man dies after alleged stabbing in Sydney harbourside suburb

Defence attorney Joe Gorman said Rees isn't the same person he was three decades ago and didn't want the family to have to go through a trial. He also said it's likely his client, who will be 90 when he first comes up for parole, won't leave prison.

"This is a life sentence," Gorman said. "He understood that walking in here."

Rees apologised to Johnson's family not just for her slaying but also for how he befriended them afterward, calling that "the worst thing to do." Family members expressed fury at the defendant, calling him a monster. The victim's sister, Leila Hanes, said he was "an abomination and a coward."

Larry Johnson, the father of the victim, had trouble delivering his remarks because he was so distraught.

"It never ends," he said. "They say 'closure.' What the hell is closure? I ask that you, your honour give him what he deserves, please. I'd like to see him spend a lifetime in prison."

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The tribes’ areas of interest include the middle reaches of the Whanganui River.

Police and Land Search and Rescue teams haven’t found her yet.

Whānau gathered to plant a site in Whakatu as a living memorial for kaumātua Des Ratima.

A person is in a critical condition after a scooter battery exploded in a central Wellington apartment with enough force to crack glass and move furniture.

Crews were called to the Tory Hotel at Century City Apartments on Tory Street at 5.30pm on Saturday, Fire & Emergency (FENZ) incident controller Mike Dombroski said.

There was a fire in an apartment on the first floor of the building, caused by an exposition in a lithium-ion scooter battery which was being charged, he said. One person was taken to hospital with critical injuries.

READ MORE: Search for missing aircrew continues after military helicopter crash

A health board spokesperson said the person remained in a critical condition and was being treated at Hutt Hospital at 11.30am on Sunday.

Tory Hotel at Century City Apartments director Chris Dickinson said his thoughts were with the injured person on Sunday morning.

"It is the last thing in my life I could have imagined," he said, pointing out there would be "millions" of scooters being charged inside around the world.

The blast left superficial damage around the room including burn marks. Glass on an internal door was cracked and furniture had been moved in the explosion.

However, it was hard to say how much of the movement was from the blast and how much was due to emergency services moving things.

"It has definitely moved heavier furniture and whatever was loose," he said.

The systems worked well with sprinklers deluging the room and keeping the fire under control. Fire crews were on site within three to four minutes, he said. Damage was isolated to the single apartment.

Everyone in the complex – made up of short and long-term stays – was evacuated and allowed back in about 8pm.

READ MORE: Man dies after alleged stabbing in Sydney harbourside suburb

Fenz's advice for lithium-ion batteries says, when possible, electric scooters and bikes should be stored and charged in a garage, shed, or carport, and away from living spaces. They should be kept away from exit routes and combustible material.

It comes soon after one person died and crew members had to jump into the sea due to a cargo ship fire in the North Sea which was reportedly started in an electric vehicle onboard.

In December, a Wellington rubbish truck in Kilbirnie had to pull over and dump its load for fire crews when a lithium-ion battery someone had discarded caught fire after being crushed.

Fenz risk and investigations manager Todd O'Donoghue in 2022 said lithium-ion batteries – which are used in devices like smartphones, ebikes, laptops and ecigarettes – had been the cause of a number of fires.

The causes of those fires varied, with some being a faulty product design or mechanical operating failures.

Other causes include carelessness when handling the item, like leaving them close to a heat source.

"Make sure you don't charge a device under a pillow, don't leave devices in direct sunlight and only use the battery and charger that is designed for the device – all of these things can cause the device to overheat and cause a fire.

"It's also important to never dispose of lithium-ion batteries in the rubbish, as if it is defective, it could cause a fire. Recycling is the best option."

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

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A large explosion at a fireworks warehouse in southern Thailand on Saturday killed at least ten people and wounded scores, officials said.

The Narathiwat province's Public Relations Department also said that also at least 118 people were hurt, and that residents of more than 200 households were affected.

It said officials believe there are still a number of people trapped under the debris waiting to be rescued.

READ MORE: Man dies after alleged stabbing in Sydney harbourside suburb

Videos posted on social media from the site show a huge plume of smoke over the area and many damaged structures, cars and motorbikes, as well as streets covered with debris. Many of the houses and other buildings have collapsed roofs and walls.

The local public relations agency reported that the explosion caused damage in a radius of about 500 metres.

READ MORE: Specialist divers join search for military crew after helicopter crash

About 100 residences in the area were damaged, according to the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.

Sanan Pongaksorn, the provincial governor, told public broadcaster Thai PBS that the blast was likely ignited by construction work that was taking place in the warehouse, with sparks from metal welding causing the fireworks stored inside to catch fire and explode.

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Hundreds of anti-Nazi protestors have marched through a Melbourne suburb on Saturday, in an effort to thwart a gathering of white nationalists.

Victoria Police formed a ring of steel around the gym where the meeting was being held, as demonstrators demanded an end to the growing movement.

"If we don't then they are going to grow, we've got to stop a movement from growing," one demonstrator told 9News.

READ MORE: Labor retains Mark McGowan's old seat in by-election

About 300 people met and then marched through the streets of Sunshine West, heading towards a boxing gym.

There, a Neo Nazi-gathering was taking place according to a flyer, which advertised the event as a White Power lifting meet, hosted by the European Australia Movement and national socialist network.

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At least 100 stickers featuring the symbol of the black sun were spotted, and scratched off, by demonstrators as they marched through the suburb.

"You don't need to know much history to know six million reasons why the battle is so important," one man told those gathered.

The march was loud and disruptive.

One of the aims of the demonstration was to put on a public show of support for the many migrants in the Sunshine West community.

"Migrants are welcome, Nazis are not," one lady in the crowd shouted.

A wall of Victoria Police officers were waiting near the gym, blocking access to protestors and leaving them to call on those inside to come out and meet them.

But from the air, it was clear the men were ignoring the protest as they appeared to enjoy a spit roast barbecue.

"The Nazis clearly didn't have the numbers to face us so they've hidden away in their gym," Jasmine Duff from Campaign Against Racism and Fascism told 9News.

"It's pretty small and pretty pathetic but at the same time the racism they feed off you can see everywhere in Australia, particularly in the mainstream," Duff said.

After about an hour, the anti-Nazi rally disbanded, their targets silent but their message loud and clear.

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Fire and Emergency is urging people to take care charging lithium-ion batteries.