North Melbourne player Tarryn Thomas has walked free from court without a criminal conviction for threatening to distribute intimate videos of his former partner.

The 23-year-old was initially charged with threatening to distribute an intimate image of another person, but this was downgraded by prosecutors to using a carriage service to harass someone.

The footballer, who also goes by the surname Trindall, faced Broadmeadows Magistrates Court on Tuesday where full details of the offence were publicly aired for the first time.

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In July 2022, Thomas accused his ex-girlfriend of being intimate with another person while they were speaking to each other via Instagram messages, Magistrate Julie Grainger told the court.

The pair began arguing, exchanging a number of messages, and the woman said something about Thomas' mother which he took offence to.

Thomas threatened to share intimate video recordings taken of the two of them and the woman believed he had distributed those clips.

But Thomas did not distribute the videos and has taken full responsibility for his offending in the year since.

His lawyer Sally Vardy said at the time of offending Thomas was not coping with the sudden loss of his maternal grandmother and was dealing with family issues.

"It is a reactive response from Trindall in relation to an immediate message sent by the complainant," she said.

"He received that as a slight against mum and he reacts."

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He accepted his behaviour was unacceptable and has taken part in offending programs, social media training and engaged a psychiatrist, Vardy said.

He has also been working part-time cleaning for an Aboriginal start-up business and has returned to playing for North Melbourne football club.

Grainger said the Instagram messages were "harassing, inappropriate, unacceptable" but acknowledged Thomas had taken responsibility for it.

"All of the great work Trindall has done in the last 12 months is for him to learn better ways to deal with conflict, heartache and disappointment, breakdowns of relationships, manage his own emotions, so that in the future he won't respond in such a manner," she said.

She agreed to grant Thomas a diversion, which means he will escape a criminal conviction, and he was ordered to pay $1000 to charity.

"You won't have a searchable criminal record, and hopefully this will be your last appearance in court," Grainger said.

His charge will be withdrawn upon payment to the court fund, which must be made by August 15.

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.

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For the first time in a long time, August this year will have the unusual distinction of having two sturgeon supermoons.

That phrase might be meaningful for astronomers and astrologers, but what does it mean for us?

What is happening in August?

There will be a full moon on the early morning on August 2, Australian time.

Then close to midday on August 31, there will be a second full moon, known as a blue moon.

A blue moon is simply the name for a second full moon taking place within a calendar month.

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Because there are 28 days between full moons and months are only a few days longer than that, it is rare for a blue moon to take place.

Hence the term, once in a blue moon.

What makes this month even more unusual is that both of those full moons will be supermoons.

What is a supermoon?

While there isn't a single definition of "supermoon", the term typically refers to a full moon that can stand out more than others because it is within 90 per cent of its closest orbit to Earth.

Due to their proximity, super moons can appear up to 16 per cent brighter and seven per cent larger than a 'normal' full moon.

While both sturgeon moons will be big, the second will be the biggest of the year.

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Why is it a 'sturgeon' moon?

Supermoons don't actually come in different varieties, but historically, they would be given different names to help track the months and seasons.

The name "sturgeon moon" comes from the Old Farmer's Almanac, first published in the US in 1792.

The August moon was nicknamed the "sturgeon moon" because it was typically when the largest catches of sturgeon were made in North America.

A sturgeon is a large fish critically endangered in parts of the Northern Hemisphere, caught for its eggs, known as caviar.

Under UK law, all sturgeons in British waters are considered the property of the monarchy.

The Almanac claims that the moon nicknames derive from colonial and Native American sources, with different interpretations possible.

For example, January is the "wolf moon", but also the "Canada goose moon", "cold moon" and "spirit moon".

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Thanks, but no thanks.

That's the rapid response from New South Wales, Western Australia, Gold Coast and South Australia on the possibility of stepping in to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games, following Victoria's shock axing of the event.

As Premier Daniel Andrews revealed the cost of hosting the Games had blown out to around $7 billion, almost triple the original estimate of $2.6 billion, it appears that horror figure is a costly hot potato no other Australian state or city wants to handle.

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South Australian MP Tom Koutsantonis said "it's off our agenda" because "it's not value for money" as he revealed the tone of his discussions with SA Premier Peter Malinauskas, who is currently away on leave.

WA Premier Roger Cook lambasted the Games as "ruinously expensive" and declared "they aren't what they used to be", as he confirmed the west was out, too.

Cook did, however, say he was open to a split-city model.

On the east coast, Gold Coast's acting mayor Donna Gates poured cold water on suggestions it could rescue the Games, quite rightly pointing out it would be difficult for any city to take on responsibility with three years to go, and bemoaning the huge cost.

NSW Premier Chris Minns followed suit just after noon, confirming his state will not bid to host the Games, while across the Tasman, New Zealand also let the Andrews hospital pass fly by.

While making the surprise announcement, Andrews said he wasn't prepared for Victoria to host the event "at any cost" and especially if there was not a lasting benefit for Victorian communities and the whole state.

In a departure from previous Commonwealth Games, the 2026 event was not scheduled to be held in one major city, but across a number of regional cities.

The Games were set to run over 12 days in March 2026.

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"Six-seven billion is well and truly too much for a 12-day sporting event," Andrews said, fronting media after whispers of Victoria's fold began to circulate this morning.

"I will not take money out of hospitals and schools in order to fund an event that is three times the cost as estimated and budgeted for last year," he said.

The Labor leader will now have to somehow explain to Victorians the events that led to him pushing the eject button.

There are some key questions that need answering, namely how did officials get the budget so wildly wrong, and how much it will cost the state to exit the contract.

The Liberals described the Andrews stand down as a massive humiliation and a betrayal of regional Victoria.

Commonwealth Games Australia chief executive Craig Phillips called the decision "beyond disappointing" and "a comprehensive let-down for the athletes".

He questioned Andrews' descriptions of the budget blowout, claiming it was "a gross exaggeration and not reflective of the operational costs presented to the Victorian 2026 organising committee board as recently as June this year".

Phillips said the focus now was to find a new host.

"Australia till now has had a great reputation of hosting great Games," he said.

"But we know they'll be let down today by the (Victorian) government's decision."

On the official Victoria 2026 website, which was yet to be edited to reflect the sudden change, the event was being trumpeted as "a game-changer" because of its innovative and flexible model that would be "unprecedented in the event's history".

Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Gippsland and Shepparton were set to play host to 20 sports across 24 disciplines, with Melbourne to host the opening ceremony.

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Spanish environmental activists have spray-painted a superyacht moored in Ibiza.

Activists from the environmental group Futuro Vegetal posted a video showing them standing in front of the superyacht named Kaos, holding a banner that says: "You Consume Others Suffer." The activists then sprayed the vessel with red and black paint.

"The richest 1 per cent of the world population pollutes more than the poorest 50 per cent," the activists said in the video.

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"They are condemning us to a future of pain, misery and desolation.

"They are destroying our planet, compromising the habitability of the land and everything, to lead a standard of living that goes beyond the limits of reason."

According to multiple shipping industry news sites the yacht belongs to Nancy Walton Laurie, the billionaire heiress of Walmart.

CNN has reached to Laurie for a comment but has not yet heard back.

The two protesters were detained by the Spanish Civil Guard on Sunday morning and were released on Monday, according to Futuro Vegetal.

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It follows a similar act on Friday, when the group spray-painted a private jet at the Ibiza airport, leading to the runway to be shut down for several hours, Futuro Vegetal said.

"The action puts the finishing touch to the 'Jets and Yachts, the party is over' campaign, convened by Extinction Rebellion Ibiza who demand the prohibition of private jets and the end of luxury emissions," Futuro Vegetal said.

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The climate group Extinction Rebellion (XR) has also pledged to target the 1 per cent, saying they want to make it clear that "the rich and their leisure activities that waste essential resources are a luxury that we cannot afford."

Earlier this month XR activists in Spain plugged up holes on 10 golf courses around the country to protest the water use by golf courses during one of Spain's worst droughts on record.

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Elton John has briefly testified for the defence at Kevin Spacey's sexual assault trial as the actor's lawyer attempted to discredit a man who claimed the Oscar winner aggressively grabbed his crotch while driving to the singer's summer ball.

John appeared in the London court on Monday by video link from Monaco after his husband, David Furnish, testified Spacey did not attend the annual party at their Windsor home the year the accuser said he was attacked.

One of the alleged victims said he was driving Spacey to the White Tie and Tiara Ball in 2004 or 2005 when the actor grabbed him so forcefully he almost ran off the road.

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Furnish supported Spacey's own testimony that he only attended the event in 2001. Furnish said he had reviewed photographs taken at the party from 2001 to 2005 and Spacey only appeared in images that one year. He said all guests were photographed each year.

John said the actor attended the party in the early 2000s and arrived after flying in on a private jet.

Furnish said Spacey's appearance was a surprise and he remembered it because it was a big deal.

"He was an Oscar-winning actor and there was a lot of buzz and excitement that he was at the ball," Furnish said.

John said he only remembered Spacey coming once to the gala and said the actor spent the night at their house after the event.

He also confirmed that Spacey bought a Mini Cooper at the auction held that night for the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

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The alleged victim said he may have gotten the year wrong, but that he would not have forgotten the incident because it took his breath away and he almost crashed the car.

The timeline, however, is important because the man testified that Spacey had fondled him over several years beginning in the early 2000s. The incident was the final occasion, he said, when he threatened to hit the actor and then avoided him.

Spacey said the two were friends and they engaged in some romantic contact but the man was straight, so the actor respected his wishes not to go further.

He said he was crushed when he learned the man had complained to police about him and said the man had "reimagined" what had been consensual touching.

Furnish said he was familiar with the accuser and described him as "charming", the same term Spacey used.

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Spacey, 63, has pleaded not guilty to a dozen charges that include sexual and indecent assault counts and one count of causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.

Over two days of testimony last week, the two-time Academy Award winner insisted that he never sexually assaulted three of the four accusers who described disturbing encounters between 2001 and 2013. The acts allegedly escalated from unwanted touching to aggressive fondling to one instance of performing oral sex act on an unconscious man.

Spacey dismissed one man's fondling claims as "pure fantasy" and said he shared consensual encounters with two others who later regretted it.

He accepted the claims of a fourth man, saying he had made a "clumsy pass" during a night of heavy drinking, but he took exception to the "crotch-grabbing" characterisation.

John's testimony comes just over a week after he wrapped up his 50-year touring career with a show in Stockholm.

It's the second time the Rocket Man star and Furnish have made appearances in a London courtroom this year. The two showed up at hearings in their phone hacking lawsuit with Prince Harry against the publisher of the Daily Mail newspaper.

The couple, the Duke of Sussex and actors Elizabeth Hurley and Sadie Frost are among a group of claimants that allege Associated Newspapers violated their privacy by intercepting voicemails and using unlawful methods to snoop on them.

A judge is deciding whether to throw out the case after the publisher said the group waited too long to bring their claims.

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Appearing distressed and aggressive, teenager Zac Erin Barnes walked into the bush and vanished more than six years ago with his family still left wondering what happened.

The 18-year-old asked to get out of a friend's vehicle at night on November 13, 2016 wearing only a faded blue T-shirt, blue shorts and work boots.

He walked off into the dark bushland near the Hunter Valley town of Thornton in NSW and has not been seen by friends, family or anyone else since.

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An inquest into what happened to Barnes began on Monday with counsel assisting Tim Hammond saying the teen had not used his bank accounts, social media, phone or government agencies like Centrelink since he disappeared.

"It must be concluded that Zac has passed away," he told Lidcombe Coroners Court.

The three-day inquest will examine events prior to November 13 and how NSW Police handled its investigation after he was reported missing by his mother and stepfather Karen and Michael Gudelj the following day.

The Gudeljs appeared in court alongside some of Barnes' siblings as they seek answers as to the fate of their much beloved family member.

"The circumstances of Zac's disappearance are very sad and the uncertainty of his whereabouts is a hole that remains with his family and friends and never leaves," Hammond said.

In the days before he disappeared, Barnes lost his job after an altercation at work, had to ask for $1200 from his parents partly to repay a debt he owed, and was seen by friends as emotional and crying, drinking more heavily and looking "scattered" and not himself.

"All I have to do is walk into the bush and take a number of pills and no one will ever find me," he allegedly was heard saying after he was fired.

He told another witness that he'd "f—– everything anyway".

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In a Snapchat message, Barnes sent one word, "Dead", to a friend days before he walked into the bush, refusing to disclose where he was.

He was eventually tracked down by that same friend after concerns were raised by Mrs Gudelj.

Saying he didn't want his mother to see him in that condition, he took a ride in another friend's car, eventually becoming aggressive, striking the passenger seat and asking to get out before walking towards the bush.

"Zac was not heard from again that night or since," Hammond said.

In an investigation that spanned years, police divers trawled through nearby dams, searches by land and air were conducted, and police dogs were called in to search for the missing teen.

A tip-off also led investigators to examine a nearby well for clothing or human remains.

Nothing was ever uncovered.

Coroner Carmel Forbes heard Barnes was an exceptional mathematician and a talented footballer at his high school and was working as an apprentice bricklayer when he vanished.

The teen was described as gregarious, boisterous, caring and well-liked.

The officer-in-charge of the investigation, Detective Senior Constable Christopher Walker gave evidence Monday about the searches that police undertook.

Forbes has been tasked with determining the time, date and cause of Barnes' suspected death.

She can also make recommendations regarding steps which should have taken place before and after his disappearance.

The inquest continues on Tuesday.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

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Man who stole from orchard tries and fails to get discharge without conviction.

A “heavy police presence” is in the area while police attempt to resolve the incident

Fire and Emergency NZ was called to the scene at 7.08pm.

National wants Labour to come clean on whether roads will be cut.