The accusations were made against the father, and one of the recipients was his boss.

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About 20 fire crew including a hazmat unit are on the scene after first reports at 4.45pm.

Russia has told the Australian government it will launch a High Court challenge against the cancellation of its lease for an embassy next to Parliament House, a day after an apparent squatter was spotted on the land in question.

A spokesperson for Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil said the Russian Federation had informed Australia on Friday afternoon of its intention to start legal proceedings.

However, the government seems confident in its position, labelling the move as expected and part of Russia's standard practices.

READ MORE: Teen was 'terrified' in lead up to doomed Titanic sub trip

"The Russian Federation has informed the Commonwealth of its intention to commence legal proceedings in the High Court, in which they will challenge the validity of the legislation on constitutional grounds," the spokesperson said.

"Russia's challenge to the validity of the law is not unexpected.

"This is part of the Russian playbook."

Legislation was rushed through parliament with bipartisan support last week to cancel Russia's lease on the land at Yarralumla due to national security concerns.

"The government has received very clear security advice as to the risk presented by a new Russian presence so close to Parliament House," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at the time.

Russia's legal challenge comes as a Russian diplomat has been spotted squatting on the plot of land in an apparent protest against the decision.

The man has been living in a demountable home on the site for the last few days while under observation from the Australian Federal Police.

READ MORE: 'Catastrophic implosion': All five people on Titan sub dead

If the man is a member of Russia's diplomatic mission to Australia, he would be unable to be arrested due to diplomatic immunity, unless the federal government declares him persona non grata and deports him back to Russia.

This would almost certainly spark a reprisal from Moscow, which last week voiced its clear disapproval over the government's decision regarding the lease.

Russia retains an embassy in the Canberra suburb of Griffith.

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Speaking at a press conference today, Albanese downplayed the man's presence on the site.

"Of course, we anticipated that Russia would not be happy with our response," Albanese said.

"We expected that, but we're confident of our position and processes are underway for the Commonwealth to formalise possession of the site."

READ MORE: Titanic sub customer calls 2021 dive to Titanic 'kamikaze operation'

Albanese said the national security threat posed by a potential Russian embassy on the site was not matched by the man's presence.

"A bloke standing in the cold on a bit of grass in Canberra is not a threat to our national security," he said.

"The site is secure."

9news.com.au has contacted the Australian Federal Police for comment.

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A man who was sexually assaulted by the older brother of former world boxing champion Jeff Fenech has told his abuser death is not good enough for him after he made his life "a living hell".

The victim, who is now in his 50s, looked Paul Godfrey Fenech, the man who raped him as a child, in the eye as he delivered a victim impact statement in Penrith District Court.

"You took my innocence away, Mr Fenech," he said on Friday.

READ MORE: Teen was 'terrified' in lead-up to doomed Titanic submersible trip

"You sexually assaulted me over a period of hours and many times."

Fenech, 66, pleaded guilty in March to indecent assault of a male, buggery and detaining for advantage after a plea deal was struck with crown prosecutors.

He met the victim through a friend in the 1980s and organised a visit to his place a week later to go horseriding.

After drinking beer together on the verandah, the boy felt uncoordinated and woke up on Fenech's bed.

"He was naked. He felt like he was unable to move or speak. The offender was next to him. He was also naked," agreed facts filed with the court say.

Fenech then proceeded to sexually abuse the boy, who at one point asked for a drink of water in an attempt to flee.

"The offender followed the victim and forced him back to the bed. The victim called out and then heard his friends in another room," the agreed facts say.

"While the victim was being sexually assaulted and detained, the offender threatened to cause serious harm to the victim."

READ MORE: Church founder's indecent assault conviction set aside

Before the boy was picked up by his parents the following day, Fenech again told the young teen to keep quiet.

The victim spoke about the lasting effects the abuse has had on his life and relationships.

"I had to grow up very quickly. This has been like a living hell," he said.

"I'm a loving person but I hate being touched.

"I've not been able to have a proper relationship my entire life, Mr Fenech, because of you."

He said the incident left him devastated.

He has received counselling as a result and will continue to receive counselling for a long time to come, the court was told.

"I'm going to take back my life. I'm not the victim any more," he said.

"I can only pity you, the pathetic person and monster that you are.

"Death really isn't good enough for someone like yourself, sir."

The victim eventually provided a statement to police in 2020 and Fenech was arrested on February 19 last year.

Judge Michael Allen said the court must take into account Fenech's lack of reoffending during the years since his release from prison in 2006 for a previous conviction and his arrest in February last year.

"That does not excuse nor should it ever excuse the objectively serious conduct that robbed (the victim) of a decent life," he said.

"(But) the period of 17 years is unusual because there's simply been no offence."

Fenech's sentence hearing continues.

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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The mocking and taunting of a young woman online, blamed for her own sexual assault, has been rebuked by a judge as amounting to a form of emotional rape.

At 19-years-old the young woman was raped and sexually assaulted by a rideshare driver who picked her up outside a Collingwood nightclub, where she was celebrating a friend's birthday, claiming to be offering a free Uber ride.

Instead, 50-year-old father-of-five Abdouslam Alsharif took advantage of the young woman, locking his car doors and driving to a secluded street where he perpetrated a predatory and deliberate attack.

READ MORE: 'Red flags' before woman's brutal killing by partner

Alsharif sexually assaulted her in the passenger seat of his car while she repeatedly protested and told him to stop.

She blacked out and woke to him raping her.

The woman sent her location to a friend via Facebook and that information was passed on to police who found her in a nearby street, where Alsharif had left her.

The woman has undergone two years of intensive trauma-based therapy since the attack, including spending three weeks in a hospital psychiatric ward.

"In the back of my mind I truly don't think I will ever recover from what has happened, which breaks my heart because I just really miss who I used to be before it happened," she said.

The woman revealed she was further upset by cruel comments on social media and websites, including remarks which blamed her for what had happened, and the creation of a meme.

READ MORE: UK's shock interest rate move should be 'a wake-up call' to Aussies

In sentencing Alsharif to seven years behind bars for his crimes, County Court Judge Liz Gaynor also blasted the online commentators.

It's an attack that could have happened to their sister, daughter or partner, she said.

"As to those people who use social media to mock and taunt the complainant, their actions in my view were a form of emotional rape," she said.

"It has added greatly to the suffering of a young woman, already staggering under the weight of the trauma inflicted upon her."

The court heard Alsharif had come to Australia from Libya on a scholarship to study a PhD in biology, but that funding was terminated after the fall of the Gaddafi regime, which also led to his family's persecution.

He was granted refugee status in 2014 and became an Australian citizen a year later.

Poor English meant he was only able to secure low-paying research assistant work and he turned to rideshare driving to make ends meet.

He experienced trauma after his family's persecution and struggled with not being able to financially support other family overseas.

His lawyer described him as vulnerable but conceded there was no connection between his psychological state and the offending.

Gaynor previously hit out at the entitlement of some men to take out their own emotional anguish and difficulties by sexually assaulting young women.

"(There is) this notion of a man in turmoil – something clicks over in his head and the way to relieve that is by sexually assaulting a woman," she said.

She said the entitlement did not belong to men, but to young women and all rideshare passengers to a ride home safe from predatory sexual attacks that devastate every aspect of their lives.

Alsharif will be eligible for parole after serving four-and-a-half years behind bars.

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.

Suleman Dawood, the teenager who was killed onboard the Titan submersible when it imploded deep underwater, was "terrified" before embarking on the trip to view the wreckage of the Titanic, his aunt has claimed.

Dawood, 19, was on the Titan with his father, Pakistani businessman Shahzada Dawood, and three other people when it suffered a "catastrophic implosion".

It has now emerged that the university student was having second thoughts about the mission in the days leading up to the doomed OceanGate voyage.

READ MORE: Director says 'surreal' similarities between Titanic and destroyed sub

Azmeh Dawood, Shahzada's sister, said to America's NBC News that Suleman told a relative that he "wasn't very up for it" and felt "terrified" before the deep-sea expedition.

"I am thinking of Suleman, who is 19, in there, just perhaps gasping for breath," Azmeh said.

"It's been crippling, to be honest."

Alongside Suleman and Shahzada Dawood on the submersible were British adventurer and billionaire Hamish Harding, Titanic expert Paul-Henry Nargeolet, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush.

OceanGate, the company that owned the Titan, has come under increasing scrutiny for its approach to safety.

In 2018, a group of ocean engineers and technologists wrote to the company expressing concerns about the small vessel's design and potential "catastrophic" outcomes.

READ MORE: 'True explorers' mourned after undersea wreckage found

Mike Reiss, a writer who rode the submersible last year, said he had to sign an extensive waiver beforehand that outlined all the ways he could be killed.

"Before I boarded the sub, I signed a lengthy waiver detailing all the ways this trip could kill me: asphyxiation, electrocution, drowning, crushing — death was mentioned three times on the first page," he wrote.

"I kissed my wife goodbye before I left, thinking I might never see her again.

"In short, disaster was part of the package.

"This wasn't a rollercoaster ride that merely seemed scary but was actually pretty safe. The danger involved was real."

READ MORE: UK's shock interest rate move should serve as 'a wake-up call' to Aussies

One of Shahzada Dawood's friends said the prominent businessman may not have understood the danger associated with the mission, saying he wasn't a risk-taker.

"I think he looked at this as an extraordinary adventure," SETI Institute CEO Bill Diamond told Today.

"I'm sure he saw this as an extraordinary thing to share with his son, and I'm also sure that he would not have taken his son on board if he thought there was really, you know, a serious level of danger."

The Dawoods are members of one of Pakistan's most prominent families and their firm, Dawood Hercules Corp, based in Karachi, is involved in agriculture, petrochemicals and telecommunication infrastructure.

Shahzada was also on the board of trustees for the California-based SETI Institute that searches for extraterrestrial intelligence.

– Reported with CNN

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A clandestine drug operation has been dismantled by specialist police after they allegedly discovered $2 million worth of the drug 'ice' inside a western Sydney home.

Riot police and Drugs and Firearms Squad detectives raided the home in Oakhurst at 11.20am.

There they uncovered the clandestine drug lab, where they allege they found $10,550 in cash and more than 1.6 kilograms of methylamphetamine, commonly known as 'ice', which has an estimated street value of around $2 million.

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A 54-year-old man was arrested nearby and was taken to Granville Police Station.

Forensics officers and those from the Chemical Operation Unit were called in to examine the alleged lab.

Within half an hour, a second arrest was made – a 51-year-old man on Melton Street in Granville.

During a second raid on a home in Guildford, officers located and seized $8565 in cash.

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Both suspects have been charged with manufacturing and supplying a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

They have been refused bail ahead of their court appearances today.

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The Bank of England has shocked the UK public by imposing another interest rate rise for the 13th meeting in a row, a move that should serve "as a wake-up call" to Aussies.

Speaking on Today, Australian Financial Review (AFR) economics editor John Kehoe said concerns are growing that Australia could be heading in the same direction.

"UK inflation is running at nearly 9 per cent, we are a little bit less than 7 per cent, so we are doing a bit better here but it's still way too high," Kehoe said.

READ MORE: Reserve Bank almost didn't hike interest rates this month, meeting minutes reveal

"I think the thing we've learned from the UK it that it's stickier (inflation) and hanging around and bleeding into the service sector now.

"The Bank of England raised concerns of unsustainable wage rises, Philip Lowe, our governor, has been raising concerns and saying that we don't want to go down that path because that fuels inflation higher.

"So there are some lessons to be learned here in Australia, but we are looking a lot more like the rest of the world than much different to it.

"I'd expect the reserve bank has probably got a couple more rate rises in them in the coming months."

Fears that the British economy is heading for recession mounted sharply yesterday after the Bank of England raised borrowing costs by more than anticipated, seeking to combat stubbornly high inflation with a hike that will hit borrowers hard, particularly homeowners who have to refinance in the coming months.

READ MORE: Concerns grow over per-capita recession as rate rises continue to bite

On a busy day for central bank action in Europe, the Bank of England said its nine-member Monetary Policy Committee decided to lift its main interest rate by half a percentage point to a fresh 15-year high of 5 per cent.

All but two on the panel backed the half-point increase.

The size of the bank's 13th hike in a row was a surprise, with most economists predicting a smaller quarter-point increase. Some even termed it a panic move given that there had been hopes as recently as last month that the bank would pause its rate-hiking cycle.

Financial markets are pricing in a potential rate peak of 6 per cent, a level not hit since early 2000, after Bank Governor Andrew Bailey warned of further increases if inflation fails to show clear signs of slowing.

Reported with Associated Press

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