An Ohio man accused of fatally shooting his three young sons admitted to planning the killings and lined them up before executing them with a rifle, prosecutors said Friday.

Chad Doerman, 32, who is also accused of wounding the boys' mother at the family’s home, has been charged with aggravated murder, authorities said.

Clermont County's chief prosecutor of Municipal Court, David Gast, said during Doerman's arraignment Friday that one of the boys tried to flee into a nearby field but Doerman “hunted” his son down and brought him back to their home before killing him.

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Doerman's bail has been set at $20 million. Court records did not indicate whether he was represented by a lawyer at his arraignment. He is currently being held in Clermont County Jail.

Gast called the killings the worst crime he’d ever seen.

Deputies responded to the home in Monroe Township shortly before 4.30 pm. Thursday after receiving a pair of 911 calls, one apparently from the mother who was screaming that “her babies had been shot” and another from a passing motorist who said a girl was running down the street saying her father was killing people, a news release from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office said.

The deputies found three boys, ages 3, 4 and 7, outside the home with gunshot wounds and tried to save their lives, but the children died at the scene.

“They held these children knowing there was nothing they could do,” Gast said. ”How do you unsee that sort of abomination?"

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The boys' names have not been released.

“This was the man that everyday they woke up looking to for protection, love and guidance in all things …” Gast said. “He was their world, he was their guardian and he executed them in cold blood.”

The sheriff's office said the 34-year-old mother, who was not identified, was outside the home and had suffered a gunshot to the hand while trying to shield her sons from their father. She was transported to a hospital with injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening.

Doerman was found sitting on a stoop at the home and was taken into custody without incident. He was arraigned on three counts of aggravated murder Friday.

Officials have not released a motive behind the shootings.

Neighbours in Monroe Township, which is about 120 kilometres west of Columbus, reported hearing several shots fired in what they said is usually a quiet, calm neighbourhood.

“I was sitting in the garage, and all of a sudden, I hear ‘boom, boom’ and like five more, and I was like, ‘That’s seven shots,’” Alexis Spoonamore told WLWT-TV in Cincinnati. “I’m shaking. It was a lot. It was bad.”

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a one-off $2 billion social housing plan to ensure every Australian "has a roof over their head".

The new Social Housing Accelerator scheme will give state and territory governments funds within the next two weeks to build up to 9000 more social homes.

He said the funding would be delivered to the governments in the next two weeks.

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"This is new money, right now, for social housing," Albanese said.

"Demand for social housing has increased almost three times as fast as the growth in population."

Albanese said the Labor government had already unlocked $575 million for social and affordable homes.

He also plans to provide more build-to-rent accommodation and work with states and territories to improve renters' rights.

"Every Australian deserves the sense of connection and community and dignity and stability that a home provides," Albanese said.

"Knowing that you have a place to call home changes lives. It changed mine."

Albanese grew up in social housing in Sydney's Camperdown.

He said the new money would go alongside reforms to planning and zoning laws, as well as freeing up more land for social housing.

He lambasted the Greens in his announcement.

"They are a party of protest, happy to promise the world while organising a petition against every new apartment building that's proposed," Albanese said.

"The fact is the Greens have blocked more houses than they have ever built."

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn welcomed the funding.

"The Accelerator is a crucial step towards addressing the persistent issue of housing affordability in the country," she said in a statement.

"The Federal Government's dedication to collaborative efforts with industry stakeholders, as well as state and territory governments, to tackle the housing supply predicament is commendable."

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That slow start to ski season is well and truly past us as two "big bouts" of snow are set to be dumped over the next 10 days.

Weatherzone is predicting a metre of coverage to the country's main resorts after many were slow start to the season and unable to open for the June long weekend due to an "absence of strong early-winter cold fronts".

"This could change in the second half of June, with a series of cold fronts about to deliver multiple rounds of cold air and snow to Australia's alpine region," Weatherzone said.

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"The first upcoming cold front will dump snow across the Alps on Sunday before another trailing front delivers some follow-up snow on Monday.

"These two systems combined should bring around 20 to 40cm of snow by Tuesday next week."

A dry and cool spell should provide ideal conditions for artificial snow making next week.

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"There are early signs that another flurry of cold fronts may cross southern and southeastern Australia towards the end of next week.

"At this stage, these fronts are expected to deliver more snow from Thursday June 22 into the weekend."

Weatherzone is predicting 40 to 80cm of show could hit the alps between June 22 and June 25.

Across the country most Australians woke to a chilly morning with Canberra recording the coldest capital of -2C at 7am.

Sydney is expected to reach 19 degrees, Melbourne 16, Brisbane 23, Perth 26, Adelaide 16, Hobart 17, Canberra 14 and Darwin 32.

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The Kremlin has accused Australia of “Russophobic hysteria” for cancelling the lease on the land where Moscow wanted to build its new embassy, which the Australian government judged to be a security risk because it was too close to Parliament House.

Parliament passed emergency legislation blocking the lease on Thursday after Russia won a Federal Court appeal last month against local Canberra authorities’ decision to do the same.

The Russian Embassy responded on Friday by posting on social media a Russian news agency TASS report of Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov’s condemnation of Australia’s actions.

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“Australia, having cancelled the lease agreement for the site for the construction of the new Russian Embassy building, diligently continues to move forward in the mainstream of the authors of the Russophobic hysteria and tries to distinguish itself on this path,” Peskov is quoted as saying.

“Another unfriendly display from Australia. We will take this into account and if there are issues on the agenda that require the principle of reciprocity, we will act accordingly."

The Russian Embassy is quoted as describing the lease termination as “another step by [Prime Minister] Anthony Albanese towards a deliberate and systematic destruction of relations with Moscow”.

The law ending the lease took effect late on Thursday when it was rubber-stamped by Governor-General David Hurley, representing Australia’s head of state, King Charles III.

Albanese explained the urgency as a need to prevent the site becoming a "formal diplomatic presence”.

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Lawmakers cited threats of espionage and political interference if Russia’s second embassy was built in the Yarralumla diplomatic precinct so close to Parliament House.

Russia currently occupies the former USSR embassy in the suburb of Griffith, farther from Parliament House than the new site. The Yarralumla site would have provided Russia with a second cluster of diplomatic buildings in the national capital Canberra.

Australian intelligence agencies now rate espionage and foreign interference as the nation's greatest security challenges.

In February, a newspaper reported that Australia had quietly expelled a large Russian spy ring whose members were posing as diplomats.

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The spy ring comprised purported embassy and consular staff as well as other operatives using deep-cover identities, The Sydney Morning Herald reported, citing unnamed sources with knowledge of the operation.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organisation, the nation’s main domestic spy agency, revealed days earlier it had “detected and disrupted a major spy network”. ASIO has not named the country responsible.

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Pope Francis on Friday was discharged from the Rome hospital where he had abdominal surgery nine days earlier to repair a hernia and remove painful scarring, with his surgeon saying the pontiff is now “better than before” the hospitalisation.

Francis, 86, left through Gemelli Polyclinic's main exit in a wheelchair, smiling and waving and saying “thanks” to a crowd of well-wishers, then stood up so he could get into the small Vatican car awaiting him.

In the brief distance before he could reach the white Fiat 500, reporters thrust microphones practically at his face, and the pontiff seemed to bat them away, good-naturedly.

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"The Pope is well. He's better than before,'' Dr Sergio Alfieri, the surgeon who did the three-hour operation on June 7, told reporters as the Pope was driven away.

Hours after the surgery, Alfieri said that the scarring, which had resulted from previous abdominal surgeries, had been increasingly causing the Pope pain.

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There was also a risk of an intestinal blockage, if adhesions, or scar tissue, weren’t removed, according to the doctors.

No complications occurred during the surgery or while the Pope was convalescing in Gemelli’s 10th-floor apartment reserved exclusively for hospitalisation of pontiffs, according to the Pope’s medical staff.

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The mayor also suggests people who use mobility parks without a permit deserve a penalty.

‘We were invited to view her newly renovated home that we now know we paid for.’

Police believe an officer involved in a pursuit in which a man died in Sydney's south this morning acted "within the guidelines".

Commuters experienced significant delays after the 19-year-old man died in a ute crash following the police chase on Alfords Point Road in Menai.

The incident closed the highway in both directions for about nine hours after the crash near Old Illawarra Road just after 6am.

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Assistant Commissioner Tony Cooke said the Oyster Bay man died at the scene.

"Having viewed the in-car video footage, it is clear there is a very short pursuit and the officer has acted within the guidelines and circumstances," Cooke said.

He said the incident began when officers noted the man was over the speed limit and attempted to stop the car by activating their lights.

"The vehicle did pull over, it came to a stop but as the officer began to get out of the vehicle, the offending vehicle … drove away at speed.

"The officer followed that vehicle and commenced a pursuit for a very short distance."

He said the ute travelled onto Alfords Point Road, where it attempted to merge from lane one to three but instead came into contact with the guard rail and another white ute.

The driver of the other ute was hospitalised for minor injuries.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission is independently investigating the incident.

The worst of the traffic was built up on Alfords Point Bridge between Henry Lawson Drive at Padstow and Menai Road.

9News spoke to one woman who decided to ditch her car, put her joggers on and walk home.

"I did my run, went and had a coffee and went to come back but I couldn't come back," she told 9News.

"So I thought you know what, I will just park the car at Padstow and I have just walked here.

"About eight or nine kilometres until I get home but that's okay.

"There are families hurting I think and for someone to sadly pass away, that's just awful."

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"Northbound traffic on New Illawarra Road is diverting via the Bangor Bypass to travel eastbound to Sutherland while motorists from Sutherland should use Princes Highway instead," the Transport Management Centre said in a statement earlier.

"Southbound traffic on Fairford Road and Davies Road should also consider using the M5 or Clancy Street and Henry Lawson Drive.

"Motorists already in the area should exercise caution, allow plenty of extra travel time and follow directions of emergency services and traffic crews.

"Buses travelling through the area experiencing delays of up to 30 minutes, so passengers should also allow plenty of extra travel time."

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A man has been beaten with a baseball bat during an alleged break-in in Adelaide.

Two attackers allegedly smashed their way into the Christie Downs home with a brick, crowbar and pole at about 1am today.

A 41-year-old man was allegedly repeatedly beaten with a baseball bat in front of his friend.

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"They hit my mate over the head with a baseball bat twice inside the loungeroom, there (was) blood everywhere," friend Paddy Welsh said.

"(I was) trying to hit them back out with whatever we could get.

"They would have killed him, they would have kept hitting him with the bat."

Welsh tried to fend off the alleged attackers while neighbours called the police.

Two men, 27 and 18, were arrested outside the property.

The 41-year-old was rushed to Flinders Medical Centre in a serious condition with non-life threatening injuries.

Both alleged intruders were charged with aggravated serious criminal trespass and aggravated assault.

They were refused bail to front the Christies Beach Magistrates Court. 

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‘The right to quiet enjoyment, peace and privacy is at the heart of a tenancy.’