A pregnant mum-to-be has called for action over e-bikes after being so badly hurt in a hit-and-run in the Sydney CBD she was in hospital for nearly two months.

Sarah Briscoe-Hough, 35, from Neutral Bay, was heading to catch a bus after watching some of the Mardi Gras parade in Sydney in February.

Because she is pregnant, she left early to get away from the crowds.

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But just moments before reaching her bus stop near Wynyard station, Briscoe-Hough was hit by an e-bike, a motorised bicycle.

She needed multiple surgeries on her shattered right foot and elbow and was in hospital for seven weeks.

But the culprits, who she said were two men on a Lime e-bike, had fled by the time police arrived.

She wants to see more legislation to protect pedestrians from what she called "dangerous" bikes.

"If you're going to have something that goes at certain kilometres an hour, it needs to be with an adult," she told 9news.com.au.

"It's very silly to use it in heavily populated areas like the CBD.

"They're just using it like a normal bike – it's not a normal bike.

"I would absolutely hate for this to happen to anybody else."

Hit while crossing road

The executive assistant said she was crossing George Street to reach her stop at Wynyard Park at around 8.30pm on the evening she was hit.

A tram had just passed and she said there was no other traffic, so she started to cross.

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She can't remember if she used a pedestrian crossing or not.

But after stepping out, Briscoe-Hough can recall seeing the bike, with two men on it, speeding towards her.

They shouted at her to move – but she knew she wouldn't have time.

"All I heard was, 'Get out of the way,'" she said.

"When I looked, it registered, 'I'm not going to make it'. I thought, 'Just don't bump this belly.'"

Briscoe-Hough was hit by the e-bike, with her right side slamming into the road as she tried to protect her pregnant stomach.

Strangers rushed to help, and she recalls one of the two men who had been on the bike talking to her.

"I remember as I was falling I saw them come off the bike – they would have hurt themselves too. They were flying, they were going so fast," she said.

"One sort of staggered towards me and asked if I was ok.

"I was just in pain, I didn't really notice what they were doing."

Do you have a story? Contact journalist Sarah Swain on ss****@******om.au

She was taken by ambulance to the nearby Sydney Eye Hospital and later transferred to St George Hospital.

Briscoe-Hough needed surgery on her foot, which was shattered and dislocated.

Pins, plates and screws were used to repair her foot bones, as well as her elbow.

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She also needed skin grafts on her foot because her skin blistered from the huge swelling.

Police have confirmed they are investigating the incident.

"About 8.30pm on Saturday 25 February 2023, a 35-year-old woman was walking along George Street Sydney near the intersection of Hunter Street when she crossed George Street from the eastern footpath to the western footpath," NSW Police told 9news.com.au.

"A male riding a Lime hire bicycle with another male sitting on the handlebars struck the woman as she crossed the road.

"The bike rider allegedly rode off without rendering aid to the woman.

"The woman was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to hospital for further treatment for leg injuries."

What are e-bike rules?

In NSW, power-assisted pedal cycles and electrically power-assisted cycles are legal and e-bikes cannot exceed speeds of 25km/h.

Petrol-powered bikes, bikes powered by internal combustion, or using an electric engine to propel the bike are illegal.

Personal electric scooters, skateboards and hoverboards are also banned.

9news.com.au has contacted e-bike company Lime, which offers e-bikes for hire on the street, for comment.

It says on its website riders should be over 18.

It also said its vehicles "have their speeds capped and won't allow you to go dangerously fast".

'Everything at once' for single mum-to be

Meanwhile, Briscoe-Hough has found out her baby will need open heart surgery for a congenital heart defect called tetralogy of Fallot when it is born.

The complication isn't related to the accident but it means as well as still recovering from her injuries when giving birth in August, she'll have to contend with taking care of a sick baby.

She is also set to be a single mother as she is no longer in a relationship with the baby's father.

"It's just everything all at once," she said.

Briscoe-Hough is raising money to pay bills as she's currently unable to work.

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A crystal hunter in Canada couldn't believe her luck when what she thought was a stone turned out to be a fossiled shark tooth belonging to an ancestor of the megalodon, one of the largest carnivores to ever live.

Rachel Shill Cook was rock-hunting with her stepdaughter Addison along Nechako River, west of Prince George in British Columbia when she made the discovery.

Cook told 9news.com.au an ancient shark tooth is the last thing they expected to find in the frozen wild.

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"We decided to spend some time down by the nearby river to look for agates," she said.

"With spring finally in full swing, we thought we could take advantage of the low water level to see if we could find anything interesting.

"We noticed what we thought was an interesting stone so I went to the riverbed to dig it out. That's when we noticed it wasn't a rock at all. Addison and I stared at it and we made a comment that it looked like a shark tooth.

"Only bigger than anything we have ever seen before."

Cook posted their find to The Fossil Forum where users identified it as an Otodus obliquus tooth.

The species is the oldest ancestor of the megalodon.

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Megalodons were colossal sharks that lived an estimated 23 million to 2.6 million years ago.

From nose to tail they are said to have measured around 16 metres.

Teeth from the otodus obliquus are typically found in Morocco, which makes Cook's find a rare one indeed.

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"I have had theories given to me about it getting lost as a trinket with a local indigenous tribe from long ago. Or, I had a paleontologist tell me that although Central BC was never under ocean water it could have hitched a ride on a glacier thousands of years ago," she said.

"Those are my two personal favorite theories.

"I'm sure there are many more. Needless to say, this new area Addison and I found will likely be our new favourite place for the remainder of the year."

Cook said the find has well eclipsed any crystal she has ever found.

"The tooth has certainly set the bar pretty high now so looking for pretty rocks might not have the same excitement it used to," she said.

"But it's not going to stop us from looking."

She's now considering what to do with the ancient find. 

"We aren't quite sure what we will be doing with it," Cook said.

"I've had a few collectors reach out offering to give it a new forever home, or perhaps it will go to a museum for others to enjoy.

"Addison wants to display it in our home for our friends and family to enjoy, so time will tell what the next chapter of the tooth will be."



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A German court says it has decided not to hear a sex offences case against a man who also is a suspect in the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann.

The court on Thursday argued the region where it is located isn't the last place he lived in Germany and so it isn't responsible.

Prosecutors in the northern city of Braunschweig in October charged the German suspect in his mid-40s in several separate cases involving sexual offences allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

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The suspect hasn't been charged in the McCann case, in which he is under investigation on suspicion of murder.

He spent many years in Portugal, including in the resort of Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine's disappearance there in 2007. He has denied any involvement in her disappearance.

The suspect, who has been identified by media as Christian Brueckner, is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for a rape he committed in Portugal in 2005.

In the German legal system, a court must decide after it receives an indictment from prosecutors whether to take a case to trial.

The Braunschweig state court said its supposed responsibility for the case being in the area had been based on his last residence before going abroad and then to prison.

But it said that isn't valid, because the suspect produced evidence of a later residence in the neighbouring state of Saxony-Anhalt, where he was registered as the owner of a property that he kept after going abroad.

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The court said that, as a result of its decision, it has lifted a new arrest warrant it issued for the suspect in November. It said in a statement that this has no influence on the suspect's serving of his current sentence.

It said that its decision can be appealed to a higher court in Braunschweig.

Prosecutors said later Thursday that they will examine the reasons for the decision carefully and then likely appeal.

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The Earth's ice sheets lost enough ice over the last 30 years to create an ice cube 19 kilometres high, according to new research.

The Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets, which hold almost all of the world's freshwater ice, are shrinking at a frighteningly rapid pace, according to a report on Thursday from a team of international scientists.

Combining data from 50 satellite surveys of Antarctica and Greenland, spanning the years 1992 to 2020, scientists from the Ice Sheet Mass Balance Inter-comparison Exercise, or IMBIE, were able to track changes in the ice sheets' volume and ice flow.

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They found that ice sheet melting has increased six-fold over the past 30 years, as record levels of planet-heating pollution push up global temperatures.

The seven worst years for polar ice sheet melting all happened during the past decade.

In all, the polar ice sheets lost more than 7.5 trillion tonnes of ice between 1992 and 2020, according to the report.

The worst year for ice sheet loss was 2019, the report found, when the ice sheets lost around 612 billion tonnes of ice. These losses were driven by an Arctic heatwave, which saw Greenland's ice sheet shed 444 billion tonnes.

The loss of ice is having a significant impact on the oceans, pushing up sea levels by 21 millimetres, according to the report. Ice sheet melting now accounts for a quarter of all sea level rise — a five-fold increase since the 1990s.

"This is a huge amount of ice," study lead author Inès Otosaka, a research fellow at the University of Leeds, told CNN.

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"This is very worrying, of course, because 40 per cent of the global population lives in coastal areas."

Scientists found that the rate at which the Antarctic ice sheet is melting has slowed, but remains much faster than in the 1990s.

The report identified the Antarctic Peninsula and West Antarctica — the location of the troubled Thwaites Glacier, nicknamed the "Doomsday" glacier for its potentially devastating impact on sea level rise — as the regions where most of the continent's melt was happening.

Otosaka expects the Greenland ice sheet to continue losing ice, but said it's not yet clear what might happen to the Antarctic ice sheet.

"In Antarctica we have higher uncertainty in the future," she said.

"We have what we call some low-probability but high-impact mechanisms that could be triggered if we exceed a certain level of warming."

That could lead to a much higher sea level rise in the future, she added.

If the world hits certain warming thresholds, it could trigger important and potentially irreversible feedback mechanisms, Otosaka said.

"We really need to have strong governmental policies to limit future warming and to cut our greenhouse gas concentration," she added.

The European Space Agency, which along with NASA helps fund IMBIE's research, said in a statement: "It is without doubt that climate change is causing our polar ice sheets to melt, thereby driving up sea levels and putting coastal regions around the world at risk."

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Scientists at IMBIE plan to update the assessment every year.

"We are finally at the stage where we can continuously update our assessments of ice sheet mass balance as there are enough satellites in space monitoring them, which means that people can make use of our findings immediately," Andrew Shepherd, a professor at Northumbria University and founder of IMBIE, said in a statement.

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A woman and her teenage son have survived a light plane crashing into the ocean in front of horrified witnesses in Western Australia.

The 45-year-old pilot and her 15-year-old son swam about 50 metres to shore after the crash at Leighton Beach just after 5pm (7pm AEST).

The mother and son were on their way to Jandakot Airport from Exmouth after viewing the solar eclipse when the plane started going down from a suspected mechanical failure. 

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It is understood the mother forced a water landing after realising the aircraft's issue. 

"Its a scary incident for them, but the pilot did an exceptional job bringing it down," WA Police Inspector Mark Cannon said.

"We are close to a lot of public buildings so they did very well to put it down where they did."

Police confirmed there was no fuel spillage from the crash.

At first police believed the plane was a Cessna O-1 Bird Dog, its now been confirmed to be a Piper Cherokee.

Witnesses said they watched as the plane crashed.

"Mum was shouting saying, 'that plane is nose diving', by the time I turned around the plane just hit the water," one witness told 9News.

The mother was taken to hospital for treatment while the boy was treated at the scene by paramedics.

Police confirmed the pair were in a stable condition.

The plane is now completely submerged underwater. 

Police have begun investigations into the crash, and have begun trying to secure the plane to lift it out of the water.

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The 31-year-old will be ‘greatly missed’ by her work colleagues.

Not completing Census forms can result in a $2000 fine.

There has been a significant spike in the number of drivers being nabbed speeding in tunnels across Sydney.

Speed limits in both the Westconnex and Northconnex can change several times a day due to traffic congestion, crashes or maintenance work.

The speed limits can vary from 40 kilometres an hour to 80 kilometres an hour. 

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The Westconnex M4 Eastbound tunnel caught 2772 drivers in March compared with 1061 in February.

The tunnel's westbound had a similar increase by 1122 fines from February to March.

The cameras in the Northconnex southbound tunnel at Normanhurst caught 2511 drivers speeding in March, nearly double the February figure of 1536.

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Transport for New South Wales said the increase in fines on the M4 was due to a camera that was broken in February being fixed.

The department said it was investigating the rise of fines in the Northconnex tunnel. 

Signage is in place to warn drivers of varying speeds.

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A man has been charged with making death threats against Brittany Higgins, her fiancé and their dog.

The 49-year-old man was arrested yesterday by Terrorism Investigation Squad detectives in Tweed Heads yesterday.

It's alleged he sent a message to Higgins' partner David Sharaz threatening to kill them both and their pet dog.

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Investigators allegedly uncovered 49 messages with "offensive content" sent from different accounts but believed to be linked.

One of these allegedly included "threats of violence made through a social media platform in relation to participants of a mass gathering".

The man was charged with using a carriage service to make a threat (threat to kill) and using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.

He has been granted strict conditional bail and is due to appear at Tweed Heads Local Court on May 31.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) should meet less frequently and decisions on interest rates should be made by a new board including external experts, a review has found.

Governor Philip Lowe described the review, which signified the start of the biggest shake-up the bank will have seen in almost 30 years, as "kind of excellent".

The review recommended that a new monetary policy board, filled with finance experts, be appointed to determine interest rate policy.

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The review also recommends the board meet eight times a year instead of 11, easing the pressure on households facing repeated rate rises.

The government has in principle agreed to all 51 of the review's recommendations.

"This review, its recommendations and our response is all about ensuring that the Reserve Bank is as strong and effective as it can be, now and into the future as well," Treasurer Jim Chalmers said this morning.

"This is about learning from the past to strengthen the Reserve Bank in the future."

While the treasurer would not be drawn on whether he will reappoint Philip Lowe when his term expires in September, the governor said he would stay in the role if offered.

"It is a great honour and it is a great privilege to have the job that I have, and I would also say it is a great responsibility," he said.

"If I was asked to continue, I would. If I'm not asked to continue I will find another way to contribute to Australian society."

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While welcoming the review, Lowe said he disagreed with the finding that the board isn't able to challenge RBA views.

"They're probing, they challenge me and sometimes I speak last in the meeting," Lowe said.

"The idea that the board members sit there meekly and accept the recommendation that I put to them is very far from the reality that I've lived as the governor."

Chalmers thanked the opposition for their engagement with the review.

"We have said from the beginning that we want to see changes to the Reserve Bank made in a bipartisan way if we can," he said.

"These are not ideological changes, these are considered proposals and recommendations."

He made special mention of Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor.

"Angus and I have our differences of over a range of policy areas but he has engaged in this process in a considered way and in a cooperative way," he said.

Taylor, for his part, praised the review and thanked the government for being given the opportunity to talk to the panel and the treasurer's office.

"It is critical that the lessons from the past are learned," he said.

"I think this review does a very good job of going through recent history and some of the lessons that need to be learned and the work that needs to be done and some of the initiatives that need to be implemented."

He said the opposition will review all the recommendations in the coming weeks and days.

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Chalmers named Iain Ross and Elana Rubin to serve as new members of the RBA board.

Ross previously led the Fair Work Commission and has worked as a private lawyer and worker advocate.

Rubin has a deep resume working on boards of AustralianSuper, Telstra, Afterpay and Slater & Gordon, among others. She also previously worked for the ACTU.

The RBA and Lowe said in a statement they welcomed the review.

"The Review makes a number of recommendations regarding how the Board works, including the frequency of meetings and the Bank's approach to communication," the statement read.

"The Board will consider these issues over coming meetings and develop and implement a new set of arrangements."

The RBA said it would also work to implement other changes, including the appointment of a chief operating officer, in "the most effective way".

"The recommended changes will … strengthen the Bank's governance and decision-making processes," Lowe said.

"They will help us deal with the complex world in which we operate as we strive to promote the economic welfare of the Australian people."

Chalmers would not be drawn on whether Lowe would be reappointed as Governor of the Reserve Bank later this year.

"The appointment is in September," he said. 

"In the ordinary course of events the Government would turn its mind to that appointment closer to the middle of the year and that is my intention."

Deloitte Access Economics partner Chris Richardson said the key for Australians was that the bank would be explaining its decisions more – and without resorting to "jargon".

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https://twitter.com/Fi_Willan/status/1648842009254457347

"The Reserve Bank has never been more important to Australia. We have never borrowed more. Its decisions have never been more vital," he told Today.

"So if they are talking more to us, that's great. And we will have people with greater experience on interest rates helping the bank decide on interest rates."

He said the incoming changes would being the bank into the "modern day" and in line with the rest of the world.

"Australians need to understand what the Reserve Bank is thinking," he said.

"We are going to see moves in that direction."

The shift to hand control of interest rates to a committee of monetary experts would bring Australia in line with the operation of central banks in other countries such as the UK and Canada.

The review was announced last year amid the recent string of rapid interest rate rises — following record lows during the pandemic — which began just a year after Lowe told Australians rates would stay low until "at least 2024".

He's since apologised for the "embarrassing" error.

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It also followed criticism of the way the bank was operating before COVID-19 battered the world's economies.

Professor Carolyn Wilkins, an external member of the Financial Policy Committee of the Bank of England; Professor Renee Fry-McKibbin, the interim director of the Crawford School of Public Policy at the Australian National University; and former treasury and RBA expert Dr Gordon de Brouwer have spent months going over more than 1500 interviews, submissions, focus groups and survey responses.

They consulted 137 experts in Australia and overseas, as well as business, union and community representatives.

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He said some recommendations would require legislative change, while others would need the reserve bank governor and board to make changes.

"There's a role for government, there's a role for the Reserve Bank and its board," he said

"There's a role in the [bank's monetary policy] statement, there's a role for legislation and one of the key reasons why I want it to be bipartisan if we can is because ideally we'd get all those ducks in a row. 

"And in the absence of bipartisanship, we don't really want to run the gauntlet in the Senate, for example, on legislative change to the RBA Act. The RBA Act should be something that we can agree on and put beyond politics"

Taylor said it was "essential" the recommendations were agreeable to both parties.

"This will ensure certainty around the outcome of this review," he told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"With inflation at its highest level in decades, this in the best interests of Australians."

Recent rate hikes have been aimed at keeping soaring inflation, sparked in part by rising energy prices, supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine, under control.

Currently the cash rate target of 3.6 per cent is the highest since May 2012, after the RBA paused increases earlier this month following 10 consecutive hikes.

Chalmers should on Thursday also announce the appointment of two new RBA board members to replace outgoing members Wendy Craik and Mark Barnaba.

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