Another breastfeeding mother has been ejected from Victoria's County Court after being told her presence was distracting.

Judge Mark Gamble told Peta Brunel today she would have to leave his courtroom, soon after her five-month-old baby started crying.

Brunel attended court with a handful of other women this morning for a "peaceful" protest after a woman was ejected from court by the same judge for breastfeeding last week.

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"I really felt for her. It's difficult when you have a young baby to find places to feed and go about normal life," Brunel said outside court.

"If that had been me in the first few weeks, I would have been heartbroken.

"I felt for her and felt it was important to make a stand.

"It's a broader issue about breastfeeding spaces.

"For example, in court, they have a baby room which doesn't even have a chair.

"If you want to feed a baby, where do you go?"

Brunel was asked to leave the courtroom after Gamble and two lawyers agreed her child would be a distraction.

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She had already taken her baby outside after she started crying earlier.

"I was in court after seeing what happened last week and she became unsettled so I took her out and calmed her down. Once she was settled, I took her back in and put her on my breast to feed," Brunel said.

"Once we got back into the courtroom, she was making little noises but obviously quietened down once I popped her on my breast.

"The judge sought submissions from both sides of the court and both lawyers felt the presence of the baby in the courtroom and the breastfeeding was a distraction and on that basis, the judge ejected me from the courtroom."

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Protest organiser Stacey Harley said mothers should not be shamed for breastfeeding. 

"Hopefully the power of social media helps spread (the message that) breastfeeding is protected by law under the Equal Opportunity Act of 2010. Wherever mum and baby are together, they can feed together," she said.

"So many mothers every day are shamed for doing this. It has to stop."

https://twitter.com/SamCucchiara9/status/1635431533183107074

The County Court has been contacted for comment.

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The dramatic moment a Kiwi soldier in Ukraine saved a Ukrainian comrade he thought had been killed has been caught on video.

Kane Te Tai is a former New Zealand Defence Force soldier currently fighting in a secretive Ukrainian military intelligence unit in Ukraine's east.

He fought on the same failed attack on a Russian trench in August that saw fellow New Zealander Dominic Abelen die. Abelen is the only Kiwi soldier known to have died in the conflict so far.

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The dramatic 45-second video shows Te Tai entering a basement of a building covered in rubble.

"We hit a Russian position a few days ago and after a quick battle and breach we started clearing the bunker and basement," Te Tai said on social media.

The video shows Te Tai and several other soldiers entering the basement, with Te Tai telling a person to put their hands up.

But as Te Tai put the man on the ground and began to search him, the pair locked eyes.

The Ukrainian man started to shout "New Zealand, New Zealand".

"Oh, my brother," Te Tai exclaims.

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"I recognised him, it was my friend who I thought was killed by the Russians when they invaded his house," he said on social media.

Te Tai described the feeling of saving him as awesome.

"I had been running around this place causing trouble for the last two months thinking of him and our friends in those houses daily. Thinking they were gone.

"I'm glad he survived. It was serendipitous," he said.

Te Tai said during the man's two-month capture, he was heavily starved and forced to drink anti-freeze for entertainment by his Russian captors.

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"It was the best thing to happen to me in this godforsaken war," Te Tai said.

"To be able to save your friends is something that almost never happens but I'm thankful and blessed that it was us that could pull him from that hell hole."

The pair had bonded months earlier because of the man's knowledge of the Lord of the Rings films and his desire to visit New Zealand.

The man was originally living away from the war in Montenegro, but had joined the Ukrainian army out of passion for his country, Te Tai said.

This article was originally published on Stuff and has been reproduced with permission.

A witness to the aftermath of a "vicious" crash in which a car veered across the road and was pierced by a road barrier can't believe the people inside survived.

The single-vehicle crash happened in Te Kūiti, on New Zealand's North Island, about 4pm on Monday, and left a car with a section of road barrier smashed through the front window.

Two people went to Te Kūiti Hospital with minor injuries after the Lawrence St crash, police said.

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Segments of debris from the car were scattered over the tar-seal road and those at the scene told Stuff there were two occupants.

The driver "was not too bad" but the passenger had a "few bruises and cuts".

"It was a wee Mazda hatchback, I'm surprised there wasn't any fatalities," they said.

"That steel bar would have taken off someone's head, it's gone straight through … it's pretty vicious."

After the crash, a bridge was cordoned off by people who appeared to be locals in high-vis gear, but police were yet to confirm this.

The witness said it was quite odd that the car had ended up on the wrong side of the road.

They noticed water on the road which they thought may have contributed to the crash.

"The car must have been coming into Te Kūiti on the left-hand side and somehow veered across the road," a witness said.

"The car has just rammed straight into a safety barrier, and it's just gone right through and out the other side."

Police said they "spoke to the people involved at the hospital and enquiries are ongoing".

Police have been approached for further comment.

This story originally appeared on Stuff and has been reproduced with permission.

Vivid Sydney is promising to deliver "the biggest and most culturally relevant" program when it illuminates iconic sites in the CBD this year.

The light festival will begin on May 26 until June 17, with a range of new installations to see over 23 days.

This year's theme, Vivid Sydney, Naturally, will reflect nature across more than 300 attractions in the festivals 14th year.

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Vivid Sydney Festival Director Gill Minervini said she was "truly proud" of this year's program.

"We have raised the bar on the size and scale of the events and activated new parts of the city," Minervini said.

"There are world-firsts and festival-firsts, and both free and ticketed events to make the festival accessible to everyone.

"Audiences should be prepared to be blown away by the calibre of talent and a program that has been inspired by the beauty and diversity of nature."

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When does Vivid 2023 start?

Vivid 2023 kicks off on Friday, May 26 at 6pm.

The light festival will run for 23 days and end on Sunday, June 18, and is expected to attract millions of viewers.

"Last year Vivid Sydney was attended by over 2.5 million people and injected $119 million into the NSW economy," NSW Tourism Minister Ben Franklin said.

"With international borders fully reopening, we're anticipating this year's festival to be our biggest and best yet."

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Where can I see Vivid?

Vivid will take place across the Sydney CBD, with installations at Circular Quay, The Rocks, Barangaroo, Darling Harbour, The Goods Line and Central Station.

Iconic buildings such as the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and the Museum of Contemporary Art will be lit up as part of the show.

More locations are expected to be announced closer to the start of the festival. 

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What can I see at Vivid? 

The main attraction is 49 light projections and installations spanning 8 kilometres of the Vivid Sydney Light Walk, and the Royal Botanic Gardens will join the festival for the first time.

This year will see the launch of "Vivid food", which will include pop-up restaurants to showcase the city's wide-ranging culinary culture.

Highlights from the program will include John Olsen's work lighting up the Sydney Opera House and a celebration of late singer/songwriter Archie Roach as part of Vivid music.

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Featured artworks will include the Barerarerungar project by Indigenous artist Maree Clarke – which will be projected on the Museum of Contemporary Art – as well as The Last Ocean installation by Jen Lewin.

Light show Written in the Stars will feature 1000 drones over six shows in what will be the biggest drone show in the southern hemisphere.

The full program can be found on Vivid's website here.

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When snake catcher Kane Durrant was called out to Sydney's south west by a homeowner whose toddler son had found a baby venomous snake, he expected to find perhaps one snake nest.

But he and wife Rachael were staggered by what they found when they lifted a slab in the yard at Bringelly.

Near the clothes line in the back garden discovered around eight old eastern brown snake nests, containing a total of 110 hatched eggs.

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Some of the baby residents were still there, and a red bellied black snake was also lurking.

"Snakes just started shooting out from under the slab," he said.

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Durrant said the creatures have clearly decided the spot is perfect to nest, and have just kept returning.

"Some of the eggs might have been several years old, it looks like several females have been returning to that spot every year," he said.

"They've all come to that conclusion that's the best spot to lay their egg- it's safe and there's plenty of food around."

Durrant, who runs company Wild Conservation said snakes lay an average of 15-16 eggs per clutch.

The Durrants relocated the three snakes they found and are set to return to help the homeowner lift the other old slabs to see what's beneath them.

They then plan to lay a less snake-friendly gravel so the snakes don't return to nest.

"It's a little sad that they're losing their long term nest site, but we can't have them so close to a family," Durrant, said.

Eastern browns are responsible for the majority of snake bite deaths, which is found across most of eastern Australia.

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Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino says she is "hurt and shocked" that her late father, actor Paul Sorvino, was not shown in the televised tribute to late film industry professionals at Sunday's Oscars ceremony.

"It is baffling beyond belief that my beloved father and many other amazing brilliant departed actors were left out," Sorvino wrote in a tweet on Monday.

"The Oscars forgot about Paul Sorvino, but the rest of us never will!!"

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Paul Sorvino, who starred in films including Goodfellas, died in July 2022. Mira Sorvino paid tribute to her father ahead of Sunday's event, recalling her Oscar win for best supporting actress for Mighty Aphrodite in 1996.

She said getting to share her win with her father — her "first and best teacher" — was special because she got to "give back to him what he had been giving me all my life- love and belief and admiration and gratitude."

"On this first year after his passing it is truly a bittersweet but beautiful memory," she said.

Like Anne Heche and other actors and entertainment industry veterans who died in the past year, the elder Sorvino was acknowledged in a more extensive tribute on the Academy's website that was promoted at the end of the segment with a QR code. Mira Sorvino said she felt her father had been "overlooked."

"Incredibly hurt and shocked that my father's lifelong, irreplaceable, enormous contribution to the world of cinema was overlooked by whomever made that list," Sorvino wrote in subsequent note on Instagram after the broadcast.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CptwvqwgE0y/

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"We his adoring family, and you, his adoring public, know just how unique and incredible he was. We hope @theacademy does something to put this right."

Paul Sorvino's widow, Dee Dee Sorvino, also expressed her disappointment in a statement obtained by People.

"Paul Sorvino was one of the greatest actors in cinematic history in Hollywood. It is unconscionable that he would be left out of the In Memoriam segment of the Oscars," Dee Dee Sorvino said.

"It's a three-hour show, they can't give a couple more minutes to get it right? Paul Sorvino gave decades to this industry and was loved by all. Paul was not the only deserving soul left out, and a QR Code is not acceptable. "

She ended her statement with a request for an apology.

"Shame on the Academy if this is not corrected, Sorvino wrote. "Mistakes are made, this was a big one. Please do something to make it right."

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For months, we've read stories about the cost of living crunch for renters and mortgage holders trying to pay off the family home as the pain of 10 straight interest rate hikes hits hard.

But a landlord who has multiple mortgages on his 12 properties says his property portfolio has also become unaffordable and wants to share the reality and consequences of the recent rate rises and how they are squeezing landlords.

Steve* – who doesn't want to be identified – is a retired businessman in his 70s who expected his dozen properties to fund his retirement in lieu of superannuation.

"We are really struggling financially," Steve told 9news.com.au.

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Before the iconic coat-hanger took shape across Sydney's harbour, officials considered dozens of other designs. From a sweeping three-way bridge over the water, to a brutally functional iron cage; here are the Harbour Bridge designs that didn't make the cut.

Lower speeds would mean a reduction in both crashes and greenhouse gas emissions.

The National leader is now currently self isolating.