Tag Archives: oceania

CCTV footage captures horrific crash in Melbourne's west

A woman has died and another is in hospital under police guard after a horrific high-speed crash in Melbourne's west.

The crash marked the fourth fatal crash on Victorian roads in 72 hours, sparking a plea from police for drivers to slow down.

CCTV captured the moment the Holden ute veered onto the wrong side of Westwood Drive in Ravenhall about 9.20pm on Thursday.

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It's a 40km/h zone but 9News understands the car was allegedly driving at speeds of 100km/h and the passenger may not have been wearing a seatbelt.

The driver, a woman in her 30s, was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition and will be questioned by police.

The crash has come after a 68-year-old woman was killed when she was hit by a car in Clayton, in Melbourne's south-east, on Wednesday morning.

Just several kilometres away, in Mount Waverely, a male cyclist was also killed on Wednesday morning after he was hit by a truck.

A motorcycle rider was also killed in Trafalgar in Victoria's east on Tuesday.

Police are urging motorists to take extra care ahead of the Labor Day long weekend.

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No evidence of crime after 15 kids fall sick, police say

Queensland Police say they have uncovered no evidence that the 15 children hospitalised yesterday were exposed to a toxic substance.

"There is no indication a criminal offence has occurred. All students have been discharged from hospital," police said in a statement this afternoon.

Police had been investigating whether apparent lollies eaten by the children whilst they were on the bus to Bluewater State School, about 30 minutes north of Townsville, had been responsible for making them unwell.

The driver of the bus had been stood down whilst the investigation was underway.

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Queensland Police is investigating the incident and are treating the bus as a crime scene.

Police have given no indication of what they now believe may have caused the 15 schoolchildren to be suddenly unwell and needing to be taken to hospital.

The mother of one of the children told 9News the ordeal had left her "angry, upset" and with "mixed emotions".

The mum, who did not wish to be named, said she was in shock after receiving the "unexpected" phone call yesterday.

"I got a phone call from school to say something had happened and my daughter was on her way in an ambulance to Townsville Hospital," she said.

"They got stomach aches, headaches, felt really nauseous.

"The emotions are still very mixed – very angry, very upset."

Every parent expects their child to get to school safely, the mum said. 

"You just expect safety," she said.

"There's a lot of kids that catch the bus and you just expect your kids to get to school safely and on time."

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Queensland Transport Minister Mark Bailey told 9News this afternoon that "appropriate measures" were being taken in investigating the incident.

"My understanding is the bus driver has been stood down, so that's a part of the appropriate measures where there's an issue," Bailey said.

"So there are clear procedures and my understanding is those procedures are being adhered to."

Kinetic Transport, which employs the driver, also confirmed his suspension.

"Kinetic is supporting local police with the investigation of an alleged incident which occurred in Townsville yesterday and the bus driver has been stood down," a spokesperson said.

"We take the safety and welfare of all passengers, in particular children and young people, seriously."

State member for Hinchinbrook Nick Dametto told Today it "must be an absolutely harrowing experience" for the families involved.

"My heart goes out to every one of those families," he said.

The children became ill about 10.10am yesterday.

Six of the children were taken to Townsville University Hospital with nausea, abdominal pain and light-headedness 10 minutes after arriving at school.

A further nine students were transported later as a precaution.

There were 22 Bluewater State School students on the bus in total.

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Hillsong under investigation by regulator over leaders' lavish spending

Hillsong is under investigation by the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC).

The regulator said the Pentecostal megachurch was under investigation after allegations to the contrary were aired in parliament yesterday.

"Although it was stated in Parliament that the ACNC has not acted, I can confirm that we are investigating concerns raised about Hillsong Church charities," ACNC Commissioner Sue Woodward said in a statement.

Most Hillsong church services draw hundreds, if not thousands, of congregants.

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"Hillsong has stated publicly that it is fully cooperating with regulatory authorities."

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie used parliamentary privilege to accuse the church of tax evasion, fraud and money laundering.

The bulk of the allegations are centred around Brian Houston, the founder who stepped down from the church last year.

Wilkie claimed Houston used private jets, took expensive family holidays and made lavish purchases with church money.

"Hillsong followers believe the money they put in the poor box goes to the poor," Wilkie said.

"These documents show how that money is actually used to do the kind of shopping that would embarrass a Kardashian."

An estimated 43,000 Australians go to Hillsong churches each week.

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Other senior church figures allegedly received expensive watches, including current global senior pastor Phil Dooley and former pastors Joel and Julia A'Bell.

Wilkie alleged the documents he was citing came from a whistleblower.

But Woodward also denied claims the ACNC had received a whistleblower disclosure about Hillsong.

"If a whistleblower of a charity wants protection, or is concerned about possible harm as a result of making a disclosure, they must raise concerns with an agency deemed to be an eligible recipient," she said.

"The ACNC is not an eligible recipient and we are not able to provide protection."

In a statement, Hillsong said the claims made by Wilkie were "out of context" and related to "untested allegations made by an employee in an ongoing legal case".

Hillsong is based in Sydney's Hills district, but claims 150,000 weekly congregants in churches around the world.

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Cyclist who was hit by car 'disappointed' by driver's sentence

A 77-year-old driver who pleaded guilty to hitting a cyclist with his car has been sentenced in a Victorian court.

Paul Walker was cycling home with his wife on Bridge Street in Sandringham when he was hit by a car about 6.30pm on January 23, 2022.

The 44-year-old was riding through a roundabout when he was knocked off his bike by Adam Fourie, who was driving his car.

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Walker sustained injuries and was assessed at the scene by his partner, who is also a paramedic.

Fourie was initially issued with two infringement notices and had his licence reviewed.

But following a police review of the case, Fourie was charged with dangerous driving, careless driving and passing a bicycle at an insufficient distance.

Fourie pleaded guilty to careless driving while the other two charges were thrown out.

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He was given a 12-month good behaviour bond.

The court heard the driver had an "unblemished" driving record and has never been in trouble with the law before.

However, his victim said the sentence wasn't good enough.

"It's disappointing to hear that's all he gets when for me, it's been a challenging 15 months," Walker said.

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Figure seen through window before 'at least 25 shots' fired in Hamburg

Shots were fired inside a building used by Jehovah's Witnesses in the northern German city of Hamburg on Thursday evening, with several people killed and wounded, police said.

"We only know that several people died here; several people are wounded, they were taken to hospitals," police spokesman Holger Vehren said of the shooting in the Gross Borstel district of Germany's second-biggest city.

He said he had no information on the severity of the injuries suffered by the wounded.

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Police did not confirm German media reports, which named no sources, of six or seven dead.

In a Twitter update in the early hours Friday, Hamburg police said they believed there was only one shooter and they were gradually rolling back security forces from the area.

"The investigation into the motive behind the crime continues," police said.

The scene of the shooting was the Jehovah's Witnesses' Kingdom Hall, a modern and boxy three-storey building next door to an auto repair shop.

Vehren said police were alerted to the shooting about 9.15pm and were on the scene quickly.

He said that after officers arrived and found people with apparent gunshot wounds on the ground floor, they heard a shot from an upper floor and found a fatally wounded person upstairs who may have been a shooter.

He said police did not have to use their firearms.

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Vehren said there was no indication that a shooter was on the run and that it appeared likely that the perpetrator was either in the building or among the dead.

Student Laura Bauch, who lives nearby, said "there were about four periods of shooting," German news agency dpa reported.

"There were always several shots in these periods, roughly at intervals of 20 seconds to a minute," she said.

She said she looked out her window and saw a person running from the ground floor to the second floor of the Jehovah's Witnesses hall.

Gregor Miesbach, who lives within sight of the building, was alerted by the sound of shots and filmed a figure entering the building through a window.

Shots can then be heard from inside.

The figure later apparently emerges from the hall, is seen in the courtyard and then fires more shots inside.

Miesbach told German television news agency NonstopNews that he heard at least 25 shots.

After police arrived, one last shot followed about five minutes later, he said.

Police had no information on the event that was underway in the building when the shooting took place.

They also had no immediate information on a possible motive.

Vehren said that "the background is still completely unclear".

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Hamburg Mayor Peter Tschentscher tweeted that the news was "shocking" and offered his sympathy to the victims' relatives.

Jehovah's Witnesses are part of an international church, founded in the United States in the 19th century and headquartered in Warwick, New York.

It claims a worldwide membership of about 8.7 million, with about 170,000 in Germany.

Members are known for their evangelistic efforts that include knocking on doors and distributing literature in public squares.

The denomination's distinctive practices include a refusal to bear arms, receive blood transfusions, salute a national flag or participate in secular government.

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Sydney woman jailed for running down and killing boyfriend

A Sydney woman's trauma escaping poverty and war played a role in the violent death of her lover, who she crushed with her vehicle after discovering him with another woman.

Jackline Sabana Bona Musa, 47, has been jailed for a maximum of 20 years after a jury found her guilty of murdering 31-year-old Payman Thagipur with her Toyota Kluger in the car park of his Wentworth Point apartment block.

Feeling cut off from the relationship, Musa sent Thagipur a lengthy text message on June 27, 2020, before searching for him in Granville and then finding him in his underwear with another woman at his home.

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Jackline Sabana Bona Musa, 47, has been jailed for a maximum of 20 years after a jury found her guilty of murdering Payman Thagipur

The NSW Supreme Court heard she spontaneously formed an intention to seriously injure Thagipur, driving at him with her car, continuing through a bollard while he was pinned to the bonnet, and crushing him against the car park wall.

"His final ordeal was short, but terrifying, and he surely died in enormous pain," Justice Richard Button said on Friday.

"What occurred was a deeply self-centred imposition of violence on a fellow human being."

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Musa allegedly ran down Payman Thagipur with her car.

The judge imposed a head sentence of 20 years for the "fatal explosion of emotion", backdated to Musa's arrest on June 27, 2020.

Her 14-year non-parole period will end in June 2034.

"A life was taken simply because a fellow human being was exercising autonomy in romantic matters, as he was absolutely entitled to do. Deplorable violence was inflicted upon him, whereby he was crushed to death," Button said.

The judge said Musa was living with untreated PTSD, anxiety and depression caused by her experiences fleeing poverty and war in Sudan as a child.

She also felt feelings of worthlessness, never having found happiness in romantic relationships and being poorly treated by at least one ex-partner, he noted.

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Jackline Sabana Musa

"I have taken this woman's conditions into account to some degree in mitigation on sentence, not as the slightest excuse for this act of deadly violence, but as some explanation as to why it came to occur," the judge said.

While the tragedy could be described as a "crime of passion", Button said Australian society would see such as term as outdated.

"Modern Australia, I believe, expects a person disappointed and upset by romantic matters to deal with those emotions maturely and certainly without harming others, whether emotionally or physically," he said.

"Australian society and Australian criminal courts firmly condemn domestic violence of any kind, committed by a person of any gender, let alone fatal domestic violence."

He said Musa had shown no remorse or had not even accepted grudging responsibility for what happened.

Button acknowledged Musa had been an upstanding citizen who successfully built a life in Australia prior to the murder, which the judge called "grossly out of character".

"I accept that the incarceration of this previously law-abiding woman of mature years is a source of great shame to her family and herself," he said.

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PM to sign agreements with Modi, won't be drawn on India-Russia ties

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will sign multiple agreements with his Indian counterpart across three subject areas, including defence, but has refused to be drawn on the Asian nation's military ties with Russia amid the invasion of Ukraine.

Speaking in New Delhi on the second full day of his trip to India, Albanese said he expects to sign agreements which will deal with national security, economy and cultural ties with Narendra Modi today, saying they are the "three themes" of his diplomatic visit.

However, when asked about India's defence relationship with Russia, Albanese took a leaf from the book of some of the Australian cricketers he watched yesterday and played a straight bat.

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Anthony Albanese speaks at a press conference in New Delhi, India, on March 10, 2023.

"India is a sovereign nation, and they deepen their relationships with other nations as they see fit," Albanese said.

"What's important is how we deal as a sovereign nation with friends in our neighbourhood. And India is a friend of Australia.

"We have an increasingly important relationship… India is an important democracy.

"India stands up for democracy. And I think that the relationship is a very positive one."

Albanese on Thursday visited the first Indian-built aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, which is based on a Russian design and had three Russian fighters on board.

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But rather than be drawn on the ties between Russia and India, Albanese instead focused on Australia's defence links with the world's second most-populous nation. 

"We have an increasingly important relationship which goes to our economic ties, our cultural ties, but also our ties through exercises like the Malabar exercises that will take place later this year," he said.

"We also have, as part of the announcements as well, we've had the participation of Australian defence personnel here in India, and exchange the other way around as well."

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During his visit to the Vikrant on Thursday, Albanese announced Australia will for the first time host the Malabar naval exercises this year, which includes personnel from India and the other two Quad members, the US and Japan.

He also said India will take part in this year's Talisman Sabre military exercises, which are held biannually.

Among the agreements not related to defence, Albanese flagged increasing renewable energy ties between Australia and India.

"In economic areas, we'll also have agreements including in clean energy, we think in particular in solar, there's enormous opportunities," he said.

"I spoke to one of the major Indian companies here yesterday who are looking at billions of dollars of investment in Australia, including the manufacturing of solar panels.

"Something we've been talking about, something we want to promote through the national reconstruction fund: I want a future made in Australia."

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