A highly radioactive capsule that went missing in a remote region of Western Australia's outback has been found after a search spanning hundreds of kilometres.

The 8mm by 6mm capsule was found by the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Association (ANSTO) in collaboration with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) about 50 kilometres from the mining town of Newman today. 

Authorities are working to safely remove the item, which is believed to have fallen off the back of a truck while being taken from a mine to Perth on January 10.

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"This is a great result for Australians and Western Australians in general," WA Emergency Services Minister Stephen Dawson said.

"Locating this object was a monumental challenge.

"The search crews quite literally found a needle in the haystack.

"It once again highlights the extraordinary capabilities of our emergency services… West Australians can sleep soundly tonight." 

DFES Commissioner Darren Klemm said that the capsule was found on the Great Northern Highway, just two metres from the side of the road.

"The vehicle that identified it was travelling at 70 kilometres an hour, and specialist technician equipment picked up the radiation permitted by the missing capsule.

"The search team then used portable detective equipment to locate the capsule."

A 20-metre "hotzone" has been set up around the capsule, where it is understood a lead container will later be used to transport it safely.

Australia's nuclear safety agency was called in to join the search alongside a team with specialised car-mounted and portable detection equipment manned by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA).

The truck transporting the capsule arrived at a Perth depot on January 16.

Emergency services were notified of the missing capsule on January 25.

Mining giant Rio Tinto yesterday apologised for losing the radioactive capsule somewhere on the 1,400kms stretch of road.

READ MORE: The worst case scenarios with lost radioactive materials

People were earlier warned it could have unknowingly become lodged in their car's tyres.

The caesium 137 ceramic source, commonly used in radiation gauges, emits dangerous amounts of radiation, equivalent of receiving 10 X-rays in an hour.

It could cause skin burns and prolonged exposure could cause cancer.

Western Australia's Department of Fire and Emergency Services publicly announced the capsule had gone missing last Friday, two days after they were notified by Rio Tinto.

The mining giant said the contractor was qualified to transport the device and it had been confirmed being on board the truck by a Geiger counter prior to leaving the mine.

Police determined the incident to be an accident and no criminal charges are likely.

– Reported with Associated Press

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Auckland Mayor urges councillors, local board members to unify their messaging.

Slips on State Highway 33 between Okere Falls Rd and Taheke mean delays for motorists.

The airport has apologised and promised to refund the penalty charges.

Two people have been taken to hospital after a QantasLink flight bound for Hervey Bay from Brisbane ran into major turbulence and was forced to turn back.

The flight had been in the air for just a matter of minutes before it returned to Brisbane just before 2pm.

Queensland Ambulance crews were called to meet the plane upon its arrival on the tarmac, where several patients were treated at the scene.

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A man and a woman have since been taken to hospital. 

9News understands the injured woman was a member of the Qantas flight crew.

She is believed to have injured her neck, while the male passenger suffered cuts and bruises.

Qantas has been contacted for comment.

More to come.

Fed-up owners of a Hungry Jack's restaurant in Perth temporarily banned service to unsupervised teenagers after a string of recent, violent incidents which threatened staff.

The fast-food chain, at Whitfords in Perth's northern suburbs, plastered a sign to the front of the store earlier this week stating that patrons aged under 17 would not be served unless accompanied by a guardian. 

The move was in response to a number of reported violent incidents that had taken place at the venue, which had left staff vulnerable and frustrated.

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"Attention. Due to recent incidents, any guests under 17 will not be served without guardian supervision," the sign said, which has since garnered social media attention in a viral video on TikTok.

Speaking to 9News.com.au, a spokesperson for Hungry Jack's confirmed that the sign has since been removed.

"The wellbeing of customers and staff at Hungry Jack's is paramount," the spokesperson said.

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"Yesterday, due to unruly behaviour by a group of young people at our Whitfords restaurant, a temporary sign was posted.

"It has subsequently been removed."

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The restaurant is not the first to take matters into its own hands after another Perth venue, coincidentally just minutes away, previously issued a ban on red sneakers in response to ongoing violence.

Hillary's Bar1, located at Sorrento Quay, enforced a blanket ban on red shoes earlier this month after a rise in antisocial behaviour among young people at the nightclub.

Some nightlife revellers dubbed the club's ban discriminatory, but despite community uproar, hospitality venues can legally enforce a dress code under the liquor act.

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Three people were taken to Auckland hospitals with serious and critical injuries.

A planned protest around Cardinal George Pell's funeral in Sydney tomorrow can go ahead after police and activist groups agreed on an alternative route.

Community Action for Rainbow Rights planned to rally outside of St Mary's Cathedral in the city's CBD, but police wanted to block it citing safety concerns and made an urgent application to the NSW Supreme Court.

The debate was slated for a court showdown but this afternoon police and protesters agreed on an alternative route for the march – which includes walking up to College Street but not on it – meaning it can go ahead.

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https://twitter.com/tiffgenders/status/1620627467743674368

Police told the NSW Supreme Court they did not oppose the protest itself but had an issue with the proposed route.

Sydney-based Community Action for Rainbow Rights had vowed to protest regardless of the court's decision.

Protest organiser Kim Stern spoke outside court this afternoon, saying the group is glad it can "have our opposition heard tomorrow".

"The defiance of activists against this appalling police censorship, and ensuing publicity, has secured our right to march," Stern said.

NSW Police maintains it wasn't trying to stop protests but ensure it could go ahead safely alongside thousands of mourners.

"We've achieved a good outcome," Acting Assistant Commissioner Martin Fileman said.

The body of Pell lies in state at St Mary's Cathedral ahead of tomorrow's funeral.

Last night Pell's coffin arrived at the cathedral rectory about 8pm, and this morning was driven down Cathedral Street by a hearse into the cathedral itself.

The sombre procession of religious officials in muted colours contrasted with brightly coloured ribbons tied to the fence outside St Mary's.

Some of the ribbons, representing survivors of clerical abuse, were removed this morning but have since been reaffixed.

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Pell, formerly Australia's highest-ranking Catholic and one of the most controversial figures in the country, died in Rome aged 81 earlier this month after complications following hip replacement surgery.

He was jailed in 2019 over child sexual abuse allegations but always maintained his innocence.

Pell spent more than a year in jail before the High Court overturned the decision in 2020.

Pools of blood soaked into the floorboards underneath Chinese restaurant boss Yoke Onn Chi's body when he was found bludgeoned to death inside his home.

Blood spatters covered walls, doorknobs and light switches.

How then, a lawyer has asked, did police fail to find traces of blood when they scoured the alleged murderer's car and house?

Alexander MinVui Wong, 42, has been charged with the murder of Chi, 56, who was found dead by his son at the entrance to his Templestowe Lower home, northeast of Melbourne, on January 31, 2020.

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He has pleaded not guilty to murder and is facing a month-long jury trial in the Supreme Court.

Prosecutors allege Wong killed Chi in a jealous rage as he believed the owner of China Bar in Preston's Northland Shopping Centre was having an affair with his estranged wife, Penny Chung.

Crown barrister Mark Gibson KC on Tuesday said Wong had discovered communication between Chi and Chung after she moved home to Malaysia, two weeks before Chi's death, which led Wong to believe they were having an affair.

He alleged Wong had laid in wait inside Chi's home until he returned from closing his restaurant, before attacking him with a rubber mallet.

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Wong then went back to his Heidelberg West home where he drank cider, vomited and ate McDonald's with his housemate, Gibson said.

Chi's son arrived home from work at about 11pm to find his father's body lying in a pool of blood. He called police and told them about a disagreement his father had with a man named Alex.

At 6.22am the next morning, police knocked on Wong's door. He told them Chi had "f—— my wife in my own home and I really hate him but what can I do. Who'd do that?".

There are no direct witnesses to the killing and the prosecution is relying on circumstantial evidence such as CCTV, text messages and DNA evidence.

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Wong's barrister James McQuillan said his client denied ever being inside Chi's home that night. He claimed he did not leave his house and had stayed at home in bed.

"It wasn't him, it could have been somebody else," he told the jury on Wednesday.

He questioned how police never found a trace of blood on or around his client, considering the crime scene was covered in blood.

"It's a bloody murder that results in blood everywhere at the scene," McQuillan said.

"In the end the police, you'll hear, did not find one trace of blood in his car. No blood was found on his clothing, in his house."

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He said there were pieces missing from the prosecution's "jigsaw puzzle", including issues around DNA evidence and that shoe imprints found near Chi's body were not actually Wong's size.

Further, McQuillan alleged someone may have planted a black glove found at Wong's house, which prosecutors claimed had Chi's DNA on it.

The trial continues.

An "egregious" attempt to breach bail conditions and flee Australia by hiding in a yacht hull has landed wanted fugitive Mark Horne back behind bars as he awaits trial.

In the Parramatta District Court on Wednesday, Judge Christopher Craigie granted a detention application by crown prosecutors days after police foiled the 32-year-old's plan to escape the country from Darwin to Indonesia by boat and extradited him to NSW.

"It is plain that there is a strongly unacceptable risk that if permitted to be at liberty again in the community, the respondent would abuse that liberty and would be most unlikely to attend further processes of this or any other court," the judge said.

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"In the circumstances and the egregious nature of the alleged breach of previous conditions of liberty, I can concede that no practical measures would alleviate the situation to change the risk from one that remains, a totally unacceptable one."

In making the detention application, prosecutor Edwina Kwong said the main concerns were the likelihood of flight and a risk Horne would fail to appear at future court dates.

Horne appeared handcuffed over video link from Surry Hills Police Station and his solicitor Hisham Karnib did not oppose the Crown's bid.

Originally arrested and put in custody, he was granted bail by the NSW Supreme Court in August 2020.

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Strict bail conditions include that he wear an electronic monitoring device, report to police, and be prohibited from associating with certain individuals.

The fugitive was arrested in Darwin last week, wanted on two arrest warrants for breaching bail relating to robbery and assault offences.

He is alleged to have cut off his electronic monitoring device and got into a vehicle in the Sydney suburb of Riverwood about 6.15am on October 21, 2022.

After a nationwide search, Australian Border Force officers arrested Horne who was found inside the hull of a yacht at the Cullen Bay Marina on January 25.

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He allegedly was found with false documents and a large amount of Australian money.

The Darwin Local Court allowed Horne's extradition to NSW on Friday.

Horne was due to face trial in NSW for allegedly being involved in the shooting of truck driver Leith Carstairs and theft of $550,000 in the Blue Mountains in September 2020.

The matter will come back to court for arraignment on February 10.

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