A teenager has been caught travelling at more than double the speed limit in Victoria on Christmas morning.

Police were driving along Doyles Road, Shepparton, when they spotted a Hyundai speeding with no headlights on at about 1.30am.

The car allegedly clocked 144km/hr in a 60km/hr zone.

READ MORE: Victoria to swelter through Christmas day as severe heatwave warning issued

"Police went to intercept the vehicle when it suddenly stopped in the middle of the road as it had run out of fuel," Victoria Police said.

"Officers were shocked to discover a 16-year-old boy behind the wheel."

The 16-year-old allegedly returned a positive drug test for methylamphetamines.

The teen was charged with dangerous driving offences and breaching bail.

He will face court at a later date. 

After years of COVID-19 dampening festivities, this year Aussies have notched up their celebrations.

Snake catchers have had their work cut out for them this year, with plenty of weird and wonderful call-outs to attend. No matter the time or location, catchers have been there to help people out in their times of need.

Just a year ago, Sophia Square in Kyiv was all about the big Christmas tree and thousands of lights spreading over the plaza.

These final days of 2022, in the middle of a war that has ravaged the country for 10 months, a more modest tree stands there, its blue and yellow lights barely breaking the gloom of the square that is otherwise dark apart from the headlights of cars.

In recent months, Russia has been targeting the energy infrastructure, aiming to cut electricity and heating to Ukrainians, as the freezing winter advances.

READ MORE: From lamb to prosecco, Australia's EU free trade deal deadline looms

And although the Ukraine government tries to move as fast as it can, it's been practically impossible to restore power for every single person in the country, including the more than three million residents of the capital.

There are days when streets in Kyiv's downtown have light, but the authorities have imposed some restrictions and scheduled power cuts, meaning that there's no traditional gleaming city during the Christmas season.

READ MORE: Teenager killed in shooting at Mall of America, Christmas shoppers locked down

But even in these gloomy moments, some people have decided to show their determination and rescue whatever they can these holidays — like the Christmas tree, still standing proud even if it doesn't have the brightness of recent years.

Kyiv's Mayor, Vitali Klitschko, announced the installation of the Christmas tree, saying it was going to be named the "Tree of Invincibility."

"We decided that we wouldn't let Russia steal the celebration of Christmas and New Year from our children," he said. The name, he added, was "because we Ukrainians cannot be broken."

The "Tree of Invincibility" was inaugurated on December 19, the same day that Russia launched a drone attack against Kyiv, but damaged only a power plant that didn't caused a massive blackout in the city.

Unlike previous years, when along with the tens of thousands of bulbs, Sophia Square was full of music and cheerful people, now the only noise on the plaza is the sound of a generator powering the lights of the 12-metre tree. On top of it, there is no star of Bethlehem's but instead a trident, Ukraine's symbol.

In stark contrast, in the Russian-occupied city of Luhansk, a large Christmas tree has been erected and on Friday evening people came out to admire its bright lights and watch entertainment, including dancers dressed in the colors of the Russian flag.

Before Kyiv's government decided to install its tree, there was some debate about whether it was appropriate in a year that brought so many tragedies and horrors. Similar discussions happened all across the country, and some regions decided not have trees.

But now, some people do like the initiative.

"We are grateful that we can see at least something in such times," said Oleh Skakun, 56, during the unveiling of the tree on Monday.

He said that every December 19, his wife's birthday, they used to go to see the Christmas tree in the southern city of Kherson, not far from their home. Not this year, because their house, on the left bank of the Dnieper river, is occupied by Russian forces, and they had to flee in August to Kyiv.

But despite their sadness, Skakun said that they wanted to keep the tradition of visiting a Christmas tree.

"Twenty Russians live in my house now; they tortured people, they tortured my son," said Larysa Skakun, 57. "But we came here to cheer up a bit, to see the people, the celebration", she added in tears.

Among other cities that also decided to install a Christmas tree is Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city that for months was on the edges of the front line and constantly attacked by Russian missiles. There, instead of placing it on a square, it has been erected inside the main subway station.

But for some Ukrainians, it's hard to celebrate anything this Christmas.

Anna Holovina, 27, came to Sophia Square to see the tree, but said that she keeps thinking of her hometown in the Luhansk region, occupied by Russian forces since 2014.

"I feel sadness. I feel pain. I don't feel the holiday at all," she said. "My family is in Kyiv, but my hometown has been occupied for the eighth year now."

Europe's trade chief has been invited Down Under as the pointy end of four years of high-stakes free trade agreement talks fast approaches.

Federal Trade Minister Don Farrell, on the back of a multi-country diplomacy trip earlier this month, wants to secure a "fair deal" with the European Union "early next year". 

He told 9News.com.au opening up more access for Australia's beef and lamb producers to meat eaters in the 27-nation bloc would be at the top of the priority list when talks resume in February.

"That's a hard one. It's a particularly hard one for France; they've got a highly protected agricultural industry," Farrell admitted.

"But look, they have made concessions to other countries. They've made concessions to New Zealand, for instance, in terms of sheep meat. They've made concessions to Canada in respect of beef. 

"The thing that we have, in particular, that the Europeans want is critical minerals."

Rather than buckling on naming rule changes the EU wants, which could impact Australian producers of feta and parmesan cheese and prosecco, Farrell sees those minerals, essential to much modern technology, as the way forward.

"I think there's a deal to be done with the Europeans to get access for our agricultural markets, in exchange for us providing access to our critical minerals," he said.

"At the moment, the Europeans are almost totally reliant on the Chinese market for that. We offer an alternative option for them and we think that that puts us into a very good negotiating position."

Farrell said as a "great migrant nation", Australia's European descendants didn't want to lose their "very strong emotional connection" to the products they'd brought with them from their homelands.

EU Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis may get the chance to see just how strong that connection is next year. 

Farrell said he'd recently invited the executive vice-president to visit Australia after February's talks to sort out any issues "face to face".

"I'll have to give some consideration to what foods he gets," the minister said when asked if prosecco, feta, parmesan, beef and lamb would be on the menu.

"But my guess is he understands what wonderful produce in terms of food and wine Australia produces and he'll be keen to have that experience quite independent of anything I might offer."

Farrell said a deal was the "perfect solution" for Europe as both sides looked to diversify away from China and didn't bite when asked if Australia would withhold critical minerals if its negotiators couldn't get a good enough agreement.

"I'm not issuing threats to the Europeans," he said.

"We think that in a mature and sensible way, that we can sort out our differences."

The AUKUS submarine deal and the diplomatic crisis it provoked have been regularly cited as the reason for a halt to talks last year, not aided by years of perceived foot-dragging on climate change by the previous government.

But trade expert Dmitry Grozoubinski said Australia's efforts to sell as much tariff-free beef and lamb into an EU with a "protectionist" approach on agriculture was the key sticking point.

"I think the nuclear submarine tiff made it both politically easier for the French to stand their ground on some of those protectionist questions, and simultaneously made it more difficult for Macron, to put his neck out there and expend the political capital by making concessions if he were so inclined," he told 9News.com.au earlier this year.

"So I don't think that was helpful in that regard but the underlying concerns or the underlying disagreement was still fundamentally there. 

"Australia is a very large and very efficient agricultural producer and exporter. The European Union is probably the only market, the only major market left in the world with which Australia does not have a free trade agreement, apart from India."

Grozoubinski worked for Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade as a trade negotiator for several years until 2017 and now runs trade consultancy ExplainTrade in Geneva.

If the minister wants Australian farmers to be able to radically increase the amount of beef and lamb they ship to Europe, he hopes DFAT negotiators have "some sort of massive trump card" they can play.

"Historically because it is a liberalised and open economy, that's also quite far away, and doesn't have that many consumers, even though they are sort of quite wealthy consumers, Australia has somewhat struggled to come up with hugely attractive morsels on its side of the ledger," he said.

"And so in order to get this across the line, it would likely mean Australia moderating its ambition in terms of being willing to accept less access than it would like or it feels comfortable with, or a sort of change of politics within the EU."

As it stands, New Zealand, with its free trade deal and some historical advantages, can sell many times more beef, and particularly lamb, into the EU than Australia.

Farrell wouldn't be drawn on whether anything less than Aukland's access could be considered a success but declared he wanted a "fair deal".

"Look, there are swings and roundabouts in that whole process," he said. 

"We want meaningful access to the European markets in terms of our agricultural products.

"We do think that we've got more to offer in that process than the New Zealanders.

"And I guess what we'd say is we want a fair go from the European Union in terms of our final agreement."

One thing seems likely. Australia can't expect the raging success of its UK trade deal, which gives Aussie lamb, beef and dairy producers unlimited access within five to 10 years.

Grozoubinski said EU leaders simply didn't have as much to gain as then-trade minister Liz Truss did as part of a post-Brexit government desperate to announce trade wins.

"Two things: One, the EU is not committed to the same kind of libertarian approach to trade policy as the UK was under … Liz Truss," he said. 

"And second, Australia simply doesn't have the kind of leverage that the Brexit political moment gifted negotiators who I'm sure did a phenomenal job. By the way, I don't want to take anything away from them. 

"But it always really, really helps if the minister on the other side is desperate to announce a deal and desperate not to announce the deal isn't happening."

A European Commission spokesperson told 9News.com.au the bloc was keen to conclude negotiations for the European spring.

They said negotiators would "redouble their efforts to advance quickly and address all the outstanding issues" ahead of more "good progress" in February in Canberra.

A teenage aged care worker has been charged with murder after a grandmother was killed at a WA aged care home last month.

Monica Mary Stockdale, 70, was found dead at the Baptistcare Bethel facility in Albany on November 28.

Her death was not believed to be suspicious until an autopsy found she had allegedly been strangled to death.

READ MORE: What will the weather be like on Christmas Day?

After "extensive investigations", police yesterday charged 19-year-old Jacob Hoysted with her murder.

Speaking to media today, Detective Inspective Quentin Flatman said he had no doubt Stockdale's death "will very much shake the core of this community and those who have elderly loved ones in aged care facilities".

"In these facilities, people should be expected to be cared for to the highest of degrees," he said.

Police have said Hoysted worked at the aged care facility for 12 months up until his arrest yesterday.

Baptistcare Acting Joint Chief Executive Officer Amanda Vivian has today issued a statement expressing the company's "deepest condolences to the family and friends of Miss Monica Stockdale."

"Her tragic death has shocked everyone who lives and works at Baptistcare Bethel Residential Care in Albany as well as the broader Great Southern community, Vivian said.

She said Baptistcare was unable to comment about Hoysted after the "deeply concerning incident".

"Supporting our Bethel Residential Care residents, employees and their families through this difficult time is our immediate priority."

Hoysted fronted Perth Magistrates Court today and did not apply for bail.

Homes have been evacuated and shoppers have been blocked from their cars for hours on Christmas Eve after a bomb scare at a Melbourne shopping centre car park.

The bomb squad was called to a carpark at Cranbourne Park Shopping Centre about 11.50am after a suspected explosive device and a gun were found inside a car.

A shopper saw a man slumped over a steering wheel of the car, then spotted the gun on the passenger seat when they went over to check on the man.

READ MORE: When stores are open over the next week

The man woke up and took off before police arrived to find a suspected improvised explosive device inside the car, as well as the gun.

Police then shut the carpark for almost four hours, with shoppers and retail staff blocked off from their cars.

Nearby homes were also evacuated for about two and a half hours as a precaution.

Police are yet to locate the man who was seen in the car.

Anyone with information that could assist police with their enquiries is urged to contact police.

Trampers are being urged to ensure they’re well-prepared before striking out

We wish you a Merry Christmas with good food and great cheer.

Shahid Alikhani square is a nondescript part of the historic Iranian city of Isfahan. Its sole claim to prominence is the grand entrance to one of the city's main metro stations.

But now it has become a place of pilgrimage for supporters of the high-profile Iranian footballer Amir Nasr-Azadani who fear the young man could be executed in the square, where an execution platform has been installed, a witness close to Nasr-Azadani in Iran told CNN.

Terrified Iranian families believe that while the Western world is preoccupied with Christmas celebrations, a wave of executions in the country is imminent following the recent protests that have swept the country following the death in September of Mahsa Amini, a young woman detained by Iran's notorious morality police for being accused of improperly wearing her hijab.

READ MORE: What stores are open during the holiday period

In collaboration with the activist group 1500Tasvir, CNN has verified documents, video, witness testimony and statements from inside the country which suggest that at least 43 people, including Nasr-Azadani, could face imminent execution.

Authorities have already executed at least two people in connection with protests in Iran last month, one of whom was hanged publicly.

Witness testimonies and official documents, reviewed by CNN and 1500Tasvir, provide evidence that suggests a rushed judicial process in Iran; charges which could carry the death sentence, often handed down in a single sitting.

Nasr-Azadani is accused of involvement in the killing of three security officers, including two volunteer Basij militia members, during protests in Isfahan on November 16, Iranian state media IRNA reported last week.

According to state media, the city's chief justice, Asadullah Jafari, said Nasr-Azadani had been charged with Baghi – or rioting against authorities. Under Iran's penal code, the sentence carries the death penalty.

Since then, a witness to his arrest said they hoped Nasr-Azadani would be freed, but nevertheless visited Shahid Alikhani square daily to see if authorities would show up with the footballer and execute him on the scaffold. "From the day he was arrested, authorities told us he would be released by the end of the week," the witness tells CNN.

Then the information dried up. Weeks later the witness, who is close to Nasr-Azadani, says authorities told them that the 26-year-old could be hanged at Shahid Alikhani square.

"The thought that they could execute him any day is really very hard for us … and the daily news we keep hearing is worrisome."

Nasr-Azadani's family was initially unaware of the reason for his arrest, the witness tells CNN, and officials would not share information of his condition. Those close to him were also warned to "keep quiet" about his case if they wanted to see him released sooner, the witness tells CNN.

The court last week said it obtained "video and sufficient documentation that prove he [Nasr-Azadani] is part of an armed group" and that the footballer had confessed to his crimes, state media IRNA reported.

'I really fear they will execute Majid'

Previous CNN investigations have found prisoners have been subjected to torture and sexual assault. Human rights groups say torture-tainted "confessions" have been used against the defendants in sham trials.

Iranian officials have defended the trials nevertheless. In recent days, one Iranian MP said he believes that those involved in the current unrest must be executed within five to 10 days after their arrest. CNN received no official response from Iranian officials to its request for comment.

Another man, Majid Kazemi, was also accused of involvement in the killing of three security forces in Isfahan, the document obtained by CNN and 1500Tasvir shows. Kazemi told others he was coerced into confessing his involvement in criminal acts during his interrogation.

READ MORE: What will the weather be like on Christmas Day?

"He did not confess to having done any of the things he was charged with, and so they beat him up severely," a source close to Kazemi tells CNN.

A released prisoner from the facility where Majid is being kept told the source his arm, leg and nose were broken.

Majid's court session is set to take place during the holiday season, the source tells CNN.

"This will coincide with a time in which the international community is observing these holy days, and the Islamic Republic regime will take advantage of being removed from the watchful eyes of the world.

"I really fear they will execute Majid."

In a recording from inside a Tehran prison, inmate Sahand Noor Mahammadzade speaks about how he was coerced into confession." The judge that was there told me to say that I do not protest (object) and gave me three pages that I signed, while they didn't even allow me to read any of them.

"The second time they took me in for interrogation, my charges had completely changed. That second charge levied against me contained the term 'moharabe.'"

"They told me to go into the prosecutor's office and upon entering he said: 'It is evident from his face. Execute this one!'"

In a hastily photographed document from inside Isfahan regional court obtained and verified by 1500Tasvir and CNN, it is revealed that at least 10 people in Isfahan have also been charged with Moharabe (a war against God), spreading corruption on Earth and other charges – all of which carry the death penalty.

The charge, introduced after the 1979 revolution, is regularly imposed against people who are accused of committing acts against the government.

Several other witness testimonies and official documents sent by families, and jointly authenticated by CNN and 1500Tasvir, paint a picture that shows how the Iranian regime is rushing the judicial process.

Families and activists say only court-appointed lawyers are allowed to represent defendants who are also refused the right to appeal. And if the charge is handed down, the Iranian penal code states they could get the death sentence in a single sitting – though not carried out immediately and most sentences are appealed.

Soheil Jahangiri is one of the Iranians to receive such a sentence. Members of his family told CNN they haven't heard from him in over a month. They say officials did not permit Jahangiri an independent attorney.

"Judiciary officials have alluded to two charges: Baghi and Moharabe. Soheil could face either of these charges that carry the death penalty," a family member said.

"We are quite frightened that, with the beginning of the Christmas holidays and a decrease in political pressure on the government, executions will begin anew, and I think that Soheil's life and the lives of numerous political prisoners are in danger.

"We don't want to see our kids executed while the media is silent," they added.

A bitter end

CNN has verified that dozens of others – some of them teenagers – face similar charges in connection with the protests and are at risk of execution.

In the regional court of Khuzestan, west of Isfahan, CNN has confirmed – in conjunction with 1500Tasvir – through court documents that 23 people have been charged with crimes punishable by death.

In Karaj, near Tehran, CNN and 1500Tasvir have confirmed five more Iranians are facing execution. Among them is 21-year-old Iranian-Kurdish Karate champion Mohammad Mehdi Karami, whose parents have also gone public with their plea.

"Please, I beg of you to please lift the execution order from my son's file," his father says in a video shared to social media.

In messages shared with CNN his family says Karami was not only sentenced to death, he was tortured in prison.

In another message shared with CNN, they said that despite his alleged ill-treatment, Karami was in good spirits but "physically damaged" having suffered torture.

For those awaiting execution, the wait behind bars can be unbearable. Just this week, 27-year-old Iranian-Kurdish rapper Saman Yasin attempted suicide while in detention.

In his last music video, Yasin rapped about inequality and oppression in Iran, singing "they closed my throat violently. They banned beauty. They reversed me like an animal. I am not satisfied with silence."

Just two days ago Yasin tried to end his life, after weeks of enduring the harsh prison conditions in northern Iran, sources in the prison told CNN.

CNN has verified that at least 43 detainees are facing execution. Statements from both Iranian officials and in Iranian media reviewed by CNN and 1500Tasvir, mention the names of those charged and show that the real number is possibly as high as 100. Many of the families, though, were too scared to speak to us directly to confirm the names mentioned in the media.

As the year approaches its bitter end, for many Iranians their desperate pleas linger on.

In a video made public and shared with CNN, the mother of brothers Farzad and Farhad Tahazade, aged 23 and 24, sent this message to the world:

"Please hear my sons' cries for help. My sons are young and they have children awaiting their release. Please save them. For the love of God, save my sons."

In Iran, a woman puts herself at great danger by publicly speaking out against authorities on behalf of her children. But it is a risk many parents feel they have no choice but to take.