Tag Archives: oceania

Alleged IS terrorist silent in Darwin court after extradition

Melbourne-born alleged Islamic State terrorist Neil Prakash has appeared in a Darwin court after being deported from Turkey to face six terrorism charges.

The 31-year-old former rapper allegedly joined and supported Islamic State in 2014, and is also accused of travelling to Syria and undertaking hostile acts in 2016.

Prakash could face a life sentence if found guilty.

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Neil Prakash

Northern Territory Local Court Chief Judge Elizabeth Morris granted an extradition order to transfer Prakash from the NT to Victoria on or before December 9.

He will remain in custody in Darwin until AFP and Victorian Police officers jointly take him into custody and escort him to Melbourne.

Once there, he is expected to be charged by the Australian Federal Police Victorian Joint Counter Terrorism Team with a range of serious terrorism offences.

Prakash, who appeared via video link from the Palmerston watch house, was handcuffed throughout the hearing.

He declined legal representation and remained silent when Judge Morris asked him to confirm his identity.

Victorian detective senior constable Andrew Gibney told the court Parkash had been identified by distinct scars and a tattoo on his chest.

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Neil Prakash entered Syria in 2013, and is wanted by Australian Federal Police.

Early today he arrived by plane from Turkey to Darwin, where he was arrested by the Australian Federal Police.

Prakash has been described as the "most important and the most dangerous" Australian member of Islamic State.

He was arrested in Turkey in 2016 for allegedly fighting for the terrorist group in Syria and later moved to an immigration detention centre.

The jihadist appeared in several videos trying to recruit fellow Australians to the IS fight, as well as fighting himself for the terrorist organisation overseas.

Prakash has also been implicated in at least two terror plots on Australian soil, including the Anzac Day plot to behead a Melbourne police officer.

The former Coalition government tried to have Prakash's Australian citizenship cancelled, but that was effectively overturned by the High Court.

He landed in Darwin on the same flight as Tony Haddad, an alleged crime figure extradited from Turkey after a major manhunt.

– with AAP

Chris Dawson jailed over 1982 murder of wife Lynette

Former Sydney school teacher Chris Dawson has been sentenced to 24 years in prison for killing his wife Lynette and disposing of her body more than 40 years ago.

Justice Ian Harrison handed down the sentence at the NSW Supreme Court 13 weeks after the 74-year-old was found guilty of murder.

Dawson will be eligible for parole after 18 years. He would be 92.

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"I recognise that the unavoidable prospect is that Mr Dawson will probably die in jail," Harrison noted.

But based on new "no body, no parole" laws in New South Wales, Dawson may not be released unless he reveals where Lynette's body was disposed.

Harrison said Dawson's crime was inspired by an "uncontrollable desire" to be with his high school student and family babysitter, known during court proceedings as JC.

He said the murder was neither "spontaneous" nor "unavoidable".

"The fact Lynette Dawson's body has never been recovered is an aggravating circumstance of the murder," Harrison said.

"Murder is uncontroversially a serious crime.

"In my opinion, the murder of Lynette Dawson is an objectively serious crime."

Lynette was "faultless" and "undeserving of her fate", Harrison said.

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Justice Ian Harrison sentences Chris Dawson to 24 years in prison.

Harrison said the evidence does not reveal whether Dawson committed the crime by himself or with assistance.

But he said Lynette was murdered at the family home in January 1982.

"The evidence does not reveal how Dawson killed Lynette Dawson. The evidence does not reveal where Lynette's body is now," Harrison said.

Harrison said Dawson continues to maintain his innocence and shows no remorse for his crime.

Harrison said Dawson has enjoyed decades of freedom and referenced the 74-year-old going on to marry and have a child with JC.

"His denial of responsibility for that crime has benefited him in obvious ways," he said.

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In deciding the sentence, Harrison said the media attention of the case, which Dawson's lawyers argued should be a mitigating factor, was a consideration however in the end the 74-year-old was the "author of his own misfortune".

"Dawson's crime is a matter of intense public interest," Harrison said.

"His major complaint, when properly understood, is that the publicity improperly made assumptions about his guilt at a time when he was entitled to the presumption of innocence."

Ultimately, Harrison said a "just and appropriate" sentence needed to recognise the "human dignity of the victim of domestic violence and the legitimate interest of the general community in denunciation and punishment of someone who kills his spouse".

Dawson has filed an appeal of his conviction.

Dawson's lawyer Greg Walsh said outside court Harrison's sentence was a "reasonable judgement".

"There are no winners in a tragic case like this. Lynette's family have lost their daughter, sister, mother and the extended family has suffered," Walsh said.

"The reality is he knows he will spend in the rest of his days in jail unless he is successful on his appeal."

Walsh said Dawson continues to maintain his innocence and refuses to reveal where Lynette's body was disposed.

He added Dawson is being referred to as "the Teacher's Pet" in prison, the name of The Australian's podcast that detailed his crime.

"He'll live with that irony for the rest of his days," Walsh said.

– Reported with AAP.

After monkey trial, Elon Musk wants to put brain implant in humans

Elon Musk — the SpaceX founder, Tesla CEO, and, most recently, Twitter owner — hosted a flashy event on Wednesday night for yet another one of his companies: Neuralink, the startup proposing implants that connect your brain to a computer.

The event showcased a video that Musk said showed a monkey using a brain implant to control a cursor and type on a computer.

It's not a brand-new technology, as researchers have been working on devices that can decode brain signals for a practical purpose for decades.

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Elon Musk's startup Neuralink proposes implants that connect your brain to a computer.

For example, allowing a person to type words or play video games with only their brain has been done before.

Musk noted during the "show and tell" event that the primary goal of the evening was to recruit talent to Neuralink.

"A lot of the time people think that they couldn't really work at Neuralink because they don't know anything about biology or how the brain works," Musk said.

"The thing we really want to emphasise here is that you don't need to because when you break down the skills that are needed to make Neuralink work, it's actually many of the same skills that are required to make a smartwatch or modern phone work."

DJ Seo, Neuralink's vice president of implants, showed off the latest iteration of the company's device, noting that it'll be wireless and rechargeable.

He also shared footage of a robot that he said was built to perform the implant surgery and also ran through a demonstration of what that surgery could look like, noting that manufacturing and a test clinic were being set up in Austin, Texas.

Musk launched Neuralink more than five years ago with the goal of developing technologies that can enhance the connection between humans and computer by way of implanting chips into peoples' brains.

The company so far has only tested on animals.

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The monkey in Elon Musk's experiment purportedly asking for some snacks.

Last year, for example, Neuralink said it was able to allow monkeys to play the video game Pong using only their brain implants, though something similar had already been accomplished in a human with a brain implant more than a decade prior.

Musk touted footage of the monkey playing Pong again on Wednesday.

The use of animals, however, has angered activists.

The company has acknowledged that a monkey had died during the testing process.

"We do everything we possibly can with rigorous benchtop testing so we're not cavalier about putting devices into animals," Musk said on Wednesday.

The core idea behind Neuralink brings up numerous ethical and sociopolitical questions.

But proponents say such devices provide life-changing help to amputees and disabled persons if they, for example, lose the ability to use their hands or see.

Musk, however, also tends to emphasise non-medical uses, such as using brain implants to even the playing field, if digital artificial intelligence becomes smarter than any human.

READ MORE: Elon Musk's Neuralink confirms monkeys died in project

"How do we mitigate that risk? At a species level?" Musk asked on Wednesday.

"Even in a benign scenario, where the AI is very, very benevolent — then how do we go along for the ride?"

Musk's Neuralink is not the only organisation pursuing this technology.

And some researchers with federal funding are already doing some clinical trials.

During Wednesday's event, Musk was asked if Neuralink would plan to make its tools available to neuroscientists.

He replied that the company would after it had reached the production phase.

Before Neuralink's brain implants are mass-produced and hit the broader market, they'll need regulatory approval.

The US Food and Drug Administration put out a paper in May last year mapping out the agency's initial thoughts on brain-computer interface devices, noting the field is "progressing rapidly".

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Musk said Wednesday that Neuraink has submitted "most" of its paperwork to the FDA and could begin testing on humans within six months.

It should be noted, however, that Musk frequently touts deadlines that don't come to fruition, from his claims about when SpaceX would get its Mars rocket to space to his predictions about when self-driving cars would be on the road.

'I want him scared': Victim's father sends message to uni killer

The father of one of the four victims in the University of Idaho mystery killings said he hoped the murderer is living in fear, as her classmates come together to mourn the slain.

Kaylee Goncalves, 21, was one of four people stabbed to death at a rental home near the university campus on November 13, along with Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.

Police have arrested no suspects and not recovered any murder weapon, though they believe the victims were killed with a knife.

READ MORE: Investigators still believe killing of four college students in US were targeted

"I want him to be scared," Kaylee's father Steve Goncalves told Fox News today.

"I don't want him to be confident. I want him to be sick of seeing my face.

"I'm not going nowhere until this guy is off the streets."

Overnight in the US, Goncalves also addressed a vigil held by his daughter's classmates at the university.

"The only cure to pain is love — it's the only thing that's going to heal us; it's the only thing that's going to heal you," he said.

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"That will make a difference, and that's something they can see where they're at right now: That you changed your life a little bit, that you're a little bit nicer, a little bit kinder."

Ben Mogen, Madison's father, told the crowd in Moscow that she was his only child, so "everything she ever did was such a big deal." Talking about "Maddie," was his pride, Mogen said, and the two loved attending music concerts together.

"When I would meet people ever since she was first born, and they would say, 'Tell me about yourself,' the first thing I would say is, 'I have this daughter — here's a picture of her, she's on the dean's list at college, she works hard, she has all these friends at her sorority'," Mogen said.

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Madison's best friend was Kaylee. The girls met as sixth graders, Steve Goncalves told the crowd, and were inseparable friends from that moment on.

"They went to high school together, then they started looking at colleges, they came here together. They eventually got into the same apartment together," Goncalves said.

"And in the end, they died together, in the same room, in the same bed.

"It's a shame and it hurts, but the beauty of the two always being together comforts us."

Xana Kernodle's family was unable to attend the vigil.

READ MORE: Timeline of the mystery University of Idaho slayings

Ethan Chapin's mother, Stacy Chapin, fought back tears as she said she was there with her husband and with Ethan's triplet brother and sister.

Like other families, the Chapin family always tried to eat dinner together when time allowed and spent countless hours taking the kids to various sporting events when they were younger. The triplets chose the University of Idaho because they wanted a small town and a beautiful campus with a thriving Greek system, she said.

Now, despite the terrible circumstances of Ethan's death, the family is "eternally grateful that we spent so much time with him," Chapin said.

"That's the most important message we have for you and your families — it's make sure that you spend as much time as possible with those people, because time is precious and it's something you can't get back," Chapin said.

Little new information has been released about the investigation into the killings. A county coroner said the four were likely asleep when they were attacked. Investigators have yet to find the fixed-blade knife used in the killings.

Governor Brad Little announced last week that he was directing up to $US1 million ($1.47 million) in state emergency funds for the investigation. The FBI has assigned 44 people to the case — half of them stationed in Moscow — and the Idaho State Police has 15 troopers helping with community patrols and another 20 investigators working the case.

Local law enforcement agencies have seen an uptick in calls reporting suspicious behaviour.

"We understand there is a sense of fear in our community," the Moscow Police Department wrote on November 27. Since the killings, the number of people requesting welfare checks, in which an officer is sent to check on a person's wellbeing, has doubled.

The university has also seen an increase in people calling its "Vandal Care" phone line to report that they were struggling or worried someone else was struggling with an issue, the university's Dean of Students Blaine Eckles said earlier on Wednesday.

"While I personally am very confident that the police will resolve (the deaths), until that happens, no one is resting easy," he said.

"There's someone out there that took the lives of four of our Vandals, and we don't know who they are. We don't know where they are."

With Associated Press.

Bruce Lehrmann rape trial abandoned

ACT's Director of Public Prosecutions has confirmed he will not pursue a retrial of accused rapist Bruce Lehrmann, citing the wellbeing and health of alleged victim Brittany Higgins.

Shane Drumgold confirmed he had filed a notice this morning bringing the prosecution to an end.

"I have recently received compelling evidence from two independent medical experts that the ongoing trauma associated with this prosecution presents a significant and unacceptable risk to the life of the complainant," he said.

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"In light of the compelling independent medical opinion and balancing all factors, I have made the difficult decision that it is no longer in the public interest to pursue a prosecution at the risk of the complainant's life.

"This has left me no option but to file a notice declining to proceed with the retrial of this matter which I have done this morning. This brings the prosecution to an end."

Higgins accused Lehrmann of sexually assaulting her in the office of then-Defence Minister Linda Reynolds in Parliament in March 2019.

He has denied the accusation and denied having sex with Higgins.

He pleaded not guilty in his initial trial.

Brittany Higgins address the media outside the ACT Supreme Court after the Bruce Lehrmann trial was aborted.

Drumgold praised Higgins' courage during the course of the prosecution.

"During the investigation and trial as a sexual assault complainant, Ms Higgins has faced a level of personal attack that I have not seen in over 20 years of doing this work," he said.

"She has done so with bravery, grace and dignity and it is my hope that this will now stop and Ms Higgins will be allowed to heal."

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The jury in Lehrmann's initial trial was discharged over juror misconduct after several days of being unable to reach a verdict.

The retrial date had been set for February 20 next year.

Emma Webster, a close friend of Higgins, said she was "in hospital getting the treatment and support she needs".

"The last couple of years have been difficult and unrelenting," the friend said.

"While it's disappointing the trial has ended this way, Brittany's health and safety must always come first.

"Brittany is extremely grateful for all the support she has received, particularly from our mental health care workers."

If you or someone you know is impacted by sexual assault, domestic or family violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.

Marvel reinventing superhero world with you at the centre

Marvel favourites have been recast and reinvented in the studio's latest video game, essentially launching an all-new Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In Midnight Suns, players go on a journey with all of the biggest superheroes in the MCU as they tackle a new big bad. 

Creating a new universe that's accepted by fans has never been more challenging, with the likes of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel, and our very own Chris Hemsworth as Thor. 

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9News.com.au sat down with the creative director of Midnight Suns to talk all about the upcoming release and what players can expect from this new take on Marvel. 

"You want to get as far away from those voices that people would recognise as possible, and yet those characters base their voices on an interpretation of like the soul of that character," Firaxis Games creative director Jake Solomon said.

"You want to keep the famous, like, movie versions of any voices in your head and say, how do we get away from that, and make sure that it's our own take on the character.

"Otherwise, people are going to be just probably more bothered by anything, you know?"

But there is one actor retaining their role in the crossover, the actress who plays Nico in Marvel's Runaways.

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"I loved her so much and I talked to my narrative director and I was like, 'Do you think we could get Lyrica?' And he was like, 'Oh, I'll reach out'," Solomon said.

"She'd never done voice acting before, but you know, she was excited to come back and play the character."

A new new player-created character called the Hunter also joins the cast of Marvel favourites.

"Marvel said they were excited about the idea, but they told us from the beginning, this is going to be challenging," Solomon said.

"We've never done it before and you need to stand up this hero next to heroes that have decades of love and they have their own interesting stories and so we really had to work on what's the Hunter's backstory."

Following the success of Marvel Snap, the card elements of Midnight Suns are expected to draw in new players.  

"It's always the sort of thing where I'm like, a rising tide lifts all boats, in no universe it wouldn't help us if, you know – it's always going to be better for us," Solomon said. 

Asked if he'd had the opportunity to experience Midnight Suns since its completion, Solomon's answer was clear.

"I've played it more than anybody alive," he said. 

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Solomon has shared his top tips for players planning on picking up the game, and it's clear Ghost Rider is a favourite. 

"Don't pile all your heroes down with heroic abilities, because they'll choke each other out. And then the other thing I always say is, is you know, research, like, you can really get an edge by following really powerful research paths," he said. 

Solomon said combat items were also very useful in a fight.

"They can kind of turn the tide of battle," he said.

"And then always make sure that you're upgrading all of your heroes' abilities if you have the resources to do it.

"I think Ghost Rider's techs are the most valuable in the game. So the armoury, which allows you to earn your Midnight Sun suit, building that early is great. And then he has something called 'The Sword in the Stone'. Basically, you can build this upgrade in the yard and it makes your environmental attacks do tonnes more damage."

Solomon says a specific piece of advice would be to take a "very, very hard look" at Ghost Rider's attacks as they offer some of the most powerful moves in the game.

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Delayed from its initial March release, the developers say Marvel's Midnight Suns is finally finished.

"We had a couple of delays because it kind of speaks to, like, just how big this game is compared to anything we've done before … It really has so many corners to polish that it just took forever," Solomon said.

"Design has been done for a while actually and then we basically spent the last year just kind of polishing up and fixing bugs and which is good. We needed the time for sure." 

Firaxis Games has already announced future content for Marvel's Midnight Suns, including introducing more characters like Deadpool.  

Husband arrested after woman found dead in Melbourne garage

A man has been arrested after a woman was found dead in a blood-splattered garage in Melbourne's inner north.

The 51-year-old woman was discovered by her young daughter, who returned home from seeing some friends around 8pm last night.

The woman's husband, a 52-year-old man, was taken into custody and is being interviewed by homicide detectives.

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It is not yet known how she died, but police have alleged there was an assault.

A post-mortem will be carried out today. 

The street was cordoned off earlier as detectives went door-to-door to speak with neighbours.

Neighbours told 9News they did not hear anything before the gruesome discovery.

Anyone with information has been urged to contact police.

Group armed with crowbars rob Melbourne jewellery store

Terrified shoppers have been forced to hide in a shopping centre in Melbourne's west after a group of men smashed their way into a jewellery store.

Bystanders captured mobile footage of the moment the group damaged the storefront of Salera's, before stealing a large amount jewellery, putting it into bags and taking off.

Police said three men, who were wearing protective equipment, entered a shopping centre on Neale Road in Deer Park about 10.40am armed with sledgehammers and crowbars.

READ MORE: Woman found dead in blood-spattered Melbourne garage

Police said the group fled the scene in an allegedly stolen white VW Golf sedan, with registration 1KF3EA, and travelled south on Neale Road. 

Witnesses described the brazen burglary as terrifying.

"It's just scary. Like, it's Christmas time. Everyone is out shopping, people have their kids and you can't even come to the shops," Sheree Caruso said.

"I just saw a couple of guys running from the shopping centre and they were in white suits and they had crowbars in their hands."

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No one was injured during the armed robbery.

The alleged offenders are believed to be of African appearance and were wearing white jumpsuits, police said.

Police have set up a crime scene and are investigating.