There’s a group of people that call themselves the mob in Waipukurau, Hawke’s Bay, but they’re a peaceful group.Mob stands for mobility, and they are the Central Hawke’s Bay Scooter Mob, formed by Super Gold card holders.Gloria…

The family of a pregnant mother are preparing to say goodbye today after doctors gave her hours to live following a horror attack at a Perth shopping centre

Diane Miller, 30, is in intensive care after a teenager allegedly threw a piece of concrete at her during an unprovoked melee at Waterford Plaza Shopping Centre carpark in Karawara.

Miller was knocked unconscious and went into cardiac arrest.

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Inspector Brett Baddock said police officers and members of the public conducted CPR until paramedics arrived.

She was rushed to hospital where she remains in the ICU.

Baddock said Miller was five months pregnant.

"We have concerns for her and her baby. She remains in a critical condition, the baby is alive but remains in a critical condition in hospital," he said last night.

This morning, it was confirmed Miller had been declared brain dead, with doctors giving her just hours to live.

Miller's brother, Malcolm Clifton, said she was just getting her life on track. 

"She just got a house, everything was working out of her and now everything is just gone," he said.

"She didn't even see it coming, it hit her straight in the temple.

"If it keeps swelling, it will stop the blood going to her brain and she will end up going brain dead.

"Once she has gone, (her) baby's gonna pass away too."

Miller's eight-month old son Lloyd now faces a lifetime without his mum.

Police don't believe the people involved in the attack were known to each other and were teenagers to adults in their late 20s.

"The assault including the melee were unprovoked," Baddock said.

"I put it down to senseless unprovoked violence."

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Baddock said teenagers had "gone out looking for trouble" and "found it".

A 17-year-old from Kensington has been charged with grievous bodily harm and breach of bail.

He was due to face Perth Children's Court yesterday.

Baddock said others involved in the scuffle may be charged.

"We want justice served and we want these people caught," Miller said.

Detectives are calling for anyone who witnessed the incident, or has mobile phone or dashcam footage taken in the carpark between 7pm and 7.30pm to contact Crime Stoppers.

A woman whose family members believe was the toddler kidnapped by a babysitter 51 years ago has been reunited with her family in Fort Worth, in a meeting filled with long-overdue hugs and joyful tears.

Melissa Highsmith was 22-months-old when she was abducted by a purported babysitter in 1971.

The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that she lived in Fort Worth most of her life as Melanie Brown and didn’t know she was kidnapped until her biological father, Jeffrie Highsmith, submitted DNA to 23andMe and learned that he was a match to Brown's children.

READ MORE: Pregnant mum and unborn child 'unlikely to survive' after attack in Perth car park

The family said in a news release that they worked with an amateur genealogist to help interpret the DNA results and mine public records to find Melissa, who reunited with her parents and two of her siblings this weekend.

“It was just a mixture of joy and terrifying. Being terrified and excited and just trying to understand, you know, make sense of everything,” Melissa Highsmith told KDFW-TV.

In a statement Monday, the Fort Worth Police Department said it’s “overjoyed” to hear that 23andMe led the Highsmiths to Melissa, and they will conduct official DNA testing to confirm her identity. The investigation into her kidnapping will continue.

“I couldn’t stop crying,” Melissa’s sister, Victoria Garner, wrote on Facebook.

“I was overjoyed and I’m still walking around in a fog trying to comprehend that my sister is right in front of me and that we found her.”

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According to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, Melissa Highsmith’s biological mother, Alta Apantenco, had recently separated from the girl's father and moved to Fort Worth when she placed an ad for a babysitter in the newspaper.

A woman who answered the ad said she wanted to watch the girl at her own house, and Apantenco agreed. The babysitter picked up the baby from Apantenco's roommate on August 23, 1971 and never brought her back.

The family said they never forgot about Melissa.

READ MORE: Trainee pilot survives helicopter crash in Melbourne 

“It’s overwhelming and incredible to me,” said Sharon Highsmith, Melissa’s younger sister.

“For 50 years, my mom has lived with the guilt of losing Melissa. She’s also lived with community and nationwide accusations that she hurt or killed her own baby.

"I’m so glad we have Melissa back. I’m also grateful we have vindication for my mom."

Jeffrie Highsmith told KDFW that the family never gave up the hope of finding Melissa.

"We had several tips, we would go off to other states. We would go off and talk to different girls, have DNA made, and our hopes were dashed," he said. “It was hard.”

A trainee pilot has survived after a helicopter crashed into a home in Melbourne's south-east.

Emergency services rushed to free the trapped 47-year-old from the wreckage, which was lying on the roof of a home in Tylden Court in Mentone.

The Mount Martha man was taken to the Alfred Hospital in a stable condition with lower body injuries after being taken off the roof on a stretcher with a crane.

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He was the only person in the helicopter when it crashed just after 1pm.

The student was conducting a navigation flight on return to Moorabbin Airport when the chopper came down.

The homeowner, a woman in her 80s, was at Bunnings at the time.

The damage was confined to a bedroom and bathroom of the house, which is is less than 1km from Moorabbin Airport.

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https://twitter.com/Elisabeth_Moss9/status/1597827408194740224

Australian Transport Safety Bureau Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell has said the Hughes 269C helicopter crashed when it was conducting "a missed approach (go-around) procedure from Moorabbin Airport".

"As part of its investigation, the ATSB will interview the pilot and any witnesses, and obtain and review recorded data, weather information, aircraft information and maintenance records," the spokesperson said.

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"The ATSB will publish a final report, detailing contributing factors and any identified safety issues, at the conclusion of the investigation.

"However, should any critical safety issues be identified at any stage during the course of the investigation, the ATSB will immediately notify relevant parties so appropriate safety action can be taken."

An assessment of the safety of the house is also underway.

China's vast security apparatus has moved swiftly to smother mass protests that swept the country, with police patrolling streets, checking mobile phones and even calling some demonstrators to warn them against a repeat.

In major cities on Monday and Tuesday, police flooded the sites of protests that took place over the weekend, when thousands gathered to vent their anger over the country's tough zero-COVID policy – some calling for greater democracy and freedom in an extraordinary show of dissent against Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The heavy police presence has discouraged protesters from gathering since, while authorities in some cities have adopted surveillance tactics used in the far western region of Xinjiang to intimidate those who demonstrated at the weekend.

READ MORE: Why China's anti-lockdown protests put Xi Jinping 'in a bind'

In what appears to be the first official response – albeit veiled – to the protests, China's domestic security chief vowed at a meeting Tuesday to "effectively maintain overall social stability".

Without mentioning the demonstrations, Chen Wenqing urged law enforcement officials to "resolutely strike hard against infiltration and sabotage activities by hostile forces, as well as illegal and criminal acts that disrupt social order," the state-run news agency Xinhua reported.

The tough language may signal a heavy-handed crackdown ahead.

While protests over local grievances do occur in China, the current wave of demonstrations is the most widespread since the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy movement of 1989. The political defiance is also unprecedented, with some protesters openly calling for Xi, the country's most powerful and authoritarian leader in decades, to step down.

Some of the boldest protests took place in Shanghai, where crowds called for Xi's removal two nights in a row. The sidewalks of Urumqi Road – the main protest site – have been completely blocked by tall barricades, making it virtually impossible for crowds to congregate.

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Ten minutes' drive away, dozens of police officers patrolled the People's Square – a large plaza at the heart of the city where some residents had planned to gather with white paper and candles on Monday evening. Police also waited inside a subway station there, closing off all but one exit, according to a protester at the scene.

CNN is not naming any of the protesters in this story to protect them from reprisals.

The protester said he saw police checking the mobile phones of passersby, and asking them if they had installed virtual private networks (VPNs) that can be used to circumvent China's internet firewall, or apps such as Twitter and Telegram, which though banned in the country have been used by protesters.

"There were also police dogs. The whole atmosphere was chilling," the protester said.

Protesters later decided to move their planned demonstration to another location, but by the time they arrived, the security presence had already been stepped up there, the protester said.

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"There were too many police and we had to cancel," he said.

On Tuesday, a widely circulated video appears to show police officers checking passengers' mobile phones on a Shanghai subway train.

Another Shanghai protester told CNN they were among "around 80 to 110" people detained by police on Saturday night, adding they were released 24 hours later.

CNN cannot independently verify the number of protesters detained and it is unclear how many people, if any, remain in custody.

The protester said the detainees had their phones confiscated on board a bus that took them to a police station, where officers collected their fingerprints and retina patterns.

According to the protester, police told those detained they had been used by "ill-intentioned people who want to start a colour revolution," pointing to nationwide protests breaking out on the same day as evidence of that.

The protester said police returned their phone and camera upon their release, but officers had deleted the photo album and removed the WeChat social media app.

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Calls from police

In Beijing, police vehicles, many parked with their lights flashing, lined eerily quiet streets on Monday morning throughout parts of the capital, including near Liangmaqiao in the city's central Chaoyang district, where a large crowd of protesters had gathered Sunday night.

The demonstration, which saw hundreds marching down the city's Third Ring Road, ended peacefully in the early hours of Monday under the close watch of lines of police officers.

But some protesters have since received phone calls from the police inquiring about their participation.

One demonstrator said she received a phone call from a man who identified himself as a local police officer, asking her whether she was at the protest and what she saw there. She was also told that if she had any discontent with authorities, she should complain to the police, instead of taking part in "illegal activities" such as the protest.

"That night, the police mostly adopted a calm approach when dealing with us. But the Communist Party is very good at meting out punishment afterwards," the demonstrator told CNN.

She said she did not wear a face mask during the demonstration. "I don't think Omicron is that scary," she said. But her friends who wore masks to the protest also received calls from the police, she added.

READ MORE: China's top health officials deflect blame over zero-COVID problems

Still, the protester remained defiant.

"It is our legitimate right (to protest), because the constitution stipulates that we have freedom of speech and freedom of congregation," she said.

Another protester, who has not heard from the police, told CNN that concern she could be the next to be called upon weighs heavily on her mind.

"I can only seek consolation by telling myself that there were so many of us who took part in the protest, they can't put a thousand people in jail," she said.

Meanwhile, some universities in Beijing have arranged transportation for students to return home early for winter break and take classes online, citing an effort to reduce COVID-19 risks for students taking public transportation.

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But the arrangement also conveniently discourages students from gathering, following demonstrations on a series of campuses over the weekend, including the prestigious Tsinghua University where hundreds of students shouted for "Democracy and rule of law! Freedom of expression!".

Given the long history of student-led movements in modern China, authorities are particularly concerned about political rallies on university campuses.

Beijing's universities have been the source of demonstrations which kicked off the May Fourth Movement in 1919, to which the Chinese Communist Party traces its roots, as well as the Tiananmen Square protests in 1989, which were brutally crushed by the Chinese military.

A young child has died in a shed fire in Tasmania and a second child and an adult have been taken to hospital with serious injuries.

Tasmania Police said emergency services found the shed fully alight on Verdun Street in the Launceston suburb of Mowbray just after 1.30pm today.

"A toddler was found deceased, and another young child was taken to hospital with serious injuries," police said.

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https://www.facebook.com/Tas.Police/posts/pfbid02xgwpqP7fcMnS6uvzoX5SKZq1NCuHdGzfFm8oD9JQC6QMEt1SrumR2EHwDsGLChfNl

"An adult was also taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries."

Police said the adult was a woman. The two children are not siblings but are known to each other, police said.

Tasmania Fire Service is investigating what caused the fire and a police report will be prepared for the coroner.

"Our thoughts and condolences are with everyone affected," police said.

Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright's bail has been extended by a Darwin court as the crocodile wrangler faces a slew of charges related to a helicopter crash that killed a cast member.

The crocodile trapper-turned-media personality faced Darwin Local Court today on charges including perverting the course of justice and destruction of evidence stemming from the February crash that killed Chris Wilson.

Wright, 43, is also accused of fabricating evidence, interfering with witnesses, making a false declaration and two counts of unlawful entry after the helicopter crashed into trees and the ground.

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The father-of-two was released on bail on Tuesday after he flew from Sydney and turned himself in to police.

His bail conditions included not contacting certain people and to reside at a prescribed address.

Today, Judge John Neill varied Wright's bail after his lawyers applied for six new conditions, not outlined in court.

The proceedings were briefly interrupted by a woman protesting over one of Wright's lawyers, David Newey, asking media to move so his client could sit down.

Judge Neill had the woman removed from the packed courtroom.

Wright's bail was extended until January 25, when his case will return to the same court without the star, who was excused from attending that hearing.

Newey said outside court his client continues to strenuously deny the charges and plans to defend them.

"He is naturally disappointed that the charges have been laid as result of what was a tragic accident of one of Matt's closest friends," Newey said.

Newey added the helicopter in the crash had been inspected before it took off.

"Regulatory investigations have found no defect in the helicopter engine. The aircraft was flown following an inspection by independent aviation experts a few weeks before and cleared the helicopter to fly," he said.

Wilson, 34, died when the Robinson R44 helicopter he was attached to by a 30-metre line using a harness crashed in west Arnhem Land.

His body was found 40 metres from the main wreckage at the King River crash site, a preliminary Air Transport Safety Bureau report revealed in April.

Wilson, also a father of two, was dangling from the strap to harvest eggs from crocodile nests in swampy areas while the helicopter hovered above.

The crashed helicopter was one of three collecting eggs on the day.

It was found by one of the other crews after failing to respond to radio calls.

Pilot Sebastian Robinson was seriously injured and airlifted to Maningrida, before being transferred to hospital in Darwin.

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A preliminary ATSB analysis of the site indicated the accident happened when the helicopter's main rotor blade struck and cut through a tree trunk multiple times before the aircraft hit the ground.

In a statement on Monday, a representative for Wright said "Matt strenuously denies any wrongdoing".

"What happened was a tragic accident that took the life of a close mate," the representative said.

"His immediate concern following the accident was the condition of the two team members on board at the time.

"The next priority was ensuring the other helicopters and team members at the site weren't at risk and that the location was safe."

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Outback Wrangler is an adventure TV series filmed in remote Top End locations that airs in Australia on Nine and Netflix and in more than 90 countries.

The show chronicles the capture and transport of dangerous animals that pose a threat to people, including crocodiles and buffalo.

NT police officer Neil Mellon and helicopter pilot Michael Burbidge have also been charged in relation to the crash.

Nine, the publisher of this website, operates the streaming service Stan. Both Outback Wrangler and Wild Croc Territory have previously aired on Nine.

– Reported with AAP.

Side effects for patients using bipolar and epilepsy medication are a sign that compromised batches are being distributed in Australia, University of NSW researchers have said.

Professor Gordon Parker said the study should act as a "canary in the coal mine" and prompt the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) to urgently investigate.

The study, published in Australasian Psychiatry, analysed six lamotrigine preparations distributed in Australia and two generic versions of the drug used by two patients reporting side effects.

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Lamotrigine is an anti-convulsant drug commonly used to treat people with bipolar and epilepsy.

While the analysis of the six preparations were comparable and showed no signs of compromising, the assays of the drugs taken by the two patients showed deviations in the lamotrigine concentration, researchers said.

"The findings are not suggesting that all generics are universally compromised. But our analyses do indicate some compromised lamotrigine medications are being distributed in Australia," Parker, the lead author of the study, said.

The two patients with bipolar disorder in the study reported bad reactions after taking a generic lamotrigine preparation.

The first developed spots, lumps and blisters following the switch to a generic brand on a low dosage.

The side effects reportedly ceased on return to the non-generic, even at an increased dosage.

READ MORE: TV star to face court over crash that killed mate

The other – who was not previously prescribed lamotrigine – developed breathing issues, chest pain, hot flushes, nausea and a worsening depression on a low dosage.

"It's not that one particular product is bad, but the generics they were taking seem to be associated with some reasonably toxic side effects, and the irregularities we found from the assays support a faulty batch explanation," Parker said.

The researchers believe the medication was probably compromised during manufacturing.

"It's possible that being transported to Australia, they might be exposed to excessive heat or cold and may break down," Parker said.

"But we suspect there are some manufacturing sites where the product is being compromised or contaminated after receiving TGA approval."

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In Australia, companies must show evidence of their medications' pharmacology, efficacy and safety before receiving approval from the TGA.

But pharmaceutical companies may not be aware of manufacturing quality control problems.

"The faulty batches likely reflect some on-site manufacturers having poor quality control processes, and the pharmaceutical companies may be quite unaware of what's going on with their manufacturers," Parker said.

According to the TGA, there were 114 adverse events reported for lamotrigine, including four deaths, between January 2018 and February 2021.

Despite this, Parker said the issue is still flying under Australia's radar.

"This should signal a possible canary in the coal mine phenomena that the TGA should be urgently looking into," Parker said.

A National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) will be established in Australia for the very first time after the government's legislation passed federal parliament.

Introducing a federal ICAC to tackle corruption was a core promise by Labor at the election earlier this year.

The bill was passed by the Senate on Tuesday night with several amendments, which were approved by the House of Representatives on Wednesday afternoon.

READ MORE: Historic censure motion against Scott Morrison passed by MPs

READ MORE: Helicopter crashes into house in Melbourne's south-east

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said the body will be established midway through next year.

"This is a historic day for our parliament, and the nation," they said in a statement.

"The government has already begun the search for Australia's first National Anti-Corruption Commissioner through a merit-based, transparent and robust recruitment process, adhering to the highest standards of integrity and accountability.

"With today's vote, we now look forward to the establishment of the National Anti-Corruption Commission in mid-2023."

READ MORE: TV star's bail extended over chopper crash that killed 'close mate'

https://twitter.com/AboutTheHouse/status/1597777604987486208

Greens leader Adam Bandt said on Tuesday the legislation had passed with two Greens amendments and came "after more than [a] decade of pushing for an anti-corruption watchdog".

"Now, the big work to clean up the corruption of the last government begins."

The Greens said the bill included amendments to give an inspector the ability to provide real-time auditing.

Other crossbench amendments, including to lower the bar to make NACC hearings public, were blocked.

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"This bill gives the NACC extremely broad powers to compel witnesses to answer questions and to force the production of documents, and with this comes the need for a fully empowered Inspector to be a check on any potential misuse of these powers," Greens Senator David Shoebridge said in a statement.

"The fact that many of the hearings of the NACC will be entirely private because of the exceptional circumstances test, means an empowered Inspector is particularly critical.

"In the absence of more transparent public hearings, witnesses who come before the NACC need to have access to an empowered Inspector if they have been improperly questioned or denied procedural fairness. These [amendments] give them that right."

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Crossbench MP Helen Haines welcomed the new legislation.

"What a huge win in the fight to improve standards and restore trust in politics," she tweeted.

"This is the result of years of work and I am so proud it is finally a reality."

Independent Senator David Pocock hailed the bill's passage as a "historic moment for Australian politics".

But he also criticised the major parties for coming together to block some of the crossbench amendments, such as explicitly including pork barrelling and removing the "exceptional circumstances" barrier to public hearings.

"The major parties just voted to allow former politicians to be the NACC Commissioner or Inspector," he said, on Twitter.

"The crossbench raised concerns about a former politician overseeing a body that is meant to investigate corruption, including corruption by politicians."

Watt defended the government's choice to maintain the "exceptional circumstances" requirement for public hearings.

"I accept that there are groups in the community that think that there should be public hearings in every instance," he said.

"I also accept, and I don't know whether the senators asking these questions accept it, that there are people who don't support that. And what we have tried to do is to strike a balance.

"I've already given the very good reasons why it is not wise to provide the commission with a default public hearing power but they do have the powers to go down that path if they choose, if they decide there are exceptional circumstances that warrant it."

The wife of a man killed in a Northern Territory helicopter crash has expressed her dismay that the Netflix show he features in has not been removed following his death, which his co-star is facing charges over.

Chris "Willow" Wilson was hanging from a helicopter on a sling to collect crocodile eggs when it crashed and he was killed in February this year.

Wilson is best known for his work in the series Wild Croc Territory, formerly known as Outback Wrangler, which chronicles the capture and transport of dangerous animals like crocodiles.

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The star of the program, Matt Wright, is among three people facing charges in relation to the crash. Wright, who describes Wilson as one of his "closest mates", has been accused of perverting the course of justice and destruction of evidence.

Wright was released on bail on Tuesday after he flew from Sydney and turned himself in to police. He strenuously denies any wrongdoing.

The latest season of Wild Croc Territory was released on Netflix after Wilson's death and his wife Danielle accused Netflix of "seriously lacking in any empathy or respect" for continuing to show the series.

"I have to date let the matter rest under the assumption that the series would cease being shown immediately if, or when, the Northern Territory Police indicated charges would be brought in relation to my husband's death and the subsequent alleged related actions of individuals who appear in the series," she said in an email sent to Netflix.

"I am extremely disappointed to read in the media that not only has this not occurred, but that Netflix are also refusing to comment on the future of the series at all.

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"It pains me greatly that the series is still being shown despite the serious allegations that have been made against an individual involved in the series.

"To that end, I would request that Netflix immediately cease showing, promoting or advertising the series from its programming schedule until such a time that all court proceeding in relation to the tragic death of my husband have been finalised."

9News.com.au has reached out to Netflix for a response to Wilson's statement.

Nine Entertainment Co (the publisher of this website) owns and operates the streaming service Stan. Both Outback Wrangler and Wild Croc Territory have previously aired on Nine.