Canadian photographer Noah Bouwman had only been in New Zealand for a matter of hours when $15,000 worth of his camera gear was stolen from the bus he was on, he says.Now, the company operating InterCity has apologised for his experience…
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Fighting for Rotorua: Corrections says Wera Aotearoa Charitable Trust failed to properly declare conflict of interest over Rotorua home ownership
A Rotorua social services provider that looks after the homeless and released prisoners failed to correctly declare it was paying its top management for a rental property, the Department of Corrections says.The property in Rotorua’s…
Demand for food support expected to increase over school holidays
Tauranga services that provide food to struggling families are bracing for a surge in demand this summer as free school meal programmes close down for the holidays.Tauranga Community Foodbank manager Nicki Goodwin said school holidays…
Three best mates from Far North get big chance with the Blues
Three musketeers may not pique much interest outside of Kaitaia and surrounds but if their rugby trajectory and spoils are anything to go by, it won’t be long before the trio sets the stage alight at a much higher level.Izaiah Dunmore,…
Man claims he was still driving when slapped with parking fine
An Adelaide grandfather has been slapped with a hefty parking fine while he says he was still driving his car.
Bob said he was merging into a queue of traffic during school pick-up when the parking inspector pounced.
The grandfather said when the $75 fine arrived in his letterbox he "couldn't believe it".
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An inspector snapped a photo of Bob's car on Highbury Street, Prospect on November 1.
Bob said he was still driving but temporarily at a standstill while waiting for cars in front to keep creeping forward towards the gates of his grandchildren's primary school.
"Parking, from my point of view at least, would be turn the car off, lock it up and walk away," he said.
"Not sitting in the car with the engine running."
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The street is renowned for its traffic woes, with two lines of cars often banking up and blocking the road.
Bob was pulled up in a zone specifically sign posted for passenger loading.
He said he was following the rules and the fine was "nothing more than a money grab".
"When you're in retirement, you've got limited budget," he said.
"It does put a strain on finances."
Prospect Council said it had issued 12 fines on Highbury Street since the start of the month for offences including double parking and stopping on or across a driveway.
Bob appealed the decision but was unsuccessful.
Forbes family and their two dogs winched to safety
Residents in the Forbes CBD have begun evacuating the area by boat as the New South Wales town faces a worsening flooding disaster.
Forbes is enduring its second flood emergency in two weeks, with water from the Lachlan River still rising in the Central West town.
The State Emergency Service (SES) has upgraded their order in the Forbes CBD to "shelter now", meaning everyone must leave that part of the town.
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The peak is predicted to hit Forbes tomorrow morning and floodwaters are not expected to recede until the weekend.
Forbes resident Jess told 9News it was a "big shock", as the water level had risen higher than she thought it would.
"You just feel a bit empty… but we will be able to fix it up and be able to help out some people who need more help than we do," she said.
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Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles visited the State Emergency Service headquarters in Forbes as defence personnel packed hundreds of thousands of sandbags for the town.
Earlier, a family huddling in the dark on an outdoor table, surrounded by murky water, were among those rescued.
Families were urged to evacuate, but the quickly rising waters trapped many, including a family and their two dogs who were cut off from rescue by boat or car.
Footage of the rescue, among 17 performed by NSW SES last night, showed the 84-year-old, 78-year-old and their adult daughter being winched with their two dogs.
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The Lachlan River is currently sitting at 10.7 metres, but Forbes residents are bracing for water levels to the expected peak of 10.8 today as the Wyangala dam continues to spill over.
Forbes mayor Phyllis Miller described the situation as a "waiting game", noting that many people who had started repairs on their home from the last event were now being hit again.
"The water comes down from Wyangala and we just sit and wait to be washed off the map," Miller said yesterday.
"I have spoken to a few personally and it's tough on them… they had the big driers in (their homes) and they were looking forward to being able to move back in but of course that's not going to happen again."
There are currently 25 emergency warnings in place for the Central West region.
The flooding event, also impacting nearby Eugowra, has turned deadly, with the body of a woman found today.
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It's believed to be missing Dianne Smith who was last heard from on Monday morning when she called a relative from her car.
A search is continuing for Ljubisa 'Les' Vugec, 85, who was last seen at a home in Eugowra on Monday morning.
LifeFlight have been evacuating people to a nearby evacuation centre in Parkes.
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The LifeFlight helicopter crew members have rescued 22 people and 16 pets from the central west this week.
The SES rescued another 14 people from a pub last night.
"They were staying at the Plainsmans Hotel which became inundated by waters," an SES statement read.
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Two people were also rescued from the roof of their submerged vehicle in Condobolin, northeast of Forbes.
There are 25 emergency warnings for the Central West region.
Developments are fast-moving and NSW residents can check the most up-to-date warnings at the SES website.
If the Lachlan River reaches the expected peak today, it will break the previous 1952 record.
Rinehart spotted at Trump 2024 presidential bid announcement
Australian mining billionaire Gina Rinehart has been spotted in the crowd at Donald Trump's 2024 presidential announcement.
Australia's richest person didn't appear to be in the cheap seats, instead snapped in the background of a selfie Trump's son Eric posted on Instagram with his wife, Lara.
Trump announced his third presidential bid on Tuesday night (Wednesday afternoon AEDT) in the ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago country club in Florida.
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https://www.instagram.com/p/ClAhYh3OSyo/?hl=en
"Two years ago, we were a great nation," Trump said, flanked by more than 30 American flags and banners that read "Make America Great Again".
"The decline of America is being forced on us."
Rinehart has yet to make any public comments about her attendance at the event.
She has previously expressed support for Trump's policies, dating back to his election in 2016.
In a speech to the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) in September that year, she urged Australia to follow Trump's lead in cutting red tape and company taxes.
"We need to let our government know this would be good for Australians too," she said, according to The Australian.
"Unfortunately for Australia, government regulation and red tape is one of our biggest industries and it is growing.''
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She also attended a White House state dinner in September 2019, praising a "very important" rare earth materials extraction agreement between Trump and then-prime minister Scott Morrison, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
Trump made history as the first president to be impeached twice and whose term ended with his supporters violently storming the Capitol in a deadly bid to halt the peaceful transition of power on January 6, 2021.
His 2024 bid announcement came on the back of a lacklustre midterms showing for Republicans, who failed to win back the Senate and were on the cusp of sealing just a narrow win in the House despite predictions of a red wave.
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Many party members and commentators have highlighted the failure of some of Trump's high-profile picks, such as Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania and Kari Lake in Arizona.
At the same time, Republicans were praising Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who was gathering support as a possible 2024 candidate.
Woman guilty of murdering friend with frying pan after dinner
A middle-aged woman has been found guilty of murdering her retired friend with a frying pan after cooking him dinner.
Peter McCarthy was found bludgeoned to death on the floor of his South Coogee flat on December 20, 2020, surrounded by broken furniture and glass.
A bent frying pan, with its handle broken off, was found next to the body.
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Narelle Fiona Smith offered several excuses about what had occurred and denied any physical conflict.
But her accounts were rejected today by a NSW Supreme Court jury that found she'd murdered the retired solicitor after dinner on December 17.
Submissions on sentence will begin on February 3.
DNA evidence and fingerprints matching McCarthy and Smith's profiles had been on objects throughout the unit, including the blue tarp partly covering his legs.
Smith, who pleaded not guilty to murder, initially told police she "didn't really know him".
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Then, the parolee told police the pair met up and drank together after the elderly man had wished her a happy 46th birthday by text message.
In his flat, she helped McCarthy with chores, cooked a potato bake for dinner and listened to him detail minor dramas with local women before she left about 8pm, she said.
Smith told police her blood might be found in the unit as she cut herself with a screwdriver while fixing McCarthy's deadlock.
The offender also claimed she'd helped him to get all an ex-lover's belongings out of his unit "as he wasn't able to cope with her backlash".
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Smith had always "categorically and vehemently" denied murdering her friend, pointing the finger at the ex-lover who had a key to his flat, her lawyer said.
But crown prosecutor Katharine Jeffreys suggested jurors would have no doubt that "the inevitable conclusion" was Smith killed McCarthy.
"She is inconsistent on how well she knew the deceased, there was no evidence of a break-in, there's no forensic evidence in any relevant locations of an unknown individual," Jeffreys said.
During the trial, McCarthy's ex-wife admitted her relationship with him had become strained because of his drinking habit and "fondness for the ladies".
But said they had still kept in touch, including to organise Christmas gatherings each year.
She found his battered body when he didn't respond to messages.
While Smith denied liability, a person known by her used McCarthy's ATM cards after the murder and Smith herself used his Opal card to travel around Sydney in the days after the homicide.
Man caught taking selfie with oncoming traffic on Sydney motorway
Authorities are concerned about a rise in pedestrians doing "risky" things on motorways across Sydney.
A woman was seen pushing a trolley with groceries on the M4 at Homebush, while a man went for a jog and was spotted taking selfies with oncoming cars on the M8 at St Peters.
Incident response coordinator at Transurban Andrew Szeles said it was very risky and dangerous.
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"It's not a joke… not only are they risking their own life, but they're risking ours as well," Szeles said.
"Over the past 12 months, we have seen a 40 per cent increase in pedestrian incidents… it's very concerning to us."
Transurban uses more than 1600 cameras to monitor its Sydney network over 24 hours each day so if there's an incident on a motorway, crews can respond within minutes.
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They are urging people to stay off motorways before a major crash is caused.
Those caught will receive an $81 fine.
Medibank customers receive confirmation of details stolen in hack
Medibank customers affected by last month's devastating cyberattack have begun receiving confirmation from the health insurance giant what of their details have been stolen.
Australia's largest health insurer has sent out emails detailing to customers both what of their personal information has been stolen and what has not been compromised.
On Wednesday morning at the company's AGM, Medibank CEO David Koczkar said 480,000 customers were being reached out to.
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"Today we will begin communicating with around 480,000 customers whose health data we believe has been stolen," Koczkar said.
"We commenced this as soon as this data was verified by our team."
The CEO was resolute that Medibank would never pay a ransom to the hackers.
"We're deeply sorry to inform you that some data relating to your membership has been stolen in the recent cybercrime event," an email sent to a customer seen by 9News.com.au reads.
"This email details what specific membership data was stolen, outlines actions you can take safeguard you online identity, and the services available through our cyber response support program."
The email lists which details have been stolen followed by a list of the information Medibank "believes the criminal has not stolen".
It goes on to outline information about accessing a cyber support community service, as well as some extra precautions customers can take, before confirming data has been posted onto the dark web.
"We believe data that was stolen has been released by the criminal on the 'dark web'," the email reads.
"The dark web is a closed online network, often accessed for criminal purposes.
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"We strongly advise all affected customers to take the precautions outlined to safeguard their online identity.
"We recognise the distress this may cause you and we apologise."
Medibank has confirmed about 900 customers have had their details published online since the hacker began releasing data on November 9.
"The files released by the criminal includes an excel spreadsheet of around 900 current and former employees – including their name, email address, their mobile phone numbers and the device information including the asset number and phone name (serial number and IMEI number)," a Medibank spokesperson said.
"While security experts have told us that the security risk is low, the information could be used for increased spam such as spear fishing."
The Australian Federal Police said last week the hackers believed to be responsible for the hack are based in Russia.
A joint taskforce of 100 officers from the ADF and AFP has been formed to track down the hackers.