The country’s longest-serving Mayor Tim Shadbolt has lost to Nobby Clark – as has NewstalkZB’s Marcus Lush.The result was announced just after 1.30pm today, officially ending the long reign of Sir Tim Shadbolt over the southern…

Businessman Wayne Brown is the new Mayor of Auckland after beating the Labour-endorsed candidate Efeso Collins.Progress results issued by Auckland Council show Brown collected 144,619 votes to Collins’ 89,811 – a margin of nearly…

A woman has died after a car veered off the road and slammed into her western Sydney home in the early hours of this morning.

Emergency services were called to the St Marys home around 5:20am after the driver lost control on Monfarville Street, striking one of the home owners.

The 50-year-old woman, one of four occupants inside the home, was treated by police and paramedics but died at the scene.

Roof racks were seen impaled on a tree outside the home.

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Police stopped a woman nearby after she allegedly ran from the scene with her baby.

The woman was arrested and taken to Nepean Hospital for mandatory testing.

Both were uninjured. 

READ MORE: Teen charged after boy dies in crash potentially linked to TikTok trend

Residents on the street said they were awoken by a loud "boom".

"No brakes, nothing. It was just, yeah, just a boom," one shaken witness told 9News. 

A crime scene has been established and police have began an investigation into what led to the crash.

Anyone who may have information, dashcam or CCTV is urged to contact Nepean police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

More to come…

Australia's largest video game convention is on in Melbourne this weekend, with 80,000 people expected to walk through the gates.

PAX Aus is back and in person for the first time since 2019, and it's not just a day for people to get hands-on with games and tech, it's also a day that sees communities from all over the country come together.

Showcases and panels by industry experts are open to those searching for something new or looking for inspiration, as well as thousands of Independent local game creators raring to show off their stuff.

And while the major gaming companies didn't have the most significant presence at the event, there was still plenty to enjoy. 

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Day One saw thousands of people flood the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, with colourful videogame-themed costumes and props. 

9News.com.au went along to check it all out. 

Gaming and panelists 

PlayStation's Shuhei Yoshida headlined the panelists for day one, with a storytime discussion on indie game development. 

https://twitter.com/yosp/status/1578188361197441024

Yoshida says this was his first time back in Australia in over 30 years and shared his passion for Indie games, including Melbourne's own Cult of the Lamb, which drew a stellar crowd at their booth near PAX Rising.

PAX Rising is the prime location for small studios and independent game developers to show off their work. 

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Many of the game studios on the PAX Rising show floor are from Melbourne, including Massive Monsters, Things For Humans, Catchweight Studio, DragonBear Studios and Piotr Rochala. 

The highly anticipated SEGA video game, Sonic Frontiers, had a hands-on exhibit, allowing gamers to get a good look at the game before it launches on November 8. 

While over at the Lenovo Legion booth gamers could get a sneak peek of horror game Alone in the Dark. Also at the Lenovo booth, a string quartette performed the Halo: Combat Evolved theme song live. 

Indie game publishers Devolver Digital had one of the comfiest setups in the main hall, allowing gamers to sit down on a couch with their friends to play many of their upcoming games, including Anger Foot and Gunbrella. 

Gaming giants Square Enix has an epic Final Fantasy Online display, with their team running Battle Challenges to defeat the Ifrit and Zodiark Trials. 

There's a beanbag heavy zone to rest your legs, and a stage area to see some hardcore gamers show off their speed running skills. 

Many other gaming industry professionals are holding talks, offering gaming advice and sharing stories, in various theatres across the expo.

Tech and exhibitors

It's not just video games, there was plenty of tech on show too.

ASUS ROG (Republic of Gamers) has a mega showcase on the main floor, where gamers and tech lovers can check out the brand's latest gaming laptops, like the ROG Zephyrus Duo, as well as other gaming accessories and merch. 

Wacom is showing off its latest tablet for digital design, they had character artist Pablo Munoz Gomez and concept designer and artist Simon Scales on hand to demonstrate the tech.

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HTC Vive has a virtual reality space set up to allow people to get a look at the latest VR technology. 

A retro arcade has been installed at the Aussie Broadband booth, while all the classic consoles can be found in, you guessed it, the Classic Gaming section of the expo. 

There was also an entire zone dedicated to Twitch streamers. 

Up the back of the main hall was a zone dedicated to card and tabletop games, with retailers loading up their booths with the latest in Magic the Gather, Pokemon TCG and Warhammer – just to name a few. 

There's no shortage of things to see at PAX Aus this year, it's running across the weekend with some tickets still available for Sunday. 

Ten youths have been charged in Queensland amid an investigation into a Goods and Services Tax (GST) fraud, which allegedly saw the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) defrauded of more than $1.8 million.

Detectives from Taskforce Uniform Knot executed multiple warrants over the last three weeks across properties spanning from Brisbane to Toowoomba.

Police allege the individuals arrested so far, aged between 18 and 22, were involved in a number of large-scale deceptions against both government agencies and financial institutions.

READ MORE: Woman dies after car slams into western Sydney home

The offenders are accused of inventing fake businesses and submitting fictitious Business Activity Statements in an attempt to gain a false GST refund.

A BMW coupe, cash, drugs, electronic equipment, crypto hardware wallets, identification and designer clothing were seized as the warrants were executed.

Detective Acting Superintendent Tim Leadbetter from the Organised Crime Gangs Group said the arrests are the culmination of a complicated and complex investigations conducted by detectives attached to Taskforce Knot.

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"This is an excellent example of investigators identifying offences and commencing immediate action to investigate and disrupt the crime.

"We believe the funds obtained are used to undertake further serious offending.

"The cost of offending is large and has a real impact on the economy and community, the results would not have been possible without the assistance provided by the Australian Taxation Office."

Two New York hospitals have agreed to pay more than $260 million to 147 former patients who have accused a former gynaecologist of sexual abuse and misconduct.

Columbia University Irving Medical Centre and New York-Presbyterian announced the agreement on Friday. Last year, the two hospitals reached a settlement to establish a $111 million compensation fund with 79 of Hadden’s former patients.

The doctor, Robert Hadden, surrendered his medical licence after being convicted in 2016 on sex-related charges in state court but was not sentenced to prison.

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He currently awaits trial on separate federal charges of sexually abusing dozens of young and unsuspecting female patients for over two decades.

The Englewood, New Jersey, resident has pleaded not guilty to six counts of inducing others to travel to engage in illegal sex acts. A message was left Friday with an attorney representing Hadden.

Prosecutors have described Hadden as a “predator in a white coat,” accusing him of singling out young and unsuspecting victims, including a young girl he had delivered at birth.

Among Hadden's accusers was Evelyn Yang, the wife of the former presidential candidate and New York City mayoral candidate Andrew Yang.

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She went public in 2020 with allegations that Hadden abused her when she was his patient in 2012.

In a statement issued on Friday, Columbia University Irving Medical Centre said, “We deeply regret the pain that Robert Hadden’s patients suffered and hope that these resolutions will provide some measure of support for the women he hurt. All those who came forward should be commended."

Four teenage boys have been charged after an alleged stabbing at an outer Melbourne train station this morning.

The group are accused of assaulting and stabbing an 18-year-old below the overpass on the Maroondah Highway at Lilydale station just after midnight.

Protective Service officers intervened, and the male victim was taken to hospital with "serious facial injuries".

READ MORE: Woman dies after car slams through Sydney home

The group fled the scene, but were arrested nearby. 

The boys, aged between 16 and 17, were charged with recklessly cause serious injury, intentionally cause injury and other assault related offences.

They will appear before a children's court at a later date.

A Texas police officer who shot and wounded a teenager who had been sitting in his car eating a hamburger has been fired, police said.

San Antonio Officer James Brennand was fired after shooting Erik Cantu, 17, on October 2 in a fast food restaurant parking lot, police training commander Alyssa Campos said in a video statement.

Brennand had responded to an unrelated disturbance at the fast-food restaurant when he saw the Cantu inside the car, which had evaded him a day earlier, Campos said.

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A Texas prosecutor said in a statement on Friday that he has not seen enough evidence to file charges against the teenager.

“While Sunday’s shooting of an unarmed teenager by a then-San Antonio Police officer remains under investigation, the facts and evidence we have received so far led us to reject the charges against Erik Cantu for further investigation," Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said.

Brennand, who had been on the force for less than one year, violated his training and police procedures after approaching the car, Campos said.

“The officer abruptly opened the driver’s door and ordered the driver out of the car” before the arrival of backup officers that Brennand had requested, Campos said.

Cantu, in the officer’s body camera video, looks toward Brennand while holding a hamburger, then backs the car away, striking the officer with the open door.

READ MORE: Police 'missed chances to stop Texas school shooting'

Brennand then opened fire several times as the door closed and Cantu drove away.

Cantu, who was struck by gunfire, stopped nearby where he and a passenger, who was not injured, were found by police.

“There is nothing I can say in defence of that officer’s actions that night,” Police Chief William McManus told WOAI-TV.

“I think what happened, initially, there was some contact made, but that did not justify the shooting.”

READ MORE: Video shows officers flee gunfire during Uvalde rampage

Cantu was hospitalised in stable condition and initially charged with evading police and aggravated assault.

Gonzales, the district attorney, said no decision had been made on whether to pursue charges against Brennand, pending the outcome of a police investigation into the shooting.

“As we do with all officer-involved shootings that result in death or serious injury, we will submit the case to a Grand Jury for their consideration. Until that happens, we can make no further comment on this matter,” Gonzales said.

Police and an attorney for Cantu did not immediately return phone calls for comment on Friday.

Uvalde’s school district suspended its entire police force amid fresh outrage over the hesitant law enforcement response to the gunman who massacred 21 people at Robb Elementary School.

The extraordinary move follows the revelation that the district hired a former state trooper who was among hundreds of officers who rushed to the scene of the May 24 shooting.

School leaders also put two members of the district police department on administrative leave, one of whom chose to retire instead, according to a statement released by the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District. Remaining officers will be reassigned to other jobs in the district.

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Uvalde school leaders' suspension of campus police operations one month into a new school year in the South Texas community underscores the sustained pressure that families of some of the 19 children and two teachers killed have kept on the district.

Brett Cross, the uncle of 10-year-old victim Uziyah Garcia, had been protesting outside the Uvalde school administration building for the past two weeks, demanding accountability over officers allowing a gunman with an AR-15-style rifle to remain in a fourth-grade classroom for more than 70 minutes.

Uvalde families have said students in the district are not safe so long as officers who waited so long to confront and kill the gunman remain on the job.

“We did it!” Cross tweeted.

The Uvalde school district had five campus police officers on the scene of the shooting, according to a damning report from Texas lawmakers that laid out multiple breakdowns in the response. A total of nearly 400 officers responded, including school district police, the city’s police, county sheriff’s deputies, state police and U.S. Border Patrol agents, among others.

READ MORE: Video shows officers flee gunfire during Uvalde rampage

The fallout is the first in Uvalde’s school police force since the district fired former police Chief Pete Arredondo in August. He remains the only officer to have been fired from his job following one of the deadliest classroom attacks in U.S. history.

The district said it would ask the Texas Department of Public Safety, which had already assigned dozens of troopers to the district for the school year, for additional help. Spokespersons for the agency did not immediately return messages seeking comment Friday.

“We are confident that staff and student safety will not be compromised during this transition,” the district said in a statement.

The statement did not specify how long campus police operations would remain suspended.

The former DPS trooper who was hired by the district was among at least seven troopers later placed under internal investigation for her actions at Robb Elementary.

Officer Crimson Elizondo was fired Thursday, one day after CNN first reported her hiring. She has not responded to messages left by The Associated Press.

Steve McCraw, the head of the Department of Public Safety, has called the law enforcement response to the shooting an “abject failure.” McCraw has also come under pressure as the leader of a department had more than 90 troopers on the scene but still has the support of Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

On Thursday, after Elizondo was fired, Abbott called it a “poor decision” for the school to hire the former trooper and that it was up to the district to “own up to it.”

READ MORE: Police 'missed chances to stop Texas school shooting'

The Ocean Photographer of the Year contest aims to shine a light on the beauty of the ocean and the
threats it faces. This year's winners entered striking shots from brave surfers, to stricken turtles and playful whales.