The Tribesmen and Killer Beez have joined forces in a show of unity to honour one of Ōtara’s “original gangsters” who died this week.The rival gangs had a deeply personal feud which led to a three-week blitz of at least 23…

The threat of nuclear 'armageddon is at its highest since the Cuban Missile Crisis, US President Joe Biden has said.

Biden made the remarks at a Democratic Party fundraiser and they came amid Russian officials speaking of the possibility of using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the invasion of Ukraine.

"We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban missile crisis," he said.

READ MORE: Kremlin-appointed official slams ministers over flagging war effort

"First time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have the direct threat of a nuclear weapon if in fact things continue down the path they are going."

Putin is "not joking" when he talks about potential use of tactical nuclear weapons, the US president said.

Biden said the use of nuclear weapons by Russia was more likely because of their flailing invasion of Ukraine.

"I don't think there is any such a thing as the ability to easily use a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon," Biden said.

He said he was trying to find a "off-ramp" for Putin's situation.

The fundraiser is being held at the New York home of James Murdoch, the son of Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

READ MORE: Ukraine president praises Australia for sending heavy weapons

The 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis is generally considered the closest the USA and the Soviet Union got to all-out war.

The tensions between the two superpowers were brought to a head when it was discovered the Russians had placed nuclear warheads in Cuba.

The US launched what they described as a "quarantine" of Cuba to prevent any more armaments arriving in the Caribbean island.

The crisis was resolved when the Soviets agreed to remove the missiles in exchange for a pledge that the US would never invade Cuba.

At the time, Biden himself was 20 years old.

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A well-to-do civil engineer from Sydney's eastern suburbs allegedly gave police a detailed account of killing his wife as they arrested him, a court has been told.

Steven Hastings Barker, 74, is accused of murdering his wife Christine Barker at their Bronte home on Thursday night.

Christine Barker, also 74, was found by police with critical injuries outside the home on Bronte Road about 6pm.

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Police and paramedics treated her, but she died a short time later in hospital.

Her husband was arrested at the scene and taken to Waverley Police Station, where he was charged with murder.

The property in the beachside suburb remained cordoned off the morning after the death, with numerous detectives and uniformed officers at the scene.

Barker was refused bail by a Waverley magistrate on Friday after police prosecutor Sergeant Nicole McMahon said the evidence against the accused murderer was overwhelming.

READ MORE: Biden raises spectre of nuclear 'Armageddon' threat

As forensic and crime scene evidence was analysed, the case against him was only likely to strengthen, she said.

If convicted, the engineer faces life in prison.

Barker's admissions to killing his wife were captured on the body-worn cameras of officers who arrived at the home, McMahon said.

The alleged murder occurred in front of a child who had been inside the home, she said.

Defence lawyer Matthew Bogunovich said his client was not an unacceptable risk to the community or fleeing the state.

Barker had no criminal record, a long employment history and had only been overseas three times despite his considerable means, the court was told.

Thursday's alleged murder occurred after an unravelling in the Barkers' long marriage and the accused killer did not pose a threat to the wider community, Bogunovich said.

Prison would likely be tough for Barker as a first-time offender, but on the balance of the serious charges against him and the strength of evidence against him, there was not enough reason to grant him release, magistrate Clare Farnan said.

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Barker dropped his head into his chest as his bail request was denied.

A small group of supporters went to Waverley Local Court on Friday but declined to speak with media.

Barker will appear at the court again on December 7.

If you or anyone you know is in need or crisis please call the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) or Lifeline 131 11 14.

Fisheries crews have freed a mother whale and her calf after the pair became entangled in a shark net off the Sunshine Coast.

This morning's rescue marks the latest in a string of whale entanglements in Queensland's nets during the current migration season.

Onlookers reported the whale and calf had been caught in the netting off Wurtulla since 5am today, according to animal rights group Sea Shepherd Australia.

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Humpback whales migrate south toward Antarctica around this time of year.

A number of whales have been caught in shark nets recently, including a calf on the Gold Coast last week and a humpback off Noosa the week before.

There have been calls for the removal of shark nets up and down the east coast of Australia as they were put back in the water ahead of swimming season.

Queensland's Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said earlier the nets would not be removed until it was deemed safe to do so.

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"We will make no changes unless we are convinced they can be safe and appropriate in Queensland conditions," Furner said.

Data was published recently about the number of endangered and non-target marine life caught and killed in shark nets.

A report on the 2021-2022 season found 325 of the 376 animals caught in NSW were non-targeted, critically endangered species, including turtles, dolphins and whales.

The mayor of Australia's most famous beach has called for shark nets to be removed from Bondi as they create "a false sense of safety".

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"(They) are only 150m long, six metres high and set at a depth of about 10m. They're not there to actually create a barrier between swimmers and sharks, but they sort of help disrupt some of the swimming patterns," Waverley mayor Paula Masselo said.

"Australia has a global responsibility to protect vulnerable, endangered and critically endangered species," Sea Shepherd Australia's Managing Director Jeff Hansen said.

A senior Kremlin-appointed official in Ukraine has blamed Russian military setbacks on incompetent and corrupt senior commanders and even urged the defence minister to consider suicide over his performance.

In a searing four-minute video posted to the encrypted messaging application Telegram, Kirill Stremousov, the Moscow-installed deputy leader of Ukraine's Kherson region, largely occupied by Russia, blamed military losses in his jurisdiction on "incompetent commanders" who have not been held accountable for their mistakes.

Stremousov said the conduct of Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was so poor that any real officer would kill himself, news agency Reuters reports.

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"Indeed many people say that if they were the Minister of Defence, who brought things to this state of affairs, they would shoot themselves, if they were real officers."

"But the word officer is incomprehensible to many."

Stremousov's comments come as Kyiv is successfully pushing ahead in its campaign to retake parts of southern and eastern Ukraine that Russia captured in the initial weeks of the war.

Pro-Russian propagandists and military analysts have blamed the string of losses on what they see as mistakes by the Russian military, but few Russian-installed officials on Ukrainian soil have so publicly skewered Moscow's flailing war effort.

Stremousov alleged that a "small number" of what he called "corrupt marauders and other miscellaneous riffraff" were responsible for "gaps" on the battlefield. He singled out Shoigu, saying he "allowed this situation to happen."

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Shoigu is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russian leader turned 70 years old on Friday but has little to celebrate as the seven-month-old conflict drags on.

Members of Russia's parliament and regional officials have begun to level criticisms at the Russian military, alleging that not enough troops were deployed to hold the parts of eastern and southern Ukraine that Russian forces captured in the initial weeks of the conflict.

Colonel-General Andrei Kartapolov, the head of Russia's State Duma Defence Committee, said officials need to "stop lying" about developments on the ground.

READ MORE: Vladimir Putin's inner circle: The men behind Russia's war in Ukraine

"People know. Our people are not stupid," Kartapolov said in an interview with a Russian journalist.

The leader of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, criticised Russia's withdrawal on Saturday from the strategic eastern city of Lyman in the region of Donetsk. Kadyrov, a key ally of Putin, said Russian troops "were not provided with the necessary communication, interaction and the supply of ammunition."

Kherson and Donetsk are two of the four regions Russia is planning to annex in violation of international law. Donetsk and Luhansk are both in eastern Ukraine, and fighting against Moscow-backed breakaway republics in each region has been raging since 2014.

Kherson and Zaporizhzhia are in southern Ukraine and have been occupied by Russian forces since shortly after the invasion began in late February.

Ukraine's military has made significant gains in Kherson in the past week, liberating more than 400sq/km in an unspecified time frame, a Ukrainian military spokeswoman said.

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Every week we will break down, debunk and demystify your rights as a shopper in Australia. This week we are looking at a curious supermarket practice where scanning errors could see customers receiving items for free.

We all know life is getting more expensive than ever before, and how important it is to stretch every dollar you make.

That's why each week we'll answer a question surrounding what shoppers are – and aren't – entitled to when dealing with retailers and manufacturers.

MONEY MATTERS: Does a shop have to honour a price set by mistake?

Is the supermarket scanner myth an urban legend?

Hi Stu,

I was at a dinner party recently and one of my friends was claiming that he received a packet of chips for free because when he scanned it at the self-serve, it came up for a price that was higher than what it said on the shelf.

We all thought this was an urban legend. Surely the supermarket would sell it at the lower advertised price rather than give it away for free?

Have you ever heard of this?

Believe it or not, this is actually a real phenomenon – but it has less to do with consumer law and more to do with major supermarkets keeping customers happy.

In grocery land there is something called a "Scanning Code of Practice", which is a voluntary code that Woolworths, Coles and Aldi have all signed up to.

(Some IGAs have signed up to the code, some haven't, given the independent nature of those supermarkets.)

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The code details in general terms that if a scanner malfunctions product scans at a higher price than what is advertised, it is free.

The whole idea of having the code is a throwback to the introduction of digital scanners, and was brought in to encourage the public's trust that the machines were reading the correct prices.

Coles calls this their "Promise on Price Scanning", and says they do this to "ensure confidence in the pricing accuracy at our registers".

"If a single item scans at a higher price than the advertised or ticketed shelf price for that item, we will give you that item free," the supermarket states on its website.

MONEY MATTERS: Is it legal for shops to offer discounts for cash?

Aldi is similar, noting that only the first incorrectly-scanned product is free.

"If a regular product scans at a price higher than that displayed, you are entitled to receive the first item free. All subsequent items will be charged at the lower price," it says on its website.

"If a Special Buys product scans at a price higher than the price displayed, Aldi will refund the difference between the scanned price and ticketed price."

Woolworths shares fewer details on its policy, but like Coles it does let customers know that the policy does not apply if there has been a user error (rather than a scanner error) – such as an employee putting the wrong product code on an item.

"The Scanning Code of Practice doesn't apply to an error in unit pricing that's recorded on a shelf label," Woolworths says.

MONEY MATTERS: Can a business refuse legal tender in Australia?

There are some limitations to the code of practice too.

Both Coles and Woolworths stipulate that the "freebie" policy doesn't apply to liquor and tobacco products, items with a shelf price of $50 or higher, or where an operator error has occurred, for instance the wrong unit number has been keyed in or the wrong product is identified by the checkout operator.

Given that today's supermarket scanners are far more accurate than any human, I think it would be pretty rare to take advantage of this policy.

Do you have a consumer question you want answered? You can get in touch with reporter Stuart Marsh at sm****@******om.au.

The information provided on this website is general in nature only and does not constitute personal financial or legal advice. The information has been prepared without taking into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on any information on this website you should consider the appropriateness of the information having regard to your objectives, financial situation and needs.

South Korea says North Korea has flown 12 warplanes near their mutual border, prompting South Korea to launch 30 military planes in response.

The highly unusual incident on Thursday came hours after North Korea fired two ballistic missiles into the sea in its sixth round of missile tests in less than two weeks.

Eight North Korean fighter jets and four bombers flew in formation and were believed to have conducted air-to-surface firing drills, South Korea's military said.

READ MORE: More than 30 killed, mostly kids, in shooting at Thailand childcare centre

The military said South Korea responded by scrambling 30 fighter jets and other warplanes, though they didn't engage in any clash with the North Korean aircraft. It refused to provide further details, including how close to the border the North Korean planes flew.

Tensions have risen sharply on the Korean Peninsula as North Korea's recent barrage of missile tests prompted South Korea, the United States and Japan to conduct joint drills in response.

Earlier Thursday, North Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles toward its eastern waters. The launches came after the United States redeployed an aircraft carrier near the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea's launch of a nuclear-capable missile over Japan.

North Korea has conducted a record number of missile tests this year. South Korean officials said the North may further raise tensions by testing an intercontinental ballistic missile or conducting its first nuclear test explosion since 2017, following an old pattern of heightening tensions before trying to wrest concessions.

Some experts say North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is determined to continue with weapons tests aimed at boosting his nuclear arsenal in defiance of international sanctions. They say North Korea's goal is to eventually win recognition as a legitimate nuclear state from the United States and the lifting of sanctions, though the United States and its allies have shown no sign of doing so.

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The latest missiles were launched 22 minutes apart from North Korea's capital region and landed between the Korean Peninsula and Japan, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.

The first missile flew 350 kilometres and reached a maximum altitude of 80 kilometres and the second flew 800 kilometres with an apogee of 60 kilometres.

The flight details were similar to Japanese assessments announced by Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada, who confirmed that the missiles didn't reach Japan's exclusive economic zone.

He added that the second missile was possibly launched on an "irregular" trajectory. It is a term that has been used to describe the flight characteristics of a North Korean weapon modelled after Russia's Iskander missile, which travels at low altitudes and is designed to be manoeuvrable in flight to improve its chances of evading missile defences.

US, South Korean and Japanese destroyers launched joint drills later on Thursday off the Korean Peninsula's east coast to hone their abilities to search, track and intercept North Korean ballistic missiles, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said.

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The US destroyer is part of the strike group led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, which returned to the waters in what South Korea's military called an attempt to demonstrate the allies' "firm will" to counter the North's continued provocations and threats.

The strike group was in the area last week as part of previous drills between South Korea and the United States, and the allies' other training involving Japan. North Korea considers such US-led drills near the peninsula as an invasion rehearsal and views training involving a US carrier as more provocative.

South Korea's military said it had also boosted its surveillance posture and maintained readiness in close coordination with the United States.

The US Indo Pacific Command said the launches didn't pose an immediate threat to the United States or its allies, but still highlighted the "destabilising impact" of North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida spoke by phone on Thursday and agreed that North Korea's recent missile tests are "a serious, grave provocation" that threatens international peace, according to Yoon's office. Kishida earlier said the North's continued launches are "absolutely intolerable".

Moon Hong Sik, a South Korean Defence Ministry spokesperson, said North Korea's accelerating tests also reflect an urgency to meet Kim Jong-un's arms development goals.

Kim last year described an extensive wish list of advanced nuclear weapons systems, including more powerful ICBMs, multi-warhead missiles, underwater-launched nuclear missiles and tactical nuclear arms.

On Tuesday, North Korea staged its most provocative weapons demonstration since 2017, firing an intermediate-range missile over Japan, forcing the Japanese government to issue evacuation alerts and halt trains.

Experts said the weapon was likely a Hwasong-12 missile capable of reaching the US Pacific territory of Guam and beyond.

Other weapons tested in recent days included Iskander-like missiles and other ballistic weapons designed to strike key targets in South Korea, including US military bases there.

North Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday that the redeployment of the Reagan strike group poses "a serious threat to the stability of the situation on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity".

"The ministry said it strongly condemns US-led efforts at the UN Security Council to tighten sanctions on the North over its recent missile testing, which it described as a "just counteraction" to joint US-South Korean drills.

After the North's intermediate-range missile launch, the United States and South Korea also carried out their own live-fire drills that have so far involved land-to-land ballistic missiles and precision-guided bombs dropped from fighter jets.

But one of the tit-for-tat launches nearly caused catastrophe early Wednesday when a malfunctioning South Korean Hyumoo-2 missile flipped shortly after liftoff and crashed into the ground at an air force base in the eastern coastal city of Gangneung. South Korea's military said no one was hurt.

After Tuesday's North Korean launch, the United States, Britain, France, Albania, Norway and Ireland called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. But the session Wednesday ended with no consensus, underscoring a divide among the council's permanent members that has deepened over Russia's war on Ukraine.

Russia and China during the meeting insisted to fellow Security Council members that US-led military exercises in the region had provoked North Korea into acting.

AFL great Wayne Carey will not face charges over an incident which involved him dropping a bag of white power at Crown Perth last month.

WA Police confirmed today that their investigation had been finalised and no criminal charges had been laid.

The 51-year-old was reportedly banned from all Crown venues for two years after dropping the bag of powder he claimed was crushed up pain killers on September 1.

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Carey was escorted from the casino after the incident, but police were not called until days later.

The former AFL player has maintained the white powder was not illegal and said it was crushed up anti-inflammatory drugs.

"What I will say is that nothing illegal has occurred here… I am disappointed," Carey previously told 9News Melbourne.

Carey previously told The Age that he offered the substance to security, but they "didn't take it".

"They just said it's not a great look, I understood that, and we left without incident."

Crown Resorts chief executive Ciaran Carruthers has publicly disputed Carey's version of events.

Carruthers told 6PR that some of the statements made by Carey directly contradicted the statements made by Crown team members.

"My understanding is that they didn't know that it was Carey that was at the table. It was a customer that was buying in for chips at the time," he said.

"(Staff) noticed the packet fall out along with the notes and they advised their gaming manager.

Carruthers said the one "miss in the procedure" was that staff didn't call police.

"The one mistake was that the authorities should have been notified straight away," he said.

"That process has been changed, effective immediately. That change has already happened following a full review."

Last month, lawyers for Carey said they would assess whether he was unlawfully discriminated against.

More than 30 people, mostly children, have been killed when a gunman opened fire in a childcare centre in northeastern Thailand, authorities said.

Police Major General Achayon Kraithong said the shooting occurred early in the afternoon on Thursday in the centre in the town of Nongbua Lamphu.

He said the attacker killed 30 people before taking his own life. He had no more details.

A spokesperson for a regional public affairs office said 26 deaths have been confirmed so far — 23 children, two teachers and one police officer.

According to Thai media reports, the gunman also used knives in the attack and then fled the building.

Photographs showed at least two bodies on the floor of the centre covered in white sheets.

Several media outlets identified the assailant as a former police lieutenant colonel from the region but there was no immediate official confirmation.

The Daily News newspaper reported that after fleeing the scene of the attack the assailant returned to his home and killed himself along with his wife and child.

A statement from the prime minister's office said the shooting took place at the Child Development Centre in Uthaisawan Na Klang district, Nong Bua Lamphu province.

"The prime minister has expressed his condolences on the shooting incident which resulted in 30 deaths," the statement read.

Gun ownership in Thailand is relatively high compared with other countries in South-East Asia.

Mass shootings in the country are rare but a 2020 incident saw a soldier kill 29 people in a shooting spree that began at a military site and then sent shoppers hunting for cover after the gunman entered a mall.

More to come

A gyrocopter has crashed while trying to alert a surfer to a shark circling nearby off the coast of New South Wales.

Bill Ballard knew he was surfing with dolphins but had no idea of the shark in the water at Wallagoot beach, south of Tathra.

That's until a gyrocopter started circling above him and he noticed the passengers pointing it out.

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"The third loop around I could see them pointing," Ballard told 9News.

"They were pointing at this large black shadow that was close to me."

As Ballard paddled to the safety of shore, there was an unexpected turn of events – the gyrocopter crashed into the shallows.

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"A light helicopter just crashed, it tried to warn me about a shark swimming around me. Can you f—ing believe this holy s—," Ballard said in the video.

The couple were luckily uninjured and Ballard had captured the aftermath on film, which he posted online.

"It was like we were in a movie," Ballard said.

"(It) started off with me having a nice surf with few dolphins to be potentially attacked by a shark and then an aircraft crashing on a beach."

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