Tag Archives: oceania

Driver assisting police after woman's body found on roadside

A driver is assisting police after the body of a 47-year-old woman was found on the side of a Queensland road.

The woman was discovered just before 8am on Saturday on the side of Four AK Road in Oakey, near Toowoomba.

READ MORE: Australia's attorneys-general to ramp up action on coercive control

Police said a member of the public contacted them.

Police said a member of the public contacted them.

Officers subsequently located a vehicle that was in the area at the time.

Investigations are ongoing.

Anyone with information can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

FBI seized 'top secret' documents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago home

The search warrant for Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home shows the FBI recovered 11 sets of classified documents from its search earlier this week, including some materials marked as "top secret/SCI" – one of the highest levels of classification, according to documents from the search warrant that were released Friday.

The search warrant identifies three federal crimes that the Justice Department is looking at as part of its investigation: violations of the Espionage Act, obstruction of justice and criminal handling of government records, according to The New York Times.

The inclusion of the crimes indicates the Justice Department has probable cause to investigate those offences as it was gathering evidence in the search.

READ MORE: Author Salman Rushdie attacked on lecture stage in New York

Former President Donald Trump departs Trump Tower, Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2022, in New York, on his way to the New York attorney general's office for a deposition in a civil investigation. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

No one has been charged with a crime at this time.

Federal agents seized just one set of "top secret/SCI" documents, according to the search warrant receipt.

Agents took four sets of "top secret" documents, three sets of "secret" documents, and three sets of "confidential" documents.

The warrant receipt didn't detail what these classified documents were about.

In total, the unsealed warrant shows the FBI collected more than 20 boxes, as well as binders of photos, sets of classified government materials and at least one handwritten note.

The warrant, which has been unsealed and released publicly following a federal judge's order on Friday, was obtained by CNN ahead of its release.

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The entrance to former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate is shown, Monday, Aug. 8, 2022, in Palm Beach, Fla. Trump said in a lengthy statement that the FBI was conducting a search of his Mar-a-Lago estate and asserted that agents had broken open a safe. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

The moment marks an unprecedented week that began with the search – an evidence-gathering step in a national security investigation about the mishandling of classified documents.

Among the items taken from Trump's resort was a document about pardoning Roger Stone, a staunch Trump ally who was convicted in 2019 of lying to Congress during its probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Trump pardoned Stone before leaving office, shielding Stone from a three-year prison term.

It's unclear how the Stone-related document seized during the search is tied to the broader criminal probe into Trump's potential mishandling of classified materials.

During the search, FBI agents also recovered material about the "President of France," according to the warrant receipt.

The FBI search at the resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday was followed by days of silence from the Justice Department, as is the department's normal practice for ongoing investigations.

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The notice filed by the Justice Department to the U.S. District Court South District of Florida informing the judge that lawyers for former President Donald Trump did not object to the government's motion to unseal the search warrant for Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, is photographed Friday, Aug. 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)

Then on Thursday, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the department had moved to unseal the search warrant and two attachments, including an inventory list, but also stressed that some of the department's work must happen outside of public view.

"We do that to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans and to protect the integrity of our investigations," Garland said while explaining that he would not provide more detail about the basis of the search.

Trump said in a late-night post on his Truth Social platform Thursday that he would "not oppose the release of documents," adding: "I am going a step further by ENCOURAGING the immediate release of those documents."

The court had instructed the Justice Department to confer with Trump about its request to unseal the warrant documents from the FBI search and to tell the court by 3pm ET Friday (5am Saturday) if he opposes their release.

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Trump's team had contacted outside attorneys about how to proceed, and the former president's orbit was caught off guard by Garland's announcement.

In a pair of posts to Truth Social following Garland's statement, Trump continued to claim that his attorneys were "cooperating fully" and had developed "very good relationships" with federal investigators prior to Monday's search at Mar-a-Lago.

"The government could have had whatever they wanted, if we had it," Trump said.

"Everything was fine, better than most previous Presidents, and then, out of nowhere and with no warning, Mar-a-Lago was raided, at 6.30 in the morning, by VERY large numbers of agents, and even 'safecrackers.'"

Australia's attorneys-general to ramp up action on coercive control

Australia's attorneys-general have agreed to create a national plan to address coercive control as the government ramps up action to reduce domestic and family violence.

Coercive control refers to "the pattern of abusive behaviour designed to create power and dominance over another person or persons".

This can look like controlling what someone wears, who they see or their access to money, tracking their location, and can often lead to physical violence.

READ MORE: FBI took 11 sets of classified documents from Trump's Mar-a-Lago home

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus. Parliament House, Canberra.

State and territory attorneys-general met with their federal counterpart Mark Dreyfus on Friday to create a "national understanding" of coercive control which could eventually filter down to laws and legislation criminalising the behaviour.

It comes after vast calls for legislative reform to coercive control laws in particular after the murder of Brisbane woman Hannah Clarke and her children by Clarke's estranged husband.

Clarke's parents Sue and Lloyd told Today the national plan is a step in the right direction and is a "no brainer".

"We have been hoping for this quite a long time for it to go national. For them to actually sit down and collaborate together and all states get onboard," Mr Clarke said.

Ms Clarke added: "I am pleased to see the conversation is going on about it and people are talking about it. I am shocked people aren't aware of what the flags are in a coercive relationship, I think we need a lot of education."

Queensland recently criminalised coercive control in a landmark ruling and Clarke's parents hope other states will follow suit.

READ MORE: Author Salman Rushdie attacked on lecture stage in New York

Hannah Clarke's parents Sue and Lloyd speak on coercive control reform.During the inquest into the murder of Hannah Clarke and her three children, it was revealed the young mum had approached police for help, fearing her estranged husband would kill her.

The attorneys-general meeting resulted in an endorsement of a consultation draft of National Principles to Address Coercive Control, the first of its kind in Australia.

"We have agreed on a set of measures which are going to help keep women and children safer in Australia," Dreyfus said.

"We think it will help to establish a set of national principles to help people better recognise the behaviour when it occurs.

"The important thing is people understand when to recognise coercive control, even in relationships where there is no physical violence occurring, there can be a pattern of abusive behaviour that is designed to dominate and control and can ultimately be very harmful."

The draft includes eight principles and will identify a national approach to:

  • What coercive control is and its impacts
  • The importance of coordinated approaches when responding to incidents of coercive control and educating the community
  • "Concerns" about the misidentification of victim-survivors as perpetrators of family and domestic violence, in particular for First Nations women

"They deal with different aspects of this problem they deal with how to identify coercive control, how to listen to victim-survivors, and what steps should be taken to lower the incidence of this problem," Dreyfus said.

The national principles are set to be approved by 2023.

READ MORE: Gunman in Montenegro kills 10 before being shot dead by passerby

https://twitter.com/markdreyfusQCMP/status/1557996386632990720

The group also agreed to review the definition of consent and work towards updating legislation in relation to stealthing, which is when a person removes a condom without the other person's consent.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

Salman Rushdie on ventilator, likely to lose eye after stabbing

New York police have identified the suspect who attacked and stabbed Salman Rushdie, the author whose writing led to death threats from Iran in the 1980s, in the neck on Friday.

Rushdie was on a ventilator on Friday evening and could not speak, his agent, Andrew Wylie, told the New York Times.

"Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged," Wylie told the Times.

"The news is not good."

READ MORE: FBI seized classified documents in Trump raid

CNN has reported the man suspected of perpetrating the attack is Hadi Matar, 24, from Fairview, New Jersey.

The attacker was taken into custody by a state trooper at the event, police said.

The suspect stabbed Rushdie, 75, at least once in the neck and at least once in the abdomen, authorities said.

Rushdie is undergoing surgery, state police said.

An Associated Press reporter witnessed a man confront Rushdie on stage at the Chautauqua Institution and begin punching or stabbing him 10 to 15 times as he was being introduced.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said later that he was alive and "getting the care he needs".

Dr Martin Haskell, a physician who was among those who rushed to help, described Rushdie's wounds as "serious but recoverable".

Event moderator Henry Reese, a co-founder of an organisation that offers residencies to writers facing persecution, was also attacked and suffered a minor head injury, police said.

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In this still image from video, author Salman Rushdie is taken on a stretcher to a helicopter for transport to a hospital after he was attacked during a lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.Law enforcement officers detain a person outside the Chautauqua Institution, Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, in Chautauqua, N.Y.

Rabbi Charles Savenor was among the roughly 2500 people in the audience.

Amid gasps, spectators were ushered out of the outdoor amphitheatre.

The assailant ran onto the platform "and started pounding on Mr Rushdie".

"At first you're like, 'What's going on?' And then it became abundantly clear in a few seconds that he was being beaten," Savenor said.

He said the attack lasted about 20 seconds.

Another spectator, Kathleen Jones, said the attacker was dressed in black, with a black mask.

"We thought perhaps it was part of a stunt to show that there's still a lot of controversy around this author. But it became evident in a few seconds" that it wasn't, she said.

Another witness told CNN there were no security searches or metal detectors at the event.

The witness said the attacker "walked quickly" down an aisle and jumped on stage, approaching the author and "making a stabbing motion with his hand repeatedly."

Following the attack, some longtime visitors to the centre questioned why there wasn't tighter security for the event, given the decades of threats against Rushdie and a bounty on his head in the Muslim world offering more than $US3 million ($4.22 million) for anyone who kills him.

A bloodied Rushdie was quickly surrounded by a small group of people who held up his legs, presumably to send more blood to his chest.

An officer stands outside a gate of the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, N.Y., Friday, Aug. 12, 2022.

In a statement the non-profit education centre and summer resort said it is "coordinating with law enforcement and emergency officials on a public response following today's attack of Salman Rushdie on the Chautauqua Amphitheater stage".

Writers such as Stephen King and JK Rowling expressed well wishes for Rushdie via Twitter.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted that he was "appalled" that Rushdie has been stabbed "while exercising a right we should never cease to defend".

Rushdie has been a prominent spokesman for free expression and liberal causes.

He is a former president of PEN America, which said it was "reeling from shock and horror" at the attack.

https://twitter.com/BorisJohnson/status/1558148605206298624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/jk_rowling/status/1558123903469457412?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/1558116416301273088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

"We can think of no comparable incident of a public violent attack on a literary writer on American soil," CEO Suzanne Nossel said in a statement.

"Salman Rushdie has been targeted for his words for decades but has never flinched nor faltered," she added.

Rushdie's 1988 novel The Satanic Verses was viewed as blasphemous by many Muslims, who saw a character as an insult to the Prophet Muhammad, among other objections.

Across the Muslim world, often-violent protests erupted against Rushdie, who was born in India to a Muslim family.

At least 45 people were killed in riots over the book, including 12 people in Rushdie's hometown of Mumbai.

In 1991, a Japanese translator of the book was stabbed to death and an Italian translator survived a knife attack.

In 1993, the book's Norwegian publisher was shot three times and survived.

The novel was banned in Iran, where the late leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini issued a 1989 fatwa, or edict, calling for Rushdie's death.

Khomeini died that same year.

Iran's current Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has never issued a fatwa of his own withdrawing the edict, though Iran in recent years hasn't focused on the writer.

Iran's mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday's attack.

A bounty of more than $US3 million ($4.22 million) has also been offered for anyone who kills Rushdie.

The death threats and bounty led Rushdie to go into hiding under a British government protection program, including a round-the-clock armed guard.

Rushdie emerged after nine years of seclusion and cautiously resumed more public appearances, maintaining his outspoken criticism of religious extremism overall.

He has said he is proud of his fight for freedom of expression, saying in a 2012 talk in New York that terrorism is really the art of fear.

"The only way you can defeat it is by deciding not to be afraid," he said.

Iran's government has long since distanced itself from Khomeini's decree, but anti-Rushdie sentiment has lingered.

The Index on Censorship, an organisation promoting free expression, said money was raised to boost the reward for his killing as recently as 2016, underscoring that the fatwa for his death still stands.

In 2012, Rushdie published a memoir, Joseph Anton, about the fatwa. The title came from the pseudonym Rushdie had used while in hiding.

Author Salman Rushdie,shows a new book as he visits the book fair in Frankfurt, Germany, Thursday, Oct. 12, 2017.

Rushdie rose to prominence with his Booker Prize-winning 1981 novel Midnight's Children, but his name became known around the world after The Satanic Verses.

The Chautauqua Institution, about 120 kilometres southwest of Buffalo in a rural corner of New York, has served for more than a century as a place for reflection and spiritual guidance.

Visitors don't pass through metal detectors or undergo bag checks. Most people leave the doors to their century-old cottages unlocked at night.

Police said a state trooper was assigned to Rushdie's lecture.

Law enforcement stand watch outside at the Chautauqua Institution after author Salman Rushdie was attacked during a lecture, Friday, Aug. 12, 2022, in Chautauqua, N.Y

The Chautauqua centre is known for its summertime lecture series, where Rushdie has spoken before. Speakers address a different topic each week.

Rushdie and moderator Henry Reese were set to discuss "the United States as asylum for writers and other artists in exile and as a home for freedom of creative expression".

Parts of Melbourne battered by freak hailstorm

Parts of Melbourne were battered by a freak hail storm on Saturday afternoon.

The city's northern suburbs bore the brunt with roads blanketed in white.

Some drivers were caught out as they didn't have time to get their cars under cover.

READ MORE: Australia's attorneys-general to ramp up action on coercive control

Parts of Melbourne were battered by a freak hail storm on Saturday afternoon, including the suburb of Thornbury.Thick hail covered the roads in the suburb of Craigieburn.

The thick hail covered car windscreens parked in the streets of Thornbury and Craigieburn.

Residents have taken to social media to share videos and photos of the weather event.

Some remarked on Twitter about the size of the hail, which was described as "pebble ice sized" and "about a centimetre-wide".

https://twitter.com/delaneykingrox/status/1558325035903102976https://twitter.com/Kickasskiwi1/status/1558329437628006400

The wild weather is being caused by a low pressure system.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the small hail was from several storm cells.

Showers and storms are expected to continue on Saturday evening in southern parts of the state.