A Tauranga bus driver has been left “emotionally distraught” after a group of youths forced their way onboard and began smashing the rearview mirror.It’s the latest in a series of violent incidents at city bus interchanges that…

The bluebird days of the working week may have disappeared but it will remain a mostly settled Saturday in the top of the North Island today.Cloudy periods are expected from Northland to Waitomo, and east to Coromandel, Bay of Plenty…

A driver in South Australia has been lucky to escape with his life after he jumped from his car that was stuck on railway trucks seconds before a freight train barrelled into it.

The hatchback became stuck while the driver was trying to make a U-turn at the rail crossing on Jeffrey Street in the Adelaide Hills suburb of Nairne just after 9pm on Thursday.

At the same time a 2500-tonne freight train was travelling on the tracks.

READ MORE: Chinese spy ship spotted off WA coast, says Defence Minister Peter Dutton

With just seconds to spare the driver managed to jump out of his car before the train smashed through his vehicle.

The collision was so strong that the car was pushed more than 100 metres.

The driver was uninjured.

Some locals who saw the aftermath said it was a frightening sight.

"Pretty scary, pretty overwhelming," Olivia Tremaine said.

READ MORE: Queenslanders devastated by second flood event in months

Zack Andrew described seeing the broken up bits of the car strewn across the tracks.

"I stuck my head over the back fence and there was like a tail light of the car and a couple of bumper pieces and that was it."

Emergency services closed the railway line for several hours.

The car was towed and the train was allowed to continue its trip towards Melbourne.

Investigations into the incident are ongoing.

Railway regulators have ruled that all signage and road markings at the crossings meet safety standards.

Two men and their dogs have been saved from floodwaters during a dramatic rescue in Queensland after they were swept off a bridge by a torrent of water.

The two men, along with their dogs – a puppy, a great dane and a kelpie – became trapped in the rapidly rising floods in Morwincha, in the Scenic Rim region of Queensland.

Police footage shows the car quickly becoming submerged as police officers from Ipswich rush to their aid.

READ MORE: The illegal, addictive opioid being sold in Aussie grocery stores

The van was found wedged between a tree, with Troy Ryan clinging to the passenger door.

"The force of the creek or river, it was just too much," he said.

An elderly man, Greg Forder, was inside with three dogs.

"All I could think of was the dogs, the dogs, the dogs. Forgetting about myself, by this stage the water's up to the dashboard, it was covering the speedo," he said.

The two men had hired the van in NSW and were hoping to travel to Ipswich to pick up the puppy when they were swept off the bridge.

Police officers who had been attending a crash on the Cunningham Highway nearby rushed to their aid.

"We're going to do this quick because the water's coming up," one of the officers is heard saying.

READ MORE: Finland takes shot at Russia, makes big NATO call

The police officers went through 100m of floodwaters to retrieve Ryan and the puppy.

One officer escorted them to safety while a second stayed with Forder and the two dogs still in the flooded vehicle.

An officer then carried Forder on his back while another coaxed the great dane and kelpie out of the submerged van, carrying them to safety.

"If these people are indicative of Queensland police, they've got it right. They've got it dead right," Forder said.

The four officers have been commended for their "quick-thinking" and bravery by the Queensland Police Service.

READ MORE: Multiple rescues unfolding as Queensland town is 'completely swallowed by water'

While their owners seek emergency accommodation, a senior constable is currently caring for the dogs – Ghost and Molly, while the puppy is yet to be named.

St Vinnies have helped the two men find accommodation until they can return home.

Residents are urged to avoid floodwaters at all costs and to avoid flooded roads.

"Police continue to urge members of the public are urged to avoid roads, creeks and bridges likely to be impacted by rapidly rising water, storm debris and flood damage during the current wet weather," a QPS spokesperson said.

Warning: This story contains the name and image of a deceased Indigenous person.

A prison guard unsuccessfully tried to get the Supreme Court to suppress her identity so no one would know she was the last worker to have contact with Veronica Nelson before the Yorta Yorta woman was found dead.

Tracey Brown was working at Dame Phyllis Frost women's prison over New Years in December 2019 when Veronica Nelson was taken into custody after being refused bail over shoplifting charges.

READ MORE: Melbourne cleaner stole from employer who felt thief was 'like a daughter'

Nelson, 37, was suffering an undiagnosed medical condition and withdrawing from heroin.

The inquest into Nelson's death was today played distressing audio recordings of Nelson seemingly begging Brown to help her.

The recording revealed that when Nelson asked, "When is the doctor coming to see me?", Brown responded: "It's not an emergency. Stop asking."

The audio revealed that Brown further told Nelson: "Ms Nelson you need to try and stop screaming because you are keeping other prisoners awake. I can't give you anything else."

Officer Brown admitted to the inquest that she failed in her duty of care.

It heard that when Nelson became unresponsive on the intercom, Brown did not walk 30 metres from her office to physically check on her.

However, Brown also pointed blame at nurse Atheana George.

At one stage, George had to prise open Nelson's hands to give her medication.

However, instead of following up on Nelson's welfare or making any notes, the nurse sat down to watch a movie on YouTube for hours.

Brown ended her shift without providing a proper handover to her colleagues, who then found Nelson's body on the floor of her jail cell.

The inquest continues.

A Tesla driver who stopped busy peak hour traffic in Melbourne has claimed his car was on Autopilot when it veered out of control.

The man was driving south along Wurundjeri Way this afternoon when his car suddenly mounted a barrier.

The driver was not injured, but his car was badly damaged.

READ MORE: Warning not to trust apps for guidance as poisonous mushrooms flourish

He told 9News that he had been driving at less than 6km/hour on the car's Autopilot function when the vehicle suddenly started shaking and veered out of control, mounting a guard rail.

He said he had owned the car and had never experienced an issue with the self-driving function until now.

The impact of the crash caused one of the car's wheels to fly off and left the car in a difficult position for firefighters to help extricate.

It follows a collision in March when a P-plater who was driving a Tesla when she hit a woman in Toorak, causing critical injuries, claimed the Autopilot function also played a role in the incident.

A Chinese surveillance vessel has been spotted close to the coastline of Western Australia, not far from a secretive naval base, Defence Minister Peter Dutton has said.

The vessel is described as a "warship with intelligence-gathering capacity" and is "hugging the coastline".

Dutton said the ship's actions are an "act of aggression".

READ MORE: Iran raises prices of food staples, stirring panic and anger

The federal opposition said it was also concerned about the presence of the vessel.

"We note a concerning pattering of behaviour from the PLA Navy of intelligence ships entering Australia's exclusive economic zone," Labor's Shadow Minister for Defence, Brendan O'Connor, said.

Dutton said the warship has gone as far south as Exmouth and is now working its way north towards Darwin.

"It is obviously very strange that it has come this far south and it is hugging the coastline as it goes north, and its intention will be to collect as much electronic intelligence as it can," he said.

"It is strange timing and without precedent."

READ MORE: Russia threatens Finland over NATO move

The vessel is now being monitored by Australian surveillance aircraft.

Dutton said it was sighted 250 nautical miles northwest of Broome and is tracking northeast at 12 knots.

Dutton said it is believed the surveillance vessel wanted a closer look at the Harold E Holt naval communication station.

That base north of Exmouth provides radio transmission to United States and Australian submarines in the western Pacific and eastern Indian oceans.

It is the most powerful transmission station in the Southern Hemisphere.

READ MORE: 'Bulldozer' PM admits leadership style has to change

He said the international protocol is to contact Australian authorities if surveillance warships are nearby.

"That hasn't happened," Dutton said.

"It is best that people are made fully aware of what is a very unusual path and course that they have taken."

The ship has been identified by the Department of Defence as a PLA-N, Dongdiao Class Auxiliary Intelligence ship named Haiwangxing.

Haiwangxing entered Australia's Exclusive Economic Zone on the morning of May 6.

By May 8 it was 70 nautical miles away from the Harold E Holt Communication Station (HEHCS), north of Exmouth.

It turned north, and by May 11 it was 50 nautical miles from HEHCS. It then steamed north and by May 13 had been tracked off the port of Broome, thought to be heading towards Darwin.

A Melbourne cleaner stole $250,000 cash and jewellery from her employer and longtime friend then spent the money on a flashy car, a court has heard.

Mehtap Kilic, 44, fronted the County Court, pleading guilty to theft after she was caught stealing cash and jewellery from her employer and friend.

The court heard Kilic was working as a cleaner for her friend, Chidem Aslan, 71, who she had known for more than two decades and had regular coffee dates with, when she stole from the woman.

READ MORE: Warning not to trust apps as poisonous mushrooms flourish

Kilic had been cleaning her friend's Thomastown home for three-and-a-half years when she stole $250,000 in cash and gold jewellery from the woman's safe inside the grandmother's garage In October 2020.

After the theft, Aslan's son installed CCTV, which captured Kilic stealing from the safe once again in November before she was arrested.

Aslan's daughter read her mother's victim impact statement to the court, revealing Aslan's feelings of betrayal over the theft.

"I treated her like a daughter," the statement read.

"Despite my core beliefs, I don't think I'll ever be able to forgive her."

The court heard Kilic spent the stolen money on a new Nissan Navara, a bedframe for her children and $600 worth of Peter Alexander pyjamas.

Kilic will be sentenced at the County Court of Victoria next Friday.

A Queensland superyacht tour operator has been extradited to New South Wales after he was charged over his alleged role in a cocaine importation plot.

James "Jimmy" Blee, 62, was arrested as he attempted to board a flight to Singapore at Cairns Airport on Wednesday afternoon.

The arrest came just days after a scuba diver was found dead and $20 million worth of cocaine was discovered in Newcastle.

READ MORE: The illegal, addictive opioid being sold in Aussie grocery stores

Blee was then charged with the federal crime of importing a large commercial quantity of a border controlled drug and the NSW crime of large commercial drug supply.

Blee was denied bail at Cairns Magistrate Court today.

NSW Police successfully applied for his extradition back to the state earlier today.

READ MORE: Multiple rescues unfolding as Queensland town is 'completely swallowed by water'

He arrived in Sydney this afternoon and will face court tomorrow.

Blee is the co-founder of a company that operates tours and cruising plans for superyachts in North Queensland.

TikTok, Instagram and even memes could soon form part of Victoria's curriculum, as the state's schools move away from traditional NAPLAN-style writing tests.

Researchers from Deakin University believe the use of modern media in the classroom will help engage students.

The university has therefore received $500,000 in funding to help digitise secondary English and bring modern media, like podcasting, social apps, and memes, into the curriculum.

READ MORE: Parents sue son and daughter-in-law for not giving them a grandchild

The theory behind it is the technology will make Shakespeare and Dickens a little more interesting for students.

Deakin University's Dr Lucinda McKnight has explained how introducing TikTok into the curriculum might work.

"You might be doing some really in-depth work on Romeo and Juliet and you might design a TikTok lesson for your peers in your year level that demonstrates your understanding of character," she said.

McKnight said she thought Shakespeare would have loved the idea

"Because he was all about the audience, he was all about entertaining the audience. He would have been right out there doing TikToks with the best of them," she said.