Mauao itself will remain off-limits.

Untreated sewage is now being piped just 5 metres offshore on the south coast.

A person with close ties to household of missing four-year-old boy Gus Lamont has been identified as a suspect in his disappearance, with police declaring the case a major crime.

Gus was reported as last seen playing on a mound of dirt about 5pm on September 27 at his family home, the Oak Park Station homestead, which is about 43 kilometres south of Yunta in SA.

Police today confirmed a person who has close ties to the household, who is not one of his parents, was speaking with detectives but then "withdrew cooperation" and is now considered a suspect.

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No arrests have been made.

Detective Superintendent Darren Fielke said investigators had identified "inconsistences" regarding the timeline of Gus' last movements.

"As a result of these inconsistencies, and investigations into them, a person… has withdrawn their support for the police and is no longer cooperating with us," he said.

"The person who has withdrawn their co-operation is now considered a suspect in the disappearance of Gus.

"I do want to stress, however, that Gus's parents are not suspects in his disappearance."

Fielke could not provide further information on the suspect.

The "discrepancies" regarding information gathered were identified in mid-January.

"Only as recently as 14 and 15 of January when we attended [the homestead], did we get more information that we have analysed and reviewed, which again has highlighted some discrepancies," Fielke added.

A search warrant was executed at the Oak Park Station property at this time and a number of items were seized, including a car, a motorbike and electronic devices.

"I anticipate there will be further searches at Oak Park Station and at several sites on an adjacent national park to locate Gus as new information and intelligence comes to hand as the investigation continues,'' Fielke said.

Only three people were on the property at the time of Gus' disappearance, Fielke said.

He did not rule out the possibility of an arrest being made.

He revealed the investigation had centred on three theories – whether Gus was abducted, whether someone he knows was involved in his disappearance or suspected death and whether he did wander off from Oak Park Station.

Fielke said detectives from Taskforce Horizon have a "high level of confidence" he did not wander off.

Investigators have also found no evidence to suggest Gus was abducted.

He also confirmed Gus' disappearance is now a major crime when providing an update to the media.

The search for Gus

No evidence of Gus has been uncovered despite extensive searches of the property, which Fielke said has been the "largest and most intensive" missing person's search ever undertaken by SA Police.

A full-scale ground and air search of the property and surrounding area was launched after Gus went missing.

Officers returned to the area surrounding Oak Park Station to search for Gus' remains on February 2 but uncovered no evidence.

"The foot search has been unprecedented and the resources that have been used have been significant," Fielke said of the search efforts.

"We've had deployments to Oak Park Station for over 20 days as part of that operation and there's been at least eight separate searches conducted."

Fielke said the owners of Oak Park Station and adjoining properties had been conducting their own searches.

The search area has totalled 706 square kilometres, with the assistance of 80 Australian Defence Force soldiers, drones, mounted officers and aircraft.

Around 163 SA Police officers have been deployed for the search.

A three-day search of six mine shafts near Oak Park Station also failed to uncover any evidence.

Police received more than 150 Crime Stoppers tips about the missing boy.

Detectives returned to the remote property last month to speak to the family.

"We've taken statements with the family, we've had to go through those statements with the family, and that's just part of the normal investigational process that we go through," Fielke said in January.

"We continue to engage with them.

"They went through a pretty horrid Christmas without Gus, and we check-in with the family regularly."

Police previously stressed that no part of the investigation had turned up any suggestion of foul play.

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Lamont was reported as last seen by his grandmother at the family's Oak Park Station homestead.

About 30 minutes later, he had rerportedly vanished and a full-scale search was launched.

The four-year-old with blond curly hair was described as a shy but adventurous child.

His family have said in a statement they are "devastated" and "deeply distressed" by his disappearance.

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A 27-year-old man has been charged with 596 child abuse related offences in Queensland.

Police launched an investigation in February last year, known as Operation Xray Wick, after detectives seized electronic devices from the man's residence in Maryborough.

The then 26-year-old man was arrested in relation to child abuse related offences and has been in custody since February last year.

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Over the course of a year, specialist investigators carried out extensive digital forensic examinations, allegedly finding more than 23,000 videos and images against 459 victims across multiple jurisdictions in Australia and overseas.

"Investigations remain ongoing, with interstate and international partners assisting to ensure every victim is identified and supported," Queensland Police said in a statement.

"Police will allege the man self-produced the child abuse material that was found on the electronic devices. 

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"It will be alleged the man had actively targeted children on social media and gaming platforms between 2018 and 2025. 

"The victims were primarily aged between seven and 15 years.

"Police will further allege the man created multiple online profiles, posing as both males and females and that the child exploitation material was collected by the offender directly from victims through grooming and coercion.

"Police will also allege the man recorded his interactions, meticulously saving images and videos to named folders."

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The 27-year-old man has been charged with a total of 596 charges against 259 identified victim children. 

Charges include 244 counts of producing child abuse material for use through a carriage service, 163 counts of using a carriage service to procure persons under 16 years of age, and 87 counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child using a carriage service.

The case is scheduled for a mention in Brisbane Magistrates Court today.

Crime Command Detective Acting Chief Superintendent Denzil Clark said allegations of this nature were "extremely concerning and disturbing".

"We are seeing an increasing prevalence of children being groomed, coerced, or threatened into taking and sending sexual images of themselves, often through popular apps, games, and social media sites," Clark said.

"The trauma that this causes a child is significant.

"Our investigators will not stop and I urge parents and caregivers to continue to take active and ongoing measures to ensure the online safety of young people."

Members of the public who have information about people involved in child sexual abuse and online exploitation are urged to contact police.

If you know abuse is happening right now or a child is at risk, call police immediately on 000.

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

In a matter of hours, the final nuclear treaty still in force between the US and Russia is set to expire, and there are grave fears about what comes next.

The New START Treaty, signed in 2010 by then-US president Barack Obama and then-Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, imposed limitations on how many nuclear warheads each country could have deployed.

Observers have warned its abandonment could signal a new era of nuclear proliferation, even as other nations such as China seek to increase their own arsenal of the devastating weapons.

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The treaty was set to expire in 2021, but was extended for five years.

The clock will run out on Thursday, February 5, northern hemisphere time – or some time overnight in Australia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin last year offered to agree to a one-year extension, but US President Donald Trump has so far been non-committal.

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The US, meanwhile, is about to sit down with Iranian representatives in Oman to discuss Tehran's nuclear program.

A White House official speaking anonymously told The Associated Press Trump wanted to keep limits on nuclear weapons globally, and involve China in any talks.

Trump would make a decision on nuclear arms control "on his own timeline," the official said.

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Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said Putin discussed the pact's expiration with Chinese President Xi Jinping, but noted Washington had not responded to his proposed extension.

Russia would "act in a balanced and responsible manner based on thorough analysis of the security situation," Ushakov said.

Arms control advocates have long voiced concerns about the expiration, warning it could lead to a new arms race, foment global instability and increase the risk of nuclear conflict.

https://x.com/Pontifex/status/2019040748298178970

Pope Leo XIV called for the treaty "not to be abandoned without seeking to ensure its concrete and effective continuation".

Failure to agree on keeping the pact's limits would likely encourage a bigger deployment, said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association in Washington.

"We're at the point now where the two sides could, with the expiration of this treaty, for the first time in about 35 years, increase the number of nuclear weapons that are deployed on each side," Kimball told AP.

"And this would open up the possibility of an unconstrained, dangerous three-way arms race, not just between the US and Russia, but also involving China, which is also increasing its smaller but still deadly nuclear arsenal."

The New START agreement limited both nations to 1550 accountable deployed strategic nuclear warheads and bombs, and counted each heavy bomber as one warhead.

That's about 30 per cent below the 2200-warhead limit set by the previous agreement, the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty.

New START also limited Russia and the US to no more than 700 deployed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs), and heavy bombers assigned to nuclear missions, apiece.

Deployed and nondeployed ICBM launchers, SLBM launchers and bombers were limited to 800.

"If New START ends, the US and Russia could virtually double their deployed nuclear weapons in about six months," Dr Tillman Ruff, of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Australia, told 9news.com.au previously.

With Associated Press

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Exclusive: Vasectomies are booming in Australia and many experts believe the rising cost of living could be a factor in younger men going under the knife.

A new study from Adelaide University researchers has revealed the number of vasectomies performed on men aged 18-44 each year has spiked by more than 60 per cent.

About 18,500 vasectomies were performed on men in that age range back in 2016.

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In 2024, the number had surged to more than 29,800.

Researchers also found the average number of vasectomies performed per month has increased by about 45 per cent, though the figure was much higher in some states.

For example, in NSW about 25 vasectomies were performed on men aged 18 to 44 per 100,000 male population per month in April 2016.

In December 2024, that figure had jumped to 39 – an increase of 56 per cent.

In Tasmania, the number of vasectomies were performed on men aged 18 to 44 per 100,000 male population per month rose from 41 in 2016 to 66 in 2024.

That's an increase of 61 per cent.

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Dr Jack Janetzki, lecturer in Pharmacy and Pharmacology at Adelaide University and co-author of the study, suspects the cost-of-living crisis played a role in the spike in vasectomy rates across the country.

"Rising housing costs, cost-of-living pressures and delayed partnership formation could all be associated with decisions to limit or forgo childbearing," he told nine.com.au.

"Vasectomy provides a definitive solution to limiting family size amid these pressures and people may now be making concrete decisions on family size at a greater rate."

Have you got a story? Contact reporter Maddison Leach at our breaking newsletter here

Film studio Amazon MGM has pulled the documentary Melania from being screened at a cinema in the US after it was wryly mocked on the marquee.

The Lake Theatre and Cafe in Lake Oswego, Oregon, was screening the documentary about First Lady Melania Trump.

But the cinema lost the rights to the movie after Amazon was informed of the message on the sign outside the cinema.

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"Does Melania wear Prada? Find out Friday!" the marquee read.

Another sign read: "To defeat your enemy, you must know them."

In a blog post, cinema manager Jordan Perry revealed how much the movie had made for the Jeff Bezos-owned Amazon at his theatre.

"We contributed $196 to the Jeff Bezos Trust Fund this week.

"Jeff Bezos won't notice the $196. He wouldn't notice $1960, though someone on his team noticed our marquee."

The marquee now reads: "Amazon called. Our marquee made them mad. "All Melania shows cancelled. Show your support at Whole Foods instead."

Whole Foods is a grocery chain also owned by Amazon.

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Perry's blog post also defended screening the film in the first place, to the chagrin of people in the very progressive town south of Portland.

Perry said he thought the notion of a documentary about Melania Trump being released funny.

"If Kamala won, imagine Douglas being released this week — I mean, that's also funny, right?" he wrote.

"I did not find Melania boring! The woman, yes. The movie, no."

The cinema has a long history of wry jokes on its marquee. It described Killers of the Flower Moon, a film with Leonardo Di Caprio and Robert De Niro, as "Starring Lily Gladstone (and some other guys)".

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Current release Hamnet is described as "Hamnet's about Hamlet (Sort of)."

Perry said the marquee debacle may put the cinema on "Amazon's black list for a while".

Melania debuted in third place in the US box office with $10 million in takings.

This makes it the highest debut for a documentary in years.

But Melania has a steep hill to climb if it intends to be profitable for the studio.

Amazon paid $57 million for the rights to the movie, much of which went into the First Lady's pocket.

It also reportedly spent a further $50 million on promoting the movie.

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Melania has also shown an enormous divide between critical reception and how general audiences responded.

Critics reviews gathered by Rotten Tomatoes showed just 7 per cent of them liked the movie.

By contrast, 98 per cent of audience members on the site said they liked the movie.

In Australia, Melania debuted on its opening weekend at 31st at the box office, selling just $22,284 worth of tickets.

In its first three days in release, it sold just $675 per screen.

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Exclusive: The cost-of-living crisis is hitting Australians so hard many are having to delay their dreams of becoming a parent, and in some cases even having to make the heartbreaking decision to terminate a pregnancy.

The government says it is trying to make parenthood more affordable through childcare subsidies and better paid parental leave.

But for Australians such as Alkira Barber, 24, it's just not enough.

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Barber fell pregnant unexpectedly in 2024.

She had a well-paid job but still couldn't afford to give a child the life she wanted for them.

"More than half my net pay goes to general living costs," she told nine.com.au.

"Australians aren't choosing careers over children, they're choosing financial survival."

Have you got a story? Contact reporter Maddison Leach at our breaking newsletter here

A US government lawyer who vented to a court hearing about how much her job sucked has lost her job.

Department of Homeland Security attorney Julie Le was called to the US District Court of Minnesota to explain why detainees ordered released by the judge were not being set free.

Judge Jerry Blackwell was demanding answers after he had repeatedly asked for immigrants incorrectly detained by the department to be released, only to have his orders seemingly ignored.

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In a remarkable admission made to the court, Le opened up on what she really felt.

"What do you want me to do? The system sucks. This job sucks," she said.

"And I am trying every breath that I have so that I can get you what you need."

The exasperated lawyer made a stunning remark.

"Sometime I wish you would just hold me in contempt, Your Honour, so that I can have a full 24 hours of sleep," Le said.

"I work days and nights just because people (are) still in there."

Le told the court her team of lawyers had been swamped after sweeping raids in the city in Minneapolis.

Thousands of agents from Border Patrol and Immigration and Customs Enforcement are in the city to arrest immigrants.

Earlier today, it was announced 700 agents would be withdrawn from the city "effective immediately".

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The judge was responsive to Le's remarks but ultimately showed greater sympathy to those detained.

"What we really want is simply compliance," Blackwell said.

"Because on the other side of this is somebody who should not have been arrested in some instances in the first place who is being held in jail or put in shackles for days, if not a week-plus, after they've been ordered released."

Blackwell decried the government for taking unlawfully detained people from their homes in Minneapolis to detention facilities across the country and then releasing them without returning them.

"We learn that somebody is put out on the street with just the clothes on their backs and have to figure out how to get back here when they should not have been arrested here in the first place, let alone flown halfway across the continent of North America," he said.

"We have to now say, bring them back."

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Blackwell was also sharply critical of unlawfully detained people being forced to wear ankle monitors so the government could track their whereabouts.

He also criticised the government releasing people onto the streets when it was -25 degrees outside.

Le spoke of her own concern about how Border Patrol and ICE were targeting people in Minnesota who were not white.

"I am not white, as you can see. And my family's at risk as any other people that might get picked up too," she said.

"Again, fixing a system, a broken system, I don't have a magic button to do it."

NBC News reported that Le "is no longer detailed to the US Attorney's Office for the District of Minnesota".

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Blackwell rose to prominence as the prosecutor who handled the infamous Derek Chauvin trial over the death of George Floyd.

He was appointed as a judge during the Biden administration.

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A photo of the former Prince Andrew with his arm around Virginia Giuffre, who accused him of sexual assault, appears to be real, suggests an email released in the latest batch of Epstein files.

The former royal, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, has steadfastly denied meeting Giuffre and questioned whether the photo was real.

But an email, apparently from Jeffrey Epstein confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, appears to confirm the photo was not fake, the BBC reports.

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Released by the US Justice Department, it is headed "draft statement", sent by a "G Maxwell" to Epstein in 2015.

"In 2001 I was in London when (redacted) met a number of friends of mine including Prince Andrew. A photograph was taken as I imagine she wanted to show it to friends and family," she wrote.

Giuffre died last April at her family home in Western Australia.

Her family says that the email showed Giuffre had been "vindicated".

"It truly does vindicate Virginia… she was not lying this entire time", Guiffre's brother, Sky Roberts, said.

"It's a moment where we're really proud of our sister", he added.

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US officials redacted the person's name from the released version of the statement, but the details point to Maxwell , who was convicted of recruiting young girls into sex trafficking, discussing Giuffre.

During a 2019 interview with the BBC, Mountbatten-Windsor denied meeting Giuffre and suggested the photo may have been faked.

He said at the time: "Nobody can prove whether or not that photograph has been doctored but I don't recollect that photograph ever being taken."

He also famously claimed he was not at Maxwell's house but at a pizza restaurant in the town of Woking, south-west of London.

The former Prince Andrew has moved out of his longtime home on crown-owned land near Windsor Castle earlier than expected after the latest release of the Epstein files.

The 65-year-old brother of King Charles III, now known as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, left the Royal Lodge in Windsor on Monday and is now living on the king's Sandringham estate in eastern England, Britain's Press Association reported.

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