Australians will be treated to one last stunning meteor shower for 2025, with the Geminids predicted to peak this weekend.

Named for the Gemini constellation, the Geminid meteor shower is considered one of the most spectacular meteor showers of the year.

The annual shower is caused by an asteroid named 3200 Phaethon and is usually visible in the night sky for about two weeks in December. 

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Here's how to catch a glimpse of the Geminids from cities across Australia this weekend.

When is the peak of the Geminid meteor shower?

The Geminid meteor shower started on December 4 and will last until about December 20 in 2025.

It is expected to peak on the night between Sunday, December 14 and Monday, December 15.

During the peak, stargazers can expect to see up to 120 meteors per hour.

They appear like shooting stars or streaks of light in the dark sky.

Can I see the Geminid meteor shower from Australia?

Yes.

The Geminids are visible from both hemispheres and can be seen from all capital cities in Australia.

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Where should I look in the sky for the Geminid meteor shower?

The meteors tend to appear from near the Gemini constellation, which rises in the north-east and sets in the north-west in the sky over Australia.

For exact directions, consult a star map or a Geminid meteor shower tracker and visibility map like the one here.

When is the best time to see the Geminid meteor shower?

The best time to watch the Geminids during their peak in each capital city is as follows:

• Brisbane: 9pm Sunday, December 14 – 5am Monday, December 15
• Darwin: 9.30pm Sunday, December 14 – 6.30am Monday, December 15
• Perth: 10pm Sunday, December 14 – 5am Monday, December 15
• Sydney: 11pm Sunday, December 14 – 6am Monday, December 15
• Canberra: 11pm Sunday, December 14 – 6am Monday, December 15
• Adelaide: 11.30pm Sunday, December 14 – 5.30am Monday, December 15
• Melbourne: 12am – 6am Monday, December 15
• Hobart: 12am – 5am Monday, December 15

How long will the Geminid meteor shower last?

The Geminid meteor shower will last until about December 20 in 2025, though visibility may be reduced later in the month.

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Anika Wells is under the microscope once again for her taxpayer bills after she spent $1000 on a government-funded car to wait while she watched the tennis.

The frontbencher is already under fire for spending nearly $100,000 on flights to New York, $3000 on a family ski trip and another $4000 on flying her husband to the cricket.

Now, it has been revealed Wells billed taxpayers a grand to have a Comcar idle for seven hours while she enjoyed the Australian Open tennis final in January 2023, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

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It has also been reported that Wells claimed $8500 in family travel expenses on flights to Melbourne for the AFL grand final weekends in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

The Communications and Sport Minister, like every federal MP, is allowed to use the public purse on work-related expenses – but in a cost of living crisis, critics say her spending doesn't quite pass the "pub test".

So what exactly are the rules?

Parliamentarians like Wells can use public resources, including taxpayer money, for travel which falls within parliamentary business.

The term parliamentary business means anything that relates directly to their role.

In Wells' capacity as Sports Minister, she and fellow frontbenchers have argued that attending major sporting events such as the Australian Open, Thredbo for a Paralympics event and the AFL grand final is part of her job.

However, the fact Wells' husband and children have accompanied her on some of these trips may seem like a grey area.

But there is something known as "family reunion travel" that means this falls perfectly within the rules.

Wells defended her expenses last week, saying "every parliamentarian has family reunion entitlements".

What are 'family reunion' entitlements?

Under this entitlement, MPs can be joined by their spouse, a nominee or their children at Commonwealth expense if they are travelling within Australia for work and their loved ones are coming to meet them.

Conversely, Wells can use this entitlement to fly back and forth between Canberra and Brisbane.

Between July and September this year, Wells has spent $3056.77 on family travel.

According to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA), this travel is covered if it is "facilitating the family life of the parliamentarian's family".

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For all other major travel expenses, like the trip to New York, there are certain provisions.

International travel must be approved by a presiding officer or the prime minister.

The budget for each presiding officer is $250,000 per year.

The condition of spending taxpayer money is that every parliamentarian must be prepared to be "personally responsible and accountable" for it.

Every politician's spending is publicly available on the IPEA website.

Wells may have followed the rules, but the opposition has claimed she should have reined in her spending.

"Whether it's New York, whether it's Paris, whether it's Thredbo, these are expenses that would make the royals blush," said Shadow Industry Minister Alex Hawke.

"If she wants to take her family on a ski holiday, she can pay for it herself," Shadow Finance Minister James Paterson added.

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Nearly 100,000 Optus customers in parts of Queensland have been hit by an outage impacting NBN services.

The telco confirmed the issue was impacting 95,000 customers in Brisbane and certain parts of the state today.

A network server failure at one of Optus' facilities in Rochedale, in the city's south, is believed to be to blame for the outage.

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"We sincerely apologise for the disruption and thank customers for their patience while our teams work as quickly as possible to restore services," Optus said in a statement.

Mobiles are unaffected, but home phone calls via Optus NBN connections may be impacted if the customer has an older modem without 4G or 5G backup.

Optus has been unable to confirm whether triple zero calls were impacted by the outage.

It's not known when NBN connections will be fully restored.

Customers will need to turn their modems off and on again once the problem is fixed.

The outage is believed to be mostly affecting landline customers in Queensland.

However customers have reported internet access issues in areas including Robertson, Clifton Beach, Greenbank and in North Queensland, according to website DownDetector.

It follows a string of triple zero failures which have hit Optus customers over the past few months.

More to come.

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A helicopter pilot involved in a fatal mid-air collision was probably affected by cocaine withdrawal, an alcohol hangover and fatigue at the time, a coroner has heard.

A toxicologist who gave evidence at mushroom murderer Erin Patterson's trial was among a panel of experts speaking about the likely effects at an inquest into the tragedy on Wednesday.

Ashley Jenkinson, 40, was among four people killed when his Sea World chopper collided mid-air with another outside the Gold Coast theme park on January 2, 2023.

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Jenkinson tested positive for cocaine during an autopsy, coroner Carol Lee has heard, but an Australian Transport Safety Bureau investigation found he was "unlikely to have been directly affected by the drug at the time of the accident".

The pilot was seen inhaling multiple lines of cocaine and drinking 12 beers and whiskey at a New Year's Eve party before the crash.

He had a lower level of cocaine metabolites than most people who crashed in vehicles, Victoria's chief forensic toxicologist, Dimitri Gerostamoulos, testified.

"I can't come to the conclusion that he was impaired or not. It is likely given the consumption of alcohol and cocaine within that period," said Gerostamoulos, who gave evidence this year at Patterson's Victorian Supreme Court murder trial.

Jenkinson tested negative for alcohol before starting work on the day of the crash and negative at a random drug test in August 2022.

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He flew six passenger joy flights and had lunch with workmates before his last and fatal take-off just before 2pm, Lee heard.

Jenkinson's lack of obvious intoxication at that time was not reassuring in itself, Queensland Health senior forensic physician Katherine Robinson testified.

"The subtle and fine signs of impairment are only detected through assessment by people looking to test for them," she said.

Jenkinson signed a form that he was fit to fly, but might not have been aware of his own impairment, the inquest was told.

Australian Army aviation medical officer Dr Jeffrey Brock said testimony from witnesses about Jenkinson's drug and alcohol use, opportunities for sleep and levels of workplace stress had shifted his opinion.

"To me, the likelihood of impairment during flying on the day of the accident has gone from possibility to probability," Brock said.

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But forensic pharmacologist Judith Perl testified Jenkinson's ability to fly being significantly affected before the crash was possible, not probable.

"It would lead me to suspect whatever cocaine he used was pretty poor quality," Perl said.

Jenkinson was killed along with British newlyweds Ronald and Diane Hughes – aged 65 and 67 – and Sydney mother Vanessa Tadros, 36, in the 2023 mid-air collision.

His aircraft collided 25 seconds after take-off with another Sea World Helicopter that was preparing to land at a waterside helipad at the theme park.

Nine passengers across both helicopters were injured.

Sea World owner Village Roadshow Theme Parks sold its joy flights operation to Sea World Helicopters in 2019.

The inquest will hear from Sea World Helicopters executives next week.

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A teenage girl remains in a serious condition after falling two floors from the roof of an abandoned children's court in Sydney's inner-west.

Residents have raised security concerns around the site for years, which is now set for a major redevelopment.

At about 12.30am, emergency services responded to reports of a female who had fallen inside a disused building and landed on concrete on Glebe Point Road in Glebe.

Officers were told the 17-year-old girl was exploring the building when the glass roof collapsed.

She was trapped on an upper level, suffering serious injuries to her chest, legs, and arms after falling from the second floor.

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"I could tell the cops were super stressed. They were pacing up and down the road and the way they were talking it seemed intense," one resident said.

"With the ladder truck being able to get in, the recovery of the casualty from that level was relatively quick once stabilised by those paramedics," Fire and Rescue NSW Superintendent Adam Dewberry added.

She was safely removed from the building with assistance from paramedics and firefighters. 

The building was constructed in the 1980s as a juvenile remand centre before being closed in 2017.

Since then, the increasingly dilapidated site has become an illegal urban exploring attraction.

"For four or five years, we always see young kids jumping the fence," Sweeney said.

"The worst we've had to do is call in because someone lit a fire in there," another resident told 9News.

Long-awaited plans to turn the block into housing have been approved by council.

Developers have told residents in this area that demolition will begin here in the first half of next year.

Sydney City Council has said the site's security is the responsibility of developer Vision Land.

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Time to check your ticket against this evening’s winning numbers.

A man is on the run after another man was shot dead and two others were injured in NSW's north-east.

A police operation commenced after reports of a shooting on Tyalgum Road at Eungella, south-west of Tweed Heads, about 1.25pm.

Officers were told two men – aged 41 and 38 – were shot by another, who fled the scene with a fourth man.

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Paramedics treated the 41-year-old man for a gunshot wound, however, he died at the scene.

He is yet to be formally identified.

Shortly after, police were informed of a second incident on the same road after a 45-year-old man was allegedly hit by a car.

He is being treated at Gold Coast University Hospital and remains under police supervision.

The 38-year-old man subsequently sought treatment at hospital for a gunshot wound.

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Police are now waiting to speak with the 38-year-old and 45-year-old to establish the circumstances surrounding their injuries.

Police are working to locate the fourth person, believed to be aged 37.

Authorities believe the man is unarmed.

The road has been closed, and police remain on-site searching the area with police dogs.

Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or make an online report.

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The North Island is cloaked in warnings and watches today.

The bird was caught on camera hitting the woman’s face mid-take, leaving a visible cut.

Fire crews were called to Gloucester St, Linwood, about 6.45pm.