Tropical Cyclone Fina is expected to get stronger as it barrels towards parts of the Top End, including Darwin.

A childcare worker whose "singular error" allegedly caused a horrific crash, killing a pregnant woman and her unborn child, has been granted release on bail.

Samanvidha Dhareshwar, 33, was walking with her husband and a child in northern Sydney when struck by a station wagon on November 14.

The crash in Hornsby was allegedly caused after the station wagon was itself struck by a luxury sedan driven by a 19-year-old P-plater.

LIVE UPDATES: Tropical Cyclone Fina headed for NT coast

Dhareshwar was taken to hospital but she and her unborn baby, due in December, could not be saved.

Aaron Papazoglu made a second bid for bail at Downing Centre Local Court today after his first application was rejected on Sunday.

The university student, who has no previous criminal or driving offences, is accused of speeding up through an intersection when the traffic light changed to yellow, the first bail hearing was told.

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Defence barrister Allan Goldsworthy today pressed for the end to the teenager's seven-night stint in custody, saying there was nothing to show he had any criminal proclivity.

"This case boils down to a singular error on a roadway … albeit with tragic consequences," he said.

Papazoglu has been charged with dangerous driving and negligent driving, both occasioning death, as well as causing the death of a fetus through the death of a pregnant woman.

A fourth charge, failing to stop at a red light, was added before today's hearing.

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Goldsworthy said the teen was demonstrably of good character and had been self-funding tens of thousands of dollars for his university degree by working at a childcare centre.

His family, including his single mum, were willing to put up their entire savings of $50,000 as surety to ensure Papazoglu attended court, the barrister said.

Family members nodded along, looking concerned in court while these submissions were made.

The police prosecutor said it was up to the court to decide whether bail conditions could mitigate any risk the 19-year-old would pose to the community.

Magistrate Scott Nash ordered the teen be released, finding that sufficient conditions could be put in place.

Papazoglu has been ordered to reside at an apartment in Wahroonga and to report to police once weekly.

He is not to contact any crown witnesses and is forbidden from being in the driver's seat of any vehicle.

He will not be required to attend when his matter next comes before court on January 13.

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Political figures from across the aisle have gathered in Washington, DC, for former Vice President Dick Cheney's funeral — sending off a key figure of pre-MAGA Republican politics.

The funeral on Thursday local time, which was attended by two former presidents and all living former vice presidents, was a bipartisan who's who of Washington dignitaries yet with the notable absence of two of the country's current leaders.

Neither President Donald Trump nor Vice President JD Vance attended the service, and they were not invited to the funeral, according to a source familiar with the matter.

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Vance said Thursday that the former vice president was "a guy who served his country," and wished his family "all the best in this moment of grieving." Trump has not publicly expressed his condolences or commented on Cheney's death.

Cheney received full military honours at the invitation-only memorial service at Washington's National Cathedral.

Former Presidents Joe Biden and George W. Bush and former first ladies Jill Biden and Laura Bush attended, as well as former Vice Presidents Kamala Harris, Mike Pence, Al Gore and Dan Quayle.

Bush eulogised his former vice president as a consummate public servant who could be relied on, and who "lifted the standards" of those around him.

"His abilities were self-evident, without need of calculation or self-promotion," Bush said. "His talent and restraint exceeded his ego."

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The former president recalled that Cheney was initially tapped to help him find a running mate during his 2000 presidential run. But after going over the list of names, Bush said he came to realise that Cheney himself was the best man for the job.

The former president said Cheney rattled off a list of reasons why he should not serve as his running mate when Bush approached him with the idea.

"I told him that, at such a moment, most in his position would have jumped at the chance, but Dick stayed detached and he analysed it before I made my decision," Bush said. "He insisted on giving me a complete rundown of all of the reasons I should not choose him."

Cheney would go on to serve two terms with Bush, becoming one of the most influential and powerful vice presidents in modern history.

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Also in attendance at the memorial service were a number of Supreme Court Justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Elena Kagan.

A large number of past and present Cabinet members from both Republican and Democratic administrations were also expected, as well as congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle.

Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi was present along with Senate Majority Leader John Thune and former leader Mitch McConnell.

Cheney, who served as Bush's vice president from 2001 to 2009, died on November 3 at the age of 84. Prior to being elected vice president, Cheney served as defence secretary, White House chief of staff and as a congressman representing Wyoming.

He was further remembered for his progressive stance on several social issues, including gay marriage, but his role as the architect of the Iraq War saw him leave office deeply unpopular and cemented a polarising legacy.

Pete Williams, who worked as Pentagon press secretary during Cheney's time as defence secretary, recalled offering to resign from his position after a magazine outed him as gay in 1991.

"He wouldn't hear of it, and for several days after that article appeared, he would call me on the direct line to my desk at the Pentagon to ask how I was doing and to tell me to get on with the job," Williams said.

While official Washington funerals usually include invites to the White House, excluding Trump should not be a surprise.

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Cheney was a lifetime hardline conservative who endorsed Trump's 2016 campaign. But he spent the last years of his life speaking out against Trump, particularly after his daughter then-Rep. Liz Cheney drew the president's ire for her prominent role in a congressional committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.

Liz Cheney made a reference to her father's decision to support Harris over Trump last year. "For him," she said, "a choice between defence of the Constitution and defence of your political party was no choice at all."

The funeral's guest list itself was also a nod to a time when Washington was not so polarised and politicians from both sides of the aisle paid their respects when a dignitary passed away.

In 2022, Cheney described Trump as a coward and said no one was a "greater threat to our republic."

Pence, who similarly broke with Trump over the president's efforts to overturn the 2020 election, said that Cheney gave him two pieces of advice shortly after Pence was elected vice president in 2016. He urged Pence to spend "a lot of time on Capitol Hill" and to receive the president's daily brief first thing in the morning, before attending any meeting with the president, in order to be better prepared for what would be discussed.

"It was a way that he said, 'You will be better equipped to be able to advise the president if you know in advance what's coming and can run that through the filter of the president's priorities,'" Pence told CNN's Jeff Zeleny before the funeral.

The White House offered a muted reaction after Cheney's death with press secretary Karoline Leavitt telling reporters that Trump was "aware" the former vice president had died and noting that flags had been lowered to half-staff.

CNN has reached out to the White House for comment on Trump not being invited to the funeral, which Axios was first to report.

Honorary pallbearers at Cheney's funeral included members of his Secret Service detail; his former chiefs of staff, David Addington and Scooter Libby; and photographer David Hume Kennerly.

On one of the last pages of the service leaflet was a quote from the writer and naturalist John Muir, saying: "The mountains are calling and I must go."

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A manhunt is under way across Sydney's west after an elderly couple were the target of a drive-by shooting for the second time in 24 hours.

Police were called to a home on Aberdeen Street in Bossley Park about 6.30am after reports of a public place shooting.

Officers arrived and found several shots had been fired into a home and into a white Holden outside the house from an Audi sedan before the driver fled the scene. 

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Police are investigating why the innocent couple in their 80s are being targeted after their caravan was also shot at yesterday. 

Police believe two shooters were responsible for the incident. 

Officers have located the Audi believed to have been used in the shooting.

It had crashed nearby at the intersection of Mimosa and Prairie Vale Road after clipping another vehicle and spinning out. 

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Inside police located and seized what they believe is an AK-47.

A crime scene has been established at both locations, with Fairfield City detectives commencing inquiries to locate the driver.

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

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Lawyer Tania Waikato says the response is a ‘grassroots backlash’ to reforms.

The Airbus A321XLR planes are set to replace the Boeing 757 fleet.

The centre confirmed the reindeer would not return after public criticism.

Two former CFMEU officials have been sentenced to jail after admitting to corruption by accepting thousands of dollars in bribes.

Darren Greenfield, 60, and his son Michael, 40, accepted wads of cash, in some cases literally under the table, from a building company for preferential treatment from the union and access to contracts.

Judge Leonie Flannery called the breach of trust of both senior union officials "egregious" during a sentence at Sydney's Central District Court today.

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"The offenders used the influence of the union for their own personal benefit rather than for the benefit of its members," she said.

She accepted that the elder Greenfield, who was the NSW branch secretary of the CFMEU, did not seek the bribes, but rather they came to him and he accepted the payments in a moment of weakness.

Father and son sat silently in court, hands in their laps, listening to the judge.

They were sentenced to a combined maximum total of four years in prison.

Darren Greenfield took four bribes totalling $20,000 between November 2018 and June 2020. 

His son, the branch's assistant state secretary and former rugby league player, accepted two payments which amounted to $10,000 over two-and-a-half months in 2019.

READ MORE: Bail as P-plater 'singular error' allegedly kills pregnant woman, court hears

Michael Greenfield also tried to avoid a penalty for running a red light by signing a false statutory declaration which pinned the blame on an illegal Taiwanese worker.

The CMFEU was placed into administration in 2024 after allegations of corruption and links to organised crime.

Darren Greenfield was terminated on the same day, several weeks after Michael resigned amid media scrutiny.

The elder Greenfield was sentenced to up to 30 months but will be released after 10 months.

His son was hit with a maximum sentence of 18 but will be released in six.

Both will be required to pay $500 and remain on good behaviour while serving the remainder of their sentence in the community.

The person who bribed the elder Greenfield told police he handed over the wads of cash because the CMFEU state secretary "helped us do things", the court was previously told.

The man, who cannot be named, was in 2022 sentenced to two-and-a-half years' imprisonment, to be served in the community. 

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NZTA revoked 440 commercial licences after finding false conversion papers.

The infant remains in a serious condition in hospital after the Avalon incident.