Tag Archives: oceania

Paedophile rock star Ian Watkins murdered in UK prison attack

Ian Watkins, the former frontman of Welsh rock band Lostprophets who was serving a 35-year sentence for child sex offences, has been killed in prison by another inmate, British media has reported.

Watkins, 48, was serving his sentence at Wakefield Prison in northern England.

"At 9.39am this morning, police were called by staff at HMP Wakefield reporting an assault on a prisoner," West Yorkshire Police said in a statement.

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Ian Watkins has been murdered in prison.

"Emergency services attended and the man was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later."

The statement did not name Watkins.

Police did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

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Ian Watkins performs in Manchester in November. (Getty)

Watkins was convicted in 2013 after pleading guilty to 13 charges.

He had admitted two attempted rapes, sexually assaulting a child under 13, aiding and abetting the sexual assault of a child under 13, conspiring to rape a child under 13 and conspiring to sexually assault another child under 13.

He had also pleaded guilty to six counts of taking and possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing extreme pornographic images.

Delivery rider hospitalised after crash with Porsche allegedly in police pursuit

A delivery rider in Sydney has been hospitalised after being involved in a collision with a Porsche that was allegedly involved in a pursuit with police.

Police say the chase with the Porsche began after they tried to stop it for speeding in Sydney's south during a routine patrol on the Bangor Bypass at around 12.30am today.

The driver of the Porsche refused to stop, according to police.

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Delivery rider porsche crash Bangor Bypass Sydney

"The pursuit was terminated a short time later for safety reasons," a NSW Police spokesperson told 9news.com.au.

Police found the Porsche a short time later after it had been involved in a collision with a delivery rider.

The rider, who is in his 20s, suffered serious injuries and was treated at the scene by paramedics.

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Porsche Bangor bypass crash Sydney

He was then taken to St George Hospital.

Police say the driver of the Porsche, a 52-year-old man, was not injured.

He was taken to Sutherland Police Station, where he has been assisting police with their investigation.

At this point in time, no charges have been laid.

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The grisly task that helped track down a man who murdered dozens of Aussies

Warning: This story contains details that some readers may find distressing.

"They actually take the skin off the skull, rebuild the head to the shape it would have been, and then put the skin… back over the head."

It sounds like a gruesome crime, but in actual fact it was the complete opposite: a crucial step undertaken by Australian Federal Police that helped track down a man who murdered hundreds of innocent civilians, including dozens of Australians.

That was then-AFP detective superintendent David Craig, who led the federal police response to the 2005 Bali bombings.

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Three coffins containing Australian victims of the 2005 Bali bombings, draped in an Australian flag.

Three of the most important pieces of the puzzle in tracking down the men behind the deadly attack were the heads of the trio of suicide bombers, which had been quickly retrieved by Indonesian authorities.

"The heads had been found in each bombsite, which they quite often are, because they're using a backpack," Craig told bombing survivor Joe Frost on the latter's podcast, Forgotten Bombs.

"It will usually just take out the middle torso… the blast then leaves, usually from the hips down and from the mid-shoulders, mid-neck up."

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AFP forensics officers working in a makeshift lab set-up in Kuta following the 2005 Bali bombings.

With Indonesian police getting no leads after issuing the gruesome images of the bombers' deformed heads, Craig had the AFP's forensics team reconstruct them to get pictures the public were actually able to recognise.

"Being able to identify who the bombers were, it's just a very important line of inquiry," he said. 

"So I spoke to our head of forensics as to what he would be able to do.

"And so I sent them up to Jakarta and they… did rebuild the heads."

Sometimes referred to as the "second Bali bombings" or just simply "Bali two", the 2005 terror attack is far less well-known than its 2002 predecessor that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians.

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The sun setting at Jimbaran Bay following the 2005 Bali bombings,

On the evening of October 1, 2005, three bombs were detonated in quick succession: one in the heart of Kuta, and two at Jimbaran Beach. 

Four Australians – as well as 15 Indonesians and one Japanese citizen – were killed and more than a dozen more injured.

One of them was Frost, who had been at Nyoman cafe at Jimbaran, on holiday from the NSW city of Newcastle, when the bombs went off.

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2005 Bali bombings survivor Joe Frost shows the scars on his legs from the attack on October 4, 2005.

Two people to his left had to be flown to Singapore for treatment for their injuries, while two to his right – Colin and Fiona Zwolinski – were killed by the blast.

"I had come away with blown-out eardrums," Frost, whose legs were also significantly scarred, said on Forgotten Bombs

"Beyond 'wow, that's lucky', I had no explanation for how it was that I hadn't ended up in a hospital bed – or in the morgue."

The two main suspects behind the attack were Noordin Top – who was tracked down and killed by police in 2009 – and Azhari Husin.

Both were members of the Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic terror group Jemaah Islamiyah, and both were also involved in the 2002 Bali bombings.

After the AFP had reconstructed the bombers' heads, police received a string of leads which eventually led Indonesian police to a home in East Java, and a shootout with Azhari.

"An Indonesian police officer I know yelled out through the loudspeaker saying, you know, 'Azhari, we know you're in there. You need to come out. We have you surrounded, come out quickly,'" Craig said.

"And that was answered simply with automatic gunfire coming from the house almost immediately."

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A man starts cleaning up on Jimbaran beach following the 2005 Bali bombings.

The bomb-maker threw 11 explosives at police as he attempted to kill as many officers as possible, before he was shot and – as best as authorities could ascertain – ordered an associate who was with him to run out with a suicide vest.

"But unfortunately for Azhari… and quite fortunate for all of us, he actually flicked the wrong switch and detonated himself instantaneously, which definitely killed Azhari," Craig said.

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Azhari Husin.

"Azhari was alive at the time of that bomb, I'm sure… I've also read things that he detonated himself and things like that, but he didn't."

Released in the lead-up to the 20th anniversary of the terror attack earlier this month, Frost said Forgotten Bombs had originally been planned as a story about survivors.

But it morphed into a long and wide-ranging project that included interviewing both a Jemaah Islamiyah founding member and former prime minister Tony Abbott, who was in Bali when the attack was carried out.

"The seemingly simple question of 'who did this?' became far more complex and engrossing than I had ever imagined, spanning the globe from Bali to Guantanamo Bay, Australia to Afghanistan," he said.

"I wanted to properly tell the survivors' stories – not just the tragedy and the trauma, but also the experiences of bravery, mateship and even humour," he added.

The restaurant where Frost had been during the attack reopened a few weeks later, when one of its first post-bombing customers was Craig.

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Joe Frost, survivor of the 2005 Bali Bombing poses for a photo during the 2025 commemoration memorial service for the 2005 Bali Bombing at Bar Beach on October 01, 2025 in Newcastle, Australia.

"I wanted to send a message that Australians aren't going to be bullied," he told Frost. 

"And so I booked the very table that you would have been sitting at that night, on the night that it opened, and I invited the Indonesian police as well. 

"It wasn't a particularly relaxing meal, but for me, as an Australian, I wanted to stick it in the face of these pricks…

"There was shrapnel marks on the table and none of us really felt like eating, but we sat there and we talked and we, you know, just showed a unified front."

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Betting on using frequent flyer points for a holiday? Think again

Steve Hui is known as the "Points Whisperer", one of the Australia's foremost authorities on maximising return from frequent flyer points, and he has a warning for Aussies.

There's a huge change coming for the rewards landscape, and it's not looking good.

Hui predicts that the Reserve Bank of Australia's (RBA) proposed reforms banning surcharges on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa cards could slash the number of points everyday Aussies earn with each purchase.

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Steve Hui warned Aussies there are big changes coming to the way we earn frequent flyer points.

So if you're a Qantas Frequent Flyer, Virgin Velocity Frequent Flyer, or other points collector who earns through card purchases, you might soon be a lot worse off.

"Your ability to earn points will drop in a number of areas," Hui, founder of points travel advisory iFLYflat, told 9news.com.au.

"A lot of credit cards will have to change their reward system because the revenue won't be there to pay for these rewards at the current level."

For example, credit cards that currently offer one frequent flyer point per dollar spent may drop to one point per $2 spent, or more.

In short, earning frequent flyer points will get more expensive.

Hui said the RBA's proposed surcharge and interchange reforms will significantly impact how Aussies earn points and how many they can earn in a single transaction.

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Scrapping surcharges could hit credit card rewards

"I believe it will change the whole rewards landscape in Australia, and probably be the biggest change in 15 years," he said.

"What we don't know is when the changes are going to be implemented."

But as it becomes harder to earn points and the number of points required to access rewards keeps going up, is it even worth it for everyday Aussies to be part of frequent flyer loyalty programs anymore?

A growing number of consumers don't seem to think so.

New research from Finder revealed 57 per cent of Aussies – equivalent to more than 12 million people – no longer see the value in Qantas or Virgin's programs.

Only one in three think Qantas Frequent Flyer points are worth the chase, and just one in four believe Virgin Velocity points are worth it.

These attitudes should come as no surprise, given that Velocity recently slashed the number of points non-Velocity credit card holders earned per dollar while Qantas hiked up the points needed to redeem fares.

Hui understands why some Aussies have been turned off frequent flyer programs but said they still have plenty of value for those who play it smart.

"It really all comes down to people working out what's the cost versus benefit of the points," he said.

"If benefit exceeds cost, then it's always worthwhile."

The cost is the fee paid to collect the points, like annual credit card fees or surcharges, while benefit can be rewards like flights and seat upgrades.

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Rear view of a  woman at the airport holding a passport with a boarding pass as she walks to her departure gate

But making the most of your points isn't as simple as accruing a bunch and spending them on anything.

The biggest mistake Aussies make with frequent flyer programs is not knowing how many points they actually need to get the rewards they want.

Hui said the best tactic is to decide where you want to go and what class of fare you want, find out how many points it costs, and work backwards.

Work out which retailers offer the points you're collecting and prioritise them whenever you can, from the supermarket (Qantas Points with Everyday Rewards at Woolworths) to the petrol station (Velocity Points at 7-Eleven stores.

Hui also encourages everyday consumers to pick one program and stick with it to hit their points goals and earn rewards faster.

Spreading points around usually only works for business travellers who fly constantly, who can learn how to optimise their points with a membership program Hui is set to launch next week.

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Steve Hui is the founder and chief executive of iFLYflat, Australia's top points travel experts.

If you're tossing up which frequent flyer program to focus on, Hui's favourites in 2025 have been Virgin, Qatar and Cathay Pacific.

Qantas didn't make the cut, but don't jump ship if you're already collecting Qantas points.

Instead, Hui said to focus on accruing as many points as possible in the program you're already with before the RBA's proposed surcharge reforms kick in and potentially slash your earning power.

"Make hay when the sun shines because the system's always changing and if you wait, then you may miss out."

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Man dies after being pulled from water at popular Gold Coast beach

A man has died after being pulled unconscious from the water of a popular Gold Coast beach. 

The 54-year-old went swimming at The Spit this morning when he ran into trouble and was spotted unconscious by members of the public.

Surf Life Saving Queensland duty officer Ken Lloyd said it is understood the man was with his carer.

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A man has died after being pulled unconscious from the water of a popular Gold Coast beach. The 54-year-old went swimming at The Spit this morning when he ran into trouble. Families nearby used picnic rugs to shelter the man as lifeguards and paramedics performed CPR.

"He took on a lot of water and blacked out, that's the information that we've got," Lloyd said.

Families nearby used picnic rugs to shelter the man as lifeguards and paramedics performed CPR. 

Despite their best efforts, the man couldn't be revived.

"The public were great, they helped shade him, keep the kids away," Lloyd said.

"They rescued the carer as well."

It is the second drowning on the Gold Coast in less than two weeks.

A 26-year-old Indian man died after being pulled from the water by lifesavers at a nearby beach.

"Water is dangerous, hopefully it's not a sign of things for the summer," Lloyd said.

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