US President Donald Trump spoke on Friday with Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado after his administration denounced the committee awarding her the honour.

Trump has made no secret of his desire to win the prize.

A growing number of world leaders have also said he should win the award.

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Those calls increased as his Gaza peace plan gained momentum in recent days.

However, the nomination window closes at the end of January for the year, according to the award's website.

On Friday, the Nobel Committee announced the 2025 accolade would go to Machado for promoting democratic rights in Venezuela and "for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy."

Machado said in an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais that she had spoken with the US president but declined to offer details about their conversation.

The opposition leader, as she had in her post accepting the award, expressed gratitude to Trump.

In remarks Friday evening, Trump confirmed he spoke with Machado, adding that she was "very nice" in their call.

"The person who actually got the Nobel Prize called today, called me and said, 'I'm accepting this in honour of you, because you really deserved it,'" the president said.

"A very nice thing to do. I didn't, I didn't say, 'Then give it to me,' though I think she might have. She was very nice," Trump joked.

"I've been helping her along the way," Trump added.

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"They need a lot of help in Venezuela, it's a basic disaster. So, and you could also say it was given out for '24 and I was running for office in '24."

Shortly after the Nobel Prize announcement, the administration reacted negatively.

"The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace," White House communications director Steven Cheung said in a post on social media.

Machado won the award after years of efforts to promote democracy and has described her life's work as promoting "ballots over bullets."

She was driven into hiding in Venezuela amid a sharp crackdown on dissent by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

Many in the Trump administration had previously praised Machado's work.

The administration has also repeatedly denounced Maduro and has deployed a substantial military presence to the region to combat "narcotrafficking" – a campaign that many see as an attempt to weaken and potentially drive the Venezuelan leader from power.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio was among a group of lawmakers, including now US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, who nominated Machado for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2024.

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"In our work as policymakers who strive for democracy and human rights in the face of dictatorial regimes in the Western Hemisphere and beyond, we have rarely witnessed such courage, selflessness, and firm grasp of morality as we have in María Corina Machado," they wrote in a letter in November 2024.

"It is our firm belief that María Corina Machado's courageous and selfless leadership, and unyielding dedication to the pursuit of peace and democratic ideals, make her a most deserving candidate for this prestigious award," the group of Florida lawmakers wrote.

In April, Rubio called her "the personification of resilience, tenacity, and patriotism," someone who "has never backed down from her mission of fighting for a free, fair, and democratic Venezuela."

Trump himself, before his inauguration in January, said she was a freedom fighter who "MUST stay SAFE and ALIVE!"

Machado on Friday dedicated her Nobel Prize "to the suffering people of Venezuela and to President Trump for his decisive support of our cause!"

However, there were no warm words from the president's allies after her win and the perceived snubbing of Trump.

Richard Grenell, Trump's envoy for Venezuela, declared the "Nobel Prize died years ago."

Benjamin Gedan, the Venezuelan director at the National Security Council under the Obama administration, said it appeared the Nobel Committee was sending a message to both the United States and the Venezuelan opposition in its choice to award Machado the prize.

"The White House has been sending signals that it might use military force to topple this regime, and that it has the support of Maria Corina to do so," Gedan told CNN.

"It seems to me that the Nobel Committee would prefer that both the United States and the Venezuelan opposition continue to fight peacefully for change.

"I think the US reaction might reflect both things – frustration that Trump wasn't chosen but also discomfort with this critique of US policy in the Caribbean," he said.

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Although Trump did not speak publicly about Machado's win until early on Friday evening, he had, however, thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin hours earlier.

"There have been cases where the committee has awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to people who have done nothing for peace," Putin said in remarks in Tajikistan on Friday.

"Whether the current US president deserves the Nobel Prize or not, I don't know. But he's really doing a lot to resolve complex crises that last for years, even decades," he said.

"Thank you to President Putin!" Trump wrote in on Truth social, following Friday's announcement, which included a clip of the Russian President who has perpetuated an ongoing war against Ukraine and has defied Trump's own efforts to bring that conflict to an end.

In a rare sighting, a massive python was spotted at a national park in South Australia's northern Eyre Peninsula.

The south-western carpet python was spotted by reintroduction ecologist Tali Moyle at the Gawler Ranges National Park and was posted to South Australia's National Parks and Wildlife Services Instagram account as it slithered along a dusty trail.

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South-western carpet pythons – also known as Morelia imbricata – can grow anywhere from two-and-a-half metres to three metres in length and are usually nocturnal but occasionally bask in the sun.

Their natural habitats usually consist of patches of bushland, rocky outcrops and catchment areas.

The species of snake is native to Western Australia's south and South Australia's west.

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French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday re-appointed Sebastien Lecornu as prime minister, just days after his resignation, asking him to try again to form a government and produce a budget in a bid to end the country's political deadlock.

Lecornu’s re-appointment followed days of intense negotiations and came less than a week after he resigned amid infighting in his freshly named government.

France is struggling with mounting economic challenges and ballooning debt, and the political crisis is aggravating its troubles and raising alarm across the European Union.

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The appointment is widely seen as Macron's last chance to reinvigorate his second term, which runs until 2027.

Lacking a majority in the National Assembly to push through his agenda, Macron faces mounting criticism, including from within his own ranks, and has little room to maneuver.

Macron’s office released a one-sentence statement late Friday night announcing the appointment, one month after the statement issued a month ago when Lecornu was initially named and four days after he resigned.

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Lecornu said in a statement on social networks that he accepted the new job offer out of ″duty.″

He said he was given a mission ″to do everything to give France a budget by the end of the year and respond to the daily problems of our compatriots.″

All those who join his new government will have to renounce ambitions to run for president in 2027, Lecornu said, adding that the new Cabinet will ″incarnate renewal and a diversity of skills.″

″We must put an end to this political crisis that exasperates the French, and to this bad instability for France’s image and its interests,'' he wrote.

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Lecornu abruptly resigned Monday, only hours after unveiling a new Cabinet that drew opposition from a key coalition partner.

The shock resignation prompted calls for Macron to step down or dissolve parliament again, as he did in June 2024.

But they remained unanswered, with the president instead announcing on Wednesday that he would name a successor to Lecornu within 48 hours.

Political party leaders met for more than two hours Friday with Macron, at his request.

Some cautioned that another prime minister picked from the ranks of Macron's fragile centrist camp would risk being disavowed by Parliament's powerful lower house, prolonging the crisis.

“How can one expect that all this will end well?" said Marine Tondelier, leader of The Ecologists party.

“The impression we get is that the more alone he is, the more rigid he becomes.”

Worried investors

Over the past year, Macron’s successive minority governments have collapsed in quick succession, leaving the European Union’s second-largest economy mired in political paralysis as France is faced with a debt crisis.

At the end of the first quarter of 2025, France’s public debt stood at US$3.9 trillion, or 114 per cent of gross domestic product.

France’s poverty rate also reached 15.4 per cent in 2023, its highest level since records began in 1996, according to the latest data available from the national statistics institute.

The economic and political struggles are worrying financial markets, ratings agencies and the European Commission, which has been pushing France to comply with EU rules limiting debt.

The newly reappointed PM faces challenges

The two biggest opposition parties in the National Assembly, the far-right National Rally and the far-left France Unbowed party, weren't invited to the discussions Friday.

The National Rally wants Macron to hold fresh legislative elections and France Unbowed wants him to resign.

Lecornu argued earlier this week that Macron’s centrist bloc, its allies, and parts of the opposition could still clump together into a working government.

“There’s a majority that can govern,” he said.

“I feel that a path is still possible. It is difficult.”

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Lecornu will now have to seek compromises to avoid an immediate vote of no confidence and may even be forced to abandon an extremely unpopular pension reform that was one of Macron's signature policies in his second presidential term.

Rammed through parliament without a vote in 2023 despite mass protests, it gradually raises the retirement age from 62 to 64.

Opposition parties want it to be scrapped.

The political deadlock stems from Macron’s shock decision in June 2024 to dissolve the National Assembly.

The snap elections produced a hung parliament, with no bloc able to command a majority in the 577-seat chamber.

The gridlock has unnerved investors, infuriated voters, and stalled efforts to curb France’s spiraling deficit and public debt.

Without stable support, Macron’s governments have stumbled from one crisis to the next, collapsing as they sought backing for unpopular spending cuts.

Lecornu’s resignation, just 14 hours after announcing his Cabinet, underscored the fragility of the president’s coalition amid deep political and personal rivalries.

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A blast that levelled an explosives plant in rural Tennessee has left nineteen people missing and feared dead, authorities said.

Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said the blast at Accurate Energetic Systems, which supplies the military, was one of the worst scenes he's ever seen. He said multiple people were killed but declined to say how many, referring to the nineteen missing as "souls" because officials were still speaking to family.

"There's nothing to describe. It's gone," Davis said of the plant.

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The blast occurred about 7:45am, Davis said, with aerial footage by WTVF-TV showing the smouldering hilltop facility and the burnt-out shells of vehicles.

People reported hearing and feeling the explosion from kilometres away. The company's website says it makes and tests explosives at an eight-building facility that sprawls across wooded hills in the Bucksnort area, about ninety-seven kilometres southwest of Nashville.

Davis said investigators are trying to determine what happened and couldn't say what caused the explosion.

There's no further danger of explosions, and the scene was under control Friday afternoon, according to Grey Collier, a spokesperson for the Humphreys County Emergency Management Agency.

Emergency crews were initially unable to enter the plant because of continuing detonations, Hickman County Advanced EMT David Stewart said by phone. He didn't have any details on casualties.

Accurate Energetic Systems, based in nearby McEwen, did not immediately respond to a phone message seeking comment Friday morning.

"This is a tragedy for our community," McEwen Mayor Brad Rachford said in an email. He referred further comment to a county official.

Residents in Lobelville, a twenty-minute drive from the scene, said they felt their homes shake and some people captured the loud boom of the explosion on their home cameras.

The blast rattled Gentry Stover from his sleep.

"I thought the house had collapsed with me inside of it," he said by phone. "I live very close to Accurate and I realised about thirty seconds after I woke up that it had to have been that."

State Rep. Jody Barrett, a Republican from the neighbouring town of Dickson, was worried about the possible economic impact because the plant is a key employer in the area.

"We live probably 15 miles (24km) as the crow flies and we absolutely heard it at the house," Barrett said.

"It sounded like something going through the roof of our house."

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US first lady Melania Trump said she had secured an open line of communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin about repatriating Ukrainian children caught up in the war with Russia, and that some have been returned to their families with more to be reunited soon.

"This remains an ongoing effort," she told reporters at the White House on Friday. She said Putin had responded to her letter earlier this year and that they remained in touch.

"President Putin and I have had an open channel of communication about the welfare of these children," she said.

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"For the past few months, both sides have participated in several back-channel meetings and calls."

The communication between the Russian president and the US first lady is unusual and reflects a minor bright spot in what have otherwise been largely futile attempts by Washington to end the war that Russia started with its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

President Trump, who has long touted a strong relationship with Putin and invited him to a summit in Alaska in August, has expressed frustration with the Russian leader in recent weeks for not ending the war, which Trump had promised as a candidate to do within a day.

Trump delivered a letter from his wife to Putin at the Alaska meeting.

Ukraine has called the abductions of tens of thousands of its children to Russia or Russian-occupied territory without the consent of family or guardians a war crime that meets the UN treaty definition of genocide.

Previously Moscow has said it has been protecting vulnerable children from a war zone.

The first lady said on Friday her representative was working directly with Putin's team to secure the safe reunification of children with their families between Russia and Ukraine.

Eight children had been returned to their families within the last 24 hours, she said.

"Russia continues to cooperate with the United States in various areas, including humanitarian ones. We appreciate Melania Trump's humanitarian leadership," said Russia's presidential envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who was involved in discussions.

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Tens of thousands of Palestinians headed back to the heavily destroyed northern Gaza Strip on Friday as a US-brokered ceasefire came into effect in a deal that raised hopes for ending the Israel-Hamas war. All the remaining hostages were set to be released within days.

Questions remain over who will govern Gaza as Israeli troops gradually pull back and whether Hamas will disarm, as called for in US President Donald Trump's ceasefire plan.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who unilaterally ended a ceasefire in March, hinted that Israel might renew its offensive if Hamas does not give up its weapons.

The latest truce nevertheless marks a key step toward ending a ruinous two-year war that was triggered by Hamas' 2023 attack on Israel.

The fighting has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and displaced around 90 per cent of the Gaza population of some 2 million, often multiple times.

Many of them will find fields of rubble where their homes once stood.

The military confirmed the start of the ceasefire on Friday, and the remaining 48 hostages, around 20 of them believed to be alive, are to be released by Monday.

Palestinians said heavy shelling in parts of Gaza earlier on Friday had mostly stopped after the military's announcement.

Netanyahu said in a televised statement on Friday that the next stages would see Hamas disarm and Gaza demilitarised.

"If this is achieved the easy way — so be it. If not — it will be achieved the hard way," Netanyahu said. He added that Hamas agreed to the deal "only when it felt that the sword was on its neck — and it is still on its neck."

The Israeli military has said it will continue to operate defensively from the roughly 50 per cent of Gaza it still controls after pulling back to agreed-upon lines.

Meanwhile, the United Nations was given the green light by Israel to begin delivering scaled-up aid into Gaza starting Sunday, a UN official said. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public.

The aid will include 170,000 metric tons that have already been positioned in neighboring countries such as Jordan and Egypt as humanitarian officials awaited permission from Israeli forces to restart their work.

In the last several months, the UN and its humanitarian partners have only been able to deliver 20 per cent of the aid needed in the Gaza Strip, according to UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher.

People on the move

A steady stream of people, the vast majority on foot, crammed onto a coastal road in the central Gaza Strip, heading north to see what might remain of their homes.

It was a repeat of emotional scenes from an earlier ceasefire in January. Others headed to other parts of the Palestinian territory in the south.

The destruction they find this time will be even greater, after Israel waged a new offensive in Gaza City, in the north, in recent weeks.

The military bombed high-rises and blew up homes in what it said was an attempt to destroy Hamas' remaining military infrastructure.

Palestinians have expressed relief that the war may end, tempered with concern about the future and lingering pain from the staggering death and destruction.

"There wasn't much joy, but the ceasefire somewhat eased the pain of death and bloodshed, and the pain of our loved ones and brothers who suffered in this war," said Jamal Mesbah, who was displaced from the north and plans to return.

In Gaza's southern city of Khan Younis, hundreds of Palestinians returning to their homes found wrecked buildings, rubble and destruction after Israeli troops withdrew.

"There was nothing left. Just a few clothes, pieces of wood and pots," said Fatma Radwan, who was displaced from Khan Younis. People were still trying to retrieve bodies from under the rubble, she added.

Many buildings were flattened, and none was undamaged, as people went back to search for their belongings.

"We came to a place that is unidentifiable. An unidentifiable town. Destruction is everywhere," said Hani Omran, who was also displaced from Khan Younis.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel on October 7, 2023, killing some 1200 people and taking 251 hostage.

In Israel's ensuing offensive, more than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and nearly 170,000 wounded, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children.

The ministry is part of the Hamas-run government, and the United Nations and many independent experts consider its figures to be the most reliable estimate of wartime casualties.

The war has also triggered other conflicts in the region, sparked worldwide protests and led to allegations of genocide that Israel denies.

How the agreement is expected to unfold

Israel is set to release around 2000 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the remaining hostages.

A list Israel published Friday did not include high-profile prisoner Marwan Barghouti, the most popular Palestinian leader and a potentially unifying figure.

Israel views him and other high-profile prisoners as terrorists and has refused to release them in past exchanges.

Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official and lead negotiator, said on Thursday evening that all women and children held in Israeli jails will be freed.

The hostage and prisoner releases are expected to begin Monday, two Egyptian officials briefed on the talks and a Hamas official said, though another official said they could occur as early as Sunday night. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be publicly named speaking about the negotiations.

A relative of one of the Israeli hostages believed to have died in captivity says the family is hoping that his body will be returned for burial.

"It's a measured sense of hope in all hostage families,'' said Stephen Brisley, whose sister, Lianne Sharabi, and her two teenage daughters were killed at Kibbutz Be-eri in southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Lianne's husband, Eli Sharabi, was eventually released, but his brother, Yossi, is believed to have died in an air strike in January 2024. The family hopes to give him a dignified burial.

"It's a guarded optimism because it's the kind of optimism that's born out of heartbreaking experience. We hold our hope lightly because we've had our hopes dashed before," Brisley told The Associated Press from his home in South Wales.

"It still feels like a long way between the announcement of the deal and actually getting Yossi's body back to bury him.''

As part of the deal, five border crossings are expected to reopen, including the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, Egyptian and Hamas officials said. That will allow aid to flow into the territory, parts of which are experiencing famine.

The Trump plan calls for Israel to maintain an open-ended military presence inside Gaza, along its border with Israel. An international force, comprised largely of troops from Arab and Muslim countries, would be responsible for security inside Gaza.

To help support and monitor the ceasefire deal, US officials said they would send about 200 troops to Israel as part of a broader, international team. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details not authorised for release.

The US would also lead a massive internationally funded reconstruction effort.

The plan also envisions an eventual role for the Palestinian Authority — something Netanyahu has long opposed. But it requires the authority, which administers parts of the West Bank, to undergo a sweeping reform program that could take years.

The Trump plan is even more vague about a future Palestinian state, which Netanyahu firmly rejects.

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María Corina Machado, a Venezuelan opposition leader driven into hiding since a disputed election last year, has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize for keeping "the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness".

Machado received the accolade for tirelessly promoting democratic rights in Venezuela and "for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy", the Norwegian Nobel Committee said on Friday, announcing the award at a ceremony in Oslo.

Born in Caracas, Venezuela's capital, in 1967, Machado trained as an industrial engineer before entering politics. In 2002, she founded Súmate, a volunteer group that promotes political rights and monitors elections.

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Machado has described her life's work as promoting "ballots over bullets". The Nobel committee lauded her as "one of the most extraordinary examples of civilian courage in Latin America in recent times".

"Oh my god … I have no words," Machado said after being woken in the middle of the night by a phone call from the committee to tell her she had won the prize.

"This is a movement, this is an achievement of a whole society," she added.

"I am just one person. I certainly do not deserve this."

Although the White House criticised the committee for overlooking the peacemaking efforts of Donald Trump – who has long publicly coveted the prize – the US president praised Machado in January for "peacefully expressing the voices and the WILL of the Venezuelan people".

Machado's work has become more difficult over time. Freedom House, a monitoring group, says Venezuela's democratic institutions have deteriorated since 1999 and "have grown sharply worse in recent years" due to a harsh crackdown by the government of President Nicolás Maduro.

Machado attempted to run against Maduro in the 2024 presidential election, but her candidacy was voided by the regime. She then switched her support to the party of Edmundo González Urrutia, and worked to mobilise citizens and train election observers to try to ensure the vote was free and fair.

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Both Maduro and González claimed victory after the vote. When Venezuela's government-aligned electoral authorities declared Maduro the winner, with 51.95 per cent of the vote, opposition forces cried foul. Analysts reported "suspicious" data patterns in the reported results. One expert said there was about a "one in 100 million chance that this particular pattern will occur by chance".

After the election, Machado claimed she could prove that Maduro had lost "in a landslide to Edmundo, 67 per cent to 30 per cent". Writing in the Wall Street Journal, she said her group had "receipts obtained directly from more than 80 per cent of the nation's polling stations".

The Nobel committee praised Machado on Friday for making sure "the final tallies were documented before the regime could destroy the ballots and lie about the outcome". At the time, the Biden administration also concurred that there was "overwhelming evidence" that Maduro lost the vote.

After declaring victory, the Maduro government moved to crack down on dissent. Human Rights Watch, a monitoring group, said this year that the government has "killed, tortured, detained, and forcefully disappeared people seeking democratic change".

As a result, Machado has lived in hiding in Venezuela since last year, resurfacing briefly during protests in January. Speaking to CNN from an unknown location in August 2024, Machado said the regime had "lost total touch with reality and lost its social base", allowing her movement – with no resources, and operating under strict censorship – to mobilise "millions of Venezuelans" committed to democracy.

"Everyone in Venezuela is afraid of losing our freedom or even our lives," she told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. "But above all we are committed to make the truth prevail … and get a transition to democracy peacefully."

Democracy a 'precondition' for peace

The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded each year to the individual or organisation which has done the most to satisfy the terms set out in the will of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist whose fortune established the Nobel Prizes.

The will says the award will be given to "the person who shall have done the most or the best work for fraternity between nations and the abolition or reduction of standing armies and the formation and spreading of peace congresses".

Jørgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, said Machado had satisfied the full criteria.

"She has brought her country's opposition together. She has never wavered in resisting the militarisation of Venezuelan society. She has been steadfast in her support for a peaceful transition to democracy," he said Friday.

In selecting Machado as this year's laureate, the committee signaled its concerns about the health of democracy worldwide, according to Karim Haggag, director of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

"The Nobel Committee clearly chose to highlight democracy as a priority area, underscoring that this award comes at a time of global backsliding of democratic values and norms," Haggag told CNN.

Nina Græger, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, said Machado's award is "above all, a prize for democracy".

"Research shows that democracy is an important precondition for peace. At a moment when authoritarianism is on the rise across the world, this award highlights the courage of those who defend freedom with ballots, not bullets," she told CNN.

Analysts say the committee often uses the prize to send a message about areas of concern over the past year. The 2024 prize went to Nihon Hidankyo, a grassroots Japanese organisation of atomic bomb survivors, at a time when the world was once again confronting the spectre of nuclear weapons, amid Russia's threats during its war in Ukraine.

'Politics over peace'

Friday's award came after a months-long campaign of self-promotion by Trump, who stressed repeatedly that he believed he deserved the prize for ending "unsolvable" wars during his second term.

Although Trump scored a major diplomatic victory this week in announcing the first phase of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, this likely came too late to influence the Nobel committee. Nominations for this year's prize closed on January 31, when Trump had only been in office for 11 days.

The White House nonetheless criticised the committee for snubbing Trump.

"President Trump will continue making peace deals, ending wars, and saving lives," said communications director Steven Cheung.

"The Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace."

The prize also comes at a time of rising antagonism between the United States and Venezuela, with the US military carrying out lethal strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela, which the Trump administration has deemed to be "narco-trafficking" vessels.

The US has also deployed at least seven warships to the southern Caribbean and announced a $US50 million ($76 million) reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest. The Venezuelan president who has faced formal drug trafficking charges from the Justice Department since 2020.

The peace prize carries a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1.7 million) and will be formally presented at a ceremony in Oslo in December.

Frydnes, the chair of the committee, could not confirm whether Machado will be able to attend.

"It's a question of security. It's too early to say. We always hope to have the laureate with us in Oslo, but this is a serious security situation which needs to be handled first," Frydnes said.

Dozens more police have been brought in to search for Dezi Freeman on the same day it emerged that only a stroke of luck allegedly prevented the accused cop-killer from shooting a fourth officer in August.

The fugitive allegedly tried to open fire on a fourth officer after a warrant was served on him at his residence in Porepunkah on August 26, but the homemade firearm jammed before a bullet could be fired, 9News understands.

The new details from the shooting, first reported by the Herald Sun, revealed that Freeman, who is accused of killing police officers Neal Thompson and Vadim De Waart-Hottart and wounding a third officer, allegedly aimed a homemade shotgun at a fourth officer and pulled the trigger.

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However, the gun did not fire and the officer was unhurt.

Freeman has not been seen since the shooting in late August in Porepunkah, in north-east Victoria, despite a huge manhunt for him ever since.

Today, police announced that 33 extra officers from the public order response team were brought up to the High Country to launch an additional sweep of the area.

A Victoria Police spokesperson also said authorities have searched "a number" of private properties in Porepunkah over the past two days as part of the manhunt.

"The search involves a number of specialist services and follows intensive searches conducted by tactical police in the area over the past seven weeks," the spokesperson said.

They added that the police presence in the area remains "significant", more than a month after the horrific shooting.

"We are committed to using every available resource and the necessary skills required to find Freeman," the spokesperson said.

Police have previously said it is believed Freeman, a so-called sovereign citizen, fled the property still heavily armed.

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Freeman's brother recently said he suspected the fugitive was dead, according to a controversial YouTube host.

Police have said they are open to that possibility and have been searching the area with cadaver dogs, but they have said Freeman could also be alive and receiving assistance from somebody in the community.

Investigators have characterised Freeman, who has links to the disparate sovereign citizen movement, as a skilled outdoorsman.

A $1 million reward for information leading to his arrest remains available, and anyone with information about his whereabouts has been urged to call triple zero.

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A man has faced court and a Sydney grandmother is fighting for life after she was allegedly punched in the head while on a walk with her six-year-old grandson.

The 71-year-old woman was on Francis Street in Strathfield about 12.10pm yesterday when police say she encountered 52-year-old John Bozic, who was walking his dog.

It will be alleged Bozic's dog took the boy's ball and the grandmother had words with him before turning to her 46-year-old son-in-law looking for assistance.

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Police allege Bozic assaulted the son-in-law before turning on the grandmother.

"Police will then allege the 52-year-old man approached the 71-year-old grandmother and with one hit has punched her in the head," Superintendent Robert Toynton said.

"The lady has then fallen to the ground and subsequently a short time later police and emergency services were called to that location."

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Bozic was arrested at a home in Strathfield at 8.30am today and taken to Auburn Police Station.

He was charged with wounding a person with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm and common assault.

He appeared in Burwood Local Court and was refused bail.

The magistrate said it appeared it was a "deliberate assault which had racial implications".

CCTV from the scene shows the little boy grabbing his ball and dragging his bike away after the alleged assault.

The six-year-old raise the alarm with his mother and she rushed to the scene.

The grandmother was rushed to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in a critical condition and underwent emergency surgery to have part of her skull removed.

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"That woman is still in a critical condition," Toynton said.

"Her condition is what I would call grave – she's very, very unwell.

"From my experience as a police officer, this is an absolutely abhorrent attack.

"It is an unprovoked attack and it absolutely sickens us that this has happened in our community.

"But what we want to assure the community of is as police we will act swiftly, we will put all of our resources into these types of offences and we will arrest people and put them before the courts as quickly as we can."

The alleged attack has sent shockwaves through the community.

"We were just disgusted obviously for something of that nature to occur," resident Julie Huynh said.

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Exclusive: The heartbroken family of the former UFC fighter killed in a brazen daylight execution in Sydney's north-west this week has opened up about his murder, saying he didn't deserve to die.

Mixed martial arts fighter Suman Mokhtarian was gunned down while walking down a street in Riverstone on Wednesday evening, with the shooters fleeing the scene in a red Audi.

While a hunt is still under way for the killers, Mokhtarian's grandmother, Ershat, spoke to 9News about the murder, saying the 33-year-old didn't deserve to die.

READ MORE: Search for two shooters following daylight killing of ex-UFC fighter

"My grandchild, I love him too much, I love him too much," she said.

"(He was a) very good person, I cannot believe that … he's dead."

Mokhtarian had fought twice in the UFC from 2018-2019, losing both bouts before focusing more on coaching.

9News understands Mokhtarian had been told by police his life was in danger, and that he had survived an assassination attempt last year outside his Wentworthville gym that he co-owned with his brother.

Earlier this year, police had cancelled a mixed martial arts event in western Sydney on the basis that there was a risk Mokhtarian would be attacked.

Following his shooting, police said they were putting "a lot of resources" into tackling gangland crime in Sydney.

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