A court heard the victim had been affected psychologically, physically and spiritually.

The high-profile Northland figure is fighting to keep identity hidden in assault case.

Snapchat has begun charging users up to $15.99 a month to keep their memories saved on their accounts, admitting it is never easy to start paying for a service that was previously free.

Users have been able to save their photos as memories on their accounts for free since 2016.

But now, the social media platform has rolled out storage plans for those who have memories exceeding more than 5GB of storage.

READ MORE: Optus owner, Netflix among companies that earned billions but paid no tax

It will cost $2.99 a month to upgrade to 100GB of storage, $5.99 a month to upgrade to Snapchat+ for 250GB of storage and $15.99 a month to upgrade to Snapchat Platinum for 5TB of storage.

At its peak, users could be paying up to $191.88 a year. 

"For the vast majority of Snapchatters, who have less than 5GB of Memories, nothing will change," Snapchat said in a statement.

"For Snapchatters with more than 5GB of Memories, meaning thousands of Snaps, we are rolling out new options to upgrade and increase storage."

Snapchat will provide 12 months of temporary storage for those who exceed 5GB, as they decide whether to upgrade or download their memories to their device and delete them from the app. 

READ MORE: Why does Trump keep posting this fake video of a man in a sombrero and moustache?

Snapchat said it never expected memories to grow to what it has today, with more than 1 trillion photos saved on accounts around the world. 

"It's never easy to transition from receiving a service for free to paying for it, but we hope the value we provide with Memories is worth the cost," it said.

"These changes will allow us to continue to invest in making Memories better for our entire community."

Australians are being charged more and more for online and digital services, with Apple TV+, Spotify and Netflix raising their subscription prices in recent months. 

Nine, the publisher of this website, owns streaming service Stan.

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Police say more than 70 people have joined the search over the past week.

The number of confirmed cases has now risen to nine. The latest three were close contacts.

A fire investigator has examined the scene, as police investigate a wilful damage report.

Passengers were “thrown forward” in their seats, with some adopting the brace position.

US President Donald Trump keeps posting what appears to be an AI-generated video of a man in a sombrero and moustache, but why?

Trump posted a 34-second snippet of Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer speaking at a press conference shortly after they met to negotiate a deal and avoid a government shutdown on Tuesday.

But he made some controversial changes to it.

READ MORE: The US government has been shut down. What does that mean, exactly?

Jeffries is wearing a fake sombrero and moustache while Schumer is speaking in a fake voice disparaging Democrats.

"There's no way to sugarcoat it: Nobody likes Democrats anymore," the fake voice says as mariachi music plays in the background.

Jeffries and Schumer are two outspoken Democrats who have dug their heels in trying to achieve an extension of healthcare benefits through federal funding.

The Republicans, who have falsely claimed the Democrats want the benefits for unauthorised immigrants from Latin America, have refused to grant or negotiate their request.

The impasse led to a government shutdown yesterday, on the first day of the US fiscal year.

https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1973537176471347593

Jefferies has described Trump's AI video as racist.

"Mr President, the next time you have something to say about me, don't cop out through a racist and fake AI video," he told reporters on Capitol Hill.

"When I'm back in the Oval Office, say it to my face."

An official government page reposted a clip of Jefferies' comments with the caption: "Oh no! Hakeem is BIG MAD!"

Trump has gone on to create yet another AI video of Jefferies, this time taking it from his interview with MSNBC about the initial video. 

https://x.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1973218518893207825

Schumer accused Trump of treating a government shutdown as a joke.

"If you think your shutdown is a joke, it just proves what we all know: You can't negotiate. You can only throw tantrums," he wrote on X.

Today, the AI video was played on a loop to reporters in the White House briefing room as Vice President JD Vance and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt fielded questions.

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Vance brushed off criticism over the video, saying it was a joke and he was unsure why it was seen as racist.

"I think it's funny. The president's joking, and we're having a good time," he said.

"You can negotiate in good faith while also poking a little bit of fun at some of the absurdities of the Democrats' positions and even poking some fun at the absurdity of the Democrats themselves."

Vance laughed as he urged Jefferies to reopen the government in exchange for the fake videos to stop.

"I'll tell Hakeem Jeffries right now, I make the solemn promise to you that if you help us reopen the government, the sombrero memes we'll stop," he said. 

READ MORE: Chimp expert, legendary activist Jane Goodall dies aged 91

Leavitt addressed Trump's love for memes when she was asked after another AI-generated video he posted and later deleted about the medbed conspiracy.

"He likes to share memes, he likes to share videos, he likes to repost things that he sees other people post on social media as well," she said.

"I think it's quite refreshing that we have a president who is so open and honest directly."

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More than a quarter of large companies in Australia paid no income tax in 2023-24, including the parent company of embattled telco Optus, streaming behemoth Netflix, and a slew of energy giants.

New data released today by the Australian Taxation Office revealed the proportion of large companies has fallen to its lowest level on record, dipping to 28 per cent from 31 per cent the year before.

"For the first time since corporate tax transparency (CTT) reporting began, the amount of entities paying no tax has dropped below 30 per cent," ATO assistant commissioner Michelle Sams said. 

READ MORE: Commonwealth Bank hit with major outage as online banking and ATMs go down

"This is the lowest proportion of nil tax entities in eleven years of CTT reporting and in part reflects the continued efforts of the Tax Avoidance Taskforce in holding large corporates to account."

However, some companies that reported billions in income for the 2023-24 financial year didn't pay a cent in tax.

The group includes Optus' owner Singtel, which had $8.2 billion in income, Netflix, which had income of $1.18 billion, and energy and resources companies Santos ($8.21 billion), AGL ($12.81 billion), and EnergyAustralia ($7 billion).

The company with the most income that paid no tax was global food giant JBS, which earned $19.71 billion.

An entity earning significant amounts of income is no guarantee of it making a profit – Australia Post, for example, paid no tax on its $9.29 billion in income after posting an almost $90 million loss in 2023-24 – and paying no tax is not illegal.

READ MORE: Hottest October day in years looming for one Aussie capital

"There are legitimate reasons why a company may pay no income tax," Sams said.

"The Australian community can be assured we pay close attention to those who don't pay corporate tax and ensure that they are not gaming the system."

However, Greens Senator Nick McKim said the number of companies paying no tax was far too high, and was proof the system needs fixing.

"Almost one in three big corporations paid nothing. That's an economy-wide rip off," he said.

"You know the system is cooked when people going to work every day as nurses, cleaners or plumbers are paying more tax than nearly a third of big corporations.

"Working people don't get the option of skipping their tax bill."

At the other end of the spectrum, mining giants Rio Tinto, BHP and Fortescue were the biggest taxpayers, with bills of $6.25 billion, $6 billion and $3.93 billion respectively.

It was the third year in a row the mining industry paid more tax than all other sectors combined.

READ MORE: Mushroom murderer to lodge appeal against convictions

The big four banks all paid in excess of $1 billion in tax, with Commonwealth Bank topping that list with $3.43 billion, and Telstra and Woolworths both a little over $750 million.

In total, large companies paid a combined $95.7 billion in income tax, down about $2 billion from the year before.

"While the tax paid by this population will reflect the economic conditions during the year, the overall trend is clear," Sams said. 

"The data continues to demonstrate the high levels of compliance amongst our largest corporates, which is what the Australian community expects.

"Australia has some of the highest levels of tax compliance of large business in the world."

Nine is the owner of streaming service Stan, a competitor to Netflix.

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A man accused of brutally murdering a father-of-two has been denied bail after being declared an unacceptable flight risk.

Emergency services were called to a home at Mount Tamborine, west of Queensland's Gold Coast, after midday on June 29, 2023.

They found 37-year-old Matthew Berry with fatal injuries to his head and upper body.

READ MORE: Mushroom murderer to lodge appeal against convictions

Daniel Robert McJannett, of Paradise Point, was charged a week later with his murder.

He was also accused of stealing CCTV equipment from Berry's home and possessing a large amount of cannabis.

McJannett was a groomsman at Berry's wedding two years before the alleged killing.

The now-39-year-old faced the Queensland Supreme Court in Brisbane today via video-link to apply for bail on his own behalf.

Due to the seriousness of the charge, McJannett needed to show cause for why his detention was unjustified, Justice Peter Callaghan said.

"He has been convicted many times for drug-related offending and there is also a record for weapons offending," the judge said.

"There is nothing that suggests he was capable of the violence that attended the brutal murder for which he is now charged."

McJannett said he would look for work and "things like that" if he was granted bail, confirming he was a qualified glazier and crane operator.

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The 39-year-old should be denied release as he had a history of committing serious offences while on bail and parole, crown prosecutor Zachary Kaplan told the court.

"The case against him in relation to murder is a strong one," Kaplan said.

"When he is before the Supreme Court on trial it will mark the third time in 10 years he has been before the state's most significant court and now for the most serious offence in our criminal code."

The value of McJannett's pledge to attend counselling for "some unknown, untreated, undiagnosed and underlying feature" if granted bail was also questioned by the prosecution.

"That all casts the inevitable conclusion that Mr McJannett is an unacceptable risk of committing further offences," Kaplan said.

Justice Callaghan said McJannett had made valid submissions but even stringent bail conditions would not be suitable.

"He faces a potentially strong case and the consequences of conviction will be severe so his incentive to flee is high," he said.

"His record for drug offending by itself suggests he is a risk of further offences if granted bail."

Justice Callaghan refused bail and noted both McJannett and prosecutors wanted the case to proceed swiftly to trial.

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