Federal Labor MP and Special Envoy for Remote Communities Marion Scrymgour has opened up about her son's battle with drug addiction after he landed in court earlier this week.

Her 43-year-old son Richard was remanded in custody and appeared at Darwin Local Court on Tuesday, where he pleaded guilty to shoplifting and driving an unregistered and uninsured vehicle.

Scrymgour said she made no excuses for him but offered a partial explanation for his current and previous string of offences.

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She said her son was once a "proud and dependable worker" with many children and grandchildren, but now "struggles with and succumbs to" his addiction to methamphetamine.

"There may be no end to this journey – I don't at the moment see any light at the end of the tunnel," she said.

Scrymgour shared that she was struggling to navigate his addiction.

"So where to from here? Not just for me but for all the families trying to make sense of and navigate a pathway through the methamphetamine scourge?" she said.

"The answer is that I don't know.

"I certainly don't claim to have any special insight or capacity to fix things just because I am an elected member of parliament.

"If anything, at a family level, that makes it harder because I am away so much and can't always follow through on an intervention or be consistently present to prevent backsliding."

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The 64-year-old politician concluded her candid statement with a promise to help other families in similar situations.

"I have always spoken out for and in support of victims of crime, and I will continue to do so," she said.

"I believe in law and order and protecting the vulnerable.

"But I also need to do more, I need to do better, to assist those family members who are up for it throughout the Territory, especially older mothers like me, to salvage addiction-scarred human beings who, without help, will end up hurting themselves and others."

Scrymgour was first elected to the Northern Territory Legislative Assembly in 2001 before joining Labor and being elected as the Federal MP for Lingiari in 2022.

She has previously served as the deputy chief minister and held the child protection and natural resources, education and arts portfolios.

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Police believe a shooting in broad daylight in western Sydney this afternoon was a "targeted attack" linked to organised crime.

Shots were reportedly fired from a BMW into a Suzuki Swift by two males in balaclavas on Victor Street in Greystanes about 12pm today.

Shortly afterwards, the BMW was found set alight on Targo Road, Toongabbie.

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Superintendent Simon Glasser told media this afternoon that police believe the male and female in the Suzuki Swift were residents of the home where the car was parked.

"The occupants of the location in Greystanes are known to police, so we believe this is a targeted attack," he said.

Police arrived at the scene, but both cars had left.

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Investigations are under way and members of the public are urged to avoid the area.

About 20 minutes later, Fire and Rescue NSW were called to a car fire next to a block of units on Targo Road in Girraween.

"When firefighters arrived, the car was well alight," FRNSW Adam Dewberry said.

The Suzuki Swift was later found with damage on Whalan Road in Greystanes.

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"There's no information on how the fire started either."

There were no reported injuries following the incident.

The male who was in the Suzuki Swift is currently assisting police in the investigation.

Police have established crime scenes at all three locations.

It's been years since Alan Joyce last worked for Qantas, but the former chief executive has received one last multimillion-dollar payout from the national carrier.

The airline released its annual report this morning, which revealed all of the shares given to executives under the 2023-24 long-term incentives have been vested.

Joyce, who resigned early as Qantas boss in September 2023, had been awarded 353,956 shares under that long-term bonus plan, which, thanks to their June 30 price of $10.74, will net him a payday of slightly more than $3.8 million.

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Qantas' share price a year earlier was sitting at $5.85 – almost half what it is today.

Elsewhere in the airline's remuneration report, it was revealed Joyce's successor, current chief executive Vanessa Hudson, took home more than $6.3 million in cash, bonuses and other incentives and benefits.

That's a jump of almost $2 million from the year before, but it would have been even higher had the airline not lost the personal data of millions of customers when it was hit by a cyberattack in late June.

Executives had their short-term bonuses cut by 15 per cent due to that incident – a blow of $250,000 for Hudson.

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"While management took immediate action to contain the breach, support customers and put additional protections in place, in recognition of the seriousness of the incident, we decided to reduce 2024/25 short-term bonuses by 15 percentage points for the CEO and Executive Management," chairman John Mullen said. 

"This decision demonstrates our commitment to creating a culture of accountability and ownership."

However, there was no further penalty for executives over the illegal sacking of more than 1800 workers, which Qantas was fined a record $90 million for last month.

Mullen said the board had "comprehensively dealt with the remuneration consequences for management from this matter in 2023/24".

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Police have released CCTV of two men who allegedly sprayed an oil-based substance onto the walls, floor and steps of the Anzac Memorial in Sydney's Hyde Park yesterday.

Chief Inspector Gary Coffey said the "disgusting" vandalism to the heritage-listed site would cost up to $20,000 to remove.

The two middle-aged men allegedly responsible can be seen on the footage moving casually around the site, appearing to spray a substance onto the walls, steps and floor.

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Coffey said the men were at the memorial for 20 minutes and at one point even engaged with staff.

The men then left the memorial together and walked north through Hyde Park.

Cleaners are at the site today, attempting to remove the oil-based substance, which Coffey said had caused "permanent" staining to the granite.

"The war memorial is a sacred site to our community and to do this is absolutely disgusting," Coffey said.

"Their actions to my mind were certainly deliberate.

"Someone will know them and they should be held accountable for their actions."

The first man is described as Caucasian, about 50 to 60 years old, with a large build and black and grey hair.

He was wearing black sunglasses, a red and black check long sleeve shirt with a blue striped shirt underneath, light-coloured shorts, black boots with black socks and carrying a red shopping bag cart.

The second man is described as Caucasian, about 50 to 60 years old, with a solid build and shaved head.

He was seen wearing a dark blue button-up collared shirt, dark jeans and black sneakers with white trim and was carrying a brown and black man bag.

Anyone with information is urged to contact police.

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Dashcam footage has captured the moment a motorcyclist allegedly passed police at 218km/h on the New England Highway on Queensland's Southern Downs.

The footage shows police driving in the passing lane of the highway at 12.50pm when they are passed by the motorcycle travelling in the opposite direction.

Police say the 2025 BMW S1000RR motorcycle was travelling at 218km/h.

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That particular stretch of the New England Highway is a 100km/h zone and is tree-lined with minimal shoulders.

Police pulled the driver over on McEvoy Street in Warwick shortly afterwards.

"Mate, he's clocked you at a phenomenal speed," the arresting officer tells the driver in bodycam video of the arrest.

The 51-year-old man was fined $1919 and received eight demerit points.

The arrest coincides with the beginning of Rural Road Safety Month this week.

"There's no excuse for travelling at excessive speed anywhere, anytime but even more so on roads where there are several additional road hazards to deal with," Warwick Patrol group Inspector Kelly Hanlen said.

"This includes road conditions like loose gravel and narrow lanes as well as wildlife encounters, reduced visibility from dust or fog, reduced lighting and increased risk of driver fatigue."

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Australian small to medium businesses are stuggling, with more than three quarters having faced a cash flow crisis in the past 12 months.

Tariffs and a cost-of-living crisis have forced many owners to take out business loans or dip into their own personal savings just to stay afloat.

And if nothing changes, it could put thousands out of business – and hurt everyday Aussies' hip pockets.

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Daniel Trkulja, 27, started his business ThreadLAB as a print shop in 2015 and spent the last decade bulding it into a premium apparel printing business.

He should be riding the high of a job well done, but the last few years have been tough.

"A lot of trouble with tariffs and the trade war have come up, business has been tight, confidence in the market is down," he told 9news.com.au.

"And you're hearing more excuses when it comes to payment."

According to new data from Airwallex, late payments are costing Australian small to medium businesses $24,000 annually on average.

Trkulja confessed the uptick in clients paying late or asking for extensions has put financial pressure on him and the business.

"The biggest killer for cash flow is just getting paid on time," he said.

And that's provided he gets paid at all.

"In the last three months, we've had one client go bankrupt with over a million dollars of stock on the way to them, and another client do us for $200,000 because they decided to go bankrupt without telling anyone," Trkulja revealed.

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That kind of loss could quickly run a small to medium business into the ground.

Especially when so many are also struggling with higher overhead costs due to wage growth, rent and utilities in recent years.

An Airwallex survey of 500 Australian small to medium business owners and decision-makers found that more than half had to dip into personal savings to cover operational costs in the last 12 months.

Some industries have faced more hardship than others, especially those that are contract based like building and construction.

"It comes part and parcel for a small to medium business owner to dip in from time to time, but if it's increasing over time and is becoming more and more prevalent, that's concerning," Airwallex Head of Sales, SME and Growth Matt Patterson told 9news.com.au.

"If nothing changes, it's definitely going to be a period of sustained pressure."

More than a third of those surveyed took out business loans to manage shortfalls.

But for some small to medium businesses it's still not enough, and they're forced to shut up shop.

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The number of businesses entering insolvency risen sharply over the past couple of years according to the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), many of them due to challenging economic conditions.

"The flow on effects of that will be dramatic to individual Australians through less competition, increased prices, whatever it might be," Patterson said.

"So we need to make sure that we're protecting them [small to medium businesses] and providing as much support as we can to them."

Trkulja feels fortunate that his business is established enough to weather these financial challenges, especially with the support of financial technology companies.

But confessed that, had he faced this hardship earlier in his journey, it might have put ThreadLAB out of business.

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The Australian agriculture industry is booming despite local disasters, international strife and the chaos of US President Donald Trump's tariff regime, with the sector set to reach new heights in the current financial year.

The latest forecast from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) predicted the value of Australia's agricultural output to rise one per cent to $94.7 billion in 2025-2026, nearing the national goal of $100 billion by 2030.

This is largely to be driven by livestock feeding a growing global demand, with crop values to fall somewhat on the previous year.

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National Farmers Federaion president David Jochinke said despite the sector taking a hit from droughts, floods and uncertainty from global trade disruptions, farmers had held a steady hand.

"The lift is largely underpinned by strong livestock prices, but credit must be given to calm approach by the government and industry on the tariff turbulence," he said.

"Most of all, the result is also a reflection of blood, sweat and smart investment from farmers."

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Trump had previously bemoaned the volume of Australian beef that was imported into the US, particularly given the strict restrictions on US exports into Australia, some of which were lifted in July.

However, the tariffs imposed on Australian meat imports has remained at the baseline of 10 per cent.

Meat and Livestock Australia has said US demand for beef remains high, with Australian exports increasing 24 per cent year-on-year, despite the tariffs.

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Jochinke said with the 2030 goal within reach, another push was necessary to get Australia over the line.

"We need to seize opportunities in front of us, like the EU (free trade agreement), ensuring they deliver meaningful market access for Australian agriculture. This will be a smart move toward value-adding and market diversification," he said.

He also called for "red and green tape" to be cut.

"If government can back agriculture with the right policy settings, farmers will do the rest."

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US First Lady Melania Trump has made rare public remarks on calling on private and public sector leaders to prepare children for the growth of Artificial Intelligence (AI), during an event at the White House.

"The robots are here. Our future is no longer science fiction," Trump said on Thursday as she hosted a meeting of the White House Task Force on Artificial Intelligence Education, which marked her first public appearance since July 13.

"As leaders and parents, we must manage AI's growth responsibly. During this primitive stage, it is our duty to treat AI as we would our own children: empowering, but with watchful guidance," she said, calling on the leaders to prioritise infrastructure and energy, national security and talent as the technology expands.

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The first lady's presence at the meeting served as a renewed effort toward her first-term "Be Best" platform, which included a focus on online safety for children.

Since her husband's return to the White House, Trump has yet to substantively lay out new policy goals for "Be Best," but on Thursday she signalled her interest in expanding it to include responsible stewardship of AI.

She has highlighted both the opportunities and perils of the emerging technology, recently promoting a presidential AI competition for school-age children.

Earlier this year, she led an effort toward passing the "Take It Down Act," legislation aimed at protecting Americans from deepfake and revenge pornography.

"As someone who created an AI-powered audio book and championed online safety through the Take It Down Act, I've seen firsthand the promise of this powerful technology," she said in a video introducing the challenge.

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Thursday's event marked the first lady's eighth appearance at an official event at the White House during President Donald Trump's second term, underscoring her relative absence from Washington, DC, and selective use of her massive platform as an American first lady.

She's been seen in public 20 of the days since the president returned to office — less than half of the 46 days she was at this same point in his first term, when she'd attended multiple Oval Office meetings and news conferences with world leaders and made trips to seven countries.

But Melania Trump is in frequent communication with her husband, often in texts or calls exchanged throughout the day, according to sources familiar with the matter.

On Thursday, she addressed emerging technology alongside a cadre of Cabinet members and CEOs.

"We are living in a moment of wonder," she said, "And it is our responsibility to prepare the children of America."

Video has emerged of North Korean staffers meticulously removing all traces of leader Kim Jong-un's presence after he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Beijing.

The two leaders were invited by Chinese President Xi Jinping to attend an event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Japan in World War II, followed by a parade showcasing China's military arsenal.

Kim had sit-down meetings with both Xi and Putin, the leaders of the only two nations in the world with which North Korea has mutual defence treaties.

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After the Putin meeting, Kremlin reporter Alexander Yunashev posted a video to Telegram showing two of Kim's staffers thoroughly cleaning the room the pair had used.

"After the negotiations were over, the staff accompanying the head of the DPRK carefully destroyed all traces of Kim's presence," he wrote.

The Japanese news outlet Nikkei also reported Kim had taken his own toilet to the event.

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Such protocols are standard procedure for the reclusive nation, even when Kim meets with friendly nations.

"The special toilet and the requisite garbage bags of detritus, waste and cigarette butts are so that a foreign intelligence agency, even a friendly one, does not acquire a sample and test it," US-based North Korea expert Michael Madden of the Stimson Centre told Reuters.

"It would provide insight into any medical conditions affecting Kim Jong-un."

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Kim travelled to Beijing in a special train so heavily armoured its top speed is just 60km/h.

In recent years, North Korea has moved closer to Russia as Putin turned to Kim for weapons and troops to sustain his war on Ukraine.

Last year, the two leaders signed a landmark mutual defence pact in Pyongyang, committing to provide immediate military assistance to each other if under attack – a move that has rattled the US and its Asian allies.

Analysts say Xi was likely watching warily as Putin and Kim forged a new alliance that could complicate East Asia's fragile security balance, draw more US focus to the region, and undercut Beijing's efforts to manage stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Beijing is worried that Moscow's assistance to Pyongyang in return for its weapons and troops – especially on military technology – would further enable and embolden the erratic Kim regime, which has drastically accelerated the buildup of nuclear weapons and missile programs.

Edward Howell, a lecturer in politics at the University of Oxford, said China is not "angry" at the rapprochement between North Korea and Russia, but "emetic, nauseous, and uneasy."

"After all, prior to the Russia-North Korea (mutual defence) treaty…North Korea was the only country with whom China had a mutual defence pact, and vice versa," he said.

Were China truly angry about the deepening cooperation, it could put an end to it by no longer helping North Korea evade sanctions or no longer enabling Russia's war through trade in dual-use goods, Howell noted.

"China has done neither of these things, and will only continue to assist North Korea in evading sanctions whilst refraining from getting involved in any Russia-North Korea dynamics," he said.

"China wants to ensure that North Korea knows of Beijing's desire to maintain influence over the Peninsula, but on the part of Pyongyang, it will keep trying to extract benefits from both Moscow and Beijing."

With CNN.

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The world's favourite blue heeler is headed for the silver screen – but there's a bit of a wait ahead.

The BBC and Disney overnight confirmed that a Bluey movie will hit cinemas on August 6, 2027.

The beloved TV show has captured audiences around the world since it debuted in October 2018, winning multiple awards including Logies, Emmys, and BAFTAs.

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The series, aimed at young children, follows the adventures of six-year-old Bluey and her family.

Creator Joe Brumm will write and direct the movie alongside long-time Bluey director Richard Jeffery.

Series stars Melanie Zanetti (Chilli) and David McCormack (Bandit) will return for the big screen adventure.

But details of that adventure remain under wraps for now – though there is speculation the Queensland family could be taking an overseas trip.

The federal government and the Queensland government are helping to finance the project.

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