Australian police say they are working with Chinese authorities in a bid to force a man who allegedly poured hot coffee on a baby boy to face a criminal trial.

In August last year, nine-month-old Luka was in Brisbane's Hanlon's Park with his mother when a 33-year-old man approached them and allegedly threw a thermos of hot liquid over the boy before fleeing.

Luka was left with severe burns to his face, neck and chest.

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One year on from the attack, Luka's mother, who has not been identified, has made an impassioned appeal on social media calling for justice over the "unthinkable act".

Speaking in the aftermath of the attack last year, Queensland Police said they believed the suspect flew out of Australia days after the incident – before they had been able to identify him.

Police did not reveal at the time where he had flown to.

However, a joint update today from Queensland Police and the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said the alleged offender was known to be in China.

"Since the alleged offender left Australia on 31 August 2024, the AFP has been working tirelessly with our international partners to bring the alleged offender to justice," the police statement said.

"The AFP is working jointly with Chinese authorities on appropriate options to take this matter forward."

There are no extradition arrangements in place between Australia and China.

However, the statement said China was able to prosecute its citizens for conduct which occurred outside China.

In the statement posted to social media, first reported by the ABC, Luka's mother said her son had endured eight surgeries since the horrific attack.

"He's received synthetic skin grafts, skin needling, and laser treatments for his burns," she wrote.

"Every procedure is a painful reminder of what was done to him — and of the justice that still hasn't come."

White Luka had shown strength beyond his years, his mother said he deserved justice, describing it as "beyond unacceptable" that the alleged offender is yet to face any consequences. 

"That reality is as painful today as it was a year ago and is one of the hardest things to live with: knowing that the person who hurt our child walks free," she wrote.

"Our legal systems and international relationships should protect victims and children, yet they have failed to do so."

'Zombie squirrels' covered in gory sores have been turning up in backyards and at animal sanctuaries in the US, sparking concern online.

Though alarming to look at, the animals don't pose a threat to humans or most pets.

Photos of the rodents shared to social media platforms like Facebook, X and Reddit appear to show animals suffering from squirrel fibromatosis, also known as squirrelpox.

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A common skin disease among grey squirrels in the US, squirrel fibromatosis is caused by leporipoxvirus.

The virus causes hairless growths or tumours which can turn into open sores.

These growths don't typically affect a squirrel's ability to survive unless, as in some rare cases, they spread to the animal's internal organs.

This can leave them weak and lethargic but death is rare.

Squirrel fibromatosis is spread through contact between healthy squirrels and the saliva or lesions of infected squirrels.

Common exposure sites include bird feeders set up by humans that multiple squirrels feed from.

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Fortunately for US residents who have spotted infected squirrels in their yards, the virus cannot be spread to humans or common pets like cats and dogs.

That being said, Shevenell Webb of Maine's Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife said residents should not interact with infected animals.

"I would not recommend trying to capture a squirrel that has the virus," Webb told the Bangor Daily News.

"It is naturally occurring and will run its course in time."

Cases of squirrel fibromatosis have been reported across the US for years and these new sightings fit with seasonal trends in rates of infection.

It's important to note that though squirrel fibromatosis is often referred to as squirrelpox in the US, it is an entirely different virus to UK squirrelpox, which can kill red squirrels.

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Earlier this months, reports emerged of a group of rabbits in Colorado that had grotesque, hornlike growths on their heads.

Dubbed "Frankenstein bunnies," "demon rabbits" and "zombie rabbits" online, they too were suffering from a relatively common virus.

They were infected with the mostly harmless Shope papillomavirus, which causes wart-like growths that typically clear up over time.

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Single mothers now they make up more than 12 per cent of the nation's families.

A growing number are solo mums by choice, like Claire Steinke, who decided to have children on her own after being diagnosed with cancer at 29.

But 20 years after welcoming her first, there's still a lack of transparency around assisted reproductive technology (ART) options and the lived experience of solo motherhood.

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"I always found it so secretive," Steinke told 9news.com.au.

"There are so many options, so many different treatments … different procedures, different tests, all those sorts of things, but I feel like it's not openly shared."

And she's concern it could be holding some women back.

Solo motherhood on the rise

There were were almost 1 million single mother families in Australia in June 2024 according to the ABS, up from 864,000 in 2021.

It's unclear how many are solo mums by choice.

ART has become more accessible to single women and they're one of the largest groups of recipient parents at clinics across the country.

More than 700 single women underwent IVF in Victoria in 2022 alone.

Australians are also marrying less and later – the marriage rate is down and the average age of an Aussie bride has risen from 21 in 1975 to 30 in 2023 – prompting some women to embark on motherhood before marriage.

Being a single mum has become more socially acceptable, making space for women who want to have kids without any intention of ever 'settling down'.

And some women, like Stienke, find that solo motherhood may be their only choice.

'My biggest fear was not being able to have children'

Steinke was diagnosed with endometrial cancer when she was 29 and single.

She'd gone to her GP suspecting ovarian cysts but a laparoscopy revealed cancer in her uterus.

"My biggest fear was that I wouldn't be able to have children," Steinke said.

"Having that diagnosis in particular, right the place where you have your babies, it was my biggest fear coming true."

Initially, doctors suggested a hysterectomy but Steinke opted for nine months of hormone therapy instead, hoping to preserve her fertility.

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Giving up her dream of being a mum was not an option so during cancer treatment, she researched her options to have a child solo.

Unwilling to date solely to find a father for potential children, she pursued intrauterine insemination (IUI), a procedure in which donor sperm is placed directly into the uterus around the time of ovulation in the hopes of a pregnancy.

Doctors warned she had less than 20 per cent chance of getting pregnant but she started trying as soon as treatment ended.

Steinke fell pregnant on her third round of IUI and welcomed her son prematurely just 26 weeks later.

He spent the first weeks of his life in the NICU and Steinke broke down a few weeks into it.

The realities of going it alone

Steinke admits her pregnancy was often lonely and it was hard not having someone to share it with, especially when her son was in NICU.

"All of that emotion had caught up with me after 18 months of stress from a cancer diagnosis, cancer treatment, fertility treatment, horrible pregnancy, and a premature baby," Steinke said.

"I'd been holding all this emotion in and just putting one foot in front of the other to keep going, and it just hit me."

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But she wouldn't change her decision to have a child solo.

In fact, she did it again five years later and welcomed a daughter through IUI.

Her children have brought her so much joy and she can't imagine her life without them.

But solo motherhood is not without its challenges, though data on their specific experiences are limited.

A Council of Single Mothers and their Children (CSMC) survey found that 87 per cent of single mothers are concerned about their long-term financial circumstances.

Housing prices and insecurity are significant challenges and respondents experienced homelessness and marginal housing at almost four times the national average.

The latest annual Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey also revealed that poor mental health among single mothers has risen from 22 per cent in 2011 to 38 per cent in 2022, compared to 18 per cent for partnered mothers in 2022.

"Sometimes it would be really good to sit down and talk to someone who's got the same level of vested interest as you do and make a joint [parenting] decision, but I had to do those things on my own," she said.

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Making solo motherhood more accessible

Becoming a solo mum has changed a lot since Steinke had her kids, who are now 20 and 15.

ART is more accessible for single women, society has become more accepting of solo motherhood, and online communities have helped solo mums connect.

Events like the upcoming Melbourne Fertility Expo even include speakers like Alisha Burns of the Solo Mum Society, who will speak to why more women are choosing solo motherhood.

And Steinke herself shares her story with other women through her maternity and breastfeeding business, Soul Mothers.

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But there are still barriers she said need addressing.

Single women deserve more comprehensive information about ART, including IUI, as well as opportunities to speak honestly about their lived experiences without fear of backlash or discrimination.

"It's not someone else's decision to make, some pen pusher in an office saying, 'no, just because you're a single you can't have it,' or some religious person going, 'it's not what god wanted,'" she said.

"I would have been gutted to not be able to have children."

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A Western Sydney mother is on a mission to make retail stores safer for children after her daughter came within millimetres of being blinded in one eye by a metal hook.

Maureen Ahluwalia was shopping with her two-year-old daughter, Amaira, at homewares and clothing store Harris Scarfe in Blacktown last month when the scary accident occurred.

Ahluwalia said her daughter was not running around, but walking calmly next to her when she suddenly collided with a slat wall hook placed at toddler height.

"She turned around to do something and when she turned back she hit her eye," she said.

"I just saw her grab her eye and she was crying."

Ahluwalia said was confronted with how serious the injury was when her daughter opened her eye.

"She opened her eye, and there was blood starting to pool into it," Ahluwalia said.

Acting on the advice of a family member, Ahluwalia immediately rushed her daughter to see an optometrist located in the same shopping centre.

"The optometrist said that she barely missed her cornea," Ahluwalia said of her daughter's injury.

"If it was a millimetre in, she would have lost her vision."

Amaira was left with a blood clot on her eye, which has since gone away.

Ahluwalia said she was grateful her daughter had fully recovered, but she was left furious when she went online and saw how common it was for metal hooks in shops to cause eye injuries among toddlers.

"The issue is, why are these hooks being placed at toddler height in the first place?" she said.

9news.com.au contacted Harris Scarfe owners, the Spotlight Retail Group, however they did not respond to a request for comment before publication.

In 2020, 9news.com.au reported on a spate of grisly eye injuries toddlers had sustained at Kmart and Target stores.

Among those injured was six-year-old Cecilia Chen, who was shopping with her grandmother at Kmart's Chatswood store when she collided with an apparel arm hook.

Cecilia needed two surgeries to repair her torn eyelid and damage to her eye. 

Her mother, Jill Huang, took legal action against Kmart, and the retail giant was ordered to pay the family almost $60,000 in compensation. 

In response to Cecilia's case, and a string of similar accidents, Kmart and Target rolled out safety changes in December 2020, which involved adding soft plastic covers to the ends of apparel arms in stores nationwide.

Ahluwalia said she would like to see all retail stores implementing similar safety measures. 

The mother has started a NSW parliamentary petition calling on mandatory safety standards for retail fixtures to be implemented.

The petition has gained the support of Labor MP for Blacktown, Stephen Bali, who will present the petition to the NSW Legislative Assembly.

Victorian mother Amira Good said changes were needed on a national level after her son Ryder was left with a nasty injury to his face by a metal store hook in June.

Good was shopping with her 2-year-old son in Kmart's Brunswick store when he collided with a metal hook in the cosmetic section.

Although Kmart stores typically have plastic price tags covering the ends of the cosmetic rack hooks, many of the plastic slips were missing at the time, leaving pointed metal bars exposed at toddler height, Good said.

"We were just walking, and there was a metal hook hanging out at Ryder's height and as he walked past, it scraped his face," she said. 

"He got a cut millimetres under his eye, and it went all the way from his cheek to his ear," Good said. 

"There was so much blood."

A Kmart spokesperson told 9news.com.au the retailer was aware of the incident at its Brunswick store.

"Our thoughts are with those impacted. We are cooperating with relevant parties as we review the matter and are unable to comment on the specifics," the spokesperson said. 

"We want to assure our customers and team members that their safety is our highest priority." 

Contact reporter Emily McPherson at em********@******om.au.

The family of a fugitive father who's been hiding his three children in the dense New Zealand wilderness for nearly four years has spoken publicly for the first time since they disappeared.

Thomas Callam Phillips vanished with his children in December 2021, and despite several sightings, appeals for help, and a police search, the family's location remains unknown.

Police are seriously concerned for the children, Ember, Maverick, and Jayda – believed to be ages nine, 10 and 12, respectively – who've had no contact with their mother since their father failed to bring them home.

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In her first interview since her brother disappeared, Rozzi Phillips told New Zealand journalist Paddy Gower how much the family misses him and wants him to return.

"I miss you, and I miss being part of your life," she said, her voice breaking.

"You're very special to me… I really want to see you again."

Rozzi Phillips also read out a handwritten letter from their mother to her missing son, who is now wanted by police on multiple charges.

"It hurts every time I see photos of the children and of you and see some of your stuff that is still here, thinking what could have been if you had not gone away," the letter said, according to New Zealand news site Stuff.

"Jayda, Maverick, Ember, I love you so much and really miss being part of your lives every day I wake up, and hope that today will be the day that you will come home."

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It's unclear if his family's appeals for help will reach Phillips, who New Zealand Police believe is living off-grid, using his survival skills to feed, shelter and clothe his children.

Last June police offered a reward of $NZ80,000 ($73,000) for information leading to their location and safe return.

Phillips is wanted for a series of alleged crimes, including the armed robbery of a bank in May 2023, when two people were seen on closed circuit television escaping on a motorbike with cash.

New Zealand Police later named Phillips as the suspect, and said he was aided by a female accomplice. Both were said to be armed.

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In November 2023, Phillips and an unnamed child are also alleged to have smashed the window of a shop at 2am, before fleeing on a stolen quad bike. Phillips has also been seen on CCTV, with his face covered, buying supplies in a hardware store.

"We know Tom has been sighted at retail locations across the Waikato region disguised with various masks," police said in a statement at the time.

When contacted by CNN on Tuesday, New Zealand Police said there were no updates about the police investigation.

Police and local authorities believe supporters are helping Phillips to remain at large.

Rozzi Philipps told Gower that she had had no contact with her brother since he disappeared.

Asked why she was speaking out now, almost four years after her brother's disappearance, she said: "In the hope that just maybe, maybe he's going to see this, and maybe he's going to get to see that he can come home, and that we are here for him, and it might just be okay."

Last year, the children's mother, who identified herself as Cat, made an emotional appeal to anyone with information on her children's whereabouts to call the police.

"I'm standing here before you today, begging you for your help to bring my babies home," she said in a video posted to Facebook.

"They are just innocent children."

Of Jayda, she said, "She will be a young woman now, and she needs her mother".

"Ember is asthmatic, as am I, and she needs medical care that cannot be provided from the land. And I can only imagine how Maverick is coping," she said.

"What Thomas is doing is not okay," she said. "None of this is okay. My babies deserve better."

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Australian researchers have uncovered a potential way to stop the spread of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), an aggressive and often difficult-to-treat form of the disease. 

A new study by Monash University researchers has identified a key genetic switch that could determine which triple-negative breast cancer patients could benefit from beta blocker therapy.

The findings, published in the journal Science Signaling, identify a specific gene that acts as a "switch" for tumour progression, and could help doctors determine which patients would benefit from beta blocker medication.

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Beta blockers are a class of drugs commonly used to treat high blood pressure and other heart conditions.

They work by blocking the blocking stress hormones.

However, Monash researchers have been investigating their potential to fight cancer.

Previous studies by the university have shown a link between beta blocker use and improved outcomes for some TNBC patients, but the reason for this was unclear – until now.

The science behind the switch

The Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences team focused on the body's natural stress response.

When stress hormones are released, they can activate a receptor called the "beta-2 adrenoceptor," which can accelerate the spread of cancer cells.

The researchers discovered that a complex interplay between two cellular signals, cAMP and calcium, is triggered by the beta-2 adrenoceptor, fuelling cancer progression.

At the centre of this process is a single gene, HOXC12, which acts as the master regulator.

Using the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9, the scientists were able to "delete" the HOXC12 gene, which effectively "switched off" the cancer-promoting cellular signals.

This suggests that the presence of the HOXC12 gene could be the key to identifying patients who would respond well to beta blocker therapy, which works by blocking the effects of stress hormones.

New hope for patients

Associate Professor Michelle Halls, a senior author of the study from MIPS, said the discovery was exciting.

"Our colleagues at MIPS, who were also pivotal to this latest study, have previously found that beta blockers are associated with a significant reduction in mortality in people with TNBC," she said.

"Now we have a much better grasp on why this could be the case. In the Science Signaling study we looked at several TNBC cancer cell types and found that one gene in particular, HOXC12, is a key mediator of the β2-adrenoceptor-cAMP-calcium 'feedforward loop' in TNBC. 

"This information means that if HOXC12 is found to be present in a TNBC patient, they could be an ideal candidate for beta blocker therapy."

A passenger plane has been forced to make an emergency landing in Italy after flames erupted mid-flight.

Condor Airlines said a "reaction" near the engine had caused flames to appear, but stopped short of describing it as an engine fire.

The plane landed in Brindisi after taking off from Corfu on Saturday night, local time.

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None of the 273 passengers and eight crew on board were injured.

CBS News reported the plane was headed from Greece to Germany before the emergency landing.

Video on social media showed flames flashing on the plane's wing.

Passengers waited overnight for a replacement aircraft which carried them to Dusseldorf in Germany the next day.

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The heartbroken family of a young woman who was killed in the NSW Hunter Valley have paid tribute to the 20-year-old's "beautiful spirit".

Summer Fleming's 31-year-old boyfriend Jethro Gamueda appeared in Parramatta's Bail Court today, charged with her murder.

Fleming was found dead at Gamueda's Rutherford home yesterday after suffering facial injuries.

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Gamueda was arrested and charged with her murder.

The couple had been together for just more than a year, having met while working together at Rydges in the Hunter Valley.

Fleming's sister Ash Heggie-Martin told 9News "she was just a beautiful spirit".

"She's just one of a kind," Heggie-Martin said.

"No person deserves to die like that, especially such a beautiful young soul."

Summer, who dreamed of becoming a nurse, is now one of dozens of women allegedly killed at the hands of their partner already this year.

Her name was today added to the She Matters Mural in Melbourne.

Gamueda made no application for bail in court and will remain in custody until his next court appearance in October.

National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

Ricky-Lee Maynard strangled her in bed before punching her about 10 times.

Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky's White House meeting finished without the Ukrainian president being ambushed in the Oval Office, and with both men – as well as the European leaders who also made the trip to Washington – saying the talks were a success.

But it was also the second summit Trump has held in a matter of days, following his meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska, that finished without a concrete outcome.

So what happens next? This is what we know.

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What happens now after Trump and Zelensky's meeting?

It appears two more meetings are already on the cards, each involving both Putin and Zelensky.

During the White House meeting, Trump called Putin to organise a sit-down between the Russian president and his Ukrainian counterpart, which would then be followed by a trilateral summit involving all three leaders.

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told Fox News that Putin had agreed to that first meeting.

"He was able, in a conversation with President Putin, to have Putin to agree to first a meeting between Putin and Zelensky," Rutte, who was one of the European Leaders at the White House summit, said.

No dates or locations for either meeting have been set, and the Kremlin hasn't confirmed Putin will attend yet – although foreign affairs advisor Yuri Ushakov said the Russian dictator "spoke favourably" about continuing talks, according to state news agency Tass. 

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Could that lead to a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine?

No one really knows.

Trump described the White House meeting as "a very good, early step for a War that has been going on for almost four years", and said that "everyone is very happy about the possibility of peace for Russia/Ukraine".

The US president also claimed the fighting could wind down quickly, saying, "a week or two weeks, we'll know whether we're going to solve this".

However, while Zelensky has backed down from demanding a ceasefire before any meeting with Putin, there are still a number of sticking points between the two sides that could get in the way of any peace deal.

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What are the disagreements standing in the way of a peace deal?

It's not a short list, but territory and security are two of the main ones.

Russia currently holds about 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory: the coveted Crimean peninsula it illegally annexed in 2014, as well as large swathes of the Luhansk, Donetsk (which collectively form the Donbas, a crucial industrial hub), Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

It also claims further territory in those four regions that it hasn't fully occupied during the war.

Ukraine, meanwhile, is refusing to cede land to Moscow.

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"Partners know our red lines – that we do not recognise the occupied territories… this is a violation of international law and the Constitution of Ukraine," Zelensky said recently. 

But at the same time, Ukraine is losing ground in the war – albeit gradually – and doesn't have the military means to retake the land it has lost since 2014. 

Its European allies have talked about the current frontlines being the starting point for negotiations, and Trump has spoken of "land swaps" as a peace condition.

It appears the greater focus for Kyiv is now gaining security guarantees to ensure Russia cannot use the ground it has gained since 2022 to launch another invasion – just as it did with Crimea.

The gold standard of assurances would be NATO membership, thanks to its Article 5, which treats an attack on any one of the allies as an attack on all, but that is out of the question.

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Instead, European leaders have suggested an Article 5-like guarantee for Ukraine without bestowing it official membership, and a peacekeeping force – which Australian troops could join, given Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's openness – on the ground.

Trump signalled his support for those guarantees, saying European countries "want to give protection and they feel very strongly about it and we'll help them out with that", although the exact details remain unclear.

Moscow is vociferously opposed to NATO membership for Ukraine, and while White House envoy Steve Witkoff said Putin agreed to security guarantees during his meeting with Trump over the weekend, more recent statements from the Kremlin suggest otherwise.

Russia "categorically rejects… any scenario that envisages the appearance in Ukraine of a military contingent with the participation of NATO countries", foreign affairs spokesperson Maria Zakharova said yesterday.

Putin has also talked of imposing size limits on Ukraine's army – something Kyiv rejects – while Ukraine has sought the return of children who have been illegally deported to Russia since 2022.

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What about a ceasefire?

Another disagreement has centred around a ceasefire before a permanent peace deal.

Ukraine and its European allies have pushed for one – German Chancellor Friedrich Merz told Trump there should be one in place before another meeting is held.

However, while Trump had previously pressured both Putin and Zelensky to accept a ceasefire, and had threatened more sanctions on Russia if the Kremlin didn't agree to one, that now appears off the table.

The US president changed his position following the meeting with Putin, and has since aligned with the dictator's position that negotiations should focus on a long-term peace settlement instead.

– with Associated Press