At least three quarters of the weeds choking our waterways and invading our national parks are escaped garden plants. Click through to see some of the popular household plants that have escaped the garden to become invasive weeds.

Erik and Lyle Menendez’s resentencing hearings can continue despite opposition from the Los Angeles County district attorney, a judge ruled on Friday.

They were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole at ages 18 and 21 after being convicted of murdering their parents, Jose and Kitty Menendez, in their Beverly Hills home in 1989.

While defence attorneys argued the brothers acted out of self-defence after years of sexual abuse by their father, prosecutors said the brothers killed their parents for a multi-million-dollar inheritance.

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The case has captured the public’s attention for decades, and the Netflix drama Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story and the documentary The Menendez Brothers released in the fall of 2024, have been credited for bringing new attention to the case.

Supporters of the brothers have flown in from across the country to attend rallies and hearings in the past few months.

Former Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón asked a judge last year to change the brothers’ sentence from life without the possibility of parole to 50 years to life.

That would make them immediately eligible for parole because they committed the crime when they were younger than 26.

But Gascón’s successor reversed course.

Nathan Hochman submitted a motion last month to withdraw the resentencing request.

Deputy District Attorney Habib Balian said during Friday's hearing they could not support the brothers’ resentencing because the brothers had not admitted to lies told during their trial about why they killed their parents nor have they taken complete responsibility for their crime.

“They are the same people they were," Balian said.

“They have not changed.”

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Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Michael Jesic that argument is “fair game” for prosecutors to make during the resentencing hearing.

The brothers appeared in court over Zoom but didn’t make any public statements.

“They’ve waited a long time to get some justice," the brothers’ attorney, Mark Geragos, said of the family.

Balian said that the key issue with Gascón’s resentencing petition was that it did not fully address rehabilitation and missed key elements of the original crime committed.

“What does it (rehabilitation) mean? To learn from your mistakes and truly understand that you were wrong,” Balian said.

Balian presented evidence and video clips of the brothers' testimony from the first trial to demonstrate instances where they “hunkered down in their bunker of deceit, lies, and deception".

He said the brothers killed their parents out of greed when they learned they would be taken out of the will, citing psychiatrist's notes that he said showed “this was not self-defence.”

Geragos called the presentation a “dog and pony show” and said it was “nothing more than political cover” as a result of Hochman defeating Gascón in the district attorney’s race.

“They have authorised the denial of sexual abuse,” Geragos said of the prosecution’s presentation.

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Geragos argued the judge had full authority to proceed with resentencing under a California law passed in 2023 that allows a court to recall a sentence and initiate resentencing at any point in time.

Geragos also objected to Balian including a photo of the deceased and bloody Menendez parents in his presentation, which he said “retraumatised” family members and victims.

The family's relationship with Hochman has soured since he took office.

Most of the brothers' extended family supports their resentencing.

Tamara Goodall, a cousin of the brothers, submitted a complaint with the state asking that Hochman be removed from the case.

She wrote that Hochman had a “hostile, dismissive and patronising tone” in meetings with the family and created an “intimidating and bullying atmosphere".

Geragos pointed out that Hochman demoted Nancy Theberge and Brock Lunsford, the two deputy district attorneys who filed the original resentencing motion.

Theberge and Lunsford have since filed lawsuits against Hochman alleging harassment, discrimination and retaliation for their work on the Menendez brothers case.

“We look forward to a full, fair presentation of who Eric and Lyle are today, not just a version frozen in time in a time of pain and fear, but the whole truth — the growth, the humanity and the men they’ve become,” said Anamaria Baralt, a cousin of the brothers, after the hearing concluded.

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Without resentencing, the brothers would still have two other pathways to freedom.

They have submitted a clemency plea to California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has ordered the state parole board to assess whether the brothers could pose a public risk if released.

The brothers also submitted a petition for habeas corpus in May 2023 asking the court to grant them a new trial in light of new evidence presented.

Hochman's office also filed a motion opposing the petition.

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Exclusive: Comic artist Evie Hilliar says she has been left feeling "tired" and "helpless" over the Artificial Intelligence art trend.

Recently, social media has been ablaze with AI artworks mimicking the Studio Ghibli art style, made famous by the legendary Japanese animators Hayao Miyazaki, Isao Takahata, Toshio Suzuki and Yasuyoshi Tokuma.

Hilliar has personally been affected by the AI art trend, with her digital comics taken and turned into animations using AI, without giving her credit or asking her permission.

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"It's no secret most artists are very much against AI… in terms of ripping off other people's styles, of course I'm against it, but I don't think there's any stopping it," Hilliar told 9News.

"I feel a bit helpless, I've tried to AI generate my own work to see what comes up, and it does a pretty good job.

"I see a lot on TikTok and Youtube, people have taken my comics and put AI voices over it… Honestly, it bothers me because I don't get that traction; if I don't get credit, then I don't get work.

"This is taking away from me making a living."

Art law experts say the trend is "damaging" to the Australian art landscape, as a complex combination of gaps in copyright and ethical ambiguity creates issues for already struggling Aussie artists.

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"We're really concerned about the implications for Australian artists and artists around the world," CEO of Arts Law Australia and copyright law expert Dr Louise Buckingham said.

"Their livelihoods are being undermined by this capacity for cheap and free inauthentic lookalike products, and all the ways the law falls short in this area… it ends up harming them.

"Copyright doesn't protect or subsist in things like styles and techniques… that's why doing something in the style of (another artist) using a generative AI tool can be really damaging… (art)works can be vulnerable in that sense."

It's not just the law surrounding the AI art that's complex – the issue has also caused division of opinions in the art world.

Sydney-based artist Werner Bronkorst has no issues with the use of AI in art, but said he understands why some people would be upset if a beloved art style is copied.

"I'm sure it would be kind of a gut-wrenching feeling when something that you've worked for your whole entire life is now being kind of mass-produced and people are benefiting from that," he said.

"On the other hand, if it's not infringing on any copyright… if you can't copyright a style then to me personally I don't have a problem with AI.

"On a broader spectrum as an artist, AI is a really good tool, and you can use it for good or bad.

"I don't use it a lot, but I did last year for a collection of mine where I drew cars with charcoal…that's me drawing, still creating artwork, but I used AI to generate images that I draw – that way I don't infringe on other artists' photographs."

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While copyright doesn't apply to art styles or techniques, it does apply to artworks themselves.

If a "substantial part" of an existing artwork is mimicked, the person involved in making it could absolutely face legal repercussions, even if they were unaware that the model had used parts of an existing work.

Artists also have the right to attribution, which is likely infringed upon in the generative AI process, Buckingham said.

"[The AI model] might end up seeming to have used a substantial part of the underlying work… looking at the Studio Ghibili phenomenon, you might end up with a pretty clear-cut example where it looks like a substantial part of an existing Ghibli artwork has been reproduced," she said.

"Any person who's been involved with the things that are exclusively within the rights of the copyright owner…anyone doing any part of that activity can be liable."

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A substantial part of an artwork can include anything that makes the work distinctive, vital, important or essential.

Fines for copyright infringement can vary; one notable case saw Clive Palmer paying $1.2 million for the misuse of We're not gonna take it by the Twisted Sisters in political advertising.

President Donald Trump and his advisers said this was the plan all along: Scare the bejesus out of the world by announcing astronomically high tariffs, get countries to come to the negotiating table, and — with the exception of China — back away from the most punishing trade barriers as America works out new trade agreements around the globe.

But Trump's 90-day pause on his "reciprocal" tariffs that were never actually reciprocal gives his administration just three months to strike enormously complex trade deals with dozens of countries that it says are lining up to negotiate.

Financial markets aren't buying it. Stocks have whipsawed as volatility has spiked.

READ MORE: US Supreme Court orders White House to 'facilitate' return of mistakenly deported man

And other markets, including oil, bonds and the dollar, are sending a clear message of deep skepticism that Trump will be able to pull this one off.

Stocks

Following another steep sell-off Thursday, stocks appeared calmer — for now — and posted strong gains Friday.

The Dow ended the day higher by 619 points, or 1.56 per cent. The S&P 500 rose 1.81 per cent and the Nasdaq was 2.06 per cent higher.

Markets were buoyed by Boston Federal Reserve President Susan Collins telling the Financial Times Friday that the central bank would step in to support financial markets if there were signs of distress.

But stock market investors have been trading on a knife's edge, and any announcement coming from the Trump administration on tariffs has the ability to send stocks surging or tumbling.

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For example, stocks plunged Thursday after the Trump administration clarified the math it had already used to set China's massive 145 per cent tariff.

The street had believed the tariff was 125 per cent. The Dow sank sharply, at one point falling more than 2000 points.

In the 129-year history of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the index has closed higher or lower by at least 1000 points just 31 times. Four of those times happened in the past week.

The S&P 500 fell by just over 9 per cent across the first week of April, its biggest one-week drop since March 2020.

READ MORE: Trump is waiting for Xi to call him over tariffs dispute, but will he?

The benchmark index gained 5.7 per cent this week, its biggest one-week gain since 2023.

Despite Wednesday's historic gain after Trump announced his detente, stocks remain well below where they were trading before the president presented his "Liberation Day" tariff plan on April 2.

Bonds

The bond market is acting weirdly.

Typically, you'd expect bond prices to rise throughout periods of turmoil. US Treasuries are historically considered to be the safest of safe assets, backed up by the full faith and credit of the US government.

But bonds aren't rising — they're falling.

That's largely because investors have lost faith in US trade policy, and they fear America could get hurt even worse than the countries Trump's tariff policy is targeting.

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As JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said in his annual letter to shareholders Monday, Trump's "America First" policy risks alienating its most important partners and the country's special standing in the world.

US Treasury yields, which trade in opposite direction to prices, briefly surged on Friday above 4.5 per cent. They were under 4 per cent earlier in the week.

That represents a massive move for the market. Higher yields could hurt America's economy, as a number of consumer loans are closely tied to those rates.

"The upward action in rates has been rapid in historical context and has provided no comfort to investors looking for havens in turbulent markets," analysts at Citi said in a Friday note.

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US Treasuries were on track for their worst week since 2019, according to Bloomberg's US Treasury total return index, when the New York Federal Reserve had to step in and purchase Treasuries to bring down a spike in yields caused by a liquidity crunch.

"Current market conditions don't require Fed intervention at this point, but Fed officials are likely monitoring market function closely," said Chip Hughey, managing director for fixed income at Truist Advisory Services.

Dimon said Friday on an earnings call that he expects there will be a "kerfuffle" in the Treasury markets that would lead to the Federal Reserve intervening.

"They're not going to do it now … they'll do it when they start to panic a little bit," Dimon said.

Oil

The oil market has been trading like we're going into a recession.

Prices have tumbled over the course of the past couple of weeks as investors feared Trump's trade policy could sap demand for travel, shipping and transportation — all of which require fuel.

US oil on Friday morning fell below $US60 ($96) a barrel, close to a four-year low, before recovering slightly.

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Brent, the global benchmark, was hovering around $US63 ($100) a barrel, the lowest since April 2021, before also gaining slightly.

Oil gained on Friday after US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told reporters that the US could stop Iran's oil exports as part of Trump's negotiations over the nation's nuclear program, according to Reuters.

US oil settled up 2.4 per cent at $US61.50 ($98) a barrel. Brent rose 2.26 per cent to $US64.76 ($103) a barrel.

Yet concerns remain about the impact of tariffs on economic growth and how a potential slowdown could disrupt demand for oil.

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Oil prices have served as a prime recession indicator in recent years. Prices tumbled after surging above $US100 ($160) a barrel for the first time as the Great Recession took hold in 2008.

And prices went negative for the first time during the pandemic as a glut of oil became so severe that traders were literally paying storage facilities to take the unwanted oil off their hands.

Dollar

The dollar on Friday tumbled to its lowest level in three years. That's the opposite of what you'd expect when tariffs are put in place.

Typically, tariffs raise the value of a local currency, because it encourages residents to purchase homemade goods instead of foreign options, stretching their money further in comparison to other currencies.

But currency traders have sold off the dollar, because they believe America will bear the brunt of Trump's trade war fallout and end up comparatively weaker than before tariffs were put in place.

The dollar on Friday hit its lowest level against the euro since 2022.

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The dollar index — which measures the dollar against a basket of currencies — fell 0.9 per cent Friday after tanking 2 per cent Thursday, which was its worst single-day drop since 2022.

Those are massive moves in currency trading world.

"Investors and central banks are selling Treasuries and dollars due to a loss of confidence and credibility in American assets," said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist RSM. "Financial chaos has its cost."

Meanwhile, gold prices surged above a record high $US3,200 ($5125) a troy ounce on Friday.

Gold is up more than 23 per cent this year and just posted its best quarter since 1986. The yellow metal is considered a safe haven amid economic and political uncertainty.

Trade deals

Despite financial markets casting enormous doubt that the Trump administration can salvage the opportunity it created for itself to strike bilateral trade agreements with all 150 countries around the world, the Trump administration remains optimistic.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week that more than 70 countries have asked to meet with US representatives to strike a deal that could get them out from under the thumb of Trump's punishing tariffs.

Although the administration has provided few details of which countries it is negotiating with, it said it would favor allies like South Korea and Japan first.

READ MORE: Australian industries risk being 'hammered' in US-China trade war

But trade deals are incredibly complex arrangements usually negotiated over the course of years, not months.

And even if Trump were to negotiate trade with all those countries over a short period — whether full deals or letters of agreement that put a framework of a deal together — China, the world's biggest exporter, remains the elephant in the room.

US tariffs on China are now at least 145 per cent and China on Friday retaliated with 125 per cent tariffs of its own.

That will do enormous damage to the world's two largest economies, and both sides have said they are not eager to back down.

China has consistently said it is open to negotiations, but wants to do it in a way in which it will be respected.

China has ignored America's warnings not to raise its tariffs, according to a source familiar with the discussions.

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In the meantime, economists have been unmoved by Trump's sudden change in tune. Although negotiated trade agreements would undoubtedly be good news for the economy, much of the damage has already been done, Wall Street economists have argued.

And punishing 10 per cent universal tariffs remain in place, as do 25 per cent tariffs on autos, 25 per cent tariffs on some goods from Mexico and Canada, and 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminum.

That's why JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs say the likelihood of the United States and the global economies going into a recession this year are basically a coin flip.

An investigation has been launched into a fist fight between two mothers in Perth's northern suburbs.

The incident, which started as a dispute between students, was captured on CCTV.

In the footage, one woman's glasses flew off her face while a phone was launched at a wall.

READ MORE: Six dead after helicopter crashes into New York's Hudson River

The two mothers then fell over and started to tug at each other's hair.

The pair separated briefly but a schoolboy intervened and the scuffle picked up again.

The fight happened at Melissa's home in the Vines in the city's outer suburbs in November.

"It was frightening, shocking," she said.

Melissa said she was left with facial injuries and chunks of hair missing.

"It was confronting, especially at your own home," she said.

The women's children are classmates at Aveley Secondary College in Ellenbrook, a suburb where youth crime is plaguing the community.

READ MORE: Stocks tumbles as China tariffs set even higher than thought

Just over a week ago a 14-year-old was left with a broken jaw after a shopping centre attack, allegedly at the hands of a fellow Aveley Secondary College student.

Last year an Aveley student lost his two front teeth in a toilet block bashing.

In the case involving Melissa, the other mother involved did not want to speak on camera but claimed she was attacked first.

9News understands she was working at a nearby public school at the time.

A Department of Education spokesperson said any allegation of inappropriate behaviour by staff is taken very seriously.

Support is available at Lifeline on 13 11 14 or Kids Helpline  1800 55 1800.

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A border force investigation into the import of uranium and plutonium by a "science nerd" to his parents' apartment was a ridiculous over-reaction, his lawyer has said.

Emmanuel Lidden, 24, admitted breaching nuclear non-proliferation laws by ordering various radioactive samples through the internet.

His motive: collecting all elements of the periodic table, just like billionaire Bill Gates.

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The package's delivery sparked a major hazmat incident as Australian Border Force officials, firefighters, police and paramedics all combed the scene in August 2023.

But almost two years on, a judge on Friday spared Lidden a conviction and allowed him to walk from Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on a two-year good behaviour bond.

While his actions were criminal, Judge Leonie Flannery found that the 24-year-old had mental health issues and displayed no malicious intent.

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Speaking to AAP after the sentencing, defence lawyer John Sutton said his client was relieved.

But the solicitor criticised Border Force for the way it had gone after the young man.

"It was an awful investigation for a whole range of reasons," Sutton said.

Officers over-reacted by storming Lidden's Sydney home in hazmat suits when the amounts ordered were minuscule and harmless, he told AAP.

"We could eat (them) and we'd still be perfectly fine," he said.

"I've been contacted from scientists all around the world saying this is ridiculous."

Prosecutors should have also questioned whether pursuing the case against Lidden in court was really in the public interest, Sutton said.

In a statement, ABF superintendent James Ryan called the multi-agency investigation against Lidden "extremely complex and sensitive".

"The ABF remains committed to protecting the Australian community from all threats which can cross the border," he said.

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"I hope this example can be used as an education tool for people to be aware of the regulatory frameworks around what can and cannot be imported into Australia."

Lidden is the first person prosecuted under Australia's non-proliferation laws, aimed at preventing weapons of mass destruction and terrorism.

He ordered the items from a US-based science website and they were delivered to his parents' home.

He pleaded guilty to two charges – sending nuclear material into Australia and possessing nuclear material.

At a sentence hearing in March, the lawyer described Lidden as a "science nerd" who committed the offences out of pure naivety.

"It was a manifestation of self-soothing retreating into collection, it could have been anything but in this case he latched onto the collection of the periodic table," Sutton said at the time.

Lidden now works at a fast-food restaurant flipping burgers after being terminated from his role as a trainee at Sydney Trains.

He was fired after letting his bosses know about the Border Force investigation.

Sutton said the sacking came under the guise that Lidden had failed to be honest and transparent.

"How could he be more honest and transparent?" the solicitor asked.

Nuclear materials can be imported legally by contacting the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation for a permit first.

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A New York City sightseeing helicopter broke apart in midair on Thursday and crashed upside-down into the Hudson River, killing the pilot and a family of five Spanish tourists in the latest US aviation disaster, officials said.

The victims included Siemens executive Agustin Escobar, his wife, Mercè Camprubí Montal, a global manager at an energy technology company, and three children, in addition to the pilot, a person briefed on the investigation told The Associated Press.

The person could not discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

READ MORE: Stocks tumbles as China tariffs set even higher than thought

Photos posted on the helicopter company's website showed the couple and their children smiling as they boarded just before the flight took off.

The flight departed a downtown heliport around 3pm and lasted less than 18 minutes. Radar data showed it flew north along the Manhattan skyline and then back south toward the Statue of Liberty.

Video of the crash showed parts of the aircraft tumbling through the air into the water near the shoreline of Jersey City, New Jersey.

Witnesses describe the helicopter's plunge into the Hudson

A witness there, Bruce Wall, said he saw it "falling apart" in midair, with the tail and main rotor coming off.

The main rotor was still spinning without the helicopter as it fell.

Dani Horbiak was at her Jersey City home when she heard what sounded like "several gunshots in a row, almost, in the air."

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She looked out her window and saw the chopper "splash in several pieces into the river."

The helicopter was spinning uncontrollably with "a bunch of smoke coming out" before it slammed into the water, said Lesly Camacho, a hostess at a restaurant along the river in Hoboken, New Jersey.

On air traffic control radio, an NYPD helicopter pilot can be heard saying, "Be advised, you do have an aircraft down. Holland Tunnel. Please keep your eyes open for anybody in the water."

About five minutes after that, someone asks, "Hey Finest," a reference to the NYPD's call sign, "what's going on over there by the Holland Tunnel?"

"The ship went down," someone else responds.

Rescue boats circled the submerged aircraft within minutes of impact near the end of a long maintenance pier for a ventilation tower serving the Holland Tunnel. Recovery crews hoisted the mangled helicopter out of the water just after 8 p.m. using a floating crane.

The bodies were also recovered from the river, Mayor Eric Adams said.

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The flight was operated by New York Helicopters, officials said. No one answered the phones at the company's offices in New York and New Jersey.

A person who answered the phone at the home of the company's owner, Michael Roth, said he declined to comment. Roth told the New York Post he was devastated and had "no clue" why the crash happened.

"The only thing I know by watching a video of the helicopter falling down, that the main rotor blades weren't on the helicopter," the Post quoted him as saying.

He added that he had not seen such a thing happen during his 30 years in the helicopter business, but noted: "These are machines, and they break."

Emails seeking comment were sent to attorneys who have represented Roth in the past.

The Federal Aviation Administration identified the helicopter as a Bell 206, a model widely used in commercial and government aviation, including by sightseeing companies, TV news stations and police.

It was initially developed for the US Army before being adapted for other uses.

Thousands have been manufactured over the years.

The National Transportation Safety Board said it would investigate.

Tragedy strikes a family from Spain

Escobar worked for the tech company Siemens for more than 27 years, most recently as global CEO for rail infrastructure at Siemens Mobility, according to his LinkedIn account.

In late 2022 he briefly became president and CEO of Siemens Spain.

In a post about the position, he thanked his family: "my endless source of energy and happiness, for their unconditional support, love … and patience."

Escobar regularly posted about the importance of sustainability in the rail industry and often traveled internationally for work, including journeying to India and the UK in the past month. He also was vice president of the German Chamber of Commerce for Spain since 2023.

Camprubí Montal worked in Barcelona, Spain, for energy technology company Siemens Energy for about seven years as its global commercialisation manager, according to her LinkedIn account.

What may have caused the crash

Video of the crash suggested that a "catastrophic mechanical failure" left the pilot with no chance to save the helicopter, said Justin Green, an aviation lawyer who was a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps.

It is possible the helicopter's main rotors struck the tail boom, breaking it apart and causing the cabin to free fall, Green said.

"They were dead as soon as whatever happened happened," Green said.

"There's no indication they had any control over the craft. No pilot could have prevented that accident once they lost the lifts. It's like a rock falling to the ground. It's heartbreaking."

The skies over Manhattan are routinely filled with planes and helicopters, both private recreational aircraft and commercial and tourist flights.

Manhattan has several helipads from which business executives and others are whisked to destinations throughout the metropolitan area.

At least 38 people have died in helicopter accidents in New York City since 1977.

A collision between a plane and a tourist helicopter over the Hudson in 2009 killed nine people, and five died in 2018 when a charter helicopter offering "open door" flights went down into the East River.

New York Helicopters also owned a Bell 206 that lost power and made an emergency landing on the Hudson during a sightseeing tour in June 2013.

The pilot managed to land safely, and he and the passengers — a family of four Swedes — were uninjured.

The National Transportation Safety Board found that a maintenance flub and an engine lubrication anomaly led to the power cutoff.

Thursday's crash was the first for a helicopter in the city since one hit the roof of a skyscraper in 2019, killing the pilot.

The accidents — and the noise caused by helicopters — have repeatedly led some community activists and officials to propose banning or restricting traffic at Manhattan heliports.

Other recent crashes and close calls have already left some people worried about the safety of flying in the US.

Seven people were killed when a medical transport plane plummeted into a Philadelphia neighborhood in January.

That happened two days after an American Airlines jet and an Army helicopter collided in midair in Washington in the deadliest US air disaster in a generation.

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A series of smart trials to fast-track treatments to slow or stop Parkinson's disease is gathering pace across the country.

Researchers are currently recruiting patients for the next phase of the trials as part of a national drive to urgently tackle the condition

Dr Derrick Beech, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's a few years ago, doesn't experience tremors.

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It's his walking ability that has worsened over time.

"It's so varied from one person to another, my issues are more about mobility, speaking and writing," he said.

He takes three pills a day to relieve the symptoms.

"The simple treatment is you replace the dopamine that you've lost," he said.

The treatment helps patients with Parkinson's cope, but it doesn't directly treat or stop the course of the disease.

"Certainly that's improved quality of life but nothing that's slowing the disease or stopping it in its tracks," Macquarie University's Professor of Cognitive Neurology Simon Lewis said.

Derrick volunteered to test existing medications, in the hope they could help change the course of disease.

It's part of a multi-million dollar project called the Australian Parkinson's Mission.

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For researchers, it is about "being able to tap into drugs we know are safe, available that we could use and maybe even translate into the clinic quickly," Lewis said.

The smart trials involve testing a variety of medicines used for other conditions, such as albuterol tablets for asthma and alogliptin to treat type 2 diabetes.

The next phase will test a simple cough medicine ambroxol, and an antibiotic doxycycline.

The medicines target different pathways such as inflammation and a gene called alpha-synuclein implicated in disease.

"So this is the world's first platform trial, what that means we get to try different drugs in the same trial, the same protocol" Lewis said.

"We have blood biomarkers that can tell us, did that drug actually engage the target, did it reduce inflammation, did it modulate those other pathways we think are important."

Results from the first stage are likely to be released later this year.

A key feature of these trials is teasing out which patient would benefit most from each treatment

Interested volunteers can find out more information at the link here.

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A major police investigation is under way in Brisbane after a man was stabbed in an inner-city apartment early this morning.

The 39-year-old man was stabbed and left for dead in a hallway.

One local said they saw blood in the lift in the Bowen Hills apartment block at 5am.

Police say the West End man was among family and detectives are still trying to figure out where it all went wrong.

"My understanding is that the victim has attempted to remove himself from the crime scene," Acting Detective Inspector Murray O'Connell said.

"He was taken to the Royal Brisbane Hospital but sadly he succumbed of his injuries and passed away a short time later."

A 22-year-old man and 45-year-old woman were taken into police custody.

"We believe that they're extended family members, but we're still trying to work that out at the moment, just the dynamics of the family," O'Connell said.

"The knife has been found, what we believe is the weapon that was used in this attack."

Police say the three had been out socialising earlier in the evening, with investigators working to determine how this night turned so violent

"I would hope there would be some charges soon, but it's too early to say at this stage," O'Connell said.

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Last week's powerful low punched Sydney's beaches in the face and left a legacy of shattered shore fronts and stripped sand, but also helped create what is thought to be the largest wave ever ridden at Bondi Beach.

Surfer Chase Hardaker said he took the day off to go out surfing.

"Frothing to be able to surf it, put it that way," he said.

READ MORE: Tariffs will make sneakers, jeans and almost everything Americans wear cost more

The 23-year-old was snapped on Tuesday afternoon, slicing the face of what was thought to be a wave seven metres tall.

"It was just this long wall, pretty much to Bronte," he said.

"It was actually pretty scary, the people on the cliff are whistling, and when they whistle you know something big's coming.

"I was in the perfect position, so I was lucky to swing into it."

On Bondi's rocky northern flank, the giant fans of spray created were making it hard to get that shot for photographer Orlando Goldfin.

"It was becoming salty on my lens, making haze, so I'm quite lucky it actually came through," Goldfin said.

Goldfin would catch Hardaker in motion before the motion of the ocean would catch him.

"Unfortunately when I did hit the bottom, is when the wave hit me at the same time," he said

"It was not really the first wave, it's the second one that landed on my head when I was already out of breath, then the third and the forth."

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Even for a years-long Bondi lifeguard, it would be a lesson learnt about what can be the cruel sea.

"It was a good wake up call cause I didn't realise Bondi could do that to me," he said.

"It was just the pure, raw energy of mother nature that one."

But thanks to Goldfin, Hardaker can claim the biggest wave ever ridden at Bondi Beach

"I'm sure there's old school Bondi guys and Bronte guys that have surfed and charged here all their lives. They don't have the evidence mate.

"They don't have the evidence, so that's the difference."