The team leading the renewed search for the Beaumont children has come under fire, accused of engaging in a farcical smear campaign against suspect Harry Phipps. 

The accusations came from Phipps' niece, who staunchly defended her uncle and denounced this week's ongoing investigation.

"The smear campaign with its preposterous stories is a great tragedy not only for Harry Phipps and his family members who cannot speak from their graves, but for the Beaumont family who endured years of pain and suffering in their search for the truth," she said in a statement to radio station 5AA.

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The niece, who chose to remain anonymous, also disputed a revelation made by independent MP Frank Pangallo about a link between the Phipps and Beaumont families through a distant relative. 

She said that she married a third cousin of the Beaumonts' father in 1983, long after the children's disappearance in 1966.

Pangallo acknowledged the disconnect between the marriage and the disappearance, saying it was "just an interesting link or association between the two families".

"Look I understand them coming forward to defend their family they've got every right to," he said.

This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.

Queensland Police Commissioner Steve Gollschewski has announced he is stepping aside from his role after a sudden cancer diagnosis.

Deputy Commissioner Shane Chelepy will be acting commissioner from tomorrow.

"It is with great disappointment I have to advise you that I have commenced leave for an unknown period following an unexpected cancer diagnosis," Gollschewski told police this afternoon.

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"I have a battle ahead of me and with the support of my family need to concentrate my energies towards my treatment," he said.

Gollschewski was sworn into the job last April.

He took on the role at a time when the number of victims of crime was rising and with the service facing challenges from officer numbers and morale suffering due to increasing workloads and calls for help from the public.

Before that, his 44-year-long stint as an officer spanned various roles, including spearheading the response to COVID-19 as Queensland's state disaster coordinator.

"The Commissioner requests privacy at this time and appreciates the support of his colleagues and the community," Queensland police said in a statement.

Premier David Crisafulli paid tribute to Gollschewski's service.

"Steve Gollschewski has the full support of the Queensland Government following his decision to step down due to health reasons," he said.

"I would like to thank Commissioner Gollschewski for his lifetime of service upholding our state's laws.

"Commissioner Gollschewski has spent decades serving with integrity, professionalism, and Queensland is grateful for what he has achieved in the blue uniform."

The Police Union President and Police Minister have also wished the Commissioner the best with his treatment.

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A man has been arrested after a chaotic incident unfolded on the Gold Coast yesterday afternoon.

Police allege a black Audi was rammed by a white Nissan Navara, which caused the Audi to hit the median strip about 4.15pm on Golden Four Drive at Tugun.

Police said the drivers and passengers involved in the crash ran away from the scene.

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The Nissan continued to O'Connor Street, where the driver then got out and fled the scene on foot.

Police said a male passenger in the Audi also ran away, but he was pursued by a man from a third vehicle.

A male passenger from the Audi also fled and was pursued by an unidentified male from a third vehicle.

The woman who was driving the Audi also fled the scene.

Police arriving at the scene of the chaos arrested a 28-year-old man.

He was charged with possessing drug utensils.

It is not yet clear how the man who was arrested is connected to the crash, if at all.

9News understands that a fourth vehicle may have been involved in the incident.

Police said their investigation is ongoing, and they asked anyone with dash camera footage to come forward.

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Just five days of overeating could prime the brain for future bad food habits, a European study has found.

German researchers recruited 29 healthy men in their 20s and made them eat ultra-processed foods to understand what happens to the brain on a high-calorie diet.

One group was given ultra-processed foods like chocolate bars, brownies and chips, which they ate over five days to boost their calorie intake.

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They were compared to a control group that ate a regular diet.

Short-term overeating was found to increase liver fat and disrupt insulin action in brain pathways involved in motivation and decision-making.

The research suggests that five days of overeating could prime the brain for long-term bad eating habits. 

"We do need to reduce our consumption of ultra-processed foods," dietitian and nutritionist Jemma O'Hanlon said.

"Currently, the Australian diet is 42 per cent ultra-processed foods, which is far too high.

"These ultra-processed foods, we're seeing research to demonstrate, they can be addictive."

Experts say you should only eat ultra-processed food occasionally and in small amounts.

CCTV has captured the moment a 67-year-old worker bravely attempted to stop a brazen chainsaw thief in Melbourne's south-east earlier this week.

Police believe the man entered The Red Shed Superstore on Greens Road in Dandenong South at about 3pm on Tuesday, posing as a customer.

"After five minutes he picked up two chainsaws and started walking out," staff member Shane Russell said.

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CCTV footage captured the moment Russell ran outside in an attempt to stop the thief.

"Instinct, that was it. You can't do that to us, that's not fair," Russell said.

Despite being pushed to the ground, Russell got back up to stop the chainsaw bandit.

He was again thrown to the ground as the thief got into a white car.

Several others rushed to the worker's aid, but the car sped off with the door partially open.

It's understood the getaway car then ran a red light turning right onto busy Greens Road.

The thief and his accomplice escaped with $5000 worth of gear, while Russell was left with a few scratches after the scuffle.

"Go and get a job and earn your keep the correct way," he said.

"Don't do this to the people who work for a living."

The suspects remain on the run.

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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says residents may save up to $600 on their annual energy bills under a solar power initiative being rolled out for apartment buildings in New South Wales.

In a pre-federal election announcement today, the federal government has allocated $25 million to help eligible owners' corporations and strata managers install shared rooftop solar systems on apartments.

"There are estimates that this could save residents up to $600 a year on their power bills, so good for residents, cost of living, good for reducing our emissions, good for the environment," Albanese said at a press conference in his local electorate of Grayndler.

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"A win-win situation rolled out by the Commonwealth and the state government."

Currently, one in five homes in NSW are apartments but only 3.5 per cent of those have solar panels.

Energy and Climate Minister Chris Bowen said the funding will allow the transition for apartments to be quicker and easier so they join the four million households using rooftop solar.

"We now have 46 per cent of our electricity across the country being produced by renewables, 33 when we came to office," he said, also at the press conference.

"That's good progress over the last three years, we're more than halfway to 82 per cent, but all this is on the ballot paper in the not-too-distant future when the prime minister decides all this."

The $25 million Solar for Apartment Residents initiative will cover 50 per cent of the cost of installation with up to $150,000 on the table for each project.

Applications are now open for owners' corporations or strata managers of apartments or multi-unit dwellings with three to 55 units that have not had a solar system installed in the last 10 years until December 1 or until funding is exhausted.

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Albanese also used his announcement today to criticise Opposition Leader Peter Dutton's $331 billion nuclear energy plan.

"Peter Dutton's so-called plan is not one that is good for energy. It's not one that's good for households, not one that's good for the environment," he said.

Dutton wants to build seven nuclear sites across New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.

The opposition says its plan is 44 per cent cheaper than Albanese's, but that figure is based on modelling for about 45 per cent less energy than renewables by 2050.

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Police will investigate the death of two-year-old Joe Massa at Sydney's Northern Beaches Hospital in September last year.

The investigation was launched yesterday after police were directed by the NSW coroner to look into the death of the toddler.

In a statement this afternoon, NSW Police said Joe's death was not reported to police at the time.

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Police retrospectively reported the death to the coroner yesterday and an investigation was launched by Northern Beaches Police Area Command.

The toddler was first taken to Northern Beaches Hospital on September 14  after he had spent the night vomiting.

The toddler had hypovolemia, a condition that occurs when the body loses too much fluid.

Joe had to wait more than two-and-a-half hours for a bed despite a dangerously high heartbeat and his mother's pleas for intravenous fluids were rejected.

Joe was later taken to the Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick, where he died.

Parents Danny and Elouise Massa say Northern Beaches Hospital failed their son "at every level" and that he would be alive today were it not for the improper care he received.

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Yesterday, the bosses of Healthscope, the operator of Northern Beaches Hospital, were grilled in NSW parliament and said they took "full accountability" for Joe's death.

Chief medical officer and chief operating officer Peter Thomas said staff not providing Joe with an IV drip after his mother asked three times was "a mistake".

"Retrospectively, it would've been appropriate to give baby Joe fluids earlier in his admission," Thomas said.

Police will now prepare a brief for the coroner. 

US Attorney General Pam Bondi today released government documents related to wealthy financier Jeffrey Epstein, but the first wave of files posted on the Justice Department website have largely been circulating in the public domain for years and didn't include any new bombshells about the sex trafficking case that has been a favourite subject of conspiracy theorists.

The small batch of documents included copies of flight logs from Epstein's private plane, which have long been available in multiple court cases, and a heavily redacted photocopy of an address book purportedly compiled by Epstein and his longtime confidante Ghislaine Maxwell, which has been cited in media accounts for many years.

The Justice Department also released a blacked-out list of masseuses and an evidence list showing entries for more than 150 items, including nude images, massage tables, sex toys and other items.

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There wasn't any indication whether the list was from Epstein's case, Maxwell's case or some other investigation.

Bondi had teased the documents during a Fox News appearance this week, declaring, "Breaking news right now, you're going to see some Epstein information released."

The Justice Department said it was making the documents public to show its commitment to transparency.

President Donald Trump, who was in office when Epstein was arrested in 2019, suggested while campaigning last year that he'd seek to open up the government's files.

But the rollout of the documents – which were first given to political commentators at the White House hours earlier in binders that read "The Epstein Files: Phase I" – showed the administration's penchant for showmanship and preference for conservative influencers with large social media followings.

The Justice Department didn't post them on its website until hours later, along with a note downplaying their significance.

"The first phase of declassified files largely contains documents that have been previously leaked but never released in a formal capacity by the US government," the note said.

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The documents are unlikely to satisfy online sleuths eager for fresh details about Epstein's crimes and his connections to famous people, which have long been the subject of intense media scrutiny.

The lack of new information drew criticism even from some conservatives.

"GET US THE INFORMATION WE ASKED FOR!" Florida Republican Representative Anna Paulina Luna wrote on social media, calling the rollout a "complete disappointment".

Bondi suggested in a letter to FBI Director Kash Patel that more records were recently discovered.

She ordered the FBI to hand over "the full and complete Epstein files" to her by Friday morning local time, and directed Patel to "conduct an immediate investigation" into why her order to the FBI to turn over all documents was not followed.

Epstein was accused of sexually abusing dozens of underage girls in the early 2000s, but wound up serving just 13 months in jail.

He was indicted on federal charges in New York in 2019, more than a decade after he secretly struck a deal with federal prosecutors in Florida to dispose of similar charges of sex trafficking.

READ MORE: Nearly 3000 Epstein pages released but questions remain

The case has drawn widespread attention because of Epstein and his former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell's links to royals, presidents and billionaires.

Maxwell herself is the daughter of the late British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who once owned the New York Daily News.

Over the years, thousands of pages of records have been released through lawsuits, Epstein's criminal dockets, public disclosures and Freedom of Information Act requests.

In January 2024, a court unsealed the final batch of a trove of documents that had been collected as evidence in a lawsuit filed by Epstein victim Virginia Giuffre.

Much of the material, including transcripts of victim interviews and old police reports, had already been publicly known.

They included mentions of Trump, former President Bill Clinton, Britain's Prince Andrew and magician David Copperfield, as well as testimony from one victim who said she met Michael Jackson at Epstein's Florida home but nothing untoward happened with him.

The previously released files included a 2016 deposition in which an accuser recounted spending several hours with Epstein at Trump's Atlantic City casino but didn't say if she actually met Trump and did not accuse him of any wrongdoing.

Trump has also said that he once thought Epstein was a "terrific guy," but that they later had a falling out.

In 2023, The Associated Press obtained thousands of pages of records shedding light on the final days of Epstein's life at a now-shuttered federal jail in Manhattan.

They included emails between jail officials, psychological evaluations, internal agency reports, memos and other records.

The Justice Department's Inspector General later issued a report finding that a "combination of negligence, misconduct and outright job performance failures" by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and jail workers enabled Epstein to take his own life in August 2019.

The watchdog report found no evidence of foul play.

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Nine News reporter Jonathan Kearsley has questioned US President Donald Trump over AUKUS as the debate continues around if he misunderstood or misheard the question.

Trump was hosting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the White House today when a journalist asked if the pair would be discussing the military partnership between the US, United Kingdom and Australia.

"What does that mean?" Trump replied.

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Trump seemed to pick up on what AUKUS was when the journalist clarified it was the alliance between the three nations.

But debate has emerged on whether he had mistaken AUKUS for orcas due to the journalist's accent.

Kearsley saw Trump emerge from the West Wing at the White House and used the opportunity to question him about AUKUS.

"Mr President, do you know what AUKUS is, sir?" he said.

"Do you know what the AUKUS alliance is, sir?

"What's the AUKUS alliance, sir? Do you fully support it?"

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Trump and other officials and aides stopped, turned towards Kearsley and listened before turning back around and re-entering the White House.

Kearsley told Nine's Today show that Trump may not have heard or understood the question as there was about 30 to 40 metres between them. Pronunciation may also have been an issue.

He added that Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had told him earlier: "I think we're going to have to limit the questions to Americans who he can understand."

"I think the president may well have, perhaps, at times, thought of orcas which are killer whales," he said.

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Australian singer and actress Alli Simpson, known for her appearances on reality shows like The Masked Singer and I'm a Celebrity…, has overcome a life-altering accident that nearly left her paralysed.

In a candid interview, Simpson – the younger sister of swimmer and pop star Cody Simpson – revealed that she fractured two vertebrae in her neck after diving into a shallow pool at Burleigh Heads in 2019.

The injury left her just two millimetres away from paralysis.

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Simpson's road to recovery was arduous, and she endured a challenging three-year period, including depression, while wearing a neck brace.

However, her unwavering positivity propelled her back into the spotlight.

"I definitely fell into a depression," she told 9News.

"It was really hard to stay positive in times like that but I found myself feeling positive by the end of the day because all I could about was, 'Wow, it could have been so much worse.'"

Simpson now has a line-up of projects in the works, including a podcast, a local television show, and a radio segment.

"This can be my year now, I have a new lease on life," she said.

"After everything that's happened, I feel like I'm here for a reason and I'm so excited to get back into everything I love to do."

This article was produced with the assistance of 9ExPress.