Sexual assault crimes in Australia increased by 10 per cent in 2024, new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveals.

There were 40,087 victims of sexual assault in 2024 around the country – 147 victims for every 100,000 people. Nearly all states and territories recorded an increase in sexual assaults with NSW recording the most with 16,444 victims in 2024, an increase of 12 per cent from 2023. Queensland had the next most sexual assaults recorded in 2024 with 9,326 recorded.

Nationally, 81 per cent of victims were female, and two in five were aged between 10 and 17 at the time of the assault.

The Victims Recorded Crime report released today by the ABS also revealed homicide and related crimes were up by 9 per cent, while kidnapping and abductions increased by 15 per cent over 2024.

During 2024, Victoria had the most victims of robbery with 3,436 during the year, compared to 3,009 in Queensland, 2,267 in NSW, 1,316 in WA, 517 in the NT, 496 in SA, 275 in Tasmania and 182 in the ACT.

Victoria also had the most motor vehicles stolen with 22,504 victims in 2024, compared to 17,493 in Queensland and 12,319 in NSW.

Victoria Police has provided an update on their search for alleged cop killer Dezi Freeman, saying nothing can be ruled out at this stage and that it's a "real possibility" his associates are helping him move around.

Detective Superintendent Jason Kelly said police were "very pleased" with the community assistance they had received, including from people who know Freeman who have made contact with police.

Detective Superintendent Kelly said more than 100 properties had now been searched since the manhunt began last Tuesday.

"History suggests that we will find the person responsible and we will locate them and put them before the courts," he said, pointing to the previous success of the state's Fugitive Squad detectives.

A 50-year-old New Zealand woman is facing court on Wednesday after being removed from a Sydney-bound flight for allegedly dancing in the aisle while the plane was taxiing.

The alleged incident happened in July this year on a flight from Sydney to Queenstown.

Police allege the woman was intoxicated, ignored cabin crew instructions, swore at staff, and disrupted the plane as it prepared for takeoff.

The alleged antics forced the pilot to abort the flight, return to the gate, and call in Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers to remove the woman.

She allegedly became argumentative and non-compliant before being escorted off the aircraft.

The flight later departed without further incident, and the woman returned to New Zealand the following day.

The woman will face Downing Centre Local Court on Wednesday charged with failing to comply with a cabin crew member’s safety instructions, which carries a maximum fine of $16,500, and resisting a Commonwealth official, which can carry up to two years’ imprisonment if found guilty.

- NewsWire

If you're a parent of a young child, there's a good chance you've heard of KPop Demon Hunters by now.

It's the new Netflix film that's resonating with all ages and has everyone asking to watch it again. Just last week, it became Netflix's most popular film ever.

"This movie somehow cracked the code: My kids are glued to the screen, I'm actually entertained, and our car rides have turned into full-on K-pop karaoke sessions," one mum told Yahoo.

The film follows a beloved K-pop trio called Huntr/x who secretly moonlight as demon hunters, as the name quite literally suggests. They use their musical talents, and some serious martial arts skills, to battle supernatural forces threatening the world.

Yahoo Canada's Taryn Ryder has explained exactly why it's been a huge hit in her household and many others around the world. Read her take here.

US President Donald Trump has responded to the appearance of Russian President Vladimir Putin and South Korean leader Kim Jong-un at China's military celebration of the 80th anniversary since Japan's defeat at the end of World War II.

"Please give my warmest regards to Vladimir Putin, and Kim Jong Un, as you conspire against The United States of America," Trump sarcastically wrote on Truth Social as the parade kicked off.

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned the world is facing a choice between peace or war as he kicked off his country's largest-ever military parade.

Designed to project China's military might and diplomatic clout, it also comes as Trump's trade tariffs and volatile policymaking strain its relations with allies and rivals alike.

"Today, mankind is faced with the choice of peace or war, dialogue or confrontation, win-win or zero-sum," Xi told a crowd of more than 50,000 spectators, adding that the Chinese people "firmly stand on the right side of history".

With Reuters

Well here's an image we've not seen before.

As China's grand military parade kicks off, Xi Jinping has been pictured with Russian President Vladimir Putin and South Korean President Kim Jong-un by his side.

While there have been bilateral talks among the three, it's a first public meet for them all together, the BBC reports.

A woman who accelerated through a school fence and killed an 11-year-old boy will walk free from court with a $2000 fine and a cancelled driver's licence.

The grieving parents of Jack Davey, 11, attended the Melbourne Magistrates court on Wednesday morning as the driver was sentenced.

Shaymaa Oun Ghazi Zuhaira, 41, was convicted of the single offence of careless driving, an offence that only warrants a maximum penalty of a $2400 fine.

She had her licence cancelled and was disqualified from driving for two years.

Zuhaira earlier pleaded guilty to the careless driving charge over the October 29, 2024 crash at Auburn South Primary School.

The Davey family gave statements to the court about how her lesser charge had compounded their grief.

Zuhaira was pulling out of a parallel park outside the school when she claims to have "lost control" of her SUV, mounting the median strip and driving into the school fence.

She drove over a picnic table where Jack was enjoying an afternoon break with four school friends, killing him and seriously injuring three others.

Zuhaira has been unable to provide an explanation for the offending, but claimed she had been traumatised by a meeting at the school with the principal before the crash.

Magistrate Vincenzo Caltabiano rejected that this could have impaired her driving as he handed down his sentence.

"This is a tragic case, it's a sad case, a case where little that I so do today will overcome the effects of what happened," the magistrate told the court.

He said the only explanation was Zuhaira had pressed down on the accelerator instead of the brake.

Mr Caltabiano said the case highlighted the care required when handling motor vehicles but noted his sentence was "in no way comparable to Jack's life".

"It is not in any view considered as the court's evaluation of that life," he said.

A petition to deport the Neo-Nazi who has been charged over an alleged attack at an Aboriginal protest site has received nearly 50,000 signatures in less than 24 hours.

Dozens of officers arrested Thomas Sewell outside Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday afternoon, along with two of his supporters.

Sewell was allegedly among about 40 men dressed in black accused of storming Camp Sovereignty on Sunday evening after attending an anti-immigration rally in the CBD.

His arrest came after he gatecrashed Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan's outdoor press conference where he called her "a coward".

The petition is pushing for Sewell's Australian citizenship to be revoked. It is believed he also has NZ citizenship, after he was born there.

Watch the moment he disrupted Allan's press conference below.

We bring you an update now to a story in the US we shared yesterday.

A man has now been charged after an 11-year-old boy was allegedly shot dead as he fled a Houston home while playing door knocking prank with other children over the weekend.

The 42-year-old man, identified by authorities as Gonzalo Leon Jr, was arrested on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

He has been charged with murder.

The boy, Julian Guzman, and a cousin had been attending a birthday party Saturday night when they “became bored and wanted to ring doorbells, or play ‘ding dong ditch,’” according to a probable cause affidavit.

The prank commonly called “ding dong ditching” involves ringing a doorbell or knocking on a door and fleeing before someone inside opens the door.

While he's a prolific poster on his own social media platform, US President Donald Trump appeared surprised by a grim rumour he hadn't seen spreading rapidly online.

Trump said he was unaware of a rumour suggesting he was dead, fuelled by questions over his health and a lack of public appearances.

"I didn't hear that one," Trump told reporters when asked about the rumour.

"That's pretty serious."

While Trump, 79, said he was aware people were concerned about his health, he didn't realise it had extended to rumours of him dying.

While days without appearances in front of the media, Trump stressed he had been "very active".

The contest now playing out with China in the Indo-Pacific is on par with the Cold War that risked “nuclear armageddon” in the later half of last century, a senior government minister has warned.

Pat Conroy does not often make headlines, but as minister for the Pacific and defence industry, he is at the forefront of both Australia’s soft power fight with China and preparation for looming regional conflict.

It is a tough job – Beijing is relentlessly pursuing influence efforts in Australia’s backyard, trying to debt-trap its way to a military foothold.

At the same time, Xi Jinping has made clear he wants so-called reunification with Taiwan to be a jewel in his legatorial crown.

Conroy summed it up bluntly.

“Where we talk about the strategic uncertainty, we talk about the biggest arms race since 1945,” he told NewsWire.

“We’ve got a situation where we’ve got a rise in a great power that’s trying to exert its influence in the region.

“This is a uniquely challenging circumstance for Australia that we haven’t seen since World War Two.”

Read more from NewsWire here.

A man photographed and filmed holding up an “offensive” and “disgraceful” Dezi Freeman poster at a March for Australia rally in Adelaide has been charged.

SA Police announced the man's arrest on Tuesday, saying a 39-year-old Golden Grove man had attended the Grenfell Street police station in the CBD.

“After being interviewed, he was charged with displaying offensive material in a public place,” police said.

The poster reads “free man” beneath an image of alleged cop killer Dezi Freeman.

Freeman is currently a fugitive in northeast Victoria, and has evaded police detection for over a week.

He is believed to have gunned down two police officers, Senior Constable Vadim De Waart and Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, on August 26 at a property on the edge of Porepunkah.

Acting Police Commissioner Linda Williams, speaking after the rally, blasted the poster as “offensive” and “disgraceful”.

“It’s offensive, it’s disgraceful, it’s outrageous, and it shouldn’t be tolerated, and it needs to be called out, and rightly so,” she told ABC Adelaide.

“I think that that would have disturbed any right-minded person, including our members who saw the sign yesterday.”

- NewsWire