Influencer charged over alleged torture of baby, Kokkinakis' crushing update for Aussie fans, lottery winner's heart attack fears

A member of the Bali Nine is facing fresh criminal charges after spending Christmas with his family for the first time since being released from Indonesian prison.

Matthew Norman, 38, was arrested at Waverley police station on Monday and charged with being a passenger in a stolen car on March 16, 2005.

Police allege Norman knew the white Ford had been stolen when he was in it, just one month before he was arrested in Bali.

Read more from AAP here.

With Geelong's blooming Corpse Flower making headlines in November, Sydney's Botanic Gardens knew they needed to up the ante to get people interested again as their Amorphophallus titanum flower began its rare cycle of opening up.

And they've done just that. Their live feed of the Corpse Flower shows staff have installed a smoke machine just below the flower, giving it the stage it deserves.

How's this for a time-lapse from last night's storm. A photo from Dale Lotherington shared by the NSW government shows a host of lightning strikes above Newcastle between 10.15pm and 11.22pm.

A newly-crowned Queensland millionaire has asked lottery officials to call him back after he feared he was having a heart attack after learning learning of his newfound fortune.

“I’m in shock. I think I’m starting to have a heart attack. I’ve got to calm down," the man told lottery officials, asking them to call him back in 30 minutes.

The Maryborough man landed a cool $1 million on Wednesday's Weekday Windfall draw 4495.

"I’ll remember this call for the rest of my life!" he said.

I bet he will.

The South Australian government is looking to introduce laws that would prevent offenders choosing the resting place of their victims.

For example, a domestic violence offender who kills their partner would surrender control over their victim’s grave if an application was issued by someone impacted by the offence, such as family.

"The idea that someone responsible for a horrific act against another human being could have control over that person’s final resting place – or seek to be laid to rest in the same or neighbouring plot – is simply unacceptable," Attorney-General Kyam Maher said.

"Reforms like this will help protect victims’ families from further trauma."

The man police allege murdered Samantha Murphy has been fined $2,500 over a drunk motorcycle crash following Grand Final celebrations.

Patrick Orren Stephenson, 24, returned before the Ballarat Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, pleading guilty to careless driving, driving while intoxicated and driving with MDMA in his system.

The court was told Mr Stephenson was riding his motorcycle on October 1, 2023, after attending a Grand Final celebration with friends.

He lost control while navigating a bend and crashed, suffering serious injures including a spinal fracture, broken ribs, broken pelvis and lacerated spleen and head trauma spending two weeks in hospital.

The court was told he was located by police and taken to hospital where a blood test showed he was almost three times the legal alcohol limit and had MDMA in his system.

Magistrate Guillaume Bailin fined Mr Stephenson $2,500 and imposed a 28 month licence disqualification.

“It is luck alone that no one else was injured or that you weren't killed,” he said.

The crash is unrelated to Mr Stephenson’s alleged murder of Samantha Murphy, 51, on February 4 last year.

He has pleaded not guilty and was committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court.

- NCA NewsWire

That light at the end of the tunnel is starting to shine quite brightly now as struggling Aussies with a mortgage take another step closer to a long-awaited rate cut.

Australia's unemployment rate has ticked up to 4 per cent as expected, adding to the case for the RBA to cut the interest rate for the first time in close to three years.

Ongoing strength in the labour market has been cited by RBA governor Michele Bullock as a reason behind the RBA holding the cash rate at 4.35 per cent.

The unemployment rate has held well below the central bank's 4.3 per cent forecast for the fourth quarter.

But economists at ANZ and Commonwealth Bank still expect the RBA to cut interest rates by 25 basis points at its next meeting in February due mainly to an unexpected slowdown in inflation.

Well this was to be expected, wasn't it? Due to wild weather and industrial train action, it's no surprise Uber charges have surged.

Desperate commuters have been forced to pay as much as double to catch an Uber, with trips between Petersham and Surry Hills doubled from $18 on January 6 to $38 on Thursday.

The increased fees come despite a cap on surge pricing put in place by Uber on both Wednesday and Thursday.

It’s understood the above fares would have cost even more without the price cap in place, but an Uber spokesman declined to disclose how much the cap was.

“We know many Sydney residents rely on Uber for safe, reliable rides every day – particularly in the event of a significant disruption to the city’s transport network,” the spokesman said.

“We are in contact with Transport for NSW regarding the planned action and will work to ensure there are enough drivers on the platform to help get people where they’re going in a reliable manner.”

While it seems most of Sydney was left petrified by last night's wild thunderstorm, this woman wasn't going to let the adverse conditions get in the way of some good content.

This Michael Jackson inspired performance in Sydney's Haymarket has gone down a treat on TikTok, with the woman and the person behind the camera hailed for their "cinematic" effort. Take a look for yourself below.

Plenty of Sydneysiders have said that was one of the worst storms they've witnessed in a long time, with lightning strikes leaving more than 100,000 people without power.

Tensions are boiling over as industrial action continues on Sydney's train network. Today show host Karl Stefanovic told union boss Toby Warnes he's "lost the people" after widespread disruption on Wednesday caused chaos throughout the day.

Warnes admitted the dispute had turned "ugly" as train workers hold out for a significant pay rise, but said the chaos wasn't solely a result of the strike action.

One cafe near Central station appeared to take its anger out on train workers, putting up a handwritten note advising Sydney Trains employees would be charged 15 per cent surcharge.

But its owner later explained it was a joke and that workers on the train network were loyal customers and he supported their push for a pay rise.

“You have to get what you deserve … they earned it, in any industry, not just Sydney Trains people,” Hassan Saleh told NewsWire.

“People are doing it tough, everything’s gone up."

The RSPCA in South Australia has released distressing images of injured cats in its push to stamp out the use of illegal steel jaw traps.

“These illegal traps cause horrific injuries, and it is highly likely that some animals caught in them are never found, meaning they suffer unimaginable pain until finally dying,” RSPCA SA acting chief inspector Emma Shepley said.

The RSPCA said it was investigating three recent incidents, including the one pictured below, where cats have been caught with the traps.

Shepley stressed those found using the traps will be prosecuted and urged anyone with steel jaw traps to turn them in.

This is not good for Aussie fans who were looking forward to an evening of entertainment from two of our most vibrant stars.

Thanasi Kokkinakis has left his doubles tie alongside compatriot Nick Kyrgios in tatters after saying injuries make their matchup tonight "pretty unlikely".

Kokkinakis crashed out of the Men's singles last night in a five-setter and it could be his last outing in Melbourne this year.

“I feel like I’m letting [Nick] down... letting people down [if I withdraw],” he said.

“But yeah, I don’t know. I won’t be able to lift my arm tomorrow. So we’ll see. Unless we’re both playing with underarm serves, it’s looking pretty unlikely.”

Days earlier Kyrgios says his days a singles player at the Australian Open appear to be over, turning his attentions to the doubles instead.

A 14-year-old boy has died after he was pulled from a lagoon on NSW's South Coast.

NSW Police said emergency services were called to Werri Lagoon near Gerrigong about 5pm on Wednesday after three teens were reportedly struggling in the water.

Two teens aged 16 and 18 managed to swim to safety but a 14-year-old boy, who was pulled to shore by a lifeguard, died at the scene.

The area of the lagoon the boys were swimming is not patrolled, police said.

A report will be prepared for the Coroner.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a pre-election cabinet reshuffle following the departure of Bill Shorten, with Amanda Rishworth taking his role as NDIS Minister.

Minister for Aged Care and Minister for Sport Anika Wells has been promoted to the cabinet, while Katy Gallagher will become the Minister for Government Services.

Anne Aly will assist the new NDIS minister and will continue with her role of Early Childhood Minister.

Rishworth will also keep her role of Social Services Minister.

Albanese said Wells was deserving of her new position, saying has been "outstanding" as Minister for Sport.