Two bodies found near beach, big Ash Barty update after surprise announcement: Australian news live

A man who died in an alleged road-rage incident in Sydney on Thursday has been identified as tradie Rhyce Harding.

The 27-year-old was allegedly dragged about 100 metres down a street in Western Sydney and died at the scene.

A 39-year-old man handed himself in to police on Friday morning and was arrested.

Acting Inspector Shane Ranee said police believed "the deceased felt threatened by a car following him".

"The victim got out of the vehicle after being threatened by the car following him," he said.

We take you to the world of soccer now where one of the biggest tournaments in international football is taking place in Germany.

French superstar Kylian Mbappe, regarded as one of the best players in the world, looks set to play against the Netherlands after breaking his nose in his side's first game of the Euro 2024 tournament.

France manager Didier Deschamps said Mbappe will play in a mask and he was spotted in training wearing one.

For years the 25-year-old's likeness to the teenage mutant ninja turtles has been shared online, and now with his new mask, the comparison has swiftly resurfaced.

Mbappe has been filmed before holding a ninja turtle mask before with his teammates also making the comparison.

A gun is believed to have been found at the scene where two bodies were found near a remote beach in Victoria, the Herald Sun reported.

Police have said they are not looking for anyone else in relation to the incident that left a man and a woman dead 140km southwest of Geelong

"At this early stage, police are not treating either death as suspicious," Victoria Police said in an update on Friday afternoon.

Matthew Wheeler, who owns the nearby Destination M accommodation site, told NewsWire he heard a helicopter fly overhead about midday.

He said the walking track near the beach was a part of the Great Ocean Walk, a 110km long-distance walk.

“It’s part of the Great Ocean Walk, so there are people passing through there on a regular basis.

“It’s a remote spot and the track into it is not that great, but there are still people accessing it.”

Another local business owner described the news as "absolutely shocking".

“This kind of thing does not happen down here," he told the Herald Sun.

The New Zealand government is looking for answers after a pylon fell over in a field, leaving close to 100,000 people without power.

A limited power supply has now been restored to those in Northland, north of Auckland, with the government saying a temporary structure will be installed over the weekend in place of the fallen structure, Stuff reported.

Energy Minister Simeon Brown said the collapse on Thursday was " completely unacceptable" and investigations into what happened are ongoing.

While police are not investigating, Brown said everything will be looked into, including possible sabotage. There were people working on the pylon at the time of collapse and the region was experiencing intense storms.

Two bodies have been found near a secluded beach in Victoria.

The bodies of a man and a woman were found by a passerby on a walking track near Wreck Beach, 140km southwest of Geelong, on Friday morning.

"The circumstances surrounding the deaths are yet to be determined. Offices have cordoned off the area and a crime scene has been established," Victoria Police said in a statement.

The officer who arrested Justin Timberlake for drink driving in a village in New York's Hamptons had no idea who the singer was when he took him into custody, a source has said.

The police officer “was so young that he didn't even know” who the 10-time Grammy winner was and “didn't recognise him or his name,” a source told Page Six on Tuesday.

The 43-year-old whispered “this is going to ruin the tour” during the arrest, a separate source told the celebrity news site.

When pressed on what tour he was talking about, Timberlake said “the world tour,” according to the source.

Timberlake was charged early Tuesday with drunken driving after police said he ran a stop sign and veered out of his lane in the posh seaside summer retreat.

Read more here.

Ash Barty's double partner for the Invitational Doubles at Wimbledon has been confirmed as Casey Dellacqua.

Barty surprised fans this week with the news she was returning to the tennis court two years after her retirement.

“I can announce that the band’s back together, ABCD,” former Aussie tennis star Dellacqua, 39, told the AO Show Weekly, in reference to the initials of their names.

“This is why I love tennis, because it doesn’t matter at what level, I get an opportunity to play with my best mate who, yes, is an extremely good player and has won the (Wimbledon) Championships before.

“We’re just gonna have a great time and enjoy just being back together as friends on a tennis court, which we have loved to do our whole life... I’m actually really excited about it."

Read more here.

A man has handed himself in to police after a road-rage incident that left another driver dead.

Emergency services were called to Jersey Road at Blackett, in Sydney's west, on Thursday morning after reports that a pedestrian had been hit by a car.

The 27-year-old man, who was wearing high-visibility clothes, died at the scene while being treated by paramedics.

Police said he was hit by a white ute after getting out of his car and likely dragged along the road for about 100m before ending up on the ground.

The other driver left the area.

On Friday, a 39-year-old man attended Mount Druitt police station and was subsequently arrested.

He is yet to be charged.

Read more here.

- AAP

The police officer who stopped the Bondi massacre will receive a special award for bravery at a police graduation ceremony today.

Inspector Amy Scott shot and killed Joel Cauchi at Bondi Junction after he had run through the shopping complex slaughtering shoppers with a knife.

On Friday, NSW Premier Chriss Minns announced the hero officer would receive a Commissioner’s Valour Award “for displaying exceptional bravery in a life-threatening situation” at a police graduation ceremony.

“She has been rightly labelled a hero,” he said. “She was calm, decisive, and as a result she saved many lives.”

- NCA NewsWire

New South Wales and Victorian residents could soon be slugged with higher taxi fares, under new proposals to hike ride prices. One group says a price increase is necessary to support “hard working” taxi drivers who are doing it tough.

The NSW Taxi Council has called for a 4 per cent fare increase to taxi fares across the board and said drivers haven’t received a pay rise in a decade. It said higher costs, including skyrocketing insurance premiums, have made for “very difficult conditions” for drivers to operate a business.

The price hike would increase the initial fare from $3.60 to $3.74, the charge per kilometre from $2.29 to $2.38, and the taxi wait time from 94 cents per minute to 97 cents per minute.

Read more here.

Aussies need to stop throwing batteries in bins or risk not having their bins emptied.

That's according to those in the industry who say the risk posed to workers and their vehicles is becoming too great as they face possible fires everyday.

"Our industry is fast approaching a time when we will not be able to insure our trucks and facilities, which will mean services to the community will be in doubt – and this is not something we say lightly," Waste and Resource Recovery Association of Australia CEO Gayle Sloan said.

"Our workers and facilities need to be safe, just like every other industry. We cannot continue as is with the rate of fires."

Future Batteries Industry Cooperative Research Centre said up to $3.1 billion of lithium battery materials was being thrown away by not recycling batteries properly.

And alarmingly, 39 per cent of Australians don't know how to correctly dispose of batteries, a survey found last year.

Read more here.

We start with big news in the NBA world and one of Australia's big stars is on the move. Josh Giddey has been traded to the Chicago Bulls, with Alex Caruso heading to OKC.

It's been a difficult third year in the league for Giddey, 21, who struggled to prosper in a team packed full of young talent.

He was also the centre of an investigation over allegations he had had a relationship with an underage girl, however police later confirmed there was no evidence to support the claims.

Leading NBA reporter Adrian Wojnarowski said it was a chance for Giddey to showcase his talents, calling him a player with All-Star potential.

"They're going to hand him the ball in Chicago and they've got the young dynamic playmaker they've been after," he said.

Many fans were left scratching their heads over the sudden announcement, with a clear divide over who had won the trade.