Australia news live: police search Sydney Harbour for missing sailor; Mike Cannon-Brookes and wife to separate
A man and woman will face court today in Melbourne accused of murder after the body of a man in his 40s was found in a city street, AAP reports.
Police say the charges follow an alleged incident at a home near Glen Waverley train line in Binalong Avenue, Chadstone on Tuesday, where a man in his 40s was fatally assaulted.
Emergency crews were called to a fire at the address about 9pm. The body of a man, yet to be formally identified, was located around the corner in Railway Parade in Chadstone on Friday afternoon following a search by officers.
This followed the arrest of 36-year-old woman in Seaford on Thursday evening. A 35-year-old man was also apprehended by detectives in Carrum Downs on Friday afternoon. Both are from Chadstone.
Police believe the parties involved were known to each other.
My colleague Josh Taylor has written this frankly terrifying piece[1] on the use of AI-driven virtual girlfriend apps.
The story includes this warning from Tara Hunter at Full Stop Australia – a group supporting people affected by relationship and family violence.
Creating a perfect partner that you control and meets your every need is really frightening.
Given what we know already that the drivers of gender-based violence are those ingrained cultural beliefs that men can control women, that is really problematic.
Uncharted territory: do AI girlfriend apps promote unhealthy expectations for human relationships?
Don’t modify it. We are seeing some people who’ve bought a product, they want it to go a bit faster and longer and changing the battery with something that is not compatible.
We are seeing a number of fires caused by this. Take it into the shop, get it serviced or upgraded. It could save your life.
It’s day two of Byron Bay’s famous three-day Splendour in the Grass music festival.
Here’s our picture gallery[3] from a sun-soaked day one, where American artist Lizzo headlined.
Splendour in the Grass 2023 – in pictures
It can be a sensitive and confronting topic for many people so it is important that any future legislation is done through intensive and thorough consultation with all Territorians.
O’Halloran said:
This is an imperative step forward for the Territory and I am honoured to play my part in this important consultation process.
Man dead after alleged stabbing in Sydney’s inner-west
A man thought to be in his 60s has died after an alleged stabbing in Sydney’s inner west.
AAP reports police found the man with injuries to his torso after responding to reports of an assault on Forbes Street in Newtown shortly after 7pm on Friday night.
Ambulance paramedics treated the man, not yet formally identified by police, at the scene but efforts to save him were unsuccessful.
A crime scene has been established and investigations are ongoing into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The voice to parliament yes campaign will hold a street corner meeting with the federal social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, and South Australian MP Erin Thompson at Federation University in Mount Helen, Victoria[6], today.
And there’ll be a Q&A with Indigenous leader Noel Pearson and constitutional lawyer Dr Shireen Morris at Beecroft Community Centre in Sydney[7] this morning from 10:30am-12pm, and later in West Pennant Hills between 4pm-5:30pm.
Watch Aussie golfer’s British Open hole-in-one
It’s a big weekend of sport, with four games in the FIFA Women’s World Cup today and another nail-biter[8] in The Ashes cricket in Manchester.
Aussie golfer Travis Smyth failed to make the cut for the final two rounds of the British Open golf, but he still leaves the Royal Liverpool course with a shot he’ll remember for the rest of his life. A hole-in-one on the 17th.
A shot i’ll remember for the rest of my life! Pretty cool! https://t.co/XhXlA9upzy[9]
— Travis Smyth (@travsmythg) July 21, 2023[10]Technology and software billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes is separating from his wife Annie, according to a report from the Australian Financial Review.
Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder of Atlassian, is also known for his climate change activism.
The Guardian has contacted Atlassian and Cannon-Brookes’ investment company Grok and both replied they had “no comment” on the reports of the split.
Morning. Graham Readfearn here taking over our live news coverage for the morning.
The American warship USS Canberra will officially enter service at 10am today with a historic ceremony at Garden Island, Sydney[11], featuring a blend of Australian and US traditions.
The littoral combat ship arrived in Sydney on Tuesday after a month-long journey from its home base in San Diego.
Named after the first HMAS Canberra, which was sunk during the second world war, the vessel is only the second US naval ship to be named after a non-American city.
The only other time a US ship has held a foreign city’s name was its predecessor, the USS Canberra, launched in 1943 during Franklin D Roosevelt’s war-time presidency.
The commissioning also marks the first time a US ship has entered service in a foreign port.
The ship will also host the opening ceremony of Exercise Talisman Sabre, the military training activity between Australia, the US and regional partners including Japan, Indonesia, France and the United Kingdom, among others.
A procession of Australian and US Navy officers in Canberra will mark the ship’s commissioning on Sunday.
Demonstrators will rally across the nation today against Australia’s decade-long policy of offshore detention of refugees seeking asylum by boat, Australian Associated Press reports.
Human rights activists are calling on the Albanese government to shutter detention centres in Nauru and Papua New Guinea that incarcerated refugees in a deal struck by then prime minister Kevin Rudd in July 2013.
More than 3,000 people have been detained on the Pacific island nations over the past decade.
Lieke Janssen, of Refugee Action Collective Victoria[12] and an organiser of Melbourne’s rally, believes the government has a responsibility to act. She said:
It was a Labor government that actually introduced this policy.
This 10-year anniversary marks the perfect moment to demand the current Labor government gets rid of these policies once and for all.
Speakers slated to share testimonies include Iranian-Kurdish artist [13]Farhad Bandesh[14], who was detained on Manus Island in PNG for six years.
Other rallies are planned on Sunday including in Sydney[15], Brisbane and Canberra.
Sanmati Verma, managing lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, described the Australian offshore detention regime as “a system of calculated cruelty which is now being exported to other parts of the world to torture and punish people seeking safety”.
Australia removed all asylum seekers from Nauru last month but will keep the empty centre open at a cost of $350 million per year.
About 80 asylum seekers remain in PNG.
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage of the day ahead. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ve got some top overnight stories coming your way before Graham Readfearn slips into the hot seat.
Our top story this morning is an exclusive about parliamentary documents[16] that reveal the Morrison government signed a “confidential bilateral agreement”[17] with Papua New Guinea in December 2021, paying the Port Moresby government to provide welfare and support for refugees forcibly sent there by Australia.
The Albanese government is refusing to say how much it is paying for the secret agreement which involves about 75 refugees and asylum seekers being held in Port Moresby. It comes as protesters are preparing to rally today against Australia’s decade-long policy of offshore detention of refugees seeking asylum by boat. More coming up.
Police rescue teams are continuing to scour Sydney Harbour this morning for a man missing after a boating accident on Thursday that also claimed the life of Sydney art dealer [18]Tim Klingender[19]. The missing man is believed to be Andrew Findlay, a 51-year-old IT entrepreneur.
The pair were believed to have been on a Brig 7.8-metre inflatable boat with a centre console in or near the water around Watsons Bay on Thursday. Police are planning to hold a media conference at midday today to give more details. We’ll have any developments as soon as they happen.
A man found guilty in absentia of downing the Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine in 2014 has been arrested in Russia[20], according to reports. Igor Girkin, a former battlefield commander of Russian proxy forces in east Ukraine, was convicted by a Dutch court[21] last year over the shooting down of MH17, with the death of 298 people on board – including 38 Australians.
But the families of those victims will not be any nearer seeing justice because Girkin has been arrested on extremism charges probably fuelled by his criticism of the Russian war effort in Ukraine[22].