Half Yours has won the Melbourne Cup, with Jamie Melham becoming only the second female jockey to win Australia’s most famous horse race.
Goodie Two Shoes, trained by Ireland’s Joseph O’Brien and ridden by Wayne Lordan, finished in second place, with Middle Earth in third.
An Australian teenager has died after he was hit by a cricket ball during a practice session in Melbourne.
The 17-year-old was training in cricket nets in Ferntree Gully on Tuesday when he was struck in the head or neck by a ball from an automatic bowling machine. It’s believed he was wearing a helmet.
Emergency workers were called to the scene shortly before 17:00 local time (06:00 GMT) and the boy was rushed to Monash Children’s Hospital in critical condition. He was put on life support but died on Wednesday.
The boy’s local cricket club said it was “absolutely devastated” by the “tragic passing” of one its players and the teenager’s death “will be felt by all in our cricket community”.
The local cricket association president, Arnie Walters, said the boy was “both talented and popular in local cricket,” according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
“I know how heavily this news will land across our community and we will provide any and all support we can to our clubs and cricket family,” he said.
In a social media post, the boy’s cricket club extended their condolences to his family and friends and “to all of those who knew [him] and the joy that he brought”.
“We ask you to please respect the privacy of [the boy’s] family during this time,” the post said.
On behalf of the teenager’s family, the club also thanked Ambulance Victoria, the police and hospital staff.
The BBC has contacted Cricket Australia and Cricket Victoria for comment.
The incident comes just over a decade after Australian cricketer Phillip Hughes died after being struck on the neck by a ball while batting in the Sheffield Shield in 2014.
His death, for which a coroner ultimately found no-one was to blame, sparked improvements to safety equipment for those playing the sport.
A GUNMAN who allegedly killed two police officers could be hiding in a cave as his family handed themselves in.
A major manhunt is still underway for Dezi Bird Freeman, 56, who allegedly gunned down “execution style” three officers who were conducting a search warrant at a property in Porepunkah, Australia, on Tuesday morning.
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Police sources told the Herald Sun it was a “straight-out execution” when Freeman allegedly opened fire with a shotgun as officers entered a bus where he and his family live.
A 59-year-old detective, just days from retirement, and a 35-year-old senior constable were killed in the horror attack.
A third officer, meanwhile, was shot in the thigh and is undergoing surgery in a Melbourne hospital.
The remaining seven members of the 10-officer team were unharmed.
On Wednesday, the search for the alleged killer continued as his family, who were feared to have been kidnapped by Freeman handed themselves in to authorities late on Tuesday.
Freeman’s whereabouts, meanwhile, remain unknown with cops believing he may have fled into the nearby dense bush.
The 45-year-old is well known to police, having been in and out of court for driving and traffic offences, defying police orders, and verbally abusing a judge in a roadside drug-test case last year.
In 2021, he was arrested at an anti-government protest. He has also previously compared police to Nazis.
Australian outlets are reporting that Freeman is a self-declared “sovereign citizen” – part of a fringe movement that rejects the authorities of Australian laws and government.
Often called “SovCits”, adherents have been Australia for decades, with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) previously describing them as mostly harmless.
But the movement has gained traction in recent years, fuelled by pandemic-era mistrust, and a 2023 AFP briefing note warned it has “an underlying capacity to inspire violence”.
Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush confirmed that ten officers went to the Porepunkah property around 10.30am on Tuesday to execute a search warrant when shots were fired.
He said: “They were fired upon. The two deceased officers are still at the scene. A third officer was seriously injured and is currently in surgery in hospital.”
Bush said the other officers on scene were uninjured, but stressed the incident was “still active and ongoing”.
“We have deployed all specialist resources into the area to arrest the person responsible… [they] are currently there looking for this person.”
That includes homicide detectives, the Armed Crime Squad, the Fugitive Squad and specialist police units.
Ambulance Victoria confirmed one person with serious lower-body injuries was flown to hospital in a stable condition.
The attack unfolded in Porepunkah, a small Alpine town of about 1,000 residents, located 186 miles north-east of Melbourne.
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The local primary school was placed into lockdown and the Alpine shire council closed all public facilities “effective immediately”.
Alpine shire mayor Sarah Nicholas said it had been an “unsettling” and “emotional” afternoon for the small community.
“Today has been a day of deep sorrow and shock for our community… We are grieving together,” she said in a statement, paying tribute to the officers killed and offering “thoughts, love and unwavering” support to their families.
“We hold our police in the highest regard. They serve with courage, compassion, and dedication, and their loss is felt profoundly across our region,” she added.
Nicholas also thanked teachers at the nearby school for keeping children calm during the lockdown, and locals for heeding police instructions. She closed with a plea: “Please stay safe.”
Prime minister Anthony Albanese said: “Our thoughts are with the police for the work they do, each and every day.
“SOVEREIGN citizens” – often called SovCits – are part of a fringe movement that falsely claims individuals can opt out of Australian law and government authority.
Followers often argue they are not bound by taxes, licences, fines, or court rulings.
The movement has existed in Australia for decades, borrowing heavily from conspiracy theories in the US.
While always on the margins, SovCits became more visible during the Covid pandemic, when mistrust in government and police surged.
Although many adherents are non-violent, police say confrontations can escalate when SovCits refuse to recognise authority.
Some have clashed with officers over property disputes, traffic stops, and legal orders.
The Australian Federal Police has warned the movement has “an underlying capacity to inspire violence.”
A 2023 AFP briefing note said SovCits are becoming more organised, using social media to spread their views and recruit supporters.
Authorities say numbers remain small but pockets of activity have been reported in regional areas.
Most activity involves disruptive legal claims and anti-government rhetoric — but some adherents have been linked to armed standoffs and violent threats.
“The men and women who wear the uniform of the police force, take risks each and every day.”
Premier Jacinta Allan told parliament: “Victoria police officers and all of our first responders show extraordinary bravery and courage every single day. They are the best of us.”
A large police operation remains underway in Porepunkah, with about 50 officers and a police dog reported at the scene.
The local airfield has been shut to the public to allow emergency access.
Meanwhile, locals are being warned to stay indoors, with PCC Bush saying: “I want to further assure the rural community around Bright that we will do everything to bring this person into custody so that your community is safe.
“Can I please ask you just to stay at home, not go out and about at the moment, until this operation is concluded?
“I’m leaving now to head to the area to support our officers and support the operation.”
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British and Irish Lions: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Tommy Freeman, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 James Lowe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park; 1 Ellis Genge, 2 Dan Sheehan, 3 Tadhg Furlong, 4 Maro Itoje (c), 5 Joe McCarthy, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 7 Tom Curry, 8 Jack Conan.
Replacements: 16 Ronan Kelleher, 17 Andrew Porter, 18 Will Stuart, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Ben Earl, 21 Alex Mitchell, 22 Marcus Smith, 23 Bundee Aki.
Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Joseph Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Harry Potter, 10 Tom Lynagh, 9 Jake Gordon; 1 James Slipper, 2 Matt Faessler, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 4 Nick Frost, 5 Jeremy Williams, 6 Nick Champion de Crespigny, 7 Fraser McReight, 8 Harry Wilson (c).
Replacements: 16 Billy Pollard, 17 Angus Bell, 18 Tom Robertson, 19 Tom Hooper 20 Carlo Tizzano, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Andrew Kellaway.
Jac Morgan unlucky to not feature after a great tour and Will Skelton and Rob Valetini will be out for the first test through injury.
Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel is expected to open in late 2025. Described as the most significant overhaul of the city’s transport network since the City Loop opened in the 1980s, the tunnel has been taking shape beneath the city for the past eight years – with the bill ballooning to $14bn. With an eye on the 2026 state election, the long-serving Victorian Labor government – with its soaring debt of nearly $200bn – is banking on the project to turn its fortunes around. Guardian Australia’s Victoria state correspondent, Benita Kolovos, gets a look at the city’s newest train stations
CAPTAIN COOK’S ship, HMS Endeavour, which the adventurer used to explore Australia, has been identified after a 250 year long mystery.
The vessel was the first European ship to reach Eastern Australia, in 1770, and went on to circumnavigate the main islands of New Zealand.
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It was then sold, renamed the Lord Sandwich and was last seen in the US in 1778, during the American War of Independence.
During the war, the ship was scuttled (intentionally sunk) to create a blockade to prevent French ships from entering the harbour and supporting the American forces.
And it has now been confirmed that a shipwreck off Newport Harbour, Rhode Island, USA, called RI 2394, is in fact the HMS Endeavour.
In a new report the Australian National Maritime Museum (ANMM) announced the verdict, after 25 years of studying the wreck.
“This final report is the culmination of 25 years of detailed and meticulous archaeological study on this important vessel”, said museum director Daryl Karp.
“It has involved underwater investigation in the US and extensive research in institutions across the globe.”
“This final report marks our definitive statement on the project.”
The ship was hard to identify because anything that would have been of value, such as a bell, would have been stripped from the boat before it was intentionally sunk.
However, experts were able to determine that the shipwreck is the lost ship by comparing it with plans for the Endeavour.
For example, they discovered timbers which matched with the placement of the main and fore masts of the ship.
Additionally, measurements from the wreck corresponded to those taken during a 1768 survey of the ship.
Analysis of the ship’s wood also revealed that it had come from Europe, which is consistent with records show that the Endeavour was repaired there in 1776.
ANMM archaeologist, Kieran Hosty, said: “We’ll never find anything on this site that screams Endeavour. You’ll never find a sign saying ‘Cook was here’.
“We will never see a ship’s bell with Endeavour crossed out and Lord Sandwich inscribed on it.
Captain James Cook was one of Britain’s most renowned explorers, celebrated for his contributions to navigation and mapping during the 18th century.
While he charted the eastern coastline of Australia in 1770 and claimed it for Britain, Cook was not the first European to encounter the continent, as Dutch explorers had sighted it earlier in the 17th century. His expeditions, however, significantly advanced European knowledge of the region and laid the groundwork for British settlement.
Similarly, Cook’s role in New Zealand’s history was pivotal but not first in sequence. Dutch explorer Abel Tasman had visited New Zealand in 1642, long before Cook’s arrival. Nevertheless, Cook’s meticulous circumnavigation and mapping of New Zealand were instrumental in understanding its geography and establishing connections with the indigenous Māori people.
“We’ve got a whole series of things pointing to RI 2394 as being HMB Endeavour.
“The timbers are British timbers.
“The size of all the timber scantlings are almost identical to Endeavour, and I’m talking within millimetres – not inches, but millimetres.
“The stem scarf is identical, absolutely identical.
“This stem scarf is also a very unique feature – we’ve gone through a whole bunch of 18th-century ships plans, and we can’t find anything else like it.”
However, the Rhode Island Marine Archaeology Project previously said the identification is “premature” and has not yet ruled out that the Endeavour could be another shipwreck .
Only 15 percent of the ship remains and researchers are now focused on what to do to preserve it.
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What Felix Mallard has grown to appreciate about living in L.A. is that there’s a pocket of town to match every vibe — even if that vibe is “Aussie,” which his proudly is, having moved from Melbourne seven years ago.
“There are a lot of places that remind me of home,” says the 27-year-old actor, who plays tough-shelled Marcus in Netflix’s “Ginny & Georgia,” which returns for its third season next week. “The coastal cities and certainly some parts of Silver Lake and Echo Park feel very Melbourne. They feel very hipster. I mean, that word has changed so much — I don’t know if bohemian is the right word either. But there’s a sense of wanting to engage with good food, good coffee and good art. That kind of thing is very important to people from Melbourne.”
In Sunday Funday, L.A. people give us a play-by-play of their ideal Sunday around town. Find ideas and inspiration on where to go, what to eat and how to enjoy life on the weekends.
As he carves his own space in Los Angeles, Mallard has been captivating Gen Z audiences with his nuanced roles, ones that tend to resonate with young men amid all of the distinct pressures they face. Last year, he starred in the romantic drama “Turtles All the Way Down,” the film adaptation of John Green’s young adult novel that explores the complexities of obsessive-compulsive disorder. He’s now set to headline “Nest,” a movie about a young family whose home is invaded by deadly arachnids. (“It’s a quiet meditation on masculinity and being a father, wrapped up in a really fun spider horror movie,” he explains. “A real one-two punch.”)
For Mallard, a perfect Sunday in L.A. involves surfing (a must), playing music loudly (he knows his way around the guitar, bass, piano and drums) and trekking from West L.A. to the Eastside in the name of adventure. Here’s a play by play.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
5:30 a.m.: Chase the waves
I’d get up early and have a surf. The funny thing with surfing in L.A. is that you have to go where the waves are good. So it could be anywhere — Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Huntington Beach, Malibu or Ventura. You’ve got to check the Surfline app and kind of know the seasons as well, like how winter brings north swells and summer brings south swells. But it’s a guessing game. You kind of throw a dart and follow it, you know? There’s a nice crew of Aussies, Kiwis and Americans. We all try and surf together, which is really sweet.
8 a.m.: Post-surf burritos
Now I’ll probably be in a raggedy flannel top and some track pants and some Birkenstocks. Really just kind of half asleep. But it’s mandatory after a surf to get a breakfast burrito. There’s a really, really good place in Hermosa Beach called Brother’s Burritos. They don’t do the typical kind of massive breakfast burrito. Theirs come in two little bite-size burritos, which is perfect for breakfast, you know? And then there’s another place in West L.A. called Sachi.LA that’s just off the Culver loop. It’s a really cool, funky little coffee shop and cafe with a little record store next door — the perfect kind of vibe after having a surf and being in nature all morning. I really try to enjoy the peace that comes after that.
9:30 a.m.: Catch up on shows
I’m going home and catching up on the week’s shows. Right now, I’m really deep into “Hacks” — obsessed with it. I feel like I came to it quite late and I’ve had to make up for lost time. And I’m really, really loving “Everybody’s Live With John Mulaney,” and “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver.” I feel like if you’re going to check in with the news these days, it’s got to be in a format that’s digestible. I think John Oliver has a really great way of doing that, presenting the outrage and the absurdity in a fun context.
Noon: Try to find the joy of cooking
I’ve always found it such a challenge to see cooking as the expression of love that I know it is — I just haven’t had the inspiration. But Jamie Oliver’s books have really helped me because he explains recipes in a way that teach you the fundamentals. He’s got this cookbook, “One-Pan Wonders,” with an herb-y chicken tray bake that’s really simple. You can put the vegetables at the bottom of the tray — and a lot of rosemary and a lot of lemon — and put the chicken on the bars above the tray, so that when it cooks, the chicken fat drops into the vegetables and creates this really lovely flavor in the veggies. And then you finish it off with some lemon and olive oil. So that’s the one I think I can do. But if anyone has seen that recipe, they’ll know it’s the easiest one in the book, so I’m not trying to brag here.
1 p.m.: Get lost in the music
It’s always a struggle to get up off the couch, but once there’s been some food, I’m off to play some music. There was this beautiful, really fun, cheap, grungy rehearsal studio in Culver City called Exposition Studios. It would be, like, $25 or $30 an hour, and you could rent instruments and rent a room and just play as loud and as long as you want. It’s not there anymore, but there are a few other places like that around town. I’ve gone to Pirate Studios in West Adams a couple times, and just anywhere I can play some music, really, really loud.
I’ve got an EP of songs that I’m working my way through. It’s very grungy, very emotion-based. It’s probably quite angsty. There’s a lot of anger in there, and then I think maybe a lot of sadness. It’s touching on a lot of the uglier sides of our psyche that we all have.
4 p.m.: Car entertainment
Now we start preparing the journey east. Because it’s L.A., you can’t pretend that you’re not going to spend some part of your day in traffic. So a podcast is a must. I’ll be listening to Louis Theroux. I just love how he asks questions, how he kind of gives a space for his guests to either showcase who they are or maybe unknowingly reveal parts of themselves they may not even intend to. How he holds the space for that is quite impressive, and it’s a good distraction while you’re driving.
5 p.m.: Fuel up with burgers
We’re going to Burgerlords. They do a really simple menu. You can get a smashburger, I think a vegan burger, and something else, and they’ve got a really nice selection of craft beers. And it’s kind of like a redone version of a ‘50s diner inside.
7 p.m.: Let loose at a punk show
From there, we’ll go to Zebulon. I love it. I don’t see too many venues with an indoor-outdoor kind of space. They have a big garden, so you can go and take a break outside and then come back in and enjoy that change of pace. It’s one of my favorite spots in L.A. to go and watch music, for sure.
The last time I went, we saw the Spits. They’re, you know, really proper punks. And then another time, we saw a band called Spy, and they were supported by Fentanyl, Blood Stained Concrete and Yard, which is a Polish hardcore band. So any time we’re out there, it’s usually for a bit more of a hardcore kind of scene. And they’re the most fun gigs to go to. Everyone’s there to release some tension, some energy. The fans are always super, super, super die-hard fans.
Midnight: Straight to bed
I’ll make the trek home and tuck into bed. That’s usually about midnight. I’d like to say it’s earlier and that I’m, like, healthy, but I’m not.
ITV viewers were completely stunned as a late soap legend was spotted on TV, eight months after she passed away.
The actress sadly died in her sleep at the age of 72 last year in her home city of Melbourne, Australia.
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Janet Andrewartha was best known for her role as Lyn Scully in the hit soap, Neighbours.
She first made her debut on the former Channel 5 serial drama back in 1999.
She had a number of on and off stints on Ramsay Street, before departing for the final time in 2019.
But less than three months after she received a cancer diagnosis, the star passed away in July of last year.
At the time, her friend – and Neighbours co-star – Jackie Woodburne paid a heartfelt tribute to her pal.
She said: “[Janet] was one of the finest actors of a generation. I will miss her every day.”
However, viewers were shocked to see her appear on-screen once again in the ITV drama, Fake.
The show focuses on a smart magazine writer named Birdie (Asher Keddie) who seems to have found her ideal match.
On a dating app, she meets a successful farmer, but she later discovers that all is not as it seems.
Viewers were pleasantly surprised to see that Janet popped up on screen in scenes that were filmed before her death.
She starred in the gritty series as, Kath Tovey, which is a supporting role.
Her Neighbours co-star Anne Charleston, 82, is known for playing the beloved Madge Bishop on the soap for decades from 1986.
She also appears in Fake in a supporting role as the character, Shirley Burt alongside Janet.
Anne recently made her return to Neighbours in a new role as part of Harold’s departure storyline.
This was after Ian Smith revealed that he was diagnosed with “a very aggressive non-fixable cancer.”
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