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"It's been a crazy year." Ash Barty has just won the biggest winner's cash-prize in tennis history, & more in News in 5.

– With AAP.

1. “It’s been a crazy year.” Ash Barty has just won the biggest winner’s cash-prize in tennis history.

Ashleigh Barty has defeated Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the WTA final and claimed the biggest winner’s cash-prize in tennis history – for men or women – with a staggering $US 4.42 million ($6.4 million).

“It’s just been the most incredible season,” Barty said after outclassing defending champion Elina Svitolina 6-4 6-3 in Sunday night’s final.

The win secured her position as world number one and means she is the first Australian woman to win the WTA Finals since her idol Evonne Goolagong Cawley in 1976.

Still taking it all in, the 23-year-old says she needs time to reflect on her phenomenal year after capturing the elite season-ending championship.

ash barty wta finals
Ash Barty celebrates match point and winning her Women's Singles final match over Ukraine's Elina Svitolina. Image: Getty.
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"Give me a week at home with a few beers on the couch where I can kind of relive what has happened in 2019. It's just been a crazy year, it really has.

"It feels like it's been a year that just hasn't stopped ... at times it felt like a circus going around and around.

"To cap it off with a very, very special night tonight in Shenzhen is really cool."

Victory underlined a stunning season in which the 23-year-old also landed her maiden grand slam crown in Paris and became the first Australian since Lleyton Hewitt in 2002 to secure the year-end top ranking.

Barty's latest win brings her total earnings for the year to $16.37 million.

2. Serial conwoman Samantha Azzopardi has allegedly been charged with child stealing while pretending to be an au pair.

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A woman has been charged with stealing a baby and a four-year-old girl after allegedly pretending to be an au pair in regional Victoria.

The 31-year-old of no fixed address was arrested with the two girls at Bendigo's Pall Mall on Friday after forging documents to get a job as an au pair, police allege.

The Herald Sun is reporting that the woman is serial NSW conwoman Samantha Azzopardi.

The children were returned to their parents unharmed and the woman charged with two counts of child stealing as well as stating a false name.

She is also charged with handling stolen goods after allegedly being found in July with a passport and driver's licence, stolen from a Brighton East woman last year.

The accused child snatcher was remanded in police custody to appear in the Bendigo Magistrates Court on Monday.

3. Police arrest man after alleged rampage in Sydney's inner-west.

A man is behind bars after he allegedly carried out a rampage of violence in Sydney's inner-west.

Police arrived at an apartment on Pyrmont Bridge Road, Camperdown, about 10.30pm on Saturday night, following concerns for the welfare of a woman who lived inside. When they arrived they found a 49-year-old woman who'd suffered facial injuries and a 50-year-old man who then got away.

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The woman was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being taken to St Vincent's Hospital. Investigating police pulled over a car in Camperdown at 11.20pm and attempted to arrest the 50-year-old man who was a passenger inside.

Police say when the man got out of the car he shoved a female officer and in the ensuing struggle, allegedly tried to grab a knife from the vehicle. He was arrested with the help of a security guard and patron from a nearby pub. The 27-year-old driver of the car had allegedly been forced to drive the man around at knifepoint.

The man is now facing a string of charges including assault, attempting to stalk or intimidate, assaulting an officer and being armed with the intent to commit an indictable offence.

He was refused bail and is due to appear in Newtown Local Court on Monday.

4. NSW ride share driver 'ran down teens' while allegedly driving under the influence.

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Two teenagers have been seriously injured after an 18-year-old ride share driver allegedly ran them down on the NSW Central Coast.

The injured teens were part of a group who requested a local ride-share service about 3am on Sunday, police said.

However, when the group got inside the van the driver, who was allegedly under the influence of alcohol, began driving erratically, causing them to be thrown around inside.

The driver dropped the group of teens on Budgewoi Road, Noraville, 20 minutes later but when he drove off he allegedly did a u-turn and drove straight for the group, hitting two of them.

A 15-year-old boy was left with pelvis, leg and back injuries and was taken to John Hunter Hospital in a serious but stable condition. A 16-year-old girl was treated by paramedics for significant head injuries.

She was transferred to Wyong Hospital in a serious condition before being transferred to Royal North Shore Hospital.

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After the collision, the teens are alleged to have dragged the man from his van and assaulted him; he was taken to Wyong Hospital with minor head injuries under police guard where he underwent mandatory blood and alcohol tests. The man was released from hospital on Sunday afternoon.

He was was charged with multiple offences including dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, driving whilst suspended, and take and drive conveyance without consent of owner.

He was refused bail and is due to appear before Wyong Local Court on Monday.

5. Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt says Australia's ageist culture is a "national cultural issue".

Australia has to take responsibility to overcome its "cultural" problems around aged care, the federal health minister has said.

Greg Hunt has said a damning interim report from the Aged Care Royal Commission revealed a "national cultural issue". Labor has set a "deadline" for the government to take immediate action on the Aged Care Royal Commission's interim recommendations before the senate returns on November 11.

But in announcing the campaign in northern Tasmania on Sunday, Labor leader Anthony Albanese didn't detail what would happen if the government missed that deadline. He says Labor would be collecting signatures for a petition to present to parliament.

In its report released Thursday, the commission called for an overhaul of the system, labelling it a "cruel lottery" and a "shocking tale of neglect".

It wants immediate action to cut home care waiting lists, stop the overuse of drugs to sedate residents and to stop younger people with disabilities living in aged care.

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Mr Hunt told Insiders on the ABC, both the government and community needs to draw a "line in the sand" on ageism in Australian society.

"What the commission found, which went beyond anything that I had expected, was a national cultural issue," Mr Hunt told Insiders.

Mr Hunt said the country had a challenge: to deal with an "ageist society". Prime Minister Scott Morrison has already promised more money for the sector before Christmas. Mr Hunt wouldn't elaborate on Sunday, but promised it would be a "significant" amount.

The health department has estimated about $2.5 billion was needed per year to address a 120,000 person long waiting list for home care packages. There are waits as long as 22 months and older Australians dying before they had a chance to access them.

"It will be a significant package so I won't pre-empt it," Mr Hunt told ABC.

In terms of restricting the use of chemical and physical restraints on aged care residents, Mr Hunt said the government was working to make sure it had the "right response".

The commission also wants aged care homes to publish data on their use of physical and chemical restraints. Mr Albanese said the government needed to increase funding for home care packages, stop young people going into aged care and stop chemical restraints being "used and abused" in aged care homes.