Warning: The following deals with domestic violence and suicide, which may be triggering for some readers.
Victoria records zero new COVID-19 deaths.
For the first time since July 13, Victoria has recorded no new deaths from the coronavirus pandemic.
The news comes as Melbourne remains in stage four lockdown, with their 14-day daily case average now at 52.9. On Tuesday, the state also reported 43 new cases of COVID-19 in the past 24 hours.
The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) says there are now 82 'mystery cases' of COVID-19 in Melbourne, where there is no known source of the infection.
Melbourne's stage four lockdown will end on September 28.
"It is with a very heavy heart that Lisa and I confirm that our beautiful daughter, Jaimi, has lost her battle with a long-term illness and passed away peacefully in hospital this morning in the company of loving family," Grant wrote in a statement on behalf of the family.
"Jaimi will forever be remembered as a caring, bright and loving soul who always put others before herself."
Gun registry staff to face Edwards inquest.
NSW Firearms Registry staff will be quizzed on the level of their investigation before granting John Edwards a permit for the gun he used to murder his children.
The 67-year-old had a propensity for domestic violence, a string of estranged children and a ban from a gun club, but was still able to get a rifle and pistol licence, the NSW Coroners Court has heard.
Armed with one of two pistols he bought legally, Edwards stalked his daughter Jennifer on her way home from school in July 2018, followed or chased the 13-year-old inside and then shot both her and her brother Jack in the head.
He later took his own life at his home four kilometres away. The children's distraught mother, Olga, 37, killed herself in December 2018.
A major focus of the inquest before State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan is how Edwards managed to legally obtain a firearms licence in mid-2017 and then acquire the weapons used to kill the kids and himself.
Up to five registry staff are expected to give evidence when the inquest resumes on Tuesday.
LISTEN: To the harrowing story here. Post continues after podcast.
Push for voluntary assisted dying in Tasmania.
A renewed push to legalise voluntary assisted dying in Tasmania doesn't have the backing of a senior Liberal government minister, who says the legislation will encourage suicide.
The bill is expected to be debated in the state's Legislative Council on Tuesday after being introduced by independent upper house member Mike Gaffney.
It is the fourth attempt to pass such laws after similar bills were defeated in 2009, 2013 and 2017.
An e-petition in support of the bill with some 13,000 signatures — the largest in Tasmania's history — was tabled in parliament last month.
If the bill gets passed by the upper house, it will still need to be given the green light by the lower house.
Premier Peter Gutwein, who voted against the most recent incarnation of the legislation, says Liberal House of Assembly members will be given a conscience vote.
'Signs of life' detected in Venus clouds.
Scientists say they have detected a gas called phosphine in the harshly acidic clouds of Venus, which indicates microbes may inhabit the inhospitable planet.
The researchers did not discover actual life forms but noted that, on earth, phosphine is produced by bacteria thriving in oxygen-starved environments.
The international scientific team first spotted the phosphine using the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii and confirmed it using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) radio telescope in Chile.
"I was very surprised — stunned, in fact," said astronomer Jane Greaves of Cardiff University in Wales, lead author of the research published in the journal Nature Astronomy.
The existence of extraterrestrial life has long been one of the paramount questions of science.
UK parliament to vote on Brexit break plan.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to defy international law with legislation that breaches parts of the Brexit divorce treaty with the European Union faces a vote in parliament amid growing opposition within his party.
The House of Commons will today debate the Internal Market Bill, which the EU has demanded Johnson scrap by the end of September in the latest brinkmanship of a four-year saga since Britain voted narrowly to leave the bloc.
After the debate, lawmakers will vote to decide if the bill should go to the next stage.
Johnson's plan to explicitly break international law has plunged Brexit back into crisis less than four months before Britain is finally due to leave the EU's orbit at the end of a transition period.
The EU has ramped up preparations for a no-deal Brexit, which would be chaotic for business, markets and nearly $AU1.4 trillion in annual trade.
The government has dismissed an ultimatum from Brussels to scrap the main parts of the bill by the end of this month.
Johnson, who has a majority of 80 in the lower house of parliament, faces a growing revolt from some of his own lawmakers. All of Britain's living former prime ministers have expressed concern about his plan.
Biden: "Hellish" bushfires will only become more frequent under Trump.
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden says that the “hellish” wildfires ravaging western states will become more frequent and more deadly if President Trump wins a second term.
Trump has met with firefighters and emergency officials in California, after facing criticism for having largely remained silent about the situation.
During a briefing with authorities, Trump pushed back against a top official’s assertion that climate change is the primary reason for the wildfires, declaring that, "It’ll start getting cooler."
He also made the claim that vegetation management not climate change was the primary driver, to which Biden retorted, "Trump has no interest in meeting this moment on climate change."
Thirty-three people have died in the blazes so far, with nearly 100 wildfires currently raging. It's one of the most dangerous and overwhelming fire seasons in the region's history.
Around the world.
- World stocks have nudged higher on hopes for a coronavirus vaccine after Astrazeneca resumed its trial.
- A University of Sydney analysis of US presidential election opinion polls has found Joe Biden is on track to defeat Donald Trump but the gap is narrowing.
- A big chunk of Greenland's ice cap, estimated to be 110 square kilometres, has broken off which scientists say is evidence of rapid climate change.
- Reindeer herders in a Russian Arctic archipelago have found the immaculately persevered carcass of an Ice Age cave bear, an extinct species that lived between 22,000 and 39,500 years ago.
- With AAP
If you think you may be experiencing depression or another mental health problem, please contact your general practitioner. If you're based in Australia, please contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyondblue on 1300 22 4636 for immediate support.
If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.
Feature image: David Gray/Getty/@LisaCurry Instagram/AP Photo/Andrew Harnik/AAP.
Top Comments
He's almost on self-destruct though so hopefully that will happen before their November election and the USA will finally get some respite from the madness & chaos he's brought to that country.
Republicans & Trump-supporters are in denial of course but as his crimes and appalling comments are catching up with him it seems we'll see a resolution sooner rather than later.