Robert De Niro accused of "creepy and abusive" behaviour towards a long-term female employee, & more in news in 5.

– With AAP.

1. Robert De Niro accused of “creepy and abusive” behaviour towards a long-term female employee.

Award-winning actor and director Robert De Niro has been accused of creepy and abusive behaviour towards a long-term female employee.

The New York Post reports he hurled “sexually charged comments” at Graham Chase Robinson, sent her voicemails threatening “You’re f***ing history”, as well as routinely subjected Robinson to “gratuitous unwanted physical contact”.

The allegations are part of a USD $12 million lawsuit that was filed on Thursday.

Robinson had been working at De Niro’s Canal Productions Inc since 2008 in various positions, but claims she was forced to resign in April this year.

“Robert De Niro is someone who has clung to old mores. He does not accept the idea that men should treat women as equals,” the suit says.

“He does not care that gender discrimination in the workplace violates the law. Ms Robinson is a casualty of this attitude,” reports the Post.

Robinson claims De Niro treated her like the office wife and made her do “stereotypical female duties, like housework”.

He would also, according to Robinson, make her scratch his back, prod him awake, and would often greet her at the door in a bathrobe.

2. Daniel King targeted his pregnant former lover before he was shot dead by police in Sydney’s west.

Mother-of-three Stacey Taylor said Daniel King was pressuring her to have an abortion in the weeks leading up to his western Sydney shooting rampage. https://t.co/cEF9zTQHhC

— The New Daily (@TheNewDailyAu) October 3, 2019

Stacey Taylor hadn’t heard “a single word” from the father of her unborn child for more than six months when he targeted her western Sydney home during a terrifying shooting spree.

Within an hour, the gunman identified as bodybuilder Daniel King would be killed in a shootout with police, after opening fire on his former lover’s home and two police stations with a 12-gauge shotgun.

One officer was taken to hospital with non life-threatening wounds following King’s final confrontation at Penrith Police Station on Wednesday night.

King’s shooting rampage began when he opened fire at the Marayong home of Ms Taylor, who is seven months pregnant.

A “scared” Ms Taylor told Ten News she was in bed with her children about 8.45pm when she heard a massive bang, followed by another.

She looked out her window and saw King at the bottom of her driveway, shooting towards the house on Quakers Road.

“He wasn’t very happy about me being pregnant and that’s where all this fuss started from,” she told Ten News.

“When I found out I was pregnant I had threats for about three weeks.”

Ms Taylor told reporters 32-year-old King had claimed the baby wasn’t his, and wanted DNA testing and an abortion.

“If I didn’t, he was going to kill himself,” she said King had claimed.

King had also threatened to hire a hit man “to bash me and stab me in the stomach to make me lose my baby so I wasn’t pregnant any more”, she said.

They had known each other in primary school, reconnected and had a couple of dates but “the person I knew was not somebody who would do something like this”.

“(I was) very frightened not only for myself but mainly for my children and my family,” she said.

After leaving Ms Taylor’s home on Wednesday, police say King fired into St Marys Police Station about 9.15pm before driving to the Penrith station where he shot at officers outside.

Deputy Commissioner Jeff Loy said they had “no choice” but to return fire.

King died at the scene.

Officers involved in the shootout were shaken, but had also “reflected on their own families and themselves and how fortunate they were not to be killed”.

“For police to be confronted and to stand up in a confrontation under fire, has shown extreme courage,” Deputy Commissioner Loy told 2GB.

A male constable suffered pellet wounds to the back of the head and was taken to Westmead Hospital with non life-threatening injuries, police said.

Several other officers suffered minor injuries that were not gunshot-related.

Deputy Commissioner Loy said it wasn’t yet clear if he was a licensed shooter, but his gun was the sort used by tactical police.

Witness footage posted online showed him falling to the ground after being shot multiple times.

The woman filming the footage from a nearby building can be heard screaming “Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!” as the shots ring out.

Mick Lumtin, who was hosting a trivia night at a nearby pub, said police asked the man to put down his weapon before “there was just a ray of shots going out”.

“I don’t know, maybe 14 or 15 shots, pretty loud,” he told the Seven Network.

Local resident Roy told Nine News he heard the sound of gunfire.

“I heard three loud bangs. It sounded like it was firecrackers,” he said.

A critical incident investigation team from the homicide squad will investigate the incident, and the investigation will be independently reviewed.

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3. A year on from her murder, Nicole Cartwright’s family are calling on the public to help find her killer.

Buffalo Creek Reserve: The family of murdered 32-year-old woman Nicole Cartwright, whose body was found wrapped in a bedsheet, has appealed for public help to solve her killing, on the first anniversary of her death. #NicoleCartwight #7NEWS https://t.co/hgMdT4VzPF

— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) October 3, 2019

The family of murdered NSW woman Nicole Cartwright has appealed for public help to find her killer a year after her body was discovered, saying the death has “destroyed our family and shattered our hearts”.

Nicole’s mother Brenda sobbed as brother Ben Cartwright told of the family’s “daily” grief that their sister and daughter’s life was cut short, and appealed for information to help find her killer.

“Nicole would have turned 33 on Tuesday this week … It was a heartbreaking reminder of the immense pain we feel on a day that should have been a celebration,” Ben told reporters on Thursday.

Nicole was last seen in the early hours of her 32nd birthday and her body was found wrapped in a bedsheet in a park two days later.

It is not known when, where or how she died.

“To the person who did this. You have cut short Nicole’s life. You’ve destroyed our family and shattered our hearts,” Ben said.

A year on, police say “significant gaps” remain in their investigation and they want to speak to anyone who had contact, or knows someone who had contact, with her in her final 48 hours.

Nicole had been actively using online dating websites, social media and classified ads to meet people before her death.

“We spoken to many people, we have trawled through volumes of CCTV all to try and get to the bottom of what happened,” Detective Acting Superintendent Jason Dickinson said.

“But we are still missing information and I’m confident that there are people out there today that will see this that can help us.”

They want to speak to a pedestrian and the drivers of 12 cars that were on Pittwater Road, East Ryde, just before 6am on October 3, 2018.

The road is about 800m from where her body was found, in Buffalo Creek Reserve, about 7.30 that morning.

“She has a very distinct style. People would recognise it, they would notice it,” Det Supt Dickinson said.

An autopsy was inconclusive but revealed she had suffered head injuries.

Nicole was last seen by a ride-share driver who took her near Robson Park on Crescent Street, Haberfield, about 1am on October 1, 2018.

Police would not be drawn on whether they had a person of interest.

“We are not discounting anything or anybody,” Det Supt Dickinson said.

4. Peter Dutton has suggested climate protesters should have their welfare payments cancelled.

Peter Dutton attacks Queensland’s soft treatment of climate protesters as he opens the door to cancelling their welfare payments #auspolhttps://t.co/rGDiqqRh8N

— The Australian (@australian) October 3, 2019

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has suggested those taking part in protests which disrupt traffic should have their welfare payments cancelled.

Mr Dutton says mandatory sentences should also be imposed to crack down on law-breaking climate change demonstrators who have held regular protests across Brisbane recently.

Mr Dutton said he agreed with suggestions from 2GB broadcaster Ray Hadley on Thursday that protesters go “ask Mummy and Daddy for cash” following reports some demonstrators received welfare.

“You’re sitting on your backsides and you won’t be getting paid (by) us,” Mr Hadley said.

Mr Dutton’s response was “I agree”.

The Greens have seized on the suggestion, slamming it as undemocratic.

“It is entirely inappropriate for Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton or anyone in government to threaten people with the withdrawal of income support in an attempt to silence their views,” Queensland Greens Senator Larissa Waters said.

Greens leader Richard Di Natale told the ABC people should be to free to choose what they do with their free time, regardless of whether they’re on income support.

Mr Dutton’s call for minimum sentences for protesters also came under criticism from a peak legal body which slammed the suggestion as wrong, populist and punitive.

“Peter Dutton takes an extreme and populist view. In this particular case, he’s simply 100 per cent wrong,” Queensland Law Society president Bill Potts told AAP.

He said any limit on judicial discretion regarding protesters could lead to unfair punishments.

“Mandatory sentencing, more often than not, straight-jackets the courts,” Mr Potts said.

“There is a complete difference between occupying an intersection for 10 minutes opposed to chaining yourself to a 44-gallon drum full of concrete and holding up a coal train for five hours,” Mr Potts said.

An Extinction Rebellion member told AAP the threat of a mandatory sentence would not deter him protesting an impending “ecological catastrophe”.

The state Labor government has moved to outlaw items used by protesters which make it harder for them to be removed from roads and train tracks, such as steel cylinders or drums filled with concrete.

The new laws could see those who use such items face prison time and hefty fines.

5. Hong Kong teen shot by officer has been charged with attacking police.

Despite a public backlash to the police shooting of a school boy, wounded 18 year old Tsang Chi-kin has been charged with rioting and assaulting police | @kirstylneedham https://t.co/g4cIeDRAEL

— The Sydney Morning Herald (@smh) October 3, 2019

The teenager who was the first victim of police gunfire in Hong Kong’s months-long pro-democracy protests has been charged with rioting and attacking police.

The shooting occurred during widespread violence Tuesday across the semi-autonomous Chinese territory that marred China’s National Day celebrations. It has deepened anger against police, who have been accused of being heavy-handed against protesters.

The officer fired at close range as 18-year-old Tsang Chi-kin struck him with a rod. The government said Tsang’s condition was stable after surgery.

The case against Tsang was heard by a court Thursday afternoon. He was among seven people charged with rioting, which carries a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.

Tsang also faces two additional counts of attacking two police officers, punishable by up to six months in prison.

Tsang did not appear in court. Dozens of supporters, many in black, sat outside the courthouse.

Thousands of people rallied Wednesday to demand police accountability for the shooting, with many saying the use of lethal weaponry was unjustified.

Pockets of black-clad youths vented their anger late Wednesday night, lobbing gasoline bombs at police quarters, vandalising subway stations and blocking traffic in several districts. Police responded with tear gas in some areas.

More than 1,000 students marched Thursday at the Chinese University in a continuing show of support for Tsang and vowed to keep up their fight for more democratic freedoms. Many students felt that firing at Tsang’s chest, close to his heart, was an attempt to kill him.

Police defended the shooting at close range as “reasonable and lawful” because the officer had feared for his life and those of his colleagues.

Videos on social media of the shooting showed a group of black-clad protesters with bars and umbrellas clashing with police. They closed in on a lone officer, who opened fire as Tsang came at him with a rod. Just as another protester rushed in to try to drag Tsang away but was tackled by an officer, a gasoline bomb landed in the middle of the group of officers in an explosion of flames.

The shooting marked an escalation in violence in the protests that have besieged one of the world’s top financial hubs since June over a now-withdrawn extradition bill. The movement has snowballed into an anti-China campaign amid anger over what many view as Beijing’s interference in the autonomy that was granted Hong Kong when the former British colony returned to Chinese rule in 1997. More than 1,750 people have been detained so far.