Alan Jones charged with assault offences; Lidia Thorpe rips up Senate rebuke; and a shoe bandit caught

Good afternoon. The former Sydney radio host Alan Jones has been charged over alleged historic indecent assault and sexual touching offences spanning two decades.

Jones was arrested by New South Wales police on Monday morning after a "long, thorough, protracted" investigation into the alleged offences and a more than three-hour police search of his apartment in Sydney's Circular Quay.

The 83-year-old was charged with a total of 24 offences against eight alleged victims, including 11 counts of aggravated indecent assault – victim under authority of offender, nine counts of assault with act of indecency, two counts of sexually touch another person without consent and two counts of common assault.

The incidents are alleged to have occurred between 2001 and 2019, with the youngest alleged victim aged 17 at the time. Jones has previously denied all allegations against him.

Top newsNSW ravaged by 'nightmare' storms | Homes were without power across NSW on Monday after major storms on Sunday night . The state's north and central west experienced heavy rain and storm damage, while several cars were damaged when a steel road plate was dislodged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Police officer tells court 95-year-old posed 'unacceptable risk' | Sen Const Kristian White told the manslaughter trial he tried to give Clare Nowland "every opportunity to drop the knife" she was carrying, but that the situation "was not going to be resolved without the use of force" .

Exams boss resigns over 'cheat sheet' bungle | Kylie White resigned as chief executive of Victoria's curriculum authority after more than 56 VCE tests were found to be affected by the "publishing error" involving hidden questions and answers on seemingly blank sample cover pages.

Caroline Kennedy labels RFK Jr's vaccine views 'dangerous' | The outgoing US ambassador to Australia said her cousin, nominated by Donald Trump to oversee health agencies, had "a different set of views" to the rest of her family , and said Tulsi Gabbard's appointment as director of national intelligence would be "of great concern".

Trump's new energy tsar linked to Northern Territory fracking | Chris Wright, Donald Trump's nomination for energy secretary, is the chief executive of Liberty Energy, an oil and gas services company with connections to controversial fracking operations for gas in the Beetaloo basin .

US lifts Ukraine long-range missile ban | Joe Biden will allow Ukraine to fire US-made Atacms rockets up to 300km into the Kursk region, with officials suggesting the move was a response to North Korean troops joining Russia's offensive . Senior Russian lawmakers have labelled the move a "very big step towards the start of world war three" .

Russian ballet star dies after falling from building | Vladimir Shklyarov, 39, died after falling from the fifth floor of a building on Saturday. St Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre said the dancer had been taking painkillers for a back injury, and a federal investigation has been launched to investigate his death.

US E coli outbreak linked to organic carrots | California-based Grimmway Farms has recalled its whole and baby organic carrots after 39 reports of illness in 18 states across the US , including 15 hospitalisations and one death. The majority of the infections are reportedly in New York, Minnesota, Washington, California and Oregon.

Police track down unlikely kindergarten shoe thief | Police and staff were initially flummoxed when shoes started disappearing from a kindergarten in south-west Japan, not least because the "thefts" were of single shoes, not pairs. But after sifting through camera footage, police have finally identified the light-footed bandit .

Full Story podcastAssassins, spies and a superpower on the rise: the rift between Canada and India

A killing in a Canadian suburb has provoked an astonishing diplomatic breakdown between India and Canada. Canada's prime minister, Justin Trudeau, said there were credible allegations potentially linking the Indian state to the killing of Sikh separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar – with the Canadian police later accusing Indian diplomats of being involved in homicides, targeted assassinations, extortion, intimidation and coercion, mainly against members of the Canadian Sikh community.

Hannah Ellis-PetersenMichael Safi through the twists and turns of this extraordinary row, what it says about India's growing power – and the differing way western countries are choosing to deal with it.

What they said ... "If the colonising king were to come to my country again, our country, then I'll do it again." – Lidia Thorpe

The independent senator ripped up a paper copy of the Senate motion censuring her protest against King Charles , saying she would "use it for kindling". The Senate separately rebuked the United Australia party senator Ralph Babet over a post on X which contained a number of homophobic, racist and ableist slurs.

In numbers The huge popularity of drugs such as Ozempic has led to a small industry of online operations that do not explicitly offer the prescription drugs – which are illegal to advertise in Australia – but use terms such as "medical weight treatments" or "modern weight loss treatments", which have raised questions about how the rules are enforced, and calls for the Therapeutic Goods Administration to introduce tougher advertising restrictions .

Before bed readHey, architects: hands off my dog-box apartment! It may be small and dark, but it beats the alternative

Banning economy class wouldn't mean everyone gets to fly business, writes Dominic Behrens – it means those who can't afford business wouldn't fly at all. Banning small, basic apartments means more displacement, homelessness and overcrowded share houses , often with less space, worse light and poorer living conditions.

Daily word game Today's starter word is: SIC. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply .

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