Pauline Hanson leads as preferred prime minister

Black market tobacco costing taxpayers billions

Australians are increasingly purchasing nicotine on the black market, creating a government tobacco excise shortfall that could cost taxpayers almost $3 billion to cover smokers' healthcare. The early childcare sector faces challenges with only one in 25 workers being male, raising questions about the need for more male role models despite safety concerns. A Melbourne man is attempting a year-long digital detox using a Nokia brick phone instead of a smartphone, while University of Oxford research settles the debate on whether chocolate should be refrigerated. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Shocking high-speed crash on Melbourne's M2 motorway

A high-speed crash on Melbourne's M2 motorway saw a speeding vehicle collide with another car before crashing into a barricade, skidding across multiple lanes and flipping onto its roof. Dashcam footage captured the dramatic incident, which resulted in all drivers and passengers escaping with only minor injuries. Police have not yet made any arrests in relation to the crash. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Gold Coast nurse charged with assaulting teenage patients

Derek George Jackson, a 58-year-old nurse at Gold Coast University Hospital's Youth Mental Health Services Ward, faces 12 criminal charges including sexually assaulting and stalking six teenage girls in his care. The alleged offences span five years from November 2020 to September 2023, with police claiming he used his position to inappropriately contact patients, show them pornographic material, and touch them inappropriately. Jackson was arrested at Brisbane International Airport while attempting to board a flight to China without a return ticket and has been refused bail. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Gang bosses weaponise teens from overseas hideouts

Australia's most dangerous criminals, including members of the Alameddine family and the emerging Coconut Cartel led by Anthony Pele, are directing an underworld war from overseas locations, recruiting teenagers as young as 15 to carry out shootings and firebombings. The violence has become increasingly public, with attacks occurring near schools and in busy commercial areas during daylight hours. New South Wales Police have named nine most wanted criminals, three of whom feature in a Daily Telegraph crime series examining how offshore gang leaders manipulate youth to commit serious crimes while avoiding prosecution themselves. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.

Oliver Tree killed in Brazil helicopter crash

Pop star Oliver Tree, aged 32, was killed along with five others when two helicopters collided over Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, crashing into an electric car dealership and igniting a fire. The British Royal Navy conducted its first operation of its kind, boarding and seizing a Russian shadow fleet oil tanker in the English Channel suspected of aiding Russia's war in Ukraine. Twelve people, including eleven skydivers and a pilot, died when a single-engine plane crashed shortly after take-off at Butler Memorial Airport in Missouri, bursting into flames near the runway. See omnystudio.com/listener [https://omnystudio.com/listener] for privacy information.