Courier Mail - News Feed

Deep conversations. Extraordinary people. Human stories. Frances Whiting is an award-winning journalist who has spent more than 30 years telling stories of heartache, triumph, love, and loss. As Australia’s longest-running Sunday newspaper columnist and a best-selling author, Frances has built a unique, decades-long bond with her audience. In her new limited series from The Courier-Mail and Sunday Mail, Frances takes you behind the scenes of her most candid interviews to reveal unforgettable stories of what it means to be human. From household names to everyday people with extraordinary lives, these are deep conversations that will stay with you long after they end. Hit follow to never miss an episode of Frances Whiting's Humankind.  Read Frances’s columns at couriermail.com.au/journalists/fran-whiting and features at qweekend.com.au.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The body of a woman, in her 50s, has been found inside a Sydney home with injuries so horrific that senior police officers described it as one of the worst crime scenes they had seen in years.  Energy Minister Mick de Brenni has refused to take responsibility for the Callide Power Plant explosion, sensationally accusing CS Energy bosses of lying to him about maintenance and safety at the facility. Port Lincoln father Troy Smith will likely avoid prison after being allegedly caught with more than 3g of meth inside his Bali hotel room, with prosecutors recommending he serve his sentence in a rehab facility.Chilling GoPro footage has emerged of a teen charged with terror offences armed with knives and tactical equipment before allegedly walking into a Labor MP’s office. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Julian Assange will today start his new life as a free man with his wife and two young sons in Australia.  The cost of dying is set to skyrocket in Victoria, with the Allan government considering introducing what has been panned as a “death tax by stealth”.  CS Energy issued warnings that maintenance was being neglected at its plants just two years before a major explosion tore through Callide Power Station.  A wealthy Adelaide college has raked in more than a quarter of a billion dollars in recent years.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The widow of slain camper Russell Hill says she feared Greg Lynn would walk free, saying “an innocent person doesn’t get rid of the bodies”.    Vape legalisation advocates say the Coalition could raise $510 million a year in tax revenue under its plan to regulate the sale of nicotine products through retailers like supermarkets or convenience stores.    A minibus carrying farm workers is believed to have been trying to overtake another car when it crashed into a tree in Victoria’s northwest.    Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne will not face a fourth trial after he successfully appealed his convictions over the alleged rape of a woman in 2018. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Vapes will be made available at pharmacies without a prescription after the Albanese government struck a deal with the Greens that will soften a proposed retail ban on e-cigarettes.    The boss of Australia’s anti-doping agency has warned that the AFL – and Australian sport more widely – is at a “crossroad” as a damning report identified “key issues” around players buying cocaine, ice and ecstasy from criminals.    The notorious Bicycle Bandit who plundered 11 banks in a terrifying crime spree   has received one of the longest sentences in SA history – but a judge acknowledged the “air of artificiality” about his penalty, given that he’s about to die.  New data has revealed Queensland patients waited up to 14 hours in the state’s emergency departments as choked hospitals struggled to cope with soaring demand.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.