Locals say bad driving mainly from tourists is to blame for a spate of fatal crashes on a stretch of Indian Ocean Drive north of Perth, after the latest serious accident left two foreigners dead.

Bourke, outback NSW, has not seen meaningful rain in seven years and while its 2,500 residents prepare for unprecedented water restrictions, their dire plight has helped propel environmental concerns into NSW's political spotlight.

Over the past seven weeks, ABC readers have been submitting questions about the NSW election in the process, you actually told us three things would decide your vote this Saturday. Here's a peek.

The PGA says food security should not be the focus in the planned national review of agriculture with the country exporting surpluses every year.

Flamboyant fascinators and fedoras, once destined for fashion's grandest stages, help to overcome isolation and mental health issues in outback Australia.

While Australians debate privacy issues around the new COVIDSafe app, those in rural areas are being forced to go to great lengths just to activate the app before even being able to use it.

Mother's Milk Bank is hoping four mothers in every 100 can donate breast milk to help build a reserve for emergency events like fire, drought, floods, and now a global pandemic.

Long-serving Federal Labor MP Mike Kelly ends months of speculation by making the "gut wrenching" decision to resign from Parliament.

An emergency warning has been issued for a blaze burning at Sandy Creek, east of Armidale, which has closed roads and is threatening several properties where residents have been told it is "too late to leave".

As a child, Rebecca Clough had no options to play rugby union but never gave up on her dream. She's now the joint-most-capped Wallaroo and believes the Barbarians women's team is a significant move for the sport.

Australia's men's football head coach calls on the Prime Minister and the Australian Sports Commission to start funding the sport properly as the Olyroos prepare for their first Olympic campaign since 2008.

Submissions to the aged care royal commission called for better staffing and training in aged care facilities around the country.

The Melbourne Storm's Nelson Asofa-Solomona will be available to play in the opening round of the NRL next season, despite being handed a three-match suspension after a violent altercation while on holiday in Bali.

The headmaster of St Kevin's College in Melbourne has labelled the behaviour of his own students "offensive" and "misogynistic", after a group were filmed screaming an offensive song during the weekend.

Mining company South32 removes hundreds of workers from its two Illawarra underground coal mines as it investigates an issue with an emergency breathing mask.

Critics say that the proliferation of modern, wafer-thin skyscrapers are symbols of rising urban inequality. Also: Are levels of density in our cities making us ill? And what's the impact of short-term letting on urban affordability? 

The Himalayas are sometime called the earth’s “third pole”. They’re a vital source of water for a large chunk of the world’s population. But the local, national and international systems put in place to protect and manage human development in this vital ecosystem are failing. In this episode, Matt Smith travels to the Himalayas for Future Tense to gauge the size of the problem and possible solutions for safeguarding its future.

A stalwart of rock band Rose Tattoo retrains for a role that will help him give back to the community.

Arno joined a neo-Nazi skin head group to "repulse" society. He says governments are ignoring his warnings about far-right extremists like he once was.

Findings from a probe into alleged cover-ups of child abuse within the Catholic Church in NSW have identified credibility issues among members of its upper echelons.

The WA Government has ordered Zenith Australia Investment Holding to stop clearing land at Yakka Munga station after a blockade by the area's native title holders.

An arrest warrant has been issued after a man who served 12 years in prison for bashing and raping two tourists in WA's far north breached his post-sentence supervision order and failed to appear in court.

On the outskirts of Bendigo in central Victoria, a farm run by a social worker is helping children and adults with behavioural and mental health issues.

Bioscientists are developing 3D printed artificial tissues that may help heal bone and cartilage typically damaged in sports-related injuries.

One of the ways of making bioengineered tissues is to embed living cells within 3D printed structures. But one challenge has been organizing the cells in 3D bioprinted gels, so that the engineered tissue more closely mimics natural tissues.

Dujuan, a 12-year-old who was nearly jailed as a 10-year-old, addresses the NT Parliament, urging them to try to understand troubled youth and look for alternatives to detention.

Best known for his provocative signs, Father Rod Bower from the NSW Central Coast announces plans to run for the Senate as an independent candidate.

Residents on the NSW Central Coast say common sense has prevailed after police withdrew hundreds of $263 fines on residents parking outside their own homes.

For a long time, Olivia Munn didn’t fully grasp a question that she got asked all the time in interviews: Journalists would want to know about the difference between being a man and woman in Hollywood. “I got it for years before it clicked with me one day when I answered it,” Munn said. “I […]

Five common accessibility presentation problems — the frustrating five — can thwart your attempts to enlighten your listeners. Rest easy. This article identifies these troublesome issues, then details the techniques you can use to avoid the issues, whether you are using IBM® Symphony® or Microsoft® PowerPoint®.

RT @mrbromwich: I have been in and around DOJ since 1983. I have never seen a case dropped after someone has pled guilty and the underlying facts demonstrate beyond any shadow of a doubt he is guilty. This is simply a pardon by another name. A black day in DOJ history.

(United States Seventh Circuit) - In a dispute that arose out of the sale of a manufacturing plant, held that the district judge was correct to withhold any remedy that would transfer the value of certain promissory notes from the secured lenders to the seller. Affirmed a judgment after a bench trial.

I won’t pretend to keep up with everything being written in the ADRsphere if you will promise the same. Having confessed that, and consistent with the regret implied in that confession, I thought I would offer an easy-to-skim Table of Contents view of the last two issues of Negotiation Journal – – a publication I commend … Continue reading Negotiation Journal : most recent two issues →

Clouzine Discovers And Promotes Indie Talents Part Of Discoveries (#16) Tremendous (UK), Jennifer Mlott (USA), And King Fally (Nigeria).

It's called 'Navigating the New Normal: Parents Edition.'

They've been more divas before Sza.

The NBA legend quarantined himself ten days ago.

It's called 'Navigating the New Normal: Parents Edition.'

The rapper gets deep about his budding fashion empire.

The TRB' Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP LRD 37: Legal Issues Relating to Airports Promoting Competition explores permissible means and methods of encouraging and accommodating competition at U.S. airports. It discusses the history of how competition has been addressed by government and airports and provides the context of the concentration of air carriers and fixed-base operators (FBOs), the accommodation of air carriers with differing business models, and avoiding the grant of exclusive rig...

Large-scale, complex airport construction projects have the same issues as construction projects on a smaller scale, but they present a series of specialized legal issues. The TRB Airport Cooperative Research Program's ACRP Legal Research Digest 38: Legal Issues Related to Large-Scale Airport Construction Projects focuses on those legal issues causing the most significant risks during planning, design, permitting, procurement, and construction.

Major technological and security changes in the aviation industry over the past 20 years have forced airport leaders and aviation stakeholders to think of new research ideas that will improve the planning and development of policies and new models that foster growth of air service, incorporate new airport and customer technology, revise airport business models, and better interact with neighboring communities. ACRP (Airport Cooperative Research Program) Web-Only Document 39: Policy and Planning Issues Ro...

For years, the Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office in Louisiana issued fake subpoenas to witnesses and crime victims. Unlike subpoenas used in ongoing prosecutions, these were used during the investigation process to compel targets to talk to law enforcement. They weren't signed by judges or issued by court clerks but they did state in bold letters across the top that "A FINE AND IMPRISONMENT MAY BE OPPOSED FOR FAILURE TO OBEY THIS NOTICE."

Recipients of these bogus subpoenas sued the DA's office. In early 2019, a federal court refused to grant absolute immunity to the DA's office for its use of fake subpoenas to compel cooperation from witnesses. The court pointed out that issuing its own subpoenas containing threats of imprisonment bypassed an entire branch of the government to give the DA's office power it was never supposed to have.

Allegations that the Individual Defendants purported to subpoena witnesses without court approval, therefore, describe more than a mere procedural error or expansion of authority. Rather, they describe the usurpation of the power of another branch of government.

The court stated that extending immunity would be a judicial blessing of this practice, rather than a deterrent against continued abuse by the DA's office.

The DA's office appealed. The Fifth Circuit Appeals Court took the case, but it seemed very unimpressed by the office's assertions. Here's how it responded during oral arguments earlier this year:

“Threat of incarceration with no valid premise?” Judge Jennifer Elrod said at one point during arguments. She later drew laughter from some in the audience when she said, “This argument is fascinating.”

“These are pretty serious assertions of authority they did not have,” said Judge Leslie Southwick, who heard arguments with Elrod and Judge Catharina Haynes.

The Appeals Court has released its ruling [PDF] and it will allow the lawsuit to proceed. The DA's office has now been denied immunity twice. Absolute immunity shields almost every action taken by prosecutors during court proceedings. But these fake subpoenas were sent to witnesses whom prosecutors seemingly had no interest in ever having testify in court. This key difference means prosecutors will have to face the state law claims brought by the plaintiffs.

Based upon the pleadings before us at this time, it could be concluded that Defendants’ creation and use of the fake subpoenas was not “intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process,” but rather fell into the category of “those investigatory functions that do not relate to an advocate’s preparation for the initiation of a prosecution or for judicial proceedings.” See Hoog-Watson v. Guadalupe Cty., 591 F.3d 431, 438 (5th Cir. 2009)

[...]

Defendants were not attempting to control witness testimony during a break in judicial proceedings. Instead, they allegedly used fake subpoenas in an attempt to pressure crime victims and witnesses to meet with them privately at the Office and share information outside of court. Defendants never used the fake subpoenas to compel victims or witnesses to testify at trial. Such allegations are of investigative behavior that was not “intimately associated with the judicial phase of the criminal process.”

Falling further outside the judicial process was the DA's office itself, which apparently felt the judicial system didn't need to be included in its subpoena efforts.

In using the fake subpoenas, Individual Defendants also allegedly intentionally avoided the judicial process that Louisiana law requires for obtaining subpoenas.

The case returns to the lower court where the DA's office will continue to face the state law claims it hoped it would be immune from. The Appeals Court doesn't say the office won't ultimately find some way to re-erect its absolute immunity shield, but at this point, it sees nothing on the record that says prosecutors should be excused from being held responsible for bypassing the judicial system to threaten crime victims and witnesses with jail time.

A nationwide class action lawsuit filed against Apple in Northern California court this week accuses the company of knowingly concealing a defect with a display-related flex cable on recent 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models.


As discovered by repair website iFixit last year, some MacBook Pro models released in 2016 and 2017 have experienced issues with uneven backlighting caused by a delicate flex cable that can wear out and break after repeated opening and closing of the display. Impacted notebooks can exhibit uneven lighting at the bottom of the screen, which has been described as a "stage light" effect, and the backlighting system can eventually fail entirely.

Since the issue often takes time to manifest, the affected ‌MacBook Pro‌ units can be outside of Apple's one-year warranty period when they start exhibiting symptoms, resulting in an out-of-warranty repair fee of up to $850.

"Imagine spending more than $2,500 on a laptop only for it to fail shortly after the manufacturer's warranty expires," said PARRIS Law Firm attorney R. Rex Parris. "What's even more appalling is Apple requiring customers to spend an additional $600 to $850 to replace the screen."

Apple seemingly fixed the issue by extending the length of the flex cable by 2mm in the 2018 MacBook Pro. It also launched a free repair program in May 2019, but the program only applies to 13-inch MacBook Pro models released in 2016.

SANDERS: ... there is more coverage about the political gossip of a campaign, about raising money, about polling, about somebody saying something dumb, or some kid works for a campaign sends out something stupid on Facebook, right? We can expect that to be a major story. But what your job is, what the media's job is, is to say, look, these are the major issues facing the country. We're a democracy. People have different points of view. Let's argue it. Continue reading →