1. A 15-year-old boy has been arrested over the murder of a 10-year-old girl.
Colorado police have arrested a 15-year-old boy on suspicion of first-degree murder in the death of 10-year-old Kiaya Campbell, KDVR reports.
Kiaya was last seen at around 8pm last Wednesday, when she told her father she was going for a walk to the local shopping centre. She was with her father’s girlfriend’s 15-year-old son at the time.
The boy told police he had become separated from Kiaya when a storm began. She was reported missing around midnight.
Authorities issued an Amber Alert the next day, but that evening, the 10-year-old’s body was found in a grassy area about a mile from her home.
It is not known whether the 15-year-old that has been arrested is the same one she was with the night she disappeared. As the suspect is a minor, his name has not been released by police.
An exact cause of death is yet to be released, but the coroner has confirmed it was “other than accidental”.
Before the teen’s arrest, Thornton Police Department confirmed they were treating Kiaya’s death as a homicide.
Kiaya’s mother, Chantel Campbell, has started a GoFundMe campaign to help with her daughter’s funeral expenses.
“This beautiful soul was stolen from us,” she wrote.
“We appreciate everything everyone has done in this situation. Now we just appreciate anything anyone can do to help out her to rest.
“I can’t thank everyone personally one on one and I am sorry for that. I do want to say that we are so thankful that so many of you are helping our baby rest.”
2. Cate Blanchett and Qantas boss among Aussies recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours.
Hollywood star Cate Blanchett and the man who brought Qantas back to life are among those being recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours this year.
The big names are among a list of almost 900 Australians being recognised on Monday.
Qantas boss Alan Joyce, who recently copped a pie in the face by a protester railing against corporate support for same-sex marriage, has been appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for his service to gender equity and diversity.
Despite the attack, and pressure from senior federal government figures, the Irish-born businessman has refused to back down on Qantas’ public support for gay marriage.
He’s also been recognised for his services to the aviation and tourism industries, after turning around the flying kangaroo’s fortunes from a record loss in 2013/14.
Award-winning actor Blanchett has also been recognised for her service to the performing arts, as well as her support for humanitarian and environmental causes.
Meanwhile, fashion designer Collette Dinnigan has been appointed an Officer (AO) in the General Division for her work as a designer and entrepreneur, and a supporter and promoter of Australian wool.
Some of the lesser-known recipients include the winemaker behind Penfolds Grange, Peter Gago, for his service to the wine industry and the community of South Australia.
There’s also NSW couple Ian and Christine Lofts, presented with the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) for their half-century of service to foster children.
The pair have fostered nearly 400 children in 50 years, including a two-day-old baby, children with special needs and hundreds of others from various backgrounds.
3. Mum faces life behind bars for filming herself sexually assaulting her three young children.
A New South Wales mother could be jailed for life after she filmed herself sexually and indecently assaulting her three young children, and uploaded the footage to a child pornography website, the Newcastle Herald reports.
The woman – who cannot be named to protect the identity of her children – appeared in Newcastle Local Court via video link from jail last week.
She pleaded guilty to 26 offences, including seven counts of sexual intercourse with a person under the age of 10.
That offence alone carries a maximum penalty of life behind bars.
She was charged last year after an international hunt, started by US-based Interpol officers, to identify an abused child captured on a paedophile website led to her.
She was able to be identified from her accent, and the Australian Federal Police were notified.
She has also been charged with five counts of using a child under the age of 14 to make child abuse material, five counts of inciting an indecent act on a person under the age of 16 and knowing it was being filmed and five counts of producing or disseminating child abuse material.
4. A teddy bear has reached outer space after being tied to a helium balloon.
A teddy bear has been launched into space by a group of schoolchildren, who tied a helium balloon to the toy as part of an experiment.
According to The Metro, the bear – which the students named Roffa – rose 100,000 feet into space and reached the stratosphere before the balloon carrying him exploded due to altitude pressure.
Students aged between 8 and 13 from King’s Rochester Preparatory School in Kent launched the bear and tied a GoPro to him to track his journey. The video captured almost four-and-a-half hours of footage before the GoPro stopped recording.
Roffa was discovered in the backyard of a “very nice couple” in Hadlow around 7pm the same day he was launched.
“[They] were enjoying an evening in their garden when they saw a peculiar object falling from the sky,” Magnus Caithness, head of science at the school, said.
“They noticed where it landed and retrieved it, read the notice on it and called our number.
“We were just a mile away looking where the last GPS signal had been sent from.”
5. Great white shark knocks man off his boogie board in Western Australia.
A man has been treated for shock after has was knocked off his boogie board by a great white shark in Western Australia’s south.
The man was less than 50 metres offshore at Casuarina Point in Bunbury on Sunday morning when the big shark bumped his board, with photos provided by WA Police showing substantial damage, AAP reports.
A Surf Life Saving WA spokesman said the man was shaken by the close encounter but managed to make his way back to shore and raise the alarm.
He was treated for shock but was not injured and did not need to be taken to hospital, a St John Ambulance spokesman said.
A City of Bunbury ranger said the man left his boogie board behind and it was retrieved by the local marine rescue group.
The ranger said the shark appeared to be 3.5m long.
“He took off pretty quickly – probably to buy himself a Lotto ticket,” he said.
“I’m sure it was pretty scary.”
The ranger described the cool and overcast conditions as “sharky weather”.
He said a salmon migration that had been going for several weeks was continuing and usually attracted more sharks.
“But I think it was random … in the wrong spot at the wrong time.”
Casuarina Point and the adjacent beach known as Hungry Hollow have been closed for the day.
6. Six hospitalised after suspected GHB overdoses, with one woman fighting for her life.
A young woman is fighting for life in a Melbourne hospital after a suspected GHB overdose in the city’s nightclub precinct.
She was one of six people – two women and four men – taken to hospital in the early hours of Sunday from King and Little Bourke streets.
All were aged in their late teens to early 20s and one of the women remains in a critical condition at St Vincent’s Hospital.
Three of the other party-goers were transported to hospital in a serious condition, including a teenage boy, while the remaining two are reportedly in a stable condition, AAP reports.
It is believed at least some of the overdoses occurred outside King Street nightclub Inflation.
A spokeswoman for the premises said police were not doing enough to tackle drug problems in the area.
“Clubs make money by selling alcohol and the drug users hurt our profitability, which is why we put a lifetime ban on anyone caught using or dealing drugs in and around our venue,” she said.
“We are still not sure why police are invisible and have not done operations around King Street after we raised our concerns to senior police in writing.”
Ambulance Victoria executive director of emergency operations Mick Stephenson says GHB became prevalent in Melbourne about a decade ago and is on the rise again.
He says the drug, taken for its euphoric effects, suppressed users’ consciousness and puts them at risk of choking while they “thrashed around”.
He told reporters on Sunday the drug was “wildly unpredictable”.
Victoria Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Rick Nugent said users sometimes took double-doses of a precursor that mimicked the effect of GHB, believing the first dose hadn’t worked when in fact it simply took longer to take effect.
He also said the risk of overdose increased when users mixed GHB with other drugs or alcohol.
Mr Nugent said police arrested a 22-year-old Hawthorn man on King Street about 3.30am on Sunday.
He said although the man was allegedly in possession of GHB and other drugs, it is not believed he was connected to the overdoses.
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