Simone Biles to sue over FBI's Larry Nassar investigation, and what women are talking about tonight.

This post deals with sexual assault and might be triggering for some readers.

Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles and dozens of other women who say they were sexually assaulted by Larry Nassar are seeking more than $US1 billion from the FBI for failing to stop the sports doctor when it first received allegations against him.

There’s no dispute FBI agents in 2015 knew that Nassar was accused of assaulting gymnasts, but they failed to act, leaving him free to continue to target young women and girls for more than a year. He pleaded guilty in 2017 and is serving decades in prison.

“It is time for the FBI to be held accountable,” said Maggie Nichols, a national champion gymnast at Oklahoma in 2017-19.

Under federal law, a government agency has six months to respond to the tort claims filed on Wednesday. Lawsuits could follow, depending on the FBI's response. The approximately 90 claimants include Biles, Aly Raisman and McKayla Maroney, all Olympic gold medalists, according to Manly, Stewart & Finaldi, a California law firm. Separately, 13 claims were filed by others in April.

“If the FBI had simply done its job, Nassar would have been stopped before he ever had the chance to abuse hundreds of girls, including me,” said former University of Michigan gymnast Samantha Roy.

Indianapolis-based USA Gymnastics told local agents in 2015 that three gymnasts said they were assaulted by Nassar, a team doctor.

But the FBI did not open a formal investigation or inform federal or state authorities in Michigan, according to the Justice Department’s inspector general, an internal watchdog.

More than 90 people, including Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, and McKayla Maroney, argue that the FBI's failure to act allowed more young gymnasts to be sexually abused. https://t.co/5U1qAkcnvz

— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) June 8, 2022

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

You can also call safe steps 24/7 Family Violence Response Line on 1800 015 188 or visit www.safesteps.org.au for further information.

The Men’s Referral Service is also available on 1300 766 491 or via online chat at www.ntv.org.au.

With AAP.

Image: Getty.

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This post deals with sexual assault and might be triggering for some readers.

The multi-platinum selling R&B singer R. Kelly “deserves to spend more than 25 years behind bars” after being convicted of sex trafficking, US prosecutors have told a court.

In a filing in Brooklyn federal court, prosecutors said Kelly exploited his stardom and wealth over a quarter of a century to lure women and underage girls for sex, demonstrating a “callous disregard” for his victims and showing no remorse.

“Indeed, the defendant's decades of crime appear to have been fuelled by narcissism and a belief that his musical talent absolved him of any need to conform his conduct - no matter how predatory, harmful, humiliating or abusive to others - to the strictures of the law,” prosecutors said.

Kelly, 55, who has been jailed since 2019, remains a “serious danger” to the public, justifying keeping him behind bars until well into his 70s, they added.

Jennifer Bonjean, a lawyer for Kelly, has said he should spend fewer than 14 years in prison, and will in a filing next Monday explain why his “history and characteristics” justify a shorter sentence.

Kelly faces a minimum 10-year term at his June 29 sentencing. He is among the most prominent people convicted of sexual misbehaviour during the #MeToo movement against such conduct by prominent men.

Kelly's five-and-a-half week trial amplified accusations that had dogged him since the early 2000s.

Testimony from 45 government witnesses, including several of Kelly’s abuse victims. Jurors needed little more than a day to convict Kelly in September last year on all nine counts he faced. The charges included racketeering and eight counts of violating the Mann Act, which prohibits transporting people across state lines for prostitution.

With AAP.

Prosecutors say R. Kelly, the R&B superstar known for his anthem “I Believe I Can Fly,” deserves at least 25 years behind bars for sexually abusing women and girls. They demanded the sentence in advance of his sentencing later this month. https://t.co/CK5KXKVWm7

— The Associated Press (@AP) June 9, 2022

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

You can also call safe steps 24/7 Family Violence Response Line on 1800 015 188 or visit www.safesteps.org.au for further information.

The Men’s Referral Service is also available on 1300 766 491 or via online chat at www.ntv.org.au.

Christopher Wilson, the 11-year-old boy who was missing in Sydney's north-west, has been found safe and well. 

Just before 10am today, 9News reported Christopher had been found by some local residents after spending the night outside in the icy temperatures.

Christopher was last seen at about 3.20pm on Wednesday afternoon, when he got off a school bus on Annangrove Road, Annangrove, but failed to arrive home.

Properties along Annangrove Road were canvassed on Wednesday afternoon, while multiple calls to Crime Stoppers have been followed up.

The search for Christopher resumed at 8am this morning. 

“His family are extremely distressed, particularly as the temperatures overnight have been quite cold,” Superintendent Darrin Batchelor told reporters on Thursday morning before he was found.

“They’ve had a really rough night and have been out looking overnight.”

Good morning everyone.

Let's dive straight in and get you across the top news stories you need to know this morning. 

1. Search underway for Sydney 11-year-old missing in freezing conditions.

Fears are held for an 11-year-old boy missing in Sydney's north-west after temperatures plummeted to four degrees overnight.

Christopher Wilson was last seen when he got off a school bus on Annangrove Road, Annangrove, about 3.20pm on Wednesday, but failed to arrive home, NSW Police said.

A desperate search is underway in Sydney for an 11-year-old boy who failed to return home after getting off the school bus yesterday.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. #9Today pic.twitter.com/UI4QgoEcKz

— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) June 8, 2022

He is described as being of Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander appearance, about 120cm tall with a slim build, short brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing his school uniform consisting of a blue t-shirt with maroon and white trim and grey shorts, and red and black shoes.

His disappearance is out of character, police said.

Police are appealing for public assistance to find him, following an extensive search of the area by local police, PolAir, Police Rescue and SAS overnight. 

Properties along Annangrove Road have been canvassed while multiple calls to Crime Stoppers have been followed up. The search will resume on Thursday morning.

Anyone with information regarding Christopher's whereabouts is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

2. QLD teen sentenced for pedestrian deaths.

A Queensland teenager has been sentenced to six years behind bars after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

The then-17-year-old was drunk and high on cannabis when he hit Matthew Field and Kate Leadbetter, who was six months' pregnant, in a stolen car on January 26 last year.

The driver, who cannot be named because he was 17 at the time, will be released from custody six years to the day after the horror collision.

A teenager behind the wheel of a stolen car that resulted in the death of a young couple has been sentenced ten years in prison.

Matthew Field and his pregnant partner Kate Leadbetter were killed last year, when the then 17-year-old ran a red light and crashed into them.#9News pic.twitter.com/AAUFXgfchv

— 9News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) June 8, 2022

The teen ran a red light at Alexandra Hills, colliding with a truck before rolling and hitting the couple.

Mr Field, 37 and Ms Leadbetter, 31, were killed instantly, suffering "catastrophic injuries".

Their baby, who was to be named Miles, was delivered stillborn at Ms Leadbetter's autopsy.

The teen fled the collision with minor injuries, stealing keys from a nearby house before being caught by a resident before police arrived.

"They found you lying on the ground crying," Justice Burns said.

The teen later appeared shocked he was responsible for the couple's deaths when interviewed by detectives.

Justice Burns sentenced the teen to 10 years in detention, requiring him to serve 60 per cent.

He will be released on January 26, 2027, at the age of 23.

However, Justice Burns added: "No sentence will be adequate ... (and) can't do justice to the suffering you have caused."

3. Woman dies as man drives into German crowd.

A 29-year-old man has driven into a crowd of people in Berlin, killing a teacher and injuring 14 of her students, as his car twice veered onto a pavement in a popular shopping district, officials say.

Police identified the driver as a German-Armenian man, whose vehicle eventually crashed into a shop window. 

He was detained by bystanders and handed over to the authorities.

Fourteen children from the central German state of Hesse were injured and their teacher killed when a car was driven into a crowd of people in a busy Berlin street, police have said https://t.co/yO8sqEl6fV

— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 8, 2022

It was unclear whether it was an accident or a deliberate act in a street near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, one of the German capital's best-known landmarks, police said.

Police later said 14 students, most likely to be 16- and 17-year-olds, were among the injured. 

The teacher was accompanying a class of 10th grade students from the small town of Bad Arolsen in the central German state of Hesse, Hesse's public broadcaster said. 

Officials denied a report by Germany's Bild newspaper the driver had left a letter of confession in the car. 

Instead, investigators had found posters about Turkey, which has troubled relations with Armenia.

"We haven't clarified everything yet," Berlin's mayor Franziska Giffey told reporters at the scene.

"It is too early to speculate" about what caused the incident, an Interior Ministry spokesperson earlier told a regular federal government news conference in Berlin.

The incident revived memories of 2016, when a man in the same area of Berlin hijacked a truck, killed the driver and drove into a crowded Christmas market and killed 11 more people.

4. UK prosecutors authorise Weinstein charges.

This post deals with sexual assault, and could be triggering for some readers.

UK prosecutors say they have authorised charges to be brought against former Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein on two counts of indecent assault against a woman 26 years ago.

"Charges have been authorised against Harvey Weinstein, 70, following a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation," Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) Special Crime Division.

Former Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein is facing two indecent assault charges in the United Kingdom https://t.co/mjgfZ7yUsI

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) June 8, 2022

The CPS said the alleged assault took place in August 1996 in London.

London's Metropolitan Police said the accusation involved a woman, now aged in her 50s.

Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence in the United States after being convicted in 2020 of assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping former aspiring actor Jessica Mann.

That conviction was upheld by a New York appeals court last week.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

You can also call safe steps 24/7 Family Violence Response Line on 1800 015 188 or visit www.safesteps.org.au for further information.

The Men’s Referral Service is also available on 1300 766 491 or via online chat at www.ntv.org.au.www.ntv.org.au.

5. Plastic on Aussie beaches down by a third.

And in some much needed good news, Australia's beaches have become less polluted as we get better at sorting through our rubbish, new research suggests.

Researchers from the CSIRO conducted 563 coastal surveys and interviewed waste managers across 32 local governments.

The results, published in the One Earth journal on Thursday, showed there was on average 29 per cent less plastic on beaches than in 2013 when similar surveys were carried out.

Household collection services involving multiple waste and recycling streams, had made it easier for people to separate and discard rubbish appropriately, researcher Denise Hardesty said.

Bans on plastic shopping bags were also highly effective.

"Our research showed that increases in waste levies had the second-largest effect on decreases in coastal plastic pollution," Dr Hardesty said.

"Local governments are moving away from a 'collect and dump' mindset to a 'sort and improve' approach."

Activities such as Clean Up Australia Day and community surveillance programs had also helped.

The CSIRO is aiming for an 80 per cent reduction in plastic waste entering the Australian environment by 2030.

And that's it, you're all up to speed. We'll be back to bring you more of the top stories throughout the day. 

- With AAP.

There have been reports lately that Australia could follow the United States and head into a full-blown economic recession, but what does that mean and how would it impact you?

Could it affect the future of your home loan, cost of living, wage growth or your savings?

The Quicky speaks to an expert in economics and a property market guru to find out how likely a recession is, and how it will affect all Aussies if and when it does happen.

Feature image: Getty.