Luke Perry, star of 90210 and Riverdale, dies after suffering stroke last week, & more in News in 5.

-With AAP

1. Luke Perry, star of 90210 and Riverdale, dies after suffering stroke last week.

American actor Luke Perry, the former star of 1990s television series Beverly Hills, 90210, has died aged 52 after suffering a massive stroke last week.

“Actor Luke Perry, 52, passed away today after suffering a massive stroke,” his publicist Arnold Robinson said in a statement on Monday.

The statement said he was surrounded by his close family and friends.

“The family appreciates the outpouring of support and prayers that have been extended to Luke from around the world, and respectfully request privacy in this time of great mourning. No further details will be released at this time,” the statement added.

Perry was rushed to a Los Angeles hospital on Wednesday morning after suffering the stroke at his home, celebrity website TMZ.com reported last week.

Born in Mansfield, Ohio, Perry moved to Los Angeles after high school to pursue acting. His TV career began when he was 16, and the actor cut his teeth acting in soap operas such as ABC's Loving and Another World on NBC, and doing voice work for animated series such as The Incredible Hulk and Biker Mice From Mars.

However, in 1990 Perry became a household name for playing the brooding loner Dylan McKay on the smash hit teen drama Beverly Hills, 90210 on Fox.

The show became a phenomenon, catapulting Perry to full-blown teen idol status. He appeared on a racy Vanity Fair cover in July 1992.

Perry had two runs on 90210, one from 1990 to 1995 and another from 1998 to the show's end in 2000, during which time his character struggled with alcohol abuse and drug addiction, and went through a series of tumultuous relationships with several other main characters including Brenda (played by Shannen Doherty) and Kelly (played by Jennie Garth).

Perry was hospitalised the same day Fox announced a six-episode revival of the show, featuring returning cast members Jason Priestley, Garth, Ian Ziering, Gabrielle Carteris, Brian Austin Green, and Tori Spelling. Perry had not been announced to return.

While starring in 90210, Perry made a brief appearance as Billy Masterson in Luc Besson's wacky sci-fi pic The Fifth Element in 1997.

More recently, Perry made a successful return to the TV drama genre with a regular role on the CW show Riverdale.

He played Fred Andrews, the conservative, old-fashioned yet soft father of the show's lead Archie Andrews (KJ Apa).

A statement from #Riverdale executive producers, Warner Bros. Television and The CW on the passing of Luke Perry. pic.twitter.com/Yx2nvoQtwb

— Archie Comics (@ArchieComics) March 4, 2019

He will appear posthumously in Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, playing the real-life Canadian-American actor Wayne Maunder who starred in the CBS Western TV show Lancer.

Perry is survived by his daughter Sophie and his son Jack, a professional wrestler who goes by the ring name "Jungle Boy" Nate Coy.

2. Man to sue Pell for 70s Ballarat sex abuse.

George Pell sued over claim of swimming pool sex abuse https://t.co/BZODTlnTkq

— The Sydney Morning Herald (@smh) March 4, 2019

Guilty of sexually abusing teenage choirboys in the 1990s, Cardinal George Pell will now be sued for his alleged mistreatment of another child two decades earlier.

And as Australia's most senior Catholic faces more legal action, the parents of one of his victims have detailed their son's demise following Pell's abuse.

The boy was one of two teenagers abused by Pell at St Patrick's Cathedral in 1996.

His father told ABC's Four Corners his 13-year-old son's personality changed dramatically and he started using heroin within a year, but the family didn't know why.

"He went from being this lovely boy," he said.

"His schoolwork, I noticed that it started slipping. His whole attitude changed. His whole being just, he was a different boy."

A drug overdose killed him in 2014 and his parents only became aware of the abuse he suffered when his friend came forward to tell his story.

Their insight into the aftermath of the abuse comes on the same day a man, who says he was molested by Pell at Ballarat's St Joseph's Boys Home between 1974 and 1978, flagged his intention to lodge a lawsuit against the disgraced cardinal in Victoria's Supreme Court.

The suit will name Pell, the trustees of the Sisters of Nazareth (formerly St Joseph's), the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne and the State of Victoria.

Now aged 50, the man was told by prosecutors last year his criminal allegations against Pell did not have sufficient evidence to proceed.

"It took a lot of courage and soul searching to be prepared to tell my story, accusing one of the most senior Catholics in the world of serious criminal offences and eventually I was resigned to having my day in court," the man said.

In a statement of claim, the man alleges Pell sexually abused him three or four times in a swimming pool at the home.

At the time, he knew the man's name was George and that he was sometimes called "Father", but only realised after seeing him on television years later it was the cardinal.

Pell continues to deny all allegations of abuse and will challenge the convictions in the Court of Appeal.

Lawyer Lee Flanagan said they hoped to include the evidence of three other men who made similar complaints against Pell.

Two alleged Pell abused them at Ballarat's Eureka Swimming Pool around the same time, while the third alleged the abuse happened at Lake Boga.

The complainant also alleges physical abuse while at the home, including that a nun, named Sister Victoire, would hit him and one time rubbed his excrement in his face after he soiled his pants.

He is suing for medical expenses and loss of earning capacity, claiming the abuse led him to suffer chronic post-traumatic stress and anxiety syndrome, chronic adjustment disorder, emotional attachment disorder and alcohol abuse or use disorder.

3. Qld father admits killing toddler son.

The tragic life story of little Baden Bond took another twist today, when his drug-affected father admitted dumping him at a park more than 10 years ago: https://t.co/p6C8PTh4lp pic.twitter.com/I7AfjuVeYF

— The West Australian (@westaustralian) March 4, 2019

Baden Bond's father insists he patted his toddler on the head and said sorry before he abandoned the boy without a backward glance in 2007.

Shane Arthur Simpson says he was "fried" off his head on drugs at the time and tired of looking after Baden, 22 months, who he blamed for many of the family's woes.

Simpson says as they sat together at dusk in May 2007, Baden gave him a look he still can't forget, like Baden knew it would be the end.

Then, in a park by a boat ramp at the Logan River, south of Brisbane, Simpson walked away from his neglected toddler.

Baden's body has never been found and what happened to him is unknown.

The boy's difficult life began 22 months earlier when he was born to Dina Colleen Bond with methamphetamine in his system in an attempted home birth.

Because of his condition at birth, he and the couple's other children were taken into state care.

They were given back to Simpson and Bond a year later with the family under departmental observation.

Baden was last seen by authorities in March 2007, but it wasn't until June 2015 that he was reported missing after department of community services in NSW, where the family was then living, came looking for him.

When his siblings, government agencies and later police had questioned the couple about his whereabouts, they told multiple and inconsistent lies.

These included that Baden was with an aunt, his grandparents or in foster care. He was "given away" or the "government took him", they said.

Asked by his older brother's girlfriend where he was, Bond said: "I didn't feel like he belonged to us so we gave him back."

But, in reality, they had resented him, blaming him for the removal of his siblings and believing he was the "devil's child" and evil.

Simpson had called him a "little c***", a "dog f*****" and was "nothing but trouble".

"Baden on occasion was seen with bruises on his face," crown prosecutor Danny Boyle told the sentencing hearing.

"His diapers were often left unchanged, such that were was a smell of urine and faeces in his room."

In 2016, when Simpson admitted to police he'd abandoned the toddler, he said Baden was difficult and "everything just got too much".

He said he was "fried off my head" from his drug-taking at the time.

At the park, he says he gave Baden a hug, patted him on the head and said sorry.

"I still see the look of his eyes. It was like he knew I was going to leave him there," Simpson told police.

"I just left him there and just drove away. Didn't even look in the rear vision mirror.

"I've had to live with this for 10 years.

"I couldn't really connect with him. I was tired of caring him for him."

He claimed he hoped someone would find Baden and look after him.

Simpson pleaded guilty to Baden's manslaughter on Monday.

Bond pleaded guilty to two counts of being an accessory to the manslaughter for keeping up the lies about Baden.

They will be sentenced in Brisbane Supreme Court at a later date.

4. Measles alert for Qantas flight from Bali.

Bali holidaymakers and visitors to the Sydney Opera House are among hundreds urged to look out for measles symptoms after a young woman and infant contracted the disease.

The two new cases take the number of people infectious with the highly contagious disease in the state since Christmas to 19, NSW Health said on Monday.

In one case, a woman aged in her 20s developed the measles rash after arriving in Sydney from Bali on Qantas flight QF44 about 6.30am on February 21.

Health officials are advising those on the flight, in the Sydney international terminal and visitors to the Opera House later that day to remain on the lookout for measles signs and symptoms until March 16.

A Sydney baby - too young to receive their routine measles vaccine - also developed the disease after arriving home from the Philippines.

Macquarie Shopping Centre (February 26 and March 2), My Health Macquarie (March 1 and 2) and the Northern Beaches Hospital (March 3) are among the places the infant visited while infectious.

Those in the same places at the same times should look out for symptoms until March 21.

Measles symptoms include fever, sore eyes and a cough followed by a red, blotchy rash on the head and neck that spreads to the rest of the body.

"If you develop symptoms please call ahead to your GP so you do not wait in the waiting room with other patients," NSW Health communicable diseases branch director Vicky Sheppeard said in a statement on Monday.

Australia is currently at high risk of importing measles due to outbreaks of the disease in southeast Asia.

5. Qld woman denies arranging ex-husband hit.

A woman is facing trial, accused of trying to hire a hitman to kill her ex-husband. @ebonycavallaro #9News pic.twitter.com/bq6LMouG5A

— Nine News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) March 4, 2019

A Gold Coast woman has denied paying for her ex-husband to be murdered in an alleged plot that failed because the hired hitman took the money and ran.

Theresa Dalton has pleaded not guilty to attempting to procure the commission of a criminal act over the alleged plan to kill Malcolm Stewart in early 2010.

Her Brisbane Supreme Court trial on Monday heard their 24-year marriage broke down around 2007.

There was a "very bitter and hostile battle over property" in which she feared Mr Stewart would take a home gifted by her parents.

She made numerous threats to his life, the Crown alleges, including coming into his workplace to say, "I'm taking all your money then I'm going to kill you".

In January 2010, her then-boyfriend Anthony Werner met Matthew Neels, who was bragging about stealing a television, through friends in NSW.

"After he told (Dalton) that Neels was 'sleazy', she asked if Neels would help with her problem and make Malcolm disappear," crown prosecutor Michael Lehane said in opening statements.

"He'll explain she was very persistent. She kept saying that 'Malcolm's gotta go, Malcolm's gotta go. He's not getting my land'."

Neels agreed to kill Mr Stewart for $40,000, travelling to the Gold Coast where he was paid half the amount by Werner in a Burleigh Heads car park.

He was given a photo of Mr Stewart and a note with his address, the prosecution said.

Werner and Dalton travelled to Tasmania the next day as an alibi but the hit didn't go ahead.

"Neels didn't fulfil the end of his bargain. Ultimately, he proved to be a thief, not a killer," Mr Lehane said.

"He simply took the part-payment of $20,000 that had been given to him, came up with an excuse and left our state."

When Werner explained to Dalton she had been ripped off, she became "extremely angry", Mr Lehane said.

"The accused would persist about it," he said.

"He explained he actually got headphones (and was) walking around Port Arthur to try and shut the accused out in terms of her nagging."

Neels later told police he had "no intention of killing anyone" and spent the money on fishing equipment, holidays, clothes and household items.

The court heard Werner was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail in NSW for conspiring to commit Mr Stewart's murder, receiving a 25 per cent reduction because he agreed to testify against Dalton.

Her trial continues.