1. Murder charge over Parramatta Westfield stabbing
A 35-year-old Iranian man has been charged over the stabbing murder of a man in a Westfield shopping centre in Parramatta in western Sydney.
Two men were arguing in the centre around 10:30am yesterday when one man stabbed the other in the chest with a knife, police say. Shoppers screamed as the horrifying event took place, News.com.au reports, with one woman yelling: “He’s killing him, he’s killing him!” The 40-year-old man had died by the time police arrived, police said. Witnesses said the man who has been charged left the knife in the victim’s chest, took off his shirt, made a phone call and smoked a cigarette before his arrest.
Acting Superintendent Jenny Scholz says the argument was not gang-related and may have been over a lover, the ABC reports.
“My understanding that the two men are connected,” she said.
The man was refused bail and is due to face Parramatta Local Court today.
2. Transfer of asylum seekers back to Sri Lanka halted
UPDATE: The Australian Government has confirmed that they are holding a group of 153 asylum seekers off the coast of Australia, on a Customs vessel.
At the High Court hearing today was the first official confirmation that the group was being held on an Australian Customs vessel. During the hearing, the Australian Government also agreed not to return the asylum seekers to Sri Lanka without three day’s notice.
Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop confirmed to Sky News that the Government would abide by this decision, saying, “We will of course abide by our undertakings to the court and we await the outcome, but the Australian Government has made it clear from the outset that we intend to disrupt the people smuggling trades.”
Top Comments
How desperate are the women who want to give up their life for their child's future? Just a bloody awful situation all round.
I'm so thankful the one time I needed to visit the ED I was in New Zealand touring with a show and ended up with one of those fantastic migraines that make you see into the future through eyeballs that may pop at any second all the while throwing up everything you have ever eaten. I could stop throwing up and decided I needed a shot to stop that. At home is have called the locum but I was unfamiliar with the numbers so I caught a taxi to the hospital. Got to triage and as I tried to explain what was wrong with me I puked into the plastic bag I was carrying. I went straight through. Nightmare. But they all helped make me better. Thanks Auckland hospital. But I agree some peeps need to realise the difference between an emergency and a dr's appointment. Better yet try the locum they bulk bill.