Prince Andrew has "provided zero co-operation" to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation, & more in News in 5.

– With AAP.

1. Prince Andrew has “provided zero co-operation” to the Jeffrey Epstein investigation.

Prince Andrew has “provided zero co-operation” to the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking inquiry, according to a US prosecutor.

US Attorney Geoffrey Berman, who is overseeing the Epstein investigation, says Andrew’s lawyers have been contacted by prosecutors and the FBI, asking to interview Queen Elizabeth’s second son as part of the investigation.

“To date, Prince Andrew has provided zero co-operation,” Berman told a news conference outside Epstein’s New York mansion on Monday.

It comes after Prince Andrew told the BBC in a sit-down interview during November that he is “willing to help any appropriate law enforcement agency”.

Following that interview, which was widely considered disastrous, Prince Andrew stepped down from royal duties.

If you missed Prince Andrew’s interview, here’s a snippet. Post continues below.

After the interview, the Duke of York was accused of lacking empathy for Epstein’s victims and of failing to show regret over his friendship with the disgraced financier.

Epstein allegedly took his own life in a New York jail cell in August 2019, where he was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

Virginia Roberts-Giuffre, who says she was trafficked by Epstein, told the BBC she was left “horrified and ashamed” after an alleged sexual encounter with Andrew in London in 2001.

She said she danced with Andrew in a nightclub, adding he was “the most hideous dancer I’ve ever seen in my life” and “his sweat was … raining basically everywhere”.

Prince Andrew denied the allegations that he had intercourse with Virginia Roberts-Giuffre when she was 17 years old in 2001. He claimed he was at Pizza Express in Woking on the night of the alleged incident, meaning he couldn’t have slept with the teenager that night.

Berman was speaking at an event to promote a new law that makes it easier for victims to sue over childhood abuse.

Before being asked about Prince Andrew, Berman confirmed the investigation was looking at possible “conspirators” who worked with Epstein.

“Jeffrey Epstein couldn’t have done what he did without the assistance of others, and I can assure you that the investigation is moving forward,” Berman said.

Buckingham Palace has been contacted for comment.

2. A 21-year-old UNSW student has tested positive for coronavirus.

a UNSW student has contracted coronavirus, the university said – here’s an email sent to the uni community today from the President &
Vice-Chancellor and Provos thttps://t.co/oWx08OVRyE pic.twitter.com/obFA1ptUtu

— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) 27 January 2020

A 21-year-old woman has become the fourth person in NSW to test positive for coronavirus as the state government says most children who have holidayed in China can return to school this week.

NSW Health on Monday said the university student was being treated in isolation at Westmead Hospital after arriving in Sydney from Wuhan – the epicentre of the outbreak – last week.

The UNSW student arrived on the last flight out of Wuhan to arrive in Sydney on Thursday.

“She travelled on the plane back, she was met at the airport, she received the fact sheet which said if you become unwell then seek care and these are the signs and symptoms,” NSW chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant told reporters.

“She developed some symptoms 24 hours later and they worsened and she presented to the emergency department.”

The woman showed no symptoms when she arrived at the airport but was placed in home isolation once she began exhibiting flu-like symptoms.

NSW Health said she only had limited contact with people in Australia – reducing the likelihood that she had spread the virus.

“The student did not attend any classes at the university and stayed on her own in campus accommodation with no close contact before she was admitted to hospital,” a UNSW spokeswoman said in a statement.

NSW officials on Monday evening confirmed they were testing five patients for possible infection.

Three men – aged 35, 43 and 53 – are already being treated in hospital for coronavirus and are listed as stable.

In Victoria, a man in his 50s is being treated at Monash Medical Centre while four of his family members are being quarantined at home.

Dr Chant said healthy school children who travelled to China during the holidays would not be told to stay at home when classes return.

Even those who have been to Wuhan or the Hubei province will be allowed to return to school but Dr Chant said they should be carefully monitored for any symptoms.

Only children who have been in close contact with someone confirmed to have coronavirus will be asked to stay at home, the state’s chief health officer said.

“We’re only recommending exclusion for children who are close contacts of a confirmed case,” she said.

“(But) if you’ve come back from Wuhan or Hubei more broadly, and you’re unwell, then we suggest you get assessed. We also don’t want flu being transmitted and other infectious diseases.”

3. “The world lost a legend today.” Kobe Bryant inspired Australia’s young NBA stars.

⁦Gone too soon … ⁦legend, icon, champion, assassin, dad @kobebryant⁩ https://t.co/j2vG71Ex00

— Peter Mitchell (@AAPinLA) 27 January 2020

In early 2014 Dante Exum was 18, had just graduated from his Canberra high school and was living a surreal life preparing for the NBA Draft on courts south of Los Angeles.

The teenager’s practice partner was Kobe Bryant.

Exum idolised Bryant growing up in Australia and suddenly the teenager found himself shooting hoops and receiving words of wisdom from the Los Angeles Lakers great.

It was Bryant’s agent Rob Pelinka who beat America’s top sports agents for Exum’s signature and Pelinka set the master up with his new Australian recruit.

Exum soaked up every drop of advice Bryant offered.

“What he basically said to me was, ‘There’s going to be a lot of off-court distractions and how you handle those and focus on basketball is how long you’ll stay in the league’,” Exum told AAP back in 2014.

“He said to have fun at some point because I’m still young but just know what your goals are and why you are here.”

Bryant, 41, died with his daughter Gianna, 13, and seven others, including the pilot, when their helicopter crashed into a hillside in foggy conditions in the western LA suburb of Calabasas on Sunday.

His death rocked the sports world and LA, a metropolis used to celebrity tragedy.

Bryant was a god in the City of Angels and his star status shined brighter than any Oscar or Grammy winner.

Angelenos worshipped him for the five NBA championships he brought them and the fact he spent every one of his 20 years in the NBA with the Lakers.

He was worshipped by Australia’s new wave of NBA stars too.

“Can’t Be!!” Australian-raised Detroit Pistons forward Thon Maker wrote on Twitter after news broke Bryant was dead.

“The world lost a legend today,” Melbourne-born Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons wrote on Twitter.

“Kobe Bryant was someone who I looked up to, a fierce competitor, a champion, an icon.”

Bryant kept a keen interest in Exum and Simmons.

When Exum tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee playing for Australian in Europe in 2015 Bryant, who overcame multiple serious injuries including a torn Achilles and fractured knee, offered encouragement.

“Dante is a fantastic young player,” he said.

“I think he will bounce back.

“I think he’ll just be fine.”

When Simmons emerged as the likely number one pick of the 2016 NBA Draft there was a strong chance the Lakers could end up with the Australian prodigy.

Bryant was preparing for his farewell season and said if Simmons did become a Laker he would not be handing the Australian the keys to the Laker kingdom.

In true blunt Bryant style he said Simmons would have to earn them and warned Laker fans expected championships and Simmons would have to deliver them.

“If you don’t win a championship the season is a failure,” Bryant said.

“If you have that attitude this city will absolutely love you and you’ll get this team back to playing and winning at a level it is accustomed to.”

Another Australian, Joe Ingles, was on the receiving end of Bryant’s grand NBA finale.

On April 13, 2016, Ingles’ Utah Jazz were at the Lakers’ Staples Center to play in Bryant’s final game.

LA was buzzing and courtside seats were selling for more than $US20,000 each.

It appeared Bryant would leave the NBA with a dismal thud as the Jazz led most of the game and held a 12-point lead with nine minutes left but the champion would not bow out that way.

He dropped a barrage of three-pointers, finished with 60 points and the Lakers won 101-96.

Bryant outscored the Jazz 23-21 in the final quarter.

In the locker room after Ingles and his Jazz team-mates were stunned.

“He made some tough shots,” Ingles laughed in a chat with AAP.

Bryant the champion ended his career in true Hollywood style.

“A perfect ending would have been a championship but tonight it was about going out and putting on a show as good as I could,” he said.

4. Ashleigh Barty is blocking out the hype as her hope for victory rises.

Ashleigh Barty – who was on Saturday night named 2020 Young Australian of the Year – is ignoring the hype as she battens down the hatches ahead of the sternest test yet in her bold bid to accomplish one of the most elusive feats in tennis. https://t.co/uPp8Ut0o5f

— SBS News (@SBSNews) 27 January 2020

Ashleigh Barty is ignoring the hype as she battens down the hatches ahead of the sternest test yet in her bold bid to accomplish one of the most elusive feats in tennis.

The world No.1 must avenge last year’s straight-sets quarter-final loss to Petra Kvitova on Tuesday to keep her Australian Open dream alive at Melbourne Park.

Much has been of Barty’s pressure-filled quest to become the first home-grown Open champion in 42 years, but it’s not just Australia that has proven burdensome for players trying to win their home slam.

No British woman has won Wimbledon in 42 years either, while 2000 French Open champion Mary Pierce is the only Frenchwoman to have reigned in Paris in more than half a century.

Home grand slam triumphs have been even harder to come by in men’s tennis, with Andy Murray breaking a 77-year curse at the All England Club in 2013 and Yannick Noah in 1983 the only Frenchman to win at Roland Garros since World War II.

Mark Edmondson in 1977 remains the last local man to win the Australian Open and even Barty admits it’s a different beast altogether trying to lift the trophy on home soil.

“Every year conditions can change dramatically. It can be really warm, and that changes the court, changes the balls, changes the way that the matches are played,” Barty said of this year’s cooler conditions.

“It could be cold, raining, roofs closed. All these variables that come into it.

“Year in, year out, it’s about trying to be consistent every single match, trying to be present every single match, not thinking about what’s happened before, not thinking about what’s to come.

“It’s just about trying to do the best you can on that given day.”

Barty has endured a rollercoaster ride through the first week, fighting back from a set down in her opener against Lesia Tsurenko, then comfortably seeing off Polona Hercog before delivering a third-round masterclass against dangerous youngster Elena Rybakina.

The top seed had to survive a fierce fightback from Alison Riske to avoid crashing out in the fourth round at the hands of the American like she did at Wimbledon last year.

“Look, we’re all human,” Barty said.

“We’re not going to be 100 per cent every single day. We’re not going to win every single time.

“All you can try and do is put your best foot forward, regardless of you’re playing in Australia or all around the world.”

After losing her first four meetings with Kvitova, including last year’s quarter-final 6-1 6-4, Barty has won their past three encounters – all in 2019, most recently en route to the title at the prestigious WTA Finals in Shenzhen in November.

“Tactically the last few times we’ve played Petra, we’ve had a small, small adjustment, small change,” Barty said.

“It’s never an easy match. I think maybe all but one have gone to three sets.

“I’m looking forward to another battle against a quality opponent.”

The victor will face either American 14th seed Sofia Kenin or Tunisia’s first-time grand slam quarter-finalist Ons Jabeur for a place in Saturday’s title decider.

5. Specialist crews are arriving to recover the body of a Tasmanian miner presumed killed in an underground collapse.

The specialists personnel and equipment needed to retrieve miner Cameron Goss from the Henty Gold Mine is arriving on site ready for recovery mission to start. https://t.co/uHjJcn3q8O

— Mercury (@themercurycomau) 27 January 2020

Specialist crews are arriving at a Tasmanian mine where they will attempt to recover the body of a worker presumed killed in an underground collapse.

The search for Cameron John Goss, 44, at Henty Gold Mine on the state’s west coast turned to recovery on Friday after three-dimensional imagery revealed the loader he was driving had been crushed by rocks.

Mr Goss, an experienced miner, was about 700 metres below the surface when he lost contact with colleagues early on Thursday morning.

Contracting company PYBAR Mining Services said specialist personnel and equipment are being readied at the site.

It is not known when the recovery operation will begin, with safety assessments ongoing.

“Once the recovery has been completed the incident will be fully investigated,” a company spokesman said on Monday.

Search experts have flown from Newcastle and Orange to help with the recovery operation.

Counselling services have been offered to staff at the mine, north of Queenstown where Mr Goss lived.

The tiny town was shaken six years ago when three workers were killed in two separate incidents at the Mt Lyell copper mine.

Two miners fell to their deaths underground in December 2013 and another was killed in a mud rush the following month.

Those three deaths are the subject of an ongoing coronial inquest.