Police have deployed divers and a blood detection dog as the search continues for a mother and her newborn baby after the discovery of what police believe to be a placenta and umbilical cord next to the Cooks River in Sydney’s south-west on Monday afternoon.
Police said at this stage there was no evidence the baby had been harmed. The placenta and umbilical cord were sent for testing on Tuesday morning to establish the gestation period, the gender of the child and how long the placenta and umbilical cord were at the river.
The New South Wales health minister, Ryan Park, said his “heart absolutely goes out” to the mother and child, and repeated advice from police – that the woman should attend a hospital.
“You’re not in trouble, you don’t have to talk to police,” Park said. “The only thing I ask that you do is make your way to one of our hospitals so that we can care for you and your baby as quickly as possible.”
Top news
Satellite images reveal scale of PNG disaster | The images show the huge damage inflicted on a village in the remote province of Enga, where PNG’s National Disaster Centre said a landslide had buried an estimated 2,000 people. Murray Watt, the minister for emergency management, has confirmed a team of Australian technical experts was inbound.
Victoria announces parliamentary secretary for ‘men’s behaviour change’ | The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has announced some changes to her outer ministry, including the introduction of the Mordialloc MP Tim Richardson as a parliamentary secretary for “men’s behaviour change”, which Allan called the “first position of its kind in Australia”.
Distraught mother denies claims she shot and killed daughter | Kallista Mutten broke down in tears when confronted with accusations she killed her own daughter, telling a court she didn’t even know exactly where the nine-year-old had been shot. Justin Stein, 33, who is on trial for the murder of schoolgirl Charlise Mutten, has claimed he witnessed Mutten shoot the girl. Mutten denied the allegation in court on Tuesday.
Pro-Palestine protesters at ANU move camp to new location | Student protesters in Canberra have moved their pro-Palestine encampment to a new location 50 metres away after police demanded they pack up by noon on Tuesday. The ANU dramatically escalated its response to the on-campus occupation on Monday, demanding protesters vacate their site at Kambri, in the centre of campus.
Pope allegedly used offensive slur | The pontiff, 87, is alleged to have made the remark during a closed-door meeting with bishops in Rome last week, where they were reportedly discussing whether out gay men should be admitted to Catholic seminaries.
North Korean spy satellite explodes in flight | North Korea’s latest attempt to put a spy satellite into orbit ended in a mid-air explosion, Pyongyang said late Monday, hours after its announcement of a planned launch was criticised by Seoul and Tokyo. Japanese broadcaster NHK ran footage of what appeared to be a flaming projectile in the night sky, which then exploded into a fireball.
More Australian woe at French Open | Max Purcell missed out on six match points before finally losing his first-round match. The Sydneysider’s exit to the German grand slam newcomer Henri Squire on Monday left the green-and-gold contingent at 0-6 – five defeats and an injury withdrawal – after two days, with the women’s challenge already over following Daria Saville’s earlier 6-3, 6-4 loss to Jasmine Paolini.
‘Serial slingshot’ suspect who terrorised California neighbourhood arrested | An 81-year-old man who investigators say terrorised a southern California neighbourhood for years with a slingshot has been arrested, police said. The man is suspected of breaking windows and car windshields and of narrowly missing people with ball bearings shot from a slingshot, the statement said. No injuries were reported.
Alleged Virgin naked run on flight leads to arrest | A Virgin Australia flight from Perth to Melbourne was forced to turn around and land shortly after taking off after a male passenger allegedly ran naked through the cabin and knocked a crew member to the floor. Australian federal police officers met the flight when it returned to Perth airport on Monday evening and arrested the man.
In pictures
There’s more than one way to think about Gaza
It helps if you read the signs, writes cartoonist Fiona Katauskas.
What they said …
***
“Women should not be responsible for ending violence against women”. – Australian prime minister, Anthony Albanese.
The federal government has convened an expert panel into violence against women, which will recommend new approaches to preventing gender-based violence.
In numbers
The minister for emergency management, Murray Watt, addressed the number of events of national significance that have impacted councils throughout the country during Senate estimates on Tuesday.
Before bed read
Stocking up: how to style colourful tights – winter’s warmest fashion trend
Hosiery gets a playful makeover this season, with opaque tights and high socks that add colour and texture to any outfit.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: CUR. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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