Police are investigating the sudden death of a woman in her 50s in Western Australia's Midwest region. The woman was stopped during random breath testing on Brand Highway at Mount Tarcoola on Monday evening. She was issued a driving prohibition notice and released from custody. Shortly afterwards she became unresponsive after a medical issue, and police called St John WA. She was taken to Geraldton Regional Hospital but was later declared dead. The WA Police Internal Affairs Unit is overseeing the probe, and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
Australian doctors' college RANZCOG has released new clinical guidelines on managing menopause symptoms. The guidelines explain when menopausal hormone therapy should be used over other medicines, and the options for women with a history of breast cancer. They cover hot flushes, night sweats, vaginal dryness and the frequent need to urinate in women aged 40 and over. Guideline chair Catriona Melville said the aim is to give clinicians clear advice to discuss with patients. National guidelines on perimenopause and menopause are expected next year.
City of Melville councillor Scott Green is pushing for changes to WA's defamation laws. He wants the council to back a call for the State Government to amend the Defamation Act 2005 and to seek support from the WA Local Government Association. Green says WA is the only state yet to adopt a serious harm test, which allows claims to be dismissed early elsewhere. His motion is due before the council on October 20. City staff said the State Government is already drafting reforms and suggested the council work through WALGA.
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A Crows Nest shop called Boat Books, on the corner of Clarke and Oxley Streets next to the Crows Nest Metro, sells only books about boats. Its stock covers building, sailing, repairing, kayaking and fishing, along with history and humour titles. The newsletter also reports that Australia lacks a national framework for recycling solar panels, so most are exported or sent to landfill. The NSW Government plans to consult on a mandatory recycling scheme, and federal MP Zali Steggall has called for extended producer responsibility for manufacturers.
A popular bowling alley in Perth's north has closed indefinitely after a fire broke out on Monday evening. Rosemount Bowl on Fitzgerald Street in North Perth was evacuated, along with the nearby Pot Black and Bloodlines venues. The business said at about 10pm that everyone had left safely and no one was hurt. The fire is not believed to be suspicious and is being managed by the Department of Fire and Emergency Services. A witness claims the blaze started in the kitchen, but this has not been officially confirmed.
A Western Australian country town is giving 16 per cent of its annual rates income to keep a local doctor. The Shire of Narembeen pays the local medical practice $370,000 a year and also provides a building, a car and a house. Shire President Holly Cusack says the arrangement is financially unsustainable but that losing the GP would mean a 120-kilometre round trip to the nearest doctor. In Kalbarri, a community group crowdfunded more than $70,000 to set up a not-for-profit, bulk-billing clinic after the town's only GP closed in June.
WA police will use a new drone program to gather real-time intelligence before officers reach emergencies. Drones will launch from docking stations in Kwinana, Rockingham and Baldivis and can operate beyond line of sight. They will be dispatched from a command centre in Perth. Police Minister Reece Whitby says the program is an Australian first. Targeted uses include family and domestic violence matters, missing persons, crimes in progress and stolen vehicles.
WA Police is expanding its automated drone fleet, which launches from Perth to emergency scenes within seconds. Police say the drones respond to emergency calls rather than patrol. Civil liberties advocates warn the rollout could outpace laws protecting individual privacy. Similar trials are underway in regional New South Wales, where advocates question the lack of published results. Critics say there are no clear legal protections governing how police use drone footage, and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority regulates only aviation safety.
BYD's premium brand Denza says the Z9 GT electric wagon will not reach Australia until the first half of 2027. A spokesperson said the company is juggling priorities and does not want to launch simply to meet a date. Denza had earlier planned a launch in the third quarter of 2026. The Z9 GT has a claimed 0-100km/h time of 2.7 seconds and a 1036km electric range under the CLTC cycle. Pricing for the Australian market has yet to be announced.
Porsche Cars Australia is recalling 77 of its 911 and 718 sports cars made in 2023 and 2024. A manufacturing defect in the centre-lock wheel nuts may cause a wheel to loosen and detach while driving. The recall covers several 911 and 718 models from the 992 and 982 generations. Porsche will contact owners and ask them to book a free repair at an authorised Porsche Centre. The 911 was previously recalled in March 2025 over a seatbelt issue.
Complaints about the Australian Taxation Office have risen sharply as the agency ramps up debt collection. The Tax Ombudsman received 2376 complaints in the six months to September, up 74 per cent on the same period last year. The office said it received 1358 complaints over that period, because the ombudsman's figures also included matters not involving the tax office. The ombudsman found the tax office acted reasonably in 63 per cent of debt collection complaints it investigated. Outstanding tax debt stood at $54.2 billion in 2024/25, with $35.9 billion owed by small businesses.
Lotus Australia has issued a nationwide safety recall for 114 Lotus Elise sports cars made between 2014 and 2021. A manufacturing defect may deform the low-pressure fuel pump impeller, causing the fuel pump to fail and the engine to stall. The company warns that a sudden loss of power while driving may increase the risk of an accident causing injury or death. Owners will be contacted by their Lotus dealer to book a free repair appointment. The Elise was last recalled in 2020 over a fuel rail issue.
US stocks closed higher on Monday after two weeks of declines, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq lifted by optimism around AI companies. Anthropic disclosed steep losses and rapid revenue growth in its filing for a US initial public offering. Semiconductor firms helped drive the gains, while Meta plans to raise up to $US95 billion in equity to fund its AI expansion. Investors are watching the Federal Reserve's policy statement on Wednesday and a busy week of earnings reports.
The cost of abandoning Snowy 2.0, Australia's largest renewable energy project, is still unknown. Snowy Hydro chief executive Dennis Barnes told a Senate estimates committee that the cost of ending the project has not been modelled. The company estimates completion will now cost between $22.2 billion and $25 billion, up from $12 billion in 2023. Barnes said replacing the project with batteries was modelled at $80 billion. Innovation Minister Tim Ayres said abandoning the project would be immensely costly and that the government would see it through.
Outdated technology and weak digital safety skills are the biggest threats to national cybersecurity, according to the latest Cyber Threat Report from the Australian Signals Directorate. The public sector recorded nearly half of the 1500 incidents reported to the Australian Cyber Security Centre in the past financial year. Director-general Abigail Bradshaw warned that service outages will likely become normal and urged companies to put security ahead of access. Medium-sized businesses reported a 45 per cent rise in cybercrime losses, with an average cost of $141,300.
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One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has criticised the government for failing to support thousands of people who lost savings in the $1.1bn collapse of the Shield Master Fund and First Guardian. Joyce said he gave his ex-wife $400,000 as part of their divorce settlement, and that money is now gone. He urged the government to pay victims their super so they can retire, rather than a partial compensation payment. A Choice podcast investigation says about 11,000 Australians lost retirement savings, and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission has 14 ongoing court actions against 31 people.
A Loch Ness Monster expert has written a guide on how to spot the creature. Adrian Shine, who founded the Loch Ness Project, says the monster exists and has explained how it can be seen in his new book. He believes Loch Ness lacks enough nutrients to support a large beast. He argues most sightings are wakes from large boats, which he links to the Caledonian Canal, built in the early nineteenth century. Broadcaster Robson Green said the expedition could neither prove nor disprove a creature's existence.
Paranormal investigator Colin Browen has described the most frightening moment of his 11-year ghost-hunting career. While inside the basement of a former asylum, he saw a woman's hand appear beside a pillar, then slowly withdraw and disappear behind it, prompting his team to leave quickly. Browen, who hosts the Murder In America podcast and The Paranormal Files on YouTube, said many spirits he has encountered are not hostile. He said some are cheerful, and that most seem to want acknowledgement or help with a task.
Jamie Lee Curtis says she is grieving privately over the deaths of her longtime friends Rob and Michele Reiner, who were killed at their Los Angeles home last December. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, she described a close bond stretching back decades, including Rob Reiner serving as best man at her 1984 wedding and being godfather to her daughter. Curtis said she paid tribute to the couple at the September Emmy Awards, a moment harder than she expected.
The Commonwealth Ombudsman has called for laws to be changed so assessors can override decisions made by an aged care algorithm. The watchdog found the system had produced unfair outcomes for residents and weakened public confidence. Ombudsman Iain Anderson said many outcomes were inappropriate and that the department did not fully understand the legal framework it created. The government says an independent review will be released in the first half of 2027. Opposition health spokeswoman Anne Ruston said the findings showed lessons from robodebt had been ignored.
