Daily News Round-up

FRIDAY, MAY 7

Scott Morrison says the ban on travel from India will not be extended beyond May 15 and repatriation flights will begin again as soon as the ban finishes.

His announcement came as NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian dropped a big hint on breakfast TV, that restrictions across greater Sydney could end as planned at 12am on Monday.  

Speaking to both Sky News and Today, Ms Berejiklian said she’s “very pleased with how things are going”.

The federal government’s controversial India travel ban, which made it an offence for people to try and re-enter Australia after being in India within the prior 14 days, began on Monday and was due to finish on May 15.

The Prime Minister said the National Security Committee met yesterday and agreed it saw “no need to extend it beyond that date”.

“The original decision to put in place that biosecurity order until the 15th of May has proved very effective and it will run its full course until that time without any change,” he said.

“What we will be doing is receiving our first repatriation flight into the Northern Territory as part of the charter arrangements we have … to bring back those first people from India at that time.”

There are currently 9,000 Australians in India who want to come home, with around 900 of them considered vulnerable.

Mr Morrison said he anticipated there would be three repatriation flights before the end of the month, with a focus on returning those vulnerable Australians.

“Bringing back the most urgent of cases,” he said.

“In addition, there will be rapid antigen testing put in place for everyone getting on the flights.

“The challenge we have had with arrivals from India is the higher incidence of infections and the stress that was placing on the quarantine system.”

The Prime Minister said no decision had been made about when commercial flights from India would resume and the government would take further advice on that next week.

He also reiterated that the ban “was working”.

“What’s important is that the biosecurity order that we have put in place has been highly effective, it’s doing the job that we needed it to do,” Mr Morrison said.

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After 100 days of marriage hell, Jarryd Hayne’s wife, Amellia Bonnici, is still standing by her man as she confronts the reality of life without her partner, reports news.com.

Their private relationship will now face its greatest test after the former NRL star , who lodged an appeal today (Friday),a day after being sentenced to at least three years and eight months in jail after being found guilty of sexual assault.

It leaves Bonnici alone to raise their four-year-old daughter, Beliviah Ivy, born in December, 2016.

Bonnici was among Hayne’s supporters inside the Newcastle District Court on Thursday and watched on as her husband’s victim, 26-years-old at the time of the offence, deliver a victim impact statement in which she detailed how the assault had fundamentally changed her life, saying the assault left her feeling “dirty and violated”.

The NRL superstar was in March found guilty of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent after three days of jury deliberation, and Bonnici was again there beside Hayne.

The 33-year-old was also supported by Bonnici throughout his seven-day retrial in Sydney’s Downing Centre District Court after his first trial in Newcastle last year ended in a hung jury.

Bonnici has made a concerted effort to show public support for her husband, repeatedly attending court and regularly holding hands with her partner in front of photographers as they exited.

The couple have been through enough to push any marriage to breaking point after a turbulent start to their relationship and a period of living apart.

Hayne and Bonnici met in 2016 after he returned from a stint in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers to join the NRL again with the Titans.

Bonnici quickly fell pregnant, and Hayne immediately moved her to his Gold Coast residence, but the couple ultimately ended up living apart when she returned to Sydney before Hayne returned to the Parramatta Eels for the 2018 NRL season, motivated by his desire to be near Bonnici and their daughter.

Their relationship earlier survived Hayne’s civil rape lawsuit, settled in 2019.

Hayne was accused of sexually assaulting a woman at his apartment in California in 2015 after meeting her at a bar while he was playing for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.

Hayne vigorously denied the allegations and the US District Court announced that the lawsuit had been “voluntarily dismissed” following a private settlement.

Hayne was charged with fresh offences in 2020, and Hayne and Bonnici have remained together since, celebrating their engagement on Boxing Day.

Their whirlwind engagement lasted just four weeks before the couple announced their marriage during a glamorous ceremony on January 26, exactly 100 days ago.

Hayne announced their happy news in an Instagram post with a bible verse in the caption.

“He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favour from the LORD. Proverbs 18:22 NKJV,” Hayne wrote with the picture of Bonnici showing off her engagement ring.

“It’s been a rollercoaster. But I’m thankful for God and what the Holy Spirit has done through us. It’s only by the grace of God we are here and were excited moving forward as Husband n Wife (sic),” he added with a love heart emoji.

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Seven members of a religious cult who authorities say kept the mummified remains of their leader at a home in a remote United States town have made their first appearance in court on Wednesday, reports the ABC.

Quoting news agencies Reuters and AP it said the body of Amy Carlson, 45, who was the leader of the Love Has Won cult, was decorated with Christmas lights and glitter.

The bizarre tableau was discovered last week when a follower of the group told police that the members were keeping the corpse at his home in the rural Colorado town of Moffat.

The follower, who has not been charged, told investigators he had taken in a group of people who needed a place to stay, and he found the body in a back bedroom when he returned home Wednesday following a trip to Denver.

He reported the discovery to police and said he believed the group had transported Carlson’s body to his home from California.

Ms Carlson, known to members as “Mother God”, was wrapped in a sleeping bag with glitter makeup around her eyes.

The corpse was decorated with Christmas lights.

The four men and three women, ranging in age from 30 to 52 years old, have each been charged with one count of abusing a corpse and two counts of misdemeanour child abuse.

The child abuse charges stem from two children who were living in the house where the body was found.

“The mummified remains appeared to be set up in some type of shrine,” the affidavit said.

Christopher Royer, John Robertson, Ryan Kramer, Karin Raymond, Jason Castillo, Obdulia Franco and Sarah Rudolph all had their first appearance in court on Wednesday.

At Wednesday’s virtual hearing, Saguache County Judge Anna Ulrich released two of the defendants on bail.

The other five defendants remained in custody.

A prosecutor told the judge he expected to file an additional count of evidence tampering.

The Saguache County sheriff’s office said it had received complaints from across the United States from people who said the group was brainwashing its members and stealing their money.

Ms Carlson’s followers believed she communicated with angels and that she was leading them to a great awakening, The Denver Post reported Monday.

The group, which established itself in southern Colorado in 2018, offers “spiritual intuitive ascension sessions” and sells spiritual healing products online.

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