Daily News Roundup

TUESDAY, August 21

Malcolm Turnbull sees off a leadership challenge from Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton, winning the vote 48 votes to 35. Julie Bishop was re-elected deputy.

“The Prime Minister called a ballot in the Liberal party room and I conducted a ballot with my whip.

“The result of that ballot was Malcolm Turnbull was elected leader of the Liberal Party by a margin of 48-35, with Peter Dutton as the other candidate.

“There was also an election for the deputy leader. Julie Bishop was the one person who nominated for that role and she’s the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party.”

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A woman trying to protect her dog has been killed by an alligator who pulled her into a lagoon at a private resort in the United States, authorities say.

Cassandra Cline, 45, from South Carolina, was walking the dog along a residential area of Sea Pines Resort when she was attacked, state and local officials said.

The 2.5-metre alligator was later found and killed, said David Lucas, a spokesman for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.

“She was walking the dog near the lagoon and the alligator came out of the water and tried to get the dog,” Mr Lucas said.

“The lady tried to rescue the dog and a maintenance worker ran over to help.”

Both were trying to save the dog, but the alligator dragged the woman into the water, he said.

The dog was unharmed.

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources captain Robert McCullough said it was “common practice” to put down aggressive alligators, but it would “take some take some time to confirm it’s the right alligator”.

Blake Smith, 34, was leaving his house on Monday morning (US time) when he saw police cars and firetrucks.

Mr Smith said that at times, alligators had been spotted in yards or pools, but Sea Pines quickly removed those animals.

“It’s odd because this is the first time we’ve heard about an aggressive alligator around a human in the five years that we’ve been living here,” he said.

Sea Pines said in a statement that it was working with authorities “to ensure necessary access to the site while the investigation is underway.”

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Police have charged the driver of a semi-trailer which crashed into a parked car near Corrigin in Western Australia’s Wheatbelt, leaving a mother and her 10-year-old son dead.

The Kenworth grain truck was travelling east along the Brookton-Corrigin Road on Sunday night when it collided with the sedan and a trailer it had been towing, about 28 kilometres from Corrigin.

The car had run out of petrol and its driver had left to walk to Corrigin to get fuel, leaving his partner and four children sitting in the parked vehicle on the side of the road.

The 45-year-old truck driver has been charged with two counts of dangerous driving occasioning death, two counts of dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and one count of dangerous driving occasioning bodily harm.

Police have revealed the force of the collision caused the car to roll several times.

This daily news roundup is curated with stories from ABC News.