The latest national news update from the National Indigenous Radio Service.
Samsung recalls Note7 after battery fires
Courtesy devices will be available in Australian stores from today for those wanting to return their Galaxy Note7 phones to Samsung following reports of exploding batteries.
The first incident in Australia was reported overnight – a Note7 charging on a hotel bed in Perth exploded yesterday, causing a small fire in the room.
Samsung customers can receive replacements or full refunds but those who didn’t buy their phones directly from Samsung will have to discuss options with the store they bought the phone from.
Man in Vic court over ‘terror tinnie’ plot
A terror suspect accused of trying to sail from Australia to Papua New Guinea so he could fight alongside Islamic State is expected to appear in a Melbourne court today.
Islamic preacher Robert “Musa” Cerantonio is one of six men arrested near Cairns in May and charged over the alleged plot to join the terrorist group’s growing faction in the southern Philippines.
Cerantonio is due to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court today, charged with making preparations for incursions into foreign countries for the purpose of engaging in hostile activities.
Sydney siege inquest returns to court
An inquest into the deadly Lindt Cafe siege is set to return to the NSW Coroner’s Court as the raft of legal teams involved work to establish a timetable for final submissions.
Lawyers for families of slain hostages Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson will join other legal teams today to set out the time frame after public evidence concluded last month.
NSW Coroner Michael Barnes has heard evidence from 119 witnesses over 109 sitting days during a long-running public inquiry into the December 2014 siege.
AFL fans safe despite IS threats: police
Victoria’s top cop says a higher than normal police presence won’t be necessary at the AFL finals, despite Islamic State calling for its followers to commit acts of violence at the MCG.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton has urged the public not to be alarmed and said much of the material had previously been published in Arabic.
The English-language Islamic State online magazine Rumiyah yesterday published calls for its followers to commit lone-wolf attacks at Australian sites.
Ross River Virus cure on the horizon
Successful non-clinical animal trials have helped Australian scientists come up with a life-changing therapy for sufferers of Ross River Virus.
The trials conducted by researchers at Griffith University have found the a sodium based drug targets the joints by preventing cartilage breakdown, and therefore preventing a lot of the pain and fatigue associated with the virus.
The short-term treatment available at the moment has significant side effects, and it’s hoped PPS will be available for patients in two years time.
Australia to clock up 25 years of growth
Experts predict Australia will have maintained a solid pace of annual economic growth above three per cent over the 2015/16 financial year, in 25 years of uninterrupted expansion.
However, economists also expect today’s national accounts will show growth slowed to around 0.5 per cent in the June quarter, down from 1.1 per cent in the previous three months.
The Reserve Bank kept the cash rate at a record low 1.5 per cent at yesterday’s monthly board meeting after lowering the rate last month, and rates are expected to stay lower for longer.
