New South Wales Police have confirmed the first case of strawberries contaminated with needles bought from a Sydney supermarket. The needles were discovered in three strawberries in a single punnet, which a customer had bought from Coles in Engadine in Sydney’s south. The customer handed the punnet in to Sutherland Area Police Command, where it will undergo forensic testing. Police …

Australian police have charged a man they say was running a multi-million dollar email scam from inside an immigration detention centre in Sydney. The Nigerian man, 43, headed a fraud ring which sent fake messages that claimed to be from trusted companies, according to New South Wales Police. Three other people were charged over the alleged crimes, which included identity …

The five people found dead at a house in Perth’s north-eastern suburbs were twin two-year-old girls, their three-and-a-half-year-old sister, their mother and grandmother, police have revealed. The bodies of the girls and women were discovered at the home in Bedford yesterday after a man, believed to be aged in his 20s, went to a regional WA police station. The man …

A religious leader accused of illegal land clearing on a rural property used for religious prayer has claimed a Western Sydney council is infringing on his group’s religious freedoms by pursuing him over the allegations. Hawkesbury City Council has launched civil action against Dr Mustapha Kara-Ali and Diaa Kara-Ali in the Land and Environment Court, alleging they carried out illegal …

Three men have been charged over their alleged involvement in the execution-style murder of former bikie boss Mahmoud “Mick” Hawi in Sydney’s south. On Friday, two members of the criminal gang Lone Wolf, aged 37 and 38, were arrested while leaving a barber shop in Bexley and charged with the former Comanchero boss’s murder. A 36-year-old Brighton Le Sands man …

The 20-year-old accused of attacking and killing his 69-year-old grandmother in Bega appeared briefly in the Batemans Bay courthouse today, charged with one count of murder and two counts of wounding with intent to murder. With cuts on his face and wearing a hospital robe and shorts, Murray Deakin was led into the courtroom for the brief appearance following Friday …

A gunman and three female hostages have been found dead after a stand-off at a veterans home in California. The gunman was a former United States serviceman who had undergone treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder at the facility, and was asked to leave the Pathway Home program two weeks ago. On Friday morning (local time) Albert Wong, 36, calmly walked …

TERRIFIED passengers were forced to evacuate a plane after a passenger’s bag in the overhead compartment suddenly burst into flames. Passengers were boarding Sunday’s China Southern Airlines flight from Guangzhou to Shanghai when smoke began to fill the cabin. A video taken on board showed a bag on fire in the overhead compartment. Passengers and cabin crew could be seen …

A 4-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy wounded in the same attack were among at least six people who have been wounded in Chicago shootings since early Sunday afternoon, authorities said. In the most recent shooting, the girl and the teenage boy were both in good condition after being shot about 9 p.m. in the 4700 block of West North …

The Centre Daily Times is reporting that EMS calls in the State College area were delayed Saturday because of incidents related to State Patty’s Day. State Patty’s Day is the student-created holiday that falls each year between Thon and St. Patrick’s Day. The day, which started in 2007, is marked by heavy drinking. As of 4 p.m. Saturday, ambulances were delayed by …