Good afternoon. A 28-year-old serving police officer has been charged with two counts of murder during an investigation into the disappearance of Jesse Baird, a former Channel Ten presenter and his partner, Luke Davies, a Qantas flight attendant.
The pair have been missing since Monday, with bloodied possessions belonging to both men discovered on Wednesday. The charged man is const Beau Lamarre – a former celebrity blogger – who had previously been in a relationship with Baird. Police alleged they found evidence a police firearm was discharged at Baird’s Paddington home.
They say it will be alleged a white van located by police was used “to transport the bodies and dispose of the bodies”, which have not yet been found.
And Victoria police say it is “very doubtful” missing 51-year-old Samantha Murphy is still alive amid a renewed ground search. Murphy disappeared nearly three weeks ago after leaving her Ballarat home to go jogging.
Top news
Homes lost in Victorian bushfire | Victoria’s premier confirmed homes have been lost to a huge bushfire in the state’s west, after a “tough night” in which two fire trucks broke down. Emergency warnings remained in place for about 30 communities west of Ballarat this morning, where residents have been told to “leave immediately” before “conditions become too dangerous”.
Defence department facing $500,000 WorkCover lawsuit | The department is being sued over a claim a contractor was instructed to rock a Hawkei vehicle back and forth to test its suspension, allegedly causing injuries including “impairment of the cervical spine”, chronic headaches, dizziness, chronic pain, difficulty swallowing, anxiety and depression. Defence declined to comment as the matter is before the courts.
Australia in box seat to host 2026 Women’s Asian Cup | Australia is all but certain to host the tournament after potential rival bidders withdrew. Football Australia is in dialogue with state governments, several of which have already confirmed their support.
Sexual assault claim against Aerosmith singer dismissed | A US judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing the Aerosmith frontman, Steven Tyler, of sexually assaulting a former teenage model twice in one day in Manhattan nearly 50 years ago. The judge said Jeanne Bellino had waited too long to sue the 75-year-old Tyler, who has “vehemently” denied her allegations.
US doubts on Israeli claims of UNRWA-Hamas links | A US intelligence assessment of Israel’s claims that UN aid agency staff members participated in the Hamas attack on 7 October said some of the accusations were credible, though could not be independently verified, while also casting doubt on claims of wider links to militant groups. Separately, UN experts say they have seen “credible allegations” that Palestinian women and girls have been subjected to sexual assaults, including rape, while in Israeli detention, and are calling for a full investigation.
US returns to lunar surface | A privately-built spacecraft named Odysseus capped a nail-biting 73-minute descent from orbit with touchdown near the moon’s south pole, marking the first US vessel to visit the moon in more than 50 years.
Deadly Spanish apartment block fire | Spanish firefighters have been battling high winds to put out a huge fire that gutted a multi-storey apartment block in Valencia and left four dead. At least 13 people have been injured, including a minor and six firefighters, emergency services and regional officials in the eastern port city said.
Vice Media to lay off hundreds of workers | Vice also plans to stop publishing on Vice.com, according to a memo sent to staffers by the Vice Media chief, Bruce Dixon. In recent weeks, the media industry has gone through sweeping layoffs, with major cuts at NowThis and the Intercept.
What they said …
***
“We have effectively a duopoly in large parts of Australia – some places [like IGA] or Aldi or other supermarkets will play a role – but overwhelmingly there is a concentration of power, which is why we have three inquiries … When you have that disconnect between the prices being paid for by supermarkets, and then the price being paid by consumers, then something’s going wrong.” – Anthony Albanese
In numbers
A report released by the Australian Education Union today found a $31.8bn divide between private and public schools on capital works spending.
Before bed read
If your relationship started as an affair, can you trust that the same won’t happen to you? That’s what one reader asked our advice columnist, Eleanor Gordon-Smith.
“It could be that he showed you his true colours once before. Or it could be that good people sometimes start good relationships in bad ways. This may be a situation where the facts won’t decide things; instead, you have to decide what you want to believe.” Read the full question and answer.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: ERG. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Afternoon Update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here. And start your day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know. Sign up for our Morning Mail newsletter here.
