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On the fourth day of the manhunt for Dezi Freeman, Victoria police confirmed a woman taken into custody after a Thursday night raid on a property in Porepunkah was Freeman’s wife.
The 56-year-old Freeman, a so-called “sovereign citizen”, is accused of killing two police officers and injuring another in the Victorian town, which is home to about 1,000 people.
Victoria police’s chief commissioner, Mike Bush, told a press conference this afternoon that the woman was arrested alongside a 15-year-old male, who were both interviewed and released “pending further inquiries”. “There may or may not be charges that follow,” Bush said.
He said more than 450 police officers are now involved in the search, which he described as a “very professional and coordinated operation” aided by “fantastic” assistance from locals. There have been no confirmed sightings of Freeman since he fled into the bush on Tuesday.
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In pictures
Low regulation and high stakes mean Taiwanese pigeon racing is awash with cheating – but efforts are afoot to clean up the sport. From drugs to smuggling and abductions: the Guardian goes inside the fast and furious world of pigeon racing in Taiwan.
What they said …
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“You’re speaking to someone called Albanese. We’ve got a Senate leader called Wong. Migration enriches.” – Anthony Albanese
The prime minister has criticised Bob Katter’s explosive Thursday press conference where he threatened to punch a journalist who asked about his Lebanese heritage. Speaking to Channel Nine on Friday, Albanese added “except for the First Australians, we’re all either migrants or descendants of them”. Channel Nine later demanded an apology from Katter.
Full Story
Back to Back Barries: can the Coalition find a circuit breaker?
Barrie Cassidy and Tony Barry discuss the expulsion of Iran’s ambassador to Australia and Anthony Albanese’s plan to help first home buyers. They also examine what the Coalition could do to get out of its post-election slump
Before bed read
Like many people living through the current state of the world, Bec Shaw has been searching for something to offer even a brief (privileged) reprieve from the horrors, the headlines, the general sense of doom. If you’re also looking for a small break from it all, take her lead: try abandoning highbrow television and delving into the gentle, soothing predictability of procedural dramas.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: TRAD. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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