Melbourne

Tongan teenager charged with murder in Melbourne to appear in court in March

Setefano Pahulu Tupou did not apply for bail after facing the one count of murder. It’s believed the young man’s defence asked the court to note the client’s age, with no prior time spent in custody and that he had been prescribed prozac, Melbourne media reported.

Kaniva News reports Tupou of Tarneit had been charged with the murder of the 41 year old Colac man in Geelong.

Australian Open practice suspended and qualifying delayed over poor air quality

Organisers said the conditions were expected to improve and would be "monitored constantly".

An estimated 10 million hectares (100,000 sq km) of land has burned since 1 July amid record-breaking temperatures and months of drought.

At least 28 people have died.

Qualifying was scheduled to begin at 11am local time (00:00 GMT) with British players Liam Broady, Naiktha Bains, Harriet Dart, Jay Clarke and Samantha Murray scheduled on court.

Melbourne to host Bledisloe Cup doubleheader

Rugby Australia confirmed the trans-Tasman rivals will play at Marvel Stadium for the first time since 2010, while their female counterparts - the Black Ferns and Wallaroos - will also feature in the doubleheader.

"Our Wallaby and Wallaroo doubleheader events in Australia have been extremely popular with fans in Sydney in Perth," said chief executive Raelene Castle. "And we are looking forward to staging the first ever doubleheader in front of packed Marvel Stadium in Melbourne.

Melbourne pub ordered to tear down Harry Potter installation after legal threat

 The Imperial Hotel in Melbourne has been ordered tear down its rooftop Harry Potter installation and turn off the taps on its Buttah Beer after the multinational demanded the pub remove all wizard-themed decorations and references.

The pub – on the corner of Bourke and Spring streets, a few doors down from the Princess Theatre where the Harry Potter and the Cursed Child play runs eight times a week – featured six "magical stores" adorned with spell books, almanacs and colours from the film series.

Reptile surprises Melbourne walkers

Two people came across the one-metre-long reptile while walking in Heidelberg Heights about 8:30pm local time on Monday night.

It was "sitting quietly" on a footpath in the front yard of a business on Waiora Road, police said.

Officers were called to the scene, but decided to hand the case over to the experts and a reptile catcher came to help.

The catcher will look after the crocodile until staff from the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning can collect it, police said.

Melbourne man accused of New Year's Eve terrorism plot

The 20-year-old Werribee man accused of the terrorism plot was described by police as one of their "high persons of interest".

Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said they believed the man was trying to get an automatic rifle to "shoot and kill as many people as he could" around Federation Square, in Melbourne's CBD, during New Year's Eve celebrations.

Police said they moved in because the man had been having face-to-face meetings about getting a gun.

World Club Challenge heads to Melbourne

The 2017 Telstra Premiership winners, the Melbourne Storm, will host English Super League champions Leeds Rhinos on February 16 at Melbourne's AAMI Park in what will be a first for the sporting city to host the historic event.

There was uncertainty the annual fixture wouldn't go ahead with the redevelopment of Leeds' home ground Headingly Stadium and a longer than usual season with the Rugby League World Cup this year, but it was confirmed today by both clubs.

Broken fat switch

Scientists at Monash University's Biomedicine Discovery Institute believe they have found a mechanism in the brain that coordinates the conversion of food into white fat or brown fat in the body.

The study was conducted on mice, but evidence suggests it would likely apply to humans as well.

White fat is how humans store energy, and excess storage leads to obesity, while brown fat actually produces heat and burns energy.

Dance me to the end of adulthood

From leg irons to tap dancing

David Watson, 83, took up tap dancing in his 40s, and has danced ever since.

He took up it up by chance, after accompanying a friend from work to a dance class in Melbourne.

The ex-architecture lecturer recalled the very first lesson on a "lousy" floor located above a porn shop in Swanston Street.

"I used to have to hide my face as I walked in," Mr Watson laughed.

Australia makes 'largest ever' crystal meth seizure

The 903kg (1990lb) haul of the drug, also called ice, is estimated to have a street value of A$898m (£546m; $680m), Justice Minister Michael Keenan said.

The drugs were concealed between floorboards in a shipment sent to Melbourne, according to the Australian Federal Police (AFP).

Two men have been charged with drug trafficking offences.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull praised the police operation, describing drug traffickers as "merchants of death".