Senator Hanson is still midway through her tour of the UK during which she met with Neighbours-star turned right wing activist Holly Valance and far-right podcaster Tommy Robinson, and is expected to sit down with Reform UK Leader Nigel Farage.

I've heard a lot of feedback with Angus Taylor's speech, people aren't happy with what he's said and his comments about One Nation and myself, Senator Hanson said.

I'm very disappointed with this, Angus I'm not your enemy. We both need to get rid of the Greens-Labor toxic government that's done so much damage to this country.

The Opposition Leader in a major speech to the Sydney Institute last night likened One Nation to the Greens and claimed its policies would drive up inflation, send interest rates three per cent higher and cause a sovereign debt crisis requiring cuts to pensions and Medicare.

You can reflect on your budget in reply speech, you picked up a lot of One Nation's policies, so I don't agree with you having a go at me and what I stand for, Senator Hanson said in response.

Let's work together … the people of Australia are crying out for change, listen to the people Angus and work with me. [click the intro to return to front page]

STORY: THOMAS HENRY

More than 43GW of wind-powered generation is required to be built within a decade but the number of projects reaching financial closure is well short of targets due to spiralling costs and concern from international investors over the rate of return from the Australian market.

Coal-fired generation extensions and a boom in battery developments have raised pressure on wind-farm developments in the phase before taking a final investment decision, according to billionaire Andrew Forrest's Squadron Energy.

Coal extensions are putting significant downward pressure on market pricing which makes the investment decision very difficult, Squadron executive Walter Schutte told an industry panel on Wednesday.

The near-term uncertainty on coal … particularly as the wave of short-term storage is coming into play is putting significant pressure on the revenue line of these projects.

Origin Energy in January pledged to keep Australia's largest coal-fired power station running for almost two years longer than planned as federal Labor's ambitious clean-energy transition stutters without adequate renewables in place.

The economics of large-scale renewable developments had deteriorated sharply over the past four years. The industry estimates the cost of building wind farms has risen about 50% since 2020 as developers grapple with higher financing, labour, steel and construction costs.

Tilt Renewables said the added capital cost needed to be weighed against the average cost of producing electricity over the entire lifetime of the wind-power projct.

We've seen an increase of 50% in the cost to deliver wind and what you've got then is a gap between basically the 'levelised' cost of energy of wind versus the current market revenue that you can receive from a power purchase agreement at this point in time, Tilt general manager of corporate affairs Angela Catt said.

Australia has a record 64GW of generation and storage waiting for grid connection but the giant pipeline of projects is failing to be developed quickly enough into committed investments

Between 6GW and 7GW of new generation capacity is needed. To hit the target, the federal government created the capacity investment scheme, designed to fast track 40GW of capacity by 2030.

The capacity investment scheme has faced criticism for its failure to push projects into bankable developments but the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water said it had tweaked elements of the scheme to address common investor issues.

We are more than halfway through and really the purpose of the CIS was to accelerate investment which we have seen happen. We can obviously make improvements and we have done so from listening to proponents and stakeholders, department acting branch head for CIS delivery Tien Phan said.

The Australian has reported that the scheme has delivered just one operational renewable energy project — a small solar farm in Victoria producing 46MW of power.

Government officials said that of the 94 projects announced and funded under the CIS ∼ which had its first auction in 2023 ∼ 35 were under contract and had just reached a final investment decision.

The Australian Energy Market Operator's latest 20-year blueprint for the nation's energy system concluded that if solar, wind-generation and battery projects continued to be delivered at close to their current rates, renewable energy would contribute 75% of power supply by 2030 ̶ which is well short of Labor's 82% renewable energy -target.

The constrained delivery scenario models slower rates of building large-scale projects ∼ which it says are close to those in the current market ∼ and higher capital costs, while the rollout of transmission to deliver power to users may also be slower.

Energy Minister Chris Bowen has bet that Australia's booming data-centre industry can reverse the slower-than-expected rollout of wind farms amid fears a slump in financing projects will result in Labor failing to hit its 2030 renewables target.

STORY: PERRY WILLIAMS

Telstra customers began reporting problems with their mobile reception on outage site Downdetector just after 4am on Wednesday before peaking at 6:32am.

More than 7600 Australians reported that they couldn't use their phones. A Telstra spokeswoman said: We're investigating an issue affecting some mobile calls and data connections as a matter of priority".

If you're having trouble connecting, try again as it may work on a retry. Fixed internet services like NBN are not affected. We're on it and will share an update as soon as it's fixed.

The meltdown comes after the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission put the nation's telcos on notice over making misleading claims after the introduction of a new coverage standard that wiped an area the size of NSW off Telstra's network maps.

Telcos must comply with new rules that set strict benchmarks for where Australians can expect to receive reception using a regular mobile phone following concerns the previous system was a mess and put lives at risk.

Telstra campaigned against the changes, which forced it to delete more than 800,000 square metres from its coverage maps. It has continued to argue that the new standard changes nothing about how and when consumers can expect to receive coverage, given the standard only applied to a map, not actual telecommunications infrastructure.

But the ACCC ∼ which is suing tech titans Amazon and Microsoft over alleged unfair and misleading conduct respectively ∼ has cautioned telcos over misrepresenting their coverage.

Deputy chair Catriona Lowe said last week that telcos must ensure their network claims must accurately reflect their new maps and where a consumer can reasonably expect reliable service, rather than simply where a signal might be available.

Ed: Murrurundi's outage started from Tuesday afternoon following hiccups earlier on in the day. It went back on line at 9:15am on Wednesday

STORY: JARED LYNCH

This was led by drops in Melbourne, where 27.9% fewer dwellings were taken to market this week compared with last, equivalent to 24% from this time last year, said property data firm Cotality.

In Sydney, there were 10.8% fewer dwellings up for auction than the week before, down 18% from this time last year.

Auction clearance rates ∼ the rate at which properties at auction actually sold ∼ have been declining given rising interest rates and since the Albanese government said it would change negative gearing and capital gains tax rules in a bid to skew the market more towards first-home buyers.

Cotality reported a 49.8% preliminary clearance rate, 0.6 percentage points higher than the week before. The firm said it expected the auction volume to drop again next week.

While auction clearance rates can fluctuate from week to week … the rolling average tends to provide a strong near-term indicator of price movements Realestate.com.au economist Luc Redman said.

In the current market, these have mostly been downward in momentum, he said. He attributed the low rate to interest rate rises, cost-of-living pressure and housing tax changes.

Conditions in the housing market had eased by more than expected following the tax changes and broader economic conditions, the Reserve Bank's rate setting board last week said.

Conditions in the established housing market had softened and housing credit growth looked set to slow in the period ahead, the bank said in meeting minutes released last Tuesday.

And there have been concerns raised about the actual benefit the government's tax changes would have for first-home buyers, given mortgage lodgements had plummeted 20% since the tax changes for first-home buyers and 25% for investors, according to Aussie Home Loans figures that were shared with The Australian.

Figures also showed dwelling price falls had occurred in some of the postcodes with the highest federally backed First Home Buyer Guarantee in the country, risking negative equity for some recent first-home buyers.

STORY: NOAH YIM

In cattle country around the Upper Hunter and New England region, locals are fuming over plans to run transmission lines on steroids through some of NSW's most productive agricultural land.

More than 300km of 80m-tall transmission towers are proposed for a New England Renewable Energy Zone where wind, solar and battery installations would have generated energy sent via the lines to an existing power station and out across the state.

Critics argue the New England REZ is fatally flawed, a potential white elephant", and will lead to increased electricity charges if it does proceed.

They claim wind farm investment is failing to materialise and the transmission line route selected will face significant construction hurdles trying to carve a course through rugged and untouched terrain.

They're laying this line from Bayswater (near Muswellbrook) and it will rise around 1200m through some very inaccessible, isolated and high rainfall country before it gets to New England, Walcha cattle farmer Cameron Greig told The Daily Telegraph.

Some of those factors are construction showstoppers … steep with greasy, basal clay soils where you just don't move machinery unless it's dry. And you're talking about some areas that get more than 120 wet days a year.

Anna Young and husband Peter, parents to two young children, run 4000 sheep and 1400 steers at Niangala, on the Great Dividing Range, around 50km outside Walcha.

The towers would be roughly the height of the Sydney Opera House, spaced every 400m, and to build them you clear a corridor of land up to 200m wide … it's a disaster waiting to happen, Ms Young said.

It will industrialise vast tracts of our beautiful landscape, adversely affect farm production, severely impact the ability to achieve production goals or even to survive tough times.

Imagine you wake up tomorrow to discover the government has decided to run a massive industrial corridor straight through your home.

But it's not just your home, it's also your business, your livelihood, your legacy.

You don't get to say no. The line has been drawn on a map from an office desk, and no amount of feedback truly changes the outcome.

For most people, that sounds unthinkable. But that's exactly what's happening to hundreds of farming families and businesses in the New England and Upper Hunter regions of NSW, because of the government's renewable energy rollout.

Yet this isn't just a regional issue. Every Australian has a stake because every household pays the power bill, every taxpayer funds the transition and every family relies on affordable food.

The New England renewable energy zone and transmission line corridor will cause irreversible environmental damage, increase electricity costs, threaten food security and permanently change our landscapes.

These concerns remain unanswered, even after the recent parliamentary debate. When more than 22,000 petitioners cannot secure meaningful engagement from the premier, we are entitled to ask whether community consultation is genuine or merely a 'tick the box' exercise.

We are not opposed to renewable energy. We're opposed to rushed, poorly planned projects that destroy businesses, valuable environmental assets and regional communities.

It's time for Premier Minns - and all Australians - to re-think our energy policies before it's too late.
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STORY: PETER JENKINS

A New York City high-rise whose support columns were discovered buckling is shifting and in danger of partially collapsing —- a situation so precarious that crews can't even go in to stabilise it, authorities said.

The 37-story former Pfizer headquarters in the heart of Midtown Manhattan ∼ which is being converted from commercial to residential use ∼ was dramatically evacuated during the morning rush hour along with eight surrounding buildings as city officials mounted a desperate effort to avert catastrophe.

The concern is that since we have been on site in the early morning, we have seen continued shifting of the structure, New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani said early Wednesday AEST.

Fire crews and other emergency responders have been monitoring the building with sensitive equipment and chillingly discovered the still-unfolding precarious situation high above the crowded streets of Manhattan, the mayor said.

The way this building is constructed, it's a steel-frame building, so it would not be a total collapse, it would be more of a localised collapse, said Fire Department New York chief of operations John Esposito.

That remains our concern — that it's moving … We have seen continual movement. It does mean it is not stable.

When asked if that means the building could collapse into itself like a pancake, chief Esposito responded, possibly.

A source at the scene with direction knowledge of the situation said, It's like squeezing both ends of a twig.

And it is buckling, the source said, explaining the breach occurred at the connection point between the building's old and new sections.

There is concern that rain and wind expected later in the week could only worsen the situation, sources said.
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STORY: Staff writers with The New York Post

A Sydney company is working with university leaders on trials that could see oversized drones deployed as a new line of defence against bushfires while also offering extra ocean surveillance to combat shark attacks.

The state-of-the-art unmanned aerial vehicles - running on the same two-stroke fuel that powers everyday lawnmowers - recently received ground-breaking approvals from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to expand flying times and distances covered.

Already deployed in Ukraine for military operations, the Australian-made drones are also in demand from North American authorities to help fight wildfires.

Core business locally has centred on oil and gas plants, transmission power lines and other critical infrastructure, where the drones - understood to cost about $500,000 - replace helicopters for dirty and dangerous scans".

But Dario Valenza, a former America's Cup yacht designer who founded the Carbonix business a decade ago, says the drones, which weigh 85kg, have a six-metre wingspan and are four metres front to back, offer an eye-in-the-sky that can provide bushfire and shark spotting capability.

We can fly for eight hours, carrying a powerful camera for both video and stills, he said. When you can fly for that long you don't need to have boots on the ground.

You don't have to land, change batteries and fly again. We can fly beyond visual line of sight. So, the operator can be anywhere.

Little drones have about 20 minutes in the air, and they're limited to line of sight.

Marta Yebra, the director of the Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence at The Australian National University, said ANU was working with Carbonix on a series of trials to fast-track bushfire responses.

You don't have to land, change batteries and fly again. We can fly beyond visual line of sight. So, the operator can be anywhere.

Little drones have about 20 minutes in the air, and they're limited to line of sight.

Marta Yebra, the director of the Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence at The Australian National University, said ANU was working with Carbonix on a series of trials to fast-track bushfire responses. [click the intro to return to front page]

STORY: PETER JENKINS

Americans are marking July 4 with a variety of celebrations from hot dog and pie eating contests to rodeos, parades and trips to lakes and beaches.

In the nation's capital, the month-long Great American State Fair will continue with Donald Trump scheduled to make a speech.

The fair has been plagued by lacklustre turnouts and has been shut a number of times due to extreme temperatures.

An intense heatwave has hit the east coast and temperatures in Washington are predicted to reach 39°C.

A record-setting 850,000 fireworks will be lit during the celebration that will also feature a number of military flyovers.

Mr Trump's speech was scheduled for 9pm local time but has been rescheduled to 9.45pm (11.45am Sunday AEST).

The president's speech follows his address at Mt Rushmore where he described his political opponents as evil.

He described communism as a bigger threat than world wars, the September 11 terror attacks and Pearl Harbour.

The speech that began as a celebration of America's 250th anniversary quickly turned political four months ahead of the country's midterm elections.

In an op ed for the New York Post, the president said July 4 was a day to celebrate America's history, flag, freedom and unyielding spirit.

We share a tradition of winning. This is what makes our country unique. We are winners, he said.

This is what it means to be an American. And we knew how to win right from the start.

On Washington's grassy National Mall, lined by monuments and museums, thousands sweltered in multiblock lines as temperatures neared 38°C.

With National Guard troops ∼ controversially deployed across Washington by President Donald Trump ∼ imposing crowd control, forklifts dropped pallets of bottled water to attendees.

Still the mood was joyous, with chants of USA! USA! USA! breaking out in one set of lines near the National Gallery.

Inside the security perimeter, more lines formed — specifically for the air-conditioned pavilions of each state and the water stations dotting the vast lawn. [click the intro to return to front page]

STORY: VANESSA MARSH in Washington DC

An absolute monster of a hypercar is set to make a rare public appearance at one of motorsport's biggest events.

Danish carmaker Zenvo is expected to showcase two new models at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this week.

It comes as the brand prepares for the Aurora to head into production, a promising sign for the first customers who have splashed more than $4 million for the machine.

The new Aurora Tur, a grand touring variant designed for high-speed road driving, will be joined by the track-focused Aurora Agil this weekend.

The Aurora was designed, engineered and hand-assembled in Denmark and features an all-new 6.6-litre quad-turbocharged V12 engine developed in partnership with parts specialist Mahle.

It makes roughly 930kW at 9800rpm, making it one of the most powerful V12 engines ever fitted to a road car.

That engine is paired with a lightweight triple-motor electric system, delivering a total output of 1380kW and a massive 1900Nm of torque.

The Tur will hit 100km/h in just 2.3 seconds and reach a top speed of 418km/h. The track-focused Agil is just a fraction of a second behind, needing 2.5 seconds to hit triple digits, with a top speed of 360km/h.

Unlike Ferrari, Lamborghini, or McLaren, Zenvo remains a relatively unknown name outside the hypercar pack.

But that doesn't mean it can't get there.

The Danish manufacturer has built a reputation for producing ultra-exclusive, hand-built machines, with previous models such as the TS1 and TSR crafted in extremely small numbers.

Production numbers for the Aurora have been strictly capped at just 50 examples for each variant, meaning only 100 vehicles will ever be built for global sale.

Zenvo Chairman Jens Sverdrup says the Aurora aims to redirect the brand's future by focusing heavily on driver experience rather than just engine figures. [click the intro to return to front page]

STORY: JAMES CHUNG

A former reality TV star and Brisbane restaurateur has warned Aussie hospitality businesses are drowning in mountains of red tape and rising costs, revealing that micromanaged time-sheets alone are costing up to $100,000 a year.

Marie Yokoyama, 43, co-owner of popular Brisbane Japanese restaurant chain Bird's Nest, is the latest high-profile industry figure to sound the alarm as Australia's hospitality sector faces its bleakest period in recent memory.

We're just finding it very difficult, Ms Yokoyama said.

I feel really sad. If someone came up to me and said, 'I've got this great idea for a new restaurant', I'd say, 'Babe, it's not worth it'.

Bird's Nest employs 65 staff across its four restaurants ∼ Everton Park, Portside, West End and Fortitude Valley ∼ and a central kitchen facility.

In 2015, Ms Yokoyama and Bird's Nest co-owner Emi Kamada were the winners of the one and only season of The Hot Plate, Nine's answer to Seven's blockbuster reality cooking show My Kitchen Rules.

Nine scrapped the show after Seven launched legal action but was allowed to broadcast the remaining episodes.

The best friends from school took home the $100,000 prize in the grand final, which they used to open their third location.

We've been in business since 2013 — we're going OK, we're steady but it's not easy, Ms Yokoyama said.

Obviously we'd love to open more locations but there's a lot of things this year that we're just going to have to wait and see [the impact of].

On July 1, the Fair Work Commission's latest annual wage review bumped award rates up by 4.75% and pushed the baseline minimum wage to $26.44 an hour.

Payday super rules also kicked in last Wednesday, meaning employers must pay superannuation benefits each pay cycle, rather than quarterly, or face the wrath of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

STORY: FRANK CHUNG

Meghan, Archie and Lilibet will not join Prince Harry in London next week due to an ongoing dispute over security arrangements — casting doubt over whether King Charles will meet his grandchildren.

The Duchess was due to carry out her first engagement in the capital since before Megxit in March 2020 at a London hospital with Harry.

It had been thought London was the most likely location for any family reunion, after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex accepted an offer to stay in a royal residence with their two children, according to the BBC.

However, no decision has yet been made on whether the family will join the Duke of Sussex for other parts of his visit outside the capital.

Harry is reportedly at a mystery location in Europe with his wife and children still looking at options to make the visit work in some form after it was confirmed that the family would not be provided with taxpayer-funded police security in the UK.

But the California-based pair has decided Meghan and the children - if they come at all — will not be in London, The Sun reports.

It comes a week after the Sussexes said they were reassessing their plans 24 hours after an itinerary was announced — because they had lost a bid for official taxpayer-funded security.

Plans are still being discussed for Meghan to attend the one-year out Invictus Games bash at Birmingham's NEC at the end of the week.

STORY: Unsourced

Yes, this song has the potential to trump Mr Brightside by The Killers, or Crowded House's Better Be Home Soon. It's End of the Road by the best-selling RnB group of all time, Boyz II Men, who are touring Australia with hip-hop royalty Salt-N-Pepa and Bell Biv DeVoe later this year.

These are the artists that wrote the songs that carried many of you from first love to first heartbreak, or straight to the dancefloor.

Boyz II Men have more than 64 million album sales to their name. They've earned four Grammy Awards, nine American Music Awards, nine Soul Train Awards, three Billboard Music Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and dual Hall of Fame inductions.

End of the Road was No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 13 weeks, breaking the record previously held by Elvis Presley. Songs I'll Make Love To You, One Sweet Day (with Mariah Carey), On Bended Knee and Motownphilly all topped the charts.

The smooth harmonies of Nathan Morris, Wanya Morris and Shawn Stockman struck a chord in the '90s and continue to resonate three decades later.

Then there's Salt-N-Pepa, the first female hip-hop act to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame whose hits Push It, Whatta Man, Let's Talk About Sex and Shoop could rival End of the Road in the singalong stakes.

Cheryl Salt James, Sandra Pepa Denton and DJ Spinderella blazed a trail for countless female artists, selling more than 15 million records along the way. They not only broke down barriers, they championed female sexuality as they delivered anthem after anthem.

In 1995 Salt-N-Pepa made history as the first female rap act to win a Grammy Award, before receiving the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021 and earning a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

As Bell Biv DeVoe, Ricky Bell, Michael Bivins and Ronnie DeVoe pioneered the New Jack Swing movement which blended R&B harmonies, hip-hop beats and pop melodies into a groundbreaking new sound. Their quadruple-platinum debut album, Poison, produced the hits Do Me!, B.B.D. (I Thought It Was Me)? and Poison.

Tickets to A Day On The Green at Bimbadgen Estate on Saturday, December 5, go on sale at 11am on July 17. The NAB Goodies Visa (AU) presale is live at 10am on July 13, and A Day On The Green, MG Live and Frontier Member presales begin at noon on July 15. For ticketing and tour information visit mg.live [click the intro to return to front page]

STORY: LISA ROCKMAN

The demand for tiny houses has increased dramatically since last winter, making these small escapes the hottest new domestic trend.

Australians are increasingly swapping crowded beaches for star-filled skies, fire pits and more relaxed getaways in comfortable, yet pint-sized, tiny homes that make them feel closer to nature.

New booking data from Tiny Away shows tiny house bookings have increased 41% year-on-year, with winter now overtaking summer as the busiest season.

Tiny Away co-founder, Jeff Yeo, said winter has become the season Australians are looking forward to most.

Guests are telling us they want local stays and experiences that encourage them to slow down, reconnect with nature and enjoy life's quieter moments, he said.

Mid-week bookings have increased by more than 51% as flexible workers extend their holidays.

Family bookings are also up almost 100% on last winter, as simple, nature-based holidays increase in popularity.

Yeo said the trend reflects a shift in the way Australians are choosing to travel domestically, with more people seeking peaceful escapes in nature and embracing simple pleasures.

Misty morning coffees and long walks through national parks are some of the ways guests are choosing to spend their escapes in the colder months.

Some of the organisation's most popular getaways are in vineyard country such as the NSW Southern Highlands and the Victorian Yarra Valley, where guests can revel in cool mountain air and savour farm-to-table dining.

Guests are also embracing rugged coastlines and hot springs around Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, as well as the majestic and dramatic bushland of the NSW Blue Mountains.

Tiny Away's tiny houses start from $179 a night.

Reflections Holidays has added 18 new tiny houses to its holiday parks across Scotts Head, Lennox Head, Evans Head, Byron Bay and Seal Rocks during the past 12 months.

Australians are taking more regular breaks in 2026, and nature-based escapes like tiny houses offer simplicity, comfort and value, CEO, Nick Baker, said.

Couples continue to be our biggest tiny home guests, particularly those looking for a comfortable nature escape without needing a larger family-sized cabin, Baker said.

At the same time, we're seeing the appeal broaden. Families, solo travellers and even people combining work and leisure are choosing tiny homes because they offer a unique way to experience nature while still enjoying modern comforts.

A tiny house at Reflections at Jimmys Beach on the Mid North Coast of NSW starts from $160 a night, while premium offerings with beach front access at Byron Bay start from $430.

While these prices are comparable to some hotel rooms, Baker said spending time in nature is one of the biggest draw cards for tiny houses. [click the intro to return to front page]

STORY: SARAH FALSON

Reaching a peak speed of 3.59 metres per second (13km/h or 8mph), the humble and hairy-legged huntsman appears to be faster than the current world record-holder, the Moroccan flic-flac spider and its comparatively pedestrian 1.7 m/s (they don't so much run, as tumble down hill to reach that speed).

The scientists collected 162 different spider species - mostly from around London and the German city of Greifswald, but also from North America, southern Europe and Australia - and then measured their running speeds using cameras and gridded paper as the running track. The research has been submitted to a scientific journal.

They also added to their analysis other studies that had measured spider speed and, crucially, that included research supervised by Christofer Clemente, an evolutionary biomechanist at the University of the Sunshine Coast in Queensland.

Clemente's research was originally published in 2021 and aimed to understand the unique way that spiders get about.

But rather than go searching for what he thought would be the quickest spiders, Clemente said he just grabbed the ones that were the easiest to get.

These were just spiders I found in the back yard, Clemente said. "I could just go out with my head torch and see them on the grass.

I am interested in how different animals of different sizes move and whether muscle might limit the speed at which animals can run, he said.

"Spiders don't move using just muscle — they use a combination of muscles to retract their limbs and hydraulic pressure to push them outwards.

That's a completely different way of powering locomotion to other animals.

The brown huntsman only lives along Australia's east coast and is a common site in homes in south-east Queensland.

They are about the size of a hand and while they are venomous, they very rarely bite humans and when they do, the effects are mild.

While the 3.59m/s was the peak speed recorded by the huntsman, Clemente said this was only reached for a fraction of a second. The huntsman's average sustained speed was closer to 2m/s.

That's still really fast, he said.

When it comes to running in the animal kingdom, he said generally there appeared to be a sweet spot between having legs and muscles that were long but not so big that you have to support this huge mass.

His hunch was that huntsmans might be close to the sweet spot for the best spider body type for speed.

They're not too big and not too small but we haven't done the science on that yet, he said. [click the intro to return to front page]

STORY: GRAHAM READFEARN, NICK EVERSHED and ANDY BALL

Lachie Perrem, aged in his 20s, was taken to hospital on Thursday with life-threatening burns from a blaze that left his fiancee and housemates without their home.

The fire was an accident caused by a fault in a robotic vacuum cleaner, investigators from the state department of fire and emergency services have found.

Perrem remained in a critical condition on Tuesday evening and was being treated for his burns at Fiona Stanley hospital, a South Metropolitan health service spokesperson said.

The fire broke out in the kitchen of Perrem's home in Brabham, in Perth's north-east, on Thursday 2 July. The department said a triple-zero call was made at 5pm that day and four fire trucks attended, with the blaze fully extinguished more than two hours later.

It was the first reported case of a robotic vacuum cleaner fire, though there have been four fires involving standard vacuum cleaners in the past two years, the department said.

It was not clear whether the fire was a result of a fault in the vacuum's electrics or its lithium-ion battery. The device has been sent to the state's building and energy office for further investigation.

One other woman needed hospital treatment. [click the intro to return to front page]

STORY: LUCA ITTIMANI