The tram is bursting with an explosion of crochet colour and patterns after it was yarn bombed by a group of local needling ninjas.  MORE.

RADIUS hopes it can add another dimension to the retail precinct at the High Street end of Mitchell Street as its conversion of the former Toyworld building reaches new levels. MORE.

Golden Square Fire Brigade wants at least 10 new firefighters to build on the station’s capacity to respond to emergency calls. MORE.

SPORT

TWO of the game’s top guns – Neil Robertson and Marco Fu – have been knocked out of the Snooker Australia Goldfields Open in Bendigo.

Champion at the Bendigo classic two years ago, Fu crashed to a 5-4 defeat in Wednesday’s duel with Martin Gould at Bendigo Stadium. MORE. 

STAR goaler Abbey Ryan has capped off a superb season in the Victorian Netball League by finishing runner-up in the 19-under division’s Most Valuable Player award.

Ryan, who plays A-grade for Golden Square in the Bendigo Football Netball League, was outstanding in the circle for the Ballarat Sovereigns throughout the state league competition. MORE.

BENDIGO WEATHER

REGIONAL

BORDER: A STOLEN car was found burnt out in Wodonga yesterday morning.

CFA crews extinguished the blazing Ford Falcon sedan about 4.30am, just off Flower Place in Willow Park. MORE.

SA: Just eight-years-ago Tia Bails had yet to pick up a basketball, now the 14-year-old has been named captain of an under 16 National squad.

Tia will compete in the 2015 Australian National Junior Basketball Championships this week, as part of the SA Country under 16 national squad, after tirelessly dedicating most of her everyday life to the sport. MORE.

WA: ALTHOUGH works on the Mandurah Road footbridge’s arches is still dormant, despite the June 30 deadline, a City spokesperson said the project was still within the timeframe allocated.

The steel arches were due to be raised in April, after they were delivered from a Chinese factory and assembled on site in March. MORE.

NSW: Calls have been made for the ‘‘ice centre’’, slated for the Illawarra Shoalhaven Health district, to be located in the Shoalhaven.

The state government has committed to establishing the centre but South Coast mother Tracy Reece, whose son is an ice addict, has said a Shoalhaven facility is needed. MORE.

NATIONAL WEATHER RADAR

NATIONAL NEWS

NSW: Sydney has the highest poverty rate of any capital city in Australia, according to a new report that shows the staggering gap between rich and poor in our state.

While many families are bundling their children off for overseas holidays and expensive vacation camps for school holidays, others are living week to week, forgoing medical appointments and skipping meals, according to research from the Council of Social Service of NSW (NCOSS). MORE HERE.

VICTORIA: A big jump in what Victorians paid for houses and apartments in 2014 has put the spotlight firmly back on whether Australians are being priced out of home ownership. MORE.

COLD CASE: Julie Ann Garciacelay was sitting in her North Melbourne flat having a drink with a former boxer, a career criminal and a crime reporter.

When her sister, Gail, returned to the Canning Street flat they shared the next morning, Ms Garciacelay and the men were gone.

There was a blood-soaked towel on the floor and some of Julie's underwear had been cut and strewn about.

That was 40 years ago, on July 1, 1975. Ms Garciacelay, 19, has not been seen since.

Two of the men, both suspects in the disappearance, have died.

The other, former The Truth newspaper reporter John Grant - who was also implicated in the notorious Easey Street killings - has repeatedly denied being involved but has not been cleared by police.

It can be revealed that police are preparing a brief for the Coroner, the latest development in a case which has been re-examined several times in the past four decades. MORE HERE.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

LONDON: A top secret draft of the official report into the cause of the crash of flight MH17 in Ukraine was handed to Australian government experts almost one month ago, it has emerged.

They have been asked to comment on some of the conclusions

As well as addressing the cause of the crash, the report assesses whether the plane should have been assigned that flight path, and whether the process of releasing passenger information could have been better handled.

It will also make a judgement as to whether the passengers on board were aware of the crash – though it may decide there is not enough information to say for sure.

All 298 people on board Malaysia Airlines MH17 died in the crash on July 17 last year, including 27 Australian citizens. MORE.

GERMANY: The status of the Great Barrier Reef has avoided being downgraded by UNESCO's World Heritage Committee but the future of the ecological treasure remains subject to close scrutiny.

As expected, the committee meeting in the German city of Bonn confirmed on Wednesday the findings of its draft report released last month.

That draft recommended Australia report back on its progress in implementing its Reef2050 plan by December 1 next year, but decided against listing the reef as being in danger. MORE.

CHINA: After a few false dawns China has submitted its plans for tackling climate change from 2020 to the United Nations climate negotiations.

It is a much anticipated moment.

China releases more greenhouse gas emissions than any other country, and by a long way. MORE HERE.

FACES OF AUSTRALIA - Keith Haustorfer

A NATIMUK man has uncovered history of a Russian ship through a message in a bottle.

Keith Haustorfer said his friend found the bottle on a South Australian beach last week and gave it to him.

He said the contents detailed exactly where the bottle had come from.

“It was from a Russian ship and the bottle contained coordinates of where it was dropped into the water,” he said.

“It was dropped near the tip of South Africa.

“The information inside celebrates sailing in Russia.”

Mr Haustorfer said the bottle was dropped into the ocean in 2012.

“It’s travelled a long way and it’s intriguing,” he said.

Mr Haustorfer said there was an email address on one of the letters, which he wrote to, but he hadn’t received a response yet. MORE HERE.