It is a very cold start to the day in Bendigo with frost covering most of the region. Watch out for ice on the roads if you are driving. We are looking at a top of 11 degrees today. Right now the mercury is struggling up to frosty 0.3 degrees.

You can find a wrap of the local news from around the region below.

There’s also sad news coming out of Adelaide this morning with Adelaide Crows head coach Phil Walsh being found dead in his home. Updates on that story can be found here.

Fight is on for Legal funds: The Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre faces a difficult battle to secure funds to allow it to continue its family violence legal services. Story here.

Dig deep for Discovery: Bendigo’s Discovery Science and Technology Centre is turning to crowdfunding to help secure its future. Story here.

Working for a solution to disability housing crisis: THE inaugural meeting of a working group to investigate the lack of appropriate disability care will be held today. Story here.

Mosque decision face further delay: The City of Greater Bendigo says it is disappointed objectors to the mosque have made a claim of bias against VCAT’s president and deputy president that threatens to further delay a decision on the facility proposed for East Bendigo. MORE HERE. 

TAMWORTH: TRIBUTES continue to flow for the popular Tamworth school student Archie Hunt who died in a "heartbreaking accident" at the weekend.

The 13-year-old was shopping in Sydney's Queen Victoria Building on Sunday when he fell from a railing and plunged four storeys to his death. MORE.

PORT MACQUARIE: Two men required airlifting after paragliding incidents south of Port Macquarie on Wednesday.

Emergency services were called at 1.20pm to a beach in Crowdy Bay National Park. MORE HERE.

NATIONAL WEATHER RADAR

NATIONAL NEWS

NATION: The number of young people who have been killed in car crashes this year has soared, as experts warn P-plate drivers their inexperience on the road is one of the most likely causes.

Just two days after three Victorian teenagers died in a crash in the state's outer east, figures from the Transport Accident Commission show that 15 people aged 16 to 17 have been killed so far this year, compared with two in 2014.

The five-year average of deaths in this age group is five. MORE HERE.

MELBOURNE: A chemical spill was found on a Qantas plane at Melbourne Airport on Thursday evening, causing the flight to be cancelled.

A Qantas spokesman said the flight to Dubai was initially delayed after the spill was discovered in one of the aircraft's cargo holds.

"No passengers were on-board the aircraft and we're assisting authorities to have the aircraft back in service," he said.

A Metropolitan Fire Brigade spokesman said hazardous materials crews were called to the scene just after 10pm on Thursday and worked with airport firefighters to clean up the spill. MORE HERE.

Building a coffin may seem like a grim task, but for Indigenous residents of a remote island 440 kilometres east of Darwin, it offers the chance of meaningful work and helping their community.

NT: Coffin-building at a furniture workshop on Milingimbi Island is one of the jobs available as part of a revitalised work-for-the-dole scheme in the Northern Territory that was launched on Wednesday by federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion. MORE HERE.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

UNITED STATES: President Barack Obama, the president whose place in history could easily have been destroyed over the past week, had instead emerged as one of the most consequential Democratic leaders of the modern era.

Not only did the Supreme Court uphold the legality of his signature piece of legislation, Obamacare, last week, the Senate had granted him the fast-track authority needed to finalise negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a green light to the economic plank to the US "pivot" to Asia. MORE HERE.

INDONESIA: The Indonesian government has denied suggestions by former foreign minister Marty Natalegawa that Australia's relationship with Indonesia is at its lowest point.

During an interview on Sky on Monday, Dr Natalegawa said he believed there was no private communications between the two governments, which would represent an unprecedented collapse in relations. MORE HERE.

WORLD: It was an evening in which guacamole entered the international conversation and US President Barack Obama struck a blow for authenticity.

Late on Wednesday, the President hijacked his own Twitter Q&A session when he detoured from the topic at hand, healthcare, to answer a question about guacamole. MORE HERE.

FACES OF AUSTRALIA - Fred Cahir

Federation University historian Fred Cahir has inspired the film Seeing the Land from an Aboriginal Canoe which will be showing at Federation Square throughout National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee week. 

Seeing the Land from an Aboriginal Canoe was inspired by Federation University historian Fred Cahir. 

It explores unique Wadawurrung stories including white people’s dependence on Aboriginal canoes. 

The film will screen at Federation Square in Melbourne from the 4 to 12 July. Details visit  cv.vic.gov.au

MORE HERE.