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Mum-to-be’s wish for miracle baby Ava
Tiny Ava Marios is not yet born. Her small body is still inside her mother’s womb. But, Kristella already knows her little girl will be a miracle. Read more.
Vandals tear up soccer field
Up to 500 soccer players will be forced to train at another ground for around a month after vandals tore up Trekardo Park. See the damage here.
Multiple car windscreens destroyed in Alfredton rampage
Reckless offenders rampaged through Alfredton smashing car windows just hours after police were forced to hunt down offenders who allegedly fled car crashes. Read more.
Woman detained after two crashes in stolen car
The 41-year-old female driver of an allegedly stolen vehicle who fled the scene of a two car collision has been arrested. Read more.
Roughead injured ahead of Ballarat camp
Jordan Roughead appears unlikely to take any part in the Western Bulldogs’ open training session in Ballarat on Monday. Read more.
Weather
Mostly sunny and 19 degrees today.
State of the nation
Need a national news snapshot first thing - well, we have you covered.
The Defence Department's boss has warned he will be a "mongrel" if his executives do not trim the numbers of public servants working at the giant department.
The Federal Court has blocked a bid by the Australian Border Force to confiscate the mobile phones of detainees in immigration detention.
A 72-year-old grandfather has been shot multiple times in a random attack on a tourist trail in broad daylight.
National news
The Turnbull government is under pressure to allow foreign airlines to operate as many flights as they want to the planned new Western Sydney Airport in order to boost its commercial viability.
In what would represent a significant weakening of the country's environmental financing rules, Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg confirmed the government is considering issuing a new ministerial directive to the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to put investment in so-called "clean coal" on the table.
The federal government will unleash every weapon in its arsenal to wipe out 2 million feral cats – about a third of the population – and will provide $5 million to community groups to serve as foot soldiers in the battle.
National weather radar
International news
Four North Korean suspects in the assassination of Kim Jong-nam, the elder half-brother of North Korea's leader, flew out of Malaysia within hours of the brazen attack at Kuala Lumpur airport last Monday, police say.
Flip references by reporters – mine included – to Donald Trump not taking his meds have been criticised as offensive to the mentally ill. But Trump's unhinged behaviour, as in his erratic press conference on Thursday, ensures that the President's mental state is the stuff of debate.
Hundreds of police reinforcements have been deployed to Thailand's largest temple where worshippers and monks are vowing to prevent the arrest of a prominent monk wanted on embezzlement charges.
On this day | February 20
1513 – Pope Julius II dies. He will lay in rest in a huge tomb sculptured by Michelangelo.
1872 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City.
1962 – Mercury astronaut John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth.
1965 – The Temptations scored a third straight week at #1 on the R&B chart with the great song "My Girl".
1971 – Young people protest having to cut their long hair in Athens, Greece.
Faces of Australia | Caden Chapman
Bec and Beau Chapman’s late son was imaginative, cheeky, charismatic and adored zooming his toy cars around the floor with friends.
“I miss his personality, his cuddles – he was such a friendly little boy,” said Mrs Chapman, of Clarence Town.
