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1. The developers who knocked over Carlton's Corkman Irish Pub have had charges laid against them in the Melbourne Magistrates Court by the state government's building authority and the city council.
On Friday morning, the Victorian Building Authority and Melbourne City Council laid 16 charges against Stefce Kutlesovski, Raman Shaqiri and their company 160 Leicester Pty Ltd.
In total, if the maximum penalties possible were applied against the pair and their company, they would face fines approaching $2 million.
2. A tracking device was fitted by police to a vehicle used by Borce Ristevski in the months after his wife disappeared. But the device was either removed, or fell off the vehicle, sources familiar with the investigation into Karen Ristevski's disappearance have told Fairfax Media.
Tracking devices were routinely fitted to suspects' vehicles when police suspected foul play, the sources said.
Police detectives also suspect Mr Ristevski, 52, had been advised against speaking on phones and provided with information about investigative techniques used by homicide detectives.
3. COMMENT Adam Carey
Catch a number 11 tram to the end of the line in Preston and you will find JS Grey Reserve, a nice if unremarkable neighbourhood park. There is plenty of grassy open space on which to fling a frisbee, trees for shade, kids' playground, a barbecue, even a small rose garden.
It's well used by locals, but in recent months they've watched on as a big chunk of it has disappeared behind temporary fencing and a hulking grey electrical substation has been built. Preston folk are not the only ones who have had to give up a bit of public space in recent times for new tram infrastructure.
4. AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has hit back at claims he lied to key Essendon figures over the doping scandal after the release of an expletive-laden secret recording accusing the league of betraying the club.
McLachlan says there's "nothing new" in the recording of "aggrieved" Bombers, purportedly made in the Essendon boardroom in 2013 as then chairman Paul Little, coach James Hird, assistant coach Mark Thompson and football boss Danny Corcoran vented their fury that charges were to be laid over the 2012 supplements program.
5. Turns out caffeine isn't so bad for you after all. New research suggests a dose of caffeine prevents us from being negatively affected by the energy depleting consequences of sleep deprivation.
So the first thing as I sat to write this article was to crack open a caffeinated energy drink. One of those double-sized hits. Sugar-free, of course. It's become quite the ritual. And whenever I do so each week, much like the can of Coke or Pepsi my body screams is necessary at exactly 2pm each day, I feel a pang of guilt that I'm damaging my insides in an irreversible way.
That guilt stems from multiple sources, such as the fear-inducing tales of otherwise healthy young people having heart attacks, most probably due to excessive overconsumption.
6. COMMENT Tony Wright
If the Liberal Party were a schoolyard - and really, it is, isn't it? - there'd be excitable kids rushing about, yelling that oldest of rallying cries: "fight, fight, fight".
Here's Tony Abbott squaring off with his five-point plan for victory, neglecting only to shout the as-yet unspoken sixth, which is that he must be returned as gang leader.
7. President Donald Trump has said he wants to build up the US nuclear arsenal to ensure it is at the "top of the pack," saying the United States has fallen behind in its atomic weapons capacity.
In a Reuters interview, Trump also said China could solve the national security challenge posed by North Korea "very easily if they want to," ratcheting up pressure on Beijing to exert more influence to rein in Pyongyang's increasingly bellicose actions.
In his first comments about the US nuclear arsenal since taking office on January 20, Mr Trump said the United States has "fallen behind on nuclear weapon capacity."
8. The head of the Reserve Bank has dashed hopes of a further cut in interest rates, pleading for people to "focus on other things other than quarter of a per cent moves in the cash rate".
Appearing before a parliamentary inquiry in Sydney governor Philip Lowe said the Australian economy was set to rebound as the "headwind from falling commodity prices turned into a gentle tailwind".
Around the corner, on a street conveniently named Ovens, great big ovens – kilns, to be precise – are baking beautiful works of art at the School of Clay and Art.
The cavernous studio – founded by Shane and Jane Kent to fill a gap left by TAFE closures – is one of more than a dozen creative spaces that will open their doors to the public on Saturday for the Brunswick Studio Walk.
10. ANALYSIS Dean Jones
India is a country that will make you or break you if you are a cricketer. It's hot, the food, the pitches and the ball they use are all different. This great country teases you all. It's a country that plays on every sense of your body. Basically it's a country of extremity. I have been lucky enough to travel to India more than 140 times. There are no in-betweens. It's either one end of the scale or the other. Its cricket is no different. You can bat on some beautiful roads or you will bat on the biggest bunsen burner you have seen. Pune is that type of pitch.
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