Violent offender freed from jail A man who once stabbed a woman four times in front of her child is back on the street.

Silent substance struggle Tailored and various strategies are integral to assisting Tasmanian women struggling with alcohol and other drugs (AOD), according to the AOD lobby groups.

Children explore the meaning of peace Isabel Demarchi and her brother Samuel Demarchi joined a group of children at the ‘Peace for Little People’ event at Launceston LINC on Saturday.

Giving the gift of life A stranger saved the life of Longford resident Lyndon Tubb.

Clarko praises young guns Hawthorn coach Alastair Clarkson has almost incredulously played the underdog card in the side’s gritty win over Carlton on Saturday.

Need a national news snapshot first thing? We've got you covered. 

► DAPTO, NSW: A Dapto man has been convicted for keeping 10 unlicensed exotic animals – including two Columbian red tailed boa constrictors and an American alligator. Kyle Page, 26, was charged under the NSW Non-Indigenous Animals Act for keeping 10 unlicensed exotic animals, which were seized from his home in December 2013. Read more.

► PORT PIRIE, SA: A bomb-disposal robot was used to check a suspicious package left outside Cabinet Minister Geoff Brock’s office in Ellen Centre at Port Pirie on Saturday night. Read more.

► GOLD COAST, QLD: A former Ballarat cyclist is fighting for his life after he was seriously injured in a freak accident on the Gold Coast. Ballarat born and bred triathlete Jaysen Searle, 45, remains in an induced coma after he struck a bush turkey when riding in a Queensland forest. Read more.

► LAUNCESTON, TAS: Nine year old Meg Rickerby knows she wants to help people when she grows up and she’s already started, raising money to help refugees settling in Launceston. Read more.

► NEWCASTLE, NSW: Baker Liam Johnson thought he had followed his typical routine by taking a Stilnox before going to sleep about 6pm after a few drinks, readying himself to wake for his 3am start at work. So when he woke with the sun shining, he asked his father what was wrong, and why hadn’t his alarm clock woken him. Mr Johnson, now aged 29, had no recollection of getting up, taking some more medication, going to buy – and drink – more alcohol before slamming into cars waiting at the Hannell Street rail crossing at Wickham before 10pm the night before. Read more.

► BEECHWORTH, VIC: Beechworth Sweet Co owner Sally McGregor has left open the possibility the golliwog that features in the shop’s logo and on its products will be removed. Ms McGregor has confirmed she will remove the golliwog from a television commercial after industry regulator the Advertising Standards Board deemed it racist. Read more.

► Anyone who doubts that the Northern Territory is different should look at the number of police per 100,000 residents. The Territory has 700. The next highest state, South Australia, has 312. The rest of the nation makes do with 267. The Territory has 10 judicial officers per 100,000 residents. The rest of us have four. In graph after graph, statistic after statistic, the Territory sticks out. More here.

► Marriage equality advocates have quietly established campaign infrastructure for a plebiscite on same-sex marriage, despite a potentially damaging schism affecting the "yes" group. The divide is between those who want to stop the plebiscite at any cost – even if it means delaying marriage equality into the never-never – and those who now view a public vote as almost inevitable. Both sides of the debate are trying to unite their troops before the likely public vote. More here.

► Misel Burford has friends who take the census as a bit of a joke. But she's working on them. "If you don't share your views and if you don't share your information with the government, how is the government supposed to know where to direct funding?" the 23-year-old said. Ms Burford is one of many young Australians about to fill out her first census on August 9, but is also in the 20-24 age group historically most undercounted in the national survey held every five years. While Ms Burford is in favour of the government having a better idea about young people, she said not everyone her age is interested. More here.

National weather radar

► LEBANON: One of the self-styled "child retrieval experts" who helped carry out the 60 Minutes child abduction in Lebanon says the operation went perfectly until it was "botched by an evil person." Briton Craig Michael, who is still in jail in Lebanon, issued a statement through the Child Abduction International Recovery organisation's (CARI) official Facebook page on Saturday. More here.

► SINGAPORE: When he first settled in Australia in 2002, Zulfikar bin Mohamad Shariff was known as a social activist fighting for the right of Singapore schoolgirls to wear the Muslim headscarf. In an interview with The Age, the newly-arrived Shariff was enthusiastic about his new home. "In Australia you can think independently and speak freely. You don't have that in Singapore," he said. But when the 44-year-old Australian resident returned to Singapore this month, he was arrested for "terrorism-related activities", which included supporting Islamic State through Facebook posts. It is now alleged that during more than a decade in suburban Melbourne the Singapore-Australian dual national became increasingly radicalised. More here.

July 31, 2012: What a champion! On this day in 2012, American swimmer Michael Phelps broke the record for most medals won at the Olympics. The record had previously been set in 1964.was born on this day 31 years ago. Phelps has won a total of 22 Olympic medals. He holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals - 18, Olympic gold medals in individual events - 11, and Olympic medals in individual events for a male - 13. Watch him set a world record here:

The first thing Damian Jobson felt was the cold rush running down his body when his head clashed with an opposition player during a horror tackle earlier this year.

The former Windale Eagles footballer has revealed for the first time the painful details of the day that changed his life in an exclusive interview with Weekender.

The Jobsons reveal their heartbreak, their initial struggle to come to terms with Damian’s quadriplegia and their love for each other which is giving them the strength to climb the highest of mountains.

It’s been three months since Damian broke his C4 and C5 vertebrae during the game of first-grade rugby league, an injury which rendered him a “complete” quadriplegic from the shoulders down.

The footballer has some movement in his right arm, although it feels “numb”, while the rest of his body is described by Damian as feeling “not there”.

Damian said the accident was a product of panic on the field and putting his head “down too low, too quick”.

“I remember being told to get off the line quick to get up,” he said.

“Apparently I was the first one up there … and I kind of panicked and went down too low, too quick.

“I made the hit and can remember falling back and looking at my right arm and not feeling it.

“I could feel the cold rush running straight through my whole body.

“I knew something was majorly wrong.” More here.