Body found after suspicious fire: Police have arrested two Clarendon Vale men after a body was found at a residence in Saladin Circle, Clarendon Vale on Thursday. The men, aged 38 and 57, remain in custody.

Department silent on Tasmanian fox files: THE federal Environment Department has dodged questions about why it withheld three Fox Eradication Program (FEP) documents, despite protest from Australia’s information watchdog. The department kept three FEP progress reports from an unnamed Freedom of Information applicant earlier this month, after receiving advice from the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE).

Free speech debated: Members of Parliament have shared personal accounts of discrimination during debate over proposed changes to the state’s Anti-Discrimination Act. Amendments to the Act would require the state’s Anti-Discrimination Commissioner to reject a complaint if it could not have been predicted an act would cause offence. 

Need a national news snapshot first thing - well, we have you covered. 

► SYDNEY: "Do you mind if it's messy?" said one killer to another. The answer was no. So nine days before the murder Stanley Forward, 23, and Donald Cameron, 64, drove to Bulahdelah State Forest, north of Newcastle.

They brought a mattock, two spades and three pairs of gloves and set about digging a shallow grave for their victim. More here.

► BATHURST: A man has spoken of his miraculous escape after plunging down an abandoned 15-metre mineshaft with his motorbike while on an endurance ride near Bathurst on Saturday.

Lachie Smith, 24, was taking part in the Yamaha-sponsored Sunny Corner Rally, when he attempted to take a shortcut over a hill in the pine forest area on the enduro but instead plunged into an abandoned mine shaft. More here.

► LEETON: The man who helped his twin brother conceal the murder of NSW school teacher Stephanie Scott has apologised to her family.

Marcus Stanford, 25, who pawned Ms Scott's engagement and graduation rings, delivered the apology on television shortly after he was released from prison. Read on.

► ULTIMO: A "pop-up" primary school for 300 children at Wentworth Park in Ultimo will escape environmental scrutiny, despite the discovery of lead contamination at the site and the takeover of public recreation space. Read on.

► CESSNOCK: Acid was poured on the back of a dog last weekend in the latest horrific act of animal cruelty in the Hunter Valley.

Cessnock resident Carly Anderson said that “some low life scum” went into her Vineyard Grove backyard on Saturday night and attacked her unsuspecting beagle Max. Read on.

► CRADLE MOUNTAIN: A 71-year-old Victorian woman has been airlifted to hospital after falling on a day walk near Cradle Mountain.

Emergency services were called to the scene at the peak of Marion's Lookout about 4.50pm, where the woman was found with a suspected broken wrist and minor head and neck injuries. Read on.

►BECKOM: While communities in the east of the region count the cost of Wednesday’s deluge, western towns are bracing for swollen water systems to reach their peak.

Some residents in Beckom, north-east of Ardlethan, have been isolated from the flooding of the Mirrool Creek, and other towns downstream, including Yenda and Griffith, face a nervous wait as the peak moves towards them. More here.

► HUNTER: Now described as a full-time Hunter, resident the former champion racehorse Black Caviar, is fast becoming a super mum following the birth of her third foal. More here.

► It had barely been seen before, and has not been seen since. The red dust storm that descended on NSW in 2009 was exactly seven years ago. Take a look.

► A Fairfax Media investigation has found two overseas-trained surgeons with compelling claims of bullying, professional mobbing and anti-competitive behaviour that reach into the powerful college of surgeons – a secretive group that largely controls the supply of surgeons in Australia, and allegedly, the level of competition and fees they can charge. Read on.

► Victoria must get all the funds it is entitled to from the Turnbull government for the sale of the Port of Melbourne, despite Treasurer Tim Pallas' "buffoonery", Opposition Leader Matthew Guy says. More here.

► Huang Xiangmo, the Chinese businessman who paid a personal legal bill of Labor senator Sam Dastyari, has resigned as chair of the Australia-China Relations Institute (ACRI) at UTS over "coverage about political donations and supposed Chinese influence".

Mr Huang, the head of property developer Yuhu and a prolific political donor to both sides of politics, gave $1.8 million to set up the ACRI in 2014. Read on.

NEVADA: A stunt plane pilot has narrowly escaped serious injury after his plane was hit by another one at an air show in the United States.

Thom Richard was preparing to take off in the Gold Formula One event at the National Championship Air Race in Nevada on Sunday when his engine started sputtering. Read on.

DELHI: Dating for a young Indian woman is like Russian Roulette. If they show an interest in the "wrong man", stalking, abuse, violence and death may be in store.

The "wrong man" can turn out to be someone like Surender Singh, 34, who on Tuesday stabbed Karuna Kumar, a school teacher, more than 20 times in a busy street in north Delhi – people passing by did nothing – having stalked her relentlessly for more than a year. Read the full story.

OTTAWA: The theft of about $180,000 worth of gold came from within the Royal Canadian Mint, investigators said on Tuesday. Leston Lawrence, a 35-year-old employee of the government mint in Ottawa, has been accused of foiling the facility's high security through a back-end exploit.

Lawrence smuggled out gold nuggets inside his rectum, prosecutors alleged. Read on.

1884: American Herman Hollerith patents his mechanical tabulating machine, the beginning of data processing

1889: Nintendo Koppai (Later Nintendo Company, Limited) founded by Fusajiro Yamauchi to produce and market the playing card game Hanafuda.

1939: Sigmund Freud, known as the founding father of psychoanalysis, died age 83.  

1942: The 'Manhattan Project' commences, under the direction of US General Leslie Groves: its aim - to deliver an atomic bomb

Facts supplied: onthisday.com

Holly Johnson missed her favourite subject at school on Tuesday, but it was all worth it after she received the Murray region Volunteer of the Year award.

The 14-year-old Billabong High School student had to forego visual arts to attend the ceremony at the Albury Club. Holly is a strong advocate for human rights and volunteers with Amnesty International.

Raised in Gerogery, Holly said she didn't expect to win the student category, let alone the overall region-wide gong, in the 10th annual NSW regional Volunteer of the Year awards. Read her story.