TODAY'S TOP STORIES
Five ACT schools have been targeted in a pornography ring where teenage boys and young men are secretly exchanging graphic sexual images of female students.
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Canberra College, Gungahlin College, Radford College, St Clare's College and St Mary McKillop College have been identified on the site.
- Public service departments are stalling on wage talks with their workforces while they wait for a clear lead from the Coalition government on its workplace bargaining policy.
- Australia has agreed to close the Manus Island detention centre, more than three months after PNG's Supreme Court found it was unconstitutional.
- Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is seeking urgent talks with his Vietnamese counterpart after the country delivered a "kick in the guts" by banning today's 50-year Long Tan battle commemoration.
- A Canberra man who murdered his stepfather in Wanniassa before he stole $53,000 from his bedridden mother had been "callous in the extreme", a court has been told.
- The latest round of public service job cuts is another attack on Canberra by the Turnbull government, according to local Labor politicians.
- World-first battery testing taking place in Canberra will reveal critical information about the best ways to store renewable energy.
OLYMPICS
- The Boomers are just one win away from creating history and winning their first Olympic medal after crushing Lithuania in Wednesday's quarter-final - but they won't be content without a gold medal.
- World records were broken, tantrums were thrown, competitors were drowned in bitter boos and armed soldiers were called in to the arena as the final night of the Olympic weightlifting program threatened to descend into farce.
- Fourteen seconds. That was all it took for Brazil to feel good about itself again. The host nation looked to the one team and the one player it truly, madly, deeply, universally cares about: the selecao and Neymar.
- A Brazilian judge on Wednesday issued an order to prevent Ryan Lochte and James Feigen, two of the American swimmers who claimed they were robbed at gunpoint during the Olympic Games, from leaving the country as doubts emerged over their testimony about the episode.
- Defending Olympic diving champion Ilia Zakharo has crashed out of Rio with a spectacular bellyflop worthy of a backyard pool party.
TRAFFIC
9:25am: There's been a two-car crash in Higgins at the intersection of Findlay Street and Kingsford Smith Drive. There's one car on the road and emergency services are on scene.
Police have also told us about a five-car crash northbound on Drakeford Drive in Bonython. Cars are still on the road so motorists can expect delays.
9:20am: Police are still urging people to avoid Majura Avenue as one lane is still blocked from the earlier crash in Dickson. The traffic light that was damaged is being fixed.
8:50am: There's been a two-car crash at the intersection of Majura Avenue and Cowper Street in Dickson. Police say one lane is closed on both Majura Avenue and Cowper Street as a car is blocking the road and a traffic light has been knocked down. Motorists are urged to avoid the area.
The following road closures are in place from 6.30am-12.00pm today due to a special commemorative service to be held at the Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial on ANZAC Parade:
- Closure of all northbound and southbound lanes on Anzac Parade
- Closure of Anzac Park West from Amaroo Street to Constitution Avenue
- Closure of Anzac Park East from Blamey Crescent to Constitution Avenue
Jardine Street in Kingston will be closed in both directions from Highgate Lane to Giles Street between 9am-4pm on periodic days until November 30.
WHAT'S ON TODAY
A "stand-to" service similar to an Anzac dawn service and a national service are just some of the events to be held at and around the Australian War Memorial to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan today.
Hear Weber's Der Freischütz - Overture, Brahms' Double Concerto for Violin and Cello in A minor and Dvorak's Symphony No. 7 in D minor as part of the ActewAGL Llewellyn Series. Last day. For ticket prices, times, see here.
It horrified London, it petrified Sydney and now this haunting psychological thriller is coming for you. Ghost Stories is on at Canberra Theatre Centre from August 17-20. More here.
Calling all Doctor Who fans, a Canberra collector is trying to break the Guinness World Record with his collection. The Bigger on the inside: Collecting Doctor Who is on at the Canberra Museum and Gallery until November 20. Free entry.
TODAY'S CARTOON
WEATHER
Today: Fog and patches of light frost in the early morning. Mostly sunny day. Light winds becoming northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h in the middle of the day then becoming light in the late afternoon. Max 18.
Tomorrow: Mostly sunny morning. High (80%) chance of rain in the late afternoon and evening. Winds north to northwesterly 25 to 40 km/h tending west to northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h in the evening then becoming light in the late evening. Min 5, max 18.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. Medium (60%) chance of showers, most likely in the morning and afternoon. Winds west to northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h becoming light during the evening. Min 2, max 9.
Sunday: Cloudy. Slight (30%) chance of a shower. Winds northwesterly 15 to 20 km/h becoming light during the afternoon. Min 1, max 11.