Cyndi Lauper and Sam Smith perform in front of thousands of people at the White House as the US president signs a law providing federal recognition to same-sex marriages.

The heroic actions of a young girl have been outlined in a Melbourne court, which heard the 10-year-old desperately tried to stop a man stabbing her mother to death.

The Fair Work Ombudsman has secured a total of $657,105 in penalties in court against the Mining and Energy Union and five then-union officials over conduct including verbal abuse of workers at the Oaky Creek North coal mine in central Queensland.

Malaysia's navy says two military helicopters have collided and crashed during a rehearsal, killing everyone on board.

Hobart man David Coles, who shot and killed escaped prisoner Nicholas Scott in January last year, will spend at least four years in a Tasmanian jail.