Good morning everyone.

Let's dive straight in and get you across the top news stories you need to know this morning.

1. Search underway for Sydney 11-year-old missing in freezing conditions.

Fears are held for an 11-year-old boy missing in Sydney's north-west after temperatures plummeted to four degrees overnight.

Christopher Wilson was last seen when he got off a school bus on Annangrove Road, Annangrove, about 3.20pm on Wednesday, but failed to arrive home, NSW Police said.

A desperate search is underway in Sydney for an 11-year-old boy who failed to return home after getting off the school bus yesterday.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000. #9Today pic.twitter.com/UI4QgoEcKz
— The Today Show (@TheTodayShow) June 8, 2022

He is described as being of Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander appearance, about 120cm tall with a slim build, short brown hair and brown eyes. He was wearing his school uniform consisting of a blue t-shirt with maroon and white trim and grey shorts, and red and black shoes.

His disappearance is out of character, police said.

Police are appealing for public assistance to find him, following an extensive search of the area by local police, PolAir, Police Rescue and SAS overnight.

Properties along Annangrove Road have been canvassed while multiple calls to Crime Stoppers have been followed up. The search will resume on Thursday morning.

Anyone with information regarding Christopher's whereabouts is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

2. QLD teen sentenced for pedestrian deaths.

A Queensland teenager has been sentenced to six years behind bars after pleading guilty to manslaughter.

The then-17-year-old was drunk and high on cannabis when he hit Matthew Field and Kate Leadbetter, who was six months' pregnant, in a stolen car on January 26 last year.

The driver, who cannot be named because he was 17 at the time, will be released from custody six years to the day after the horror collision.

A teenager behind the wheel of a stolen car that resulted in the death of a young couple has been sentenced ten years in prison.

Matthew Field and his pregnant partner Kate Leadbetter were killed last year, when the then 17-year-old ran a red light and crashed into them.#9News pic.twitter.com/AAUFXgfchv
— 9News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) June 8, 2022

The teen ran a red light at Alexandra Hills, colliding with a truck before rolling and hitting the couple.

Mr Field, 37 and Ms Leadbetter, 31, were killed instantly, suffering "catastrophic injuries".

Their baby, who was to be named Miles, was delivered stillborn at Ms Leadbetter's autopsy.

The teen fled the collision with minor injuries, stealing keys from a nearby house before being caught by a resident before police arrived.

"They found you lying on the ground crying," Justice Burns said.

The teen later appeared shocked he was responsible for the couple's deaths when interviewed by detectives.

Justice Burns sentenced the teen to 10 years in detention, requiring him to serve 60 per cent.

He will be released on January 26, 2027, at the age of 23.

However, Justice Burns added: "No sentence will be adequate ... (and) can't do justice to the suffering you have caused."

3. Woman dies as man drives into German crowd.

A 29-year-old man has driven into a crowd of people in Berlin, killing a teacher and injuring 14 of her students, as his car twice veered onto a pavement in a popular shopping district, officials say.

Police identified the driver as a German-Armenian man, whose vehicle eventually crashed into a shop window.

He was detained by bystanders and handed over to the authorities.

Fourteen children from the central German state of Hesse were injured and their teacher killed when a car was driven into a crowd of people in a busy Berlin street, police have said https://t.co/yO8sqEl6fV
— Sky News (@SkyNews) June 8, 2022

It was unclear whether it was an accident or a deliberate act in a street near the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, one of the German capital's best-known landmarks, police said.

Police later said 14 students, most likely to be 16- and 17-year-olds, were among the injured.

The teacher was accompanying a class of 10th grade students from the small town of Bad Arolsen in the central German state of Hesse, Hesse's public broadcaster said.

Officials denied a report by Germany's Bild newspaper the driver had left a letter of confession in the car.

Instead, investigators had found posters about Turkey, which has troubled relations with Armenia.

"We haven't clarified everything yet," Berlin's mayor Franziska Giffey told reporters at the scene.

"It is too early to speculate" about what caused the incident, an Interior Ministry spokesperson earlier told a regular federal government news conference in Berlin.

The incident revived memories of 2016, when a man in the same area of Berlin hijacked a truck, killed the driver and drove into a crowded Christmas market and killed 11 more people.

4. UK prosecutors authorise Weinstein charges.

This post deals with sexual assault, and could be triggering for some readers.

UK prosecutors say they have authorised charges to be brought against former Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein on two counts of indecent assault against a woman 26 years ago.

"Charges have been authorised against Harvey Weinstein, 70, following a review of the evidence gathered by the Metropolitan Police in its investigation," Rosemary Ainslie, head of the Crown Prosecution Service's (CPS) Special Crime Division.

Former Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein is facing two indecent assault charges in the United Kingdom https://t.co/mjgfZ7yUsI
— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) June 8, 2022

The CPS said the alleged assault took place in August 1996 in London.

London's Metropolitan Police said the accusation involved a woman, now aged in her 50s.

Weinstein is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence in the United States after being convicted in 2020 of assaulting former production assistant Mimi Haleyi and raping former aspiring actor Jessica Mann.

That conviction was upheld by a New York appeals court last week.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

You can also call safe steps 24/7 Family Violence Response Line on 1800 015 188 or visit www.safesteps.org.au for further information.

The Men’s Referral Service is also available on 1300 766 491 or via online chat at www.ntv.org.au.www.ntv.org.au.

5. Plastic on Aussie beaches down by a third.

And in some much needed good news, Australia's beaches have become less polluted as we get better at sorting through our rubbish, new research suggests.

Researchers from the CSIRO conducted 563 coastal surveys and interviewed waste managers across 32 local governments.

The results, published in the One Earth journal on Thursday, showed there was on average 29 per cent less plastic on beaches than in 2013 when similar surveys were carried out.

Household collection services involving multiple waste and recycling streams, had made it easier for people to separate and discard rubbish appropriately, researcher Denise Hardesty said.

Bans on plastic shopping bags were also highly effective.

"Our research showed that increases in waste levies had the second-largest effect on decreases in coastal plastic pollution," Dr Hardesty said.

"Local governments are moving away from a 'collect and dump' mindset to a 'sort and improve' approach."

Activities such as Clean Up Australia Day and community surveillance programs had also helped.

The CSIRO is aiming for an 80 per cent reduction in plastic waste entering the Australian environment by 2030.

And that's it, you're all up to speed. We'll be back to bring you more of the top stories throughout the day.

- With AAP.

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