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Temperatures recorded by Thursday lunchtime included 44.9C at Tarcoola in SA, 45.8C at Hopetoun airport in Victoria, 43.7C at Paraburdoo, WA and 43C at Hay, NSWFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastVictoria’s Hume Highway has closed, regional trains have been cancelled and firefighters from at least two states are battling blazes in the worst heatwave to descend on Australia since 2019-20.As Melbourne prepares for a forecast of 41C day on Friday, the acting premier, Ben Carroll, described Victoria as “one of the most bushfire-prone areas in the world”.

Chen founded the Prince Group, a multinational conglomerate authorities allege served as a front for ‘one of Asia’s largest transnational criminal organisations’Chinese-born tycoon Chen Zhi, who was indicted by the US on fraud and money-laundering charges for running a multibillion-dollar online scam network from Cambodia, has been arrested there and extradited to China, Phnom Penh said.Chen allegedly directed operations of forced labour compounds across Cambodia, where trafficked workers were held in prison-like facilities surrounded by high walls and barbed wire, according to US prosecutors. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/08/alleged-scam-kingpin-chen-zhi-extradited-china-cambodia-arrest Author : Agence France Press Publish date : 2026-01-08 03:01:00

Bat Rescue South Australia reports a few hundred juveniles lost to heat. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAdelaide – a high of 39CCanberra – a high of 38CSydney – a high of 33CDarwin – a high of 32CMelbourne – a high of 31CBrisbane – a high of 29CPerth – a high of 28CHobart – a high of 25CThe NSW government says it has reduced funding uncertainty for domestic and sexual violence support, homelessness services and family programs, through an end to short-term contracts for the community services sector.We’re giving more security to

Mayor says ICE claims incident was self-defense are not true, and tells agency to ‘get the fuck out of Minneapolis’Minnesota Democrats voice outrage after fatal ICE shooting: ‘Leave our state immediately’Federal agents shot and killed a woman during a large-scale immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis on Wednesday.Ilhan Omar, the Democratic Minnesota congresswoman, said the victim was “a legal observer” of action by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which had sent a surge of agents into the city in recent days tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jan/07/minneapolis-shooting-immigration-crackdown Author : Richard Luscombe,