General news

• Soaring air fares between Melbourne and Sydney see travellers take 11-hour train

  10-01-2025 23:27 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Seats on Sydney-Melbourne train service regularly sell out over holiday period, as one-way flights to Tullamarine average almost $500Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe 11-hour Sydney-Melbourne train has become so popular services are selling out – even with extra carriages added – as travellers seek alternatives to an aviation duopoly that is stronger than ever, with carriers charging $900 for one-way economy tickets.Ridership on the Sydney-Melb
  
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• Venezuela’s Maduro sworn in amid outrage over alleged fraudulent election

  10-01-2025 21:44 via theguardian.com
  
  US announces $65m bounty for arrest of president, who has led country since 2013 and failed to prove he won recent voteVenezuela’s authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, has been​ accused of a shameless and fraudulent power-grab after swearing himself in for a third term, despite domestic outrage and a chorus of international condemnation at his alleged theft of last year’s election.“This is a great victory for Venezuelan democracy,” the 62-year-old autocra
  
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• A company that tracks and sells Americans’ location data has seemingly been hacked

  10-01-2025 21:27 via nbcnews.com
  
  A company that tracks American location data through smartphones has been hacked by Russian cybercriminals, according to cybersecurity researchers
  
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• Here’s how a cleaning experts says you should be cleaning your couch — and how often

  10-01-2025 21:21 via nbcnews.com
  
  Learning how to clean your couch goes a long way in maintaining the appearance of your furniture. I spoke with cleaning experts for their advice on how to do it.
  
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• Amazon Winter Sale: Get discounts on Dyson, Crest and more

  10-01-2025 21:14 via nbcnews.com
  
  Amazon’s Winter Sale is here. Score discounts on vacuums, skin care and more from brands like Dyson, Crest and JBL.
  
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• Biden extends temporary protections for more than 800,000 immigrants

  10-01-2025 21:03 via theguardian.com
  
  US president moves to shield roughly 230,000 Salvadorans and 600,000 Venezuelans against Trump administrationThe Biden administration on Friday extended temporary humanitarian protections for about 230,000 Salvadorans and 600,000 Venezuelans living in the US, in an effort to shield those groups from an incoming Trump administration that has promised to deport them.The decision in the dying days of Joe Biden’s presidency came after immigrant advocates and lawmakers urged the Department of H
  
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• Meta to end programs aimed at diversifying workforce

  10-01-2025 20:51 via nbcnews.com
  
  Meta on Friday told employees that its plans to end a number of internal programs designed to increase the company’s hiring of diverse candidates, the latest dramatic change ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s second White House term.
  
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• Puerto Rico's islandwide blackout attributed to outdated underground cable

  10-01-2025 20:43 via nbcnews.com
  
  Luma Energy, which oversees Puerto Rico's power transmission and distribution system, said the islandwide blackout on New Year's Eve was due to the failure of an underground cable.
  
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• New Orleans police release bodycam footage of shootout with Bourbon Street attacker

  10-01-2025 20:40 via nbcnews.com
  
  The New Orleans Police Department on Friday released body camera footage of the shootout between three officers and the attacker who rammed his truck into pedestrians on Bourbon Street in the early hours of New Year’s Day, killing 14 people.
  
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• Haitians in the U.S. under temporary protection in anxious limbo amid shifting immigration policies

  10-01-2025 20:14 via nbcnews.com
  
  Haitians who are in the U.S. legally under temporary programs say they are concerned about their ability to remain in the country as President-elect Donald Trump plans to end the programs and carry out mass deportations on Day One of his administration.
  
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• Gaza death toll 40% higher than official number, Lancet study finds

  10-01-2025 19:47 via theguardian.com
  
  Analysis estimates death toll by end of June was 64,260, with 59% being women, children and people over 65Research published in the Lancet medical journal estimates that the death toll in Gaza during the first nine months of the Israel-Hamas war was about 40% higher than numbers recorded by the Palestinian territory’s health ministry.The peer-reviewed statistical analysis was conducted by academics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Yale University and other instituti
  
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• California homeowners battle an 'insurance crisis' as wildfires burn out of control

  10-01-2025 19:36 via nbcnews.com
  
  The wind-driven wildfires burning out of control in the Los Angeles area couldn't have emerged at a more perilous moment for California's homeowners, as officials try to rehab what they concede is a deepening "insurance crisis."
  
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• Delta passengers in Atlanta forced to evacuate plane onto tarmac during winter storm

  10-01-2025 19:25 via nbcnews.com
  
  Delta Air Lines passengers had to evacuate onto the tarmac at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Friday morning due to an engine issue amid a winter storm, according to the airline.
  
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• Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro is sworn in despite credible evidence of election loss

  10-01-2025 19:10 via nbcnews.com
  
  Maduro extends his increasingly repressive rule until 2031 despite protests and credible evidence that his opponent won the election.
  
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• Supreme Court appears unlikely to block TikTok ban from taking effect

  10-01-2025 19:10 via nbcnews.com
  The Supreme Court heard arguments over a law that could effectively ban the social media platform TikTok in the United States. NBC News' Savannah Sellers reports on what both sides argued and how the court appeared unlikely to block the law from taking effect.
  
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• World’s ugliest lawn winner says she leaves watering to Mother Nature

  10-01-2025 19:00 via theguardian.com
  New Zealand garden takes first prize in global competition designed to promote water conservationA sun-scorched patch of lawn near Christchurch, in New Zealand, has been crowned the ugliest lawn in the world.Now in its second year, the World’s Ugliest Lawn competition rewards lawn owners for not watering their parched yellow grass and patchy flowerbeds. Continue reading...
  
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• New Orleans police release bodycam of Bourbon Street attack

  10-01-2025 18:49 via nbcnews.com
  The New Orleans Police Department released a short portion of body camera footage captured during the shootout that ended the New Year's attack that killed 15 people.
  
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• Trump issues warning to Maduro as Venezuelan leader enters third term, US expands sanctions

  10-01-2025 18:40 via foxnews.com
  
  President-elect Donald Trump issued a warning ahead of the inauguration of contested Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who took up the top job for a third term on Friday. Despite significant opposition both at home and abroad to the July election in which Maduro claimed victory without providing ballot-box proof, the Venezuelan leader, deemed a "dictator" by American lawmakers, is now set to hold office until 2031.On Thursday, opposition leader María Corina Machado&nbs
  
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• Vince McMahon settles with SEC over hush money agreements as civil assault case continues

  10-01-2025 18:10 via nbcnews.com
  
  The Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday that World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder Vince McMahon will pay more than $1.7 million in relation to charges that he failed to disclose payment agreements related to sexual assault charges.
  
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• Last year was the hottest in Earth's recorded history, NASA says

  10-01-2025 18:08 via nbcnews.com
  
  Last year was the planet’s hottest in recorded history, NASA announced, marking two years in a row that global temperatures have shattered records.
  
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• Anita Bryant, a former beauty queen turned anti-gay crusader, dies at 84

  10-01-2025 18:02 via nbcnews.com
  
  Bryant was perhaps most well-known for her 1977 “Save Our Children” campaign that painted gays and lesbians as a threat to the country’s youth.
  
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• Disney, Fox, Warner Bros. Discovery call off Venu sports streaming service

  10-01-2025 17:38 via nbcnews.com
  
  Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery have called off plans to launch their sports streaming service, Venu, the companies said in a joint statement Friday.
  
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• 'Slender Man' attacker set to be released after 7 years in Wisconsin mental hospital

  10-01-2025 17:28 via nbcnews.com
  
  The Wisconsin woman, who at age 12 conspired with a friend to brutally stab a classmate to please fictional horror character "Slender Man," is well enough to be released from a psychiatric hospital, a judge ruled Thursday.
  
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• Listen to audio from Trump's sentencing hearing in the hush money case

  10-01-2025 17:16 via nbcnews.com
  Listen to the audio recording as New York Judge Juan Merchan sentenced President-elect Trump to "unconditional discharge" in the hush money case. This is the first time recordings have been made available to the public from the courtroom proceedings.
  
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• Trump setting up meeting with Putin, in communication with Xi

  10-01-2025 17:04 via foxnews.com
  
  President-elect Donald Trump said Thursday that his team is in the works of setting up meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping. "He wants to meet. And we're setting it up," he told reporters during a press conference from his Mar-a-Lago club regarding Putin. "President Xi – we've had a lot of communication. We have a lot of meetings set up with a lot of people. "I'd rather wait until after the 20th," he added in reference to his inauguratio
  
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• Mark Zuckerberg sends Trump a friend request

  10-01-2025 16:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  And the L.A. wildfires have already become political
  
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• ‘Last three days have felt like a nightmare’: L.A. councilwoman describes wildfires

  10-01-2025 15:51 via nbcnews.com
  Los Angeles Councilwoman Traci Park, who represents the Pacific Palisades, was out surveying the wildfire damage and described the current situation as “a nightmare that no one can wake up from.”
  
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• U.S. economy adds 256,000 jobs in December, unemployment rate at 4.1%

  10-01-2025 15:29 via nbcnews.com
  The final jobs report of the Biden administration has been released. It shows that the U.S. economy added 256,000 jobs in December and that the unemployment rate came in at 4.1%. NBC News’ Christine Romans breaks down the latest economic numbers.
  
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• Supreme Court hears arguments over the fate of TikTok

  10-01-2025 15:21 via nbcnews.com
  Listen to live coverage as the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in TikTok's appeal to block enforcement of a federal law that would require the app to shut down in the United States. TikTok says it plans to shut down the social media platform in the U.S. by Jan. 19 unless the Supreme Court strikes down or otherwise delays the effective date.
  
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• A small fish is at the center of misinformation and finger-pointing over L.A. fires

  10-01-2025 15:16 via nbcnews.com
  
  President-elect Donald Trump inaccurately blamed water shortages in Los Angeles on policies meant to preserve an endangered fish called the Delta smelt.
  
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• ‘I felt less human, not human at all’: Australia faces moral crossroads over Nauru

  10-01-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Who is accountable for what happens in an offshore processing centre? It’s remarkable this is still a question in AustraliaGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastAarash lost his youth to offshore processing. Sixteen when he was sent to Nauru, he says he cannot remember a single birthday in more than a decade.“When I see younger ones that age, having fun, playing, going to school, it reminds me of everything I lost,” he says. “I felt less human, not hum
  
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• Burning is risky – so why are tan lines having their time in the sun on social media?

  10-01-2025 15:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Gen Z influencers spruik tan lines as summer’s ‘fav accessory’ to generation ‘obsessed’ with looksFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIn life, there are lots of pleasurable things that we know aren’t that good for us: simple carbs deep-fried in vegetable oil, drinking one or two wines over the recommended limit at dinner with friends, and sitting in the Australian sun.But despite the
  
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• UK has enough gas, says No.10 after supply warning

  10-01-2025 13:55 via bbc.com
  
  British Gas-owner Centrica says that storage levels in the UK are "concerningly low".
  
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• What's the latest on the LA fires, and why can't they be put out?

  10-01-2025 13:46 via bbc.com
  
  Everything you need to know about the blazes that have forced thousands to leave their homes.
  
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• Reeves faces 'difficult decisions' on tax and spending

  10-01-2025 13:46 via bbc.com
  
  The warning from a former Bank of England official comes in the wake of rising UK borrowing costs.
  
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• UK records coldest night of winter as freeze to last into weekend

  10-01-2025 13:40 via bbc.com
  
  "It's going to be another cold couple of days," the Met Office says as temperatures keep below freezing.
  
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• Sisters seemed fine before going missing, relative says

  10-01-2025 13:21 via bbc.com
  
  Sisters Eliza and Henrietta Huszti - two of triplets - have gone missing in Aberdeen.
  
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• Inept arsonist set his own pants on fire in Australia

  10-01-2025 13:20 via nbcnews.com
  
  An alleged arsonist was forced to strip off their pants after they caught fire during an attempt to set fire to a fast-food outlet in Australia.
  
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• Price of resale tickets to be capped under plans to tackle touts

  10-01-2025 13:11 via bbc.com
  
  The government is suggesting a cap on the cost of resold tickets, potentially up to 30% on top of the original price.
  
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• Sainsbury's to raise pay to £12.60 an hour due to 'tough' inflation

  10-01-2025 13:02 via bbc.com
  
  The supermarket chain will lift wages to £12.60 but expects costs to increase after Budget measures.
  
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• UK security officials monitor Elon Musk's posts

  10-01-2025 12:47 via bbc.com
  
  A Home Office team is tracking the reach and impact of posts by the tech mogul and others for security risks.
  
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• Man films escape from LA fires with elderly father-in-law

  10-01-2025 12:47 via bbc.com
  
  The men were forced to leave the car they were in and escape on foot as fire closed in around them.
  
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• Defending champion O'Sullivan withdraws from Masters

  10-01-2025 12:47 via bbc.com
  
  Ronnie O'Sullivan, the defending champion, will miss the Masters in London on medical grounds.
  
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• South Africa police find 26 naked Ethiopians held by suspected traffickers

  10-01-2025 12:43 via theguardian.com
  
  Three people arrested after group escapes Johannesburg house by breaking a window and burglar barSouth African police have rescued 26 Ethiopians from a suspected human trafficking ring in Johannesburg after the group broke a window and burglar bar to escape from a house where they were being held naked.Three people were arrested on suspicion of people trafficking and possessing an illegal firearm on Thursday night after neighbours in the Sandringham suburb heard the commotion and tipped off the
  
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• Kenya court rules that criminalising attempted suicide is unconstitutional

  10-01-2025 12:32 via theguardian.com
  
  The judgment has been welcomed as an important shift in perceptions by human rights and mental health groupsA Kenyan judge has declared as unconstitutional sections of the country’s laws that criminalise attempted suicide. In a landmark ruling on Thursday, Judge Lawrence Mugambi of the country’s high court stated that section 226 of the penal code contradicts the constitution by punishing those with mental health issues over which they may have little or no control.While the constitu
  
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• Weather tracker: powerful Santa Ana winds fuel California wildfires

  10-01-2025 12:26 via theguardian.com
  
  Gusty conditions have enabled fires to take hold and spread at great speed. Plus, a cold snap grips South KoreaLA wildfires: what we know so farLA fires live updates: California wildfires latest newsThe rapid spread of one of the most destructive wildfires in the history of Los Angeles is believed to have been fuelled by strong Santa Ana winds and months of drought.Santa Ana winds occur between September and May, when high pressure over the deserts of the south-western US and low pressure off th
  
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• Lebanon's new president strikes a nationalistic tone amid regional shifts, further weakening of Hezbollah

  10-01-2025 12:21 via foxnews.com
  
  Lebanon’s political landscape has undergone a dramatic shift with the election of Joseph Aoun as president. After more than two years of political deadlock, the Lebanese Parliament elected the army commander on Thursday with 99 out of 128 votes. Aoun’s election represents a significant achievement for the anti-Hezbollah camp, reflecting the weakening influence of the powerful Shia terrorist organization within Lebanon’s political system. Despite this, experts say Hezbollah
  
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• Taiwan FM hails importance of US relationship, says group visits 'contribute to peace and stability'

  10-01-2025 12:13 via foxnews.com
  
  TAIPEI, Taiwan - The United States should increase and promote both official and unofficial contacts with Taiwan’s government and the Taiwanese military during President-elect Donald Trump’s second term, regardless of the inevitable Beijing response of "anger" and "hurt feelings," analysts say. Exchanges between U.S. officials, scholars, as well as members of think tanks, foundations, and institutes, will be crucial for accurate information to be relayed to both the Am
  
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• Two more lynx spotted in the Highlands, a day after others recaptured

  10-01-2025 12:02 via bbc.com
  
  The sighting follows the capture of two lynx in the same area on Thursday.
  
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• Ontario leader warns of ‘pain’ for US if Trump imposes tariffs on Canada

  10-01-2025 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Premier of most populous province says rhetoric clouds trade relationship worth hundreds of billions of dollarsThe United States will “feel pain” if Donald Trump doesn’t back down from his threat to impose steep tariffs on its northern neighbour, the leader of Canada’s most populous province has warned.After a tumultuous week that left Canadian leaders flailing for a coherent national response to Trump’s provocations – including the suggestion that the US woul
  
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