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The town hit 47.2C by mid afternoon, but locals are already well-versed in the art of staying coolGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastIt might have been the hottest place in the country on Boxing Day, but when the tiny outback town of Birdsville hit 47.2C by mid-afternoon, locals were already well-versed in the art of staying cool.Bureau of Meteorology...

More than 250 works from amateur and celebrated Welsh artists are on display at the National Library of Wales until September 2025An infamous declaration that there is “no Welsh art” has been firmly rebutted by a groundbreaking exhibition at the country’s national library amid growing calls for a permanent national art gallery for Wales to be created.More than 250 works from beloved Welsh painters...

This blog is now closedVictorian bushfires: BoM warns of ‘erratic and dangerous’ conditions as Grampians fire sees emergency evacuationsAuthorities in Victoria have issued an emergency warning for a bushfire at Mafeking in the state’s west.Locals have been told to take shelter immediately. Continue reading...

Barrage of gambling adverts likely to exacerbate addiction, as NHS in England doubles number of clinics to meet demandThe “barrage” of betting advertisements around Boxing Day sporting fixtures will exacerbate Britain’s growing gambling problem, NHS bosses are warning.Promotional techniques by unscrupulous betting firms, including free Christmas bets, will increase gambling-related harm by encouraging punters to wager sums they cannot afford, they say.In the UK,...

Guardian review finds many online pharmacies flouting strict advertising rules that govern prescription-only drugsWeight-loss injections are being aggressively marketed to British consumers through often illegal promotions, in a practice experts have described as a “wild west” industry of drug selling.The booming market for jabs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro has triggered a price battle among online pharmacies, with even high-street chains cashing in on...

Drugs such as Wegovy amd Mounjaro are an attractive prospect for online businesses and traditional pharmacies as well as the firms that make themIt is a trend rooted in profit-making. Adverts featuring prescription-only weight-loss medications are splashed across the internet – and it is causing concern among experts.But the question remains: who is driving the boom? Continue reading...

Investigators appealing for information after blaze erupted around 3am on Boxing DayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwo women are fighting for life after a house fire authorities consider suspicious.Detectives were investigating the cause of the Boxing Day blaze, which erupted shortly after 3am in Gulliver, a suburb of Townsville.Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Caring for God’s Acre mapped out 20,000 cemeteries and recorded 10,000 speciesChurchyards are vital havens for rare wildlife including dormice, bats and beetles, according to an extensive audit of burial grounds around the UK.The conservation charity Caring for God’s Acre mapped out 20,325 cemeteries, with 800,000 wildlife records submitted and more than 10,800 species recorded. Continue reading...

Shoppers expected to splurge on homewares and beauty products, with retail spending projected to top $1.3bn on Boxing DayGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastShoppers have flooded stores to make the most of Boxing Day bargains.Australians are projected to spend $1.3bn on Boxing Day and a further $2.4bn during the last days of December, Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan...

Homicide squad detectives investigating after 59-year-old found dead at Wood Duck Court in LangwarrinGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastPolice have arrested a 63-year-old man in relation to the death of a woman in Langwarrin in Melbourne’s south-east.The 59-year-old woman was found about 6:30am on Boxing Day, after emergency services responded to reports that a woman had been stabbed at...

Transitional administration said 10 police members also wounded by ‘remnants’ of Assad regime in TartousFourteen security personnel from Syria’s new authorities and three armed men were killed in clashes in Tartous province when forces sought to arrest an officer linked to the notorious Sednaya prison, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.The Observatory said the clash broke out in Tartous, a stronghold of...

A Central Park birdwatching incident went viral after Christian Cooper filmed a white woman threatening him. Now he is using his platform to share his passion for natureThis week we are revisiting some of our favourite episodes from 2024. This one was first broadcast on 01 April.In May 2020, Christian Cooper was in an area called the Ramble in Central Park in New York....

A rise in the number of remarriages and a baby boom in the years since 2004 gave hope to survivors and helped them cope with the tragedyIt was Mahyuddin’s mother who had pestered him to go out on Sunday morning, 20 years ago. Dozens of relatives were visiting their small coastal village in Indonesia for a wedding party, but a powerful earthquake had struck...

Three-week-old Sila is the third baby to die from the cold in Gaza’s tent camps in recent days, according to doctorsA baby girl has frozen to death in Gaza and at least 10 people have been killed by airstrikes, while Israel and Hamas accused each other of complicating ceasefire efforts that could wind down the 14-month war. The three-week old baby was the third...

Joseph Benza III, main officer involved in incident with Emmett Brock, pleaded guilty in federal court last weekAt least eight deputies with the Los Angeles sheriff’s department have been dismissed for their roles in the arrest and beating of a transgender man in February 2023, the Los Angeles Times reports. An FBI investigation remains ongoing.Deputy Joseph Benza III, the main officer involved in the...

Unrest at maximum security prison in the capital, Maputo, reportedly left 33 people dead and 15 injuredDozens of people were killed in a prison riot in Mozambique on Christmas Day, authorities have said.The riot, reportedly at the maximum security prison in the capital Maputo, left 33 people dead and 15 injured, according to police general commander Bernardino Rafael. Continue reading...

Aircraft carrying 62 passengers and five crew was en route from Baku to Grozny in Chechnya Twenty-nine people have survived after a passenger plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines burst into flames as it crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan after veering hundreds of miles off its planned route.The flight was carrying 62 passengers and five crew members with 38 killed in the...

Bengal tiger, cougars, a lynx and bobcats dead as disease spreads rapidly among US poultry flocks and dairy herdsTwenty big cats, including a Bengal tiger, four cougars, a lynx and four bobcats, have died after contracting bird flu at an animal sanctuary in Shelton, Washington.The big cat deaths come as bird flu, a highly pathogenic avian influenza, has spread rapidly through poultry flocks and...

Flight left Chicago’s O’Hare airport on morning of Christmas Eve and body discovered at Hawaii’s Kahului airportPolice are investigating the discovery of a dead body in the wheel well of a United Airlines plane after it landed in Hawaii, the airline and the Maui police department said in statements on Wednesday.The body was found in the wheel well of one of the main landing...

Donations, not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries seek favor with incoming administrationUS business leaders are spending big on Donald Trump’s second inaugural fund, which is predicted to exceed even the record-setting $107m raised in 2017.The donations, which are not restricted by campaign finance laws, come as industries and business leaders seek to curry favor with the incoming administration after the president-elect...

Odds of winning jackpot are 1 in 302,575,350, compared with 1 in 24 for any Mega Millions prize, and tickets cost $2The Mega Millions jackpot has surpassed $1bn after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn on Christmas Eve. That means the estimated jackpot for Friday’s drawing is $1.15bn, potentially the fifth-largest jackpot in the game’s history.“We know that many people will likely receive...

Three explosions caused Ursa Major to sink off Spanish coast, says company linked to Russian defence ministryA Russian cargo ship that sank on Tuesday in the Mediterranean Sea was the target of an “act of terrorism”, according to the vessel’s owner.The Ursa Major sank while it was sailing through international waters between Spain and Algeria, leaving two crew members missing, Continue reading...

The Finnish electricity grid’s head of operations says sabotage can’t be ruled outAn undersea power cable linking Finland and Estonia broke down on Wednesday, Finland’s prime minister said, the latest in a series of incidents involving cables and energy pipelines in the Baltic Sea.The Finnish electricity grid’s head of operations, Arto Pahkin, told the public broadcaster Yle that sabotage could not be ruled out....

Zelenskyy describes cruise and ballistic missile strikes, which caused blackouts in several regions, as ‘inhuman’Russia-Ukraine war live – follow the latest updatesChristmas morning in Ukraine was overshadowed by a massive Russian aerial attack using cruise missiles to target energy infrastructure across the country, which Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned as “inhuman”.“Today, Putin deliberately chose Christmas to attack. What could be more inhuman? More than 70 missiles,...