The eight-hour tally of 601 lambs was 91 better than the previous record.

Three people are said to have died in the disaster.

Sacha Bond has broken the previous world record of 510 by 91 lambs.

Visitors were evacuated from a North Queensland sanctuary after a 3.8-metre saltwater crocodile escaped from its enclosure before being recaptured.

The croc, known as "Dynamo", bashed his way through the lower part of a gate at the Billabong Sanctuary in Townsville yesterday morning.

A staff member spotted the animal near a billabong and raised the alarm, the sanctuary's management said on its Facebook site.

READ MORE: China responds with threat after US downs suspected spy balloon

The incident shut down the sanctuary for several hours before the animal was recaptured.

"The emergency escape plan was activated. A thorough search of the park was conducted to ensure all customers were evacuated through the front entrance," general manager Bob Flemming said.

"Dynamo, at this stage, had made his way to the nearby edge of the billabong and was enticed out of the water with food, jaw roped, dragged out of the water and strapped to a board.

"He was restrained on the board until the gate was repaired and reinforced."

READ MORE: 'Extremely traumatic': Teen girl dies in fatal shark attack in Perth river

The sanctuary reopened yesterday afternoon, with refunds made to customers who requested them.

Visitors who witnessed the incident praised the staff on social media for their professional and cool headed response.



Large amounts of dead sea life that washed ashore New Zealand beaches are likely to be casualties of an algal bloom, according to scientists.

Piles of dead kina, starfish and crayfish were found last Thursday at beaches in Napier, Westshore, Te Awanga and Haumoana.

Hawke's Bay Regional Council scientists took samples of the sea water and science manager Anna Madarasz-Smith on Sunday said, "the current strongest working theory" was that they died as a result of low dissolved oxygen levels that resulted from an algal bloom.

READ MORE: 'Extremely traumatic': Teen girl dies in fatal shark attack in Perth river

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The algal bloom has been prolific along the Hawke's Bay coast this summer.

"As the community has observed, there has been a persistent algal bloom around Napier for the last two months," Madarasz-Smith said.

"Blooms are made up of millions of tiny, microscopic algae, and if these persist, or when they start to die off, they can use up a lot of the dissolved oxygen in the water, causing very low dissolved oxygen levels.

"We have measured dissolved oxygen saturation levels in the bottom waters of the area as low as 34 per cent, when normal levels are between 90 and 110 per cent.

"The animals washing up live on the bottom of the sea floor, so are vulnerable."

READ MORE: US military shots down Chinese spy balloon

The council would look at a number of theories to ensure no other potential causes are missed, she said.

Other theories being investigated include freshwater drowning, sediment smothering or a toxic spill.

"We aren't convinced that freshwater drowning is the cause because results of our testing show that the bottom waters are still relatively saline," Madarasz-Smith said.

"While sediment smothering of these animals is plausible, the river discharges have been high in sediment for many months and it would be unusual for this to cause a sudden, acute and localised issue.

People are being be warning not gather or consume any dead sea life washed up on the beaches.

Algal blooms typically form after rainfall when freshwater brings nutrients and pushes the seawater out bringing up nutrients from the bottom of the seawater column too.

An annual occurrence, this year's bloom appeared quite localised and near to the shore and was likely to be persisting due to continued rainfall.

This article has been reproduced with permission from Stuff.co.nz.

A man will front court today following an alleged unprovoked assault in Sydney CBD overnight that left the victim in a serious condition.

Police said a 57-year-old man was walking along George Street just after 7pm yesterday, when a man aged 37 allegedly punched him once in the head.

He fell unconscious backwards, hitting his head on the footpath.

READ MORE: China responds with threat after US downs suspected spy balloon

Police said the younger man fled the scene running towards Sussex Street.

Paramedics treated the injured man at the scene for multiple facial fractures and head injuries, causing the CBD light rail service to be disrupted for about 30 minutes.

He was later taken to St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney in a serious condition. He will be undergoing surgery today.

Police set up a crime scene and following inquiries, officers arrested the 37-year-old man at a nearby hotel on Sussex Street about 3.30am today.

He was charged with reckless grievous bodily harm and refused bail.

He is due to appear before court later today.

The US military on Saturday shot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon off the Carolina coast after it traversed sensitive military sites across North America.

China insisted the flyover was an accident involving a civilian aircraft and threatened repercussions.

President Joe Biden issued the order but had wanted the balloon downed even earlier, on Wednesday. He was advised that the best time for the operation would be when it was over water, US officials said.

READ MORE: Teen dies in shark attack in WA's Swan River

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Military officials determined that bringing it down over land from an altitude of 18,288-metres would pose an undue risk to people on the ground.

China responded that it reserved the right to "take further actions" and criticised the US for "an obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice."

In its statement Sunday, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that: "China will resolutely uphold the relevant company's legitimate rights and interests, and at the same time reserving the right to take further actions in response."

Balloon strains US-China relations

The presence of the balloon in the skies above the US this week dealt a severe blow to already strained US-Chinese relations that have been in a downward spiral for years. It prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to abruptly cancel a high-stakes Beijing trip aimed at easing tensions.

"They successfully took it down and I want to compliment our aviators who did it," Biden said after getting off Air Force One en route to Camp David.

The giant white orb was spotted Saturday morning over the Carolinas as it approached the Atlantic coast.

About 2:39 p.m. EST, an F-22 fighter jet fired a missile at the balloon, puncturing it while it was about 6 nautical miles off the coast near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, senior defence officials said.

READ MORE: Second Chinese spy balloon spotted above Latin America: Pentagon

The spectacle had Americans looking to the skies all week, wondering whether the mysterious balloon had floated over them.

On Saturday, Ashlyn Preaux, 33, went out to get her mail in Forestbrook, South Carolina, and noticed her neighbours looking up — and there it was, the balloon in the cloudless blue sky. Then she saw fighter jets circling and the balloon get hit.

"I did not anticipate waking up to be in a 'Top Gun' movie today," she said.

The debris landed in 14-metres of water, shallower than officials had expected, and it spread out over roughly 11-kilometres and the recovery operation included several ships.

The officials estimated the recovery efforts would be completed in a short time, not weeks. A salvage vessel was en route.

US defence and military officials said Saturday that the balloon entered the US air defence zone north of the Aleutian Islands on January 28 and moved largely over land across Alaska and then into Canadian airspace in the Northwest Territories on Monday. It crossed back into US territory over northern Idaho on Tuesday, the day the White House said Biden was first briefed on it.

The balloon was spotted Thursday over Montana, home to Malmstrom Air Force Base, which has fields of nuclear missile silos.

The Americans were able to collect intelligence on the balloon as it flew over the US, giving them a number of days to analyse it and learn how it moved and what it was capable of surveilling, according to two senior defense officials said.

The officials briefed reporters on condition of anonymity.

The officials said the US military was constantly assessing the threat, and concluded that the technology on the balloon didn't give the Chinese significant intelligence beyond what it could already obtain from satellites, though the US took steps to mitigate what information it could gather as it moved along.

Biden faces criticism over spy balloon response

Republicans were critical of Biden's response.

"Allowing a spy balloon from the Communist Party of China to travel across the entire continental United States before contesting its presence is a disastrous projection of weakness by the White House," said Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker, the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Senator Thom Tillis, R-N.C., tweeted: "Now that this embarrassing episode is over, we need answers from the Biden Administration on the decision-making process. Communist China was allowed to violate American sovereignty unimpeded for days. We must be better prepared for future provocations and incursions by the CCP."

Senator Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., was more positive: "Thank you to the men and women of the United States military who were responsible for completing the mission to shoot down the Chinese surveillance balloon.

"The Biden Administration did the right thing in bringing it down."

China has claimed that the balloon was merely a weather research "airship" that had been blown off course. The Pentagon rejected that out of hand — as well as China's contention that it was not being used for surveillance and had only limited navigational ability.

The Chinese government on Saturday sought to play down the cancellation of Blinken's trip.

"In actuality, the US and China have never announced any visit, the US making any such announcement is their own business, and we respect that," China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The Pentagon also acknowledged reports of a second balloon flying over Latin America.

"We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon," Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, said in a statement.

China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not immediately respond to a question about the second balloon.

This isn't the first time Chinese spy balloons have crossed into US airspace in recent years, one of the officials said.

At least three times during the Trump administration and at least one other time during Biden's time as president they've seen balloons cross, but not for this long, the official said.

Blinken, who had been due to depart Washington for Beijing late Friday, said he had told senior Chinese diplomat Wang Yi in a phone call that sending the balloon over the US was "an irresponsible act and that (China's) decision to take this action on the eve of my visit is detrimental to the substantive discussions that we were prepared to have."

Uncensored reactions on the Chinese internet mirrored the official government stance that the US was hyping the situation.

Some used it as a chance to poke fun at US defences, saying it couldn't even defend against a balloon, and nationalist influencers leaped to use the news to mock the US.

China has denied any claims of spying and said it is a civilian-use balloon intended for meteorology research. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised that the balloon's journey was out of its control and urged the US not to "smear" it because of the balloon.

In preparation for the operation Saturday, the Federal Aviation Administration temporarily closed airspace over the Carolina coast, including the airports in Myrtle Beach and Charleston, South Carolina, and Wilmington, North Carolina.

The FAA rerouted air traffic from the area and warned of delays as a result of the flight restrictions. The FAA and Coast Guard worked to clear the airspace and water below the balloon as it reached the ocean.

Television footage showed a small explosion, followed by the giant deflated balloon descending like a ribbon toward the water.

Bill Swanson said he watched the balloon deflate instantly from his house in Myrtle Beach as fighter jets circled around.

"When it deflated it was pretty close to instantaneous," he said.

"One second it's there like a tiny moon and the next second it's gone."

Swanson added that a trail of smoke followed the balloon as it dropped.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has today made a passionate plea for Australians to back the government's plan for an Indigenous Voice to parliament, while accusing critics of trying to start a "culture war".

In a speech at the Chifley Research Centre Conference, Albanese said the Voice "will be a national achievement in which every Australian can share."

The federal government plans to hold a referendum on the Voice in the second half of this year.

READ MORE: 'Extremely traumatic': Teen girl dies in fatal shark attack in Perth river

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The prime minister said today the referendum will be an opportunity to bring Australians together as well as providing Australians the opportunity to modernise the constitution.

He admitted some opponents were seeking "to create confusion and provoke division" in their bid to stall progress.

"Yes, there are already people out there pushing misinformation on social media.

"Drumming up outrage, trying to start a culture war."

But Albanese said he was confident Australians would back plans for the Voice.

READ MORE: US military has shot down the Chinese spy balloon off US East Coast

"But moments of national decision, such as this referendum, are also an opportunity for our people to show their best qualities: their generosity, their sense of fairness, their optimism for the future.

"That's why I'm optimistic for the success of the referendum – because I've always been optimistic about the character of the Australian people."

In part of his speech, Albanese referenced the successful 1967 referendum when 90 per cent of Australians voted to remove a provision in the constitution which said Indigenous people would not be included in the census.

Australians in 2023 had the chance to make a similar landmark change, he said.

"Instead of removing a provision that no longer speaks for who we are.

"We can make a change that speaks for the future we seek to build."

The prime minister also addressed concerns about any new powers The Voice would hold.

He insisted it would not become a third parliamentary chamber.

First Nations senators Jacinta Price and Lidia Thorpe have expressed ambivalence around the proposal.

Earlier this week, Albanese said state, territory and federal government counterparts committed to supporting The Voice.

The speech comes as federal parliament prepares to return for the year on Monday.

With millions of people coming through the terminals of Sydney Airport each month, many things get left behind. Thousands of items are usually returned but what remains unclaimed gets in the Lost Property Auction.

At least 22 people have died in connection to widespread forest fires in south-central Chile, according to government officials.

Interior Minister Carolina Tohá confirmed during a news conference on Saturday that 22 people are dead. There are 1,429 people in shelters, 554 injured and 16 suffering severe burns who are in serious condition, she said.

Twenty-eight of the hundreds of fires in Chile in recent days have burned the amount of forest and woodland the country typically loses over the course of a year, Tohá said.

READ MORE: US military shots down Chinese spy balloon

The minister also described record high temperatures in several of the affected regions of Chile.

"The thermometer has reached levels that we've never seen until now," Tohá said.

On Saturday, President Gabriel Boric announced via Twitter that neighboring Argentina will send firefighters and machinery to combat the fires engulfing Chile's south-central area, according to CNN Chile.

READ MORE: Teen girl dies in 'extremely traumatic' shark attack 

Boric said he had spoken to his Argentinian counterpart, Alberto Fernández, to "coordinate and thank Argentina in the fight against the fires. Besides firefighters, we will receive machinery."

Boric added that he will seek further help fighting the fires from other countries.

"We are arranging support from various countries to face the emergency. We will not leave them alone," he said tweeted.

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